Lightweight email client for the Mac. People swear by this app.
Monthly Archives: December 2011
RIM loses BBX trademark fight
Research In Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablets, has been prevented from using “BBX” to describe its next-generation BlackBerry operating system. The word comes from a press release posted by BASIS International, a business software developer which … Continued
Netflix boss: ‘We got overconfident’
Julianne Pepitone, for CNNMoney: “We did so many difficult things this year that we got overconfident,” Hastings said. “Our big obsession for the year was streaming, the idea that ‘let’s not die with DVDs.’” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ comments came … Continued
History of HTML5
Jeffrey Way gives us a detailed look at the history.
3.2 million ink dots
The making of “Hero,” a drawing of my dad composed entirely out of 3.2 million ink dots.
Absolutely amazing.
Kids charging up a storm on Kindle Fire
Reuters: What happens is that when you order a Kindle Fire […] it comes with your Amazon account information preloaded, along with “1-Click” ordering. That means anyone who is holding that device can place an order, whether it’s their account … Continued
Getting a job
Get out of the box. Stop thinking there is a magical process to getting a job if you follow the rules. Hone in on 3-5 companies that you’re passionate about and get creative. Meet people, find employees of the company a year before you are graduating and send informational emails through LinkedIn. Go to industry events. Heck, send them a 20 foot tall painting in the mail((Credit to Merlin Mann on Back to Work for this idea.))! Do all of this with the intention of learning more, not necessarily getting a job, because if you wait until you need a job, it’s too late.
I agree with the two main points here. There is no magical solution and if you need it, it’s already too late.
I will add this because I’ve seen it so many times in the last 17 years as a technology journalist: Don’t burn your bridges on the way up. It’s a long way down if there’s nobody to help you when you fall.
Editorial cartoon plagiarism
The Daily Cartoonist:
As a general rule, as long as the cartoonist isn’t light-boxing, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. Even the ones cited above can be excused when looked at individually (the ‘nationalized’ cartoons are easy word gags based on the topic of the day). Collectively, however, the matter gets harder to explain away. Only Jeff knows for sure and the only on-the-record response he’s given me was that “it’s a coincidence.”
All of the examples seem a bit too close for my liking.
PayPal regrets Regretsy kerfuffle
Regretsy, the “fail blog of hand crafts,” recently notified users that it wouldn’t be able to give donations as part of its Christmas gift fund-raising effort because the program ran afoul of payment service PayPal’s terms of service. Regretsy explained … Continued
Understanding Apple’s endgame
Whenever you bring up Apple or any of its products, the conversation inevitably goes to market share. So much so that it seems clear to me that some people believe that Apple thinks about market share when it releases products. … Continued
Usability expert hates the Kindle Fire
Part of making a successful product is making it usable for your target audience. That, apparently, is something that Amazon completely missed with its new Kindle Fire. “Amazon.com’s new Kindle Fire offers a disappointingly poor user experience,” said usability expert … Continued
PlayBook is an ‘albatross’
Businessweek:
Lazaridis said at the time the PlayBook was worth continuing because the tablet market is still “in its infancy and that “based on the positive response to the promotions that are underway in select markets, RIM believes this strategy will accelerate adoption” of its new operating system and help built the application ecosystem for devices planned for 2012.
RIM failed to plan for the future while it controlled the smartphone market years ago. Then it lied to its users and the market and said the PlayBook was planned all along — it didn’t take a genius to see that the PlayBook was thrown together at the last minute to mitigate a threat from the iPad.
Windows 8 will be ‘irrelevant’ and ‘disappointing’
AppleInsider:
Microsoft’s Windows 8 is still a year away, but IDC is already predicting that the new release will be “largely irrelevant” to conventional PC users and that its ability to sell tablets will be “disappointing.”
You didn’t need a market research firm to tell you that, did you?
A Facebook phone — why?
Jean-Louis Gassée: Back to Facebook. Both Google and Zuckerberg’s company vie for the same advertising dollars. This makes Google Facebook’s biggest, most direct competitor. The Trojan Horse applications on Android-powered smartphones are a direct threat to Facebook’s advertising business. Just … Continued
Android bug allows hackers to record phone conversations
The Register: Computer scientists have discovered a weakness in smartphones running Google’s Android operating system that allows attackers to secretly record phone conversations, monitor geographic location data, and access other sensitive resources without permission. Well now, there’s a feature the … Continued
Telephoto lens for iPhone
Photojojo:
Simply put, our sheepishness turned to sheer addiction (the good kind, not the itchy-skinned paranoid kind) — and we started taking our iPhone Telephoto Lens with us everywhere.
