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Uber CEO cancels Code Conference interview

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is not the first exec to deal with sexual harassment and sexism issues. And he’s not the first to be accused of stealing technology. He’s also not the first to anger customers through cloddish statements. And he’s not the first to face significant doubts about his ability to manage a fast-growing startup.

But he is the very first speaker in the 15 years we have been putting on our tech and media events to cancel his interview due to the many embarrassing issues at his company. In this case, because the report from former Attorney General Eric Holder on Uber’s culture and management problems has been delayed until the week of Code at the end of May.

This clearly shows he wouldn’t be able to answer the tough questions Kara Swisher would have asked him.

Fyre Festival organizers hit with $100 million lawsuit

High profile plaintiff’s attorney Mark Geragos is taking aim at Ja Rule and Billy McFarland for their negligence regarding the catastrophic Fyre Festival, which was set to be held at a “private” island in the Bahamas from April 28-30 and May 5-7. The festival was canceled after the first day. Supermodels Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, and musical acts such as Tyga, Blink-182 and Major Lazer were set to perform before the entire event was shut down. Attendees, who paid up to $100,000 to attend the event are livid, and one concert-goer has hired Geragos, who has filed a $100,000,00 class action.

The organizers of this event are so screwed.

How to mix a song from scratch

This is a six part series from Graham Cochrane. He offers from great advice on mixing a song using out of the box plug-ins, which is a nice way to start off. Once you get used to what each plug-in does, you can purchase some of the industries best, like those from Universal Audio.

Apple AirPods get 98% customer satisfaction

Ben Bajarin:

The big story is customer satisfaction with AirPods is extremely high. 98% of AirPod owners said they were very satisfied or satisfied. Remarkably, 82% said they were very satisfied. The overall customer satisfaction level of 98% sets the record for the highest level of satisfaction for a new product from Apple. When the iPhone came out in 2007, it held a 92% customer satisfaction level, iPad in 2010 had 92%, and Apple Watch in 2015 had 97%.

That’s an absolutely incredible number. I’ve been using my AirPods since they were introduced last September and love them.

Release Notes conference this Oct. in Chicago

For the third year in a row, Release Notes will gather together the best and brightest in the iOS and Mac development community to share our experiences, our struggles, and our victories in the face of an ever-changing software market. Whether you work for yourself, a small team, or a large company, if you’re the type of person who is interested in learning how a technology business is built and maintained, you’ll want to spend time in Chicago with us this fall.

I attended the very first Release Notes and it was really well done. The conference itself was filled with great speakers and it was a lot of fun.

Apple, others propose changes to California’s self-driving car policies

In a letter made public on Friday, Apple suggested a series of changes to the draft policy that is under development and said it looks forward to working with California and others “so that rapid technology development may be realized while ensuring the safety of the traveling public.”

Google, Toyota, Ford, Uber, and Tesla also made suggestions for changes to the policies.

Zakk Wylde is back in Ozzy’s band

Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde have reunited! The guitarist has rejoined the Prince of Darkness’ band and they’ll be together onstage for Ozzy’s upcoming 2017 shows!

For fans of Zakk and Ozzy, there could be no better news than this. Ozzy has always had great guitarists in his bands throughout his career, but for me, Zakk is the man.

The best 360-degree camera

I’ve used the recommended camera and, while it’s very specific in its application, can produce some interesting pictures and video.

Salt life

Settle in for a long but very interesting read on one of the things you rarely think about but can’t live without.

Big wave surfing in Portugal

Just watching this video makes me want to go in a corner and weep in fear. I can’t imagine the courage of a surfer willing to try and ride these waves.

Apple Dubai Mall opening

The inside of the store looks pretty much like every other Apple store. But Apple has really taken advantage of the location and the outside of the store is magnificent.

Raw images from Cassini

If you’re an astronomy nerd, do not go to this site. Your weekend will be shot. There are 383,000+ and counting images.

Heineken’s “Worlds Apart” ad

Hey Pepsi – here’s how you do socially relevant advertising. I showed this to The Publisher and he couldn’t post it through his tears of joy so I’m doing it on his behalf.

This lawsuit goes to 11

Spinal Tap is one of the most fun movies you’ll ever watch and it’s a travesty it’s creators have been screwed out of millions of well-deserved dollars.

Fyre Festival turns to chaos as soon as it began

A supposedly opulent music festival on a private island in the Bahamas, which was plugged as an unprecedented V.I.P. event by Instagram influencers including Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, descended into dysfunction and disarray as soon as it began on Thursday and has since been postponed indefinitely, organizers said.

Sounds like an incredible scam. Tickets sold for $1,000 to $12,000 for the festival.

Letter Opener: Open Winmail.dat, MSG and XPS files

My thanks to Letter Opener for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Letter Opener for macOS

Working together with Windows users shouldn’t be problematic at all. Still, some email messages can not be natively read by the Mac and are packed into Winmail.dat or MSG files that have to be extracted and displayed somehow. Letter Opener for macOS does that with a simple double-click!

Letter Opener for macOS Mail

The plugin to stop the Winmail.dat file flood for good.

If Winmail.dat files are a reoccurring problem, Letter Opener for macOS Mail is the solution. Installed into Mail it opens and displays the files directly inside Apples Mail application, so the user can forget about Winmail.dat files entirely.

Savage guitar jokes

I’ve heard a lot of musician jokes in my time, but there are a few new ones in here.

Inside Jimmy Iovine’s video plans for Apple Music

“A music service needs to be more than a bunch of songs and a few playlists,” says Iovine, 64. “I’m trying to help Apple Music be an overall movement in popular culture, everything from unsigned bands to video. We have a lot of plans.” Apple Music’s foray into video programming could be a temporary dalliance, but if Iovine succeeds, the world’s wealthiest company could increase its investment, routinely competing for top projects. “We have the freedom, because it’s Apple, to make one show, three shows, see what works, see what doesn’t work until it feels good,” Iovine says.

He’s right. Apple has the luxury to be very patient while it searches for the exact video strategy that works. They don’t have to fund new TV series just to jump into the mix with everyone else doing the same thing. Even those companies are watching to see what Apple will do.

Apple’s new Clips app is iMovie for the social age

I completely recognize I am not the target audience for Clips. That being said, are any of you using it on a regular basis? Do you know others who are? What are your thoughts on the app, given it is a version 1.0?

Using an Apple Watch without an iPhone

I recently switched to the gorgeous new iPhone 7 Plus (PRODUCT)RED, but one thing I didn’t do is setup my Apple Watch with the iPhone. It was a simple oversight, but I realized very quickly how much I’ve come to rely on the Apple Watch/iPhone combination in my daily life. […]