Jenni Sparks:
Here is the hand drawn map of New York that I’ve been working on for what seems like FOREVER! Thanks to New York for being a great city and surviving Hurricane Sandy.
I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler so I’m always amazed at this kind of hand drawing. I was disappointed to not see the Bronx and Yankee Stadium (among other places) in this print but even without them, she still captured an incredible level of detail.
Jason Snell explains why writing on the iPad is so different for him than writing on a Mac.
Matt Macari for The Verge:
The internet was abuzz yesterday with reports that Apple’s infamous “bounce-back” patent, US 7,469,381, was “tentatively invalidated” by the US Patent Office. That’s one of the patents Samsung was found to infringe, and any action by the USPTO will have major consequences. Unfortunately, all those reports were extremely premature —patents can’t be “tentatively invalid,” just like people can’t be “tentatively dead.”
Great explanation of what’s going on and the process involved.
Angus is such a great blues guitar player.
The goal is to release the camera filters in an application update in time for the holiday season, these sources say.
I’d rather see Twitter release the grip on developer’s balls.
The two companies, competing for dominance of the smartphone market, have partnered after leading two separate groups this summer to buy some of Kodak’s 1,100 imaging patents, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.
This week, the USPTO issued a first Office action rejecting all 20 claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,479,949 on a “touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics”, which has been referred to by many people, including Apple’s own lawyers, as “the Steve Jobs patent”.
This isn’t a final decision, but it’s certainly an important one for Apple.
I’d like to thank Anytune for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop. I’ve tried this app myself and really like it.
Musicians of all kinds use Anytune to learn, transcribe and practice their favorite songs!
Check out Jim’s guitar stylings in a rare solo version of a theme that fans of The Loop should recognize. Something unexpected happened when tuning the track that hints at the source of Jim’s power… You’ll have to watch the video on this page to find out what it might be.
Music Practice Perfected.
Jonathan Sutter has written up a counterpoint to Brent Caswell’s article that I linked to earlier this week.
The Verge:
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels are a cornerstone of science fiction, but getting into a vast series about, among other things, mathematically predicting the rise and fall of entire civilizations isn’t always easy. In 1973, however, the BBC adapted Foundation into a serial radio drama, capturing the original trilogy in eight hour-long episodes. These are available on the Internet Archive, which means that you can listen to them online or download them in all their slightly scratchy glory.
I first read The Foundation Trilogy as a young teenager and loved them. I come back to re-read them about every decade. I’ve been thinking it’s about time to read them again but maybe I’ll just let the folks at the BBC entertain me this time.
Esquire:
Ever wonder what whiskey-industry insiders are drinking around the holidays? Us, too. Eat Like a Man’s 12 Days of Whiskey asks the craft’s most respected master distillers what bottles are on their holiday wish lists.
One of the great parts of the turning of summer into Fall/Winter is indulging in delicious and warming bourbons and whiskeys. They always seem perfect on a chill evening. In honor of the anniversary of the repeal of the 18th Amendment earlier this week, enjoy the “The 12 Days of Whiskey”.
Final Fantasy IV is coming out for iOS on December 20, 2012, and Square Enix is celebrating with a sale.
An analysis of broadband availability in the US reveals that two factors are keeping the cost of broadband high: scarcity of competition and increased consumer dependence.
Writing on Horace Dediu’s Asymco blog, James Allworth sketches out how Apple is victim of its own success by relying so much on Samsung for parts.
A great article by Graham Spencer that looks at Apple’s retail strategy around the world.
This looks fantastic. The app replaces the deck of cards and deals to the player’s iPhones.
Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition is at last available for iPad.
These will make you laugh.
T-Mobile says it’ll stop phone subsidies in 2013, providing customers with easier upgrade terms and fewer penalties.
Mac developer Sherief Farouk has a Mac app called Listening To that shows what song is playing using Mountain Lion’s notification system. It’s a cool and useful app, but Apple doesn’t seem to agree.
Brian Williams interviewing Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Twitterrific developer Craig Hockenberry posted an interesting behind the scenes look at the app.
The guys at Pixelmator posted an explanation to users of Macs with NVIDIA GeForce graphics card drivers. Apparently there is a problem with the drivers that causing the application to crash.
Pixelmator is a great app run buy equally great people.
Netflix Inc said securities regulators plan to take action against the company because of a Facebook post by Chief Executive Reed Hastings that violated public disclosure rules, even as Hastings dismissed the contention in a public letter to shareholders on Thursday.
Stupid of the CEO.
TSA baggage screener Sean Henry, 32, was arrested on Tuesday after a sting operation conducted jointly by the TSA and the Port Authority Police Department caught Henry leaving the airport with two iPads that had been planted as part of the sting, as well as numerous other electronics devices he had allegedly stolen from passengers. Just as in a recent ABC News investigation of thefts by TSA agents, the sting used the iPads’ own tracking capabilities to follow the stolen tablets’ movements.
I’m glad they’re getting caught.
Gannon Burgett looks at how we use gestures and how important they’ve become to us.
App downloads in the Appstore have grown more than 500 percent over the previous year.
All Amazon says in its press release is that they have grown 500 percent. Typical of the way they do business, they refuse to release actual numbers.
So, I’m guessing it’s 34 apps. Amazon hasn’t said anything to prove me wrong, so that’s what I’m going with. It’s a lot of fun to play loosey goosey with numbers isn’t it Amazon?
Want to balloon hop a motor home to clear the Grand Canyon? Use your sports car and escape Alcatraz by leaping as far as you can and landing on a barge? Speed through a roller-coaster on a New York skyscraper with a cow on your pickup? You can do all this and more in Top Gear: Stunt School Revolution.
Apple has confirmed news that T-Mobile will be carrying Apple products in 2013. […]
Alastair Johnston is not happy.