Joy the Baker’s Bourbon Pear Crumble Pie→

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My wife and I are big fans of Joy Wilson, aka Joy the Baker. We stumbled upon her blog way back in the day and own two of her cookbooks. We have consumed many a calorie thanks to Joy’s celebration of butter.

Not only are Joy’s recipes absolutely fantastic, but she is a relatable writer, as well. Her stories that accompany her recipes are typically humorous and something most anyone who cooks can identify with.

Note: Joy’s Instagram Stories are generally great, too.

I recently came upon a pie recipe I had somehow missed before: Bourbon Pear Crumble Pie.

Sign. Me. Up.

Honestly, what better timing for such a pie with Thanksgiving next week? I have a feeling it will make a lovely complement next to the standard pumpkin pie fare.

And, if you happen to use my favorite recipe app, Paprika, click the button below to automatically add this pie to your collection.

¶ My Dream MacBook Air

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The MacBook Air has a decade long history of being the forerunner of design in Apple’s portable line. The original MacBook Air set the stage for unibody construction, and the 2010 refresh made the MacBook Air the de facto portable computer for the rest of the industry by perfecting the unibody design, lowering costs, and expanding the utility of the device in its power and ports.

As a longtime MacBook Air user, I was so excited when that computer was refreshed in 2018 and brought up to modern standards — chiefly a Retina display. But my excitement was dashed by the inclusion of the butterfly keyboard. I just didn’t trust the keyboard’s longevity after 3 years of maligned reports regarding its reliability. Thus, I continue to use my 2012 MacBook Air, hoping the Magic Keyboard released with last week’s MacBook Pro 16-inch comes to the rest of Apple’s portables soon.

All it would take to get me on board with a new MacBook Air is the new Magic Keyboard. However, I can’t help but consider how the MacBook Air could be the forerunner of Apple’s portable strategy for the next decade.

My dream MacBook Air would largely take cues from the iPad Pro. Touch ID, while lovely, would be replaced by Face ID and a better FaceTime camera. Face ID has proven itself on the iPhone and iPad Pro, and should begin making its way to the Mac. (If not Apple’s portables, then surely the iMac should receive Face ID, as it doesn’t even have Touch ID!)

The next-gen MacBook Air should also adopt Apple’s in-house ARM-based chip designs. I’m not convinced it should be the same A-series chips found in iOS devices, so maybe a different alphanumeric combination, since Apple could probably pack a lot more punch in something the size of a MacBook. Apple used to tout an M-series coprocessor with its A-series chips, but hasn’t done so in years. M would be the perfect moniker for a chip destined for the Mac.

Finally, four USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports should be the standard, since we’ll all reside in Dongletown for the foreseeable future. The argument could then be made that the Pro line should have 6 ports, which I don’t think anyone would complain about.

The laptop form factor has generally reached perfection, and did so a long time ago. We already have gorgeous screens and superb industrial design. The next decade of Mac portables should embrace the Magic Keyboard across the entire product line, adopt Face ID as the authentication standard, unleash the power and battery life that Apple’s ARM-based chips have become renowned for, and increase the amount of ports to connect to.

These advancements would position MacBooks — Air and Pro — as the must-have computers for the next decade.

The Hunchback of Cupertino Goes to 11 with New Camera Button

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Today Apple released updated Smart Battery Cases for iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. When the first Smart Battery Case came out in 2015, I dubbed it the Hunchback of Cupertino due to its…hunchiness.

Apple has since refined that design a little by lowering the battery pack portion to the bottom edge of the case, which certainly helps the case appear a little less bulky.

New to the case this year is a dedicated camera button along the power right edge of the case. Apple’s product page notes:

The case features a dedicated camera button that launches the Camera app whether the iPhone is locked or unlocked. A quick press of the button takes a photo and a longer press captures QuickTake video. It works for selfies, too.

That’s actually a nice touch that I wouldn’t mind being on the iPhone itself. Imagine a flush button, much like the side button on an Apple Watch Series 4 or 5. Sure, the volume button work as a manual shutter, but they can’t launch the camera. A dedicated camera/shutter button would be a great addition to 2020’s iPhone lineup.

