Uncategorized

The Bundle of Bundles: $147 of software for $47

Written by

Many thanks to Mighty Deals for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. There are bundles and there are bundles. And then, well, then there are bundles of bundles.

In this Mighty Deal’s case, however, it feels like we have a bundle that consists of bundles of bundles! Confused yet? Don’t be. Just know that this is one of the biggest bundle deals ever! With literally thousands of high-quality elements for creative designers, this Bundle Storm pretty much has it all!

Stock photos! Vector images! Backgrounds! Patterns! Themes! Gradients! Actions! Icons! Buttons! Infographics! Why, there’s even tools to quickly create your own mascot!

You can also check out the Full Smashing Library Deal.

The Loop Magazine Issue 9: Chasing Eddie Van Halen’s “Brown Sound”

Written by

In this issue, Alex Vollmer describes his 20 year obsession with Eddie Van Halen’s famous “Brown Sound” guitar tone; Matt Gemmell reminds us that everything we do online can affect our reputation; Peter Cohen talks about how he got started with the Mac 27 years ago; Steven Aquino is a sports fanatic and technology has made his hobby better; and Dr. Robert Carter tells us how Apple’s commitment to accessibility has changed his life.

You can download The Loop Magazine free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. You also get a free 7-day trial when you subscribe.

The Loop issue 9 grey gradient

Wall calendar that never needs replacing

Written by

This is clever, though imperfect. The calendar frame slides to properly portray the current month. There are no labels for days of the week (like a watch with no numbers), and every month has 31 days, so you have to say the little rhyme (30 days hath September…) to remind yourself when the next month starts.

Still, very clever.

Amplified: Giant Hand

Written by

Jim and Dan discuss the Chromecast app being blocked by Google, the New York Times getting hacked, and Apple TVs getting more and more channels.

Sponsored by Mailchimp and Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME8 for 25% off).

How to make your own slow jams

Written by

Over the past week or so, we’ve posted links to slowed down versions of songs by Frank Zappa and Dolly Parton that have been making their way around the net. This post on kottke.org walks you through the process of slowing down your own music.

Here’s the formula for slowing or speeding up a recording to shift the pitch but generally stay in tune:

(2 ^ (semitones change/12) – 1) *100 = Percent Change

If you want to drop two semitones, you shift the speed down by 12.2462 percent; drop three, you shift by 18.9207 percent, which significantly changes the track. To imitate a 45 RPM record played at 33 1/3, that’s about 25.926, but very few records still sound like something a person actually made at this speed.

There are a series of examples that show off the results. All the examples were created using Audacity. Well done.

The Onion on why Miley Cyrus was the top story on CNN

Written by

It’s a good question. And the answer is pretty simple. It was an attempt to get you to click on CNN.com so that we could drive up our web traffic, which in turn would allow us to increase our advertising revenue.

Great answer. It also explains the shitty tech stories we read everyday.

NASA remembers Neil Armstrong

Written by

Famed Apollo 11 moonwalker Neil Armstrong died one year ago today and NASA is remembering the iconic astronaut with a touching music video tribute.

He truly inspired a generation.

Oscar Wilde on Art

Written by

A true artist takes no notice whatever of the public. The public are to him non-existent. He has no poppied or honeyed cakes through which to give the monster sleep or sustenance. He leaves that to the popular novelist.

I’m speaking at FutureStack; get 50% off registration

Written by

In the future, nothing is impossible. FutureStack 2013 is an opportunity for disruptive Developers, innovative Technologists and world-changing Creatives to imagine, build and help craft the future of Modern Software. Big ideas aren’t just welcome — they’re required.

I’ll be speaking at the FutureStack conference, which will be held in San Francisco in October. There are a lot of very smart people on the speakers list and some great sessions. If you’re interested in going to the conference, you can get 50% off the registration fee because you know me.

Infinite State

Written by

First, it takes three months to understand a new job. Until those 90 days are over, you don’t really know what hand you’ve been dealt. Second, it takes approximately three years before you’ll become bored with your current gig. While I can’t point you to the definitive research paper that confirms this hypothesis, I have been stumbling around Silicon Valley for a couple of decades and my advice hasn’t changed: 90 days to understand the new gig, three years before you’re bored with it.

Interesting article from Michael Lopp. I never really thought about it like that before, but maybe that’s because I’ve been doing the same job for 20 years.

The Bundle of Bundles: $147 of software for $47 [Sponsor]

Written by

There are bundles and there are bundles. And then, well, then there are bundles of bundles.

In this Mighty Deal’s case, however, it feels like we have a bundle that consists of bundles of bundles! Confused yet? Don’t be. Just know that this is one of the biggest bundle deals ever! With literally thousands of high-quality elements for creative designers, this Bundle Storm pretty much has it all!

