#*formatting only shows on desktop apparently damn

[munamania]

saur. yk that post that’s like Im not procrastinating anymore i’m just straight up not working how did i do this formatting on accident omg hey guys lol

[ellanainthetardis]

I was reading ch579 and I have a prompt! Haymitch is concerned about Peeta and Katniss so he does asks Effie for condoms and then she's all mad because why on Earth would he wants condoms for? (after MJ maybe?). She can go all the way to twelve to give the condoms to him too if you want to

There seems to be a problem with formating on mobile? I saw some of the words were stuck together… It is fine on desktop though so maybe check the ff link? [x]

Maybe One Day Hypothetically

Haymitch turned the page of his book, trying toignore the unusual agitation outside his house. The wedding dresses photoshoot– or whatever the Capitol was calling it – was in full swing over at Katniss’and there were a lot of staff crew members moving portable spotlights andwhat-nots, calling out to each other, laughing the mocking giggles Capitolslaughed or simply exploring the Village. He could hear them streets away.

He had made a conscious choice not to show up for it, unwilling to beroped into helping – and he would beroped into helping or, worse, into posing with the bride to be or somethingbecause that was how showbiz worked. Cinna would find him when he was ready ifthere was anything new to discuss.

He kept on reading, regularly bringing the cupof spiked herbal tea to his lips, and listening to the softer less aggravatingsounds of things being moved around in the house.

He might not have been sure about hiringHazelle, at first, but he was very sold now. Living in a clean house, havingclean laundry every day and not having to navigate around the health hazardsthat had been his kitchen and his bathrooms was a novelty he had gotten used tovery fast.

It was a bit awkward still, because they usedto be friends and now she was his housekeeper – hell, no, it was plain awkwardbecause they used to be friends and he had cut her off overnight like he hadcut everybody else off – but they were slowly finding their footing back. Hehad always liked Hazelle, she was steadfast, no-nonsense but she had a goodsense of humor.

“I’m done for today.” she declared, latemorning, walking in the living-room already wrapping her new red scarf aroundher neck. He had bought her the scarf as a gift – there had been a lot ofarguing on her part before she had accepted it but, as Haymitch had pointedout, she deserved a bonus for having unclogged his toilets. Saying he hadn’tbeen embarrassed by the state of the bathrooms was a stretch. She kept ontalking, snatching the empty mug he had placed on the floor next to hisarmchair to relocate it on the coffee table. “This goes in the sink when you’redone.” she ordered. He gave her a mock salute. “I’ve left you some soup fromSae’s on the stove for lunch. Don’t get excited, it’s rats.”

“My favorite.” he deadpanned, earning himself aquick amused smile.

It was a short one though. With the Hobdestroyed Sae was barely keeping her head above water. She kept on cooking whatshe could find at her own shack and people kept on trading her for a bowl ofsoup but times were hard.

“The laundry machine is almost done.” shecontinued. “It’d be great if youcould remember to put it in the dryer. And maybe put it away but I’m notholding my breath on that. Don’t leave it in the laundry machine, that will beenough to make me happy.”

“You’re cheap.” he accused.

“There’s also some warm bread on the counterand cheese buns in the fridge.” she added. “And I got you your liquor. It’s inthe cupboard.”

He had been running very low on his stock andtrafficking liquor with the new Peacekeepers around watching everyone was dangerous.He hated asking Hazelle to smuggle it in but his moves were more likely than not scrutinized.

He was also more likely to eat the bread andthe buns – that probably came from Peeta – than the soup he had only asked herto buy so Sae would have some cash. Unlike others, he didn’t trade at the Hob,he paid.

“Marry me.” he demanded.

Hazelle rolled her eyes, a retort already onher lips – probably something about how he was too much work or how he was toolate  or something along those lines –but a loud gasp interrupted the familiar banter.

He turned his head, a sinking feeling in hisstomach, to find Effie Trinket on the living-room threshold, flamboyant in hergreen and gold sequins dress, a heavy woolen hooded cloak thingy fastened witha gold brooch on her shoulders, carrying a rectangular glittery purse… Hewasn’t sure how he had missed her approach because she was, as usual, blindingand those green heeled boots of hers couldn’t be discreet.

