After a long, long journey to marriage equality (that included an official mail-in survey of the entire nation showing over 60% approval), same-sex weddings have begun in Australia.
And in a nod to the idea that the best camera is the one you have on you, Apple has created a new ad featuring those most romantic of wedding moments - a couple's first dance - captured at LGBTQ weddings that were shot entirely on iPhone Xs.
Watch the very sweet spot, titled "First Dance," below.
• Steve Pena (above) plans to "walk like an Egyptian" this Halloween. I'd follow his Pharaoh...
• Both chambers of Congress have now unanimously condemned Chechnya for anti-LGBTQ violence as President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson remain silent.
• In related news, Russia and Egypt are fighting to remove language in Principal 6 of the Olympic Charter which calls for banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Both countries have been involved in anti-LGBTQ actions in past months.
• Marques Brownlee unboxes the new iPhone X - check out his thoughts below. Hubby Michael and I have both ordered the X as we haven't upgraded our iPhones in years.
• While the majority of news outlets were covering yesterday's indictments of three Trump campaign officials, several Fox News employees were embarrassed by their network's obvious lack of coverage. At one point on Monday morning, Fox News was actually taking time to report on a hamburger emoji - "Look, the cheese is under the burger!!!"
• A new study indicates gay men (and straight women) are twice as likely to be attracted to guys with the same eye color as their father due to "sexual imprinting." I do not fall into that category as my father had stunning ice blue eyes, but my hunky hubby Michael has beautiful brown eyes.
• No trick, total treat from 7-time Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton as she drops her new single, "Deadwood," from her forthcoming album, Sex and Cigarettes, scheduled for a January release.
• One more Halloween post: "Super" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada arrived at work today dressed as "Clark Kent." #WinnerWinnerWinner
Justin Trudeau arrived for House duties today dressed as Clark Kent for Halloween. (via CBC News) pic.twitter.com/iCjUxVov73
Remember just a couple of years ago when "bigger" was the new trend in cell phones?
Put that in reverse because "smaller" is now the new "big."
This morning Apple announced two new products - the 4 inch iPhone SE and a 9.7 inch iPad Pro - which are both smaller editions of previous Apple toys.
Though the iPhone SE looks like the iPhone 5S, its internals have been completely overhauled to keep up with modern-day performance. The iPhone SE will be available in a 16GB ($399) version and 64GB ($499) version. It'll be available in over 110 countries by the end of May.
Apple also shared the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro during its press event in Cupertino today, which seems to boast many of the same specs as its 12.9-inch counterpart. The new tablet will be available March 31.
At 10:30am today, my new iPhone 6s arrived at my door. Whoo-hoo!
I haven't upgraded my phone in years, and with the latest revision led me to indulge.
But I hate standing in lines, and I'd never stand in one of those "hours long Apple Store" kind of lines. A week ago, I pre-ordered my phone at an AT&T store, and here it is! Life is good.
Some folks still feel the need to do the line thing. But ,one woman found a way to "virtually" stand in line - with a robot taking her place.
In the smartest time management yet seen in an iPhone line, Lucy Kelly has outsourced the job to a telepresence robot, also called Lucy. The robot, created by Californian company Double Robotics, is an iPad attached to a Segway-type device that allows a person to be somewhat physically present despite not being there.
The robot arrived to take the position of fourth-in-line at the flagship Apple Store on George Street at 5 a.m. Thursday, with Kelly communicating through it from 6 a.m. It is believed to be the first time a robot has lined up and purchased an iPhone.
Kelly is meanwhile chilling in the warmth of her office, while her robot counterpart stands in the wind and rain.
Kelly says there is no jealousy from those diehard fans who have been freezing through the nights. "Everyone thinks it is pretty cool, they were happy to let a robot go ahead," she said.
Reuters is reporting that Apple's newest iPhone - iPhone 6 - sold over 10 million units worldwide this past weekend, the first weekend of it's availability.
Last year's iPhone 5S and 5C versions sold 9 million units in it's first week, which included sales in China. This past weekend's sales did not include China due to regulatory delays.
Police in New Haven, Connecticut report that fights broke out among customers who were apparently trying to buy as many iPhones as possible to resell them at a significant mark-up in China.
A brawl broke out at the Apple Store in Pasadena after a man "hired" approximately 70-80 homeless folks to wait in line overnight for vouchers to be able to buy new iPhones that he could then sell for more than retail.
Problem was after buying a bag full of phones he stiffed the homeless folks outside. Didn't take long for things to escalate:
Two people were already arrested for fighting in the long line outside the Pasadena store before dozens of people hired from a nearby homeless shelter attacked a man who refused to pay them for their hours-long wait, cops said. “He was cheating us,” Calvin Windell Pleasant told the Los Angeles Times.
The destitute group said they were driven to the Colorado Blvd. store by vans from a Los Angeles shelter, where a man promised $40 each for them to wait in line for the coveted smartphones. But when the doors opened, the businessman only managed to buy a handful of phones before the store ordered him out and deemed the rest of his vouchers useless. And when he refused to pay the rest of the 70 to 80 people he hired to stand in the line, the furious group pounced.
The new iPhone 5S hits stores today and like years past, the Apple faithful are out in droves to get the new toy.
Mashable reports there were 1,417 people in line for the launch at the flagship store as of 8 a.m. ET Friday. According to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, that is the longest the line ever at the flagship store for an iPhone launch — beating the line for the iPhone 4 — and it marks an 83% increase from the number of people who waited in line there for the iPhone 5.
I'm an Apple fan myself. Definitely. I like the software; like the computers; like the iPhone. But you won't catch me lining up to wait hours to pay hundreds of dollars.
I'm currently up for an upgrade from my iPhone 4S but I'll wait a few weeks for the party to die down before I head down to get a new phone.
Word is the new "gold" (or "champagne") iPhone 5S is in very, very short supply. Apparently these are uber-popular. Funny thing is, I kinda thought it was tacky looking. I'm a more sedate, silver/grey phone kind of guy.
I am excited about getting a phone that takes better pics as my current 4S has never done well by me in the picture department. The new iPhone features an improved camera and TWO flashes to help skin tones in low light situations.
I'm currently on a slow learning curve having downloaded the new IOS 7 operating system. It comes included in the new iPhones but is available for older phones also. I'm seeing some new things I like, but not big on having to learn new things. Is that me getting older?
Anyway - you can stop by your nearest Apple store or order online. If you go to a physical store you can also trade in your old iPhone for credit towards a new one. BUT you have to trade it in and get the new phone. No "credit for something in the future." Walk out with a new iPhone and 2 year contract or no trade credit.
Apple today announced iPhone 4S, the most amazing iPhone yet, packed with new features like Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an 8MP camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. iPhone 4S also ships with iOS 5 — the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, with over 200 new features — and iCloud. Read more by clicking here.
Apple also today announced that iCloud — a breakthrough set of free cloud services that includes iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, and Documents in the Cloud — will be available on October 12. iCloud stores your music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars, documents, and more, keeping them up to date across all your devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly. Read more by clicking here.
Among the things announced that sound very cool are: the personal assistant software on the new iPhone "Siri" that through voice commands can send texts, set reminders, dial calls for you and a host of other things; and the iCloud actually looks very useful in that anything you download from iTunes gets sent automatically to all your Apple devices - no more manual syncing. Also, any photos you take with your iPhone get sent to your other Apple items.
Click the links and explore. I love this kind of stuff.
