MVCUG Meeting Notes
January 8, 2022
We started the new year off with a rousing session filled with information and tips for our attending members, of which there was a handful. If you missed the in-person meeting, check out the video that will be posted as soon as John B. gets it edited. The main topic for January was “Taming Streaming Services”. But before we got to that, we had some regular segments to go through, as usual.
If you’re reading this any place other than the group website, please visit us there to see past meeting notes, helpful links, how to contact club officers, and a schedule of future meeting topics.
Additionally, we have a Facebook page and a members-only resource website
This Month’s Sponsors
Carolyn the Candle Lady
This Month’s first sponsor is Carolyn McLain and Mia Bella’s Candles. Mia Bella’s Winter candle scents are still available from Carolyn, the candle lady. Check out her online shop at Love Local Shop Local, text or call her at (520) 249–0674, or email her at candle-lady@cox.net to place your order. Thanks, Carolyn, for being a sponsor of MVCUG.
JB Photo & Video
Our second sponsor, JB Photo and Video, LLC, , has been serving Sierra Vista proudly since 1992 with a full array of photographic and video services that include, but are not limited to; weddings, ceremonial services, portraits, school portraits, school portrait redoes, real estate, drone, and legal, to name a few. Always competitively priced, with discounts for MVCUG members. Contact John Buono at (520) 249-2874 or john@jbphotonvideo.com to schedule your photographic needs. Our thanks to JB Photo & Video for sponsoring MVCUG.
MVCUG News
The Regular Stuff
We didn’t have a round of introductions but the good news is that we did finally get help on figuring out how to lower the projection screen far enough so as not to have the bottom third of the presentation on the whiteboard. The rest of MVCUG business was the same as we’ve come to expect. Finishing up this segment was a brief overview of what’s to come in the next three months’ meetings
Timely Tech Topics
There were a couple of items of note that John shared with the assembled this month.
Apple goes over 3 trillion (market cap)
On January 3, 2022, Apple made financial history when their stock market value cap briefly exceeded $3 trillion. They are the first U.S. corporation to do so but will not be the only one as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are not far behind. CNBC as well as many other news outlets covered the story.
Rumors about Apple’s AR/VR headset are hot and heavy
The saying goes that there isn’t a real Apple product until it’s announced to the world at one of Apple’s events. But the rumors are strongly pointing to a new AR/VR device from Apple being announced this year, possibly at WWDC in June. Here’s Macworld’s take on the rumorssurrounding Apple’s (possible) upcoming device announcement. The Verge thinks it may not happen until 2023
Tips and Favorites
macOS: Returning the legacy interface to Safari 15
With the rollout of Safari 15 for macOS Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey, Apple introduced a new interface that compacts the control bar, tab bar, and search/address field into a single row at the top of the window. That same area may also be colored with the predominant or background color of the website being viewed. This new look garnered some consternation after it was announced at WWDC 2021. The resulting push back in the tech community prompted Apple to build in controls in Safari’s preferences to turn off the new interface and return to how Safari 14 looks and works. In this month’s macOS tip, Barry shows you how to do that. You can read Apple’s support document on changing Tab preferences in Safari here
.macOS Bonus Tip: Getting a Photographic Desktop Wallpaper for Monterey
There weren’t any questions about how the Safari tip works, but there was a question about where Barry got the photo of the Lone Cypress on Monterey Bay he uses as his Desktop wallpaper image. He shared the story and a bonus tip to answer that question
- 512 Pixels
- Vyncher (where you can get the lone cypress images)
- RelayFM Podcast Network
Windows: Control which apps start on boot
Mike got up and talked us through how to find the controls for which apps run at startup on Windows 10. Unfortunately, he did not do a demo, but here are links to PC Magazine’s article, How to Stop Windows 10 Apps From Launching at Startupand Microsoft’s support document on how to add an app to run automatically at startup in Windows 10
Mike also again shared with us his favorite site and service to get desktop wallpaper images for Windows, Digital Blasphemy (the creator, Ryan Bliss, also provides wallpaper for macOS and mobile devices).
Apple Devices (iOS, iPadOS & macOS): Tags, the road to glory
John shared his love and excitement for Apple’s tagging feature that now spans across devices in their ecosphere that are logged into the same Apple ID. Check out this MacRumors article, How to Use Tags to Organize Files and Folders in macOS
Computer Lexicon Term of the Month
Streamed Video
Video streaming is a continuous transmission of video files from a server to a client. Video streaming enables users to view videos online without having to download them. See more at TechTarget.com
Taming Streaming Services
John started us out by comparing streaming TV services to Cable and Satellite TV. There are certainly some pros and cons on both sides, but the reality is that more and more people are switching to streaming video, so it’s important to know what the future may be bringing to us all.
There have been previous MVCUG meetings where the focus was on the hardware options for streaming TV video, so this time it was almost all about the software and the services. For all the details, you’re encouraged to watch the recorded video of the presentation once John has posted it. There will be a link on the MVCUG website, on our Facebook page, and in an email sent to current members.
To whet your curiosity while we wait for the meeting video, here is a list of links to services mentioned in John’s presentation as well as some of his favorite shows he is watching.
Services
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime Video (part of an Amazon Prime subscription)
- Disney+
- Apple TV+
- YouTube
- HBO Max
- Paramont+ (CBS)
- Hulu
- Peacock (NBC)
- Plex
What John’s Watching
- Tasting History with Max Miller on YouTube
- The Last Kingdom on Netflix
- NCIS on Paramont+ (a week after original broadcast)
- The Mandalorian (Star Wars) on Disney+
- The Book of Boba Fett (Star Wars) on Disney+
- All the new Marvel series (Hawkeye on Disney+, WandaVision, Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
See You Next Month
That’s a wrap on the January meeting’s notes and links. Check out our Facebook page and watch our website for additional content. See you on Saturday, February 12 when we will learn about “Using your Digital Wallet”.
Barry
Barry “Bazza” Midgorden
Vice President (macOS)
Mountain View Computer Users Group
Sierra Vista, Arizona