“My apologies.” she immediately said, her facevisibly turning crimson under the powder covering her face. “I did not mean to interrupt or intrude. I didnot knock because… Well… I never do. I thought… My apologies. Please, go on.”

She whirled around and Haymitch sat there, hisheart hammering in his chest because…

“Calm down, Princess.” he called out, mockingand detached. At least that was what he aimed for. “Just joking.”

Hazelle had closed off as soon as she hadspotted the Capitol.  “I will see youtomorrow.”

“See you.” Haymitch muttered, his attention onEffie who had stopped her hasty retreat and was now hesitating in the corridor.

He didn’t miss the look of pure loathingHazelle tossed her when she passed her by or the disdainful way his escortsized her up and down. Effie jutted her chin up when she was done, a smallsatisfied sneer on her green painted lips. Clearly, she found herself prettier.

And she wasn’t wrong.

Although to be fair, Effie had been spoiled andpampered all her life when Hazelle had been forced to slave herself off to feedher children. They were around the same age, give or take a few years, butHazelle’s face was marked by hardship when Effie’s was smoothed with creams,lotions and make-up.

Once the front door closed softly behindHazelle, Effie’s jaw clenched again and she gave him a long hard look. Then sheturned around and started walking toward the kitchen. He had the very strongfeeling she was going to use the backdoor to go back to Katniss’ without havingto cross path with Hazelle.

He quickly hauled himself out of the armchair.

The good thing with her heels was that he wasalmost always guaranteed to catch up with her if he really tried.

“Effie.” he sighed, grabbing her wrist just asshe was about to round the table, her sight on the door.

“I do apologizefor intruding.” Effie snapped. “I willremember to knock next time. Since you never showed up to the photoshoot Iassumed you were expecting me to come to you and you usually never answer when I ring the doorbell orannounce my presence so… I thought you would be drunk, possibly. Why waste timewaiting in front of your door in the cold? Sillyof me. Not to mention rude. I will not take that sort of liberties again, Ipromise. I hope she did not think me too forward. I would hate not to be on good terms with your wife-to-be, that would makeworking together very awkward.”

“Effie, stop.” he insisted, giving her arm alittle shake. “Look around.”

She glared at him first, then she took a good look around and, if possible, her glarehardened when she realized just how clean everything was.

“Well.” she scowled. “Congratulation. You found yourself a girlfriend who can keep yourhouse clean. Perhaps I should ask her to give some pointers to the Avoxes atthe penthouse.”

He rolled his eyes. “I pay her for it.”

Effie pursed her lips and shrugged off his gripwith one strong tug. “I do not needto be made aware of your personal arrangements.”

“Since when?” he scoffed but she looked readyto bolt again so he lifted both hands in the air in a pacifying gesture. “She’sthe housekeeper, sweetheart. Just thehousekeeper.”

“Do you ask all the women in your employ tomarry you?” she retorted, opening her glittery purse and fishing tworectangular boxes out of it. She tossed them at him and he struggled to catchthem. “The condoms you wanted. I cannothelp but admit it was a big hintsomething was going on. I am not asstupid as I look.” She clicked her purse shut. “I would appreciate it if youmade an appearance at the photoshoot. It will make a nice aside piece for thedresses reveal, Caesar will like it.”

He grabbed her arm back before she could runoff, trapping her against the table with his body this time.

“Are you done being a bitch?” he grumbled. “The condoms are for Peeta.”

She shoved him but he refused to move. It hadbeen give or take three months since the last time he had seen her and he was damned if that was how it was going togo. It would be another three months before the Reaping and he wanted… Hewanted something to go on. A nicelittle hour locked in his bedroom would do the trick.

“The condoms are for Peeta.” she repeated, in amocking frosty voice. “Do you think me a fool?”

“I told him I’d get him some just in case.” he snapped.

She stopped trying to push him away to glare, her lips pursed. “Are you tellingme I left the children under your solesupervision for three little monthsand they are now having sex?”

“I’m telling you I ain’t taking any risk.” heretorted. “You should be happy.”