Beyond that, the Smart Battery Case functions the same as it always has and still includes the ability to use Qi wireless chargers.

I won’t say I am completely surprised by the announcement of this case, because we all know there are some folks who want or need as much battery as they can eek out. But I did almost think that with this year’s stellar battery life improvements in iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro it may not have been necessary.

The Exclusive Dolby Cinema Poster for ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’

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Just look at that. Wow. The style of the poster is amazing, and absolutely brings to mind Ralph McQuarrie’s artwork for the original trilogy. I’d love to get my hands on a copy of this poster for my home theater.

¶ RSS is Cool and You Should Be Using It

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Every time I come across a Twitter thread that is 20 tweets long my heart sinks and wishes the author would have just written a coherent blog post instead. Despite what the social media networks want you to think, blogs are still cool.

Blogs are cool because they typically contain whole thoughts, instead of fragmented quips. Blogs also possess a flair of their author’s style in the design. You can tell a lot about an author by the design of their blog. What colors do they like? Do they like subtle or audacious blockquote styles? Do they prefer their text to span the entire width of the browser, or do they believe in breathy, airy margins?

That all said, I can understand the desire to get everything in one place. It can be arduous to check many blogs every day to see if there is something new to read. It’s so much easier to let the stories come to you.

This is why you need RSS, which is as cool as blogs are. RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. Wikipedia describes RSS as such:

RSS is a type of web feed which allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. These feeds can, for example, allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator. The news aggregator will automatically check the RSS feed for new content, allowing the content to be automatically passed from website to website or from website to user. This passing of content is called web syndication. Websites usually use RSS feeds to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, or episodes of audio and video series.

Did you know that if you listen to podcasts you’re already using RSS and that your podcast app is a news aggregator? The entirety of podcasting is built on RSS feeds, and diligently deliver fresh content to you whenever a new episode is available.

This can be done for blogs, too. Almost every blog out there has an RSS feed. The feed for this site is http://fullcitypress.com/articles?format=rss. You can subscribe by adding that address to your RSS reader of choice. And there are so many to choose from!

A brief list of RSS services that are either free or little cost:

These services act as the backbone of your RSS experience. All of them have their own websites you can use to see your feeds, and many offer their own apps. But the really neat thing is the open nature of RSS allows these services to be used with other reader apps so you can have the experience you prefer regardless of which service is acting as the backbone.

For instance, I use Feed Wrangler as my aggregator service, but I experience my RSS reading on Mac and iOS through an app called Reeder. But if someday I found myself not liking Reeder anymore or if it were to fade from existence, I could go to another app, like NetNewsWire, and plug it into Feed Wrangler. Or if Feed Wrangler were to announce it was going away, I could export my feeds as a standard file, and take them with me to another service.

RSS is truly beautiful in its openness, ubiquity, and simplicity. And there are so many great things to read out there on the open web, with no algorithm deciding whether or not you see what is important to you. You just subscribe, sit back, and the content comes to you. Then you can decide whether to read it or not.

So why don’t you check out one of those RSS services I listed above? I hear Feedbin and Feedly are really good places to start, but I haven’t tried either myself.

And if you want to flex those RSS muscles with podcasts, I highly recommend you listen to Mac Power Users #509, where Brent Simmons — the creator of NetNewsWire — is the guest. It’s a fantastic episode with a lot of talk about the value of RSS and blogging.

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed.

Writing Prompts

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I’m 17 days into this journey of writing a blog post every day in November, and I’ll let you in on a little secret, just between you and me, dear reader.

It’s kind of hard. Some days the words just don’t flow out very easily. And more days than not, the hardest part is figuring out a topic to write about. Today is one of those days. No matter how much I pursue it, a topic is escaping me.

So I decided to search the web for writing prompts. Surely that would solve my problem! It turns out, though, that a lot of them just are…too over the top. I suspect many of them are meant to get a college student in a creative writing class out of a bind, not necessarily thirty-something uninspired bloggers.

