My thanks to MacScan for sponsoring The Loop this week.

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MacGameStore.com today announced the release of an exciting “Pay What You Want” bundle to celebrate great Indie games. We’re also thrilled to announce that 10% of the proceeds from the sale of the bundle will go to “Stand Up To Cancer”, a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now.

If you beat the average price, you get even more games. The average price right now is just over $5.00.

The company that helped the FBI unlock a San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone to get data has sole legal ownership of the method, making it highly unlikely the technique will be disclosed by the government to Apple or any other entity, Obama administration sources said this week.

Not a big surprise. The government doesn’t want Apple to fix the exploit, but there is no doubt Apple is working very hard to close it.

Apple Inc. has constructed a secret team to explore changes to the App Store, including a new strategy for charging developers to have their apps more prominently displayed, according to people familiar with the plans.

Among the ideas being pursued, Apple is considering paid search, a Google-like model in which companies would pay to have their app shown at the top of search results based on what a customer is seeking. For instance, a game developer could pay to have its program shown when somebody looks for “football game,” “word puzzle” or “blackjack.”

I’ll be honest, this seems like a very un-Apple thing to do. This will only widen the gap of small developers having any chance of being fairly featured on the App Store, and that gap is pretty large already.

U.S. federal, state and local government agencies rank in last place in cyber security when compared against 17 major private industries, including transportation, retail and healthcare, according to a new report released Thursday.

No reason to be concerned, right?

Apple Inc and the FBI will return to Congress next week to testify before lawmakers about their heated disagreement over law enforcement access to encrypted devices, a congressional committee announced on Thursday.

We knew it wasn’t over.

Apple teamed up with 25 developers to donate the profits of their apps to WWF until April 24.

Sure, your browser can download. But does it let you easily accelerate downloads, limit bandwidth, download on a schedule, or execute rules to sort incoming downloaded files? Doubt it. And clearly, you’re not going to be able to quit that RAM-consuming monster of a browser until all your downloads are done.

I like the folks at Many Tricks. I think they make good software.

A core member of Apple’s elite industrial design team for more than 20 years, Mr. Coster is credited for his contributions to a wide range of now iconic consumer electronics ranging from the iPhone 4 to the iPad wireless keyboard. He holds more than 500 design patents and several utility patents, and has been recognized by several international design organizations for his work.

I’m always interested to see how Apple designers do outside the Apple ecosystem.

Amazon says it’s the thinnest and lightest Kindle ever. They also say it has the longest Kindle battery life–the included leather charging cover boosts battery to last months.

Cellebrite Mobile Synchronization Ltd., the forensics unit of a little-known Japanese pinball company, is fast becoming the go-to guys when law enforcement needs to unlock smartphones. Its group chief executive officer has plans to keep the firm on the frontlines against terrorism.

Not a big surprise they have some of the world’s biggest law enforcement agencies as clients.

Interesting move for Logitech.

I really dislike Yngwie. Probably why I love this video so much.

Juli Clover:

Teen interest in Apple’s iPhone continues to grow, according to data gathered by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in the latest semiannual teen survey. 69 percent of teens surveyed own iPhones, up from 67 percent in the Fall 2015 survey. 75 percent of teens queried expect their next device to be an iPhone, up one percent from the previous survey.

This is very important. These are the people that Apple is relying on to purchase the iPhones of the future.

I’m always impressed with the things people can do with CSS.

110 years ago next week, on April 18, 1906, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered near the city of San Francisco struck at 5:15 AM. The intense shaking toppled hundreds of buildings, but the resulting out-of-control fires were even more destructive.

Devastating.

[Via Kottke]

Smile made some adjustments to its upgrade plans and pricing.

There are signs that Gibson’s move to diversify isn’t working out as planned. Moody’s Investor Service has downgraded Gibson Brands (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation) credit to junk status, and according to reports, the company has put up two of its Nashville warehouses for sale as a result.

Gibson has been in trouble for a long time. I’m not sure if they tried to buy their way out of it or tried to ignore it, but either way, it seems to be getting worse.

That case and others show how cyber-criminals have professionalized ransomware schemes, borrowing tactics from customer service or marketing, law enforcement officials and security firms say. Some players in the booming underworld employ graphic artists, call centers and technical support to streamline payment and data recovery, according to security firms that advise businesses on hacking threats.

I didn’t realize how “professional” these people have become.

Mac malware removal is essential these days. Malware authors are targeting OS X with increasing frequency and even with more Mac malware activity now than ever before, many users are still unprotected against these threats. MacScan protects your Mac by scanning for and removing malware – providing much-needed security and privacy in the face of online threats.

MacScan will find and clean malware threatening your Mac, including:

• Trojan Horses
• Keystroke Loggers
• Spyware
• Adware
• Worms
• Shareware

Still not convinced you need protection? Sign up for a free 30-day test drive and see the benefits first-hand.

There are seven videos in all. The Golf one is pretty amazing.

Join Christy Turlington Burns, ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, and Heather Armstrong, founder of dooce.com, as they share their experiences training for the Boston Marathon. The group runs to raise awareness for Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit organization founded by Christy that is dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere. Apple’s Jay Blahnik will moderate a Q&A about their shared passion for running and their experiences training with Apple Watch.

I’d like to sit in on that.

A lot of people think that Slash played a Les Paul on Appetite, but he didn’t.

Jim and Merlin talk about TextExpander’s new business model, Apple Watch vs Fitbit, and more on voice UI.

Subscribe to this podcast

Links

• Michael Tsai – Blog – TextExpander 6 and TextExpander.com
• Under the Radar – Relay FM
• Jim Dalrymple on Twitter: “Like I said yesterday, unless your app is a game or social media, you’re screwed on the App Store https://t.co/mOlJ75UOHl”
• Godsmack – Keep Away – YouTube
• If You Want My Love (Alternate Extended Version) – YouTube

I absolutely love Yamaha. My very first acoustic guitar was a Yamaha FG420—it’s over 30 years old and still works great!

Amazing story.

Zack Wylde, one of the greatest guitarists of all, on Friday released a new acoustic album, “Book of Shadows II.” The album is a follow-up to “Book of Shadows” released in 1996. […]

Thanks to Mighty Deals for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Whether your own website needs a new logo or your clients are screaming for one, this Mighty Deal from Zeppelin Graphics is the perfect solution. This fantabulous mega bundle is really 3 Logo Creation Kits in 1! In total, you’ll get yourself more than 500 professional design elements to create your new logo. Each element is fully customizable thanks to the original PSD, AI and EPS files that let you change up the color, shape, size and more.

Listen to the sound of this. Incredible.

Thank you to all of our customers who have offered feedback on the new TextExpander, and thank you again for your long-term support. In our enthusiasm to release, we missed some details we’d like to address here.

Tough day for the folks at Smile. I do love the people at this company.