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Opening
 
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Opening Music
 
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Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
 
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News
 
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Apple Retail Chief Angela Ahrendts leaves in April
 
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I have to say this was a bit of shocking news dropped this week.
 
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She's only been at the company five years and has radically reshaped the Apple retail experience.
 
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She oversaw both the introduction of the Today at Apple program and a new design language for Apple's retail stores
 
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Ahrendts repositioned Apple stores as community gathering spaces, focusing on experiential retail design.
 
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Apple says Ahrendts is leaving the company for "new personal and professional pursuits."
 
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There was a lot of speculation as to what Ahrendts was going to do next
 
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She told reporters at the Ralph Lauren fashion show in New York she plans to take the summer off and travel and visit her two children who live in London.
 
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There were rumors she would be taking a role at Ralph Lauren where she serves on the board, but the company denied those rumors.
 
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She's going to be replaced by Apple's current ""Vice President of People", Deirdre O'Brien which seems like an odd pick to me.
 
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Her new title is "Senior Vice President of Retail and People"
 
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Her focus will reportedly be, "focus on the connection between the customer and the people, and the processes that serve them" (that sound's good?)
 
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Deirdre was part of the team that planned and launched Apple's very first online and retail stores.
 
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Apple has more than 35 online stores around the world and 506 retail locations across five continents.
 
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Apple patches Group FaceTime bug
 
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Apple released iOS 12.1.4 and a supplemental update to macOS Mojave to address the embarrassing Group FaceTime bug.
 
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The bug created a situation where someone initiating a group FaceTime call could enable the call to connect before the recipient answered. giving the caller access to audio and possibly video without the recipient's permission.
 
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Apple shutdown the service from the server side last week and with updates there and this new patch Group FaceTime functionality should be restored.
 
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The update appears to not only contain the FaceTime patches, "In addition to addressing the bug that was reported, our team conducted a thorough security audit of the FaceTime service and made additional updates to both the FaceTime app and server to improve security."
 
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They found an unidentified vulnerability in Live Photos feature of FaceTime
 
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The update also contained some additional security patches and vulnerability patches including one for security issue in Shortcuts.
 
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The Group FaceTime bug was discovered by a teenager and Apple plans to compensate him for the discovery under their bug bounty program.
 
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Interestingly, patches were not available to iOS 12.2 beta nor macOS Mojave 10.14.4 betas, so Group FaceTime is still disabled there.
 
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In a separate story Apple also has addressed some apps who are using intrusive analytics services to record all the actions customers are taking when using their apps
 
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The practice was revealed by TechCrunch and were being used in apps from Abercrombie & Fitch, Hotels.com, Air Canada, Hollister, Expedia, and others.
 
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The software called Glassbox, is used to give developers customer experience analytics, by creating screen recording that capture how users interact with the apps.
 
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They capture taps, button pushes, and keyboard entries, and send the data back to developers for analysis.
 
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The issue is none of this is disclosed to the users of the apps.
 
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This week Apple informed app developers that this kind of screen recording analytics code needs to be clearly disclosed to customers or removed from iOS apps.
 
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Apple lands comedy from "Always Sunny" stars
 
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Deadline says the cast is being finalized for an upcoming half hour comedy series Apple ordered from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” stars Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney
 
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The show is said to be a “cutting-edge comedy” set in a video game development studio that "will explore the intricacies of the human condition through hilarious and innovative ways."
 
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Apple reportedly made the The straight-to-series deal back in August of last year
 
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Apple also has a deal in place with Harpo Productions, Oprah Winfrey's production company to produce original content for their video service
 
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This week The Hollywood reports says Harpo hired Terry Wood to be their executive vice president and oversee production for the project with Apple
 
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Most recently Terry Wood was working on unscripted content and comedies at Netflix, including on the launch of David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
 
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As for the content of Harpo shows, Apple said they would, "create original programs that embrace her (Winfrey's) incomparable ability to connect with audiences."
 
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Given the kinds of content Wood's oversaw at Netflix and and the fact it's Oprah I think it's safe to assume at least some of the shows will be unscripted talk or interview based shows.
 
