MacVoices #21247: The Top Stories of 2021 with Ken Ray (1) Ken Ray of macOSKen helps us take a look at some of the top Apple and tech-related stories of 2021. Ken and Chuck start out with the obvious choice: COVID-19 and what it meant for Apple at all levels. Then, they each pick an “imaginary” product that impacted things this year. That discussion starts with Apple Car and continues with the enthusiasm over the metaverse concept. (Part 1)

MacVoices #21246: MacVoices Update - 2021-12 In the final Update for 2021, Chuck talks about his decision not to attend CES in person, and how that will affect this year’s CES coverage. Then, he expresses his appreciation to everyone associated with MacVoices in any fashion and  reveals a new Patreon benefit and how it expands access to the MacVoices Slack. The update wraps up with comments about MacVoices After Dark, MacVoices Magazine, and the month’s Support Report.

MacVoices #21244: MacVoices Live! - Holiday Party - Privacy, Security, AI, and Compromises (2) The MacVoices Live! Holiday Party continues as David Ginsburg, Frank Petrie, Jeff Gamet, Kelly Guimont and Jim Rea are joined by Mark Fuccio and Brittany Smith to continue the discussion of digital identification and the intersection of privacy, convenience, and tracking. How much do we give up to get what want in the way of services, and how much inconvenience are we willing to endure to maintain privacy? Where does AI play into this? The discussion gets deep. (Part 2) 

MacVoices #21243: MacVoices Live! - Holiday Party - Donuts, Digital Drivers Licenses, Tracking (1) As the holidays close in, the MacVoices Live! crew got together for an online holiday party. David Ginsburg, Frank Petrie, Jeff Gamet, Kelly Guimont and Jim Rea were the first to arrive, and a discussion that started with celebrity donuts quickly shifted to the announcement of support for digital drivers licenses, online tracking, and where the two might intersect. (Part 1) 

MacVoices #21240: MacVoices Holiday Gift Guide #6 Josh Centers weighs in with a different kind of Gift Guide pick, sharing some of his personal tips and tricks for acquiring the much-sought-after PlayStation 5 and Xbox gaming consoles. Find out what Twitter accounts to follow, what YouTube alerts to set, how to avoid scams, and one of Josh’s tricks to help you get what you want when you want it.

MacVoices #21239: MacVoices Live! - More Log4Shell, Apple Approaching $1 Trillion, Elon Musk (3) The MacVoices Live! panel of Frank Petrie, David Ginsburg, Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, Jim Rea, Brittany Smith, Warren Sklar, Kelly Guimont, and Mark Fuccio wrap the Log4Shell discussion, touch on Apple approaching a $3 trillion (with a “T”) market cap, and whether the analysts really get it. Finally, some interesting commentary on Elon Musk as Time’s Person of the Year concludes the session. (Part 3)

MacVoices #21238: MacVoices Live! - More on Toyota’s Subscription Plan and the Log4Shell Exploit (2) The MacVoices Live! panel continues the discussion of Toyota implementing s remote-start subscription model, CarPlay, and self-driving vehicles. Then, Frank Petrie, David Ginsburg, Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, Jim Rea, Brittany Smith, Warren Sklar, Kelly Guimont, and Mark Fuccio turn their attention turns to the Log4Shell exploit, covering where it came from and what you can and can’t do about it. (Part 2) 

MacVoices #21237: MacVoices Live! - Toyota’s Remote Start Subscription Plan (1) An extra-large MacVoices Live! panel of Frank Petrie, David Ginsburg, Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, Jim Rea, Brittany Smith, Warren Sklar, Kelly Guimont and Mark Fuccio look hard at the tech-adjacent topic of Toyota implementing a subscription service for remote start on their vehicles. The panel examines the reasons behind the move, what options there might be, and the impact on a Toyota car-buying decision in the future. (Part 1)

MacVoices #21236: Terri Morgan and Chris Demiris of LumaTouch Bring Home ‘iPad App of the Year’ Terri Morgan and Chris Demiris of Luma Touch recently won Apple’s prestigious “iPad App of the Year” award for iPad video editing app LumaFusion. They talk about what the award means to them, how they found out, and why they credit Apple for providing the tools to build an amazing app. Terri and Chris also talk about how the pandemic has affected LumaTouch, and why they are happy to be able to provide an app that, among many other things, provides a tool to honor those lost.

MacVoices #21235: Gary Levitt of Future Moments On Secure Audio Project Collaboration Gary Levitt, Co-Founder of Future Moments, is back to discuss the enhancements to MicSwap that allow private and secure collaboration on any audio project, and especially music projects. Gary explains why that security is so important, how they go about accomplishing it, and gets a little geeky in explaining how the system works. We also cover some of the basics of MacSwap and MicSwap MultiTrack, and what else they are working on.

**MacVoices #21223: MacVoices Live - An Amazon Prime Video App and Apple Buying App Google Ads (2) Our MacVoices Live! panel of David Ginsburg, Brittany Smith, Warren Sklar, Jim Rea, Kelly Guimont, and Mark Fuccio examine Amazon’s release of a Prime Video app. Is it for your benefit or theirs? Then the panel starts a discussion of the implications of Apple purchasing Google ads for apps in the app store. Who does it benefit? Is the practice just good business, clickbait fodder, or both? (Part 2)