If you’re still with me, you’ve discovered along with me that I’ve managed to stumble onto a topic about writing prompts and the difficulty of writing.

The truth is this is far from easy, but consistency is key. Sometimes the best prompt to get something done is to just do it.

Hyperaware

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“Are you crazy?! Why don’t you have a case on that?!”

I’ve heard it many times. The wide-eyed disbelief that I typically do not have a case on my phone. It’s not that I haven’t tried the status quo before. I just don’t like it. I prefer the look and feel of my phone with no case.

I do own an inexpensive case — that I picked up on sale, no less — that I will put on if I am doing something like helping someone move, just because it gives me the peace of mind that I won’t bash it through my pocket while working with my hands.

I think what surprises people the most is that I’ve never shattered or cracked a phone over all these years. I better knock on some glass. Seriously though, I just enjoy my phone more without a bulky case. I appreciate the material feel of the thing.

My friend Ryan has said for years that the reason I get away it is that I am hyperaware of my gadgets. There is definitely truth to that. I am very conscious of where things are at. I’ve got a knack for spatial awareness, likely a byproduct of my detail-oriented nature.

Is there anything you do that others look at you in disbelief over?

Apple Opens Up 3 Health Studies with New Research App

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Apple launched a new app called Research yesterday as a follow up to the Apple Watch Heart Study from a couple years ago, which I imagine was a key influence on the Apple Watch Series 4 including a built-in ECG.

US-based users can participate in any of the three studies offered so far:

  • Women’s Health
  • Heart and Movement
  • Hearing

9to5Mac summarizes:

The Women’s Health study draws data from the Cycle Tracking app on watchOS 6 with the aim to improve scientific understand of menstrual cycles. The Heart and Movement Study uses a variety of signals from the watch, including movement and health rate information. The Hearing Study examines the impact of sound exposure on hearing health and stress levels.

I had participated in the Apple Watch Heart Study when it was available, so I went ahead and signed up to contribute data to the Heart and Movement study, and I’ll likely participate in the Hearing study, as well, since I wear an Apple Watch Series 4, which has the ability to measure decibels with its microphone.

I think these studies are very beneficial to helping devices like the Apple Watch truly help people in regards to their health. (And yes, they will undoubtedly be beneficial to Apple’s bottom line, too).

I, for one, am a sucker for the videos Apple sometimes puts out about how the Apple Watch has really saved people. It makes me happy that I wear a device that monitors my heart and can detect a fall (especially living in a climate that is covered in ice for months). You never know when you may need the extra insight, and it could vastly improve or even save your life.

So if you feel inclined, download the Research app and check out the different studies offered. If you feel comfortable with the privacy policy, contribute your data.

Motorola’s New RAZR is Hitting Me Right in the Nostalgia

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Before there was iPhone, there were flip phones. And undoubtedly the king of all flip phones was the Motorola RAZR. It was the status symbol of the early 2000’s. My parents must have really loved me, because I was rocking a Motorola RAZR through my college years.

The RAZR was simply iconic. I still have fond memories of that phone. I’m a fidgeter, and flipping that phone open and closed over and over was fantastically satisfying. That hinge was rock solid.

Motorola has resurrected the RAZR as an Android smartphone with a folding screen, and I have to say, this is thus far the most interesting folding screen design yet. That might be the nostalgia talking, but I rather like the idea of a smartphone folding into something more pocketable — much more than I like the idea of a larger phone unfolding into a tablet.

And let’s be honest…this new RAZR gives off serious Star Trek: The Next Generation tricorder vibes.

For a heck of a lot better look at the new RAZR, be sure to check out MKBHD’s first look video.

While I think this new RAZR is super interesting and the design is a terrific tip of the hat to the one true RAZR…it’s running Android, and I’m just not down with that. I also think folding screen tech has a long way to go before it will be suitable for the masses. The mishaps of the Samsung Galaxy Fold showed there are legitimate durability concerns with flexible displays. But they will get better, and I am excited for that day.