“Happy that you are lying to me?” she scoffed. “If I were to cross the street toPeeta’s house right now and ask him ifhe is expecting condoms, he would sayyes, then, wouldn’t he?”

That wasn’ta given.

“Look…” he sighed.

“You do notowe me anything.” she huffed. “You canadmit you have a girlfriend.”

“I don’t dogirlfriends.” he sneered, aggravated. “Why are you being so difficult?” He rolled his eyes. “Why amI even asking stupid questions…” He shook his head. “And you’re right. I don’t owe you anything so can you drop thejealousy act?”

He hadn’t thought she could purse her lipsharder but, apparently, she could. Worse,hurt was starting to replace anger in her blue eyes and she was clearly bitingdown on the inside of her cheek.

“I need to go back to the shoot.” she grittedthrough clenched teeth.

“You need to stop being an idiot.” he mumbled,running a hand in his hair, feeling awkward. “I ain’t screwing Hazelle. Like Isaid she’s just a friend.”

“I thought she was just your housekeeper.” she hissed. “Now she is a friend?”

“You’re twisting everything I say.” hecomplained.

“You asked me to bring condoms despite the factwe have not used any in ages and whenI come here I find you asking a woman to marry you.” she spat, her blue eyesfilling with tears.

And, alright, from that point of view…

He tentatively placed his hands on her hips.

“We ain’t a couple, sweetheart.” he remindedher slowly. He wanted to be firm, to be cruel maybe because that had alwaysbeen the best way to keep her at arm-length but… It had been a while since hehad truly wanted to keep her atarm-length. “No strings.”

Her face closed off and, a second later, Effiewas gone and the escort was back. A charming cheerful smile on her lips, eyesshining bright in excitement rather than sorrow, the perfect picture ofhappiness. A lovely doll on a shelf.

He hated it when she did that.

He wasn’t sure at which point she had startedbeing herself around him, when shehad started losing the mask for him but… He liked the real her, the woman hiding behind her armor of silk and powder… Theescort was ruthless and fake and while he understood the necessity of stickingto a public personal – his old drunk one wasn’t a favorite of hers either – hehated it when she turned it against him.

“Don’t do that.” he chided, cupping her cheek.

She tried to remove his hand.

“Please, be careful not to smudge my make-up.”she complained in an even voice, as if they hadn’t just been arguing. “I really needto go back now.”

“You ain’t a photographer and you ain’t astylist.” he countered. “They can do without you.”

“Still.” She shot him her most dazzling smile.“I would rather keep an eye onKatniss.”

He should have let her go. He should have lether go and jumped on the opportunity because in a few months, the rebellionwould start and she would be better off if she wasn’t closely associated withhim. It would be safer for her. Hell,it would be safer for both of them.

And yet…

“Didn’t sleep with her.” he insisted, retracingher cheekbone with his thumb, his fingers toying with the minty green wig onher head. Testing if it was glued on or if there was any chance she would takeit off… “Don’t sleep with anyone else.” he added with a wince after a momentbecause she didn’t look convinced. “You know that.”

“No, I do not.”she replied, in that sing-song bubbly tone he hated. “No matter. As you said,it is no concern of mine. No stringsit is. Besides, I have prospects tooin the city.”

He moved before her words even fullyregistered, getting into her space, pinningher against the table…

“Mine.”he growled.

If she was disturbed by the sudden brutal move,she didn’t let on. Her nails were digging hard into his arms. “Am I?”

He stole a kiss, not giving her a chance toprotest. Her mouth remained closed and unforgiving under his.

“Princess…” he scowled. The hand that was onher cheek slid to her nape and the one on her waist found her ass… “Stop beinga bitch.”

“Arethose condoms for you?” she demanded to know.

“They’re for the boy.” he sighed, bumping hisnose against her cheek. “Come on…When was the last time I even…”

“What do I know?” she cut him off. “That womanseemed awfully cozy in your house.Leaving you lunch and talking about your laundry.”

“She’s my housekeeper.” he repeated, tired ofthe endless argument.

“I thought she was your friend.” she remarkedbitterly.

“Can’t she be both?” he grumbled.

