Brad McCarty:

I had my first quarterly review a few weeks ago. Things didn’t go very well. Though I had exceeded a few of the goals that we set up when I started, there was one key area in which I had undoubtedly failed. That failure led to a stern discussion with my VP of Biz Dev (my direct boss) and the CEO (his boss).

Incredibly open article.

According to research from Parks Associates, Apple is the top brand in a wide range of categories, including tablets, laptops, smartphones, home networking routers, MP3 players, and streaming media devices.

So basically, Apple isn’t the top brand in cars and hockey sticks.

Very sad.

He leans forward. I can feel his breath in my ear.

“I’ve touched everybody on the nose, man,” he says, quietly. “There ain’t nobody I can’t touch on the nose.” He tilts to one side and says, “I know what you’re thinking. Just relax.” A while later, he says, “If I can touch you, I can kill you.”

Holy shit that must have been scary. The article is seven pages long, so plan ahead.

There’s a “View All Images” link on the page so you don’t have to go through the slideshow.

The Loop Magazine Issue 16:

In this issue Brianna Wu looks at the status of women in the gaming industry; Matt Gemmell explains why he likes analog tools like pens and notepads to plan; Matt Dusenbury talks about how technology is supposedly helping our health; In New York, Seamus Bellamy takes a trip around town to all the pubs his favorite writer visited; and Steven Aquino talks about why he loves subscription music services.

A global ad campaign to promote Samsung devices, involving soccer stars and an alien invasion story, instead revealed that the fantasy campaign’s star manager Franz Beckenbauer tweets from his iPhone, not a Galaxy device.

Perfect.

I love reading Hemingway’s letters.

It’s $49,999, but I want it badly. I’ve heard great things about The Music Zoo—I’m going to buy a guitar there someday.

Jim and Dan talk about Apple’s stock movement, Apple acquisitions, the Beard Calendar, Amazon’s Drones, Slash’s pickups, and more.

For the new PlayStation 3 racing game Gran Turismo 6, the Mercedes-Benz designers have developed the visionary concept of a super sports car – the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo.

Imagine driving that in real life.

Spotify prefers to break down payouts in terms of monthly activity. In July, a “niche indie album” garnered $3,300, whereas a “global hit album” awarded the unnamed artist $425,000. Based on the company’s projections, these numbers will increase exponentially as the subscriber base grows.

I have to admit, this is pretty good. I’ve been vocal about subscription services and making sure artists get paid, so these numbers are interesting. One question I do have—for Spotify or the artists—why is there such a difference between these numbers and the reported “$10 for a million plays” type of stories that were making the rounds.

I wasn’t going to watch the video, but I’m glad I did. All of the teddy bears are donated to local charities.

Mobile Miniatures, as the Spektral Quartet has dubbed its ear-tickling project, is part of its mission to provide living composers with new platforms for their music to be performed and heard.

Love it.

Very interesting article. Abdel Ibrahim has been updating it with recent fluctuations.

All profits from this issue of Five out of Ten are in aid of SpecialEffect, a charity that works to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

A great cause and an interesting magazine from Alan Williamson.

Not only that, according to the original report, the customer noticed that it was a demo unit after inspecting the sticker on the bottom, but instead of simply returning it to Target, she decided to call a local news agency. You know, for justice.

Sweet Fuck, people are stupid.

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Looks like a great app.

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Brent Simmons:

I don’t know how I could tell Amazon’s harmless, happy-day drones from Google’s real-time people-watchers — or those of the police or the NSA. It’s best to shoot them all down.

I laughed out loud when I read that. Seriously, how are they going to stop people from shooting them down. It’s got to be a problem, right?

Rock on little girl.

Om Malik:

Almost exactly six years ago, I survived a serious heart attack thanks to the team at UCSF Medical Center – specifically the cardiology division.

These past six years have added up to what could be the best years of my life – for now. And I will forever be grateful to the UCSF cardiology team. They saved me from near disaster and gave me a chance to rewrite my life story.

Obviously, a very good cause.

Have you ever looked at an object and seen a face in it? You’ll love this Twitter account and the pictures in it.