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Fortune:

In recent years, a debate has raged on among publishing and advertising industry insiders over “sponsored content”—more recently called “native advertising” and once known as “advertorial”—the sort of advertising that looks very much like editorial content but is, in fact, directly paid for by an advertiser.

Industry peers watched and discussed: Is it deceptive? Is it ethical? Does it even work?

It can be deceptive – Macworld had a nasty habit of putting the “sponsored content” info at the bottom of the post instead of front and centre – as to “does it work”? Certainly not on me. If I see an article marked as “sponsored”, I don’t even bother reading it regardless of my interest in the subject matter.

Reuters posted an article this morning about how blind and deaf people want more from Apple in making apps accessible. I’m all for this, and from what I’ve seen from Apple over the years, they are in favor of improving accessibility features in OS X and iOS too. […]

Sometimes you just need a quick and simple photo editor to clean up your photos. Whether you need some mild editing, digital borders, objects removed, colors enhanced or areas brought into focus, this Mighty Deal has it all covered. This Snap Pack Bundle includes 4 incredible Mac photo apps, for one low price: Snapheal, FX Photo Studio, Focus 2 and ColorStrokes. They’re all incredibly easy to use and feature some truly robust editing tools.

The Atlantic:

People often forget that someone else comes in to clean up after all the forensic work is done.

Crime-scene cleaning is not a glamorous profession, but it is a lucrative one. Last year there were 333 murders in New York City alone. Considering that companies like Island Trauma clean up crime scenes, natural deaths, and hoarder homes in the entire Tri-State area, they tend to keep busy throughout the year.

You think your job sucks? Try this one.

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Buzzfeed:

There is (a) group of people who aren’t just nostalgic for Weird Al; they live his gospel. These are people who never set aside the wackiness, the zaniness, the never-ending slide-whistle call of funny music. And I want to find out what makes them tick. That’s why I’ve decided to go to the first ever FuMPFest (Funny Music Project): to meet the acts and the fans who are still out there making and loving funny music.

I’m not sure what to expect, except that I will be laughing very hard.

White people are funny.

America’s Space Shuttle:

As a part of every launch,over 125 cameras are positioned all over the launch pad structure and around the perimeter of the complex to view how the vehicle performs and to catch views of any potential debris as the vehicle clear the pad.

I thought it would be neat to combine different angles of the launches of STS-124 and STS-117 with additional music from the summer blockbuster “Armageddon” to set the scene for one of the greatest technological feats ever displayed.

This is such a good compilation, it almost makes me want to watch “Armageddon” again.

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The Consumerist:

Customers will have to prove that they’re over 21 in order to buy a prepaid card to use in the beer-o-mat. The machines also limit the quantity of beer that customers can purchase, limiting them to 48 ounces every 15 minutes. You know, in case a group has dispatched one person to get beer for everyone.

Those 48 ounces of beer will cost $18.24 if you buy the cheapest selection, Bud or Bud Light at 38 cents per ounce.

I heard The Publisher of The Loop is starting a Kickstarter campaign to set up one of these full of Heineken in his house.

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FiveThirtyEight:

Led Zeppelin is classic rock. So are Mötley Crüe and Ozzy Osbourne. But what about U2 or Nirvana? As a child of the 1990s, I never doubted that any of these bands were classic rock, even though it may be shocking for many to hear. And then I heard Green Day’s “American Idiot” on a classic rock station a few weeks ago, and I was shocked.

It was my first time hearing a band I grew up with referred to as “classic rock.” Almost anyone who listens to music over a long enough period of time probably experiences this moment — my colleagues related some of their own, like hearing R.E.M. or Guns N’ Roses on a classic rock station — but it made me wonder, what precisely is classic rock?

I remember the first time I heard my favourite band, The Clash, on a “Classic Rock” station and being depressed to think I was now officially old enough to have my favourite band relegated to a classic rock station.

