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Pedro de Noronha, managing partner at hedge fund Noster Capital, who says Apple “might become obsolete in two-to-three years.”

GigaOm:

Yes, the quarterly sales are down from the prior three months and the year-ago period. Apple sold 16.3 million iPads in the first three months of this year and 14.6 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2013. Look at the iPad sales data since Apple’s tablet debuted and you can see a broader view of the same thing: The iPad sales growth rate overall has slowed of late.

I don’t think this is cause for alarm. Expecting iPad sales growth to mirror that of the iPhone, which is still on a relatively stronger upward direction, is unreasonable for a number of reasons.

People are slowly coming to the realization that maybe, just maybe, the sky isn’t falling.

TechHive:

Apple’s M7 processor, currently in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and iPad mini with Retina display, collects data from the device’s sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass) and then provides that data to the apps.

But how accurate is an M7 processor at counting steps? To find out, I downloaded six popular step-counting apps on both an iPhone 5s and an iPhone 4s, and then carried both phones to track my steps over a few weeks. Then I took (a lot) of walks, including a few where I literally counted each step in order to compare results.

Here’s the breakdown of each app’s features and flaws.

I’ve used some of these and quickly found out something crucial – I don’t walk nearly enough.

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TUAW:

Apple just ran a TV ad showing just how amazing your MacBook can look with a little bit of vinyl applied.

If you saw something you liked on that fast-moving ad, you’re in luck because I did the legwork of searching for every funky sticker that made an appearance. Well, ok, not every sticker — I ignored the section of the ad with the generic music stickers — but every sticker you probably care about. All 71 of them.

I’m glad somebody did this. How about you? Do you put stickers or the like on your laptops?

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Kottke:

In racing video games, a ghost is a car representing your best score that races with you around the track. This story of a son discovering and racing against his deceased father’s ghost car in an Xbox racing game will hit you right in the feels.

What a lovely but sad story.

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Jezebel:

Less than 100 years ago, people genuinely believed that there was no such thing as “menial service” to an American, that waiters could be gentlemen, and that service didn’t mean servitude. They believed the idea of tipping was a fundamentally demeaning and classist notion of which they wanted no part. Since then, we appear to have come a long way down a road paved with good intentions.

What the hell went wrong?

I’m always of two minds when it comes to tipping and appreciate those places I’ve travelled where it is not allowed or culturally frowned upon.

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Polygon:

I blinked at my phone, fighting simultaneous urges to hurl my phone across the room in anger and cry. Later that day, someone texted me my address — telling me they’d “See me when I least expected it.”

I haven’t been out to my car at night by myself since January 2nd.

My name is Brianna Wu. I lead a development studio that makes games. Sometimes, I write about issues in the games industry that relate to the equality of women. My reward is that I regularly have men threatening to rape and commit acts of violence against me.

An awful story about a serious and ongoing problem in general but specific in this regard to the gaming industry.

Wired:

This week Wisconsin-ites were treated to a mayfly emergence. Just how many mayflies are there? Enough that they show up on weather radar.

The slippery goo created by millions of mayflies is blamed in a three-car pileup in Hager City, WI yesterday night.

Mother Nature is amazing and sometimes, disgusting.

A new book from Shawn Blanc, “Delight is in the Details” describes how to make good things great. Shawn says it’s “an audio book, eBook, and interview series for people who make things.”

“There has not been a single conversation about Google’s interest,” said one source. “There was never a price, never a negotiation, never anything.”

Good to see Kara Swisher put this one down.

I really enjoyed this article by Oscar Nilsson.

These are some impressive numbers.

Apple on Tuesday reported a $ billion profit for its fiscal quarter—revenue for the quarter was $37.4 billion. These results compare revenue of $35.3 billion and profit of $6.9 billion in the year ago quarter.

“Our record June quarter revenue was fueled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving our highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are incredibly excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, as well as other new products and services that we can’t wait to introduce.”

iTunes Radio has been coming up with some great First Plays lately. The latest is a tribute to JJ Cale put together by Eric Clapton that includes Willie Nelson, Tom Petty and Mark Knopfler. Clapton should play iTunes Festival London—just sayin’.

This isn’t the type of ad I’m used to seeing from Apple.

The idea of 3D-printed custom earbuds called Normals is an interesting one but this advertisement for them creeps me out.

Apple:

Apple will be announcing its Q3 2014 financial results on Tuesday, July 22 at 5pm Eastern time (2pm Pacific) followed by questions from analysts.

You can listen to the streaming audio via iPhone®, iPad®, or iPod touch® running iOS 4.2 or above, or any Mac® running OS X 10.6.8 or above or any PC running QuickTime 7 or later.

