Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

Car As a Service

Jan 26, 2026

Quick tips galore from batch renaming files in Finder to a three-finger pinch trick on Mac and iPhone Safari tab pinch. A hilarious detour into competitive spreadsheeting and a visionary chat about cars as a service and TCAS-inspired autonomy. Practical travel hacks include time-zone tricks, turning off ship cellular, emoji picker shortcuts, password manager consolidation, and troubleshooting Mac apps and CarPlay quirks.

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ADVICE

Batch Rename Files In Finder

Use Finder's batch rename dialog to find-and-replace or sequentially rename multiple files at once.
Select multiple files, choose Rename, and experiment with the options for quick cleanup.

ANECDOTE

Lotus 1-2-3 Day And Spreadsheet Nostalgia

January 26th marks Lotus 1-2-3 Day, celebrating the 1983 debut of Lotus 1-2-3 on the IBM PC.
The hosts used the date and show number coincidences to riff on spreadsheet nostalgia.

INSIGHT

Spreadsheeting As A Broadcast Sport

Competitive spreadsheeting (Excel esports) turns spreadsheet tasks into timed, broadcastable challenges.
Adam points out the surprising rise of Excel World Championships on esports channels.

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Car As a Service — Mac Geek Gab 1126 episode image

You dive into Mac Geek Gab 1126, kicking off with quick tips like batch renaming files in Finder using Craig’s method, then celebrating Lotus 1-2-3 Day with a wild tangent on competitive spreadsheeting and full-contact spreadsheet battles—think TCAS systems in airplanes morphing into “Car As A Service” dreams. More tips follow: three-finger pinch on Mac for quick zoom, pinch iPhone Safari screens for all tabs, time zone hacks for jet lag flyers, Fn key emoji picker, and disabling cellular data on cruise ships to avoid roaming nightmares. Don’t Get Caught hits hard with Michael’s Password Hell survival and Larry’s warning on that pesky Apple Search bug in Settings—hold off nuking your iPad.

You tackle listener queries next, troubleshooting Bob’s Lightroom + Dropbox Trash Bin woes, hunting DLH’s missing CarPlay Maps pinch-to-zoom (maybe iOS 26?), verifying Eric’s MacUpdater safety, and fixing Sandy’s wonky Contacts app step-by-step. Packed with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton’s signature geeky banter, this episode drops January 26, 2026—grab it before tech glitches trip you up.

00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1126 for Monday, January 26th, 2026
- January 26th: Lotus 1-2-3 Day
- MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of Ecamm Live or Carbon Copy Cloner 7!
- The MGG Merch Store is Live!
Quick Tips
- 00:00:01 Craig-QT-You can batch rename files in Finder
- 00:05:01 January 26th: Lotus 1-2-3 Day
- 00:06:40 Competitive Spreadsheeting
  - Full Contact Spreadsheeting
  - TCAS System in airplanes
Tangent: Car as a service
- 00:13:11 When can we move to Car As A Service?
MOAR Quick Tips
- 00:19:30 Steve-You can also three finger pinch on the Mac!
- 00:22:56 Todd-Pinch iPhone Screen in Safari to reveal the All Tabs display
- 00:24:16 Time hack: when flying across time zones, start your day on the time zone you will be ending on
- 00:25:11 Craig-QT-Use Fn to bring up the Mac emoji picker
- 00:27:48 Jim-QT-For cruisers, disable cellular data on the ship
Sponsors
- 00:30:35 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG
- 00:31:48 SPONSOR: Copilot Money. Your money, beautifully organized, now across every device. For a limited-time, get 26% off your first year when you sign up at https://try.copilot.money/macgeekgab. Get two months free with code ‘macgeekgab’.
- 00:33:12 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support.
Don’t Get Caught
- 00:34:24 Michael-DGC-Password Hell is a Real Place
  - Bitwarden
  - Access became Uplock
- 00:53:17 Larry-DGC-Known Bug in Apple Search in Settings – Don’t Nuke-n-Pave Your iPad just yet
Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!
- 00:54:26 -n=Bob-?-Why Lightroom + DropBox TidBits Article Won’t Let me Put Files in the Trash Bin?
- 01:00:18 DLH-Where is CarPlay Maps pinch to zoom?
  - Maybe in iOS 26
- 01:04:49 Eric-Is MacUpdater still safe for now?
- 01:06:17 Sandy-Contacts is being weird…how do I unweird it?
01:17:55 MGG 1126 Outtro
- MGG Monthly Giveaway
- Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly
- MGG’s CES 2026 Sponsors
- Pilot Pete’s Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts)
- The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!
- Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts
- MGG Merch is Available!
- Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page
- Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar
- This Week’s MGG Premium Contributors
- MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews
- feedback@macgeekgab.com
- 224-888-GEEK
- Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List
- BackBeat Media Podcast Network