Stock photos! Vector images! Backgrounds! Patterns! Themes! Gradients! Actions! Icons! Buttons! Infographics! Why, there’s even tools to quickly create your own mascot!

You can also check out the Full Smashing Library Deal.

Elementary OS

Written by

elementary OS is a free replacement for Windows on the PC and OS X on the Mac. It comes with what you’d expect, like a fast web browser and an app store with thousands of apps. Plus some things you may not expect, like free updates and no known viruses.

I don’t know a lot about it, but it looks like OS X. I’m also not sure where the “thousands of apps” came from.

Mini-donut beer

Written by

The Stillwater brewery teamed up with Dan and David Thiesen, co-owners of the fair’s Ball Park Café, to create the beer. It will have a warm tan color, like the exterior of a mini donut, and a sweet, malty taste. As an added touch, it will be served in a glass with cinnamon and sugar on the rim.

This just might be crazy enough to be good!

Google cripples Chromecast

Written by

According to AllCast developer Koushik Dutta, the most recent Chromecast firmware update not only breaks the functionality third-party apps were using to stream local media and other stuff that doesn’t have built-in Chromecast support but breaks it on purpose.

It’s like they don’t want people to buy it.

F-Sim Space Shuttle

Written by

Many thanks to F-Sim Space Shuttle for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. F-Sim Space Shuttle is a fun and highly realistic flight simulator for iOS. Your goal is to land one of the most amazing aircrafts ever built: the Space Shuttle Orbiter. Flight dynamics and the head-up display are simulated in great detail and accuracy. During descent the orbiter is an extremely heavy, unpowered glider, so there’s only one chance to get it right. Air speeds two times faster and glide slopes seven times steeper than a typical airliner approach make for a unique challenge.

Landing a space shuttle is not easy, but there are several landing aids and tutorials that will help you make your first safe landing. Every landing is rated, and more experienced pilots can try a perfect landing or add more challenges (night approaches, crosswind landings, system failures, and much more). A landing analysis screen shows how you performed and how you can improve future landings. You’ll also get a score that can be uploaded to Game Center. You can watch breathtaking replays of your flight from different camera angles and even record your replays to the camera roll in full HD.

Apple opposes Feds new proposal in e-book case

Written by

The United States offered to ease the terms of a proposed civil injunction against Apple Inc for conspiring to raise e-book prices, but the company said the revised proposal is still designed to “inflict punishment” and must be rejected.

Sounds to me like Apple is in this for the long haul.

Samsung creates horrible ad

Written by

Samsung might have a 10-figure advertising budget, but it still managed to create an ad with such bad acting (and horribly sexist undertones) that it was pulled shortly after being spotted–and relentlessly mocked–by Reddit members Thursday.

It’s just painful to watch.

Pandora not concerned about Apple’s iTunes Radio

Written by

Peter Kafka:

Kennedy also dismissed concerns about Apple’s impending iTunes Radio launch, which will directly compete with his service. This one would be easier to take at face value if Pandora’s PR machinery wasn’t working so hard to downplay Apple’s entry.

But, for the record, Kennedy repeated the lines he has always used to describe competition in the past. “We’ve now been around for eight years. We’ve seen competitors large and small enter the market and, in some cases, exit the market,” he said. “I’ve never seen an analysis that identifies an effect from any competitor … we don’t see the picture changing.”

Yet Pandora is removing the 40 hour listening limit for mobile users two weeks before Apple introduces iTunes Radio. Pandora may not have seen any effect from previous competition, but they’ve never faced Apple before.

BlackBerry, Nokia and Microsoft never thought they’d see any effect from Apple either. You see where that got them.

Apple buys map app, Embark

Written by

We don’t know how much Apple paid for the several-person team it acquired very recently. But we heard from people knowledgeable about the deal that the company plans to directly integrate Embark’s technology into Apple Maps.

Nice scoop for Jessica Lessin.

App Cubby changes it name to Contrast

Written by

So App Cubby is no more, but the people are the same. David Barnard is one of the good guys in the development scene who cares about his customers and the apps he makes. He’s showcasing a new app called Perfect Weather on the Contrast Web site.

ReadQuick for iPhone and iPad

Written by

ReadQuick helps you read faster than ever before. Designed for the iPad, this app helps you speed read your way through your reading list. ReadQuick displays the articles of your choice one word at a time at a pace you set. It is the only app that teaches you how to speed read while getting through your daily reading.

It has support for Pocket, Instapaper and a Featured, as well as giving you your reading stats.

Stolen photo wins Samsung photo contest

Written by

Due to a friend’s tip, he discovered one of his photos as winning entry on Samsung Camera’s photo contest „Live the moment“ on Facebook. Horizontally flipped, slightly cropped and digitally altered with an instagram filter, a user submitted the photo as his own to the contest via his instagram profile – and won. Samsung Camera made a congratulatory shout out on Facebook, including the picture.