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.

Chart.js

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This is very cool if you use charts.

The road to OS X Mavericks

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Peter Cohen for iMore:

It was a long road to OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Mac OS X was first introduced as a public beta (codenamed Kodiak) in September of 2000, and beta it was – a radical departure from Mac OS 9, both in look (introducing the “Aqua” interface) and in operation. Mac OS X was built on a UNIX foundation, and was more closely related to the NextStep operating system that had been developed by NeXT, the computing company Steve Jobs founded between stints running Apple.

This brought back some memories.

Revolution 60: A game for iPad

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Revolution 60 is a breakthrough game for iPad, using the strength of the touch interface to tell a short, intense story. It features gorgeous animations using the Unreal engine and has gameplay that is accessible to the casual iOS user. It is fully voice acted, starring anime legend Amanda Winn-Lee of Evangelion.

It’s amazing what developers are doing with games on the iPad. This doesn’t come out for a few months, but watch the video.

BlissList for iPhone [Sponsor]

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BlissList is an iPhone app that enables you to buy from all stores in one central place, with just one account.

While social shopping hubs such as Pinterest and Wanelo do a great job of helping you discover products from different stores, they require you to go to each store’s site to buy those products. What stands between you and the perfect pair of jeans and shoes is that you have to go through a painful, multi-step checkout process at different stores. Not to mention, the inconsistent buying process between stores and the small canvas of a mobile phone make you want to tear your hair out. BlissList eliminates all these hassles by providing a centralized and convenient way for you to buy the products you want. With BlissList you can add any product from any store and securely check out in one place, so your credit card is not all over the web. Additionally, you can connect with your friends for social funding for your products. BlissList is free and there are no service fees or price markups. Buy your shoes and keep your hair. Download BlissList on the App Store.

Doxie Go — Scan anywhere, go paperless!

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Doxie_Go_Hero

Many thanks to Doxie for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. Doxie Go is the tiny, rechargeable mobile paper scanner that scans anywhere with no computer required. Scan paper, receipts, and cards, then sync to Doxie’s elegant Mac software.

Doxie makes it easy to go paperless, create searchable PDFs, and send scans to your favorite Mac and cloud apps – Dropbox, Evernote, and more.

It’s time to finally go paperless. Get your new Doxie Go direct from Doxie or Amazon.com.

Belkin’s iPad Air keyboard cases

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Ever since I posted on Twitter about looking for a keyboard for my iPad Air, I’ve had a lot of suggestions for Logitech and Zagg. I saw these Belkin ones tonight and thought I’d post those too.

Google isn’t innocent in the patent wars

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John Gruber:

But Motorola — a wholly-owned Google subsidiary — has filed patent lawsuits against Apple all over the world. Just one month ago Apple finally put an end to an 18-month injunction that prevented iCloud users in Germany from getting push notifications for email — because of a patent lawsuit filed by Google.

I’m in total agreement with Gruber on this one. Like most people, I hate these stupid patent trolls, but too many people are trying to make Google seem like a victim here. They’re not.

The argument for an iPod Pro

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Kirk McElhearn brings up some interesting points in his thoughts for Apple to bring an iPod Pro to market.

I call bullshit on JD Power’s explanation

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Matthew Panzarino:

Parsons confirmed the percentage, but said that the differential between the prices of the iPad and the prices of the Samsung tablets that were included in the survey was large enough to “more than offset” the score in the other four categories. Parsons says that the price category contributed to a full two-point difference between Apple and Samsung.

B U L L S H I T!

There’s no way it explains the tablet numbers.