Yearly Archives: 2015

Apple Music’s uphill battle

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Apple Music has a lot going for it. But I think it needs a reimagined interface, one with no strings.

Daylite: The business productivity app for Mac & iOS

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Marketcircle has been developing Mac apps since 1999 that help small businesses do big things. Newly released is Daylite 6 with Cloud – manage your contacts, projects, to-dos, and schedule all in one app. Get the best of both worlds, a native app with the convenience of the cloud. Try it now on your Mac, iPhone & iPad, for yourself or with your team and take advantage of these great new features.

Saying goodbye to Carousel and Mailbox

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Dropbox:

We’re committed to making the transitions from these products as painless as possible. We’ve posted more information on the Carousel blog and the Mailbox blog, and we’ll be communicating details directly to users of both apps in the coming days. Mailbox will be shut down on February 26th, 2016, and Carousel will be shut down on March 31st, 2016.

To our Carousel and Mailbox users, thank you for embracing these products—and we’re sorry. It’s not easy to say goodbye to products we all love. But ultimately, we think this increased focus will help us create even better experiences for you in the months and years to come.

I never used either product in part because of this. I’ve been around long enough to see dozens, if not hundreds, of services come and go. I rarely rely on new services (but I often test them out) simply because, to paraphrase Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, “Products come and go so quickly around here.” I may be too old and jaded but I think my time is too valuable to constantly be flitting from one new service to another, only to have the owner shut it down, sometimes with very little advance notice.

Calgary Hitmen sniper Jordy Stallard makes teddy bears rain down at Saddledome

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Calgary Sun:

Jordy Stallard brought down the bears.

Calgary Hitmen fans had to be patient, holding their bears until the 2:41 mark of the second period when Stallard triggered the avalanche of stuffed animals at the 21st annual Petro-Canada Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday afternoon at the Saddledome.

I think I write about this story every year. I do it because it seems like fun event for a good cause and the video is always wonderful.

Latest Apple Campus 2 drone footage

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This video has some long, beautiful views of Apple’s new spaceship campus, now with a 4K quality setting. The voiceover (I believe) is from Steve Jobs’ famous Stanford commencement address from 2005.

Now that’s a review

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Alarm goes off in the middle of the night, goes on for hours. This caused a neighbor to write a brilliantly caustic review. Great writing.

Everything you always wanted to know about the making of Mork and Mindy

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io9:

For one year, Mork and Mindy was arguably the most successful science fiction TV show ever made. The comedy about an alien and his human best friend turned Robin Williams into a global sensation. How did this miracle happen, and why didn’t it last? To find out, I talked to the people who made the show.

I don’t think I can name another TV show from my youth that was more of a must-see than Mork and Mindy. To this kid, the show was funny and different and Robin Williams was a force of nature, even within the confines of a situation comedy. Plus, I had a huge crush on Pam Dawber.

The Dalrymple Report with Merlin Mann: A Bag of Pucks and a Water Bottle

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This week, the boys cover reading, writing, and Don Henley.

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Igloo Software: What if you could get 5% of your day back?

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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 makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. And it’s not just for locating your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It also helps you find experts, talk about problems and share content with your team. So stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Try it yourself or send your IT guy to investigate Igloo, an intranet you’ll actually like.

Mac promo from 1996

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Stephen Hackett posted this on 512 Pixels. A true cure for insomnia.

Pantone’s Minion Yellow

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The first-ever character-branded PANTONE Color inspired by Illumination Entertainment’s Minions.

Cool.

Buster Keaton – the art of the gag

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Tony Zhou:

Before Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson, before Chuck Jones and Jackie Chan, there was Buster Keaton, one of the founding fathers of visual comedy. And nearly 100 years after he first appeared onscreen, we’re still learning from him. Today, i’d like to talk about the artistry (and the thinking) behind his gags.

I discovered Keaton as a kid and loved his comedy. But it wasn’t until adulthood I realized just what level of genius I was watching. His stunts are, to this day, still incredible and many of them are unrepeatable. As an aside, if you’re a film buff, Tony Zhou’s “Every Frame a Painting” Youtube page has some great videos dissecting why we love what we love about movies.

How Dave Chappelle is creating a “no-phone zone” for his Chicago shows

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The Hollywood Reporter:

Attendees at any of Chappelle’s 13 sold-out Thalia Hall performances will be greeted by staffers handing out gray smartphone sleeves, available in three sizes. They are then instructed to place their phones inside the sleeves and fasten them, at which point they are welcome to carry them inside the venue.

As soon as they enter the “no-phone zone,” however, the pouches will have locked shut, preventing anyone from firing off so much as a winking emoji. Need to make a call or send an email? No problem. Simply leave the designated zone (and head, say, to the lobby bar), and, as you move past several strategically placed stations, the pouches can now magically be unlocked.

This is an interesting use of technology to defeat technology. In a broad sense, I’m all for it and can see this being extended to many other events. I was at a concert a few months ago and could barely see the artist because of all the smartphone screens being held up, recording the music. It’s incredibly annoying. I get the idea that attendees want to “capture the moment” but people have taken it way beyond that impulse.

Here are the year’s 50 biggest hit songs crammed into 5 minutes

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Wired:

It’s essentially a CliffsNotes version of popular music in 2015, the bare essentials of the year boiled down into one five-minute track–with a frenetic video that cuts around to feature the lead vocal track at any given moment. It’s not quite a heart-racing banger, but anchored chiefly by the bass line for The Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face,” it’s an addicting track worthy of DJ Earworm’s name.

For me, the most amazing part is the editing. I can’t imagine the amount of work that went into creating this video.