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The tone of the brief reads like an indictment. We’ve all heard director Comey and Attorney General Lynch thank Apple for its consistent help in working with law enforcement. Director Comey’s own statement…that there are no demons here? We certainly wouldn’t conclude it from this brief. In 30 years of practice, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo, and less intended to focus on the real merits of the case. For the first time ever, we see an allegation that Apple has deliberately made changes to block law enforcement requests for access. This should be deeply offensive to everyone that reads it. An unsupported, unsubstantiated effort to vilify Apple rather than confront the issues in the case.

To do this in a brief before a magistrate judge just shows the desperation that the Department of Justice now feels. We would never respond in kind. But imagine Apple asking a court whether the FBI could be trusted because, there is this real question about whether J. Edgar Hoover ordered the assassination of Kennedy. See ConspiracyTheory.com as our supporting evidence. We add security features to protect our customers from hackers and criminals. And the FBI should be helping to support us in this because it keeps everyone safe. To suggest otherwise is demeaning. It cheapens the debate and it tries the mask the real and serious issues. I can only conclude that the DoJ is so desperate at this point that it has thrown all decorum to the winds.

Look, we know there are great people in the DoJ and the FBI. We work shoulder to shoulder with them all the time. That’s why this cheap shot brief surprises us so much. We help when we’re asked to. We’re honest about what we can and can’t do. Let’s at least treat one another with respect and get this case before the American people in a responsible way. We are going to court to exercise our legal rights. Everyone should beware, because it seems like disagreeing with the Department of Justice means you must be evil and anti-American. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I wasn’t on the call, so I can’t really comment on the tone… other than the obvious.

Apple has said the government’s request would create a “back door” to phones that could be abused by criminals and governments, and that Congress hasn’t given the Justice Department legal authority to make such a demand.

In the court filing on Thursday, federal prosecutors said Apple’s stance was “corrosive” of institutions best able to safeguard “our liberty and our rights.” The government also said Apple “deliberately raised technological barriers” to prevent the execution of a warrant.

I’m assuming the government means that Apple increased security on its devices and they don’t mean they raised technological barriers, as in, brought up arguments in court. I don’t see any proof that Apple “deliberately raised technological barriers” just to prevent the government from getting into this phone or any other phone. Apple has been steadily increasing the security of its devices for many years, and will most likely continue to do so with future versions of its devices and operating systems. As they should.

I saw this really cool picture last year and wondered about the story behind it. The lesson of the shot is, “Always carry your best camera”.

Former Google CEO and current Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was in South Korea for a press event this week, where he was spotted taking pictures of the event using an Apple iPhone instead of a Google Android handset.

That is one bizarre man.

Apple events at its Cupertino headquarters are my favorite. The venue is intimate and you feel like you’re part of the event. The company will have a live stream that you can watch on March 21.

Apple on Thursday sent out invites for an event to be held at its Cupertino headquarters on Monday, March 21, 2016. The event will take place at 10:00 am—I’ll be there covering the news.

I used to live in the general area and I wish I had know about Lodge Manufacturing back then. It sounds like a fascinating place and company. I now own a couple of their cast iron skillets and love using them.

I use Siri a lot on my Apple TV, but there’s some things here that I didn’t know.

Very good article with a lot of photos for comparison.

I am way more excited than a grown man should be to see this next season of GoT.

AC/DC are forced to reschedule the 10 upcoming dates on the U.S. leg of their “Rock or Bust” World Tour. AC/DC’s lead singer, Brian Johnson, has been advised by doctors to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss.

Tomorrow’s show in Atlanta through Madison Square Garden in New York, NY in early April will be made up later in the year, likely with a guest vocalist. More information regarding these rescheduled shows to come. Current ticket holders can hold on to their tickets for the rescheduled dates or receive a refund at point of purchase.

Very sad news for AC/DC. Personally, I don’t want to see a show with a guest vocalist.

Except for the “big games”, I rarely watch any college basketball until this time of year. Then I’ll watch every game broadcast. This could be a really great way to feed my March Madness addiction.

A magistrate judge in Brooklyn last week ruled that the Justice Department could not compel the tech giant to unlock the phone. The government on Monday resubmitted its arguments to a higher judge overseeing the matter.

Not a surprise that they would try.

Follow the link and see if you can make your way through the page. The letters reorder themselves on the fly. Much harder than you might think.

Preview is a surprisingly good “quickie” photo editor a lot of people overlook. This post is a good primer on how to use its editing capabilities.

I didn’t know there hadn’t always been a 221B Baker St.

What if you could get 5% of your day back? What would you do?

You already have enough work to do today and shouldn’t have to waste time looking for the things you need to do your job.

Igloo makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. And it’s not just for locating your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It also helps you find experts, talk about problems and share content with your team. So stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Try it yourself or send your IT guy to investigate Igloo, an intranet you’ll actually like.

Yet another salvo in the court of public opinion, this time from Apple’s Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering.

If you have version 2.90 of Transmission, upgrade to the latest version as soon as possible.

Depending on how reachable those monthly fitness goals are, this sounds like a great idea. The only concern I have is, who is collecting the data and how? How do you prove you’re reaching the monthly goals? Is the data automatically downloaded by the company? If so, what safeguards are there in place for the security of that data?

I’d never used noise generators until recently. My new neighbor snores like a congested elephant and it was driving me nuts. I now use this app to drown him out with a combination of October Rain and the very comforting Blue Whales. Works great.

I know how challenging this trip would be on a modern bike like my FJR 1300. It’s inconceivable how difficult it must have been in 1903.

But if there’s even a slight chance to find a magical unicorn (which is redundant, by the way), shouldn’t law enforcement do everything in its power to discover such a creature? What is Apple trying to hide here? Why won’t they help the FBI discover this creature? Is it discrimination against mythical horses? Did a unicorn hurt Tim Cook as a child? Enquiring minds want to know.

And the The San Bernardino District Attorney is an idiot.

Emoticons are everywhere, but what if we could create emoticons with ourselves – our own smiles, shrugs, sighs, rages and laughs?

Get this handy, .gif creating app, which will turn your three photos into a moving image. You’ll be surprised how much you can say and how creative you can get with Moodroll. Oh yes, you can share your rolls via messages or email, on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter or anywhere else you wish.

This is a cool free app.

If you want to see what guitar playing is all about, watch this. Holy shit, I love this guy.

Thanks to Pixelmator for sponsoring The Loop this week. I’ve used this app since the first version and still use it everyday.

Pixelmator is a powerful and easy-to-use image editor for Mac. It lets you enhance your photos, create advanced image compositions with layers, shapes and text, or even draw vector grapchics, and a lot more. Pixelmator is built from the ground up for Mac, taking full advantage of the latest OS X features and technologies.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt compiled a list, with links to the supporting documents, of those in favor of Apple or the FBI in the iPhone encryption case. It’s pretty one-sided.

Apple isn’t leaving this in the hands of the courts or Congress. They are also fighting in the court of public opinion. They are serious about winning this fight.

I’m kind of ambivalent about this, to be honest. I’d rather see Apple do something else for Apple TV than to stream NFL games that are already available to watch elsewhere.

Carruthers isn’t messing around when he says he’s done a lot of concert movies—the director, who spoke with us from his home in the United Kingdom, has more than 60 credits to his name and has worked with acts as varied as Led Zeppelin and Usher. It’s fair to assume he knows a well-done live performance when he sees one.

The folks at Dolby interviewed Carruthers about the new film and posted it, and a 30 second trailer, to their site.