Lisa Niver's Blog: We Said Go Travel, page 58

My iPhone Story in WIRED! Welcome to the Dark Side!!!

Thank you to my editor, Alan, and Wired for publishing my article, “8 Useful iPhone Tips for Ex-Android Users: Welcome to the Dark Side. We have Memoji.” [image error]

SEVEN YEARS AGO, working on a video web series shot in Puerto Rico, the director told me they liked the footage I’d shot on my smartphone. The problem was I could not figure out how to get it off the phone. My devices—an Android phone and an Apple laptop—were in a fight, just like my marriage. I thought, “Can’t everyone just get along?” But no, it doesn’t work that way.

I had to use a software bridge to transfer between the phone and the computer, and every time there was an upgrade on either side, the transition became uncertain. I used Commander One, Android Transfer, anything I could find. Nothing worked consistently, especially with large video files. My cohost asked me, “Why are you living in two universes?” While I thought he was referring to the fact that I had recently left my husband on another continent, he actually meant: Why did I have a Nokia phone and a MacBook Air?

Shortly after that film shoot, I ditched my husband for good, but I went on to have seven LG phones, as their cameras and video quality kept improving. On any group trip, everyone would agree to let me take the pictures because my camera was just better. It seemed worth the struggle to keep the dual status because the image quality was far superior.

Early in the pandemic, a film director for the Discovery Channel told me he had switched to the iPhone12 Pro Max. Shortly after, LG announced it was leaving the phone business. I asked myself, “What could make my life easier?” and went to Costco to get a new phone. I knew that swapping would have challenges, but I told myself Costco always takes things back and walked out with a new iPhone 12 Pro Max.

My iPhone friends said, “Welcome to the Dark Side” as they anxiously waited for my chat bubbles to change from green to blue. I was a rookie, and it felt like a rocky new relationship at first, but eventually I found my bearings. Here are some of my favorite features and a few cool tricks for Android users making the switch—some of which have even made friends who are loyal iPhone users say, “How do I do that?”

Working With Photos and Video

My main goal was to have my photos appear on my laptop easily, instead of struggling to move them over from Android. Initially I needed some help with this, so I made an online appointment to speak to Apple Tech Support, and after some back and forth, my devices were able to speak to each other. Tech support helped me redirect the photo library. To work with my photos, all I do now is select a group of photos, create a new album, and Airdrop them from my phone to my desktop. The photos are also in the Photos app on my laptop and backed up immediately in iCloud. When I make movies from an adventure, like my recent excursion with bears in Ketchikan, Alaska, I can move the videos from the desktop into iMovie, and it is seamless, painless, and so much easier than it used to be.

A Built-In Magnifying Glass

Good news: An iPhone can make you feel younger. My doctor takes her reading glasses everywhere, and it makes her feel old. With one step, I taught her to turn on Magnifier.

In your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Accessibility. Tap Magnifier, then turn it on. Now tap the button on the right side of the phone three times and the powerful magnifier will open. My doctor can ditch the reading glasses at the market or on a date because she already has her phone. She has had an iPhone for 14 years but never knew it could help her read small print. With Android, you need to download a special app, and while there are plenty to choose from, it’s nice having the feature baked into your phone.

Easy Screen Recording

Screen Record, as its name implies, allows you to record a video of your screen. To do so, swipe diagonally down from the upper right corner to get to the control center and then press the screen record button. It will give you a countdown of 3 before it starts, so make sure you are open to what you want to record BEFORE you press the button.

When I wrote a Thrive Global article about brand expert Aliza Licht, she made a video of the article and tweeted it.

When I asked her how to do it, she said, “You need an iPhone!”

Thank you @wesaidgotravel @thrive for this incredible coverage! FYI there is a free excerpt of my book @LEAVEYOURMARKxo in this article!https://t.co/NTcuHRFgOv pic.twitter.com/5ITX96XzHJ

— Aliza Licht (@AlizaLicht) August 11, 2020

Take a Screenshot

On Android, the screenshot function used a combination of pressing buttons on the sides. Whatever the combo is meant to be on the iPhone, I just could not make it work (Ed. Note: It’s supposed to be the Sleep/Wake button and Volume up, but it depends on the model of iPhone you have!) Then I figured out I could use the back tap, which is easier than the actual button combo. To set it up, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch, and tap Back Tap.

I use double-tap for screenshots. You can pick the action you want from the many choices, and there is an option for both double- and triple-tap. Sometimes I accidentally get a photo because the phone thinks I tapped it when I set it down or it hits something, but those mistakes are easy to delete, and I really like to take screenshots, so it works for me.

