Steve Sande

<p>Of all of the various writing and blogging tools for the Mac, one of my perennial favorites is Desk by John Saddington. The app provides a truly minimal interface that doesn't get between a writer and a blank piece of virtual paper, and for WordPress bloggers it's one of the easiest ways to write and publish posts. <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/desk-3-writing-blogging-notes/id1179399529?mt=12" rel="noopener noreferrer">Desk 3.0 is now availabl</a><a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/desk-3-writing-blogging-notes/id1179399529?mt=12" rel="noopener noreferrer">e</a>, designed especially for macOS Sierra with better tools for managing stories.</p>

<p>Opera is an acquired taste, and new operas -- those written in the past fifty years or so -- are sometimes hard to swallow. But if music samples from next year's premiere production of the Santa Fe (NM) Opera's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.santafeopera.org/operas-and-ticketing/the-revolution-of-steve-jobs" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs</em></a> are any indication, this new opera about the late Apple founder and CEO's personal journey to spiritual enlightenment might become a standard for opera companies around the world.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Apps, hackers, tech summits and Apple Pay all make an appearance in today's Apple World Today News Update Podcast:</p><ul><li>TapTapTap releases Camera+ 9, turning the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus into amazing photographic tools</li><li>Yahoo! You've been hacked!</li><li>President-elect Donald Trump held his tech summit today, and asked Tim Cook and Elon Musk to stay after class...</li><li>You can now fly the friendly skies and more with Apple Pay.</li></ul>

<p>Back in October I wrote a review of <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/10/12/photolemur-beta-for-mac-coming-next-week-ai-photo-enhancement-that-will-amaze-you" rel="noopener noreferrer">Photolemur</a>, a photo-enhancement app that was in beta at the time. Photolemur uses artificial intelligence to analyze photos, then apply the best possible enhancements to them automatically in order to make them more attractive. I've used the app a lot since that point, and while it doesn't always provide the desired results, more often than not it sparks up so-so photos and makes them look a lot better. The app is just about out of beta, and you have until December 18 to <a target="_blank" href="https://a.paddle.com/click?said=91&aaid=516&link_id=85&chk=561b842a9a90427ddcc29ad3c47f5fc8&redir=aHR0cHM6Ly9waG90b2xlbXVyLmNvbS9wcmVvcmRlcg==" rel="noopener noreferrer">pre-order Photolemur at 63% off the regular price</a>. </p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">As our iPhone cameras get more sophisticated, there’s more of a need to have a better way to hold the iPhone steady for good photos. <a href="http://ikmultimedia.com">IK Multimedia</a> has just released the <a href="http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iklipgrippro/">iKlip Grip Pro</a> ($59.99), a multifunction iPhone stand that can help photographers get the perfect picture every time</p>

<p>When it comes to security, Macs are pretty safe. But new sophisticated malware can sneak in at any time and wreak havoc on your secure little world. It's even worse if you have a Windows virtual machine running, as that machine is not only more susceptible to malware and viruses, but many folks don't even think about protecting virtual machines. We have just the solution: <a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/mac-internet-security-x9?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=mac-internet-security-x9_121416&utm_term=scsf-89946" rel="noopener noreferrer">Intego Mac Internet Security X9 for just $24.99.</a></p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Steve's back in the saddle again, which means that you'll get your AWT News Update each and every day. Today's headlines:</p><ul><li>AirPods go on sale, but quickly move to back-ordered status...</li><li>Apple fixed a battery life issue on the new MacBook Pro by removing the "time remaining" indicator</li><li>Don't use third-party batteries or power adapters -- that's the word on Apple's support website as a number of unsafe counterfeits have hit the market</li><li>We tell you how to get a screenshot of the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar</li></ul>

<p>Gazelle's a great place to sell your old gear and get money for it, all hassle-free. It's also a wonderful location for buying pre-owned gear at good prices. Well, the company is making an offer from now through Christmas Day -- <a target="_blank" href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=492845&U=1170474&M=45652&urllink=" rel="noopener noreferrer">sell them your old MacBook</a> worth more than $100 and they'll throw in an addition $25 on top of what they offer you for the device.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Steve's back from his longest vacation ever...and it turns out that the cruise ship he was on had faulty satellite internet equipment so he wasn't able to do any podcast uploads. Well, we're back to work and here's a sampling of what we have to talk about:</p><ul style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px"><li>How the iCloud Calendar spam "Report Junk" link works</li><li>Scottsdale, Arizona may be the future home of a new Apple flagship store</li><li>Apple may be investing up to $1 billion in a SoftBank emerging technology fund</li></ul>

<p>It's back, by popular demand! Our most popular deal in the AWT Deals Shop has always been this <a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/3-pack-10-foot-lightning-cable-for-iphone-5-6-6s-6?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=3-pack-10-foot-lightning-cable-for-iphone-5-6-6s-6_121216&utm_term=scsf-89909" rel="noopener noreferrer">3-pack of 10-foot MFi-certified Lightning Cables for just $21.99</a>, and we've got 'em for you again.</p>

<p>Love him or hate him, you have to admit that President-elect Donald Trump has wasted no time in making his cabinet picks and moving on stimulating the economy. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.recode.net/2016/12/10/13908492/trump-tech-summit-tim-cook-apple-larry-page-google-sheryl-sandberg-facebook-nadella-microsoft" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trump has scheduled a "tech summit" at Trump Tower in Manhattan this Wednesday with numerous tech leaders</a> to discuss how the administration can work to reform the corporate tax code, get better trade deals set up with other countries, and reduce regulation. Among the expected attendees? Apple CEO Tim Cook.</p>

<p>Anyone planning on making cards, calendars or books for friends and family through the Mac Photos app should plan on getting orders in soon, as Apple has some deadlines looming if you want to get those product by Christmas. Reader Desmond Fuller sent an email to Apple World Today telling us exactly when those deadlines are. </p>

<p>Team AWT members -- just wanted to let you know that we'll be back to our usual programming in the next week. What I found early in my trip is that the internet service on the ship was slow -- not just slow, but so slow that doing things like uploading a podcast was impossible. </p><p>Fortunately, the time off has given me a lot of inspiration for special things to add to the Team AWT program to help build our membership. Expect to see some changes in early 2016! </p>

<p>Part of a full backup plan for your Apple devices includes making sure that all of your iPhones and iPads are fully backed up each and every day. Apple makes this simple in iOS through iCloud Backup, but it's very easy -- especially with multiple devices -- to run out of iCloud space and need to upgrade your storage plan. iDrive provides online backups for any type of device (including Macs) and with this Apple World Today deal, you can get <a href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/a-lifetime-of-unlimited-mobile-backup-from-idrive?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=a-lifetime-of-unlimited-mobile-backup-from-idrive_120916&utm_term=scsf-89981"><strong>a lifetime of unlimited mobile backups for just $25</strong></a>.   </p>

<p>When we featured the <a href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/3-outlet-surge-protector-power-strip-with-4-smart-usb-charging-ports?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=3-outlet-surge-protector-power-strip-with-4-smart-usb-charging-ports_120716&utm_term=scsf-89945"><strong>Kinkoo 3 outlet/4 USB port surge protecting power strip</strong></a> in the Apple World Today Deals Shop a few weeks ago, little did we know just how popular it would be! So many of our readers ended up purchasing these very useful power strips that we've brought it back for any of you who missed the deal.   </p>