Jun 16, 2013 By Eric Schulze 4 min read

Invariably, somebody will occasionally ask me about the things I don’t know. While researching, I found this weird little site with a plethora of quaint British sayings at http://www.england.org.za/sayings-and-expressions.php#.UbctZeAbaoU. It looks like a pretty handy reference.

On to last week’s Apple conference. The thing that interested me the most was the announcement of IOS7, the new operating system for iPhones and iPads. New features are “swipes” with your fingers to change between programs, and a control center will let you play music or adjust settings.

The camera will have new settings like filters and panoramic setup, which is past due. Other apps provide fantastic extras to the already great camera, but the stock stuff was lackluster photos that you’ve taken can be organized into “moments” or “collections.”

There will be something called Airdrop that lets you provide access to other friends with IOS7 with one tap. Finally, IOS7 will make updates of apps, etc. automatic.

Apple will also have an update to the current Mountain Lion operating system on desktops and laptops that will be called Mavericks 10.9. At last, they’ve stopped naming their operating systems after big cats.

Along with the many new features on Mavericks, there will be a Safari browser with more integration with social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc. and a new iCloud keychain that will store passwords, credit cards and Wi-Fi network login across all your devices.

There will be a new Maps app, and Apple also announced iTunes Radio, a streaming music service that will be built into iTunes on not only IOS devices but also Macs, PC’s and Apple TV. iTunes Radio will be free, but with ads. For $25, you can buy iTunes Match, which will make it ad-free.

What disappointed me personally was, despite all the news about IOS7, they have only just released the demo form of it, so it’s obviously not ready to go yet. I hope that when it does, my many applications that I’ve bought will all work seamlessly with it. I’m not keeping my fingers crossed too tightly over that.

I also saw an incredible news article recently. The Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire 28-person photography staff. In their place, reporters are being given mandatory training in using their iPhones to take pictures.

According to that paper, “The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly, and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers and, as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network.”

As the reporter put in his article (and I heartily agree with), while the iPhone5 camera is a great camera, it is by no means a fancy DSLR camera. I have my doubts as to whether this whole thing will work.

While surfing on one of the Facebook Blackburn, Lancs pages last week, I saw somebody posting about this really good book about Blackburn from the 1900’s that contains lots of pics. Although it’s out of print, this lady said there were some on eBay, so I did a quick search and found a place that shipped overseas. I bought it with PayPal and it should be here in July.

Also, my friend Paul King from Blackburn sent me a package with 2 DVD’s of another film about Blackburn plus 2 more of him and his wife. They are motorcycle fanatics riding around the area I knew so well.

When Paul first offered to send these, I was concerned that the DVD’s would not play in a US player, as the films are coded differently. Thankfully, they played easily and I’ve been watching them off and on since their arrival.

Finally, I saw a feature on CNN last week about binge viewing. This appears to be the latest fad in watching TV. Binge viewing is when you watch an entire season of a TV program, sometimes at one sitting (or viewing).

I told Paulette my wife that she and my mother-in-law are binge viewers. I am not entirely innocent. We watched the first season of the TV series Coppers on Netflix in a few days and now I have to wait for the next season to begin on June 23.

With that sad thought, I’ll bid my leave of you until next week. Ta tah, all.