“We’re disappointed that ad blocking companies are punishing people on Facebook as these new attempts don’t just block ads but also posts from friends and Pages. This isn’t a good experience for people and we plan to address the issue. Ad blockers are a blunt instrument, which is why we’ve instead focused on building tools like ad preferences to put control in people’s hands.”

Earlier today, Ad blockers found a way around Facebook’s attempts to block them. The first question is why do posts from friends and families get confused as ad content? I know Facebook makes its revenue from ads and I’m okay with that, but I’d love a way to pay them instead. If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. I don’t necessarily blame Facebook for trying to get around ad blockers because they are offering a free service (except they track and sell you).

CVS Health today is launching its own mobile payments solution that will allow customers to pay for products, pick up prescriptions, earn ExtraCare loyalty rewards, as well as pay – just by scanning the barcode in the CVS mobile app. The idea, the company explains, is to eliminate the number of steps it takes today to complete a checkout, which today is a very manual process.

I don’t even know what to say about this. Companies want to keep tabs on their customers, but their are better mobile payment solutions—of course, I’m talking about Apple Pay. I won’t use any company’s app when it comes to payments—support Apple Pay and I’m with you.

The most recognizable CBC logo is known as “the gem” or the “exploding pizza” for others. This is the logo I grew up with in Canada.

The bizarre technique has worked wonders. Santo qualified for the Olympic after winning two silver medals in the Pan American Games last year, but the pair has been forced to scale it back.

Those crazy Canadians.

I’m not really surprised that Apple programmed Siri to give some clever replies.

Make it disappear.

Kirk McElhearn:

Ratings are totally absent from the iOS 10 Music app, with no option to turn them on. Currently, on iOS 9, you can view a rating or rate a track by tapping its album artwork while it’s playing, but only for tracks in your library; you can’t apply star ratings to Apple Music tracks.

I’ve noticed this too, but haven’t said anything yet. Please Apple, don’t get rid of star ratings. I use them a lot in my music lists and for auto-playlists for music that I’ve highly rated over time. I’m hoping they just haven’t turned it on the iOS beta, but will in a future update. I’ve been rating music since iTunes first came out—losing all of that now would be a shame.

Two days ago we broke it to you that Facebook had taken “the dark path,” and decided to start forcing ad-blocking users to see ads on its desktop site. We promised that the open source community would have a solution very soon, and, frankly, they’ve beaten even our own expectations. A new filter was added to the main EasyList about 15 minutes ago.

Remember, Facebook said it was going to force ads to ad-blocking users. They already figured out a way around it. Let the games begin.

Though more than 20 states have legalized marijuana for medicinal uses, there’s still a lot scientists don’t know about it. “It’s actually quite amazing how little we really know about something that has been used for thousands of years,” says Sachin Patel of Vanderbilt University who studies cannabis. “We desperately need well-controlled unbiased large scale research studies into the efficacy of cannabis for treating disease states, which we have very little of right now. Without these studies we are basically flying blind with regard to medical marijuana in my opinion.”

Not being a user, I don’t much care, but I understand the need for more study. Some good questions.

Twitter Inc denied on Thursday rumors that the social media messaging service will be shutting down in 2017, denouncing the claim as groundless.

If the source for this rumor is true—a frustrated Twitter user—it goes to show the power of social media.

It is amazing that pilots from all over the world speak English when communicating with air traffic control. It makes sense, of course, there has to be a universal language so everyone understands the instructions.

[Via Coudal]

For 2016, Charvel is offering a limited run of the Guthrie Govan Signature model that shares many of the unique features of his original model, but in a handsome Britannica Red finish trimmed with a black burst.

This is a long way out of my price range, but I love Charvel guitars. I’ll definitely have one someday.

Speaking of Om Malik, he had this to say about Apple and Netflix:

Apple—if it really wants to get into content and wants to make a strong statement to the Hollywood establishment that has stymied its television efforts so far—should make a big, bold bet. It should use its massive stock market capitalization and cash hoard to buy Netflix. Apple is currently valued at $584 billion and it can afford Netflix, which is valued at around $42 billion.

Om Malik:

“If you want to do something for the shareholders make interesting damn MacBooks, which people can buy. You want to do something nice? Make a better phone, which people want to keep buying. Nobody cares if you do Planet of the Apps.”

Om had strong words for Apple, its fascination with Hollywood, and its executives.

