Below are some of the webspam insights we gathered in 2015, including trends we’ve seen, what we’re doing to fight spam and protect against those trends, and how we’re working with you to make the web better.

Some interesting information in here.

“Our goal has always been to try to create objects as beautiful as they are functional,” Ive told a group of assembled journalists. Ive is one of the Apple-sponsored fundraiser’s four hosts, along with Vogue’s Anna Wintour, pop megastar Taylor Swift, and actor Idris Elba.

This is why Apple designs are so good—beauty and function take equal parts in their products.

A Brazilian judge ordered wireless phone carriers to block access to Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp for 72 hours throughout Latin America’s largest country starting Monday afternoon, the second such incident against the popular messaging application in five months.

The decision by the judge in the northeastern state of Sergipe applies to the five main wireless operators in Brazil. The reason for the order is not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case in the Sergipe state court.

We have sponsorships available in May on The Loop. If you want to get your product or service in front of the fine readers of The Loop, get in touch and let’s work it out.

Innovative solution, but it must freak you out when you’re driving.

I haven’t tried this yet, but it sure sounds cool.

Love you, Mom.

A well done new support site from Apple for its products.

“The next claim we hear is that we underpay compared to subscription services such as Spotify. But that argument confuses two different services: music subscriptions that cost £10 a month versus ad-supported music videos. It’s like comparing what a black cab driver earns from fares to what they earn showing ads in their taxi.”

This is a very interesting battle.

Being on the App Store is a tough business, I know from experience. Apple can’t possibly feature all the apps that are in the store, that’s obvious, but it pisses me off when I see Apple being so self-serving to put a big banner for Drake’s new album on the App Store. He doesn’t have an app! […]

Some of these are very clever, indeed.

Rovi Corp, a provider of digital television guides, said on Friday it would buy video recorder pioneer TiVo Inc in a $1.1 billion deal that brings together two video software players with deep patent portfolios.

I could never figure out why TiVo, a company that everyone seems to love, could never do better in the market.

But Icahn, who owned 45.8 million Apple shares at the end of last year, said China’s economic slowdown and worries about how China could become more prohibitive in doing business triggered his decision to exit his position entirely.

“We no longer have a position in Apple. Tim Cook did a great job. I called him this morning to tell him that and he was a little sorry, obviously. But I told him it’s a great company,” Icahn said. “In Apple today as opposed to six months or a year ago, in this one, there’s no need for activism because I think they have a great management. But you worry a little bit, maybe more than a little, about China’s attitude.”

Probably the best news Apple has had in a while.

Recorded live at Rasputin Music, Berkeley, CA on Record Store Day, April 16, 2016.

Ten years ago, we launched Google Translate. Our goal was to break language barriers and to make the world more accessible. Since then we’ve grown from supporting two languages to 103, and from hundreds of users to hundreds of millions. And just like anyone’s first 10 years, we’ve learned to see and understand, talk, listen, have a conversation, write, and lean on friends for help.

I think we’ve all used Google Translate over the years.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of a young and talented coworker. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends, including the many people he worked with here at Apple.”

The FBI informed Apple Inc of a vulnerability in its iPhone and Mac software on April 14, the first time it had told the company about a flaw in Apple products under a controversial White House process for sharing such information, the company told Reuters on Tuesday.

And

Though he declined to provide technical details, the executive said the problem had been fixed by the company nine months ago, with the release of iOS9 for phones and Mac OS C El Capitan.

Apple doesn’t plan to release an update for older operating systems.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday began investigating a body found at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters.

Damn.

Jim and Merlin… wait, no, Gruber. Jim and John Gruber talk about the iPhone SE, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch.

Subscribe to this podcast

Brought to you by

• FreshBooks — Online invoicing made easy. 
• Backblaze — Cloud storage that’s astonishingly easy and low-cost.

Rene Ritchie and Jason Snell put together a transcript of Apple’s earnings call today.

Apple on Tuesday reported revenue of $50.6 billion and quarterly net income of $10.5 billion. These results are down from revenue of $58 billion and net income of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. […]

FBI Director James Comey said on Tuesday that his agency was still assessing whether a vulnerability used to unlock an iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino killers would go through a government review to determine if it should be disclosed to Apple or the public.

I’d be shocked if they disclosed the flaw to Apple or the public. If this is the only way they have to get into these phones, they have no reason to disclose the flaw.

Still to this day, the pummeling grooves of John Bonham, Ian Paice, Keith Moon and Bill Ward continue to inspire writers and underline the fact that in classic rock, the drums are – and should be – loud, obnoxious and play as much of a leading part as anything else in a song.

I have quite a few of these drum groove libraries from Toontrack. They do a great job with them and I’ll be adding this one to my collection.

I interviewed former Apple CEO John Sculley on April 11th, an insightful and enjoyable experience. While the interview was ostensibly centered around his 2014 book Moonshot! (on Amazon and iBooks), Mr. Sculley also shared anecdotes about his time at Apple experiences with the late Steve Jobs, some of which I hadn’t previously heard.

Great interview. You can read it or listen to the audio.

Screens is a beautiful, yet powerful Screen Sharing and VNC client that lets you connect back to your Mac, Windows or Linux PC from the comfort of your living room, the corner coffee shop or anywhere in the world.

I do love this app.

Bid now on this opportunity to have lunch with Apple CEO Tim Cook on campus in Cupertino, California, and to be his guest at an Apple keynote event!

Tim, we should really do lunch sometime soon.

Appleton announced that she was leaving Box in a Medium post last week. Today she said on Facebook that she had joined Apple, but didn’t elaborate on the nature of the job. “Officially an Apple employee. Excited for this adventure!” she wrote.

Good move.

The Beard Bash has become an annual event at WWDC, and it has been wildly successful for the last four years. This year, in conjunction with iMore, we are building on that success and we’re stepping it up a few notches.

First, we’ve moved the party to The Mezzanine in San Francisco, one of the city’s finest live music venues. We will also have two bands this year. The party will kick off with a San Francisco staple of rock music, The Department of Rock. This band is a lot of fun and they have an incredible setlist.

The party’s headlining band will be familiar to many of you: Airplane Mode, an indie rock band from New York City. Known for their heavy use of Apple products on-stage, founding members (Dave Wiskus and Joe Cieplinski) have strong ties to the iOS developer community.

The party will be on Monday, June 13, 2016 from 8:00-11:00 pm and we will have free beer and wine available. You must be 21 to attend, and you will be asked to show ID at the door.

Unlike previous years, we will not be sending out invitations for the party. Instead, we will be opening up the invite list to everyone. You will have to RSVP and show that at the door. So, if you’re attending WWDC and want to attend the party, you’re welcome to come. We’ll be opening the RSVP list later this week, so be prepared to sign-up quickly.

We have a couple of great sponsors for this years Beard Bash including Pixelmator, along with MacPaw, and of course, iMore. We thank them for their support for this fun event.

We hope you’ll attend the party and enjoy a few of the surprises that are in store for you.

Nothing will ever top Cookie Monster, but these are good.

Major Peake, who ran the 26.2-mile course in three hours, 18 minutes and 50 seconds on earth back in 1999, saw the roads pass under his feet in real time on an iPad.