From the Washington Post interview, addressing a question about Apple’s longtime philosophy of simplicity:
It’s as important as it ever was. We’re a bit larger today, so we can do a bit more than we could do 10 years ago or even five years ago. But we still have, for our size, an extremely focused product line. You can literally put every product we make on this table. That really is an indication of how focused it is. I think that’s a good thing. Regardless of who you are, there’s only so many things that you can do at a very high-quality and deep, deep level — personally and in business. And so we’re not going to change that. That’s core to our model and way of thinking.
I find it interesting that Tim pulled out this familiar model of being able to put all of Apple’s products on a table top, especially in response to the reporter’s repeated attempts to get him to talk about Apple’s long-rumored car project. If Apple does make a car, that certainly will break the “all out products on one table” model.
Saturday’s Washington Post Tim Cook interview was a long, excellent read, a lot to unpack. One of the questions addressed Apple’s tax situation:
Q: What do you say in response to Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz’s comments on Bloomberg [television], where he called Apple’s profit reporting in Ireland a “fraud”?
First, here’s a link to the original video, from July 28th. No bones about it. Stiglitz is pretty direct here.
As far as parking the money overseas, Tim said:
I didn’t hear it. But if anybody said that, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Let me explain what goes on with our international taxes. The money that’s in Ireland that he’s probably referring to is money that is subject to U.S. taxes. The tax law right now says we can keep that in Ireland or we can bring it back. And when we bring it back, we will pay 35 percent federal tax and then a weighted average across the states that we’re in, which is about 5 percent, so think of it as 40 percent. We’ve said at 40 percent, we’re not going to bring it back until there’s a fair rate. There’s no debate about it. Is that legal to do or not legal to do? It is legal to do. It is the current tax law. It’s not a matter of being patriotic or not patriotic. It doesn’t go that the more you pay, the more patriotic you are.
And so what we’ve said — we think it’s fine for us to pay more, because right now we’re paying nothing on that and we leave it over there. But we — like many, many other companies do — wait for the money to come back.
And as far as paying taxes:
In the meantime, it’s important to look at what we do pay. Our marginal rate, our effective rate in the U.S. is over 30 percent. We are the largest taxpayer in the United States. And so we’re not a tax dodger. We pay our share and then some. We don’t have these big loopholes that other people talk about. The only kind of major tax credit that we get is the R&D tax credit, which is available to all companies in the United States. That’s important to know. The second thing I would point out is we have money internationally because we have two-thirds of our business there. So we earn money internationally. We didn’t look for a tax haven or something to put it somewhere. We sell a lot of product everywhere. And we want to bring it back, and we’ve been very honest and straightforward about that.
That’s some amazingly direct language, rare transparency for a CEO, though not rare for Tim Cook.
It has been 15 years since the so-called “lucky loonie” was buried at centre ice in the hockey arena during the Salt Lake City Olympics. The good-luck ritual continues at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Loonies have been stashed in the sand at the beach volleyball court, in the rowing waters, even under the green of the 18th hole on the Olympic golf course.
An Ontario man who was helping build the pools in Rio doubled his offering, placing a toonie in the lining of the competition pool — where Canada has now scored six medals.
This is one of those silly little things that make me smile whenever I read about it.
You probably heard what happened. Michael Phelps beat his friend and rival, Ryan Lochte, for the gold in the 200 individual medley, and on his call for CBC, Friedman confused the two. He had Lochte winning the race. He said Phelps did not get a medal.
“I feel like s—,” he says. “I’m not gonna lie to you. I believe that there is a certain standard that’s required to broadcast the Olympic Games. I don’t even feel that badly for myself. I feel badly that I let my network down. That’s the thing I feel the worst about.”
He is actually even more disappointed with his mistakes in the next race, after the one that went viral. We will get to that in a bit.
I watched this live and felt so bad for him. Great to see him being a stand up guy and taking full responsibility for what is, in the grand scheme of things, really not that big of a deal.
Cook described why the visibility of the job has been “shocking,” how he’s learned to deal with the scrutiny, and who he’s turned to for advice at pivotal moments.
I have so much respect for Tim. He is a humble, but driven man—he expects the best from his people at Apple and is willing to give everything he has to make sure the company is successful. You can’t ask anything more from a leader.
