Yearly Archives: 2015

So awesome, congrats Cole Rise.

There’s always a better camera than the one you have with you.

And that’s Obscura.

Looks great and it’s free.

If you’re into gaming at all, you’re going to want to take a look at this.

I’m looking forward to the launch of Beats 1 for a couple of reasons, but mostly because I have no idea what it’s supposed to be. I was at the keynote, I read the New York Times article, and I read Apple’s Web site. I still have no idea what it is.

There are a few slots on The Deck available in July and August. Need to get your product in front of millions of curious folks? Drop a line for a nice price for a new advertiser. The Deck only works with the highest quality sites, including The Loop, Daring Fireball, and many others.

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Read about how small businesses have grown with the help of Daylite and Billings Pro. Get 10% off your Daylite license(s) when you use the promo code: LOOP0615 (valid until July 12th 2015).

Macworld:

Cook’s specialty is the running of the business, and at that he excels. But he also knows when to let his team do its job, and doesn’t try to replicate the way Jobs ran the company.

The more I consider it, the more I’ve begun to think that even were Jobs still around, Cook might still be the better choice for CEO in this day and age. Can you imagine Jobs being as receptive as Cook was to calls for improved diversity at Apple? Or embracing social media? Or posing for selfies? Yeah, me neither.

Any discussion that Cook isn’t a good CEO in general or “good enough for Apple” is utterly ridiculous. Cook is arguably a better CEO for Apple, at least right now, than Jobs would have been.

Techcrunch:

The key ingredient here is Google’s Speech Recognition API (though others like its translation services are also at work). The API lets the fridge recognize voice input in up to 40 different languages, with the ultimate goal of recognizing the single phrase “I am Canadian” (Molson’s longtime marketing slogan).

Molson makes some spectacularly awful beer but they do some really interesting promotions around the theme of “I am Canadian”.

The next iOSDevCamp is from July 10-12, 2015 in San Jose. I’m thinking of stopping by and saying hello.

Alright boys and girls, get ready to be schooled. A new study conducted by the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology has found that listening to extreme music like heavy metal can help people process anger and even increase their positive emotions, like inspiration.

Clearly this is me.

Jim and Dan speculate on what really happened with the Apple Music policy change, and talk about the changing music industry, Eddie Van Halen, The Terminator, and more.

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I must have this. Much respect to this guy.

Schwarzenegger may be a real life jerk but he is a publicity machine and will do whatever it takes to promote his projects. This is a great stunt. I can’t wait to see the movie. The theme music alone gives me chills.

The new York Times:

For the last 12 years, Mr. Lowe has been a top tastemaker on the BBC’s Radio 1 by championing brand-new music, landing interviews with stars like Kanye West and running his show with a frenetic production style inspired by hip-hop itself. Now he is preparing for a much broader role as the guiding voice of Beats 1, a free Internet radio station from Apple that on Tuesday will begin broadcasting to smartphones and laptops around the world — an experiment, of sorts, to reinvent live radio.

I hope we see profiles of the other two featured DJs for Beats 1. This is an aspect of Apple Music I find especially interesting and, I think, will make or break the service.

I don’t think Beats sound particularly good, but it’s an interesting article.

Essential apps, what makes a great app, and some stuff about KISS.

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Dropbox made itself a household name by giving away cloud storage. The eight-year-old company, valued at $10 billion, had 300 million registered users a year ago; now it’s got 400 million. Its two-year-old effort to make money from business users has been less impressive. While Dropbox led the $904 million global market for business file-sharing last year with about a 24 percent share, No. 2 Box and No. 3 Microsoft each took about 21 percent and doubled their slice of the pie, growing almost twice as fast, according to researcher IDC.

Dropbox is hugely popular, but it seems clear they need to figure out this sales strategy quickly.

The Washington Post:

Lisa Jackson, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency and Apple’s top executive on environmental issues, will become the company’s lead on all policy initiatives, including the environment, education and accessibility. Her new title will be the vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives.

In a memo to employees, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said that Jackson’s new role is in line with the company’s dedication to “leaving the world better than we found it.”

Another good sign that Apple’s commitment to environment issues isn’t just lip service. Even better, they wisely see this as part of making the company better and more successful.

Rene Ritchie put together an FAQ of Apple’s new iOS.

Fast Company:

Apple’s “World Gallery” campaign, by agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, that showcased iPhone photos taken by amateur and professional photographers around the world, has snapped the top prize in the Outdoor Lions at Cannes this year.

According to the jury president Juan Carlos Ortiz, creative chairman at DDB Americas, the judges didn’t so much choose “World Gallery,” it chose them. Praising the Grand Prix winner, Ortiz said: “It’s not just a great idea, it’s a game changer. It’s really opening a new way of doing things and changing behavior.”

Congratulations not just to Apple for the win but to all the photographers who had their work showcased. It really brought to the fore how a creative person with an iPhone can create amazing images.