Set a Custom Ringtone

One friend called me and said, “Now that you have an iPhone, can you teach me how to add a custom ringtone?” She’d had an iPhone for more than a decade and never figured it out. For your general phone ringtone, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone > and select a ringtone or download one you have purchased from the Tone Store.

If you want to have a special ring for a contact, open the Contacts app > select a contact, tap Edit, tap Ringtone, then choose a ringtone for that person. I set my dad’s phone to ring like the opening music from his all-time favorite TV show, 24. You can have a different ring for your boss, spouse, child, or best friend.

Share Your Location With Trusted Friends

When I was meeting a friend in a crowded park for a walk, I dropped a pin in Maps to indicate where I was waiting. She then followed the pin and was able to park her car next to me. You can follow these steps like your own Yellow Brick Road: Open the Apple Maps app, click on the Blue dot (which is where you are), and then click on the blue Share my location button to send the pin to anyone by iMessage or Airdrop. You can do the same in Google Maps, but it requires a few extra hoops to share your location.

For Fun: Memoji and Invisible Ink

Have you always wanted to be a cartoon character? Press the A button on the left of the text message box and then click on the Brown button with the yellow parentheses to create your Memoji, an avatar that looks, sounds, and moves like you. You can even animate your face. Personally, I made my skin blue so I look like an actual character from the movie Avatar. It makes me laugh every time I see it!

You can also send messages in iMessage with invisible ink, which looks like shifting sand. Your recipient then has to rub their finger over the message for the ink to appear, but it’s even better if you are sending a photo and do not want anyone looking over someone’s shoulder to see it. There are also sound effects, such as “slam,” “loud,” and “gentle,” and screen effects like balloons, confetti, spotlight, laser, and fireworks. These are accessed by holding down the blue arrow at the end of a text message prior to sending.

Lisa Niver’s custom-made blue memoji, on her brand new iPhone. COURTESY LISA NIVER

After a few months, I finally feel like I have nearly earned my Apple Girl Scout badge or travel visa for the land of iPhone. It was a bumpy beginning, but I am confident that I will learn more tips and tricks with time. For me, it is better to be all in one universe.

CONTRIBUTOR: Lisa Niver is always exploring new technology, books and places to travel. She is writing a memoir about reinvention after 50.

If you're breaking up with your Android for an iPhone, here are 8 useful tips to welcome you to the dark side. https://t.co/0b48qEuRXb

— WIRED (@WIRED) October 18, 2021

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2021 WINNER for Technology Reporting! YAY!

[image error] Thank you Los Angeles Press Club and Southern California Journalism Awards! I am honored to be 3rd place winner for Technology Reporting! [image error] 2021 Winner: Southern California Journalism AwardsB6. TECHNOLOGY REPORTING WINNERS:

1st: Alena Maschke, Long Beach Post, “Lies, Manipulations, Impersonations: ‘Dirty Tricks’ on Social Media Descend on Local Politics” https://bit.ly/3uFHwqT
Judges’ comment: The conflict between technology and humanity is perfectly illustrated on an immediate and direct basis — with intriguing twists and turns.

2nd Matthew Leising, Bloomberg Businessweek, “My Trip Down the Crypto Rabbit Hole in Search of the DAO Hacker”

3rd Lisa Niver, Thrive Global, “Is Talking Through Technology Making You More Human? With Rana el Kaliouby“

[image error] Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gVQgdVyKSj5as2EWp-XdRQ',sig:'eGtT6w-dFcuTVEVCPm32KXtdyQgeW0yJhjgUg95lLN8=',w:'382px',h:'594px',items:'1346998530',caption: true ,tld:'in',is360: false })}); [image error] The five Finalists for B6. TECHNOLOGY REPORTING

* Lisa Niver, Thrive Global, “Is Talking Through Technology Making You More Human? With Rana el Kaliouby”

* Michelle Boston, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, “Remember Me”
* Matthew Leising, Bloomberg Businessweek, “My Trip Down the Crypto Rabbit Hole in Search of the DAO Hacker”
* Alena Maschke, Long Beach Post, “Lies, Manipulations, Impersonations: ‘Dirty Tricks’ on Social Media Descend on Local Politics”
* Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, “NBCUniversal Quietly Sold $500 Million Stake in Snapchat”

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Lisa Niver has won many awards! From 2017 to 2021, in the Southern California Journalism Awards and National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, she has won five times and been a finalist seventeen times for a variety of broadcast, print and digital categories. 

2021: Southern California Journalism Awards Winner for Technology Reporting for Thrive Global article, “Is Talking Through Technology Making You More Human? with Rana el Kaliouby.”