Doctors and patients alike have lamented that fully booked appointment schedules, the laptop’s intrusion during history-taking, billing pressures and edicts from insurance companies are squeezing kindness out of the exam room. So what exactly do we lose when we lose kindness? It may improve doctor-patient relations and patient satisfaction, but does kindness matter for patient outcomes? Can it lower the risk of hospitalization or death? Can kindness save lives?
It’s remarkable that the question even has to be asked. When I shattered my wrist in a motorcycle accident, I was appalled at how poorly the doctors treated me. I wasn’t a human being – I was just an injury that needed to be fixed. One doctor grabbed my wrist and twisted it so much, I literally punched him in the chest. “It’s broken, you idiot!” He didn’t seem to associate the injured wrist with a person on the other end of it.
Forget beach volleyball, soccer or tennis, not to mention the steeplechase or discus. Pokemon Go is challenging the Olympics for most popular game among some young Brazilians.
If you’re horrified by the idea of actually displaying your $299 (minimum) smartwatch, this genius has a solution — wear two watches, on the same wrist, at the same time. At first glance it seems like an asinine solution to a problem that could be fixed by just choosing a single watch, but as you look deeper you’ll discover: it’s still an asinine solution to a problem that could be solved by just choosing a watch.
The system is intended for those that admire the utility of Apple smartwatch, but aren’t necessarily keen on the tech-centric aesthetic. Now, you can use a shortened strap to combine two watches in typical mullet fashion — business in the front, party in the back.
Is it just me or does this seem like a really stupid idea?
Two pools at the Olympic diving center will be drained and the water replaced on Saturday, a radical measure taken five days after the pools turned green due to what officials said was a contractor’s error.
I listened to a radio piece about this the other day and apparently there is no danger to the athletes, but it’s good to see the organizers doing the right thing.
Ride hailing company Lyft rebuffed acquisition interest from General Motors Co and will raise a new funding round instead, technology website The Information reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the situation.
This is a great move from Lyft. I have little to no confidence in General Motors’ management or the products they have. Quality is certainly not a word that comes to mind when I think of GM.
Since extra-virgin olive oil is the most valuable oil category in the United States, shady producers and dealers have plenty of incentive to mess with it in hopes of reaping more profit. They defraud consumers in three main ways: by (1) diluting real extra-virgin olive oil with less expensive oils, like soybean or sunflower oil; (2) diluting high-quality olive oil with low-quality olive oil; or (3) making low-quality extra-virgin olive oil.
When the University of California–Davis researchers tested olive oil bought off the shelf in 2010, they found that 69 percent of imported “extra-virgin” samples failed to meet international standards.
This story is all kinds of depressing. Since I’ve started to learn how to cook, I’ve fallen in love with olive oil. Depressing to know that the vast majority of what I’ve been using is adulterated at the very least and most likely an out and out fake at the very worst.
Honnold is history’s greatest ever climber in the free solo style, meaning he ascends without a rope or protective equipment of any kind. Above about 50 feet, any fall would likely be lethal, which means that, on epic days of soloing, he might spend 12 or more hours in the Death Zone. On the hardest parts of some climbing routes, his fingers will have no more contact with the rock than most people have with the touchscreens of their phones, while his toes press down on edges as thin as sticks of gum. Just watching a video of Honnold climbing will trigger some degree of vertigo, heart palpitations, or nausea in most people, and that’s if they can watch them at all.
Honnold has always fascinated me. I’ve watched all of his Youtube videos and simply can’t comprehend how he can possibly do what he does. Turns out, he may literally be wired differently than the rest of us.
Om Malik and John Gruber disagree on a couple of issues including the perception of Apple executives, and whether Apple should buy Netflix. They both have good points. I’m friends with both of these guys, and they themselves are friends—it’s great watching two intelligent people having a conversation like this.
Twitter says the story posted on BuzzFeed was inaccurate, but wouldn’t say which parts of the piece were inaccurate. One former Twitter employee called the service, “A Honeypot For Assholes.”
Gary and Paul O’Donovan have revealed steak will very definitely be on the menu when it comes to celebrating reaching the Olympic final of the men’s lightweight double sculls in Rio.
The brothers from Skibbereen finished third in their semi-final earlier today and continued their trip into Irish folklore by following it up with another brilliant interview.
Watch this interview. Listen to the tone of these two young men (even if you need subtitles to understand their Irish accents). They are simply excited to be in Rio, representing their country. They are not world famous. Their event isn’t being held in prime time. There’s no NBC puff piece about them and their hardscrabble upbringing. It’s just two “lads” having a good time, eating steaks and spuds, and “pulling like dogs”. Thanks to Lorcan Roche Kelly for the link.
