Yearly Archives: 2015

This might just be the coolest thing I’ve watched all week.

Marco Arment:

No sensible developer should be worried about angering “Apple” by fairly expressing legitimate criticism.

Agreed.

There is no single “Apple” to anger, as the company comprises thousands of people across many different departments, all of whom can think for themselves. I’m sure some of them can’t take criticism well and may be vindictive — any large group of people will contain almost every personality type — but that’s not the attitude of any of the Apple people I’ve interacted with.

This has been my experience as well.

Dan returns to join Jim on this episode to talk in depth about the Apple Watch, guitars, and more.

Sponsored by Squarespace (Get started by using the code GUITARS for a free trial and 10% off your first website on Squarespace).

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the company’s developer conference today by saying the event, called F8, would focus less on product announcements and more on serving the developer community. And then he dove in and detailed a number of the social network’s new features, products, and updates.

800+ filters, textures, vintage film recreations and visual effects. $0.99, everything is included. No in-app purchases. No gimmicks.

Download, download, download!

Macstories:

While the original Fantastical was a companion to the full Apple iCal experience, Fantastical 2 reinvents itself as a full-blown calendar client that retains the most important aspects of the app’s debut and adds a whole new calendar interface to the mix.

You can’t swing a dead cat today without hitting any number of (at least a dozen so far) reviews of Flexibits new version of their popular calendaring app but, at $50, you better be really serious about needing a calendar app.

Yosemite is a conference for Apple developers, designers, and enthusiasts. It will be held next Spring, in the heart of Yosemite National Park.

The conference is happening April 20-23 at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, in the heart of the Yosemite Valley. It’s almost sold out, but there are a few tickets left.

I wonder how long this page will exist in its current form. As is, you can order an Apple Pay decal kit at no charge (not even a shipping fee).

How do they do it? Volume! [rim-shot]

We experience Canadian nice as soon as we reach customs. The US border guards are gruff and all business. The Canadians, by contrast, are unfailingly polite, even as they grill us about the number of wine bottles we’re bringing into the country. One year, we had failed to notice that our 9-year-old daughter’s passport had expired. They, nicely, let us enter anyway. The niceness continues for our entire trip, as we encounter nice waiters, nice hotel clerks, nice strangers.

We are generally nice people.

Many of the CSS animation links I post on the site come from Donovan and now he’s teaching a course. I signed up.

Today, Instagram announced an app called Layout from Instagram. It’s described as “a new app that lets you easily combine multiple photos into a single image.” In 2012, I released an Apple Editors’ Choice app called Layout that lets you combine multiple photos into a single image. It was even named an App Store Best of 2012 app. Is it just me, or does it seem insincere for Instagram to release a similar app with the exact same name only differentiated by the inclusion of their company name? Do you think they’d be okay with me releasing an app called “Instagram from Juicy Bits?” Neither do I.

This happens way too often, but I don’t think there is a way to stop it.

The Sweet Setup:

Being the new kid on the block can have its advantages, but only if you know how to leverage them properly. Our favorite — Alfred — is able to do just that when compared to LaunchBar, Quicksilver, and even Spotlight.

What Alfred does best is incorporate different features from its competitors and implement them in a distinctive, easy, and understandable way — all while offering more power for advanced users to take things further.

I’ve used Alfred for years and agree with this review. Even in its free version, it’s a great launcher but the Powerpack is well worth the price for power users.

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Ken Baumgartner – 6’1”, 205 pounds, with a penchant for doling out punishment – was not the kind of guy you wanted to see angry. Baumgartner was a left wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. More specifically, he was their enforcer; a man paid literally to inflict pain on opponents. But in 1992, the target of his aggression was not another player; nor was it a coach or referee. It was a videogame producer at Electronic Arts named Michael Brook.

‘Hi, I’m Ken Baumgartner,’ he said flatly by way of introduction. As a lifelong hockey fan, Brook already knew who he was, and indicated as much with a tiny flinch of a smile. Despite the recognition, the thuggish enforcer felt compelled to further introduce himself:

‘I’m the guy you gave a zero rating to for Intelligence.’

Great story about the development of a game many of us Canadians, and not a few Americans, wasted many an hour playing. Thanks to Kottke for the link.

1Password:

TD Canada Trust made quite a splash recently when it launched its redesigned iPhone app which disabled pasting in the password field. Users who embrace password managers for their online security were quick to point out their … well, ‘unhappiness’ with this decision. TD Canada’s original response to those users was unsettling.

I had something similar happen to me over the weekend. Canada Post limits passwords to “8 to 12 characters using only numbers and letters”. These institutions need to realize longer, more complicated passwords are better for security.

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Now everyone can plug in their guitar, bass or other instrument and enjoy killer tone on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Android device — with the release of iRig 2, the world’s most popular guitar interface is now better than ever before. Revolutionize the way you make your music while on the go!

A digital rig with physical presence

With iRig 2, you’ll be able to enjoy IK’s full range of AmpliTube apps (the #1 app for guitar and bass players). It’s ready to go right out of the box. It comes with a powerful cross-platform suite of apps and software that includes free versions of AmpliTube for iOS, Android and Mac/PC. To use, just download your preferred version of AmpliTube for iOS from the App Store or for Android from the Google Play Store or from Samsung GALAXY Apps. Then plug your guitar or bass into iRig 2, plug your amplifier or headphones into your device and launch the app.

iRig 2 includes:

• 1/4” instrument input for use with guitar, bass and other line level instruments
• 1/4” amplifier output for use with an external amplifier without an adaptor
• 1/8” TRRS output for use with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Android
• 1/8” headphone output
• Compact and lightweight design
• Selectable dual-mode switch: FX and THRU
• Input gain thumbwheel for easy signal control
• Comes with microphone stand Velcro strip
• Comes with AmpliTube FREE and a full suite of powerful IK applications and software

Jim’s Note: I am a longtime user of IK Multimedia’s hardware and software. In fact, I have iRig 2 and I’m a big fan.

Avid launched Pro Tools 12 with its new subscription model today.

“We are excited to announce that Zakk is entering the studio after this Unblackened Spring 2015 tour to record BOSII [Book of Shadows Volume II] which will be released early 2016, the 20th Anniversary of the original BOS, followed by a world tour to support that side of Zakk’s music,” Barbaranne said.

Book of Shadows is one of the best acoustic albums I’ve ever heard. I can’t wait for the follow-up.