I think Nicolas Magand over at The Jolly Teapot put it very well earlier today:

Maybe good to think of these foldable phones like supercars: terribly unpractical for everyday driving, quite expensive, unreliable, fragile, but they sure make heads turn, and the kids who see them passing by dream of owning one.

¶ Apple Finally Fixed the MacBook Keyboard

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Back in 2015 Apple released the 12-inch MacBook with a new keyboard mechanism they called the Butterfly Keyboard. One of the advantages of this design was it provided a great deal of stability to the key caps. It also allowed for extremely shallow key travel, which enabled Apple to push its obsession with thinness even further.

But there were disadvantages, too. While this is subjective, the extremely shallow key travel was probably swinging the pendulum too far. While initially excited by the purported awesomeness of the MacBook’s butterfly keyboard, I remember feeling slightly repulsed by the minimal 0.5mm travel when I first tried it out in the Apple Store. I wasn’t confident that I had actually pressed the keys.

And it didn’t take long for reports to start coming out from MacBook owners about reliability issues. It seemed the slightest particulate could wreak havoc on the butterfly mechanism and break it. And, beyond all expectations, Apple went all-in with the flawed design. In 2016 it spread like a cancer to the MacBook Pro line, and then to the beloved MacBook Air line in 2018. All the while, Apple kept revising the butterfly keyboard with new generations to try to mitigate the reliability issues.

In June 2018 Apple began a Keyboard Service Program for any and all notebooks that had the butterfly mechanism, covering repairs for 4 years after the date of purchase. Perhaps most embarrassingly, every new release of a MacBook/Pro/Air was automatically added to the Service Program day and date. This was probably the closest we will ever get to an admission from Apple that the butterfly keyboard was incredibly, deeply flawed.

I have been so cautious about this keyboard that I am still clinging onto my 2012 MacBook Air, hoping it will last until the butterfly keyboard is phased out of a future MacBook Air.

Enough history. I’ve done enough burying of the lede. This morning Apple unveiled the new 16-inch MacBook Pro with all sorts of great specs that I’m sure many pro users will care about, but most importantly they fixed the keyboard!

Apple has returned to traditional scissor switches, and they say they took inspiration from another keyboard that was introduced in 2015 — the Magic Keyboard. I have owned a Magic Keyboard since it was introduced and have used it without issue for years. It feels great to type on and has adequate travel. It’s honestly the best keyboard I have ever used. And I’ve long been a proponent that Apple should just stick that in the MacBook line. I couldn’t be happier at the news.

The new Magic Keyboard adapted for the MacBook Pro has a full 1mm of key travel, increased key stability, backlighting — the works. Apple also eschewed the full-height left and right arrow keys and returned to half-height keys in an inverted-T layout, which should make it easier for many people to quickly orient their fingers for directional navigation. I personally haven’t had an issue with the full-height keys on my external Magic Keyboard or my iPad Smart Keyboard cover, but undoubtedly the inverted-T layout is the better choice for mass appeal.

I enjoyed this particular take from John Gruber’s review over at Daring Fireball:

Calling it the “Magic Keyboard” threads the impossible marketing needle they needed to thread: it concedes everything while confessing nothing. Apple has always had a great keyboard that could fit in a MacBook — it just hasn’t been in a MacBook the last three years.

I have been very grateful for the Apple of 2012 designing the MacBook Air of that era for the long haul. For most of my purposes, my MacBook Air continues to do most of the I need it to, albeit slowly, and despite my eyeballs bleeding on the chunkiness of its non-retina display.

I honestly would have replaced it with the Retina MacBook Air in 2018 if that computer had not come equipped with the butterfly keyboard. I just didn’t (and still don’t) trust that design. The butterfly keyboard tarnished the reputation of the entire MacBook product line.

Marco Arment said it perfectly in his review today:

Following in the footsteps of the fantastic iMac Pro, updated Mac Mini, and upcoming Mac Pro, the release of the 16-inch MacBook Pro ends a painful chapter of neglect and hubristic design of the Mac. Apple has finally turned the ship around.

I fully expect that in 2020 Apple will bring this new Magic Keyboard design to the smaller MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. And I honestly can’t wait.