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I’ve always been fascinated by superstitions and their origins. Many of these are common to us here in North America and some seem “silly”. My mom was very superstition – for example, she thought it was bad luck to let a rocking chair rock with no one in it. What are your “odd” superstitions?

This is just as fake as any of the made up “International Day of…” you see on Twitter but this one actually has a great message – your backups are useless if they can’t be used to restore your data.

With Movies Anywhere, you can watch most of those digital movies across all of your connected accounts. Well, at least all of the ones connected to supported services, which currently are Google Play, iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu. Here’s everything you need to know about Movies Anywhere.

I don’t have this problem because I only purchase content from iTunes, but I know a lot of people that do have multiple accounts. Lory Gil did a nice article explaining how Movies Anywhere works.

Thanks to Hullo for sponsoring the Loop this week. A hot, sweaty, flat pillow will wake even the deepest sleeper. Soft traditional pillows collapse under the weight of your head which can cause strains in your neck, shoulders and back. They also retain body heat, which can make sleep uncomfortably warm. It’s time to abandon tradition and try something new!

Have You Ever Slept on a Buckwheat Pillow?

They’re totally different than the soft spongey pillows you’re used to. A buckwheat pillow is sort of like a beanbag for your head. Their unique and firm support simply can’t be matched by traditional pillows. The buckwheat hull filling will perfectly conform to the shape of your head and neck, providing comfortable support all night long. Buckwheat pillows also allow air to move freely though your pillow, preventing uncomfortable heat build up. Sleep on the cool side of the pillow all night long!

Try our buckwheat pillow, Hullo, for 60 nights. If it’s not for you, ship it back to us it for a full refund.

“It is something I had been thinking long and hard about for quite some time. It has not been an easy decision, but I feel I can no longer put it off,” Vice Chairman Kwon said “As we are confronted with unprecedented crisis…

I’m willing to bet you could search for a long time and not see the words “unprecedented crisis” in a company’s own press release.

Like Ric, I have this conversation on a regular basis and his advice mirrors mine. As I teach in my classes for beginners, the camera you have really doesn’t matter. What you know about it specifically and photography in general are much more important.

I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward more to a “kid’s show”.

Alphabet Inc’s Waymo sought at least $1 billion in damages and a public apology from Uber Technologies Inc as conditions for settling its high-profile trade secret lawsuit against the ride-services company, sources familiar with the proposal told Reuters.

They also want a public apology for stealing their trade secrets.

One of my biggest thrills in visiting the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum was seeing the Apollo 11 command module. If it comes to a city near you, you owe it to yourself to go to the exhibit.

Anyone who has used a DSLR to take long exposure shots will look at this technique with a little bit of envy. The iPhone shots aren’t perfect but they are damn good all things considered.

This is unabashed gadget porn. It won’t be of much value to the average user but, if you’re the kind of person who likes to take electronics apart, this is the page for you.

Apple on Wednesday released iOS 11.0.3 with a couple of important updates for users. According to Apple, the update fixes an issue where audio and haptic feedback would not work on some iPhone 7 and 7 Plus devices. The update also addresses an issue where touch input was unresponsive on some iPhone 6s displays because they were not serviced with genuine Apple parts.

You can download the update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

Interesting predictions on a supercycle and Watch demand. I bet they come true.

I don’t often need to do this but it’s a nice option to have.

A link to this PDF showed up in my email box. It’s an interesting document that shows Apple’s wonderfully clever packaging goes hand in hand with a commitment to minimizing their environmental impact.

Apple made an obvious bet on AR vs VR and it looks like it will pay off handsomely for them.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey finds that 64 percent of Americans now own an Apple product, up from 50 percent when the question was last asked five years ago. The average American household reports owning 2.6 Apple products, up by a full Apple product from the 2012 survey.

“I cannot think of any other product — especially any other product at a high price point — that has that kind of permeation with the public and level of growth,” said Jay Campbell, pollster with Hart Research, which conducted the survey along with Public Opinion Strategies.

Absolutely incredible when you think about it.

One of my favorite apps on iOS has been updated adding a number of new features, including Drag and Drop. According to Pixelmator, these are the new features available in the update: Pixelmator for iOS is now fully compatible with … Continued

Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it had received formal approval to start a C$500 million production unit in Canada and sought to quell talk that it had asked for special tax benefits for investing in its first such unit outside the United States.

I don’t understand the criticism. A company should ask for all the deals it can, including tax breaks. If a country, city, state, or province doesn’t want the business, jobs, and investment, someone else will.

Fast Company: For minimum wage workers, a small emergency can mean financial disaster. A new app called Onward makes it easy for them to automatically set aside a few dollars each week to start an emergency fund. An app from … Continued

You can ask Siri to do a lot of things with the Apple Music app, and most of them work quite well. I often ask Siri to play the Hard Rock music station and it does. However, I got a nice surprise yesterday with Siri and Apple Music.

Money well spent.

Felix Krause: iOS asks the user for their iTunes password for many reasons, the most common ones are recently installed iOS operating system updates, or iOS apps that are stuck during installation. As a result, users are trained to just … Continued

“In Real Life” is a social experiment that shows what happens when online bullying is taken offline. What a powerful video.

Fun exercise in typography with concrete examples. If you’re not a design nerd steeped in this stuff, there are many good points to keep in mind.

Even when I can’t parse what he’s talking about, I always like reading and hearing Ive’s thoughts on design.

I’d bet the vast majority of us haven’t logged into AIM in years but we also felt a small tinge of regret with the announcement.

Whether you like the “new” iTunes or not, it’s always nice to have options. I’ll be downloading this version ASAP.

Oisin Prendiville:

Ideally, experiences that users have in one app should stand to benefit them in others. As a community of developers and designers we should be looking to agree upon shared best practices to provide a consistent user experience. There’s an opportunity here to help users understand and embrace drag and drop as a powerful way to interact with touch devices, just as they have on the desktop for years.

This is a great article with video examples on how things work. Oisin recently released Castro 2.5 with his implementation on how it all should work.

Thanks to Hullo for sponsoring the Loop this week. A hot, sweaty, flat pillow will wake even the deepest sleeper. Soft traditional pillows collapse under the weight of your head which can cause strains in your neck, shoulders and back. … Continued