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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We’re on day who-the-heck-knows of the Android Stagefright security vulnerability, and there’s really no point keeping track of the days because no one’s going to fix it. The Android ecosystem can’t deal with security, and it won’t change until it’s too late.
Microsoft Outlook has added full Apple Watch support to its iPhone app, and it’s showing other email apps how it’s done.
Jared Newman takes Outlook for a spin and likes it. I’ve said before, Microsoft has done a great job on its iOS apps, but I’m still not a huge fan of the Mac versions.
I find most assembly lines mesmerizing. I’m completely addicted to the TV show “How it’s Made”. So any Youtube video that shows a process like this is a guaranteed view from me. This is different in that it is a homemade contraption and it is a wonder to behold. Not to mention the fact, this lucky guy has 11,000 marbles to play with.
As part of the deal it struck with the major labels for Apple Music Radio, Apple has licenses for up to five additional stations like Beats 1, without having to renegotiate with the labels. That means Apple could launch a Beats 2 station headquartered in Australia or Asia, allowing it to provide live radio around the clock (Beats 1 is only live 12 hours a day). Or Apple could take a more targeted approach and produce holiday stations.
I wonder about Apple Music’s goals for the car. Right now, SiriusXM satellite radio is the dominant pay service in cars. There are few cars made that don’t come with satellite radio capability built right in.
Is Apple looking to compete in the car? As is, they are the outsider. Your car is setup to deal with satellite radio. You’ve got presets for satellite stations, and the tuning knob makes it easy to move from station to station. Many cars allow you to access those functions without taking your hands off the steering wheel.
How does Apple Music compete here? Five stations won’t be enough if they want to compete in this way. But Apple Music does have one advantage. People bring their hardware into the car with them, plus they have the ability to customize their experience in ways that satellite radio will never be able to match.
Is CarPlay the answer? Could be. Even better, what if Apple designed their own car and had the chance to create controls designed specifically for the Apple Music experience. Now that’d be interesting.
One month after unveiling its new streaming music service, Apple has locked in 11 million trial members, company executives tell USA TODAY.
“We’re thrilled with the numbers so far,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, adding that of that sum 2 million have opted for the more lucrative family plan at $14.99 a month for up to six people.
Note that these are unpaid subscribers, folks dipping their toes in the Apple Music water. But that said, a solid start. And 2M of the 11M, or 18%, are family plan members.
Reports in Digital Music News and other outlets that monitor streaming music have indicated Apple’s intent to dominate streaming music – with a goal of 100 million subscribers, or double the total of all current services combined – despite its late entry into the field. This fall, Apple will unveil Apple Music for Android users in beta, part of CEO Tim Cook’s pledge to be platform agnostic with the service.
100 million paying subscribers? Here’s some math (please correct me if I get this wrong):
(82% * $9.99) + (18% * $14.99) = $10.89
That’s the average price per user, given 2M of 11M sign up for the Family Plan.
$10.89 x $100M = $1.09 billion per month, which is $13.07 billion in annual revenue. Not too shabby for a startup business, if they can reach that goal.
Update: Fixed a typo and the math that went along with it.
The attack, which was confirmed on the HTC One Max and Samsung’s Galaxy S5, allows a hacker to stealthily acquire a fingerprint image from an affected device because device makers don’t fully lock down the sensor.
Making matters worse, the sensor on some devices is only guarded by the “system” privilege instead of root, making it easier to target. (In other words: rooting or jailbreaking your phone can leave you at a greater risk.) Once the attack is in place, the fingerprint sensor can continue to quietly collect fingerprint data on anyone who uses the sensor.
“In this attack, victims’ fingerprint data directly fall into attacker’s hand. For the rest of the victim’s life, the attacker can keep using the fingerprint data to do other malicious things,” Zhang said. And that’s a big problem. Fingerprints might be commonplace in mobile payments and unlocking devices, but they have been used more in the past five years also for identity, immigration, and for criminal records.
Sigh. If this is true, let’s hope the manufacturers are paying attention.
