Fortune:

Ad-blocking software is estimated to cost websites nearly $22 billion in ad revenue this year.

Software that blocks digital ads will cost online publishers nearly $22 billion in advertising revenue this year, according to a new study.

That figure comes by way of a new study from Adobe Systems Page Fair, an Irish startup that caters to websites and advertisers looking to avoid those so-called “ad-blocking” practices.

As a content creator, this is a disturbing statistic (and one I take with a truckload of salt because of the inherent bias in the study’s creator) but it’s a problem brought on by the industry itself. If ads hadn’t gotten so intrusive and obnoxious, perhaps their intended recipients wouldn’t be working so hard to avoid them. And it’s only going to get worse for both sides.

Venturebeat:

The startup, backed by a rare lineup — Tim Cook, Schmidt’s Family Foundation, Y Combinator — launched preorders for its first product, a shower-head, on Kickstarter last night. The size of Nebia’s seed round was not shared, but Y Combinator is known to invest at least $120,000 by default. Nebia aims to raise at least $100,000 more on Kickstarter.

But Nebia isn’t just out to create some pricy shower system. CEO Philip Winter claims the device uses 70 percent less water than a traditional shower, and he hopes to scale the product to a point where it’s cheap enough to bring to developing markets.

I’ve been very vocal about my dislike of Kickstarter projects in general but I love showers even more than I hate Kickstarter. This idea is very clever, looks great and, as someone who is always looking for a better shower experience (and to use less water), it’s something I am very interested in. I’ve backed this project.

NASA:

As the third brightest object in the sky the space station is easy to see if you know when to look up.

NASA’s Spot The Station service gives you a list of upcoming sighting opportunities for thousands of locations worldwide, and will let you sign up to receive notices of opportunities in your email inbox or cell phone. The space station looks like a fast-moving plane in the sky, but it is dozens of times higher than any airplane and traveling thousands of miles an hour faster. It is bright enough that it can even be seen from the middle of a city!

Obviously, the times of overflight vary and you likely won’t see every sighting but it is still kind of cool to get an email or SMS, go outside, look up and see the bright ISS transiting your night sky.

The Verge:

There was a time in the not-too-distant past where you couldn’t just open Spotify, your favorite torrent client, or iTunes and get hold of a song you wanted to hear. No, you had to obtain actual physical goods that they sold in things called stores. That is, of course, unless you were a member of the Columbia House music club.

Mail-order convenience was big back then, and the idea of a subscription music service that came to your door was pretty appealing. But times change and mediums mutate, and now The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Columbia House has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was an ugly ending. Revenues for Columbia House peaked in 1996 at $1.4 billion, but last year the company declared net revenue of just $17 million.

Living in the backwoods of Nova Scotia as a kid without much money and no access to a record store, Columbia House was the only way many of us could get the latest CDs and cassette tapes. And, getting 12 albums for a penny also may have been my first lesson in “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”.

Nothing like hearing the vision directly from the top man at Google.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Chrome and App, said the company developed Brillo, a stripped down version of Android that will run on battery-powered connected devices and Weave, a communications standard that will let developers build programs that allow these connected devices to communication.

Does this mean malware can now infest your home?

Business Insider:

Google just announced a brand new operating structure.

It is now a subsidiary of a company called Alphabet, which has Larry Page as CEO. The CEO of Google is Sundar Pichai.

“Alphabet Inc. will replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights. Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet.”

This is blockbuster news breaking as we speak.

From Kari (Mrs PQ):

Pad & Quill is passionate about designing and crafting unique leather bags, accessories and cases for Apple products. We employ the best leathers, canvas and various materials to make products that are beautiful, functional, durable and ageless. Our craftsmen exemplify the heart and soul of our company and we celebrate their skill by inviting each artisan to sign each Leather Bag or Apple Watch Bands as it is completed for you, our customer.

Now Nokia boss Rajeev Suri is planning a comeback. He must wait until late 2016 before he can consider re-entering the handset business – after a non-compete deal with Microsoft expires – but preparations are underway.

The company has already dipped its toe into the consumer market; it has launched an Android tablet, the N1, which went on sale in January in China and days ago unveiled a “virtual-reality camera” – heralding it as the “rebirth of Nokia”.

Like many of us, I was a longtime Nokia user, before the company dropped the ball and then kicked it away. I fear for their new business if the plan is to enter an already crowded market with another Android device.

Horace Dediu:

It’s much more likely that Apple converts existing smartphone users while Android converts first-time users.

Brilliant.

Ben Bajarin tackles upgrades, Android switchers, and China in addressing Wall St. concerns over how much growth is left for iPhone.

The Silicon Valley automaker is losing more than $4,000 on every Model S electric sedan it sells, using its reckoning of operating losses, and it burned $359 million in cash last quarter in a bull market for luxury vehicles. The company on Wednesday cut its production targets for this year and next. Chief Executive Elon Musk said he’s considering options to raise more capital, and didn’t rule out selling more stock.

Elon is an interesting guy. He set some aggressive goals for the company that Wall Street isn’t convinced he can meet.

