Microsoft moves to hide the Metro interface, going back to desktop interface

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When Microsoft first shipped the Metro interface, there was tremendous pushback from desktop users. Metro was designed for a touch screen, not for a keyboard and mouse environment. Windows 8 removed the Start button, arguably the anchor of the Windows desktop interface, but brought it back in Windows 8.1. Now it looks like the upcoming Update 1 to Windows 8.1 will bring the desktop interface back as the default for desktop users.

80% and go

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Gayle Allen (MIT, BrightBytes) shares her list of lessons learned working in a startup. Good list.

Useful set of typography tutorials

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If you’ve ever wanted to get your head around the basics of typography, follow the headline link for a brilliant set of resources. The navigation is a bit tricky. This is not a single tutorial, but more of a table of contents. Click each picture to take you to a lesson related to that area. Just love this!

Major League Baseball rolling out thousands of iBeacons for opening day

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For baseball fans, the long cold winter is almost over. Pitchers and catchers start reporting for spring training this Thursday (Feb 6th).

While the teams limber up in their spring training homes, the Major League Parks are making some major new additions, deploying thousands of iBeacons (20 parks participating, 100 Qualcomm iBeacons each).

Apple’s awesome old iPod ads

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Great post on TUAW featuring background on a series of ads that ran on Apple’s web site back when the iPod was still new and the iTunes Music Store first opened its doors.

My favorite is below. I don’t remember any of these and I bought an iPod on day one. Very cool!

Padcaster video accessories frame for iPad

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Yesterday, I mentioned Sony’s new tablet mount for their QX series of lens-based cameras. Loop reader Pat Fauquet pointed me to another, related product, the Padcaster.

The Padcaster has been around for a while now. It’s a frame for your iPad designed to hold accessories, like video lights, microphones, video lenses, and audio interfaces. Most importantly, it allows your iPad to be mounted on a video tripod, giving you everything you need to use your iPad for video production.

Transcript of Apple’s F1Q 2014 earnings call

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Interested in reading the actual transcript of Apple’s recent earnings call? You’ll need to sign up for a free account via Seeking Alpha (you’ll have to jump through some minor hoops, but it’s not too bad) to read the whole thing, but I found it quite interesting, indeed eye-opening, to read Tim Cook’s actual words, as opposed to the translations of a journalist or analyst.

Detailed images of a brain

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Be forewarned, the pictures in the linked paper are not for the squeamish. But they are fascinating if you have any interest in the structure of the brain. I could not tear my eyes away from Figure 1, “Ventral surface of H.M.’s brain”.

Nintendo President digs in heels, teases health strategy

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Nintendo President Satoru Iwata had a pre-scheduled strategy briefing to announce the companies planned direction. As expected, Iwata stuck to his guns, saying that Nintendo would continue on its path to make console and hand-held consoles and games. He did address the issue of porting hits like Zelda and Super Mario to mobile devices.

Great save

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Why I love hockey, part 17. Not sure that puck would have made it into the net, but still, one helluvan (coining new word) effort.

The core of a good startup idea

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This post is a bit more than a year old, but I just came across it this morning. Paul Graham uses a variety of threads to explore the concept of what makes a good startup.

Sony to launch tablet mount for its lens-style camera

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I like the idea of Sony’s “mostly lens” camera system. The QX10 and QX100 are lenses that contain all the smarts and communicate with your smart phone via WiFi. 3.6x optical zoom, 5472 x 3648 image size, and Carl Zeiss f/1.8 lens. But the available mounting bracket is limited to 75mm, big enough for a smart phone but not big enough for a tablet.

This new SPA-TA1 tablet attachment will solve that problem, catering for devices between 85mm and 190mm in width.

Pete Seeger, activist and folk singing pioneer, dies at 94

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For more than 50 years, Mr. Seeger roamed America, singing on street corners and in saloons, migrant labor camps, hobo jungles, union halls, schools, churches and concert auditoriums. He helped write, arrange or revive such perennial favorites as “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” and popularized the anthem of the civil rights movement, “We Shall Overcome.”

Tall and reed-thin, Mr. Seeger was a recognizable figure for generations of listeners. And with dozens of top-selling records and albums, he became one of the most enduring and best-loved folk singers of his generation. He also was one of the few remaining links to two of the 20th century’s early giants of American folk music: Huddie Ledbetter, the black ex-convict from Texas and Louisiana better known as Lead Belly, and Woody Guthrie, the minstrel songwriter from Oklahoma.

Tough, tough news. He was a giant.

Turkish Prime Minister gives speech via 10-foot hologram

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The ability to project a large holographic image has been around for a while now, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard it being used by a high ranking politician or head of state. Pretty cool.

World’s first multi-material, multi-color 3D printer

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Up until now, a 3D print run was based on a single material of a single color. You could print different parts in different colors for later assembly, but the Stratasys Object500 Connex3 printer makes it possible to use multiple materials in a single run.

Anyone who has watched the inkjet printer emerge and evolve could have seen this coming, but this is an important step nonetheless.

Discount postage

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This is written with the US postal system in mind, but I suspect most of the techniques will work just about anywhere. Likely, I’ll still buy my stamps from the post office, same as always. But I did enjoy the read.