She turned her head to the side and he attackedher neck with his mouth, making quick work of that golden brooch that kept thewoolen cloak on her shoulders. She must have started to see reason, he figured,or she wouldn’t have let him kiss her neck like that.

“Don’t you dareleave a mark.” she warned. Her hands slowly moved up to his shoulders, alittle hesitant. She was trembling and he didn’t think it had to do withdesire.

With a sigh he drew back, meeting her eyespoint blank. “I didn’t fuck her. Iain’t ever gonna fuck her. Or another one for that matter. I really wanna fuck youthough. So, what it’s gonna be? We fuckor we wait for three more months?”

She shot him an aggravated look, a pout on herlips.

“Language.” she rebuked. Her blue eyes searchedhis and then she looked away, to a distant point over his shoulder. “Are you in love with her?”

“For fuck’ssake, what do I have to say for you to getit?” he shouted, losing his patience.

He stepped back and marched toward thecupboard, grabbing a glass and a bottle of moonshine and slamming both on thecounter.

“You said you did not sleep with her not that you did not have feelings for her.” she shot right back. “You asked her to marry you.”

“It was a fuckingjoke!” he snapped, pouring himself a glass and downing it in one go.

“You neverjoke about that with me.” shescowled.

“’Cause with you it wouldn’t be a joke.” he retorted before he could think it through. Whenwhat had just slipped out of his mouth registered, he froze. She was watchinghim with wide startled eyes. A long deep hush fell on the kitchen. He wassqueezing the glass so tight he wasn’t really surprised when it cracked. He putit down before it shattered and he licked his lips. “I mean…” he clarified, hisvoice sounding hollow to his own ears. “You can’t take a joke. You’d take itseriously. Not that… I didn’t mean I’d want…”

“Alright.” she whispered.

Her face was blank and he didn’t dare meet hereyes, didn’t dare face the turmoil of emotions he was pretty sure was ondisplay there.

“Didn’t sleep with Hazelle.” he insisted.“Don’t have feelings for her either.”

“Alright.” she repeated.

“Condoms are for Peeta.” he concluded.

“Alright.” she said again.

He wasn’t sure what to do with all thatmeekness, wasn’t sure how they were going to escape the awkwardness in thekitchen, so he did what he always did when he was unsure: he turned her back toher and poured himself another drink.

“Haymitch?” she called. He heard the quietruffling of fabric behind him and figured she was putting her cloak back on.

“What?” He looked through the window over thesink at his deserted weed infested backyard and told himself it was fine. Shewould go and the next time they saw each other, it would be alright.

“Is this table clean?” she asked.

“Should be. Hazelle scrubs everything down.”The question was odd and he glanced at her over his shoulder, thinking maybeshe would suggest having lunch to salvage what could be of the day, only to doa double-take when he realized she hadn’tbeen putting her cloak back on. He turned around completely, hastily placingthe glass down on the counter, his eyes roaming over all the bare creamy skinon display…

She had lost the dress and the heels. And shewas giving him a sultry look.

“Fuckme on it.” she commanded.

His feet moved without his leave and, soonenough, she was lying on his kitchen table, he was naked too and he was definitely enjoying having a cleanhouse. It wasn’t like they had never done that on a table – hell, if thepenthouse’s dining-room could talk… – but it was a little different to have herlike that in his house, on a table heused mostly every day.

Afterward, while she was still lying therebasking in her afterglow, he kissed her stomach, nuzzled her thigh…

“I have a badhabit of breaking engagements.” she murmured suddenly.

His heartbeat quickened but he refused to givein to panic. “No kidding. How many again? Three?”

“Three.” she confirmed. “I believe the fourthtime might be the charm.”  

“I feel bad for the poor guy who ever put aring on your finger.” he taunted but he also kissed the inside of her knee andoffered a hand to help her sit up.

She took it and immediately locked her anklesbehind his legs, trapping him right there. She nipped at the tender flesh underhis ribcage. “You should if he doesn’t get me a big diamond ring… I have been waiting a long time for it, I expecta pretty one.”

He rolled his eyes but wrapped his arms aroundher slender frame, running his fingers down her spine.

