Twitter/Medium founder: “We put junk food in front of them and they eat it”

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Very interesting writing here. Ev Williams, founder of both Twitter and Medium, talks about feedback loops, the mechanisms that reward journalists for writing certain kinds of stories. If journalists are rewarded (with page views, which translates to dollars) for propagating junk food, junk food it shall be.

The trouble with/power of 3D Touch

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Jason Snell has stopped using 3D Touch. Rene Ritchie argues that he finds real power in Peeks. My take? It’s got a real future. Read on.

Today’s 100 best Mac games

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Pretty impressive list. My favorites are all on here (including FireWatch and Braid), but there are many that are new to me.

Deafening applause in the control room as SpaceX hits their mark

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If you have a few minutes, watch the video embedded below (watch in full screen mode), the webcast of SpaceX’s CRS-8 Dragon launch and the subsequent landing of the reusable first stage on the floating drone raft.

This is a beautiful video, full of beautiful moments.

The pending collapse of iHeartMedia

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Wow. I had no idea. iHeartMedia is a massive company. Internet radio platform iHeartRadio is just one piece of the puzzle. It’d be sad to see this fall apart.

Google said to be considering Swift as a first class language for Android

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Nate Swanner, writing for The Next Web:

About the time Swift was going open source, representatives for three major brands — Google, Facebook and Uber — were at a meeting in London discussing the new language. Sources tell The Next Web that Google is considering making Swift a “first class” language for Android, while Facebook and Uber are also looking to make Swift more central to their operations.

Lots of implications here.

Jason Snell’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro review

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Jason Snell does an excellent job laying out all the details on the 9.7 inch iPad Pro. A terrific review. I especially love his thoughts on Apple’s product naming.

The story behind Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”

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This is an old story, but I just encountered it, found it fascinating. All guitarists (at least of my generation) learn, at some point, the chords to Smoke on the Water. It’s just one of those foundational songs.

The words tell a story, something about a flare gun, Frank Zappa, a gambling house, and a big fire. The post is an interview with the person who owned the concert hall/casino where Frank Zappa was playing when the whole disaster went down.

Toyota’s gorgeous wooden concept car

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I so want one. If you have even the slightest interest in cars or design, check out the pictures in this post. Lovely, lovely work.

Apple’s copycats are turning into true iPhone competitors

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Vlad Savov, writing for The Verge:

The copying of Apple has evolved. It’s less literal now, as companies strive to recreate the essence of Apple’s success, whether it be through vertical integration (as with Huawei and its in-house processor design), positive brand associations, or simple aesthetic and tactile appeal. Apple is still the Michael Jordan that every Chinese smartphone manufacturer looks up to, but instead of trying to dunk with their tongues sticking out or shoot fadeaway jumpers, these rising stars are developing their own ways of scoring points with consumers. Instead of imitating, they are emulating.

Should Apple be concerned?

FBI Director Comey’s speech, Apple, and inevitability

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FBI Director James Comey gave a speech at Kenyon University’s Center for the Study of American Democracy last night. His speech focused on encryption, the divide on privacy priorities, and the issues relating to the recent court case involving Apple and the San Bernardino iPhone 5C running iOS 9.

He made a terrific speech, laying out both sides of the argument. But he made a central point that I believe is flawed. Jump to the main post to watch the speech, read my take, and hear a Q&A exchange with an audience member that addresses what phone models can be broken by the FBI’s recent efforts.

Apple using @AppleNews Twitter account to curate news stories

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Zac Hall, writing for 9to5mac:

Apple appears to be taking its new Apple News app to the place that news often breaks (then spreads), Twitter. The Twitter handle @applenews has been dressed for the job for several months now although it’s been inactive before today and it isn’t yet marked “verified” by Twitter.

That’s now changed.

Bill Atkinson on the birth of the Mac

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[VIDEO] Bill Atkinson is one of the members of the original Mac development team. He created MacPaint, the QuickDraw toolbox (the underpinnings of the Mac’s graphical interface), and HyperCard, just to name a few of his many accomplishments.

This is a great interview, with lots of nice little touches, like Leo LaPorte pulling out his original copies of Inside Macintosh, the bible for us Mac developers.

Tesla, Apple, and disruption

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Great article from Ben Thompson on Tesla, their game plan, and what it means to be disruptive. There are some nice Apple parallels in there too.