Apple announces March 21 event

Apple on Thursday sent out invites for an event to be held at its Cupertino headquarters on Monday, March 21, 2016. The event will take place at 10:00 am—I’ll be there covering the news.

AC/DC reschedules tour dates due to Brian Johnson’s hearing crisis

AC/DC are forced to reschedule the 10 upcoming dates on the U.S. leg of their “Rock or Bust” World Tour. AC/DC’s lead singer, Brian Johnson, has been advised by doctors to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss.

Tomorrow’s show in Atlanta through Madison Square Garden in New York, NY in early April will be made up later in the year, likely with a guest vocalist. More information regarding these rescheduled shows to come. Current ticket holders can hold on to their tickets for the rescheduled dates or receive a refund at point of purchase.

Very sad news for AC/DC. Personally, I don’t want to see a show with a guest vocalist.

Justice Department asks judge to revisit NY iPhone case

A magistrate judge in Brooklyn last week ruled that the Justice Department could not compel the tech giant to unlock the phone. The government on Monday resubmitted its arguments to a higher judge overseeing the matter.

Not a surprise that they would try.

Igloo Software: What if you could get 5% of your day back? [Sponsor]

What if you could get 5% of your day back? What would you do?

You already have enough work to do today and shouldn’t have to waste time looking for the things you need to do your job.

Igloo makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. And it’s not just for locating your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It also helps you find experts, talk about problems and share content with your team. So stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Try it yourself or send your IT guy to investigate Igloo, an intranet you’ll actually like.

Moodroll: Create emoticons with ourselves

Emoticons are everywhere, but what if we could create emoticons with ourselves – our own smiles, shrugs, sighs, rages and laughs?

Get this handy, .gif creating app, which will turn your three photos into a moving image. You’ll be surprised how much you can say and how creative you can get with Moodroll. Oh yes, you can share your rolls via messages or email, on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter or anywhere else you wish.

This is a cool free app.

Pixelmator: A powerful and easy-to-use image editor for Mac

Thanks to Pixelmator for sponsoring The Loop this week. I’ve used this app since the first version and still use it everyday.

Pixelmator is a powerful and easy-to-use image editor for Mac. It lets you enhance your photos, create advanced image compositions with layers, shapes and text, or even draw vector grapchics, and a lot more. Pixelmator is built from the ground up for Mac, taking full advantage of the latest OS X features and technologies.

Who’s for Apple and who’s for the FBI

Philip Elmer-DeWitt compiled a list, with links to the supporting documents, of those in favor of Apple or the FBI in the iPhone encryption case. It’s pretty one-sided.

Apple won’t bid for NFL streaming rights

I’m kind of ambivalent about this, to be honest. I’d rather see Apple do something else for Apple TV than to stream NFL games that are already available to watch elsewhere.

Dick Carruthers talks about Imagine Dragons’ new concert film

Carruthers isn’t messing around when he says he’s done a lot of concert movies—the director, who spoke with us from his home in the United Kingdom, has more than 60 credits to his name and has worked with acts as varied as Led Zeppelin and Usher. It’s fair to assume he knows a well-done live performance when he sees one.

The folks at Dolby interviewed Carruthers about the new film and posted it, and a 30 second trailer, to their site.

U.N. free speech expert backs Apple

Kaye — who is responsible for monitoring free speech issues around the world, including the speech rights of individuals, vulnerable communities, journalists, and political dissidents — highlighted the benefits of encryption from a human rights perspective.

The support for Apple keeps coming.

DxO ONE iPhone camera updated

I have this camera and love it. Click on the “What’s New” link on the page to see the newest features.

Privacy groups urge U.S. judge to support Apple

The American Civil Liberties Union, Access Now and the Wickr Foundation laid out arguments in amicus briefs released on Wednesday ahead of a March 22 hearing in which Judge Sheri Pym will review Apple’s appeal of a court order demanding it help unlock a phone used by Rizwan Farook.

Certainly not a surprise considering what’s at stake, but it’s important that these groups stand up and be heard.

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt to lead Pentagon board on Tech

The Pentagon is turning to Silicon Valley. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced plans to create a new “innovation advisory board” for the bellicose department and appointed Alphabet chairman and Google CEO emeritus Eric Schmidt to lead it.

So now the screens on the M1 Abrams tank will have ads on them?

Google self-driving car involved in minor accident

Google said in a statement on Monday that “we clearly bear some responsibility, because if our car hadn’t moved, there wouldn’t have been a collision. That said, our test driver believed the bus was going to slow or stop to allow us to merge into the traffic, and that there would be sufficient space to do that.”

Certainly not a major issue and a reasonable explanation from Google.

The Dalrymple Report with Merlin Mann: Lamborghini of VR

Jim and Merlin talk about how automated technology can benefit or harm daily life, the Apple v. FBI case, and a slew of great #HeyTDR. .

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Positive Grid’s BIAS Guitar Head

BIAS Head represents an entirely new concept in guitar sound. Its engine has the most authentic tube modeling. Seamlessly integrated with desktop and mobile apps, BIAS Head makes it possible for guitar players to edit more deeply to create the tones that before they could only have imagined. Amp Match Technology allows users to capture their golden tube amplifier, then share that amp and download other amp models on ToneCloud.

I’m a fan of Positive Grid’s guitar products. I haven’t used this, but it’s intriguing.

Apple’s March event

Sources in position to know tell BuzzFeed News Apple has settled on March 21st as the day it will show off a handful of new products…

This sounds right to me.

57 Handcrafted Fonts, 230 Textures & 100s of Design Extras only $29

My thanks to Mighty Deals for sponsoring The Loop this week.

It’s time for another exciting Mighty Deal Exclusive! This super mega bundle from Tom Chalky includes 57 hand-drawn fonts, 230 textures and brushes, and hundreds of extra design elements! If you were lucky enough to snag Tom Chalky’s mega bundle in early 2015, you know how fabulous these design assets can be. You also can take advantage of this year’s Mighty Deal as it contains all new pieces!

Today’s world music: Heavy Metal

Today’s “world music” isn’t Peruvian pan flutes or African talking drums. It’s loud guitars, growling vocals and ultrafast “blast” beats. Heavy metal has become the unlikely soundtrack of globalization.

YEAH!

MasterCard’s ‘Selfie ID’

The credit card company noted 92 percent of the their test subjects liked the new system over passwords, as Selfie ID authenticates customers with biometrics when selfies are taken with a front facing camera, or via fingerprint authentication via Apple’s Touch ID, for example.

I always wondered about the reliability of using photos or pictures. Touch ID seems better to me.