A new social media app has been launched by the Twitterific team. Tapestry combines Blue Sky, Mastodon, RSS, and YouTube feeds on your iOS device. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Marty Jencius, Eric Bolden, Guy Serle, Jim Rea, and Web Bixby discuss the implications of this app given its pedigree. We also look at an Office 365 price increase at the same time it drops a free VPN service, and its subscription model. Microsoft is also bringing DeepSeek to its Copilot service while, at the same time, DeepSeek was dropped from the Italian App Store.

MacVoices is supported by Take Control Books: The Answers You Need Now, From Leading Experts. Start your library today.

Show Notes:

Chapters:

00:12 Tapestry App Launch 01:04 Microsoft 365 Price Hike 02:40 DeepSeek Integration and Controversy 11:17 AI and Privacy Concerns 14:17 Wrap-Up and Conclusions

Links:

Microsoft 365 Is Raising Prices and Ditching Its Free VPN https://lifehacker.com/tech/microsoft-365-raising-prices-dropping-vpn

Dave's Transitioning Away From Office Presentation

Deepseek is coming to Windows Copilot+ PCs https://www.engadget.com/ai/deepseek-is-coming-to-windows-copilot-pcs-130041096.html

DeepSeek privacy under investigation in US and Europe; App Store impact https://9to5mac.com/2025/01/30/deepseek-privacy-under-investigation-in-us-and-europe-removed-from-app-store-in-italy/

Guests:

Web Bixby has been in the insurance business for 40 years and has been an Apple user for longer than that.You can catch up with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at [email protected], on Mastodon at @[email protected], on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast.

Brian Flanigan-Arthurs is an educator with a passion for providing results-driven, innovative learning strategies for all students, but particularly those who are at-risk. He is also a tech enthusiast who has a particular affinity for Apple since he first used the Apple IIGS as a student. You can contact Brian on twitter as @brian8944. He also recently opened a Mastodon account at @[email protected].

David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @[email protected].

Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession 'firsts,' including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC).

Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He's been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @[email protected] on Mastodon.

Guy Serle, best known for being one of the co-hosts of the MyMac Podcast, sincerely apologizes for anything he has done or caused to have happened while in possession of dangerous podcasting equipment. He should know better but being a blonde from Florida means he's probably incapable of understanding the damage he has wrought. Guy is also the author of the novel, The Maltese Cube. You can follow his exploits on Twitter, catch him on Mac to the Future on Facebook, at @[email protected], and find everything at VertShark.com.

Support:

Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon http://patreon.com/macvoices

Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal

Connect:

Web: http://macvoices.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner http://www.twitter.com/macvoices

Mastodon: https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner

MacVoices Page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/

MacVoices Group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/

Subscribe:

Audio in iTunes Video in iTunes

Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:

Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss