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I really do hate these large companies and the shit they pull.

I actually laughed out loud when I read this.

I hated it when people used to tell me I could write, not get paid, but I’d get exposure. Fuck you, exposure doesn’t feed my kids asshole.

We followed Apple’s Rules, that is, we went into our Developer account and created the App “Paper”. The name Paper was assigned to us by Apple as NO ONE ELSE was using it.

While working on the app over many months, other apps named “Paper” came and went. How? Do to glitches in Apple’s system. A Developer can add other words to an un-available name, or open an account registered outside the US, create an app with the same name as an existing US app, get the app approved for sale outside the US, then set the app territories to make it available in the US! They can even change the name of an older, existing non-US app and enjoy what looks like an earlier first use.

We pointed these glitches out to Apple at WWDC 2012 and, well, the next day another “Paper” app, one which added other words after the name Paper so it could post in the US App Store, received an AWARD! We felt somewhat put upon. That other app was very well funded, money talks, and they had been out “breaking things” in our market for a while. There are Best Practices in the Developer world against, in Apple’s words, “confusingly similar” names. Why didn’t that matter for these guys? Why is this not only tolerated, but awarded? Which Rules do we follow; the posted rules, the rules others use, the rules which work, or the rules which we believe in? A conundrum in many areas of mobile today.

We approached the makers of that other Paper app on the floor of WWDC after they received their award, told them our story, and offer to discuss settling this. We even later sent a message to their CEO. Nothing. So we’ve been considering our options.

Now we see this other “Paper” app is upset that an even larger company has also chosen to name an app “Paper”, same trick, by adding more words to the end.

That’s the story of this app, welcome to the 1st, and what should be the only, Paper.

If true, this certainly makes FiftyThree’s complaints and demands seem hollow.

[Via DF]

Maria Konnokova for The New Yorker:

While the reasons for joining and using Facebook were not entirely homogenous, one factor kept emerging as the strongest motivation for use: the desire to keep in touch with friends.

I think most people would agree with this.

At the University of Texas at Austin, Gosling and one of his graduate students, Gabriella Harari, have been examining why people decide to leave Facebook. They have found three broad themes: people see Facebook as pointless and unnecessary, they see it as a problematic distraction, and they are worried about privacy.

So, the first two reasons people quit Facebook is also the reason they joined in the first place. Interesting.

Microsoft’s new CEO, Lenovo’s future, international markets, smartwatches, innovation you can’t see, Dan’s new iMacs, and more.

Sponsored by Squarespace (use code DANSENTME2 for 10% off), FreshBooks (enter AMPLIFIED in the “How Did You Hear About Us” section when you sign up for a chance to win a cake), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME214 for 25% off), and HostGator (use code DANSENTME for 30% off).

Satya Nadella in an email to Microsoft employees:

We are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organization. We are the only company with history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create broad opportunity.

Sweet Jesus, it only took him a few hours to say something completely insane.

John Gruber recently suggested that users who are annoyed by “Please Rate This App” panes should leave one-star reviews. […]

I hate seeing people lose their jobs. Last week several Macworld staffers lost their jobs in layoffs and now Time Inc. I’ve been through this and it’s not easy.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be speaking at Úll again this year. You can also check out the format change for the conference this year.

Hewlett Packard said Autonomy, the software firm it bought in 2011, overstated profits at one of its main British units by 81 percent in the year before it was sold in Britain’s biggest ever technology deal.

Little over a year after the $11.7 billion acquisition, the Silicon Valley company wrote down the value of Autonomy by $8.8 billion, accusing the management of accounting irregularities.

The former owner of Autonomy continues to deny that he overstated the profits, but it seems pretty clear cut.

Nadella was in charge of Enterprise and cloud for Microsoft, so to me, having him being named CEO seems like more of the same. I was kind of hoping for something different from Microsoft—a visionary, somebody that could really change things for them. Microsoft needs to move quickly and confidently in the mobile space to make up for what they’ve already lost.