Yeah, it may look funny, but if it takes great pics, it would be worth the investment.
Help Judge Dredd fight zombies on iOS
Fuse Powered Inc. and Rebellion have announced the release of Judge Dredd vs. Zombies, a new game based on the popular comic book character. It’s available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad (it’s universal) for 99 cents. Judge Dredd … Continued
A look inside Heineken’s new US headquarters
Business Insider: “Some of the concepts we wanted were transparency, openness, representing a very progressive upscale, and a feeling of having one Heineken,” said Heineken VP of Business Integration John Kennedy. “So it’s very tied in with design elements with … Continued
Apple, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile sued over Carrier IQ
The law firms of Sianni & Straite of Wilmington, DE, Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy of Edison, NJ, and Keefe Bartels of Red Bank, NJ, have today filed a class action complaint in Federal Court in Wilmington, Delaware related to … Continued
Frustration with magazines on the iPad
I’m convinced that the people who actually write for magazines, edit them and publish them have never actually tried using their iPad versions for more than a few moments. If they actually did try to use their publication’s app as the actual means to read each issue, things would have to improve. Right? RIGHT?!
Justin Williams tears apart GQ, Esquire and Sports Illustrated for their poor implementation on the iPad. He also offers 10 solutions magazine publishers could use to help themselves.
TextExpander [sponsor]
Typing the same things over and over? Get TextExpander from Smile. You’ll save time and tedium by using short abbreviations to insert frequently-typed text. Use it for email addresses, company names, boilerplate paragraphs — there’s even special snippet libraries for correcting typos or coding HTML. The more you use TextExpander, the more uses you’ll find for it. Get a free demo of TextExpander: if you’re not using it, you’re wasting time.
Dell dumps Android-based Streak 7
Electronista: Dell on Monday confirmed that it had stopped selling the Streak 7. The tablet is no longer available online and is withdrawing just months after Dell axed the Streak 5. In a statement, it said it would still be … Continued
45 powerful images from 2011
I looked through the images and was impressed. When I got to the one of the dog and the navy seal, I felt it tugging at my heart.
RIM exec a suspect in BlackBerry sales stampede
Indonesian police named Research In Motion’s country director a suspect for negligence Monday after a BlackBerry promotion turned chaotic and left dozens injured and others knocked unconscious.Andrew Cobham, president director for Research in Motion (RIM) in Indonesia, and British security consultant Terry Burkey were named as two of four suspects in the incident at a Jakarta mall and could face five years’ imprisonment.
Just when you think things can’t possibly get worse for RIM.
Note to RIM re: Playbooks
Hey, RIM – if you’re wondering what to do with all those unsold Playbooks, maybe it’s time consider how Atari handled its glut of E.T. cartridges.
RIM’s mismanagement
Matt Alexander: I have no doubt that QNX is promising, but why on Earth would you push it when it’s not even compatible with your flagship email software? Why would you build Android emulation when you’re looking to develop your … Continued
Rolling Stone’s Beatles Album-by-Album Guide iPad app
The editors of Rolling Stone bring you the essential Beatles experience. From Please Please Me to Let it Be, Rolling Stone’s “Beatles Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide” takes you on a journey deep inside the Beatles catalog. Read about the inspiration and … Continued
Gruber translates Carrier IQ’s doublespeak
Hilarious.
Fantastical
I’d like to thank Fantastical for sponsoring this week’s RSS on The Loop.
Fantastical is the Mac calendar you’ll actually enjoy. Create events with simple sentences like “Go to lunch with John on Tuesday” or “Summer vacation 6/9-6/16.” Easily locate and search for your events with Fantastical’s beautiful and easy to navigate calendar. Fantastical works with iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, and Outlook and is compatible with OS X Lion and Snow Leopard.
Try Fantastical now for free, or purchase it from the Flexibits Store or on the Mac App Store for only $19.99.
Facebook buys Gowalla
CNN:
Most of Gowalla’s employees, including founder Josh Williams, will move to Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto. The team will work on Facebook’s Timeline feature, which launched at this year’s F8 conference and is gradually rolling out to Facebook’s 800 million members.
Probably a great deal for Gowalla.