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Apple cellular modems could be a thing
 
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Reuters claims Apple is moved their in-house cellular modem engineering team under hardware leader Johny Srouji
 
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Currently the team operates under the supply chain, so the report has lead to speculation Apple may be getting closer to designing it's own internal modem chips.
 
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Apple recently had a job listing looking for a cellular systems architect in San Diego.
 
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That would mean Apple moving away from Intel which is Apple's sole modem supplier since they cut ties with Qualcomm
 
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This years iPhone's are still expected to use chips from Intel and are not expected to support 5G.
 
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Could mean that in 2020 we see Apple designed 5G modems.
 
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Some beta testers of iOS 12.2 on AT&T are reporting seeing a "5G e" icon
 
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Indicating AT&T's "upgraded" 4G LTE connectivity
 
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AT&T calls it "evolution", though it's misleading as it's NOT 5G and no iPhone's are 5G capable and AT&T doesn't have a 5G network
 
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According to AT&T, its "5G Evolution" network is live in more than 400 markets, with more to come.
 
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According to an AT&T statement given to MacRumors, "The indicator simply helps customers know when they are in an area where the 5G Evolution experience may be available."
 
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HomePod maintained it's small marketshare
 
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According to the latest data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP)
 
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Looking at the US smart-speaker market for December quarter the research firm says Apple's HomePod represents 6 percent of the total installed base of about 66 million units, or roughly 4 million HomePods.
 
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CIRP's figure is based on a survey of 500 Americans with a HomePod, Amazon Echo, or Google Home.
 
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Not surprising that the space is dominated by the Amazon Echo and Google Home which have 70 percent and 24 percent of the market respectively.
 
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The dominance of lower priced point offerings have caused many in the Apple community to hope and speculate that Apple might expand the HomePod line into lower cost offerings.
 
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A patent surfaced this week that could give clues on Apple's thinking about future HomePod features and enhancements
 
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It describes "voice-controlled assistant device such as a 'countertop speaker'"
 
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Mentions sensors and cameras that could be used to gather hand or other three-dimensional gesture input
 
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Also describes identifying users within the vicinity of the speaker using facial recognition
 
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Describes the device possibly having an emoji based avatar that would adapt to the users moods or actions.
 
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Describes other features like ambient light sensing, displaying a sunshine icon if sunny weather is forecast, displaying the logo of a sports team that wins a game, heart rate sensing, and more
 
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iPhone upgrade cycle four years
 
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Did we really need an analyst to tell us this?
 
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Maybe. Coming from Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi. He says the average iPhone upgrade time has increased to four years, up from three years in fiscal 2018.
 
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The reasons, at least for iPhone, devices are lasting longer and prices are higher.
 
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He also thinks as many as 32 percent of the iPhones in use may be second-hand models.
 
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Seems less of an issue to me because these are likely potential new iPhone customers
 
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Thinks some stay in the "used" space as they "upgrade" (new to you)
 
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He also speculates this could be an issue for Services growth, since Apple is not growing it's existing install base.
 
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That base is HUGE and a LOT of them stall aren't using Apple's services.
 
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This is obviously creating a problem for Apple with regards to iPhone upgrades. It's also leading to allegations Apple is getting aggressive at retail when pushing upgrades
 
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Mark Gurman at Bloomberg reported this week that the company has been advising technicians to "push iPhone upgrades to consumers with out-of-warranty devices .
 
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And 9to5 Mac has a source who claims this is the new policy at Apple Retail locations.
 
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Chance Miller reported having an experience with trying to get service on is XS Max where the greeter said, “Have you considered upgrading to a new iPhone recently?” Obviously mistaking his XS Max for a "X?
 
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They say in some stores employees are being told to pitch iPhone upgrades to customers waiting for Genius Bar appointments.
 
