Yesterday, John Gruber linked to a brilliant post showing 7 different Android devices, each running a compass app. Things did not go well for Android.
Want to buy one of Apple’s old HQ signs?
From the auction listing:
Two original exterior office building signs, approximately 46 x 49 x 1 1/2 inches and 33 1/2 x 36 x 6 inches, each with separate stem piece; the larger sign made of stiff foam with 6 vinyl applied colors; the smaller sign made of fiberglass backed with metal, vinyl applied colors; edgewear to both signs, some colors with slight pealing at transitions, larger sign with one color showing significant craquelure, both with stray marks and outdoor wear.
Provenance: Removed from company headquarters in 1997 and given to a longtime Apple employee.
If only the original pirate flag was up for auction.
Woz’s original floating point code for the Apple I and II
For some reason, this just makes me happy.
Samsung resumes settlement talks with Apple
Korea Times:
Samsung Electronics and Apple have recently agreed to begin talks to settle patent disputes out of court, according to people directly involved with the matter, Monday.
“Samsung has recently resumed working-level discussions with Apple and the key issue is how to dismiss all lawsuits,” they said, declining to be named.
They added that the recent verdict in the U.S. that admitted Apple’s infringement on some Samsung patents made things much better for the resumption of talks.
If true, an interesting development.
China bans Microsoft’s Windows 8 on government computers
Reuters:
The Central Government Procurement Center issued the ban on installing Windows 8 on government computers as part of a notice on the use of energy-saving products, posted on its website last week.
The official Xinhua news agency said the ban was to ensure computer security after Microsoft ended support for its Windows XP operating system, which was widely used in China.
Not clear exactly what prompted this, but it is a big deal to Microsoft.
Formula One pitstop in the 1950s versus today
[VIDEO] This is mind boggling efficiency.
California mansion sits empty since the 1950s, but in pristine condition
Frozen in time since the 1950s, Bellosguardo, the estate of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark in Santa Barbara, has been kept up for $40,000 per month.
There was enough money in the estate to keep a full staff employed, while the owner spent the last 20 years of her life in a hospital room. Fascinating.
Google acquires Word Lens, the iPhone translation app from Apple’s Powerful ad
About a minute into Apple’s recent Powerful ad, there’s a shot of two bikers who come up to a sign, in Spanish, that reads “estrada desmoronada”. They hold up their iPhone and the sign is helpfully translated to read “road collapsed”.
That’s Word Lens at work. Google just bought ’em.
Built in text expansion in OS X and iOS
Kyre Lahtinen takes you on a video tour through text expansion, a feature that’s been around OS X and iOS for quite some time, yet still seems to be a big unknown for a lot of people.
Apple issues fix for hidden /Users folder
Remember that discussion about the hidden (for some) /Users folder that came with the release of OS X 10.9.3? Well, turns out the issue was really with Thursday’s coinciding release of iTunes 11.2.
Check your Mac for an update this morning. The update (to iTunes 11.2.1) restored my /Users folder to its former glorious visibility.
Creative Cloud outage leaves Adobe users unable to work
This is part of the risk of moving everything into the cloud. If your app/data is installed on a hard drive and your computer fails, you can replace the hardware, restore from backup, get back up and running. If the cloud fails or the company goes under, you lose access to your work.
Who’s got your back? Apple, that’s who.
From the EFF report, Protecting Your Data From Government Requests:
Apple earned credit in all 6 categories in this year’s Who Has Your Back report. Apple’s rating is particularly striking because it had lagged behind industry competitors in prior years, earning just one star in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Apple shows remarkable improvement in its commitments to transparency and privacy.
Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, among others, also got the same rating as Apple.
Yesterday’s FCC vote on net neutrality
There has been a lot of misinformation in the blogosphere about the implications of yesterday’s vote. The linked post made the most sense to me, did a good job of laying things out.
In OS X 10.9.3, many users experiencing a hidden /Users folder – Here’s a fix
When Apple released OS X 10.9.3, many users found that the /Users folder was hidden. In my case, when I click on Dave's Computer in the Finder sidebar, then click on Macintosh HD, I don’t see the usual Users folder at the top level of my hard drive. The folder is there, it’s just hidden. Read the post for a fix.