“Good thing I’mnever marrying you, then.” he snorted. “You’re too fussy.”

She seemed to deflate a little. “They would never let us, would they? Even if… Wewould not be able to.”

“Not right now, no.” He shrugged. “Capitols andDistricts don’t mix, sweetheart. We’re barely better than animals, remember?”

“Perhaps one day.” she whispered against hisskin. A promise or a consolation, he wasn’t sure.

“Would imply I actuallywant to marry you.” he grumbled.

“Maybe one day hypothetically.” she corrected with asad chuckle.

“Yeah…” he sighedagainst her neck. “Hypothetically.”

He told himself itwasn’t part of why he really wantedthat revolution to work out.

[latestnews2018-blog]

macOS Mojave 10.14 first look

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/macos-mojave-10-14-first-look/

macOS Mojave 10.14 first look

Seems like iOS gets all the love these days. And it’s easy enough to see why. The smartphone has long been the dominant device in many users’ lives, while the desktop/laptop category has been on the decline. But macOS still has some life left in it yet.

A year after introducing the more incremental High Sierra (it’s right there in the name), Apple has returned with a macOS update that’s jam-packed with new features. Unlike other recent updates, a number of the big additions here are targeted at creative professionals, as Apple refocuses its efforts on the user base that has long been a core part of its target market. In the case of features like Dark Mode and Gallery View, there’s a lot to like on that front, as well.

For the first time iOS apps have been directly ported to macOS in an effort to kickstart cross-platform development, while Stacks should go a ways toward helping users stay a bit more organized — and sane. Now that the operating system is in public beta, here’s a rundown of the biggest and best new features Mojave has to offer.

Dark mode

The biggest addition to Mojave is also one of the more interesting from a populist standpoint. Apple made it clear during its WWDC presentation earlier this month that Dark Mode is a hat tip to creative professions. It’s a category the company once owned outright, but one Microsoft has been aggressively gunning for in recent years with its Surface line.

Apple’s been knocked for a handful of decisions viewed as taking its eye off the ball for the small but loyal contingent that has formed its core user base. The company’s been making amends for this over the past year and change, with the addition of the iMac Pro and the promised return of the Mac Pro. Dark Mode is clearly a nod toward those who spend long stretches staring at bright screens in dark rooms.

Of course, it’s not just for creative pros. Dark Mode is a potential boon to all of us desk jockeys looking for some respite from eye strain. It’s also just aesthetically pleasing, and a nice visual break from a Mac desktop design that really hasn’t changed much in the past several generations.

Apple’s done a good job here maintaining consistency across its own apps. Along with darkened menus and frames, Mail, Contacts and Calendar invert to white text on a dark background. The default Mojave desktop image of a winding sand dune has also been transformed accordingly.

Better still, there’s a dynamic version of the wallpaper that will darken, based on the time of day, as the sun sets and stars come out in the desert sky. A nice touch. However, only the default wallpaper is capable of doing that at the moment. If you want the effect, I hope you don’t mind staring at sand.

The biggest issue with Dark Mode (in this admittedly still early public beta stage) is compatibility. Apple says that the mode is designed for easy adoption by third-party developers, assuming their apps are built for the macOS Mojave SDK, but there’s no guarantee the apps you use regularly will have that compatibility at launch. That means there’s a decent chance your dark desktop scheme will be regularly interrupted by a blast of white light.

This is also the case for Apple’s own apps like Safari (though iWork and other not preloaded Apple apps don’t yet have the functionality), which have implemented aspects of Dark Mode, but in which you’re going to be spending a lot of time looking at bright pages regardless.  For most of us who spend time in and out of various apps, Dark Mode’s actual functionality is pretty limited, but you’ll no doubt be compelled give it a go anyway. At the very least, it’s a nice departure from the default macOS color scheme you’ve been ensconced in for so long.

Stacks

Dark Mode may be the feature that got the biggest crowd reaction at WWDC, but Stacks is the best. No question here, really, and this is coming from someone who’s gotten fairly consistent about tidying up his desktop. This thing is worthy of a clickbait-style “One Weird Trick to Organize Your Life” headline.

