SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet – thus making them the “Worst Passwords” that will expose anybody to being hacked or having their identities stolen. In its fourth annual report, compiled from more than 3.3 million leaked passwords during the year, “123456”and “password” continue to hold the top two spots that they have held each year since the first list in 2011. Other passwords in the top 10 include “qwerty,” “dragon,” and “football.”

Sweet Jesus, you deserve to be hacked.

Úll is a conference for people who build and love great products. We focus on great product businesses, presented through an Apple-shaped lens. We treat the conference itself as a product: with a deep emphasis on the attendee experience.

This is the best conference that I’ve ever attended and I’ll be speaking again this year. See you there!

“Samsung has been delaying the launch of this Tizen phone for a long time and when they finally did it, it turned out to be an under-powered phone,” said Mumbai-based filmmaker Samir Ahmed Sheikh as he shopped for a new phone for his wife.

The 3.15 megapixel primary camera and 300,000 pixel front camera are “like a phone from 2010”, he said.

Oh dear.

It’s designed for both novice and professional scrapbookers. iScrapbook manages the entire scrapbooking process from page design to album organization.

This looks like a fun app and the new update adds a ton of new features.

Profiler Remote is the quintessential foot controller for your Profiler. We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time to create a versatile and yet easy to operate floor board. The tight integration in between Profiler and Remote allows you to control, administer and program without any knowledge about MIDI or delving through cryptic data sheets.

This is fantastic. I need to get me hands on the Kemper system and try it out.

Was this company started by ex-Samsung people?

Shares of Netflix shot up 12% in after-hours trade Monday, after the video streaming service reported a fourth-quarter profit that was well above expectations, and provided an upbeat outlook for net subscriber additions.

Great news, I really like Netflix.

The XDJ-RX, is a DJ console that incorporates two separate digital players, a mixer, and a built-in monitor. The uniquely designed DJ system is intended for users of the popular Pioneer rekordbox music management software, which enables DJs to quickly play prepared music stored on a USB device, eliminating the need to connect or carry a separate computer for use as a music source.

Fascinating.

Fender is planning on selling direct to customers and bypassing dealers:

Direct-to-consumer sales are expected to be a topic of intense discussion as buyers meet with Fender representatives. Some shop owners are so concerned that they plan to buy less merchandise from the manufacturer, said retailers, many of whom did not want to be named for fear that speaking publicly could damage relations with Fender.

Some are considering not re-upping as Fender dealers.

Guitars are one of those items that you really need to touch and feel to appreciate. I don’t think ordering online really works for buying a high-end guitar like a Strat or Tele. Fender is doing some damage here.

I wrote this over two years ago on my personal site, but my opinion hasn’t changed.

Uber said in a statement that the South Carolina Public Service Commission’s order directed at Raiser LLC, an Uber subsidiary, was unexpected and issued despite the company’s close work with state regulators.

I wonder if Uber’s antics in other cities/states/countries weighs in on decisions like this.

Power and Precision. Speed and Aggression. Brutal and Insane. Your metal drum tracks deserve nothing less than what you bring to your music. Your music deserves the real thing – live drum brutality to take your songwriting to the next level. Your music needs Double Bass Mania VIII.

Double Bass Mania is my favorite series of drum loops ever. I’ll be getting this set to go along with all the others I have.

Very interesting wording from Philips in response to Kelly Guimont’s question regarding their support for HomeKit.

Both systems suffered long outages over Christmas after a major distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. A hacking group calling itself Lizard Squad, which had attacked the two networks earlier last year, claimed responsibility.

I wonder what they’ll do with him? Will Microsoft and Sony get a say in the matter? This will be interesting.

I’ve always heard great things about NSNorth, so this year, I’m going to attend. I’ll be joining an amazing line-up of speakers for a few days in Canada.

A new report studying programming language rankings released yesterday by RedMonk shows that Apple’s new language, Swift, went from 68 place on the list to 22 this quarter—a jump of 46 spots.

I usually don’t link to things like this, but this one is very interesting.

Glass is moving from the Google X research lab to be a stand-alone unit led by Ivy Ross. Ms. Ross and her team will report to Tony Fadell, a former Apple executive who heads Nest Labs, the smart-home device company Google acquired for $3.2 billion in February 2014. Mr. Fadell will still run Nest, but he also will oversee Glass and provide strategic guidance to Ms. Ross.

Tony made the iPod and founded Nest after leaving Apple. I have a ton of respect for this man.

The report is “groundless,” Samsung said in an e-mail. In a separate statement, BlackBerry said it “has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry.” The Waterloo, Ontario-based company didn’t specify whether it had received a proposal from Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker.

Not even Samsung wants BlackBerry.

From Google’s Project Ara Web site:

The smartphone is one of the most empowering and intimate objects in our lives. Yet most of us have little say in how the device is made, what it does, and how it looks. And 5 billion of us don’t have one. What if you could make thoughtful choices about exactly what your phone does, and use it as a creative canvas to tell your own story?

Introducing Project Ara.

Designed exclusively for 6 billion people.

One thing I’ve learned over the last 20 years of writing about Apple is that there’s no shortage of naysayers, ready to declare certain failure of the companies newest product—whatever that product happens to be. The Apple Watch is the latest in a long list of products, that includes the iPod, iPhone, iPad and Macs, that critics says will fail. […]

Smartphone company Samsung has recently approached BlackBerry Ltd to buy the company for as much as $7.5 billion, looking to gain access to its patent portfolio, according to a person familiar with the matter and documents seen by Reuters.

Patents is about all BlackBerry has left.

Musicians and songwriters often have trouble with EQing drums so they fit in a track. A lot of that comes from over-EQings already good sounding samples, or having to deal with poorly recorded drums to begin with, but even so, the basic technique isn’t that difficult if you know the basics.

If you are just learning how to EQ drums, bookmark this page and use the recommended frequencies.

Apple Inc sued Ericsson alleging that the Swedish company’s LTE wireless technology patents are not essential to industry cellular standards and that it is demanding excessive royalties for these patents.

These types of “essential” patent lawsuits are always interesting to watch—you never know which way the court will rule.

Shifts is a brand new productivity app for shift workers, designed to help you manage your work schedules and lives more efficiently.

This is a unique take on using a calendar—the first I’ve seen in a while.

Bushel is a cloud-based solution designed from the ground up to make it easy for regular people to setup, manage and protect their Apple devices anytime from anywhere.

This looks really nice. You can manage three devices for free, so that’s a bonus.

Positive Grid, makers of BIAS for iOS and Mac, have started a new beta program targeted to guitar players that want to help shape the future of the company’s hardware products. I love the products this company puts out.

While his treatment for dementia would ultimately pull him from the band he started, AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young was also treated for cancer and a heart condition after than band’s last tour. So sad.

Mark Gurman has certainly been on a roll lately. If true, this is an incredible amount of integration between the Apple Watch and the iPhone.