Online retailer BiteMyApple.co has an impressive lineup of more than 60 successful Kickstarter products currently on sale. The retail site offers a wide range of accessories for the iPad, iPhone and other Apple devices.

The Truth About Cars:

That first weekend, Irv rolled 1,500 miles, returning to the dealership on Monday for his car’s first checkup. He hadn’t planned to drive through the weekend, but he says he was having too much fun to stop—up to Boston, down to Philly, and all over in between before returning to his home on Long Island. He’s been driving the P1800 enthusiastically ever since. On September 24th of last year, he hit 3 million miles.

I don’t think I’ve travelled three million miles in my lifetime, let alone in one car.

Co.Exist:

Radar trains local journalists in regions where Western reporters don’t go unless there’s a disaster, and has them file stories via text, with the hopes that the news might get some stories–and perspective–it usually ignores.

There are all kinds of stories to be told. Radar sounds like a way for (trained) citizen journalists to help get those stories told.

What is a film director? Is it just a person who yells “action” on a film set? Is he or she the one who controls the artistic, visual, and dramatic details of a film? Or does a director simply follow a script, a cookie-cutter set of rules and micromanage the gathered actors and technical crew? Are they just people that “shoot a schedule” to bring a film in on budget? The answer is, it depends on the director. […]

Clearly, the big comment of the story is the fact that Lenovo plans to surpass Apple and Samsung over time, but the story behind the acquisition is interesting too. I think the next 12 months or so will show how successful the new Motorola can be.

Obviously, this store is still in the planning stages, but I always look at what the company is doing with its stores. Simply beautiful.

Great tip from Chris Breen. I find myself needing to batch rename images from time to time, especially when I’m working on The Loop Magazine.

This is a great idea.

io9:

The 2014 Campbellian Anthology – a DRM-free ebook featuring the work of over 100 authors eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in science fiction and fantasy – is currently available for download. 860,000 words of fiction. For free (for now). Go grab it.

Available as a Mobi file for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Readers apps and as an Epub file for iPad, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, and most other e-reader devices and apps.

BuzzFeed:

I have no idea how I exist as an adult human who consumes food and didn’t know most of these, and yet here I am. No shame about not knowing these.

As a city kid, I’ve rarely seen fruits and vegetables in their natural state. Some of these are really fascinating. Bored Panda has a bunch more.

Boing Boing:

Long have I heard tell of the Cockney Rhyming Slang ATM of Hackney Road, but na’er had I chanced upon it…until today! As soon as I stuck my debit card in the machine in front of the Co-Op Grocers in Hackney Road and was asked to make a language-selection between “English” and “Cockney,” I knew I’d found it at last.

We have Chinese language ATM’s here in Vancouver but this is so much cooler.

Many thanks to Twocanoes Software for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week.

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If you manage lots of dual boot Macs, Boot Runner provides a great way to manage the OS selection. People can decide which OS to use by selecting OS X or Windows prior to logging in. Network administrators can fully customize and manage the selection screen, and can even remotely select the OS through network policy. Boot Runner also includes a scheduling feature to make sure that the Mac is booted into Windows during your maintenance window. Check out the intro video to learn more.

Winclone and Boot Runner are available for purchase and download today at twocanoes.com and have full phone, email and forum support options.

What the hell is this guy talking about!

Very sad.

Worth a read if you don’t have access to Fox via traditional means, but do have net access. Not sure if and how this applies outside the US.

I love this app. You can hum a new song into the app, so you can remember it for later. You can also write lyrics in the same window, so your song is kept together.

Some very interesting points from Ben Evans about what the future may hold.

Constructed using woods that were seized by the Feds, then returned once there was a resolution and the investigation ended, this radical Government Series II Explorer makes the perfect memento of an infamous time in Gibson history. And it’s a fierce performer in its own right.

Wow, that’s quite a swipe at the government.