Yearly Archives: 2015

The New York Times:

The nation’s largest restaurant chains have made a big deal in recent years about introducing smaller portion sizes. McDonald’s eliminated the Supersize menu, while T.G.I. Fridays and others have introduced small-plate items. Yet the restaurants have also been doing something else, with less fanfare: continuing to add dishes so rich that a single meal often contains a full day’s worth of calories.

Here, we show you what roughly 2,000 calories looks like at some large chains.

I’ve been using the MyFitnessPal app to track my daily meals and trying to stay under 2,000 calories. Terrifying to realize so many of these meals I ate when I was younger have that many calories in a single meal.

Much respect to Apple and the developers of these apps for helping make people’s lives better.

We are happy to announce that estimates in Billings Pro have come to the iPhone and iPad. Now you can create, edit, and send estimates from anywhere.

This is a great feature for Billings Pro mobile apps.

Nice.

Much respect to all the companies taking part in this initiative.

Pope Francis on Sunday became the first person registered for next year’s World Youth Day festivities, using an iPad to sign up while addressing thousands of pilgrims and tourists in Saint Peter’s Square.

“Thanks to this electronic device, I signed up as a simple pilgrim,” Francis said, declaring himself the first person registered for the next edition of the Youth Day celebration while flanked by two Polish youths.

Nice.

I love compressors… when they’re used properly.

TIME:

The usual gestation period for a rabbit is a month. But Bugs Bunny, the iconic cartoon character who turns 75 on Monday, took a lot longer to come to life.

Here’s how the world’s favorite cartoon rabbit came to be. Animator Chuck Jones gave credit to Tex Avery for the character, but Warner Bros. had made several rabbit cartoons in the studio’s earlier years. There were cutesy rabbits and wacky rabbits, but those rabbits aren’t Bugs.

The video in the story is the first official appearance of the iconic rabbit. It’s remarkable how it still stands up today. As a kid, Bugs was my favorite of all of the Warner Bros. cartoons.

Police in Beijing have busted a factory that produced more than 41,000 fake iPhones worth as much as 120 million yuan ($19 million), including some that reached the United States, and have arrested nine suspects in the counterfeiting operation.

THEY SHUT DOWN SAMSUNG!

When is a social network not a social network? When “using” a social network is a requirement to access services you really wanted to use. Like email. Or videos.

I know Google wants Google+ to work, but forcing people to use it isn’t the way to make it popular. Thankfully, they’ve learned that. At least for now.

My thanks to Hullo for sponsoring The Loop this week. You already know the ergonomics of your desktop workstation are important; have you considered your sleep ergonomics? You spend around one-third of your life sleeping—a lot of time for your head and neck to be in one position. Whether you are a side sleeper, a back sleeper, or a stomach sleeper, proper positioning and support of your head are important for quality sleep. Have you ever used more than one pillow, or folded your pillow in an attempt to find a comfortable position? Somewhat like a bean bag, Hullo can be shaped to hold your head in a comfortable position, and keep it there throughout the night. One simple pillow can make a difference you’ll appreciate, every night. Guaranteed. Check out Hullo.

The Wall Street Journal:

Six firms— Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc. and Gilead Sciences Inc.—now account for more than half of the $664 billion in value added this year to the Nasdaq Composite Index, according to data compiled by brokerage firm JonesTrading.

The concentrated gains are spurring concerns that soft trading in much of the market could presage a pullback in the indexes. Many investors see echoes of prior market tops—including the 2007 peak and the late 1990s frenzy—when fewer and fewer stocks lifted the broader market. The S&P 500 is up 1% this year while the Nasdaq has gained 7.4%.

Other indicators are also flashing yellow. In the Nasdaq, falling stocks have outnumbered rising stocks this year, sending the “advance-decline line” into negative territory, a phenomenon that has come before market downturns in the past, investors and analysts said.

That kind of concentration is always worrying and certainly may be cause for the skittishness of Apple’s stock recently. As always, if the link doesn’t work, do a Google search on the headline. The WSJ lets Google post stories outside of its paywall.

Sir Ian McKellen:

“Live from Chateau Marmont in Hollywood,” I scramble up the best eggs in the world for my Facebook followers, to celebrate the success of my new film “Mr. Holmes”.

It’s good to see that Sir Ian cooks like mom(s) did – with no idea of how much of any ingredient to put in. Just go by feel and expereince and it comes out perfectly. I’ll definitely be trying this method next time I make scrambled eggs.

NPR:

“I noticed this one little girl with these incredible eyes and I instantly knew that this was really the only picture I wanted to take,” he says.

She would become the subject of McCurry’s iconic photograph “The Afghan Girl” — one of National Geographic’s most popular covers.

It is one of the most incredible portraits to ever appear in National Geographic and the back story is fascinating.

The Wall Street Journal:

One month after Apple Inc. started selling Apple Watch at its own stores, the company said it will bring the device to Best Buy stores in August.

Apple said its smartwatch will be available at more than 100 Best Buy stores in the U.S., expanding to over 300 outlets before the holiday shopping season. Best Buy will be the first major U.S. retailer beside Apple to sell the device.

This is a sign Apple wants to get the Watch in front of even more customers and that they have caught up on demand. It’s also in preparation for the upcoming holiday season when Apple expects the Watch to be a huge seller for Christmas.

The Verge:

This is about what it’s like to drive a supercar for the very first time, and to do it in the unforgiving streets and avenues of New York. Here’s what I learned.

Just blocks away from picking it up, I ran the 650S at full speed over a seemingly shallow divot in the atrocious pavement that I didn’t see — I’m not sure I could’ve seen it from my vantage point. The entire car shuddered with a smack that woke me more effectively than the La Colombe coffee I’d just finished. It echoed in my brain for the next several hours. I can still hear it. No one wants to hear that sound; it’s the sound of sadness.

It’s a funny story about getting to drive a vehicle 99.9% of us will never own. His description of the streets and paranoia of driving in New York City definitely ring true for me. While I’ve never ridden a supercar in The Big Apple, I have ridden a motorcycle many times and, with their relatively unforgiving suspension, bikes can be a real challenge in Manhattan.