2021: Southern California Journalism Awards Finalist for Book Criticism

2021: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Winner for Book Critic See all of Lisa’s book reviews here.

2020: Southern California Journalism Awards Winner: Print Magazine Feature: Hemispheres Magazine for United Airlines, “Painter by the Numbers, Rembrandt” Finalist for: Online Journalist of the Year, Activism Journalism, Educational Reporting, Broadcast Lifestyle Feature

2020: Southern California Journalism awards 5x Finalist: Online Journalist of the Year, Activism Journalism, Educational Reporting, Print Magazine Feature, Broadcast Lifestyle Feature

2019: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Winner: Soft News Feature for Film/TV: KTLA TV Oscars Countdown to Gold with Lisa Niver and Finalist for: Soft News, Business/Music/Tech/Art

2019 Southern California Journalism Awards  Finalist: Broadcast Television Lifestyle Segment: Ogden Ski Getaway

2018: Southern California Journalism Awards Finalist: Science/Technology Reporting, Travel Reporting, Personality Profile

2017: Southern California Journalism Awards  Winner: Print Column “A journey to freedom over three Passovers” Finalist for: Travel Reporting.

More of my Awards? CLICK HERE!

[image error] KTLA TABLE [image error] Lisa Niver, Dr. Wendy Walsh and Julio Caro [image error] Lisa Niver, Chris Palmeri, Bloomberg, Dr. Wendy Walsh and Julio Caro [image error] [image error] Lisa Niver and Susan Bejeckian [image error] LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 16: BJ Korros and Lisa Niver attend the Los Angeles Press Club’s 63rd Annual Journalism Awards Dinner at Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles on October 16, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)

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Covid Relief to India through WHEN: World Health and Educ...

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The Hidden Wonders of Your Lungs with Dr. Jonathan Reisman

Congratulations to my friend, Jonathan Reisman, on his book, The Unseen Body, which publishes today, Nov 9, 2021!

We met in India during Allahabad Kumbh Mela when according to Wikipedia: “An estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in Allahabad over a two-month period including over 30 million on a single day, on 10 February 2013.”

[image error] I am honored to share this excerpt from his book, The Unseen Body, “Lungs,” with permission from his publisher, Flatiron Books:

Early on in anatomy lab, as I was first getting elbow deep in my cadaver’s abdominal fat and neck deep in the Latin names of body parts, I decided to visit a slaughterhouse. I wanted to learn more about how cuts of beef compare to human muscles. I found a kosher slaughterhouse in central New Jersey, deep in the state’s industrial heart, and I called up the owner.

After expressing surprise at my request and asking a few questions to convince himself that I was not “some crazy vegan or something,” he agreed to let me visit on the next slaughtering day. And while I had muscles on the mind, the theme of my visit would turn out to be all about lungs.

On a crisp autumn morning, I drove along the New Jersey Turnpike past oil refineries, gas stations, and tractor-trailers to the slaughterhouse.

When I opened the heavy metal door to the building, I could hear the rattling of chains, the booming sounds of chain saws, and a chorus of cattle mooing. The scent of barnyard hung in the cold air as I walked through the front office toward the dreadful sounds coming from beyond.

The slaughtering had already begun. I saw rabbis with long gray beards and thigh-high rubber boots standing around a large wooden table, examining mounds of shiny flesh. Workers, primarily Black and Hispanic, wielded huge motorized butchering saws and moved hanging quarter-cows along tracks in the ceiling. Each steer was led into the building from the outside lot through a narrow chute leading directly onto the slaughtering platform. Chains were then fastened to its back legs and used to slowly lift the animal off the ground. Just as the front hooves left the concrete floor, a long, final moo built in volume and echoed off the grimy industrial walls.

With one swift slice of the rabbi’s knife to the animal’s neck, a slick of blood hit the floor with a loud splash, and the animal was dead before the echoes of that last moo had finally faded.

I walked among the hanging slabs of beef and saw quarter-cadavers, recognizing the same orthopedics of muscle and bone that I had seen in anatomy lab. Underneath our skins, humans and cattle are both glistening red outlined in white, strung like puppets by the names of a dead language.

The rabbi actually doing the slaughtering seemed less busy than the others—in between animals, he mostly stood around cleaning the blood off his long knife. His beard was neatly cropped, and his yarmulke held tightly to his short brown hair. I asked him about what the other rabbis were doing.

He explained that Jewish traditional dietary law, or kashrut, provides a guide to the proper dissection of meat and diagnosis of its cleanliness.

I knew the basic rules of kashrut: keep milk and meat separate, and avoid shellfish and pork. But there is another criterion that is less well known, he explained: severe pneumonia during an animal’s life can make an animal no longer kosher.

