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Apple hires former Nest, Google executive

Apple has hired famed robotics expert Yoky Matsuoka, one of the co-founders of Google’s X lab and former head of technology at Nest, to work on the iPhone maker’s health projects.

Her credentials are outstanding.

Macworld’s MacScan 3 review

But malware attacks are on the rise and OS X is no longer immune to such threats. According to a study from Bit9 and Carbon Black, 2015 was a banner year for malware on the Mac, with more than 1,400 unique samples collected and analyzed, a whopping five-fold increase over the previous five years combined.

I have MacScan on my system and it works great.

Universal Audio releases the Fender ’55 Tweed Deluxe Plug-In

One of Leo Fender’s first and finest amp designs, the Fender Deluxe was introduced in 1946. After various circuit tweaks, Fender eventually landed on the now historic “wide-panel” 5E3 Deluxe in 1955. This amplifier’s touch-sensitivity has a dynamic range from clean and sweet, to overdriven raunch that’s made it a go-to recording amp for the likes of Larry Carlton, Neil Young, Mike Campbell, Daniel Lanois, and Billy Gibbons.

I have never been so excited to try out a plug-in. It took Universal Audio two years to complete this single plug-in.

What Jony Ive said at the Met Fashion Gala

Sir Jony Ive, chief design officer of Apple was one of the four co-hosts of Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala alongside Anna Wintour of Vogue, singer Taylor Swift and actor Idris Elba. Apple, was an underwriter of an event widely known as “Oscars of the East Coast.” Here is a text of his speech at the event.

The 50 most influential gadgets of all time

These lists are always fun/interesting and congratulations to Apple for having the iPhone named as #1 but, is it just me or does anyone think of the iPhone as most certainly not a “gadget”?

iPhone warning signs

There is a lot of justifiable doom and gloom surrounding Apple in general and the iPhone in particular so far this year. A lot of it is incomprehensible to those of us who use and enjoy the products the company makes. Personally, I don’t think there’s any need to push a panic button but the company does have some serious challenges ahead for the rest of the year and into 2017.

6 reasons you should be printing your photos

I’m a big fan of printing off some of your photos. Along with the reasons included in this post, there’s just a certain “something” about holding your photos in your hand in a tangible, physical form and a sense of pride to be able to take your own work and hang it on your wall or to give to a friend.

Apple’s plan for refurbished iPhones is rejected in india

This might be a serious blow to Apple’s plans in India. The Indian consumer is much more price conscious and less concerned with brand image than China and Apple was counting on refurbs to help them get a foot in the door.

Take a tour of Tokyo’s crazy Akihabara Electric Town and massive Yodobashi Camera

I remember being in Akihabara during the last Macworld Expo Toyko. Utterly mind blowing space. At 6’3″ tall, I felt like Godzilla wandering through the cramped electronics aisle and being overwhelmed by the amazing variety of everything electronic you could imagine. If you’re an electronics or gadget fan, you owe it to yourself to visit.

Soundcloud and podcasts

Jason Snell:

In any event, I don’t recommend that podcasters use SoundCloud. There are better options, including Libsyn and Podbean, that do the job much better than the podcasting features that are grafted onto SoundCloud.

That’s just awful. I use Libsyn for The Dalrymple Report and have never had a problem.

Google’s 2015 Webspam Report

Below are some of the webspam insights we gathered in 2015, including trends we’ve seen, what we’re doing to fight spam and protect against those trends, and how we’re working with you to make the web better.

Some interesting information in here.

Jony Ive previews The Met’s ‘Manus x Machina’

“Our goal has always been to try to create objects as beautiful as they are functional,” Ive told a group of assembled journalists. Ive is one of the Apple-sponsored fundraiser’s four hosts, along with Vogue’s Anna Wintour, pop megastar Taylor Swift, and actor Idris Elba.

This is why Apple designs are so good—beauty and function take equal parts in their products.

Brazilian judge orders carriers to block WhatsApp

A Brazilian judge ordered wireless phone carriers to block access to Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp for 72 hours throughout Latin America’s largest country starting Monday afternoon, the second such incident against the popular messaging application in five months.

The decision by the judge in the northeastern state of Sergipe applies to the five main wireless operators in Brazil. The reason for the order is not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case in the Sergipe state court.

Apple Support

A well done new support site from Apple for its products.

The original dungeon masters

Many of us have a soft spot for Dungeons and Dragons, even if we don’t play it anymore and I always like reading stories about how it came to be. FYI, I was a 200lbs Dwarven Fighter-Thief with a drinking problem and a hatred of any humans over 6ft tall. Caused all kinds of problems. I still have my D&D dice.

YouTube hits back at music industry

“The next claim we hear is that we underpay compared to subscription services such as Spotify. But that argument confuses two different services: music subscriptions that cost £10 a month versus ad-supported music videos. It’s like comparing what a black cab driver earns from fares to what they earn showing ads in their taxi.”

This is a very interesting battle.

Ugh, App Store

Being on the App Store is a tough business, I know from experience. Apple can’t possibly feature all the apps that are in the store, that’s obvious, but it pisses me off when I see Apple being so self-serving to put a big banner for Drake’s new album on the App Store. He doesn’t have an app! […]