Apple:

On June 29, thousands of Apple employees and their families marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They came from around the world — from cities as far as Munich, Paris, and Hong Kong — to celebrate Apple’s unwavering commitment to equality and diversity. Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation.

I’d love one of those t-shirts.

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Petapixel:

(This) time-lapse took 363 total hours of work between the 75 hours of logistics and travel, 31 hours of scouting locations, 78 hours of shooting and a whopping 179 hours of post-production spent dealing with 26,014 Camera Raw files that totaled up to some 817GB of data.

Gear used included four Nikon DSLRs (a D800, D7100, D7100 and D3200), six separate Nikon lenses (10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye, 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED AF-S DX, 16-35mm f/4G AF-S VR, 28mm AF f/2.8D, 50mm f/1.4G AF-S, 70-200mm f/2.8G) and a Promote Control.

Gorgeous video made amazing knowing the tech details behind it.

There are some interesting stories here if you have some time.

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io9:

Wizards of the Coast has released the Basic Rules for the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons as a free PDF right here. The 100-page document details how to make a character, play the game, and covers magic, too.

Specifically, the Basic Rules “covers the core of the game. It runs from levels 1 to 20 and covers the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard, presenting what we view as the essential subclass for each. It also provides the dwarf, elf, halfling, and human as race options; in addition, the rules contain 120 spells, 5 backgrounds, and character sheets.”

How many of you will download these rules with no intention of playing but just for old time’s sake? I did.

. Al Arabiya News:

In the first deal of its kind in the Middle East, Apple has inked an agreement with Saudi bookshop Jarir to supply all Apple products through the outlet, as well as providing an after-sales service.

In an interview with Al Arabiya News Channel, Jarir’s chairman, Mohammad al-Aqeel, said that this agreement will allow the prices of Apple products sold at Jarir branches to be slightly reduced.

The question many ask is, “Why doesn’t Apple open their own retail outlet?” Remember, this kind of “store within a store” idea is what Apple initially did to test the retail concept before the first US Apple Retail Stores opened. They are likely doing the same in the Middle East.

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Pando Daily:

Pretty much every page you visit contains at least one piece of tracking code — watching where you click, how long you stay, and how often you come back.

What I didn’t know is how absolutely out of control the number of trackers on popular sites has become. It’s actually horrifying.

I don’t know if it’s “horrifying” but it certainly is instructive what sites do what kind of tracking on your visits.

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Luc Vandal:

It is now much harder to make it into the market and it requires more planning, financial investment and time. The App Store market is now mature and near 7 years old.

I have spoken with other successful developers and many told me the same: sales are generally down. They are still doing great but there are more and more competitors are also taking a slice of the same pie.

Media attention is also harder to get as they get overwhelmed with review requests and press releases.

Interesting look at the challenges faced by independent developers.

Now Samsung are calling iPhone owners “Wall Huggers,” a phrase first used by BlackBerry CEO John Chen, as Jordan Khan points out. Really, stealing from BlackBerry?

How do you keep track of all the digital detritus in your life? I’ve got an encrypted file containing all my critical info, including account numbers, passwords, and lists of various things, like the location of my car title. My kids all know the location of this file and the password to decrypt the file.

Reading this article, I’m wondering if that’s enough.

SlashFilm:

Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull recently published a book called Creativity Inc., bout how creativity and business can work hand in hand. The book is filled with stories from Catmull’s journey at Pixar, some details of which have never been told publicly before. One of the stories is about how a business deal came within seven days from changing history as we know it. Not only would Toy Story never have been made, it is very likely the computer animation revolution would have happened entirely differently or maybe not even at all.

The world would be a less joyous place if this had happened.

I’ve taken much longer to write about OS X Yosemite than any other modern Mac operating system that I can remember. Part of the reason for the delay is that I’m quite taken with the new design and wanted to see if I like it over the long term, but I also think this is one of the most important OS X releases ever. […]

Chris Hadfield:

For fun this Canada Day, my brother and I set out to make the most Canadian music video ever. How’d we do?

I’d say you did right some good my son.