One of Apple’s largest component suppliers, Samsung Electronics, is the subject of a new investigative report regarding its withholding of critical information about the toxic chemicals its employees were exposed to while working in the company’s factories.

Wow Samsung.

Here’s a priceless film from 1937 that shows Duke Ellington in the studio recording, and the process of making a vinyl record release afterwards. There’s a lot to notice in the video that will make you appreciate the recording process from back then.

This is absolutely fascinating. Certainly a truer sound than what we get today.

Nearly a dozen executives at companies from Sony Corp (6758.T) to Angry Birds-creator Rovio said Pokemon Go would be a tough act to follow, and some even said a challenge would not be worth it. Gamers should not expect the quick release of a rival app anytime soon, some said.

I think this is a good thing. We’re not looking for clones, we’re looking for innovation in markets, including gaming. Instead of trying to figure out a way to clone a successful product, figure out how to make one yourself.

Ben Bajarin on binge watching:

TV networks are, in my opinion and analysis, not well positioned for this shift given their business model. Due to their advertising focus, they are incentivized to release content over long periods of time due to how they structure ad deals. Netflix, HBO, and Amazon are not subsidizing these shows by ads but by my consumer dollars, so I’m paying for these stories as a service.

I don’t mind paying for services like Netflix because I can watch as much as I want, whenever I want. The ad focused model has to change at some point, whether the networks want it or not. I would have thought the DVR would have done more to change it already—I don’t watch anything live anymore, just so I can skip commercials.

An interesting post from the founder of Ruby on Rails, David Heinemeier Hansson.

In addition to release a new beta update for iOS 10 this morning, Apple issued updates for tvOS, watchOS, and macOS as well. All of the updates are for developers, and should be used with caution on a secondary device. The updates can all be downloaded from the device, if you have a previous beta installed, or from your developer account.

Apple released iOS Beta 5 to developers this morning. If you have iOS Beta installed, you can download the update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

It should go without saying, but you should only install betas on a secondary device. Although Apple betas are really good, like most betas, things may not work as expected.

Apple engineer Ivan Krstić spoke on far more than Apple’s new bug bounty program at the Black Hat security conference, and delved into the inner workings of iOS hardware and software security features both in iOS 9 and the forthcoming iOS 10.

Security is such an important issue these days. It’s a great move for Apple to speak publicly about what they are doing to make its products secure.

Apple, in emailed comments, said it did not oblige Russian resellers to fix prices for its products.

“Resellers set their own prices for the Apple products they sell in Russia and around the world,” the company’s press office said.

It just doesn’t make any sense that Apple would be involved in price fixing.

Check Point today disclosed details about a set of four vulnerabilities affecting 900 million Android smartphones and tablets that use Qualcomm chipsets. The Check Point mobile threat research team, which calls the set of vulnerabilities QuadRooter, presented its findings in a session at DEF CON 24 in Las Vegas.

Be safe Android people. There is a safer way.

I just opened up sponsorships for September on the site, at a lower price for a limited time. If you want to get your product in front of The Loop readers, get in touch.

Looks like The Muppet’s character, Beaker.

The short story – For the past year and a half I’ve collected wi-fi names that caught my attention all around Berlin. Click on the green markers on the map to read the wi-fi names exactly where I found them, along with my unrequested comments/interpretation/research on their meanings.

Some of these are funny—the comments certainly make a big difference in understand the names.

AT&T has settled with the FCC over a “cramming” investigation that found the carrier allowed scammers to place unauthorized charges onto customer bills, and collected a fee from the sham companies involved in the scheme.

And carriers wonder why we don’t trust them.

After a few weeks of exploration, the studio and I settled on a composition and I was tasked with painting the finished poster. I used the Procreate app on my iPad Pro to do the preliminary sketches and for blocking the basic colors of the poster. I then exported these layers into Adobe Photoshop and began detailing the artwork at a much higher resolution.

This is really impressive. The iPad Pro can be used for many things from creative endeavors to daily work—as technology continues to move forward, the possibilities are almost endless.

Clickbait headlines are exactly why I support independent writers instead of organizations that lower themselves to using such tactics. Usually, clickbait offers nothing more than a tantalizing headline—nothing to backup the reason you clicked on it in the first place. It’s a frustrating practice, but when we become aware of what’s going on, we can support the people, and sites, that treat us, the readers, with respect.