The Loop Magazine: Issue 14

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In Issue 14 of The Loop Magazine:

Jim Dalrymple reviews the new iPad Air and and then looks at which iPad—the Air or the iPad mini—is right for you; Victor Agreda, Jr. discusses “Magic and Creativity”; Alex Vollmer explains everything about using Audiobus in “Get on the Audiobus”; and Roy J. Moss reveals “What They Don’t Tell You About Being A Sysadmin”.

iOS 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

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Federico Viticci:

With iOS 7, Apple has introduced the possibility for third-party developers to support custom shortcuts with external (Bluetooth) keyboards in their apps. Keyboard shortcuts, longtime favorites of OS X power users, can now be enabled in iOS apps.

Review: IK Multimedia’s iLoud

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IK Multimedia added to its arsenal of music equipment on Thursday with the release of iLoud, a product the company bills as “the first studio-quality portable speaker designed for musicians and audiophiles.” That’s a lot to live up to with one product—luckily, I got one of the early units, so I had some time to try it out. […]

Google employees lash out at NSA

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A pair of Google Inc employees involved with the internet company’s security systems have publicly lashed out at the National Security Agency, with one of the employees accusing the organization of subverting the law by intercepting communications on cables linking Google’s various data centers.

Apple details upcoming features of iWork

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Many people have been concerned about the features removed from the latest version of iWork. Apple posted a support note detailing the features that will return in the next six months.

Apple releases “Report on Government Information Requests”

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We believe that our customers have a right to understand how their personal information is handled, and we consider it our responsibility to provide them with the best privacy protections available. Apple has prepared this report on the requests we receive from governments seeking information about individual users or devices in the interest of transparency for our customers around the world.

Accessing GarageBand’s additional content for Mac and iOS

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There has been some confusion about how you access the additional content in GarageBand for iOS and Mac. Today, Apple posted two helpful articles explaining what content comes with the apps by default and the steps you need to take to download the extras. It’s worth reading both the iOS and Mac support articles.

Expanding GarageBand for Mac (v10.0) content with an in-app purchase

Expanding GarageBand for iOS 2.0 content with an in-app purchase

Warren DeMartini and Jake E. Lee

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Speaking of Warren DeMartini, Charvel has a Q&A with him posted on their site. I especially like the part about Warren and Jake E. Lee:

Imagine this: We’re both hanging out in the middle of the night watching a crappy TV with bad reception, sitting on the floor with our backs against the couch. I’m chipping away at the chords to “Round and Round,” and he’s chipping away at the chords to “Bark at the Moon.” We had no idea where those songs would take us.

Indeed.

Need: Curated shopping for men

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Need is a monthly retailer and lifestyle magazine for the modern, discerning man. Each month, Need curates and sells an extremely limited quantity of items — including clothing, literature, furniture, artwork, alcohol, coffee, and so forth — whilst also commissioning independent journalism, photography, video, and so forth.

MY good friend Matt Alexander launched his new company today. Looks good Matt, congratulations!

Twitter is us

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Om Malik:

Twitter is making its debut on the public markets and with that the fortunes of its founders, employees and many of its investors will change. As it crosses into adulthood, Twitter and its new owners need to remember this one thing — Twitter is us!

Sage advice from Om.

Organizing your desktop

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Lex Friedman asked me to participate in this story for Macworld. My desktop is usually a mess.

Dog lick

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Dogs photographed mid-lick.

Mic techniques for guitar

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Jimmy Page:

“You shouldn’t really have to use EQ in the studio if the instruments sound good. It should all be done with microphones and microphone placement. The instruments that bleed into each other are what create the ambience.”

Great advice.

iPad activations increase 200% at AT&T

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Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility:

“iPad activations on AT&T increased more than 200% over the past three days compared to last year’s launch weekend, driven by consumer excitement around the new iPad Air and the popularity of AT&T Mobile Share, which lets customers add an iPad to their existing data plan for just $10 a month. We also saw strong demand for AT&T Next, which offers customers an iPad for $0 down on the nation’s fastest and most reliable 4G LTE network.”

I wish they would give some numbers—that statement feels like something Amazon would do. The obvious question is 200% of what?

Sprng Clip for Apple’s Earpods

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Love the sound of your Apple Earpods but can’t keep them in your ears? You don’t have to replace them, simply snap on a pair of Sprng clips to make them stay put.

Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest ones.

The Loop Magazine 2.0.1

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We updated The Loop Magazine today fixing a few bugs including:

  • Memory issues resolved
  • Music playback pause while reading fixed
  • Auto-zoom is now optional
  • Progress indicator on every page
  • Character encoding on currencies fixed
  • Other minor bugs

It’s available as a free update on the App Store.