Marty Edwards

<p>I’m relatively new to the world of Apple products, having bought my first iPad in 2011, my first iPhone in 2013 and my first Mac in 2015. The more I use the company’s products, the more I have come to appreciate them and how reliable they are, not only as stand-alone devices, but in how well they work together. The hardware is the best made, and the software is rock solid.</p>

<p>When sharing photos with others, I often like to put a box or circle around something I want to point out. Sometimes I like to include an arrow highlighting a feature in a photo.</p>

<p>A router is at the core of our connection to the online world. Today there are no shortage of offerings from basic routers that do just a basic job to routers that are full-blown Internet connectivity appliances. The Synology RT2600ac falls in the later category. In my few days of using this router, I can honestly say it’s the best and most feature packed router I’ve ever used. It’s especially so for Mac users.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.synology.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Synology</a> has released Surveillance Station 8.0, an update of the smart surveillance system for macOS and Windows. It offers flexible deployment and a smoother live view experience, according to Jonathan Wang, product manager at Synology.</p>

<p>In the Northern Hemisphere we are in the depths of Winter and Spring will soon follow. At this time of the year, there are often severe thunderstorms and the possibility of tornadoes across the southern states or blizzards in the north. You can use your iPhone to gain advance warning and perhaps even life-saving information.</p>

<p>Today is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. That got us thinking about what cell phone we using 10 years ago today. All three editors of <em>Apple World Today</em> offer their thoughts and memories of the iPhone announcement on January 9, 2007.</p>

<p>The preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone is one of the most beautiful apps around. When you open it to look at the weather, it displays animated representations of weather conditions behind the text. If an area has rain, the graphic shows rainfall; with a thunderstorm, there are thick clouds and periodic lightning strikes that are quite bright. If it is a clear night, there is a beautiful star background with occasional meteors. There are numerous graphics to match current conditions.</p>

<p>I grew up listening to radio more than any other means of entertainment  including television, so I developed a deep interest in radio. The iPhone lets me continue that interest with a greatly expanded world of listening possibilities. </p><p>One app I use daily for many hours is <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tunein-radio-nfl-nba-audiobooks/id418987775?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer">TuneIn Radio</a>. TuneIn offers all the content I listed above, and more. You can use a free ad-supported version of the TuneIn app or an ad-free version by making a one-time in-app purchase of US$3.99.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">The holidays are here and you might have a little extra time off from work or school. Maybe you are looking for something new to do on your iPhone. Just this past Thursday, Rovio, the studio behind the Angry Birds franchise introduced its latest title, Angry Birds Blast.</p>

<p>One of the most convenient features of the newer iPhones is to have Siri always listening whether you have power connected or not. Any iPhone with the M9 chip can listen for the key words “Hey Siri” all the time and act upon any requests you give. Periodically something that sounds like “Hey Siri” can activate Siri. Normally instances such as this are few and not a real issue.</p>

<p>One of my favorite things to do with an iPhone is to broadcast from a remote location when the situation warrants. Just this past week our local county seat had an extended power outage lasting most of the day, and I was able to show live what the town looked like with all businesses and traffic lights dark. It’s not only enjoyable, but can perform a public service to others.</p>

<p>For many years I’ve been using a “vintage” Linksys WRT54GL router. Hobbyists and tech experimenters will immediately recognize that model number as one that is highly customizable with custom firmware. It’s known for its reliability and “just works” ability. It’s antiquated by today's standards with the ports being limited to 100GB speeds and support for only WiFi B and G.</p>

<p>One of the most common uses of technology now is home security. A quick look online shows no shortage of IP camera and surveillance systems. I had been looking for surveillance software to run on my Mac that would let me record the nine plus IP cameras I have. </p>

<p>I’ve always been fascinated by how long computer equipment can run without needing to be rebooted. I current have one very old PC running Windows 2000 (circa 1999) that has not been rebooted in over 700 days or about two years that is doing some small tasks.</p>

<p>Synology is well known for their NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. Over the past week I’ve had the chance to review a NAS that Synology is going to be selling packaged with two IP cameras. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS416j" rel="noopener noreferrer">Synology DS416j </a>will be packaged with two Amcrest Pro/HD cameras and four Seagate Ironwolf hard drives. They are packaging and promoting this as an entry level home security camera system.  </p>