Yearly Archives: 2015

Exploratorium’s app rethinks time itself

Discovery:

Besides having one of the best names in the museum business, San Francisco’s Exploratorium is widely considered to be among the most beautiful and well-designed educational institutions on the planet.

Its oddball, hands-on exhibits are considered a model for the modern participatory museum. The Exploratorium has famously been termed a “mad scientist’s penny arcade.”

It turns out the Exploratorium makes apps, too. The latest from the museum team is called How Many Saturdays? and it’s a lot of fun.

San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a wonderful “participatory museum”, was always one of my favorite places to go when we had any extra time at a Macworld Expo. This app typifies the Exploratorium – quirky and weird but in the best possible way.

Tim Cook’s email about the black teens barred entry from an Apple Store

Buzzfeed:

Earlier this week, a video surfaced of three black teenagers from Sudan and Somalia being barred from entering an Apple store in Melbourne, Australia, because an employee thought “they might steal something.” The company subsequently apologized.

In an email obtained by BuzzFeed News, Tim Cook weighed in on the situation, calling it “unacceptable.”

“What people have seen and heard from watching the video on the web does not represent our values. It is not a message we would ever want to deliver to a customer or hear ourselves,” Cook wrote in the companywide email. “None of us are happy with the way this was handled.”

It is unclear if any disciplinary measures were taken against the manager involved in the incident, but multiple sources familiar with the situation say the employee hasn’t been at the store since.

Nor should they be. While this is yet another embarrassment for Apple this week, I think we can all agree that, as Cook says in the email, this doesn’t represent the company’s values.

Here’s what’s happening with the Mac App Store and ‘damaged’ apps

iMore:

Earlier this week Mac App Store (MAS) apps, on launch, were showing up as “damaged” and couldn’t be opened. The old MAS security certificate seemed to have expired and a new one, at first, didn’t seem to be showing up. Here’s my current understanding of what happened.

Some consider this just a minor mistake on Apple’s part while others see it as endemic to the Mac App Store situation. Regardless, I’m told Apple is working hard on a fix and will have something “soon”.

Stop Tossing and Turning on Your Sad Old Pillow

Thanks to Hullo for sponsoring The Loop this week. A hot, flat pillow can wake up even the deepest sleeper. Soft traditional pillows often collapse under the weight of your head which can cause strains in your neck and shoulders. They also retain body heat, which can make sleep hot and uncomfortable.

Have You Ever Slept on a Buckwheat Pillow?

They’re totally different than the soft spongey pillows you’re used to. A buckwheat pillow is sort of like a beanbag for your head. Their unique and firm support simply can’t be matched by traditional pillows; it will perfectly conform to your head and neck. Buckwheat pillows also allow air to move freely, preventing uncomfortable heat build up. Sleep on the cool side of the pillow all night long! Give our buckwheat pillow, Hullo™, a try for 60 nights. If it’s not for you, ship it back to us it for a full refund.

No one minding the store

Michael Tsai:

I woke up to an inbox full of e-mails from customers reporting that my apps wouldn’t launch. This included new customers who had just purchased from the Mac App Store as well as people who had purchased long ago, hadn’t made any changes, and expected that things would just keep working.

The Mac App Store is supposed to make things easier, but it’s also a single point of failure. Not only is it neglected, but sometimes even the existing functionality stops working.

In short, the system is broken on multiple levels, and there is no evidence to suggest that things will get better.

Tsai is the developer of SpamSieve, among other apps, and he reflects the frustration many developers feel towards Apple and the way the App Store works – or, as in the case a few days ago, catastrophically doesn’t work. This is a huge embarrassment to Apple (and one they haven’t explained or apologized for) as well as being a giant pain point for developers. After all, when your app stops working, who do you contact? The developer or Apple?

The ‘Amazing Fantastic Incredible’ life of Stan Lee, now in comic form

NPR:

Stan Lee is a legend. Along with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Lee helped populate the Marvel Comics universe with heroes like the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man.

The man who dreamed up lots of backstories for Marvel characters has now put out his own origin story: A memoir, Amazing Fantastic Incredible, in comic book form.

Even if you’re like me and have only a passing familiarity with comic books, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Stan Lee. I think it’s entirely appropriate that his memoir is in the format he is so well known for.

A designer’s take on the iPad Pro

The Verge:

The reviews are out on iPad Pro, and they address how big it is, whether it’s worth the price, and whether it can or can’t replace a laptop for average consumers. But as a design director at Vox Media, I was more interested in whether I could run all of the apps I normally use on it.

In a lot of ways, the computing devices I use have to feel like extensions of me. I’m always sketching, creating, and ideating on my MacBook Pro. And I don’t regularly use an iPad for work, so the promise of iPad Pro as a device for creatives was particularly intriguing.

I had high hopes that this new iPad would transform me into a rockstar designer. I mean, something this big should be life-changing… right?

There’s lots of discussion of the iPad Pro and where it fits into various workflows. This is an interesting take from the point of view of that group of people a lot of us think will be big buyers of the iPad Pro.

Apple’s 2015 Gift Guide

Apple:

The person on your list is a music lover. Gamer. Photographer. Whiz. Workout devotee. Nomad, even. No matter who you’re shopping for this holiday, you’re sure to find a great gift.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved gift guides and dreaming about the things I’d like to get for myself and now, as an adult, what I’d like to buy for others. Apple’s Gift Guide is the first in a long line of lists I’ll be perusing over the holidays. Do you plan on getting anything from this list?

Finding Dory

Finding Nemo ranks up there with my favorite Pixar movies. Here’s hoping that Finding Dory lives up to expectations.

A solid start, bringing back Ellen and Albert Brooks. The core is intact. The video is embedded in the main post.

Sideloading

Sideloading is a way to deliver apps to people without going through Apple’s official distribution mechanism. Interesting piece from Federico Viticci.

Analogy of the day

Lovely bit of writing by Stephen Hackett. Nailed it.

iFixit’s iPad Pro teardown

iFixit has gotten quite good at stepping us through their teardown process. The commentary is smart and fun to read, and the pictures are top notch. This iPad Pro teardown is no exception.

Review: iPad Pro

I’ve been using the iPad Pro for just over a week now and I’ll tell you, I’m more impressed than what I thought I would be. The first question I set out to solve was “who is the target market for iPad Pro?” While I thought that would be a difficult question to answer, it turned out to be quite simple. More on that later. […]

iPad Pro now on sale online

Currently available for delivery on Friday (at least in the U.S.) if you specify next day shipping.

Apple running 10 city tour of Apple TV Tech Talks

From the Apple TV Tech Talk web site:

The new Apple TV is here, bringing incredible and immersive apps and games to the big screen. Get in-depth technical information on building and designing for tvOS, learn refined coding techniques, and obtain valuable development instruction from Apple experts.