This is a surprisingly cathartic act. Hover over the wallpaper of your out of control desktop, two-finger tap the touchpad and select “Use Stacks” from the drop-down. Poof, they all shoot into their pre-ordained piles on the right. The default mode categorizes files by product type, which is probably the most straightforward method of the bunch (you also can switch to category or tag). If a file is the only one of its kind on the desktop, it will maintain its name below the thumbnail; otherwise, the file kind will show off below. Unclassified files will show up in a less helpful “other” Stack.

When new files are added to the desktop, they automatically appear in their associated pile, so long as you stay in Stacks mode. When the mode is enabled, files are essentially stuck to these spots like a grid. You can drag and drop them into apps, but can’t move them around the desktop.

Once everything is sorted, clicking on the top of the stack will spread it out so you can once again view everything all once. Click the top of the pile again, and poof, everything goes back into the pile. You also can hover over the top with the cursor and swipe the trackpad left or right with two fingers to scrub through the list. I find the method a bit less useful, but some will no doubt prefer it.

If you decide the whole cleanliness thing isn’t for you, two-finger tap the wallpaper again. Click “Use Stacks” and poof, everything gets sent back to its original entropic position on the desktop. Good on Apple for letting users revert back to the madness.

Apple’s added a LOT of different features — from Launchpad to Tags — designed to help users get better organized. For my part, I’ve largely tried and failed to incorporate them into my daily usage. Stacks, on the other hand, is a genuinely useful addition and a strong contender for the most useful feature Apple has brought to macOS in recent memory.

Desktop

Gallery View is an interesting addition for similar reasons as Dark Mode. The feature is a spiritual successor to the familiar Cover Flow. It’s less dynamic, relying on a bottom scroll bar, rather than large images up top. It puts meta data front and center much more than before. This is especially apparent when dealing with images, giving you an almost light-room level of detail on photos.

The information includes, but is not limited to: dimensions, resolution, color space, color profile, device make, device model, aperture value, exposure time, focal length, ISO speed, flash, F number, metering mode and white balance. It’s lot for most users. In fact, it’s probably overkill for a majority of us, but it’s clearly another indication that Apple’s working to maintain its hold on the creative professional category by building that intense level of detail directly into the Finder.

Tucked down in the bottom-right corner of Finder windows are Quick Actions. There are a handful of handy features for editing images and PDF docs, including Rotate Left (as found in the iOS Photos app), markup (as found in Adobe Acrobat), Add Password and Create PDF, which turns files into PDFs, as advertised.

It’s an interesting system-level embrace of Adobe’s file format, and also makes the need for Preview somewhat redundant, as it’s baked directly into Finder. The options are dependent on file type — so, if you have, say, an audio or video file, you can trim it directly in the Finder window. For most tasks, you’ll probably want to open an editing app, but I would love to see more personalized actions down here. For my own needs, something like file cropping and resizing would be great to have built directly into the Finder window, saving me a trip to Photoshop or some online editing tool. I realize my needs aren’t the same as everyone’s — but all the more reason to offer some manner of customization down there, akin to what Apple offers with the MacBook Touch Bar.

Screenshots

File previews are getting a lot of love here, throughout. I’m not sure how often normal people use screenshots, but I take them all the damn time, so any addition here is welcome. Beyond general usefulness, I suspect a lot of people simply don’t take screenshots because the key command is fairly convoluting. Shift-Command-5 isn’t exactly easier to remember than other, similar combinations, but it does bring up a hand control window overlay.

From there, you can choose to capture a full screen, a window, a selection you outline yourself, record a video of the entire screen (which I used for the above Stacks GIF) or record a video of a selection. It certainly saves from having to memorize all of the different commands. The new screenshots also make it possible to set a timer of five or 10 seconds before snapping a photo.

Apple’s taking a play from iOS, offering up a small window in the right-hand corner of the screen once the screenshot has been snapped. You can click directly into that, or just wait for it to disappear. From there, you can markup the file, drag and drop it it into a document or have it automatically sent to the desktop, documents, Mail, Messages, Preview or a Clipboard, so they don’t all wind up in the same spot.

