Forbes:

Miranker’s passion for Holmes continued when he joined Apple in 1996 to help launch the iMac, eventually becoming the chief technology officer until he retired in 2004. His collection is also rich in letters and other documents relating to early Sherlock Holmes fandom.

I’ve always been a big Sherlock Holmes fan and it would be great to have the resources to invest in creating the kind of collection Miranker has.

Business Insider:

Both IBM and Adobe are reporting that Apple’s iOS, which powers iPhones and iPads, is destroying Google’s Android in mobile shopping on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Repeat after me: “Market share means nothing if it doesn’t generate revenue”.

Ars Technica:

“We’ve heard a good bit in this courtroom about public key encryption,” said Albright. “Are you familiar with that?”

“Yes, I am,” said Diffie, in what surely qualified as the biggest understatement of the trial.

“And how is it that you’re familiar with public key encryption?”

“I invented it.”

Nice.

Scott Adams Blog:

My father, age 86, is on the final approach to the long dirt nap (to use his own phrase). His mind is 98% gone, and all he has left is hours or possibly months of hideous unpleasantness in a hospital bed.

I’d like to proactively end his suffering and let him go out with some dignity. But my government says I can’t make that decision. Neither can his doctors. So, for all practical purposes, the government is torturing my father until he dies

I can’t imagine how painful this must be for Adams and everyone else in this situation.

Wired:

At this point, the smartwatch is a category getting ahead of itself. It’s a device that precedes its purpose. But that’s not necessarily a problem. No one really knew what Twitter was for when it started, either.

And no one really has yet, have they?

United We Ball:

Buckyballs are tiny, powerful magnetic balls and cubes that were sold as an adult desk toy. They became wildly popular after coming to market in 2009 and sold more than 2.5 million sets—until the CPSC banned future sales and, through a recall request, tried to force the product out of consumers’ hands.

This whole Buckyball saga is really odd. As the story points out, there are all kinds of products available that are “harmful” to children that the US Federal Government hasn’t banned.

The Verge:

To watch a football broadcast is to see much more than a football game. There are only about 11 minutes of actual action during a three-hour game, which means 95 percent of the time there’s something else going on. The graphics, replays, highlights, and analysis that make a football game into the at-home experience millions of people know and love — it’s all from Fox, and it’s all done on the fly. Nearly everyone on the crew says that while they broadcast the game, what they really do is make television.

I’ve seen a little of the behind the scenes chaos of an NFL game broadcast and it’s remarkable that, with so many moving pieces, it comes off as smoothly as it does.

Washington Post:

This has been a big week for Bitcoin. On Monday, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held the first-ever Congressional hearing on Bitcoin. Later in the day, the currency’s value reached an all-time high of more than $800.

That has left a lot of people scratching their heads. What’s Bitcoin? How do you use it? And why would anyone want to? Read on for answers.

Glad somebody asked.

BBC News:

All of the surviving members of comedy group Monty Python are to reform for a stage show, one of the Pythons, Terry Jones, has confirmed.

For many of us “of a certain age”, this makes us squeal with delight.

Roadtrippers:

You’ve never seen hot air balloons like this before! A couple of weeks ago, Albuquerque, New Mexico held its 42nd annual International Balloon Fiesta. It’s a 9-day event where over 700 balloons see liftoff. It’s the largest hot air balloon festival in the entire world and we were on hand to capture the action.

I crossed “going up in a hot air balloon” off my bucket list a few years ago but a trip to the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico is still on it.

The Atlantic: Each year, the McRib makes a brief visit to Earth. Its arrival elicits reactions ranging from horror to awe. And for good reason: this would-be rib sandwich is really a restructured pork patty pressed into the rough shape … Continued

Patriot-News Editorial: Seven score and ten years ago, the forefathers of this media institution brought forth to its audience a judgment so flawed, so tainted by hubris, so lacking in the perspective history would bring, that it cannot remain unaddressed … Continued

Outdoor Photographer:

Aerial imaging using consumer-level “drones” is now within reach of any photographer.

In the past few years, developments in a new form of remote-controlled unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) called “multi-rotors” have opened up easy-to-accomplish, aerial imagery to photography on a budget.

Eric Cheng is a world class photographer and does a great job of explaining how you can get into arial shooting.

Wired:

Thor’s hammer Mjölnir would be the most badass weapon in comicdom even if its name didn’t sound like a Norwegian black metal band. But Marvel would have us believe that the hammer is also the god of thunder’s primary mode of transportation, and that is an unforgivable crime against the laws of physics. So we’re supposed to believe that he spins it, hurls it, and then hitches a ride on it? It’s like these people have never heard of the law of conservation of momentum!

By all means, watch the video but, and I’ve never said this before, make sure you read the comments section for the absolute nerd-gasm that is going on.

.

NBC News:

The cameras strapped to the skydivers’ helmets were supposed to memorialize their perfectly timed jumps and exhilarating descent from two small planes to the earth 12,000 feet below.

When I first read about this story, it sounded like a headline out of The Onion.

The Verge:

“It succeeded in every possible way,” said Jason Eberle, who built the web version of Everpix, “except for the only way that matters.”

Interesting story on the life and death of a beloved but little used startup company.

I Put a Spell on You:

While this piece of ridiculousness was ostensibly given to John for his birthday, I’m now delighted to reveal that this present was given for my own secret benefit as well. Before I explain, there are some facts you need to know.

As we get older, hopefully our pranks on friends get subtler and more mature. Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba just pulled a great prank on John Gruber of Daring Fireball.

Deadspin:

You should probably go ahead and not watch this if you’re squeamish. Yes, the tooth was part of a bridge, so the pain might have been minimal, but self-dentistry is never pleasant.

Now that’s a good old tough Canadian hockey player!

