Media

Samsung’s “explosion proof” Galaxy Note 7 return kit [VIDEO]

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[VIDEO]: Yeah, not sure I buy the explosion-proof part. But Samsung has gone to great lengths to try to bring their devices home without further incident. The kits include a thermally-insulated box and safety gloves (“some individuals might be sensitive to the ceramic fiber paper lining the Recovery Box”).

Interestingly, the box itself is marked as “forbidden for transport by aircraft”. Looks like a long boat ride is in store for these returnees. Also interestingly, the UK’s Royal Mail has taken their own stand and won’t ship the Galaxy Note 7.

The origin of the “comic book font”

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[VIDEO]

Phil Edwards, writing for Vox:

Comic book culture is mass culture — even lacrosse moms and field hockey dads who’ve never been in a comic book store can recognize the “comic book font.”

But calling it a font is a misnomer — as the above video shows, this distinctive style of handwriting is an aesthetic shaped by culture, technology, and really cheap paper.

Watch the video, embedded in the original post.

Apple Campus 2 drone footage

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[VIDEO]: Matthew Roberts updated his monthly Apple spaceship campus footage. Great stuff.

Apple Campus 2, ground level footage

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[VIDEO]: This past weekend, I had the chance to swing by the Apple Campus 2 (the so-called spaceship campus) construction site. I took a quick bit of footage from one of the side roads. I think it gives a real sense of just how big the main building really is. The drone flyovers give a sense of relative scale, but up close the building feels massive.

If you want to watch the video in full screen mode, be sure to click the YouTube link on the bottom of the video frame first. You’ll get a higher resolution version of the clip.

100 greatest TV shows of all time

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Most lists are hit or miss. This one is definitely heavily stacked with hits. Two shows I would have added to the list? Star Trek: The Next Generation and Get Smart. That said, I really enjoyed this format, laced with videos to give a taste of each show.

The New York Times’ dark, dark Messages review

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Amanda Hess, writing for the New York Times:

Apple built an empire on hermetically sealed systems with sleek, minimalist designs. Nowhere was its strategy more evident than in iMessage, the company’s instant messaging system that offered a free, elegant chatting solution exclusive to Apple devices. Until last week, that is, when Apple updated its software, cracked open iMessage and allowed the ephemera of the outside internet to seep in.

And:

These features mimic the aesthetics of the open internet, which is obsessed with nostalgia and is not exactly subtle. But they can’t replicate the feeling of collecting digital miscellany in our travels across the internet, remixing the material and sending it along to friends who might appreciate the find. The programmatic iMessage sucks the spontaneity from the experience. It standardizes the strange.

And:

Mostly, this thing feels like Facebook. A new class of iMessage apps — yes, apps within an app — lets chatters play Words With Friends, send money through Square or make dinner reservations on OpenTable, all right within the chat window. It feels like iMessage is trying to swallow the rest of your phone.

And:

Each tap into the iMessage world sends you further away from your chat bubbles and deeper into Apple’s labyrinth of special features. Follow the path to its inevitable conclusion, and all of a sudden, you’re no longer talking with your friends. You’re shopping.

I struggle to understand the relationship between the New York Times and Apple. I have long been a Times reader, but its Apple coverage often veers far from objectivity. Articles like this feel like the result of an agenda-laden editorial meeting.

Where’s the balance?

Why the Mona Lisa is so famous

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[VIDEO] Did you know that 80% of visitors to The Louvre are there to visit the most famous painting of all time? How did the Mona Lisa get to be so famous? Fascinating video.

iPhone 7 vs Galaxy S7 in deep water test

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[VIDEO] This is a pretty cool test. No spoilers, save to say that the phones were dropped several times, at successive depths, until the final drop to 35 feet. Suffice it to say, this is way more water exposure than most folks will subject their phones to, but good to know how they fare.

Apple’s new iPhone 7 ad

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[VIDEO] This is a bit of a departure for Apple. The ad does a lot of visual hinting, without being specific. More of a dark, impressionistic painting than their usual bright, airy on-the-spot ads.

See for yourself.

Everyone seems to hate online reader comments. Here’s why I treasure them.

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Margaret Sullivan, columnist for The Washington Post:

When NPR announced last month that it would no longer feature comments from readers on its website, general rejoicing followed.

“Good riddance — and everybody else should do the same” was the tone of the response I saw on Twitter. USA Today columnist Rem Rieder, noting that other news organizations are moving away from comments as well, wrote, “Their disappearance is welcome.” And even NPR’s ombudswoman, Elizabeth Jensen, wrote that the move made sense to her, since such a small slice of the audience was participating.

I disagree. I find value in reader comments that can’t be adequately reproduced elsewhere. The argument that the conversation has migrated to Facebook and Twitter is flawed. Those are good places for discussion, but they are no substitute for having discussion take place where the story itself lives. I’m convinced that many smart readers with something to contribute will not follow a story onto social media to talk about it. News organizations should fix online comments rather than ditch them.

I agree. There is no substitute for having the conversation where the story lives. There’s a sense of community that develops when old hands with long memories and weigh in, point out errors, spar with each other in a healthy way, and move the conversation along.

The hard part is keeping out the trolls and spam. That takes vigilance.

I totally understand why NPR and others have gotten rid of comments. At a certain level of popularity, keeping out the trolls and spam becomes unmanageable. And that’s a shame. I love the Loop community. They call me on my mistakes, which helps all of us, and they have my back when the trolls come.

Netflix renews Stranger Things for Season 2

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[VIDEO] Variety:

Season 2 will debut in 2017 and will consist of 9 episodes, in comparison to the first season that spanned 8 episodes.

The news comes hardly as a surprise, as the supernatural drama has become arguably the buzziest series of the summer. Insiders tell Variety that work on the second season has already been underway for quite some time.

Really glad to see this.

Teaser trailer in the original Loop post.

Gene Wilder flips his shit

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[VIDEO] Fan of Gene Wilder? These scenes will make you laugh, take you through some old times.

Not sure who he is? These scenes go to the heart of Gene Wilder.

Enjoy.

Microsoft’s new, tin-eared anti-Mac Surface Pro 4 ad

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[VIDEO] Below is an ad that dropped yesterday, a direct comparison between the Surface Pro 4 and what appears to be a MacBook Air. This ad just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not a fan of the song, and the points are vague, soft. The phrase “lighter than air” seems (maybe) directed at the MacBook Air. But it might not be. It’s all just a klunky jumble.

Some behind the scenes details on Apple’s Carpool Karaoke series

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Jake Kanter, writing for Business Insider:

Ben Winston, the co-founder of Fulwell 73 Productions, told us that the Apple show will be about “broadening out to different talents” in a way they are reluctant to do with “The Late Late Show With James Corden.”

And:

“If a movie star was to call up and say ‘can I do ‘Carpool Karaoke’?’’ the answer would always have been ‘no’ because it’s specifically for musicians. Now on this new show, we’re broadening that out to different talents. More in a documentary-based way,” Winston told Business Insider.

And:

“I’ve come to know Jimmy Iovine quite well and Apple Music is looking for more and more content. They’re big fans of James and the work that we’re doing and we started talking about ideas we could do together.

“We had an idea of how ‘Carpool’ could be a series without James, which we’re working on at the moment, and Jimmy was very insistent that Apple has first option on that. I was very happy with that. I think it’s an amazing brand.”

It’ll be interesting to watch this unfold. This is one of Apple’s first forays into this sort of original content, a bit like the rollout of Beats 1 Radio. Apple is bankrolling the venture, but putting control of the creative end in the hands of the people who created the content in the first place.