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Wired:

It’s essentially a CliffsNotes version of popular music in 2015, the bare essentials of the year boiled down into one five-minute track–with a frenetic video that cuts around to feature the lead vocal track at any given moment. It’s not quite a heart-racing banger, but anchored chiefly by the bass line for The Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face,” it’s an addicting track worthy of DJ Earworm’s name.

For me, the most amazing part is the editing. I can’t imagine the amount of work that went into creating this video.

Apple, too, now seems to be re-energized in thinking of the iPad as a work platform. The improvements that they’ve brought to bear this year alone, including split screen multi-tasking, more robust support for hardware keyboards and, maybe most significantly, Apple Pencil, have markedly improved the device’s viability as a design tool.

Great article from Khoi Vinh. While he focuses on design, you could substitute that word for almost any other work you want to do on the iPad. We’re getting so close. iPad Pro made a huge jump, but there’s still a little way to go.

I don’t know why, but I just love this kind of thing.

Two of my favorites.

Chief Executive Marissa Mayer’s attempts to revive the traditional business have born little fruit, and almost all of Yahoo’s market capitalization of about $34 billion is ascribed to its stakes in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Holding Group Ltd. and Yahoo Japan Corp.

I remember when Yahoo was a star. Now investors raise the share price on talk of the company selling it’s core business.

Apple will host special events at local Apple Stores for The Hour of Code. Great stuff.

Macworld:

One of the cool things about the new fourth-generation Apple TV is that it supports HDMI-CEC, so that you can control your TV or your speaker system using the remote control that came in the box along with it, automatically switching everything to the right input, controlling volume, and turning everything off at once when you’re done.

But like the fourth-gen Apple TV, the second- and third-gen models (so, basically, every “black puck” Apple TV) have another, often overlooked trick up their utterly non-existent sleeves: they can be controlled from any other remote control. (Caveat: it needs to be a remote that issues its commands over infrared, not RF, but since that accounts for the overwhelming majority of remotes, we’re pretty confident saying “any.”)

Doing this won’t mean your TV automatically switches to the correct input, say, and of course it wouldn’t allow you to use Siri on the new Apple TV, since the third-party remote you’ll be using wouldn’t have a mic or Siri support. But what it does mean is that you can either deliberately or accidentally loose the little white or silver remote that you had been using with your Apple TV and just use the big remote that came with your TV.

Really useful tip for those of us who want to use a single universal remote to control all of our TV-connected bits and bobs.

ZDNet:

In the survey, almost 20 percent of respondents reported a breakdown in the first 3 years of use, most of them seriously affecting system use.

Apple, as in year’s past, has the most reliable notebooks by far – a 10 percent breakdown rate in the first 3 years – with Samsung and Gateway distant seconds at 16 percent, and the rest of the industry – including Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, HP, Dell and Asus, at 18-19 percent.

Windows machines used more than 20 hours a week – average for Windows systems – have a higher break rate. Apple users report using their machines an average of 23 hours a week, 15 percent more. More hours, fewer breakdowns, what’s not to like?

The results of the Consumer Reports survey are predictable. While Macbooks aren’t perfect, they do tend to be significantly more reliable than their Windows counterparts. Good ammunition for those of you having the “Should I buy a Mac or a PC?” discussion with friends and relatives this holiday season.

This year’s list includes over 120 covers by 60 designers, and there is little doubt in my mind that this really is a golden time for book design.

[Via Coudal]

We’ve added a bunch of amazing new features to help improve your productivity, and made it possible to use Daylite with our Cloud service! Now you have the option to use Daylite Cloud, giving you all the benefits of a native Mac app, with the convenience of the Cloud. Or you can use Daylite 6 as a “Self-Serve” customer and manage Daylite Server on one of your own computers. You decide which option is best for you. Either way, you can still take advantage of all the new features in Daylite 6.

Marketcircle makes some great products.