[image error] Dr. Jonathan Reisman, photo by Olaf Starorypinski

In healthy animals and humans, as the lungs expand and contract with each breath, they slide freely against the pleura, a layer of membrane surrounding the lungs and lining the inner side of the chest wall. But when the two surfaces are inflamed by a bad bout of pneumonia, they stick together like an unlubricated piston in its shaft. As the pneumonia heals, a scar forms at the spot where the lung got stuck—a band of white fibrous tissue attaching the two surfaces. The shochets—those trained in kashrut’s version of a USDA inspection—were carefully examining the animals’ lungs and looking for these telltale signs of pneumonia. Called adhesions, these scars were the footprint of past disease, and each was a potential degradation of kashrut. According to Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, the number and size of these adhesions determine the grade of kosher, with the highest level called glatt, meaning “smooth,” a description of the surface of an animal’s lungs that are free of the roughened scars.

Most important, the shochets must determine whether there is a hole hidden within a scar that reaches straight through the lung. As a carcass hung freshly killed and cut open, a shochet slid the lungs out of the chest cavity. He walked back over to the examining table, his hand grasping the trachea as two fleshy lungs dangled below. He placed an air hose into the animal’s trachea and inflated the lungs with a rush of air. They doubled in size like two large loaves of bread rising abruptly. The shochet then cupped his hands around one of the scar tufts on the lung and filled his hands with water, being careful not to let any drain out. If there was a hole within the scar, air from inside the lungs would bubble up through the water, as when a mechanic investigates a flat tire for the puncture site. Such a hole from the outside into the body’s inside proves the animal is not intact and therefore its entire body is not kosher, with bubbles as the definitive diagnostic criteria.

Kashrut’s concept of cleanliness and health seemed to rely on the sanctity of a barrier between the inside of the body and the outside world. Maintaining cleanliness means keeping the outside out, much as people in many cultures remove their shoes before entering a house or a place of worship.

When animals or humans breathe in air and atmospheric schmutz, they enter our lungs and whoosh all the way down to the alveoli—but this is not truly inside the body. The air in the lungs is still continuous with the external atmosphere. The real threshold of the physical self is the lining of those deep alveoli, and a hole connecting the inside of the lungs to the pleura is a way for the dirt of the outside world to get in, truly inside, the body, and once that sacred barrier has been breached, innocence and purity are soiled.

For the kosher postmortem inspection of an animal, the lungs have a unique primacy—they hold the singular key to the purity of every part of an animal’s body, even its rump roast. In the past, shochets examined eighteen different body parts to make a determination of kashrut, looking for defects of all kinds, but experience over centuries showed that the lungs offered by far the most bang for the buck [Shulchan Aruch]. A large enough proportion of all defects found were in the lungs, obviating the practicality of examining the other seventeen body parts, except in special circumstances.

It made anatomical sense: as the organ standing guard at the body’s entrance and suffering the microbial blows of an outside world teeming with infection, the lungs serve as a proxy. The kosher version of dissection exalts the lungs above all other organs, and when they show signs of disease, the animal’s entire body is considered unfit for human consumption.

Excerpted THE UNSEEN BODY: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy by Jonathan Reisman. Copyright © 2021 by Jonathan Reisman. Reprinted with permission from Flatiron Books. All rights reserved.  

More about Jonathan Reisman and his organization: I wrote about him in 2013 for Huffington Post:

New Jersey Hero among Us: Dr. Jonathan Reisman

COVID relief with Jonathan’s organization WHEN:

Covid Relief to India through WHEN: World Health and Education Network

“The Bodies that Guard our Secrets” in The New York Times, Sunday Review section. April 26, 2014. Kosher meat and the diagnosis of cancer meet in this medical student’s trip to a slaughterhouse.

Buy your copy of The Unseen Body

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Are You Looking for Luxury & Adventure “Frommer’s Ins...

Are You Looking for Luxury & Adventure “Frommer’s Instagram” Style?

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What HAPPENS in Vegas? EVERYTHING!

Are you wondering where can you drive a bulldozer? Land in the Grand Canyon by Helicopter? Climb a wall? Take a gondola ride and imagine you are in Venice? [image error]

In Vegas, if you can dream it, it can probably happen! During the IPW 2021 conference, I had some amazing adventures. See them below and at this video playlist!

