Greenpeace applauds Apple for cutting conflict minerals, supply chain transparency

Written by

In response to Apple’s release last week of their Supplier Responsibility report, Greenpeace posted this comment:

“Apple’s increased transparency about its suppliers is becoming a hallmark of Tim Cook’s leadership at the company. Apple has flexed its muscles in the past to push suppliers to remove hazardous substances from products and provide more renewable energy for data centers, and it is proving the same model can work to reduce the use of conflict minerals. Samsung and other consumer electronics companies should follow Apple’s example and map its suppliers, so the industry can exert its collective influence to build devices that are better for people and the planet.”

[Via Peter Cohen]

Here’s how Olympic hockey works

Written by

I’m a huge fan of Olympic hockey. The rink size and rule changes make the game more exciting, allow for better skating and passing. I also think the scoring is better, with 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an OT win, and 1 point for an OT loss.

Opinion aside, I’ve been scratching my head trying to understand the rules for moving from round to round. The linked site lays all that out nicely.

Analysis of Google vs Tim Cook’s Apple

Written by

A little slanted, perhaps, but still a very interesting read. Interesting take on the timing of Tim Cook’s hiring in 1998. No argument that Apple has been better in the Tim Cook era.

Security breach at Kickstarter

Written by

Kickstarter breach this past Wednesday. Read the post for the full text of the email that went out.

Pandora suit may reshape the music industry’s century old royalty rules

Written by

As the music industry races toward a future of digital streams and smartphone apps, its latest crisis centers on a regulatory plan that has been in place since “Chattanooga Choo Choo” was a hit.

Since 1941, Ascap and BMI, the two giant licensing organizations that dominate music publishing, have been governed by consent decrees with the Justice Department. These agreements were made to guarantee fair royalty rates for songwriters and for the radio stations, television networks and even restaurants and retail shops that play their music.

But with the industry struggling to make money from digital music, this system has come under attack. The streaming service Pandora is squaring off against Ascap in a closely watched trial over royalty payments. Big music publishers like Sony/ATV and Universal are calling on the government to overhaul the system, and technology companies are accusing the publishers of trying to skirt federal rules meant to protect them.

The outcome could reshape the finances of a large part of the industry.

Another potential game changer for an already disrupted market.

Gary Wozniak (Woz’s son) takes us on a thrilling skeleton run

Written by

I love the speed of skeleton. Your face is inches from the ice hanging off the front of the barest of sleds. You steer with subtle leg movements.

Woz shared this video of his son, Gary, speeding around the track in Park City, Utah. You are a brave man, Gary!

Major League Baseball completes iBeacon install at first two ballparks

Written by

The installation of 65 iBeacons at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego’s Petco Park, home of the Padres, will be followed by similar work at more than a dozen and a half other MLB stadiums, the league said. The plan is to have more than 20 ballparks in total equipped with the technology by Opening Day in late March. The Padres host the Dodgers on Opening Night on March 30.

I’m really looking forward to giving these iBeacons a try.

Games with hidden developer shout outs

Written by

These games have hidden unused pieces of text, never intended to be seen during gameplay, because developers have voices too. These include things like programmer shout-outs, messages aimed at hackers trawling through the game data, and the furious ranting of overworked, underpaid coders doing crunch-time.

This is a pretty good list. 423 games. How many of these do you remember?

Theremin in a browser

Written by

This theremin was implemented using the Web Audio API. Tried to play the Star Trek theme. I think I won’t quit my day job.

A lot of fun!

Olympic luge so fast, they had to add uphill sections

Written by

[VIDEO] In the 2010 Olympics, Georgia republic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after a training run. On that track, the lugers reached speeds of 95 mph (152 kph). Even though officials concluded that the crash was driver error, they determined to slow the track down for the Sochi games.

Writer? Check out the Hemingway app

Written by

The Hemingway app is what Word could be if it had a more informative, tunable interface. You type in some text, and you get feedback on things like run-on sentences, word misuse, much more. The interface allows you to turn on and off checks for hard to read sentences, adverb overuse, passive voice misuse, and more.

This is the tip of the iceberg as to what might be done with an interface like this. Helpful to professional writers, but could be an incredible boon to writing students. I would love to see technology like this built into Safari.

The science of marrying your cousin

Written by

Globally, cousin marriages are still going strong, with an estimated 10% of all marriages in the world being between cousins, and has high as 50% in some regions of the world.

I had no idea!

Why indie developers go insane: One dev’s take on the Flappy Bird craziness

Written by

This is a great, insightful take on the stresses faced by indie developers.

Dong Nguyen is a young guy. He wrote a game for fun, put it out there, and found himself at the target end of a massive wave of attention, much of it negative. I can’t stress enough how insanely terrifying this can be, and he wasn’t ready.

Lumo Lift: iOS tech that helps your posture

Written by

Another example of the evolution of mobile tech and its interaction with the human body. The Lomo Lift catches you slouching, buzzes to let you know, communicates all this to your iOS device.

Interesting, though not surprising, that this is available for iOS devices at launch, with a promise of Android support in the future.

Footage from 1932 Olympics

Written by

[VIDEO] Some excellent footage from the 1932 Winter Olympics. Check out the ski jump. Most of the time, they fall to a stop. But jump to 1:40 to see the person who skis to the end of the run. No more snow. Appears like they made it all. Fascinating.

[Via Kottke]

About boxes and Easter eggs

Written by

Scott Knaster takes us on a tour of some of his favorite Easter eggs from the Mac’s early days. This list is hardly complete, but it is a fun bit of nostalgia.

Remember the notorious naked Zebra Lady hidden in a version of MacPaint? Oh, I do. Have any Easter egg favorites of your own?

US customers hoarding $13.4 billion of old iPhones

Written by

Around half of U.S. consumers are hoarding their old iPhones in cupboards and sock drawers — representing an inventory worth around $13.4 billion in total.

Guilty as charged. I’ve got three.

According to the annual “Mobile Mountain Study” conducted by research group OnePoll for resale site SellCell.com, this figure is down from the 55% of people who admitted to holding onto their old smartphones last year — although the total amount of money being left on the table is up from last year’s sum of $9 billion, thanks to the growing smartphone market.

Tim Cook’s floor price for Apple stock

Written by

Interesting analysis from Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall) makes the case that Tim Cook has just set a floor for the price of Apple stock with the recent Apple buyback and Carl Icahn’s reversal of his pursuit of a much larger buyback.