Yearly Archives: 2015

Grantland:

As conceived, Beats 1 is the most prefab, retro pitch in Apple’s streaming service portfolio — a radio station, with DJs and songs. Beats 1, of course, has been much more than that, and sometimes a little less. A tastemaker with no genre-bound point of view, a 24-hour channel that is “always on,” and a hub for famous voices to share their loves, the station has become the surprising hallmark of Apple’s streaming bid.

Turns out people still like listening to the radio.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Beats 1 can “make a star” – if, with promotion and air play, Beats 1 can take an unknown artist to global popularity.

NASDAQ:

German luxury car giant Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or BMW Group is looking to go all-electric over the next 10 years due to the upcoming stricter carbon emission laws. Virtually every BMW model would be converted to electric drivetrains, including range-extending engines and plug-in hybrids.

The transition will see even the company’s top-selling 3 Series sport sedans turned into plug-in hybrids.

The company is weary of the stringent European Union regulations that greatly reduce the average carbon emissions permitted from road vehicles. They are said to be tougher than either North American or Chinese emission levels.

Some are calling this the “death of the internal combustion engine”. That is unlikely to happen any time soon but electric is the future. BMW is just getting out ahead of it.

Apple:

Join us here on September 9 at 10 a.m. PDT to watch the keynote live.

Many of us will be watching and, in a break from past webcasts, Apple will allow Windows 10 users to tune in too.

Those settings, which are slated to arrive when Apple launches its iOS 9 operating system in September, will require all content that arrives on an iPhone (via apps, ads or otherwise) to use an encryption setting known as “https.” The setting ensures that third parties can’t read or track what users are doing on their phones.

In a blog post this week, Google told AdMob users to get ready for the new Apple setting. But if they’re not prepared, Google said, they can use a few lines of code to override it.

Go fuck yourself Google.

Jim and Merlin talk about beta software, bass players, and how to minimize stress when traveling.

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Politico:

A private conference in Washington with the attorney general (in itself a rarity for many tech magnates) would have been unthinkable for Cook’s irascible predecessor, Steve Jobs, who actively disdained D.C. Cook, much as he sought to shirk Jobs’ shadow as CEO, had also endeavored quietly to rethink his company’s relationship with the nation’s capital, becoming a leader not only ready to engage its power brokers but challenge them openly when it mattered most.

Watching Cook in his dealings with Washington has been fascinating precisely because it’s something Steve Jobs hated and wouldn’t do. Cook seems more open and able to navigate the issues.

Lifehacker:

People say that “everyone should work retail or service at least once in their lives.” I couldn’t agree more. Like many people, some of my first jobs were retail service gigs. One in a department store, another in a bookstore. I’ve long since moved on, but I learned a lot about the nature of people—and how that battle between selfishness and empathy is something we all struggle with, every day.

I never worked long in retail but I was there long enough to know the jobs generally sucked. 99% of retail employees are good, hardworking people. Please treat them with the same respect you want for yourself.

Casey Liss, of the Accidental Tech Podcast, writes about being trolled.

Peter Cohen, writing for iMore, makes the case that if Apple did away with the One to One program, it might be a boon for non-Apple retail stores.

My daughter and her boyfriend, Ian, have had a rough month. Ian’s computer was stolen in Montreal a couple of weeks ago, and earlier today his camera gear was stolen. Nicole set up a GoFundMe page to help raise some money to buy new gear. I realize money is tight for everyone, but If you can help, I thank you.

Tech Republic:

Apple was not even officially a company yet, and Fernandez had to delay working for Jobs and Woz until he gave his notice at HP. But, when he came on board in early 1977 it was just as Mike Markkula became an investor and Apple Computer, Inc. was officially formed. Fernandez became the first official full-time employee.

I love these stories of the original Apple employees and the loose organization and work duties involved.

Washington Post:

Justin Wilson’s younger brother has been sharing his grief on social media. Stefan Wilson is also an IndyCar driver, and he is in deep mourning for the loss of his “best friend … role model and mentor,” who died Monday after being injured during a race on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Stefan Wilson, 25, followed that up with the news that, indeed, a half-dozen needy recipients had benefited from his brother’s organs.

This tragic story is made a little less painful in the knowledge that Wilson had signed his Organ Donar Card. Unless you have specific moral or religious objections, I believe everyone should. There are too many needy people out there not to do it.

Apple on Thursday sent out invitations for a special event to be held on September 9, 2015. The event will be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco at 10:00 am. […]

Now you can expand BIAS FX iPad with five of the most sought-after studio racks based on the LA2A Compressor, PSA-1 Preamp, Manley EQ, Echoplex and Dual Spring Reverb. The new studio racks can be integrated with BIAS Amp models, run into two different signal chains, and share and download on ToneCloud.

I really do like BIAS and use it all the time.

ABC News:

Apple CEO Tim Cook is focusing on an academic revolution that aims to prepare these students for the 21st century.

The tech giant is part of the White House initiative known as ConnectED. The goal of the program is to connect 99 percent of U.S. schools to good technology.

“I think technology has to be a key part [of education] and that’s why we’re here,” Cook said. “Too many times today kids aren’t given the right for a great public education and this isn’t right. It’s not fair.

It’s great when Apple’s goals – selling products – mesh with the common good of better education. But I get a strong sense that Cook would be involved in these kinds of issues whether or not Apple was selling iPads to schools. He’s absolutely right that a good education is the key to many childrens’ future.

Macworld:

iTunes gets a lot of criticism, including a lot that I dish out, and much of this criticism is justified. iTunes has lots of problems syncing iOS devices, iTunes Match and iCloud Music Library are confusing, and the interface, particularly in iTunes 12, is confusing.

To be fair, though, iTunes does get a lot right. You can condemn it for many problems, but it’s good to sometimes take a step back and give it credit for the features that work so well that you hardly pay attention to them. I’ve picked ten things that iTunes does right.

McElhearn has a good point. After all the complaining many, myself included, do about it, there are many things it does very well.