As usual, many sites will be liveblogging the call. The fun comes in seeing which of the analysts on the call (the press and general public can listen in but not ask questions) will ask the dumbest question of the day.

I don’t know how I managed to miss this earlier, but Robert Plant has signed on to perform at iTunes Festival London—Plant is one of my all-time favorite singers. His solo career has been great, but his vocals as the lead singer of Led Zeppelin are just incredible. I’m hoping for some classic Zep songs during that show.

About ten years ago, when Rory McIlroy was just 15 years old, his father places a 500-to-1 bet with British betting firm Ladbrokes that his son would win the British Open within 10 years (before Rory turned 26). Now that’s faith in your son’s talent!

Apple will be bringing iTunes Festival to London, England for the eighth straight year, the company said on Sunday night. iTunes Festival London brings some of the world’s biggest bands together for 30 nights of concerts and they are all free. […]

Ars Technica:

On July 20 1969, at about four minutes before 10:00 pm Central Daylight Time, former naval aviator and test pilot Neil Armstrong became the first human being to stand on the surface of the Moon.

About 20 minutes later, he was followed by Buzz Aldrin, an Air Force colonel with a PhD in astronautics from MIT (Aldrin had, quite literally, written the book on orbital rendezvous techniques). Armstrong and Aldrin’s landing was the culmination of almost a decade of scientific and engineering work by hundreds of thousands of people across the United States. Even though the lunar program’s goals were ultimately political, the Apollo project ranks as one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history.

The story of the program is an incredible one and I’d encourage you to watch the amazing “From the Earth to the Moon” series if you haven’t seen it.

Priceonomics:

Once heralded as the time-saving successor to stairs, the fire pole is, after 150 years, sliding toward extinction. In its heyday, the pole revolutionized the way firefighters responded to alarms, accessed their trucks, and, ultimately, saved lives. But fire poles came — and still come — with a caveat: they have the potential to be lethal for those who descend them.

As a kid, I always thought it would be cool to have a house with a Fireman’s Pole in it to get downstairs. After reading this article, not so much. I had no idea they were so dangerous.

Mosaic:

Why do 40 per cent of Caucasians have type A blood, while only 27 per cent of Asians do? Where do different blood types come from, and what do they do?

In 1900 the Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner first discovered blood types, winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research in 1930. Since then scientists have developed ever more powerful tools for probing the biology of blood types. And yet I found that in many ways blood types remain strangely mysterious. Scientists have yet to come up with a good explanation for their very existence.

Interesting article about a subject crucial to all of us and yet something few of us know anything about. I’m embarrassed to say I have no clue what my blood type is.

Entertainment Weekly:

Thirty years ago, a killing machine from 2029—assuming the form of an Austrian bodybuilder—arrived with a lethal directive to alter the future. That he certainly did. The Terminator, made for $6.4 million by a couple of young disciples of B-movie king Roger Corman, became one of the defining sci-fi touchstones of all time.

It’s still a great movie even though it feels pretty dated now.

I just pre-ordered mine.

Every CSS project starts out with good intentions, but inevitably, one too many people eye-dropper colors into nooks and crannies that you never knew existed. CSS Colorguard helps you maintain the color set that you want, and warns you when colors you’ve added are too similar to ones that already exist. Naturally, it’s all configurable to your tastes.

This sounds really cool.

Most presentations are terrible. That, however, does not need to be the case for your presentations. Author David Sparks, a trial attorney and seasoned technology speaker, explains how to create your own exceptional presentation. This Presentation Field Guide explains how to plan a presentation that will connect with your audience, the technical wizardry to create a stunning presentation, and walks you through presentation day to make sure it goes off without a hitch.

I really like David and have respect for his work. This is worth checking out.

Lee Hutchinson has a look at Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s email to employees.

Macworld:

For serious typing sessions — or if you just can’t get the hang of the iPad’s onscreen keyboard — an external keyboard offers the tactile advantages of real keys without sacrificing the iPad’s portability and touchscreen features.

The iPad supports almost any Bluetooth keyboard, but there are many, many keyboards on the market that are specifically made for use with the iPad.

Macworld has updated their exhaustive iPad keyboard guide. Do you use one? Which is your favourite?

Gizmodo:

Netflix, as experienced by our neighbors to the north, is an anemic imitation that besmirches the brand. It shouldn’t even be called Netflix. Netflix Lite, maybe. Netflix Canada Trashcan, probably, although that might negatively impact subscription sales. It’s the same price as the U.S. version, too, which makes it even more insulting.

This is one of the reasons why I tried and quickly canceled Netflix here in Canada. The selection is bad enough in the US. It’s much worse in Canada.