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This is great.

If you know someone who is a map lover (like me!), check out these digital maps on Etsy. I’m especially fond of the ones showing the difference between Roads of the USA vs the Roads of Canada map. Spoiler alert: for a country of our size, we don’t have many roads. Thanks to the_pc_doc for the li

Ignoring Recode’s breathless “showing just how much power that country has over tech firms” (that’s been obvious for a very long time), it does shows who is more important to Apple.

Canada is celebrating its 150th Birthday in 2017 and this free pass is a great way to visit some of the most beautiful national parks in the world.

I hope there’s a special place in hell for people who abuse animals and another for those who willingly buy animals from such places. I’ve had several dogs and cats in my life (I got my latest one a few weeks ago, a 5-year-old cat named Wallace who is “The World’s Clumsiest Cat”) and every one of them has come from the local version of the SPCA. WARNING: The story includes some disturbing and heartbreaking images of abused animals.

No…just….no….

“Cars at the frontier of technology” is both a good thing and a bad thing. At least for those of us in North America, cars are still an important part of life and not just a way to get from point A to point B. But the increasing reliance on technology, to drive sales if nothing else, may be outstripping both a driver’s and our government’s ability to comprehend the direction we are heading.

I love Disney movies but I bet most of you are like me and look fondly upon even the animation styles of the early films, crude as they seem to be by today’s standards.

Now everyone can get beautiful Portrait Mode photos with their iPhone. Depth Effects gives you the power to apply a striking depth of field to any photo. Get DLSR-quality focus and bokeh with simple controls. Also, Depth Effects is the best app for anamorphic depth of field and cinematic bokeh.

I don’t use PDFs enough or in this way for this to be an issue but in reading the article, you can see how this will affect many developers.

This is a long and complicated post but might be of interest to those of you who deal with these issues.

I find the extreme smugness of the Adam character to be so annoying as to be almost unwatchable but this video in particular is interesting if only for the myth busting.

I don’t agree with everything Chuq says but he’s a guy who has been in the trenches at Apple so what he writes is at the very least interesting and worthy of discussion.

I don’t think you need a scientific reason. Watch it just because it’s good TV.

I don’t use my Apple TV enough to bother to look for alternatives but I’m curious if any of you use alternatives or additions to the Apple TV and why.

It’s such a shame corporate interests have negated public interests on this issue.

Hard to argue with this list but having Dorsey respond with, “Yeah – we really need to add editing” isn’t encouraging.

I love hearing and reading about other cultures’ traditions, superstitions, and customs.

Interesting review of the AirPods from “the other side of the fence” but sad that this line had to be included: “if Apple’s name wasn’t on the box it would be a must-buy for many Android users.”

I’m always interested in how others manage to use their iPad full-time. I love my iPad and use it every day but there is no way I can make it my full-time machine.

Warning: There’s quite a bit of camera porn in this video.

Thanks to Depth Effects for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Now everyone can get beautiful Portrait Mode photos with their iPhone. Depth Effects gives you the power to apply a striking depth of field to any photo. Get DLSR-quality focus and bokeh with simple controls. Also, Depth Effects is the best app for anamorphic depth of field and cinematic bokeh.

Just from the excerpt, I want to read this book.

With CES coming in a few days, there will be a tsunami of news and PR about 4K HDR Blu Ray being the “next big thing”. But, unless you are a serious cinephile (and have serious money to burn), you can probably ignore the vast majority of 4K HDR news out of the 2017 CES.

This is very difficult, a body blow. Of course I remember Princess Leia, but when I think of Carrie Fisher, I think of Wishful Drinking (book and HBO special) and her great arc on 30 Rock.

And then there’s this.

Damn.

Reznor fascinates me and I’ve always enjoyed his thoughts on just about any subject.

Back in the day, Handbrake was an indispensable tool for ripping CDs. Now, I use it regularly to re-encode videos for the Apple TV.

Snopes is my go to site for debunking general fake news.

What a great way to spend your Christmas money.

For my family, Christmas Day was always for relatives’ visits. Boxing Day was the day you went to visit friends.