Petapixel:

There are a number of websites and apps out there that help you track sunset and sunrise times so that you can plan your shoots around specific golden hour lighting. SunsetWx is a new website that takes things to the next level: it can forecast the quality of the upcoming sunset in your area (in the United States).

Created by three Pennsylvania-based meteorologists, the sunrise and sunset models take into account things like humidity, pressure changes, and clouds at various levels in the atmosphere. Wispy, high-altitude clouds are indications of a “high quality” sunset/sunrise, while low and thick clouds lower the score.

Photographers will tell you that not all sunsets are created equal. This site might be a way to increase your chances of getting that great sunset shot.

Jim and Merlin talk about who the iPad Pro is for, their favorite cover songs, and the best apps for making music. Also, Jim gives an out-of-character recommendation.

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Links:

• British Steel (album) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Reinventing iOS Automation: Editorial Review – MacStories
• Workflow Review: Integrated Automation for iOS 8 – MacStories
• Connected #66: I’m Holding a Billboard – Relay FM
• Jasmine Thompson – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Another Bundle of Tantrums | Jasmine Thompson
• Echo & the Bunnymen “The Killing Moon”
• Echo and the Bunnymen – “Ocean Rain”
• R.E.M. – “Bandwagon”
• R.E.M. – “Femme Fatale”
• The Smiths – “Jeane”
• The Smiths – “William It Was Really Nothing”
• The Beatles – “Rain”
• Profiler | The Kemper Profiler
• Positive Grid
• IK Multimedia | AmpliTube 4 Deluxe
• Found My Place – Blog – Song: “Just Fine”

Microsoft:

To celebrate the holidays, Microsoft employees, who were selected from across the country, gathered together, meeting each other for the first time, at the new Microsoft 5th Ave Store to spread some holiday wishes. Joined by a local NYC children’s youth choir, they share a message of peace and harmony with their neighbor down the street.

I hope we’re not too cynical and jaded that we can’t just sit back, watch this video and accept its message this holiday season.

TidBITS:

Randy Spydell asked, in essence, why the File menu has a Duplicate command instead of the traditional Save As command. Implicit in his question was “and is there any way to bring back Save As?”

The answer to that second question is yes, and I’ll explain how in a moment.

This is one of those wonderful little “hacks” that you either don’t care about or you’re sitting there right now, going through Adam’s steps to put Save As back where it rightfully belongs.

Sketch:

We’ve been considering our options for some time. Over the last year, as we’ve made great progress with Sketch, the customer experience on the Mac App Store hasn’t evolved like its iOS counterpart. We want to continue to be a responsive, approachable, and easily-reached company, and selling Sketch directly allows us to give you a better experience.

There are a number of reasons for Sketch leaving the Mac App Store—many of which in isolation wouldn’t cause us huge concern. However as with all gripes, when compounded they make it hard to justify staying.

Not the first and certainly not the last developer to make this decision. As detailed in this blog post, the Mac App Store simply doesn’t work for some developers. Personally, I avoid using it whenever possible.

Look who has the biggest vocal range. Wow!

Driverless cars, driving in excess of 100 mph, racing around a track. I can’t wait!

Do you use Twitter, Facebook, Google, eBay and/or PayPal? Read this article, learn how to backup your digital interactions with these services.

Rolling Stone:

In 1992, Mike Myers used “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the rambunctious centerpiece of the indelible opening scene of the film, Wayne’s World, which had been adapted from a Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name, and gave the song and the band behind it an unprecedented second life.

The gleeful scene has become iconic itself, a cultural touchstone that’s been parodied, copied and celebrated almost since the moment of its release back in 1992. Here, the creative forces behind the scene and the beneficiaries of its influence tell the story of how all that happened and how it almost didn’t.

There are few movie scenes more full of childlike joy. I defy you to watch the attached video and not smile and sing along with Wayne and Garth.