Podcast management changes with newly released iTunes 11.2
When Apple released OS X 10.9.3, they also released a new version of iTunes, iTunes 11.2. In the linked article, Kirk McElhearn walks you through some significant podcast management changes that came with the release.
New incarnation of Flappy Bird to return in August
I found this entire episode incredibly bizarre and emblematic of the evolution of the App Store from a garage mentality to what it has become today.
Little known command line utilities every Mac OS X power-user should know
Are you a Mac power-user? Do you use Terminal? Even a little? If so, read the linked article. Good stuff.
Samsung-Apple smartphone battleground is a single atom thick
If you haven’t seen this video that explains Graphene, take a look.
The linked article is about the brewing patent battle. Very interesting.
Google, Microsoft, Yahoo face big challenge in “right to be forgotten” EU ruling
When the top European court ruled that users have a right to be forgotten by search engines, they opened the door to a disruptive wave of possibilities.
“It’s just such a mind-bogglingly impossible decision,” said Fred Cate, distinguished professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. “Courts aren’t responsible for the practical implications of rulings but this really staggers the imagination.”
Incredible video of cat attacking dog to save child’s life
[VIDEO] I don’t normally post stuff like this, but the embedded video is remarkable. A child was riding a tricycle in his driveway when a dog viciously attacked. Enter the cat to save the day. Wow.
Do you know what’s going in your Amazon shopping cart?
The implication here is that you might order a brand name product and receive a knockoff instead. I can’t imagine that Amazon isn’t working on a fix for this.
Auction for lunch with Tim Cook raises $330,001 for charity
Obviously, this is about the charity, but lunch with Tim Cook at Apple HQ is something I’d treasure for a lifetime.
Samsung apologizes for working conditions that caused death, leukemia
Samsung Electronics Co. officially apologized and promised compensation Wednesday over the sufferings and deaths of its semiconductor workers from illnesses that family members claim are work-related.
“Several workers at our production facilities suffered from leukemia and other incurable diseases, which also lead to some deaths,” said Kwon Oh-hyun, the CEO of the electronics giant.
“We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology,” Kwon said. He added that Samsung will now make efforts to settle the issue in a sincere manner.
Wow.
Columbia University project enables iOS binaries to run on Android device
This is a pretty astonishing trick. Here’s the the original paper.
Some thoughts on this. First, since the binaries are not converted into Android binaries, there’s a level of interpretation going on. Meaning, at run time decisions are being…
The problem with crowd-sourcing
I just read the linked article about the worst movie on IMDb (as of May 1st). The movie is called Gunday (here’s the IMDb link). As the story goes, Gunday’s low rating is the result of a marketing misstep and not a true indicator of it’s aesthetic or enjoyability…
Europe’s top court: people have right to ask Google, et al, to delete sensitive personal info
Reuters:
The case underlines the battle between advocates of free expression and supporters of privacy rights, who say people should have the “right to be forgotten” meaning that they should be able to remove their digital traces from the Internet.
More on the original Loop post.
For your consideration: a smorgasbord of tech-related podcasts
Joe Caiati shares his list of favorite tech podcasts. I am always looking for new podcasts to add to the rotation. I now have a few new ones I’m going to explore. Thanks, Joe.
Got your own favorites? Please do weigh in on the comments.
Incredibly vivid and understandable demo of graphene
[VIDEO] I’ve read a lot about this highly hyped material. But what is it?
Watch the video in the original post. Best, most understandable explanation I’ve yet seen.
The story of Beats by Dre, Monster Audio, and the deal that cost Monster everything
This story was posted in February 2013. It is a fascinating read, made current by the recent rumors of Apple’s possible acquisition of Beats Electronics.
According to the story, Monster Audio (the folks behind Monster cables and the like) did the original engineering work behind the Beats headphones. They also held the patents. As the story unfolds, you learn how what could have been a lucrative deal for all parties slowly unravelled.
Read it yourself, draw your own conclusions, but wow, that is some story.
Plaintiff in tech hiring suit asks judge to reject settlement
Reuters:
One of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that accuses tech firms including Apple Inc and Google Inc of conspiring to hold down salaries has asked the court to reject a $324 million settlement negotiated by his own lawyers.