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Jeffrey Zeldman:

Advertisers don’t want to be ignored, and they are drunk on our data, which is what Google and other large networks are really selling. The ads are almost a by-product; what companies really want to know is what antiperspirant a woman of 25–34 is most likely to purchase after watching House of Cards. Which gets us into issues of privacy and spying and government intrusion and don’t ask.

And in this environment of sites so cluttered with misleading ads they are almost unnavigable, Apple looks heroic, riding to the consumer’s rescue by providing all the content from newspapers without the ads, and by blocking ugly advertising on websites. But if they succeed, will media companies and independent sites survive?

This issue is far from over. We have no idea how this is going to shake out, who will adapt and survive and who will fold. I do believe it is an issue ad publishers have largely brought on themselves. But it’s a shame there is and will continue to be a lot of collateral damage in this so-called Apple vs Google War.

Many people look at the “s” model of the iPhone as a less significant release than the years Apple does a full design change, but that’s just not the case. This year’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is full of new features and is probably the strongest “s” model iPhone Apple has ever released. I’ve been using the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus for about a week and a half, having received the devices from Apple two days after the September 9 keynote. […]

Huffington Post:

it really bums me out that The Man In the Machine makes little attempt to portray someone who was, by most accounts, a complex, iconic, but all-too-flawed man who, over the course of his career, could be both inventor and thief, monk and businessman, brat and sage, tyrant and beloved leader, and managed to use those conflicting traits to both change the world and create the most valuable, influential, and admired company on the planet.

Instead, The Man In the Machine is focused largely on the thesis that Jobs was always and only a jerk, that people who enjoy Apple products and admire Jobs are idiots and cult members, and that the computer revolution that was born of Jobs’ vision must inevitably contain the same ugly darkness Gibney feels is Jobs’ defining trait, despite any evidence to the contrary.

This review of the documentary tracks with how I felt about it. Not only was it simply inaccurate in places, it seemed to have its premise in place long before the facts were in evidence. It had Joe Nocera, a journalist who famously wrote “Apple hit pieces” for the New York Times, exclaim he didn’t understand the allure of the iPhone. “It’s just a phone!” That’s like not understanding the sex appeal of a Ferrari because it’s “just” a car. Overall, even though I had high hopes for the movie because of the director’s previous work,I was very disappointed in this documaentary.

Apple Inc. is accelerating efforts to build an electric car, designating it internally as a “committed project” and setting a target ship date for 2019, according to people familiar with the matter.

The go-ahead came after the company spent more than a year investigating the feasibility of an Apple-branded car, including meetings with two groups of government officials in California. Leaders of the project, code-named Titan , have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the people familiar with the matter said.

This would be such a huge deal. Apple’s designers would undoubtedly come up with something great, and it fits with the company’s commitment to make the world a better place.

I picked up my Apple Watch with watchOS 2 from Apple in the days following the September 9 keynote presentation in San Francisco. I hadn’t installed any of the watch betas, so I was really looking forward to giving the … Continued

After a slight delay last week, Apple has released watchOS 2 to the public. You can download the update by going to the Watch app on your iPhone.

The new York Times:

We’ve chosen some of our best works or collections of works that have appeared since we began offering digital subscriptions in 2011.

While certainly not exhaustive, the list demonstrates the breadth, creativity and impact of The Times.

One of the things the NYT does really well is these long-form, investigative articles. “Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer” was a heartbreaking look into the life of a hockey player I was a big fan of during his playing days.

Apple Inc is stepping up aid to the thousands of migrants that are streaming into Europe from war-torn countries, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told employees in an internal message on Friday.

Thanks to Low for sponsoring The Loop this week. Low is live video texting you can do from anywhere without being overheard. More fun than plain texting. Less awkward than video chat.

Members of Google’s Project Zero vulnerability research team have challenged a key talking point surrounding the security of Google’s Android mobile operating system. To wit, a key exploit mitigation known as address space layout randomization does much less than the company’s overworked public relations people say in blocking attacks targeting critical weaknesses in Android’s stagefright media library.

A solid read from Kirk McElhearn. Sure hope content blockers don’t impact him negatively.

As usual, Federico does a bang up job in this review.

Today, I’m launching my own iOS 9 content blocker, called Peace, to bring peace, quiet, privacy, and — as a nice side benefit — ludicrous speed to iOS web browsing.

I always like the software Marco makes.

Gruber responding to a Nilay Patel tweet:

Perhaps I am being smug. But I see the fact that Daring Fireball’s revenue streams should remain unaffected by Safari content-blocking as affirmation that my choices over the last decade have been correct: that I should put my readers’ interests first, and only publish the sort of ads and sponsorships that I myself would want to be served, even if that means leaving (significant) amounts of money on the table along the way.

Fucking right.

You can download the update through iTunes or by going to General > Software Update on your device. I’ve been using iOS 9 for a while and love it.

Apple on Wednesday released an update for iTunes, adding support for iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan. Changes in the update include:

Apple was supposed to release watchOS 2 sometime today, but the company said this morning the release will be delayed.

This is so awesome. I smiled all the way through.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday unveiled plans to build a rocket manufacturing plant and launch site in Florida, a business that will compete against fellow tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Bezos taking on Elon Musk.

John Paczkowski had 20 minutes with Apple CEO, Tim Cook, to discuss a number of things while he’s in New York.

Coded CSS icons have some significant advantages over icon fonts or static images. CSS icons are a part of the DOM and unless you’re using a CSS icon library like Icono, they don’t require another HTTP request. Just like font icons, CSS icons can be colored by CSS and You can also animate the icons in an easy, smooth way without much effort.

Low is live video texting you can do from anywhere without being overheard. More fun than plain texting. Less awkward than video chat.

We have some sponsorships available on The Loop, including a last minute cancellation for this week that I’ll sell at a great deal. If you want to get your product or service in front of the wonderful readers of The Loop, get in touch with me.

Jim and Merlin talk about procrastination, software privacy, and swap live-performance horror-stories.

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I understand that Macminicolo is looking for your business, but this article brings up some good alternatives if you want to get away from Google and its tracking.

Just a reminder to set your DVR.

Stephen Colbert:

“Siri, put Apple CEO Tim Cook on my calendar for Tuesday, Sept. 15. Oh, and come up with some questions to ask him.”

Looks like I’ll be watching Colbert on Tuesday. I wonder if the bar in the resort I’m staying at in Mexico will carry it?

Thanks to SVALT for sponsoring The Loop this week. The SVALT D Performance Cooling Dock is for anyone requiring the best performance from their Apple laptops, and wanting to create the ultimate professional laptop workstation.

Yep.

Personally, I’ve never used the optical interface on the Apple TV. I won’t miss it, but for folks who do use it, good to know the deal on this.