Uncategorized

TextExpander

Thanks to TextExpander for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop.

Typing the same things over and over? Get TextExpander from Smile. You’ll save time and tedium by using short abbreviations to insert frequently-typed text. Use it for email addresses, company names, boilerplate paragraphs — there’s even special snippet libraries for correcting typos or coding HTML. The more you use TextExpander, the more uses you’ll find for it. Get a free demo of TextExpander: if you’re not using it, you’re wasting time.

Jawbone offers Up customers a refund

Mat Smith for Engadget: While Jawbone attempts to fix the handful of substantial issues plaguing its new Up fitness band, it’s now announced that it will begin giving free refunds to dissatisfied customers — and you can even keep hold … Continued

Justice asks judge to postpone AT&T/T-Mobile case

Brent Kendall for the Wall Street Journal: In a setback for AT&T Inc., a Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge Friday the agency wants to postpone its antitrust case seeking to block the acquisition of T-Mobile USA. The request, … Continued

Why QR codes aren’t catching on

Amy Gahran for CNN: Archrival, a research group that focuses on youth marketing, surveyed 500 students at 24 colleges and universities across the United States. They found that although about 80% of students owned a smartphone and had previously seen … Continued

Eight Ferraris Crash

Bloomberg:

Eight Ferraris and a Lamborghini were part of a 14-car crash in Japan yesterday that wrecked more than $1 million of vehicles.“The accident occurred when the driver of a red Ferrari was switching from the right lane to the left and skidded,” said Mitsuyoshi Isejima, executive officer for Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Expressway Traffic Police unit. “It was a gathering of narcissists.” The drivers were aged between 37 and 60 years old, he said.

When Shawn King showed me this, I almost cried. There is also a video of the aftermath.

Netflix boss: ‘We got overconfident’

Julianne Pepitone, for CNNMoney: “We did so many difficult things this year that we got overconfident,” Hastings said. “Our big obsession for the year was streaming, the idea that ‘let’s not die with DVDs.’” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ comments came … Continued

PayPal regrets Regretsy kerfuffle

Regretsy, the “fail blog of hand crafts,” recently notified users that it wouldn’t be able to give donations as part of its Christmas gift fund-raising effort because the program ran afoul of payment service PayPal’s terms of service. Regretsy explained … Continued

A look inside Heineken’s new US headquarters

Business Insider: “Some of the concepts we wanted were transparency, openness, representing a very progressive upscale, and a feeling of having one Heineken,” said Heineken VP of Business Integration John Kennedy. “So it’s very tied in with design elements with … Continued

Dell dumps Android-based Streak 7

Electronista: Dell on Monday confirmed that it had stopped selling the Streak 7. The tablet is no longer available online and is withdrawing just months after Dell axed the Streak 5. In a statement, it said it would still be … Continued

Note to RIM re: Playbooks

Hey, RIM – if you’re wondering what to do with all those unsold Playbooks, maybe it’s time consider how Atari handled its glut of E.T. cartridges.

Fantastical

I’d like to thank Fantastical for sponsoring this week’s RSS on The Loop.

Fantastical is the Mac calendar you’ll actually enjoy. Create events with simple sentences like “Go to lunch with John on Tuesday” or “Summer vacation 6/9-6/16.” Easily locate and search for your events with Fantastical’s beautiful and easy to navigate calendar. Fantastical works with iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, and Outlook and is compatible with OS X Lion and Snow Leopard.

Try Fantastical now for free, or purchase it from the Flexibits Store or on the Mac App Store for only $19.99.

Pablo Escobar’s cartel spent $2,500 a month for rubber bands to wrap cash

But cash flow remained absurd, with revenues of $3 billion in 1983 and $2.3 billion in 1984, netting Escobar alone at least $1.3 billion in profit.Around this time he bought a Learjet to fly cash out of the U.S., and the Cartel’s expenses included $2,500 per month for rubber bands for bricks of cash.

That’s a lot of rubber bands.

Drunk RIM employees disrupt flight

The Star: George Campbell, 45, of Conestogo, Ont., and Paul Alexander Wilson, 38, of Kitchener, pleaded guilty to one charge of mischief in Richmond Provincial Court on Wednesday. They were each given suspended sentences and one year’s probation, and ordered … Continued

The Fisker Karma Hybrid car

Ian Hamilton: But a roof with solar panels that help extend the range of your vehicle? Instant feedback so I can tell exactly how much my driving style impacts my mileage? An electric car that feels perfectly smooth as you … Continued

American Airlines files for bankruptcy

American Airlines and its parent company are filing for bankruptcy protection as they try to cut costs and unload massive debt built up by years of high fuel prices and labor struggles. There will no impact on travelers for now.

∞ Fantastical [Sponsor]

Fantastical is the Mac calendar you’ll actually enjoy. Create events with simple sentences like “Go to lunch with John on Tuesday” or “Summer vacation 6/9-6/16.” Easily locate and search for your events with Fantastical’s beautiful and easy to navigate calendar. … Continued

∞ Examining bitcoin currency

Bitcoin, the preferred currency of the drug server Silk Road, is on the decline. Benjamin Wallace examines what led to its creation and its downfall.

∞ The illusion of information choice

Frugal Dad has posted an interesting infographic that shows just how consolidated news, information and entertainment is in the United States. The results are truly astonishing: six megacorporations control 90 percent of what we read, watch, or listen to. It’s … Continued

∞ Reading the unreadable on a news site

Brent Simmons on trying to read a news story: I was there because I just wanted to read something. Words. Black text on a white background, more-or-less. And what I saw — at a professional publication, a site with the … Continued