Ars Technica:

You know the 2013 Mac Pro, that computer you can spend as much as $9,599 on if you really try? Apple has just released a $49 new lock accessory for the computer that will keep people from unplugging everything, picking it up, and walking out the door with it.

This is one of those things you’d think Apple would have had available day of launch.

I’ve seen some others, but this one requires no JavaScript.

It truly is frightening how far this is going.

I’ll admit that most of Apple’s pop-heavy First Plays aren’t really my thing, but this week’s certainly caught my eye. Judas Priest: Redeemer of Souls is available on iTunes Radio before it goes on sale in stores. Just open iTunes and go to iTunes Radio to listen.

Did you miss the premiere of HBO’s “The Leftovers”? You can watch the full episode on Yahoo. It’s from one of the creators of Lost, Damon Lindelof. To be fair, it sounds depressing and the reviews of the first four shows have been all over the place but I’ll watch it nonetheless. Did you watch it?

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LIghtroom Killer Tips:

If you’re an Aperture user, it’s time to find something else to manage/edit your photos. So if you’ve been waiting to make the jump to Lightroom, now’s your chance. Especially with the $9.99/month Creative Cloud Photography plan becoming permanent.

You’ll notice there’s many similarities between Lightroom and Aperture. So rather than start from scratch and teach you every feature in Lightroom, I wanted to just list the top 10 things I think are most important if you decide to switch. Things that you may be familiar with in Aperture, and what the counterparts are in Lightroom. Here goes!

I’ve used both apps but have favoured Lightroom for many years. Aperture users are going to need to find alternatives and Lightroom is the logical choice for many.

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Vox:

Canada serves two predominant roles in modern American discourse. It is the place where Americans threaten to move when things aren’t going well at home. It is also the butt of endless jokes, generally involving Canada being America’s hat or Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor or Robin Sparkles.

Today is Canada Day, when our northern neighbors celebrate their country’s birth in 1867. And its a good as time as any to thoroughly explore the question: How great, exactly, is Canada? Should we be pining to move there, or mock it viciously?

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!

Wired:

It happens every time: You reach into your bag to pull out your headphones. But no matter how neatly you wrapped them up beforehand, the cords have become a giant Gordian knot of frustration. But until we invent a good way of wirelessly beaming power through the air to our beloved electronic devices, it seems like we’re stuck with this problem.

Or maybe we can fight back with science. In recent years, physicists and mathematicians have pondered why our cords are such jerks all the time.

The science behind one of life’s little frustrations is fascinating. I saw a Youtube video years ago explaining how to wrap up earphone cords with a twisting motion that prevented tangles. But I can’t find it any more. Anyone know the video I’m referring to?

I had one of the cassette models when I was a kid.

Winclone is a great way to make a complete backup of your Boot Camp partition so that you can quickly restore back to Windows in Boot Camp. Boot Runner provides an easy way to switch between OS X and Windows on dual boot Macs. Works great for both individuals and dual boot labs.

When you get a new Mac or have issues with your Windows installation in Boot Camp, re-installing Windows is time consuming and difficult. Winclone makes it easy to make a complete copy of the Boot Camp partition, and restores it back to the exact same state on your existing or new Mac. Winclone supports migration of Boot Camp partitions between Macs, moving your Boot Camp partition to an external drive to free up space, and more. It works great for mass deployment. Boot Camp can be deployed as an OS X installer package and you can also use it with existing Windows tools such as SCCM and Sys Prep for easy mass deployment.

If you manage lots of dual boot Macs, Boot Runner provides a great way to manage the OS selection. You decide which OS by selecting OS X or Windows prior to logging in. It works great in labs. Administrators can fully customize and manage the selection screen, and can remotely select the OS through network policy. Boot Runner includes a scheduling feature to make sure that the Mac is booted into Windows for important system and virus updates. Check out the intro video to learn more.

Winclone and Boot Runner are available for purchase and download today at twocanoes.com and both have full phone and online support options.