Continuity Camera

Not sure how often this feature will actually prove handy for most users, but it’s a cool feature, nonetheless. Continuity Camera essentially uses an iPhone as a surrogate camera for the desktop. It’s a clever bit of cross device synergy.

Say you’re in Page. Go to Edit > Insert from Your iPhone and choose Photo. Take a shot, approve it on the device, and it will automatically insert itself in the doc. It works like a charm. The scan feature also works surprisingly well here. I took a shot of a crumpled receipt and it looked pretty pristine, regardless. As someone who recently went through a lengthy visa process, I wish I’d had access to this thing a few weeks back.

FaceTime

This one definitely wowed the crowd. FaceTime’s macOS/iOS-only is the main thing that’s hampered my own use of the service, but there are some really nice additions here that are making me rethink the decision. The ability to add up to 32 users is far and away the most fascinating, and Apple’s done a good job managing that kind of unruly number.

Similar to services like Google Meet, the system automatically detects who’s speaking and places them front and center in the app. Also like Meet, you can manually prioritize the users on whom you’d like to focus.

Other users will shrink down and eventually populate the carousel at the bottom. You can get the list of participants by clicking the Info button. And invitations for more users can be extended while the chat is in progress.

iOS apps

Apple made a point of addressing longtime rumors of a convergence between the company’s desktop and mobile operating systems, flashing a giant “No” onstage. That said, the two OSes are getting even more shared DNA. The biggest news on this front is the porting of three iOS apps to the Mac. This is clearly the first step toward a larger convergence of some kind, but more to the point, it’s a way to start getting app developers to port their iOS apps to the desktop.

Sure, macOS had a huge head start, but iOS has been getting all of the developer love in recent years. Making it easier to create apps cross-system means devs don’t have to decide. It also means that the app that come to macOS through this method will be more likely to do so through the Mac App Store — a distribution method Apple clearly prefers over more traditional downloads, for myriad reasons.

To start, Apple has brought over News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home. In my time with Mojave thus far, News is the one I now use pretty regularly. I was a bit hesitant to move to a more walled approach to news delivery, but I do appreciate having a centralize hub of the trusted news sources I visit regularly, coupled with alerts that populate the Notification Center at right.

It’s probably not going to replace my use of TweetDeck for work-related news, as, among other things, it just seems to update more slowly. But it’s a nice tool to have churning in the background, along with a check-in once or twice a day, to make sure I haven’t missed a moment of the horror show that is news in 2018. Fun!

Voice Memos probably has the most limited scope of the bunch. I’ve switched over from various third-party tools I use to record meetings from time to time, and it’s nice having that sharing across devices. Students will likely find it handy for lectures as well, but beyond that, it’s probably not going to get a ton of play for most users.

Home is the most interesting addition of the bunch. Certainly it makes sense, as Apple makes a bigger push to remain competitive against the likes of Amazon and Google in the smart home. The Mac isn’t designed to be a hub in this case — that’s still the job of Apple TV and HomePod, so far as the company is concerned. But the desktop OS does make for a nice control panel, and it’s handy to be able to check in on your place remotely from the comfort of your MacBook.

Given that they are, in fact, ports, not much has changed from a design standpoint. That means it’s essentially the same layout as the one you’ll get on your iPad, with a grid of tidy little boxes representing your various connected home devices. It’s pretty hard to shake the compulsion to reach out and touch the things. Apple, of course, has taken a hard-line against incorporating touch into its laptops and desktops, so reaching out won’t get you very far in this particular case.

Odds and ends

The Mac App Store gets an overhaul here, including search filtering and new content categories. Apple’s also added the kind of editorial curation it’s had on iOS and other apps.

More privacy permissions is always a good thing. In addition to the standard access to Contacts, Calendar Photos and Reminders, Apple’s added notifications for apps accessing the camera, mic and sensitive data. That means more pop-ups to click through, but more importantly, some extra peace of mind.

The system now does “password auditing,” to make sure you don’t reuse the same passwords over and over again.

Siri gets a couple of additions on the desktop here, including the ability to add passwords with voice.