It’s easy enough to view a list of sites that have cookies in Safari, but if you want to actually see the cookie and parameters used by a particular site, you’ll need to dive a bit deeper into the interface.
In a nutshell:
Navigate to a web site.
Select Show Web Inspector from the Develop menu (follow the headline link for instructions on turning on that menu if it doesn’t appear for you).
Click the Storage tab in the web pane that appears.
Click the Cookies item on the left side.
Worth taking a minute to give this a try. Kind of fascinating.
Why am I a Mac user? Because it should not take 6 hours to wipe and update a computer. My daughter asked me to completely wipe this Acer laptop, running windows 8.1, and set it back to factory default, install windows 10 and set it up for her. I have forgotten how horrible the user experience is on a windows machine. I am not inept with computers, or even windows, but I could have accomplished this task on my MacBook Pro in a fraction of the time with no headaches, no failures, and it would be completely bug free. But not with this machine, oh no. Windows won’t even accept its own updates. This. This is why I switched, and this is why I will never switch back. I don’t need to tinker. I just want my machine to do what I need it to, when I need it. /rant
Astrophysicist Dr. Brian May is recognized during a July 17, 2015 New Horizons science briefing at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. May spent a long birthday weekend with the science team, attending two morning science plenaries, a meeting with the Student Dust Counter group, and working on stereo images of Pluto with the Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet and speak with Brian at some length during one of Queen’s European tours. He is not only smart and a fantastic guitarist, he’s also very humble.
At 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima killing, by some estimates, 140,000 people, and destroying 90 percent of the city. But near its hypocenter only one building was left standing.
Seventy years later, the Genbaku Dome — now known as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial — is part of a very different city that’s home to 1.2 million residents and filled with skyscrapers, apartment buildings and streetcars.
Armed with archival photographs, Reuters photographer Issei Kato revisited some of the same locations destroyed 70 years ago in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On such a sombre day, it’s good to not only look back and remember what happened but also to look forward and see how the city has endured and prospered. The before and after pictures are truly heartening.
When he got to the hospital, Robson told staff that he had been tracking his heart rate on the watch, and had two weeks of back data. “Going in with the data certainly reduced my stay by a couple of days,” he told MedCity News. It also assured that he could have the operation nearly immediately.
Because the hospital could check his Apple Watch data, Robson did not have to wear a heart monitor for a week before the medical team at Scripps Mercy could confirm the diagnosis of sick sinus syndrome.
These are the types of things that Apple Watch can do. It is truly amazing how this device has changed people’s lives.
More than 100 IBM employees occupy Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., campus helping build iPhone and iPad apps for IBM customers such as Citigroup Inc., Sprint Corp. and Japan Post Holdings Co.
Things are looking different inside IBM, too. Once a company of blue suits, Wintel PCs and BlackBerrys, Big Blue is on track to become the world’s largest corporate user of MacBooks. On Wednesday, the company will apply lessons it has learned to introduce a new service intended to help other companies adopt Macs.
This is an important relationship for both companies. It’s really bizarre how things change so dramatically over time though.
Apple’s latest mobile OS is now on 85 percent of all iOS devices, according to Apple’s App Store Distribution page. That figure refers specifically to all iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches that visited Apple’s App Store on Monday, August 3.
And what about iOS rival Android? The latest flavor, namely Android Lollipop, is on just 18 percent of all devices running Google’s mobile OS, according to the latest Android Developers Dashboard.
I feel less smug about these adoption numbers than I feel sorry for the mess adoption is for Android users.
Not just any leather, but the luxury full grain leather used to craft all of Pad & Quill’s handmade goods. So we turned to Victorio, a 4th generation Italian leather tannery artisan. His tannery uses legendary soft-tumbled method to transform full grain American steer hides into a luxury leather watch band that will hug your wrist with pliable comfort, while being as rugged and durable as your active life demands.
I just love the quality of Pad & Quill products. I own a couple of their bags and they are top notch.