NPR:

As of Tuesday, Michael Erb was the No. 1 customer reviewer on Amazon. He has reviewed everything from doorbells to travel mugs to toothbrushes.

As Erb has risen up the ranks among Amazon reviewers, the stream of free stuff has grown because manufacturers have started sending stuff directly to him to review.

This feels really shady particularly because Amazon doesn’t identify “paid” reviewers.

Alek’s Controllable Halloween Decorations:

Use the three halloween webcams for a live view of a buncha halloween decorations & lights and also CONTROL them – heck, you can even inflate or deflate the giant Frankenstein & Homer Simpson – D’OH!

All three webcams are online from 1800 to 2200 MDT (GMT-6) which is when you can turn stuff on & off and “entertain” the neighbors.

Ignore the spectacularly ugly web design and just think of all the tech this guy has installed.

io9:

In the span of just a few minutes, short films can offer up spine-tingling chills, nightmarish monsters, and plenty of grim humor. Here are a few of our favorite horror shorts that we’ve featured in the past year, ready to deliver a quick hit of Halloween horror.

Proof that horror doesn’t have to take long to scare the bejesus out of you.

Wired:

Fearful of relegating TV to remaining “dumb,” consumer electronics manufacturers look to the success of Apple’s iPhone/iPad/iTunes, Google/Android, or Amazon ecosystems as examples of what could happen with smart TV.

But do consumer electronics companies really think they can monetize the new feature of accessing the web with smart TVs? Even with an industry standard for smart TVs, it’s not likely that those companies could start charging Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, and others for access to their screens. And conversely, by not controlling the device, these service providers operate at the whim of the smart TV.

I’m one of those people that think, Gene Munster’s “predictions” notwithstanding, that Apple has no intention of releasing an actual television set but instead will develop the present Apple TV into a fuller featured set-top box.

Bored Panda:

To celebrate this wonderful and colorful season, we’ve got a beautiful collection of photos of autumn landscapes that highlight the last explosion of rich, vivid color before the coming winter.

I feel sorry for those in tropical places that never get to experience Fall. That is, until the snows/rains come and then I’m just envious of them.

The Artery:

The Boston and St. Louis symphony orchestras are home to some of the country’s most talented musicians, but neither is above some good old-fashioned smack talk ahead of the World Series.

Trash talking band geeks prove that band geeks can’t trash talk.

Official Travel Guide to Norway: Rjukan is situated deep in the narrow Vestfjord Valley in Telemark. Due to the high mountains surrounding the valley, among them The Gaustadtoppen Mountain at 1,883 metres above sea level, there is no sunlight six … Continued

Grantland:

The Stanley Cup is the most beautiful of sports trophies. It shimmers. It’s big. When ancient peoples returned from the hunt, they held their prize aloft. When players today win a championship, in a timeless gesture of triumph, they throw their hands above their heads. And in sports, nothing fits better between a player’s hands than the Stanley Cup. It is perfect.

It didn’t begin that way.

Ken Dryden was not only a great goaltender (in the Hall of Fame for my beloved Montreal Canadiens) but he is also a great writer. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of his amazing book, “The Game” (Widely acknowledged as the best hockey book ever written and lauded by Sports Illustrated as one of the “Top 10 Sports Books of All Time”), he’s written another chapter. If you’d like to see why Canadians love hockey so much, pay particular attention to the small town aspect of the chapter.

The New York Times:

Men in lifting belts wheel hand trucks stacked high with food from across the globe: 80 pounds of ground beef, 700 pounds of top butt, 175 shoulder tenders, 1 case of New York strips, all from the Midwest; 5 pounds of chicken livers, 6 cases of chicken bones, 120 chicken breast cutlets; 30 pounds of bacon; 300 littleneck clams, 110 pounds of mussels from Prince Edward Island, another 20 pounds from New Zealand, 50 trout, 25 pounds of U10 shrimp (fewer than 10 pieces per pound), 55 whole dorade, 3 cases of escargot, 360 Little Skookum oysters from Washington State, 3 whole tunas, 45 skates, 18 black sea bass, 2 bags of 100 to 120 whelks, 45 lobster culls.

That’s just the fish and meat order.

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at a restaurant?

1997 Jeep Cherokee:

If you do not own a toolbox, have never changed your own oil, and are scared of firearms: THIS VEHICLE IS NOT FOR YOU.

If you have been posting on Facebook all about how excited you are for pumpkin latte season: THIS VEHICLE IS NOT FOR YOU.

If you get offended easy and often, whine to your co-workers, and bitch a lot: THIS VEHICLE IS NOT FOR YOU.

If you own a Bieber album, white Oakleys, Affliction t-shirts, or those candy-assed stitched-pocket jeans: THIS VEHICLE IS NOT FOR YOU.

This the greatest Craigslist ad ever and I’m not man enough to buy it from this guy. Thanks to my friend Jeff La Grua for the link.

Adobe:

Elephants are increasingly endangered as people expand into their habitats, and poaching has drastically exacerbated the plight of the African elephant in particular. In 2012 the National Geographic cover story “Blood Ivory” revealed a complex, international web of trade that has contributed to the deaths of at least 25,000 elephants each year. Fewer than 700,000 now remain in the wild.

With every tweet that includes the hashtag #ProtecttheElephants Adobe will donate $1 to the National Geographic Society to help save these elephants.

Please tweet. If for no other reason than to cost Adobe a buck.

The First Cut:

Already, their thoughts are drifting up a flight of stairs to the sprawling dissection lab, where in two days they will meet and become intimate with something many have scarcely encountered: Death.

Today they begin the defining course of their medical education.

A required rite of passage on the way to a doctor’s white coat, gross anatomy offers first-year students a hands-on tour of an actual human body.

Talk about hands on training.