[meowthiroth-moved]

shit tumblr needs to get sorted out:

•the fact that despite having Best Stuff First turned off since the MOMENT it dropped, I STILL have my mobile dash rearranged all the fucking time. Seriously?? Why is every social media site nowadays steering away from simple, organized reverse-chronological order?

•Not being able to access blog pages from the mobile app unless the blog posts a link to them. Doubly so if you’re on an Android device because apparently said blog links don’t even work on Android- they just dump you onto the main page of the blog and tell you to go fuck yourself.

•the fact that notifications and asks get eaten ALL THE DAMN TIME. I don’t understand why this keeps happening. It’s literally SUCH a simple thing to accomplish.

•the recommended posts. there’s no way to turn them off without xkit on desktop, and if you’re on mobile then you’re REALLY screwed. if I wanted content from these people on my dash I’d just follow them.

•repeating posts. This seems to only happen when viewing specific blogs on mobile (specifically iOS idk if any other mobile versions do it) but for some reason tumblr will just keep spitting the same 2 or 3 posts out to cover up a bunch of other posts on the blog’s feed when it doesn’t load fast enough. The actual posts underneath won’t load but if you go in the notes, they’ll pertain to THAT post and not to the one that got pasted over it which is super confusing. This also causes you to miss out on content because you can’t see the real post unless you back out and reload the page.

•the gradients on mobile look dumb please just bring back the grey boxes

•the fact that pornbots and n.a.zi//s and all sorts of hateful people and bullies are allowed to run amok on this hellsite but posts about LGBTQ+ are autoflagged as NSFW.

•in that same category, safe mode once filtered out a cute gif I made of my pet betta fish as NSFW but didn’t stop NSFW fanart and, like, real actual dick pics from popping up on my dash.

•according to one of my friends it apparently takes tumblr staff an average of about 3 months to take down a blog that’s been reported for harassment EVEN IF THEY’RE DOING IT PUBLICLY FOR EVERYONE TO SEE.

•there’s an option for blogs to flag themselves as 18+ only so people on safe mode don’t see them but minors/people on safe mode don’t get an option to prevent 18+ blogs from seeing/accessing their blogs?? Idk it’s kind of a dumb idea tbh but I just feel like this might help out with the pornbot problem

•you can no longer block specific anons on mobile for some weird reason?? you used to be able to and you still can on desktop seriously what gives

•despite the text post overhaul on mobile not too long ago, any post that ISN’T specifically a text post doesn’t get access to the same text formatting options and you’re stuck having to edit HTML again if you want them.

•still can’t tag asks on mobile unless you go back after the ask is posted?? seriously why is this so difficult of a thing to add??

•icons inserted in text posts get blown up super huge on mobile even if they’re only supposed to be like 150x150px or smaller.

•if a post originating from an ask gets long, you can’t use that x in the corner to cut it on mobile because it just... doesn’t show up. even though it does on desktop.

•no option to hide comments/replies from posts. Seriously even deviantart lets you do this and that site feels like it was coded in the goddamn dark ages.

•tumblr’s official filtering system only blocks posts that are TAGGED with certain words, but if a post mentions that certain word within and isn’t tagged with it, it’s still able to go through.

•no option to turn off notifications on specific posts so if you make a post that blows up out of nowhere then you’ll suddenly be spammed with an ungodly amount of shit in your activity feed

•still does that thing on mobile where it pops up the (1) icon above the message icon whenever you get a note REGARDLESS of if it’s actually a message or not, which STILL freaks me out when I check tumblr mobile and see a big number like (17) above the icon because it always makes me think I missed a bunch of messages

•no way to opt out of those stupid livestream posts that pop up at the top of your dash

•no way to block ads from certain advertisers you don’t wanna see which is really obnoxious when you’re like me and get pissed off about shitty unoriginal Pokémon ripoff ios games being shoved in your face every 20 seconds (looking at YOU battlecamp 😒)

•just the mere fact that this site’s coding is apparently so fragile and unstable that changing or adding ONE little thing can cause entirely unrelated things to break immediately (like how best stuff first actually broke the notifications when it first dropped and they kept getting eaten kinda like how they’ve been again lately). seriously, what did they stick this site together with? scotch tape, chewing gum and boogers??