Just home from Florida vacation late last month, I headed to the airport again — this time on a work trip to Chicago.

I was off to attend my first Apple media event in years, and I was pretty excited about that.

Such press events are normally held on or near Apple’s California campus, but this one was staged at an inner-city Chicago magnet school. More …

I am beyond proud to be on the TidBITS masthead.

I therefore celebrate any improvements to this venerable, Apple-flavored tech-news operation.

TidBITS, run by amazing wife-and-husband duo Tonya and Adam Engst, saw a major upgrade last week: After months of planning and prep work, it debuted a spiffy new website.

It’s hard to overstate what an improvement this is. More …

As someone who’s ambivalent at best about listening to music, I’m not an obvious user candidate for Apple’s new HomePod speaker.

After all, the audio device is inextricably tied to the Apple Music service and aimed at those with ravenous appetites for all manner of melody. The speaker is, first and foremost, a music appliance.

Yet, I adore the HomePod. More …

For this Puerto Rican, living in Minnesota can be a trying experience.

Oh, summers are just fine, especially when deliciously wet, Caribbean-like air slaps me in the face. (Once, when I was visiting friends in San Juan, the weather was hotter and more humid in St. Paul, which sounds crazy but is not uncommon.)

Minnesota winters, though? I have been in the Twin Cities for three decades now, and I still have my “dear God, what have I done?” moments in January or February when the mercury takes a polar plunge. More …