“We’re disappointed that ad blocking companies are punishing people on Facebook as these new attempts don’t just block ads but also posts from friends and Pages. This isn’t a good experience for people and we plan to address the issue. Ad blockers are a blunt instrument, which is why we’ve instead focused on building tools like ad preferences to put control in people’s hands.”
Earlier today, Ad blockers found a way around Facebook’s attempts to block them, but Facebook is firing back saying the ad blockers are blocking posts too. The first question is why do posts from friends and families get confused as ad content? I know Facebook makes its revenue from ads and I’m okay with that, but I’d love a way to pay them instead. If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. I don’t necessarily blame Facebook for trying to get around ad blockers because they are offering a free service (except they track and sell you).
CVS Health today is launching its own mobile payments solution that will allow customers to pay for products, pick up prescriptions, earn ExtraCare loyalty rewards, as well as pay – just by scanning the barcode in the CVS mobile app. The idea, the company explains, is to eliminate the number of steps it takes today to complete a checkout, which today is a very manual process.
I don’t even know what to say about this. Companies want to keep tabs on their customers, but there are better mobile payment solutions—of course, I’m talking about Apple Pay. I won’t use any company’s app when it comes to payments—support Apple Pay and I’m with you.
The bizarre technique has worked wonders. Santo qualified for the Olympic after winning two silver medals in the Pan American Games last year, but the pair has been forced to scale it back.
Ratings are totally absent from the iOS 10 Music app, with no option to turn them on. Currently, on iOS 9, you can view a rating or rate a track by tapping its album artwork while it’s playing, but only for tracks in your library; you can’t apply star ratings to Apple Music tracks.
I’ve noticed this too, but haven’t said anything yet. Please Apple, don’t get rid of star ratings. I use them a lot in my music lists and for auto-playlists for music that I’ve highly rated over time. I’m hoping they just haven’t turned it on the iOS beta, but will in a future update. I’ve been rating music since iTunes first came out—losing all of that now would be a shame.
Two days ago we broke it to you that Facebook had taken “the dark path,” and decided to start forcing ad-blocking users to see ads on its desktop site. We promised that the open source community would have a solution very soon, and, frankly, they’ve beaten even our own expectations. A new filter was added to the main EasyList about 15 minutes ago.
Remember, Facebook said it was going to force ads to ad-blocking users. They already figured out a way around it. Let the games begin.
Though more than 20 states have legalized the selling of marijuana for medicinal uses, there’s still a lot scientists don’t know about it. “It’s actually quite amazing how little we really know about something that has been used for thousands of years,” says Sachin Patel of Vanderbilt University who studies cannabis such as https://www.bulkcannabis.cc.
“We desperately need well-controlled unbiased large scale research studies into the efficacy of cannabis for treating disease states, which we have very little of right now. Without these studies we are basically flying blind with regard to medical marijuana in my opinion.” Products like delta 9 thc gummies are becoming increasingly popular for helping with stress, anxiety, and pain management. Check out https://d8superstore.com/brand/muha-meds for more options.
Until more research is done, it’s important for individuals to be cautious and make informed decisions about its use. People who think are addicted to marijuana or any other substances may need to seek professional help. Supportive care is offered for drug detox in Los Angeles at Method Center. Their luxury detox program ensures a comfortable and effective start to recovery.
Scientists argue that studying marijuana is safe, and researching it shouldn’t be such a difficult process. “A question that is not on the lips of researchers is whether or not the consumption of cannabis-based medicines is safe,” says Gregory Gerdeman, an Assistant Professor of Biology at Eckerd College. “In the biomedical research community, even those debating the difference between THCa and THC, it is universally understood that cannabis is a very safe, well-tolerated medicine.” So if you need cannabis products, you may consider ordering from cold lake weed delivery services.
“It is already widely understood that marijuana is valuable and safe as a palliative medicine, which undermines the tenets of the Schedule 1 status,” says Gerdeman, although for those dealing with issues like addiction with these products using the services of NUMA Los Angeles Detox can be essential to get rid of this problem. “But additionally, there are anecdotal patient reports, increasing numbers of legitimate clinical case studies, and large amounts of preclinical studies that all indicate tumor-fighting activities of cannabinoids, and with great mechanistic detail.” Gerdeman says he wants to know whether herbal marijuana is effective in cancer therapy, and if it is, for what cancer types.
