Sony sells Manhattan headquarters

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Sony admitted that the motivation for the sale was to raise much-needed cash, expected to equal $770m, after debts on the building have been repaid.

They are renting the building back. Sounds a lot like what cash-strapped Nokia is being forced to do.

1Password

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I’d like to thank AgileBits for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week with 1Password.

Have you ever forgotten a password? We all have. That’s why AgileBits built 1Password to keep your website logins, identity, credit cards, and other sensitive information safe but useful on-the-go.

From the new, full-featured Web Mode browser with AutoFill to Favorites and iCloud sync, 1Password 4 for iOS is a top-to-bottom rebuild that puts more security and convenience than ever before in the palm of your hand. Start using strong passwords with 1Password, available now for iPhone and iPad in the App Store.

Skeuomorphic interface design

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The trend away from skeuomorphic special effects in UI design is the beginning retina-resolution design era.

Very smart article from John Gruber.

How Steve Jobs buys a company

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Aubrey Johnson:

In late November, Nguyen was seated at the dinner table in Steve Job’s home on Waverly St in Palo Alto. Also present were Eddy Cue and Tim Cook and other Apple executives. Steve led the conversation while eating a beet salad:

“I’m going to give you a number, Bill, and if you like it, let’s do it and just be done with this whole thing. Okay?” Bill agreed.

Jobs passed a piece of paper to Nguyen and Bill nodded. The deal was done.

That’s the way you get shit done.

Creating an email campaign with MailChimp

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Here at MailChimp, we’re realists—as much as we love email and all the things you can do with it, we understand that building a campaign is a task, not a life event. You want to get in, get done, and get on with things. Duly noted.

Anyone that signed up for a membership would have gotten an email confirmation — I use MailChimp for that. Great service.

The secret to Apple’s designs

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Tony Fadell:

“When you’re in a culture that has a point of view, and drives to launch everything it does, you know you’re on the hook and you better bring your best game every time.”

Gretsch guitars celebrates 130 years

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To commemorate Gretsch’s 130th anniversary, the Gretsch Custom Shop introduces the beautiful new U.S. Custom Shop 130th Anniversary Hollow Body guitar.

I bet that sounds nice.

Grid-based layouts

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Many designers use a grid as the foundation for every one of their designs. Some will use a 12-​​column grid, some will use a 16-​​column grid, some will use a 24-​​column grid, and others will use anything in between. The point isn’t so much the type of grid that you use, but the fact that you use one. Grids in web design are very common, and with the implementation of responsive web design, grids have become even more important than ever.

The goddamn funniest thing I’ve read in a long time

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Grant Howitt describing his experience at the Panasonic Toughpad press conference:

I think Panasonic has invented a new kind of pixel. A bendy pixel. I don’t understand. What does PPI stand for? What am I doing with my life? Why am I here in this basement in Munich at the age of 26 staring at a man fire a laser pointer at a graph? How did this happen? I wanted to be a Sky Pirate. I don’t understand any of this.

You have to go read this. It’s hilarious.

Fuck off Google

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Steven Levy talking to Google CEO Larry Page: Wired: Steve Jobs felt competitive enough to claim that he was willing to “go to thermonuclear war” on Android. Page: How well is that working? Android is a stolen product and you … Continued

Finish to-do app for iPhone

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Overcome the clutches of procrastination with Finish, a busy iPhone user’s best friend. Unlike other to-do apps that are “clever” for their own sake, only Finish takes advantage of how you naturally think. Finish gets in your face when you need it, stays out of the way when you don’t, and effortlessly keeps you focused the only thing that matters.

Love this — I just bought it.

Kaleidoscope 2

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Use Kaleidoscope to spot the differences in text, images, and folders. Review and merge changes in seconds with the world’s most advanced file comparison application.

Great looking app from the folks at Black Pixel.

Turbulenz HTML5 games

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Turbulenz offers the ability to play the most engaging and connected games the web has to offer today. Games on Turbulenz provide everything, from 3D visuals through to real-time multiplayer, social feeds, leaderboards, and badges. The best part of the Turbulenz experience is that everything is free to play!

This was pretty cool. I tried “Save the Day” and ran over some people with my helicopter — don’t do that.

Positives of negative space

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Use of negative space is a factor that is often overlooked but just as, if not more, important than the physical aspects of a website.