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Thanks to Velocity for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. Velocity is the only speed reading app designed and developed exclusively for iOS 7. Using a well-researched speed reading technique, you can breeze through your Instapaper or Pocket queue at superhuman speeds of up to 1,000 words per minute. Speed read websites, documents, or just about any text in one of Velocity’s 3 gorgeous themes and save more time than you know what to do with. See Velocity in action.

Larson-Green, who is executive vice-president of Devices and Studios at Microsoft, said that the aim of Windows RT was “our first go at creating that more closed, turnkey experience [that Apple has on the iPad]…” but that Microsoft now has three mobile operating systems: “We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We’re not going to have three.”

People are nuts.

This was published earlier this year, but there are so many great Slash quotes, it’s worth a read.

All kinds of examples and code here.

If you are interested in travel hacking, this is a good place to get started.

So many great pictures.

These things drive me crazy.

Love it. What an innovative idea.

According to Futuremark, “when a device is suspected of breaking our rules it is delisted”. Among those that have been delisted – in other words, sent right to the bottom of Futuremark’s official performance chart and stripped of their scores – are HTC’s One and One Mini smartphones, and Samsung’s Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note III tablets.

I’m shocked Samsung would stoop to such levels.

Fantastic story, sure to inspire treasure hunters the world over.

Unless Apple makes some unexpected changes to Newsstand, it will not be helping publishers win that fight for attention. For The Magazine’s Fleishman, at least, that means it’s time to seek solutions outside the product that Apple once marketed as a great hope for publishers.

Says Fleishman: “I hooked my wagon to a star that has dimmed in Apple’s eyes.”

Jim and Dan talk about Thanksgiving Day rules, Black Friday, the value of AppleCare, how Jim keeps on top of the news, Samsung leaving Android, discounted phones, PrimeSense 3D, remote controls, Photo Stream, Jim’s robot tuning system, and more.

My Paper is a simple and easy to use RSS reader that is compatible with Feedly and Feed Wrangler.

And it’s free.

A little shocked about the National Helium Reserve part of the story.

This is such a great story, told by hockey tough guy and NHL referee, Paul Stewart.

It’s good that Apple is having a shopping event, but don’t expect half-price savings on devices or Macs.

Barley has brought its inline editing abilities to WordPress, giving a lot more people the chance to use this software. This is pretty slick.

I rather enjoyed this article. The app was made out of necessity, which is the best kind.

Anchorwoman Katie Couric, who has hosted high-profile programs on all three major U.S. television networks, will head a team of global correspondents and help shape news coverage at Yahoo Inc., the Internet company announced on Monday.

Marissa Mayer is making some bold moves. I like it.

If you’re going to interview someone for a design job that involves CSS, you should take a look at this. As much as I love what designers do with CSS, I’d fail this quickly.

Ars Technica:

“We’ve heard a good bit in this courtroom about public key encryption,” said Albright. “Are you familiar with that?”

“Yes, I am,” said Diffie, in what surely qualified as the biggest understatement of the trial.

“And how is it that you’re familiar with public key encryption?”

“I invented it.”

Nice.

Scott Adams Blog:

My father, age 86, is on the final approach to the long dirt nap (to use his own phrase). His mind is 98% gone, and all he has left is hours or possibly months of hideous unpleasantness in a hospital bed.

I’d like to proactively end his suffering and let him go out with some dignity. But my government says I can’t make that decision. Neither can his doctors. So, for all practical purposes, the government is torturing my father until he dies

I can’t imagine how painful this must be for Adams and everyone else in this situation.

Wired:

At this point, the smartwatch is a category getting ahead of itself. It’s a device that precedes its purpose. But that’s not necessarily a problem. No one really knew what Twitter was for when it started, either.

And no one really has yet, have they?

United We Ball:

Buckyballs are tiny, powerful magnetic balls and cubes that were sold as an adult desk toy. They became wildly popular after coming to market in 2009 and sold more than 2.5 million sets—until the CPSC banned future sales and, through a recall request, tried to force the product out of consumers’ hands.

This whole Buckyball saga is really odd. As the story points out, there are all kinds of products available that are “harmful” to children that the US Federal Government hasn’t banned.

The Verge:

To watch a football broadcast is to see much more than a football game. There are only about 11 minutes of actual action during a three-hour game, which means 95 percent of the time there’s something else going on. The graphics, replays, highlights, and analysis that make a football game into the at-home experience millions of people know and love — it’s all from Fox, and it’s all done on the fly. Nearly everyone on the crew says that while they broadcast the game, what they really do is make television.

I’ve seen a little of the behind the scenes chaos of an NFL game broadcast and it’s remarkable that, with so many moving pieces, it comes off as smoothly as it does.

Glenn Fleishman is going to release a book about The Magazine’s first year. You can support the effort on kickstarter.

He goes on to describe Android’s interface as being “more intuitive” than Apple’s and suggests gifting iPhone users with devices running an entirely different operating system for the holidays in the hopes that they will go along with your not-so-subtle hint and switch their entire mobile ecosystem to Google’s.

This man is out of control. For the record, Bozo has more credibility.