Mac

I managed to get a fresh install of Google Chrome working under Catalina. But it wasn't easy to unravel. Apparently, if you have spctl enabled on first launch, Chrome will create a jacked-up profile folder that it can no longer access. I discovered this by running the binary from inside Terminal, where the story was told.

To fix, here's what I did:

WARNING: Unfortunately negative post.

This has been an interesting year in the Appleverse. iOS 13, iPadOS and macOS Catalina were all dropped on us. This new software “regime” has been quite the challenge for me.

iOS 13 and iPadOS haven't been that troubling. They generally work and do what they promised to do. I did find it curious that iOS 13.1, 13.1.1 and 13.1.2 all dropped in pretty rapid succession. That's usually a bad sign that things weren't up to standards and had to go through some quick resolution. There were either fixes or outright removals to get things out the door. I don't like it when that happens, but I get it. I'm glad they stay on top of things well enough.

Catalina and Apple TV on the other hand… have been a complete shitshow.

Update: I resolved the Google Chrome issue. If you're just interested in the resolution, please go here.

In iOS 11, you don’t only have to use the dock for single apps. You can drag an app group into the Dock as well. I just found this out by “trying it out.” That makes it much more useful for app switching when you swipe up from the bottom.

I’m really liking iOS 11 a lot. It sold a new iPad to me… an iPad Pro 256gb 12.9”. I just had to have it. I can almost turn it into my work machine, but the Files app let me down. I couldn’t rename a file extension with the Files app. I needed to do that and it hosed me since I couldn’t. I reported that though :)

If you’re plagued by the Apple Software Update popping up every day to remind you that iCloud for Windows 5.1 is available to install… even when you already have it installed… you need to go registry-diving. This community post on the Apple site worked for me. Whew. Finally. That was super annoying. Hope you’re all well. Reach out to me and let me know how your life is going.

It looks like Satya Nadella’s strategies are paying off. Microsoft reported some gains in Windows 10 and its cloud business. That’s good news for overall competition. I’ve also witnessed Microsoft become more and more “Internet friendly,” by way of embracing multi-platform applications and developers. This is what needed to happen. Just think if Ballmer was still around… maybe Microsoft would be folding by now. They do need to do something about the Windows handset business, but I’m betting that Satya has a plan for that.

I should be at WWDC 2014 this year, but I’m not. I work for a Microsoft-centric shoppe right now and they just don’t see the value in it. Nevertheless, I put my name in for the lottery and I didn’t win anyway. I watched most of the keynote from afar and parts of the State of the Union address. All of it is ultra exciting. If they get Continuity, iCloud Drive (FINALLY OMG) and Messages right, this will be a killer OS combo with iPhones, iPads and Macs.

One of my dear friends on G+ saw my earlier blog post whining about what’s wrong with Windows 8. He challenged me to dive deeper into the complaints. I decided that would would be a good blogging mini-series, even though I’m trying to steer this blog clear of purely technical crap. That’s a long-winded way of saying, “Challenge accepted.” Besides, I’m just idling while Adobe Creative Cloud soaks up my hard drive space.

I still have a 2008 Mac Pro (3,1) and it’s still running strong. I’ve invested a lot of money in keeping that thing running. I probably won’t do that again for a machine such as this, but for now I intend to keep it afloat for a few more years. Yeah, I know, it’s 5 years old already. Still, it’s a beast. 8 processors with 32gb of RAM and multi-terabytes of hard drive space can last me a little longer.

Java update is out there to fix the zero-day vulnerability. Cheers… until the next one. Oracle releases v11 fix for zero-day Java security flaw | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog