Episode description

TOPIC: Surface Tension.

This week, Dan and Merlin discuss names of cities in Florida, wireless neckbands, elliptical bikes, chore systems (and parental withholding), iOS battery life, canny Mac laptop battery monitoring, how battery cycles work, Todd, and things you already know (unless you don't already know them).

Two pretty good YouTube channels are recommended.

Your hosts talk about that weird thing where iOS throws up a password pop-up, including some recent bad news on how it might be exploited. Gross.

There's also some exciting news about possible Brand Synergies.

Things wrap with responding to listener questions about smart home location woes and choosing a VPN.

Murrrrrrph!

Links for this episode:

• Wireless neckband allows first voiceless phone call - YouTube
  Black Widow Spider vs. ScorpionBeanMeister22Recommended for you
• EverythingApplePro - YouTube
  
• What we talk about when we talk about talking: The CIA's guide to semantics
  
• Philips Hue Labs - Multi user geofencing
  
• iOS 11 Review! Should You Update? - YouTube
  
• Why We Miss Objects That Are Right in Front of Us - The New York Times
  
• iOS Privacy: steal.password - Easily get the user's Apple ID password, just by asking — Felix Krause
  
• Mac Power Users #399: Workflows with Merlin Mann - Relay FM
  This week for episode 399 our original workflow guest, Merlin Mann, returns to share how he's using his iPad(s), Mac, and that "voice stuff".
• Taintsville, Florida - Wikipedia
  
• TED-Ed - YouTube - YouTube
  
• Brainstorm (1983) - IMDb
  
• FruitJuice -- battery maintenance app for Apple Mac laptop computers. —
  
• coconutBattery 3.6.4 - by coconut-flavour.com
  
• Determining battery cycle count for Mac notebooks - Apple Support
  
• Twitterrific: Making Twitter Extra Terrific
  The Twitter app for people who actually use Twitter. Now all-new for macOS.
• Which VPN Services Keep You Anonymous in 2017? - TorrentFreak
  VPN services have become an important tool to counter the growing threat of Internet surveillance. Encrypting one's traffic through a VPN connection helps to keep online communications private, but is your VPN truly anonymous? We take a look at the logging policies of dozens of top VPN providers.
• Tunnel Your Internet Traffic Through an OpenVPN Server
  
• 2GB Ram for $10/mo - Linode
  
• How to connect to Synology's VPN Server using a Windows PC or Mac | Synology Inc.
  
• Merlin Mann - Worst Website Ever - (SXSW 2008)
  
• 538520.jpg 640×480 pixels
  

• ZipRecruiter (Visit ziprecruiter.com/backtowork to post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE).

• RXBAR (For 25% off your first order, visit rxbar.com/backtowork and enter promo code BACKTOWORK at checkout.)