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Sponsor: Capterra
 
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Capterra
 
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Sponsor: SimpliSafe
 
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
 
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Wall mount for iPad
 
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Received an email from Neil
 
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He's doing a home renovation and installing CAT 6 Ethernet cable and adding some home automation
 
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Would like to use an old iPad as a control surface in the kitchen and looking for flush wall mounts and solutions
 
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I found the [iWalldock], https://www.iwalldock.com
 
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Fixed version is $129.99 USD and the "dock" version is $199.99 USD
 
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They also offer PPoE adapters and cables
 
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Reminded me that many people don't know that iPads will work over an Ethernet connection with a Lighting to USB adapter and the USB to Ethernet adapter ($29 USD).
 
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If you use Apple's Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter ($39 USD) you can have pass through power
 
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An even cleaner adapter is Belkin's [Ethernet + Power](https://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F8J227/) Adapter. Pricey at $99.99 USD
 
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Photo syncing without iCloud
 
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I love iCloud Photo Library, but not everyone wants to trust their photo Library to the cloud.
 
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Had a client looking for a solution for syncing their entire photo Library across devices, but without cloud storage.
 
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They found an app and service called [Mylio](https://mylio.com)
 
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Free for 25,000 photos and 3 devices (computers)
 
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There are premium plans after that or if you need RAW support
 
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Paid is $100/yr for 100,000 photos and $250/yr. for 500,000 photos
 
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Has the concept of devices/vaults
 
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Does a peer to peer sync over the local network.
 
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A "vault" is a storage location for your full sized originals.
 
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Desktop, external drive, NAS drive, Cloud Drive (if you want)
 
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Devices then have "Libraries", that contain optimized thumbnails of the images sync'd from the vault(s)
 
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Has a feature called "RendezVous" for syncing across networks,
 
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Seems like remote (Internet) sync requires a paid plan
 
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Setup can be confusing and it is not compatible with iCloud Photo Library
 
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On iOS it still asked to grab my "camera roll" and then proceeded to upload my entire 20,000 image Photo Library.
 
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The User interface seemed OK to me, but it was a little difficult to tell what was going on.
 
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Did provide editing tool and syncing seemed to work pretty quickly
 
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New pictures taken with the Camera did take a while to sync up.
 
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Have the ability to create multiple "vaults" which could be good for backup.
 
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Syncing two Macs
 
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This is another syncing scenario that comes up over and over again.
 
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I have two Macs and I want them to basically be clones of each other. Typically it'll be a desktop and and laptop
 
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I'm often asked can I just mount on in target disk mode and then use a cloning tool like Carbon Copy Cloner or ChronoSync.
 
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Technically yes, but that could introduce some issues depending on the machine and any differences the OS might have
 
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When people say the want things "sync'd" they typically mostly mean the "Home" folder.
 
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You want your critical files and data sync'd
 
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Also maybe your Photos and you Music.
 
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These days iCloud is pretty close to being able to provide this, though it's costly and not perfect.
 
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I use iCloud Photo Library, Apple Music with iTunes in the Cloud (iCloud Music Library) and it meets most of my needs.
 
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Apple also offers Desktop and Documents syncing with iCloud, so that would cover your documents folder.
 
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Still none of this is a full "Home" folder sync. Many apps store items that are in the Home folder, but not in the "documents" folder.
 
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[ChronoSync](https://www.econtechnologies.com/chronosync/guide-sync-home-folder-between-macs.html) does provide the capability to sync your Home folders across devices
 
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You need to be SUPER careful though.
 
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Full backup before you even attempt setting this up.
 
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Need to be running EXACTLY the same version of macOS on both devices and keep your app versions in sync.
 
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DO NOT sync the "Library" folder inside the Home folder
 
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Never attempt to sync files outside of the home folder such as 'Applications', 'System', or 'Library' between two Macs.
 
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Be careful about syncing 3rd party app folders at the root of the home folder
 
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Dropbox, OmniPresence, etc.
 
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Sync manually each time you switch from one Mac to the other.
 
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Closing
 
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Thanks to my sponsors
 
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Supporters
 
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Advertising is handled by Backbeat Media at backbeatmedia.com
 
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Keep emails coming. Audio comments.
 
 
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