Mac user Shaun McGill bought a Windows 8 laptop for his son. I laughed.

Many Tricks offers a number of apps to make using your Mac easier, more productive, and even more fun. Check out Moom, their impressive window moving and zooming tool; Name Mangler, which makes renaming tens of thousands of files a snap; Witch, a tool to let you quickly switch to any open window; or any of their other apps at Many Tricks.

Scott Hurff:

You don’t go and make drastic changes like this an app that’s responsible for billions of messages a day without good reason. This update shows that Apple is keenly aware of the changing habits of their customer base, and I think this is going to be the most important change in iOS since Apple added “swipe up” access to the Camera in iOS 6.

There were some big changes in Messages in iOS 8.

A really good article from Jonathan Hays.

This should be interesting.

It is absolutely incredible to me the quality of pictures people take with their iPhone.

I always find it a better experience to visit a Web site formatted for the screen I’m using.

Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon, both Grade 9 students, found an old ATM operators manual online that showed how to get into the machine’s operator mode. On Wednesday over their lunch hour, they went to the BMO’s ATM at the Safeway on Grant Avenue to see if they could get into the system.

Smart teens, stupid banks.

Nowadays, more and more websites are using animations, whether that be in the form of GIFs, SVGs, WebGL, background videos and so on. When used properly, animation on the web brings life and interactivity, adding an extra layer of feedback and experience for users.

With the World Cup coming in the a fews, this is a good feature.

Dave Hamilton on whether Apple is too late to the home automation market:

Apple was not first with a smartphone, but it was the best. It was not even first with a personal computer, but it was the best. Apple was not first with a laptop, not with a tablet, not with a portable music player. But in every one of those categories Apple released a product that solved the pain points that everyone had simply accepted from other vendors and products.

I wrote something in this vein last year, so clearly I agree. It’s never too late to fix a problem, especially when other companies have become complacent.

Les was one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Much respect.

Many thanks to Betterment for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. Imagine if poring over your finances were as easy as using your favorite app, or smartphone. – “The Apple of finance,” Quartz.

Now it is, with Betterment.

Betterment is a groundbreaking automated investment service, with over 35,000 customers already benefiting from Betterment’s integration of technology and years of investment expertise, combined in one elegant online application.

Betterment’s UX and UI are adored by tech and design enthusiasts, without the red tape of other investment providers. Betterment is delightful on the outside, with killer technology under the hood, and our free iPhone and Android apps help you stay connected to your diversified portfolio at all times.

Betterment has eliminated the unnecessary costs and complications of investing intelligently. It’s straightforward investing for all, whether you have $10,000 or $10 million.

Ready to invest? We’re excited to offer readers of the Loop up to 6 months of Betterment automated investment management for free.

WWDC is full on sessions, teaching developers about the newest technologies for iOS and OS X. These sessions can have hundreds or even thousands of people in them, trying to get a handle on what’s best for their apps. […]

City of Hope’s Music, Film and Entertainment Industry group has awarded Apple’s senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, with its highest honor, the 2014 Spirit of Life Award. According to the group, the award recognizes an individual whose work has fundamentally impacted the music, film and entertainment industries. […]

I’ve spent the last couple of days walking the halls of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, talking to developers about the announcements yesterday. One common theme emerged from those discussions: Possibilities. […]

Flappy Bird done using Apple’s new programming language. I just love developers.

The AltBeard Bash, done in conjunction with AltConf, is happening tonight in San Francisco from 7-11 pm at the Children’s Creativity Museum at Moscone.

Interest from developers has been overwhelming. Be aware that entry to the party is on a first come, first serve basis—it doesn’t matter if you received an invite or not—those that are at the venue first will get in first.

We will also be supporting Home To Stay Dog Rescue at the party. This is my wife’s project to help save, vet, and find new homes for dogs in need. If you have a few extra dollars in your pocket and see her walking around, please consider donating to help the dogs.

We’re grateful to have two sponsors for this year’s AlBeard Bash: Microsoft Azure and Sling Media. Sling is offering $50 off a Slingbox for The Loop readers.

Imagine if poring over your finances were as easy as using your favorite app, or smartphone. – “The Apple of finance,” Quartz.

Now it is, with Betterment.

Betterment is a groundbreaking automated investment service, with over 35,000 customers already benefiting from Betterment’s integration of technology and years of investment expertise, combined in one elegant online application.

Betterment’s UX and UI are adored by tech and design enthusiasts, without the red tape of other investment providers. Betterment is delightful on the outside, with killer technology under the hood, and our free iPhone and Android apps help you stay connected to your diversified portfolio at all times.

Betterment has eliminated the unnecessary costs and complications of investing intelligently. It’s straightforward investing for all, whether you have $10,000 or $10 million.

Ready to invest? We’re excited to offer readers of the Loop up to 6 months of Betterment automated investment management for free.

There are a few things that struck me during the WWDC keynote presentation this morning. The first, and perhaps most important, is how much fun the Apple executives were having on stage. I’m not talking about the normal smiles and jokes, I mean they genuinely looked like they were having a good time. […]

But we didn’t stop there. To make it super easy for you to have your promo codes with you and and ready to share in Moscone and its environs, we’ve added Passbook support to Tokens.

Add the campaign pass to your Passbook and when you want to share a promo code with a new friend, they simply scan the barcode using Passbook on their phone. We then vend them an individual pass that’s valid for a single promo code. That token is marked as shared and reserved for the person who scanned it.

I love this app.

The AltBeard Bash, done in conjunction with AltConf, is getting close. Next Tuesday, we’ll be rocking San Francisco from 7-11 pm at the Children’s Creativity Museum at Moscone. Everyone is invited, so I hope you can all make it.

Be aware that entry to the party is on a first come, first serve basis. It doesn’t matter if you received an invite or not—those that are at the venue first will get in first.

We will also be supporting Home To Stay Dog Rescue at the party. This is my wife’s project to help save, vet, and find new homes for dogs in need. If you have a few extra dollars in your pocket and see her walking around, please consider donating to help the dogs.

We’re grateful to have two sponsors for this year’s AlBeard Bash: Microsoft Azure and Sling Media. Sling is offering $50 off a Slingbox for The Loop readers.

I pre-ordered my copy.

Good article by Bradley Chambers. Personally, I like Apple’s Photo Stream—it works well and does what I need it to do.

Motorola announced on Friday it will close its Fort Worth, Texas manufacturing plant by the end of the year. The factory opened in September 2013.

Damn, things are bad are Moto.

Sad, but like Mike said, it was in that awkward stage where you have to be willing to devote more time and resources to it or shut it down.

One of the best RSS readers ever.

What Beats brings to Apple are guys with very rare skills. People like this aren’t born every day. They’re very rare. They really get music deeply. So we get an infusion in Apple of some great talent.

We get a subscription music service that we believe is the first subscription service that really got it right. They had the insight early on to know how important human curation is. That technology by itself wasn’t enough — that it was the marriage of the two that would really be great and produce a feeling in people that we want to produce. They’ve also built an incredible premium headphone business that’s been tuned by experts and critical ears. We’re fans of that. It’s a reasonable-size business that’s fast-growing.

But mostly, backing up — it’s because we always are future-focused. So it’s not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It’s what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future.

Talent, music service, and the future.

From AppleInsider:

With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference coming up next week, pundits are speculating on hardware the company may introduce in its first major media gathering of the year. One well-informed analyst believes the stars of the show will be a cheaper iMac and maybe an 8GB iPhone 5s.