iSH Linux Shell App Releases for iOS and iPadOS

From isH on Twitter

Beta full? Release never full

When iSH hit the TestFlight scene, it was welcomed by developers and programmers across the internet for giving the iPad a command line interface, something Apple has resisted on iOS. Despite the positive buzz, no one though this would get past App Review, which Casey Liss phrased quite correctly on Twitter upon the app’s release in the App Store.

I’m not a command line wizard by any stretch, but I know enough to be dangerous. When it was in beta, I enjoyed playing around with iSH and I’m glad that it can now reach a larger audience.

Updates to BBEdit and Reeder

BBEdit and Reeder are two apps that I use everyday, and both received significant updates this week.

Bare Bone Software debuted BBEdit 13.5 this week to include features that ensure that one of the Mac’s most venerable apps will make the step into the platform’s Apple Silicon era. BBEdit is something that I don’t use to its full potential, but rather an aspirational purchase, which has worked to some degree. In my time using BBEdit, I learned Markdown and I starting tinkering with regular expressions, and for that, BBEdit has been a great tool. For people who want to do what I did with Markdown, version 13.5 incorporates some features that help Markdown novices, something that would have been easier than tabbing between a text window and John Gruber’s Markdown reference page as I did when I was learning the ropes.

Developer Sylvio Rizzi also released Reeder 5 for iOS and macOS today to take advantage of new OS features from either platform. The iOS version now has support for widgets in iOS 14, which now has a prominent place in my Today view screen. The macOS version is now compatible with Apple Silicon, and its new app icon adopts the styl of macOS Big Sur. There are a lot of RSS clients for Apple platforms, but I always find myself going back to Reeder. Using InoReader as the back-end service to manage my subscriptions, I’ve yet to find a RSS client I like as much as Reeder.

I’m excited to see Mac apps get attention as we slowly but surely near the release of Big Sur. I’m sure there are more app updates in the pipeline, and I am, as the kids say, here for it.

Copycats highlights App Store issues

From John Gruber:

First, how in the world did this app get approved with this name and with this icon? And how is it still there? The ripoff version is now popular enough to be ranked #7 on the Entertainment list. Where’s the App Store bunco squad? This wouldn’t even be a hard case to crack. It wouldn’t be more obvious that this app is a ripoff if its name were “Widgetsmith – Ripoff Version”. Apple keeps telling us how great the App Store is, but ripoffs like this remain commonplace.

Gruber absolutely nails it. For as much as Apple touted the importance of controlling its own app platform, blatant copycats of apps like Widgetsmith happen far too often. Part of Apple’s agreement with the developers is that the will handle the legitimate distribution of apps, but when this happens, it makes developers wonder aloud if the price they pay too Apple is too steep for what they get in return.

Jason Snell launches 20 Macs for 2020

From Six Colors:

With this year marking the turn of decades (in some particularly disastrous ways, as it turns out), I decided to construct a list of the 20 most notable Macs in history. Over the next 20 weeks, I’ll post essays, podcasts, and videos about each of them, counting down to number one.

I wrote earlier in the year about enjoying Stephen Hackett’s Mac Madness bracket, and this appears to be in a similar vein. Snell will be offering a podcast version in cooperation with Relay FM and a video version with Stephen Hackett’s 512 Pixels on YouTube.

The initial offering, on the topic of the PowerMac G5, is an interesting read, and if it is any indication of what is to come over the next twenty weeks, there should be some interesting content to be consumed for Mac nerds like myself.

Being a guest on Content Content with Ed Marsh

From Ed Marsh:

Michael Miller, an Indianapolis, IN-based technical writer, shares what it’s like to be new to the field, his passion for it, the struggles he faces, his goals, and more.

I had the pleasure of being a guest on Ed Marsh’s Content Content podcast a while back. I spoke about the challenges of being an early career technical communication professional and about where I want to go in the future. Listen to this and the rest of Ed’s back catalogue!

Jimmie Johnson to miss Brickyard 400 after COVID-19 diagnosis

From Hendrick Motorsports

This afternoon, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson tested positive for COVID-19. He will miss Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will not return to competition until being cleared by a physician.

Johnson, 44, has not experienced symptoms of COVID-19. He was tested upon learning this morning that his wife, Chandra, tested positive after experiencing allergy-like symptoms.

In Johnson’s absence, Justin Allgaier will drive the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday at Indianapolis.

Johnson is in his final season as a full-time NASCAR driver, and it’s devastating that he has to miss the Brickyard 400, one of the races where he has had the most success. Maybe more disappointing to me as an IndyCar fan is that Johnson will miss the IndyCar test with Chip Ganassi racing that was scheduled for Tuesday.

Watchmen free to watch this weekend

From HBO on Twitter

Watchmen begins in Tulsa, 1921 and explores the legacy of systemic racism in America. We’re proud to announce @HBO will make all nine episodes available for free this weekend on http://HBO.com and On Demand, and will air a marathon of the series tomorrow at 1PM ET.

I didn’t watch HBO’s Watchmen until it was available on iTunes, and if it weren’t for the finale of The Good Place, it would be the best TV I watched this year. I do recommend, though, reading (or re-reading) Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s original Watchmen graphic novel from 1986. Being fresh on the lore made my viewing so much better.