BULLDOZER DRIVING at Dig This

I absolutely LOVED my experience at Dig This Las Vegas Sept 19, 2021! I drove a bulldozer AND an excavator! Do you want to Drive Heavy Machinery? This is the place to make your bucket list dream come true. My instructors, Mae and Dave, were AMAZING! They only supervise two people at a time but only one person is getting information at a time. It is very step-by-step and personalized. The machinery is climate controlled which was great! I highly recommend DIG THIS for your birthday, anniversary or any reason you are in Vegas. Next time I am going to CRUSH A CAR!

Land in the Grand Canyon with Papillon Helicopters

I went on the Papillon Grand Celebration tour! “Have you ever wondered what it would be like to land on the floor of the Grand Canyon? Our Papillon Grand Celebration tour is a Grand Canyon helicopter landing tour that includes breathtaking views of the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon West and a 3,200-foot descent onto a private plateau of the Grand Canyon’s floor. After landing, you’ll even get to enjoy champagne and a light picnic overlooking the Colorado River. This Grand Canyon helicopter tour from Las Vegas is the crown jewel of our tour selection. Truly a sightseeing experience unlike any other!”

Go on a Gondola Ride: Venice in Vegas at The Venetian Resort

My gondola ride reminded me of my time in Venice, Italy. I enjoyed the gondolier singing and the gorgeous colors at sunset. We picked an outdoor ride but you can also choose indoor! We floated beneath bridges and listened to the songs. If you cannot leave the country, you can feel like you are in Italy by going to Vegas.

Rock Climbing Wall at Canyon Ranch at The Venetian Resort

Ready for a 40 feet climbing wall? Thank you to Mike at Canyon Ranch at The Venetian Resort for my adrenaline filled experience. This is one of the largest if not THE LARGEST indoor climbing wall at a hotel. I LOVED IT!!

Flyover Las Vegas: Experience The Real Wild West.

Thank you to Flyover Las Vegas for a “immersive flight-ride experience” right on the strip of Las Vegas. I love 3D and 4D movies and this felt like another level up. There are no googles or 3D glasses. This seat feels like a ride at the theme park and moves so far over the edge—you cannot wear your flip flops! They might fall off onto someone’s head! There is a basket for your belongings so they do not topple! This ride has six degrees of motion.

Allegiant Stadium

Thank you Allegiant Stadium and IPW! I loved my tour Sept 19, 2021. I loved seeing the Al Davis Memorial Torch, the private suites and clubs including Champions Club, Twitch Lounge, Modelo Cantina Club, the Hall of Fame photos, trophies and of course the field.I cannot wait to see a concert and a game here!

In past Vegas trips, I have driven fast cars, cooked with famous chefs and donned chain mail to scuba dive at Shark Reef!Christina Tosi from Milk Bar taught us to make cake truffles at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas March 2018.

My Five Star Luxury Dreams Came

Dream Racing

When you go to Las Vegas, you can make all your dreams come true. Have you always wanted an authentic driving experience on a race track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with luxury vehicles, professional instructors & simulators? I drove over 120mph in a Lamborghini Huracán GT with world famous driver Cédric Sbirrazzuoli as my instructor! I absolutely LOVED it! I cannot wait to go again! Thank you to the entire team at Dream Racing who made me feel so comfortable and ready to get behind the wheel! Thank you Cedric, Ashley, Steve and Enrico! “Dream Racing is the five-star driving experience at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and features the world’s largest and fastest selection of Supercars and the only one where you can get behind the wheel of a real Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche or Lotus Race Car. No matter which package you choose, we promise to deliver you a once in a lifetime exotic car racing experience. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to try your hand at racing these exotic cars.”

[image error] Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay

Who gets to wear a full suit of chain mail and dive with sharks in the desert? I did it and if you are a certified diver you can too! This is a very unique and different experience at Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef. Thank you to Jack, Theresa, Stacy, Trisha, The Life Support Team of the Aquarium, Mandalay Bay and MGM for this amazing adventure for my 50 things before I am 50 project! I LOVED IT! I sat on the bottom of the tank with many types of sharks swimming by and sang myself HAPPY BIRTHDAY! “Shark Reef aquarium is the home of over 2,000 animals including the saw fish, giant rays, endangered green sea turtles, piranha, jellyfish and the rare golden crocodile. This unique exhibit gives you the chance to dive with a higher concentration of exotic sharks than you’d ever find in the wild.”

Lisa Niver at Shark Reef Aquarium

Are You Looking for Luxury & Adventure “Frommer’s Instagram” Style?

I loved going behind the scenes at the Bellagio FountainsI will be back in Las Vegas for the Scuba show DEMA in November. I wonder what I will do NEXT??

Vegas IPW 2021 articles:

Luxury Las Vegas: My Stay at The Venetian Resort

Thank you IPW 2021 Resorts World Las Vegas

What happens in Vegas? EVERYTHING

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