Yearly Archives: 2015

CBC:

Turned, the tables have been.

After what seems like light-years of griping about the fact that Netflix users get more (and sometimes better) titles in the U.S., Canadians will soon have exclusive access to something our American friends might actually install a VPN for: Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

A representative from Netflix confirmed to CBC News on Sunday that Canada is its only territory in which streaming rights for the hotly-anticipated forthcoming Star Wars film has been secured.

“The reason Netflix will be able to offer the much-anticipated movie in Canada next year — and not in the U.S. or anywhere else — has to do with the timing of when Disney’s pay-TV distribution deals were up for grabs,” reports Variety, which broke the news Friday.

Once again, Americans will pretend to be Canadians.

Variety:

After racking up the year’s best per-screen average in its opening weekend and doing strong business in limited expansion, “Steve Jobs” hit a stumbling block in its national release. It debuted to a measly $7.3 million, only a little more than the $6.7 million that “Jobs,” a critically derided film about the iPhone father with Ashton Kutcher, made in its initial weekend. Going into the weekend, some tracking suggested that the picture would do as much as $19 million.

So what went wrong?

This dissection by Variety is really interesting. I never expected it to do Star Wars box office but I am a little surprised it has done so little. Apparently, there’s lots of blame to go around.

Nerdist:

Hold on to your butts and roll for initiative, because this might be the greatest game we’ve ever played. Together with our sister site, Geek & Sundry, we invited the one and only Vin Diesel to come play Dungeons & Dragons with us… and not only did he accept, he may have become our new best friend.

D&D isn’t cool. It’s fun, and I played a lot in high school and college, but it’s not cool. But, if one of your players is Vin Diesel, a giant buff nerd in his own right, D&D gets very cool and even more fun. BTW, the DM in that video is really good. There’s even a 30 minute version of this on Youtube.

There are some obscure costumes here, but I really like the premise.

I’m not a Star Wars nerd by any stretch but this trailer is some kind of epic.

Alf Watt:

I worked on the Mac OS Wi-Fi client user experience at Apple from 2007–2012, implementing a number of features to help users identify when a Wi-Fi connection was not working as expected, as well as the utilities built into the OS to help debug problems when they occurred. When I left Apple, just after my five year anniversary, I owned the Wi-Fi Utility and Network Utility apps, along with some assorted supporting components deep inside the OS.

During my last few years I spent a lot of time working closely with AppleCare on customer Wi-Fi and networking issues: poring over user trouble reports, sitting down at call centers and listening in on calls, and generally doing everything I could to improve the user experience of Wi-Fi for Apple users. I failed.

Ignoring the bad copyediting and his possible behind the scenes motives for writing this, Watt’s piece is a pretty damning indictment of at least one seemingly dysfunctional area inside Apple. I will say that, as soon as I heard about WiFi Assist, I thought it was a bad idea from a customer point of view. I didn’t realize that it might have been a bad idea inside Apple, too.

BobRoss.com:

Bob Ross introduces us to his “Almighty” assortment of tools and colors, tells us that anyone can paint, and creates a landscape of a forest path just after a rain shower.

This guy was utterly hypnotic. When I was a kid, I could never pass up watching an episode even though I couldn’t paint and had zero interest in painting. Watching and listening to Ross was just incredibly soothing.

Alphr:

Last week, Tesla rolled out new autonomous functions to the Model S, and drivers are already reporting some serious issues. There are already several cases of Tesla’s Autopilot software losing the plot, with cars veering off the road and breaking the speed limit.

But Tesla’s Autopilot isn’t totally at fault. Before launch, Tesla claimed that the Model S’ new Autosteer functions were designed solely for motorways – but that hasn’t stopped some drivers using it elsewhere.

I predict that, within a year, we’ll hear about an accident involving this feature where it will turn out that the driver was completely ignoring what the car was doing. Of course, he’ll blame Tesla and sue.

Thanks to Igloo Software for sponsoring The Loop this week.

What if you could get 5% of your day back? What would you do?

You already have enough work to do today and shouldn’t have to waste time looking for the things you need to do your job!

Igloo can’t solve the conflict in Syria but it can help with conflict with coworkers. Igloo’s not just for your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It lets you work better together with your team. Stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Send your IT guy to try Igloo Software and see for yourself why Igloo is an intranet you’ll actually like.

TechInsider:

After a number of short teasers, Netflix has finally revealed the first full trailer for its next Marvel series, “Jessica Jones,” and it’s going to be really dark.

The series follows titular character Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), a former superhero who is grappling with PTSD after being controlled by a mysterious man Zebediah Killgrave (David Tennant).

Not being versed in the various iterations of Marvel’s super heroes, I’m not familiar with this character so I watched the trailer with no notion of who Jessica Jones is. That being said, this show looks interesting with lots of dark elements. I’m looking forward to watching it in November.

The Wall Street Journal:

In the age of wireless speakers and Bluetooth streaming, vacuum-tube amplifiers may seem antiquated, but you don’t have to be an audio nerd to appreciate their appeal. Designed to power traditional speakers and/or headphones, these devices are throwbacks, to be sure. Still, when their steampunk-esque glass tubes glow a soothing orange, it’s evident something magical is happening here—and your favorite tunes will never sound the same.

The science behind how these radiant glass tubes produce better sound is difficult to grasp. Suffice to say, just as nothing quite matches the ambience created by an incandescent bulb dimmed low, nothing quite sounds like a good tube amp. Audiophiles will argue about whether a solid-state or tube amp is superior. However, it’s best to think of tubes as an aesthetic choice—akin to applying a vintage filter to a pristine snapshot.

I have no idea if these actually sound better than their more expensive digital counterparts but they do look a lot cooler.

Jim and Dan talk about the latest Apple news.

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Chapman University:

The Chapman University Survey of American Fears, Wave 2 (2015) provides an unprecedented look into the fears of average Americans. In April of 2015, a random sample of 1,541 adults from across the United States were asked their level of fear about eighty-eight different fears across a huge variety of topics ranging from crime, the government, disasters, personal anxieties, technology and many others.

A little light reading going into your weekend. The list is interesting. How does it correspond to your personal fears and worries? I think it’s hilarious that “Zombies” and “Clowns” rank at all, let alone enough to make the list. And having “Obamacare” at 35.7% followed closely by “Illness” at 34.4% is kind of ironic.

CNN Money:

Todd Stabelfeldt is sending his wife a romantic text. He taps his chin on a button mounted on his wheelchair, then grins, pleased with his wooing.

A quadriplegic since he was 8, Stabelfeldt can’t move anything below his neck. Now a 36-year-old engineer and business owner, he’s turned his wheelchair into a powerful mobile communication hub using switches, a Bluetooth headset and an iPhone 6.

He averages a phone call every six minutes and sends more than 100 texts a day.

Wow. This guy gets more done in a day than I do in a week.