Samsung closed the gap with Apple when it launched a touch-based fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge, but a recent report claims that fingerprint sensors that are used in Android smartphones are not as secure as TouchID fingerprint sensor used in the recent iPhones.

Samsung’s implementation isn’t as good as Apple’s? Shocking.

A very thorough article at The Tennessean about Gibson, a company we know that sells guitars, but is turning into a consumer electronics company.

Petapixel:

After another stage performance in “Hamlet” this past weekend, actor Benedict Cumberbatch stopped outside the Barbican theater in London to make a request of his fans: he wants theater-goers to put away their cameras during his performances.

Speaking to the large crowd of fans gathered outside the theater, Cumberbatch politely says that seeing cameras pointed at him during the play is “mortifying” and that there’s “nothing less supportive or enjoyable” for the actors on stage.

It’s just as bad for the performer as it can be for the audience. Nothing ruins an event more than having a dozen cell phone screens brightly ruining your view of what is happening on stage.

Wired:

While streaming services provide endless ways to introduce listeners to unfamiliar music, the sheer number of them has fragmented the market. As we listen to music more each year, radio still holds the crown in one very important regard. “Radio continues to be the #1 source of discovery for new music,” says David Bakula, a Nielsen analyst.

According to Nielsen’s findings, this is true even for younger listeners, the prime audience for streaming services. “For younger millennials in particular, discovery is more and more driven by social media and other digital formats, but that’s still supplemental to radio,” says Bakula.

To me, Beats 1 is the most interesting aspect of the very uneven Apple Music. I tend to listen to music I already know and like but, listening to the Beats 1 DJs, I’m more likely to hear, listen to, and want to learn more about artists I’ve never heard of before.

Macworld:

Customers of the oft-criticized security and performance program MacKeeper have until Nov. 30 to file a claim for reimbursement, the result of a proposed class-action suit settlement.

Those who bought MacKeeper before July 8 are eligible, according to the settlement website where claims can be filed.

The class action suit accused MacKeeper’s original developer, ZeoBIT, of deceptively advertising the program and making false claims about what it could fix.

Half a million US customers are eligible to get at least some money back. If you know anyone who bought this crapware, please let them know about this settlement.

Time and Date:

The Perseid meteor shower, one of the brighter meteor showers of the year, occur every year between July 17 and August 24. The shower tends to peak around August 9-13.

The best time to view the Perseids, or most other meteor showers is when the sky is the darkest. Most astronomers suggest that depending on the Moon’s phase, the best time to view meteor showers is right before dawn.

I’m headed out later to shoot the meteor shower and test some photo gear tonight.

KelbyOne:

Each year, photographers around the world gather together on the same day to explore an area, photograph, share those photos with one another, and hopefully make some new friends! This year that happens on Saturday, October 3rd.

I’ve been a Walk Leader since the beginning and always have a great time hanging out with photographers of all skill levels. It’s a really cool idea to think that you and thousands of other photographers around the world are all shooting on the same day. If there is one in your area, go for the walk. If there isn’t, it’s not hard to organize a walk yourself.

Outside:

In Jay Blahnik’s first extended interview since Apple hired him to help launch the Watch, the company’s director of fitness for health technologies insists activity tracking is overemphasized, elite athletes have a sitting problem, and the real breakthrough apps for the device will probably be created outside of Cupertino.

You have to read between the lines sometimes but it’s pretty obvious Blahnik isn’t just a talking head and that he really wants the fitness aspect of the Apple Watch to be a big deal.

The Atlantic:

Today’s discerning beer drinkers might be convinced that America’s watery, bland lagers are a recent corporate invention. But the existence of American beers that are, as one industry executive once put it, “less challenging,” has a much longer history. In fact, Thomas Jefferson, himself an accomplished homebrewer, complained that some of his country’s beers were “meagre and often vapid” nearly 200 years ago.Jefferson never lived to see the worst of it. Starting in about the mid-1800s, American beer has been defined by its dullness. Why? The answer lies in a combination of religious objections to alcohol, hordes of German immigrants, and a bunch of miners who just wanted to drink during their lunch break, says Ranjit Dighe, a professor of economics at the State University of New York at Oswego, and some people even prefer to drink something smooth like champagne, so learning if is champagne gluten free is also important for this.However, the influx of German immigrants in the 19th century brought with them a tradition of lager brewing. While lagers require refrigeration and longer fermentation times compared to ales, they produce a lighter, smoother beer that appealed to the American palate at the time. This led to the dominance of lager-style beers in the American market.Additionally, the rise of industrialization and the working class’s demand for affordable and accessible beer further fueled the popularity of mass-produced, uninspired brews. Beer became more of a commodity than an artisanal craft, leading to a decline in quality and variety.

There are some amazing craft beers in America and elsewhere but the major brewery beer – Bud, Coors, Molson and the like – are quite simply not worth drinking.

Thanks to Macminicolo for sponsoring The Loop this week. For ten years, Macminicolo has been hosting thousands of Mac minis in a high end data center. The minis are used for all sorts of services. The Mac mini “has become Apple’s most popular server system.”

Readers of The Loop can signup for a twelve month trial for just $10/mo. Come see what a Mac mini can do. Signup here.

