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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.

CNET:

After 17 years on Apple’s board, Bill Campbell is saying goodbye.

Apple on Thursday said the executive, who also serves as chairman of business software developer Intuit, is retiring from his role on the board. Campbell was one of the board members appointed by Steve Jobs in 1997 after he returned to run the company.

Susan Wagner, founding partner and director of asset-management company BlackRock, will join Apple’s board in Campbell’s place.

Great to see Apple taking this opportunity to put another woman on the board of directors.

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Factually:

Amazingly, there are still some people who don’t think we landed on the moon. These people are complete idiots, to put it kindly. Back in 2002, Buzz Aldrin punched one of those idiots after being followed and harassed at a hotel in Beverly Hills.

I post this in honour of yesterday’s 45th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. And because Buzz Aldrin is a bad ass.

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Esquire:

Reviled, pit bulls have become representative. There is no other dog that figures as often in the national narrative—no other dog as vilified on the evening news, no other dog as defended on television programs, no other dog as mythologized by both its enemies and its advocates, no other dog as discriminated against, no other dog as wantonly bred, no other dog as frequently abused, no other dog as promiscuously abandoned, no other dog as likely to end up in an animal shelter, no other dog as likely to be rescued, no other dog as likely to be killed.

In a way, the pit bull has become the only American dog, because it is the only American dog that has become an American metaphor—and the only American dog that people bother to name.

I love all dogs (except poodles) and hate seeing them treated poorly. And no dog has been treated as poorly, both in real life and in the media as the pit bull. I’ve met some wonderful pit bulls in my life with wonderful owners. Sadly, I’ve also met some really bad owners which predictably reflects in their dogs.

We have some sponsorships available in July and August, so if you would like to get your product or service in front of 1.5 million monthly readers and about 100,000 Twitter and RSS subscribers, Email Jim Dalrymple.

Texas blues legend Johnny Winter, known for his lightning-fast blues guitar riffs, his striking long white hair and his collaborations with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and childhood hero Muddy Waters, has died. He was 70.

Huge loss for music.

Samsung on Wednesday announced the imminent release of its “Level” headphone and portable speaker lineup, which features four premium devices seemingly aimed directly at Apple’s Beats hardware.

I’m shocked that just weeks after Apple buys Beats, Samsung has plans for high-end headphones. Shocked!

What to get for the beer drinker who has everything. You might want to throw in a shirt with French cuffs, while you’re at it.

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Apple:

Now you can add money directly to your iTunes or App Store account with iTunes Pass. To get iTunes Pass, go to the iTunes Store on your iOS device, scroll down, and tap the Redeem button. Then go in to any Apple Retail Store and let a Specialist know you want to add credit to your account. Open iTunes Pass in Passbook, and have the Specialist scan it and accept your payment. Your balance will be updated and can be used immediately.

This might be slightly more convenient than buying physical gift cards for yourself but is it a service you’ll actually use?

Much respect hacker people.

This story was originally posted on Forbes, but when I went there, popups were all over the place, so I’ll link to PandoDaily instead.

I used this mic on Amplified this morning and it sounded great. I love this mic.

I agree with Tim Bajarin.

A new iOS podcast app from Marco Arment.

Really great read.