appleJAC Users Group

President's Corner-March 2019

President's News- March 2019

 

Get more out of Siri on all your Apple devices!

by Joe Kissell,Publisher, Take Control Books Dear MUG member,

In our customer survey last summer, when we asked which Apple software products people would most like to read about, Siri got the most votes. In keeping with our theme of giving you what you’ve asked for, I’m delighted to announce our latest book, Take Control of Siri by former Macworld editor Scholle McFarland! This book is the definitive guide to Apple’s voice-controlled digital assistant across all platforms—iOS, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and even HomePod. If you own any Apple device with Siri support, this book will tell you everything you need to know about being more productive, saving time and effort, and having fun with Siri. And you may be surprised at how powerful Siri has become since its early days!

 

This book is a terrific resource. I’ve been using Siri pretty much since day one—I even gave presentations on it at Macworld/iWorld back in 2012 and 2013—but I learned quite a bit I didn’t know from this book. (I also relearned some things I’d forgotten!) As a result, I’ve started using Siri in ways that have helped me reduce my overall stress level. So whether you’re an old hand at Siri like me, or someone who has never tried it, you’ll find loads of useful advice, tips, and tricks. Here’s just a tiny sampling of what’s in this 138-page book:

● The numerous ways to activate Siri (by touch or by voice) ● How to personalize Siri by telling it about yourself, your contacts, and more ● How to use Siri with AirPods, wired earbuds, or third-party headphones—or in your car ● How to ask Siri about sports, math and conversions, time, food, movies, people, stocks, the weather, jokes, and random facts (including follow-up questions) ● How to control music (on any device, with or without an Apple Music subscription) ● Techniques for using Siri to get directions, set reminders and appointments, send messages and email, and take notes ● Ways to use Siri to search for files on your Mac ● What Siri can and can't do for you on an Apple TV or HomePod ● How to make and use Siri Shortcuts on an iOS device or Apple Watch ● Everything you need to know about your privacy where Siri is involved

In addition, Scholle has made a series of videos to go with the book, showing you exactly what happens as you use Siri. (Two are ready right now, and eight more will be available in the coming days.) You’ll get to see and hear how to make the most of Siri (as well as its sense of humor). If you’d like to get to know Siri better, you can:

Buy the book now for $10.49 with the 30% MUG discount   Get more information about what’s in the book

As always, you can download a free sample of the book from our website.

One more thing. This week we also shipped a minor update to Glenn Fleishman’s popular book Take Control of Your Apple ID, which now goes into more detail about two-factor authentication and addresses issues faced by Apple developers with more Apple IDs than devices to set up authentication codes on. If you have any questions or confusion about how your Apple ID works or how to solve problems with it, I hope you’ll check out this updated book.

P.S. If you’d like to explore our catalog with dozens of titles that help you take control of technology, you can click one of the thumbnails below. (That’s also the easiest way to add multiple books to your shopping cart at once.)

CES 2019: appleJAC Presentations

by Tom Piper

On February 5, 2019, I provided a variety of information to attendees at our monthly appleJAC meeting as a followup to my January 7-12, 2019, trip to the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV. If you missed this gathering, or would like to see the videos captured of the meeting, just click on the following links:

• First half (before break): https://www.facebook.com/appleJAC.org/videos/351315942375633/
• Second half (after break): https://www.facebook.com/appleJAC.org/videos/2220203394919858/

All of the 331 pictures and 19 videos depicted during my slideshow presentation (before the break), can be viewed (with sound on the videos) by clicking on this link: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0aGIcgc2GIe2I3.

In addition, most of the gadgets brought back from CES were shown during the second half of the meeting, as well as predictions of what has yet to come. The PDF slideshow illustrating these items can be downloaded and viewed by clicking here: Gadgets to Show.

To learn about other perspectives and views of CES 2019 by various news sources, I also provided these links:

• macrumors.com/roundup/ces-2019
• cnet.com/pictures/all-the-cool-new-gadgets
• iphonelife.com/best-ces-2019-award-winners
• iphonelife.com/best-new-ios-gadgets-you-can-buy

If you liked what you saw here, consider attending CES 2020 in Las Vegas next January 7-10, 2020.