Doubling down against the iPad

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John Gruber talking about Microsoft’s Frank Shaw:

Betting against the iPad as a device on which people can work, for any meaning of “work”, is a bad bet in the long run. Shaw though, is doubling down on just that bet.

Shaw would do better by getting Microsoft to make a product that people actually want to buy.

Fender’s “Beggars Banquet” guitar package

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For more than four decades, “Beggars Banquet” has remained one of the most acclaimed and popular Rolling Stones albums. Released in 1968, it marked a return to swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, and gave the world enduring classics such as “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Street Fighting Man.”

Wow, nice!

Pixelmator 3.0

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Pixelmator 3.0 FX is the most advanced version of Pixelmator to date, introducing lots of new features and improvements, including the following:

  • Layer Styles: Thanks to non-destructive Layer Styles, creating polished and advanced compositions is now so much simpler, faster, and more enjoyable
  • Liquify Tools: Shape images in multiple ways—slightly twist an element, add an artistic detail, or completely distort an entire image
  • New Image Editing Engine: The new state-of-the-art image editing engine harnesses the full power of the latest OS X technologies making Pixelmator feature rich, yet blistering fast
  • OS X Mavericks support: Tags, Multiple-Displays, App Nap support and more.

Another great looking release from the Pixelmator Team. This is easily one of my favorite apps on the Mac. Ever.

Apple working on a fix for some legacy iWork and iLife upgrade issues

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Serenity Caldwell

Some users (including yours truly) are reporting issues where the Mac App Store doesn’t recognize their copies; when they click on an iLife or iWork app’s price, they receive the following alert: “[App] is already installed and was not purchased from the Mac App Store. Do you want to buy [app]?” Macworld spoke with an Apple spokesperson who noted that there’s currently an issue with some legacy customers, and the company is working on a fix.

Thoughts on the Apple Event

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I’ve been asked quite a few times today which Apple announcement I thought was the biggest—the blockbuster release that people would be talking about for days and weeks to come. That’s actually a very difficult question to answer, given the scope of the announcements. […]

Fender’s folding acoustic guitars

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With their revolutionary Voyage-Air patented hinged necks, each guitar folds in half at the neck heel and fits comfortably into a specially designed gig bag.

Cool.

The iRig BlueBoard [Sponsor]

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iRig BlueBoard is the first wireless MIDI pedalboard for iOS and Mac that allows you to control your music apps and more from the floor. Now control parameters of your MIDI-compatible apps like AmpliTube wirelessly from the floor. Switch between presets, change patches, turn effects on and off and control effects like volume wah pedals all from the stage floor without worrying about tripping over wires. Setup is as simple as turning the iRig BlueBoard on and telling it what you want to control. iRig BlueBoard features four backlit soft-touch pads housed in a sturdy, stage-worthy chassis, two TRS expansion jacks for connecting additional MIDI controllers like expression pedals, and is powered by four standard AAA batteries.

IK Multimedia’s iRig BlueBoard allows guitarists, vocalists and keyboard players wireless control of Core-MIDI-compatible music-making apps running on an iPhone (4s or later), iPad 4, iPod touch (5th gen) or Mac (models from June 2012). The pedalboard has four backlit pads up top, which can each be assigned controls to switch between presets and banks, tweak parameters or change patches on the fly. Expression, volume or wah pedals can also be connected to the two 0.25-in jacks on the side of the device for control of onscreen dials and knobs.

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The Loop tattoo

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I drove down to Santa Cruz with some friends on Sunday and got my first tattoo on the inside of my forearm. Thank you all for helping to make The Loop the success that it is and thanks to Jenn and Tim for putting up with me.

If you need a tattoo, I highly recommend seeing Tim at Good Omen Tattoo.

tattoo

Techi.com

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Thanks to Techi.com for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. If you love technology but you’re tired of browsing through hundreds of RSS feeds each morning, check out Techi.com.

It’s a technology blog that features only the top tech stories from around the web each day and is updated 24/7. You get a short summary of each story if you don’t want to read the whole thing and you also get access to exclusive articles.

Check it out and subscribe to their daily newsletter.

Apple announces special event for Oct 22

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Apple on Tuesday announced a special event for October 22. The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco and will begin at 10:00 am PT.

It is widely expected that Apple will update its iPad and iPad mini products during the event, although we could see the introduction of OS X Mavericks and other Mac products as well.

Techi.com [Sponsor]

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If you love technology but you’re tired of browsing through hundreds of RSS feeds each morning, check out Techi.com.

It’s a technology blog that features only the top tech stories from around the web each day and is updated 24/7. You get a short summary of each story if you don’t want to read the whole thing and you also get access to exclusive articles.

Check it out and subscribe to their daily newsletter.

RiffRumble Metal: Get your entries in

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Record your best metal song with RiffWorks (Mac/Win) or FourTrack (iPhone) on your own, or with up to 4 friends worldwide using RiffLink online song collaboration. Over $4000 in prizes are up for grabs, including a Codella Stormchaser Guitar, Sonoma’s new GuitarJack 2 USB audio interface for PC, Mac and select mobile devices, and more.

Sonoma Wire Works asked me to be the judge for this year’s RiffRumble, so get your entries in.

AskingPoint Mobile App Analytics

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My thanks to AskingPoint for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop. AskingPoint provides Mobile App Analytics, In-App Messaging (great for cross promotion), and SaaS for Mobile Apps. Push messaging and Ap Monetization tools are coming later in October and November.

AskingPoint let’s you use your App Analytics to control anything in your Apps, in real-time. Check it out, and learn how to remote control your Mobile Apps!

Universal Audio’s API Vision Channel Strip plug-in

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Comprised of five API modules — including the famed 212L Preamp, 225L Compressor, 235L Gate/Expander, 550L EQ, and 215L Filters — the API Vision is UA’s most colorful channel strip plug-in to date, allowing you to inject your tracks with all of the warmth and personality of API’s flagship analog console.

UA’s plug-ins are the best. Period.

The Loop Magazine Issue 12: Making Music with iOS

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In this issue, Tom Ellis looks at some tools for creating music on iOS; John Moltz looks at being a freelance writer and the need to have health insurance; Charles Perry investigates app localization; Chris Steimel is tired of hearing the same old songs on traditional radio; and David Chartier takes off on a train to get some writing done.

The-Loop-Cover-Issue-12

BMW i3: The company’s first electric car

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Top Gear:

If the i3’s range fits your life, here’s what you get. A car, a gadget, a suite of furniture, a greener option, a talking point. And a slower heart-rate.

iRig BlueBoard

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Just when you start to wonder what IK Multimedia is going to come up with next, they deliver a pedalboard to control your Mac and iOS music apps wirelessly.