Anandtech:

Over the Thanksgiving break the intrepid crew over at Chipworks sent over their initial teardown information for Apple’s A9X SoC. The heart of the recently launched iPad Pro, the A9X is the latest iteration in Apple’s line of tablet-focused SoCs. We took an initial look at A9X last month, but at the time we only had limited information based on what our software tools could tell us. The other half of the picture (and in a literal sense, the entire picture) is looking at the physical layout of the chip, and now thanks to Chipworks we have that in hand and can confirm and reject some of our earlier theories.

I only understood about every fourth word in this article but it sounds like Apple has done some pretty incredible engineering.

Re/code:

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook will collect a humanitarian award from an organization founded in honor of one of his personal heroes, Robert F. Kennedy.

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights will present Cook with its Ripple of Hope Award on Dec. 8 in acknowledgment of his work on behalf of social change. He will be recognized in New York City, alongside U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and Freedom Rider during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s; Evercore co-founder and former assistant treasury secretary Roger Altman; and UNESCO Ambassador Marianna Vardinoyannis.

The Apple executive has become an outspoken advocate for workplace equality, arguing that businesses benefit when their workers feel fully recognized.

Congratulations to Mr Cook. Even though he gets a great deal of flack for it, I admire him for taking a stand on these issues.

Great, another way for Apple Music to fuck with my music.

Universal Pictures has released the script for the Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs movie as a PDF. I love reading movie scripts of films I’ve seen but I’m unlikely to read this one because I’m not very interested in seeing the movie. Thanks to John Watson for pointing me to the web page.

Fraser Speirs:

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the MacBook Pro and, in particular, whether it can replace an iPad Pro for getting real work done.

Only those with very specific workflows could realistically switch from iPad Pro to a MacBook Pro.

Speirs does a masterful job of flipping the question on its head.

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.

Expercom:

Because Apple makes the hardware, the operating system, and many applications, the Mac is a truly integrated system. And only the AppleCare Protection Plan gives you one-stop service and support from Apple experts, so most issues can be resolved in a single call. Extend the complimentary service and support on your Mac to three years from the original Mac purchase date with the AppleCare Protection Plan. You get direct telephone access to Apple experts for technical questions, and you get global repair coverage—including both parts and labor—for your Mac and select Apple peripherals.

Thanks to Dan Frakes on Twitter for this link. When I first saw it, I asked Dan if it was legit (knowing it was. Dan is the Senior Editor at Wirecutter and was formerly the same at Macworld magazine) and I trust him. There are some really good deals here – up to $100 off some AppleCare plans. I asked Dan for further info and he said, “I’ve purchased two AppleCare policies from them. You get a box with a code; you redeem the code on the AppleCare site.”

Some good stuff here, though I thought the idea of paying $60 for a piece of cardboard a bit excessive.

/Film:

While Pixar Animation is nearly 30 years old, it’s only been 20 years since the company ventured into feature length, computer animated filmmaking with Toy Story. The film was an instant classic in 1996 and it spawned two successful, acclaimed sequels with a fourth installment on the way in 2017, and it was just the beginning of what the animation house had to offer.

In celebration of Pixar’s milestone anniversary this year, editor Kees van Dijkhuizen has paid tribute to Pixar with a supercut of the films they’ve made over the years, from their early shorts to this year’s feature films. You might find yourself getting some tears in your eyes since it’s accompanied by Michael Giacchino‘s score from Up.

I don’t know if I could name a single studio that has moved me to the range of emotions Pixar has over the past 20 years.

Thanks to Carbon Copy Cloner for sponsoring The Loop this week. What’s your plan when your Mac’s hard drive dies? Plan ahead and get back to work in minutes with a Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backup. CCC—the app that saves your bacon.

Jim’s Note: I’ve used this app for many years. I trust and love it.

Flexibits just put calendaring app Fantastical on sale. The iPhone version is now $2.99 (normally $4.99) and the iPad version is now $4.99 (normally $9.99). Fantastical is my jam.