Velvet Revolver: Slither

Written by

I always thought that the Slash/Scott Weiland was one of the best in rock. They wrote some amazing songs.

Tough going at J.C. Penney

Written by

J.C. Penney shares have plunged nearly 60% over the past year as Johnson — a former Apple executive who spearheaded the tech giant’s retail strategy — has struggled to lead a turnaround effort. He took over at J.C. Penney in November of 2011 and has since announced a series of new initiatives including overhauled prices, redesigned store layouts, and even free haircuts for kids.

So far, the results have been dismal.

Selling iPhones wasn’t so bad after all.

Facebook phone

Written by

Kevin C. Tofel:

There’s little doubt that Facebook will unveil a new phone on Thursday, but the star of the show will be software, not hardware, in this battle between Facebook and Google for user engagement.

Converting audio to MIDI

Written by

It’s been years since I’ve used Ableton’s Live, but this looks like a really great feature to have at your disposal.

Court says you can’t resell digital music files

Written by

In a judgment filed Saturday, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan sided with Universal Music Group’s Capitol Records, which had sued ReDigi for copyright violation.

Sullivan’s argument, in a nutshell: Unless the copyright owner gives you explicit permission to do so, you can’t resell a digital media file.

That doesn’t make sense to me.

R.I.P. Phil Ramone

Written by

Bobby Owsinski:

By now you’ve all heard that the legendary producer Phil Ramone has passed. If you read any of the obituaries, you’ll notice that they all quote his many Grammys and the superstars he worked with, which indeed placed him above the majority of his contemporaries. Phil was more than that though. He was a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker on the technical side as well, always eager to embrace new technology.

Pebble smart watch review

Written by

Stephen Hackett got his Pebble and posted his review. With everything I’ve heard about this watch, I was a little surprised with the conclusion.

Rating Apple analysts

Written by

Ernie Varitimos:

Ask yourself, how many times have you tried to make sense of an analyst’s statement, where they’ve demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of Apple culture, the ecosystem, or the fan base. This isn’t universal of course, some analysts are very knowledgeable and huge Apple fans, but even a respected Apple bull like Gene Munster ranks only in the middle of the pack, well behind several amateur analysts. Some of the most influential analysts rank near the bottom of the pack, like Charlie Wolf and Kathy Huberty.

I have little to no respect for financial analysts.

Doxie – A Better Way To Go Paperless [Sponsor]

Written by

Doxie IRS Loop

There’s never been a better time to go paperless. Doxie scans your paper – simply, automatically, and with no computer required. Just push the button and insert your sheet. Doxie scans anywhere in your home or office with a built-in rechargeable battery and memory.

When you’re ready to organize, sync scans to your Mac or iPad, just like a digital camera. Doxie’s elegant Mac app creates multi-page searchable PDFs you can save or send to Evernote, Dropbox, or via iMessage. Doxie even works with your iPad with both Apple’s Lightning and 30-pin SD Card Reader accessories.

Available now: the rechargeable Doxie Go for just $199.

Fools of the Year

Written by

Much respect to The Macalope for a great list. I might have given Eric Schmidt two or three spots though.

EZ-PR

Written by

Thanks to EZ-PR for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week.

Want great press for your startup, app or company? EZPR specializes in getting great stories written about what you’re working on. Call 646-569-9027 or email Ed Zitron to get started.

The rumored Apple-branded gaming joypad

Written by

PocketGamer wrote this today: Long rumoured – and hoped for – GDC 2013 has finally provided confirmation that Apple will release its own dedicated game controller. Nope.

Roaming network for subscription music services

Written by

Fred Wilson:

It is also in the consumer’s interest. Just yesterday my friend Kirk found some new music because he follows me on Rdio. But I can’t do the same thing with my friends who are on Spotify. Because all of these services are silos, by definition of their paid business model. If a roaming network existed, there would be more social music discovery, listening, and, I believe, uptake of the paid subscription model by consumers.

If Apple ever does a subscription service, I think most people would default to using what they offer. Considering Apple is the most popular music distributor in the world, and if most people used their service, it seems likely it would turn into just what Fred described — except all on one service.

Facebook phone

Written by

It seems clear by the invite that their entering the mobile space in one way or another.

Les Paul Custom Lite

Written by

The beauty of this gorgeous black Les Paul Custom Lite is more than skin deep, and Gibson USA has also packed added versatility into the traditional formula. Two of Gibson’s most popular humbucking pickups from the Modern Classics series offer all the tone that made the Les Paul legendary in the first place, plus added single-coil sounds thanks to the coil-splitting mini-toggle switch added in place of the second tone control.

Amplified: Fully Bearded Child

Written by

Jim and Dan talk about Apple’s broken promise (iCloud), Google Reader, Fever, NetNewsWire, Black Pixel, Newsfire, iTunes Purchase fraud, WifiSLAM, the value of Apple stock, guitars, and more.

Sponsored by Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME3 for 30% off), and Shopify, and Harvest (use code 5BY5 for 50% off).

Úll Conference

Written by

This is a great conference with one of the best speaker line-ups I’ve seen. Don Melton, Matt Gemmell, Matthew Panzarino and many others, including me, will be there. Go sign-up and we’ll see you there.