Comedy Central:

On Jon’s last episode of The Daily Show, he revisits The Best F#@king News Team Ever, gets a send-off from his top political targets and says goodbye after 16 years as host.

In case you missed it.

This is an homage to some great icon creation efforts of yesteryear and, if you’ve got an icon to create, a great source of inspiration.

[Via iOS Dev Weekly]

Ars Technica:

If you partake in Microsoft’s free upgrade offer from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10, Windows Media Center will be removed without warning. In its place, a new app called Windows DVD Player has been added to the Windows Store. It costs the princely sum of £11.59, or $14.99/€14,89 if you live in the terrifyingly parched wastes outside Blighty.

Microsoft doesn’t exactly hide the fact that Windows 10 forcibly deprecates Media Center, but the information isn’t in the most obvious of locations either. If you visit the Windows 10 upgrade website, and then click the “Windows 10 specifications” link in the small print at the bottom of the page, there’s a big list of deprecated features. Media Center is the main one, but you’ll be dismayed to hear that Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Hearts have also been removed.

Now, the good news: if your computer had Media Center before the upgrade (most versions of Windows 7, or Windows 8/8.1 with Media Center), you will be credited with a free copy of Windows DVD Player. In practice, this means that most people upgrading from Windows 7 will have access to the Windows DVD Player app for free, while most Windows 8 upgraders won’t. Likewise, if you bought a full Windows 10 Home or Pro licence, or a new Windows 10 computer, you won’t be eligible to download the DVD Player app for free.

What the heck is Microsoft thinking? This latest trend is a troubling money grab. Smacks of desperation.

Kirk McElhearn, writing on his blog:

Many record labels and artists who sell music on the iTunes Store direct their fans and customers to Apple’s store through links on their websites. However, since Apple Music went live, these links no longer work correctly.

Instead of sending someone to the iTunes Store, where they can buy an album, these links redirect to the Apple Music section of iTunes, or of the Music app on iOS (if the user has Apple Music turned on.)

The same thing occurs if you copy a link from the iTunes Store and use that link, or share it with someone; that link sends people not to the store, but to Apple Music. And, if the album in question isn’t available for streaming, then this link just goes to the main New page in Apple Music.

When I first read this, I was skeptical. A bit of back and forth with Kirk, and I am a believer.

Here’s an experiment I ran. I went to the iTunes Store, picked an album, copied the link, pasted the link in a text. I then clicked on the link in several setups:

• On my Mac running the latest El Capitan beta, I got the album in the iTunes Store in Safari, but I got sent to Apple Music when I opened the link in Chrome.
• On my iPhone running the latest iOS 9 Beta, I got Apple Music.
• On my iPad running iOS 8.4, I got Apple Music.

Remember, this link started as an iTunes Store link. A link that was provided by Apple, not a link I created.

Something funky is happening. Kirk has his finger on it. Something is broken, though it is not clear exactly what is happening. It’s not simply a beta issue, as I got sent to Apple Music from my iPad running the latest public non-beta iOS release. Kirk has a machine running Yosemite and he is consistently getting sent to Apple Music.

Hate to see this.

Taptronome is a beautifully executed metronome for iOS.

Start off by tapping on the screen to set the tempo. As you tap, your tempo is shown in beats per minute, along with the tempo marking (like adagio or allegro). Once you settle on a tempo, you can tweak it by sliding up (to increase) or down (to decrease) on the screen. You can adjust the time signature (3/4, 4/4, 7/8, etc) by swiping to the left or right.

Once you’ve got things just so, double-tap to start the metronome. A series of tones starts with an initial accent beat, then once per beat through the end of the measure. There’s also a flashing sequence of vertical bars, one per beat, as well, so you can use this in an environment where a live metronome is not appropriate (or not loud enough to be heard).

As I mentioned, Taptronome is free. How do they do it? Volume.

(Have I mentioned how much I’d really love a rimshot emoji?)

Actually, the free version of Taptronome is iAd supported. There’s an ad-free version for $2.99. If you’ve got the need and the cash, you can find Taptronome Pro here.

Google Inc and Samsung Electronics Co will release monthly security fixes for Android phones, a growing target for hackers, after the disclosure of a bug designed to attack the world’s most popular mobile operating system.

Sounds a lot like the weekly security updates Microsoft did (do?) for Windows.

Samsung Vice President Rick Segal acknowledged that his company could not force the telecommunications carriers that buy its devices in bulk to install the fixes and that some might do so only for higher-end users.

Then what’s the point?

Jim talks with Dan’s about his new Apple Watch, the latest Android vulnerability and the concerning state of Android security, iOS adoption rate, the changing devices we use to connect to the Internet, Lenny Kravitz’s unintentional exposure, and more.

The Ampeg SVT-VR Bass Amplifier plug-in is an exacting emulation of the legendary, 300-watt, all-tube behemoth used by everyone from Bootsy Collins to the late Chris Squire of Yes, while the Ampeg SVT-3 Pro Bass Amplifier plug-in models the tube/solid-state design and extended tone shaping of the rackmount modern classic.

Brainworx and UA do a great job with these instrument plug-ins. I have a number of them and they’re all top quality.