Fantastic article from Shawn Blanc. I’ve spent far too much time working and not enough time enjoying life.

James Cook:

Here is how it works: When someone using iCloud Voicemail is unable to take a call, Siri will answer instead of letting the call go to a standard digital audio recorder.

iCloud Voicemail can relay information about where you are and why you can’t pick up the phone to certain people. But the coolest feature of the service is that Siri will transcribe any incoming voicemails, just as it does with anything else you say to it.

This makes sense to me. Google’s been doing this for quite a while now, but the service is surprisingly bad, considering how good Google voice is. Hopefully Apple will be able to figure out how to make the service work reliably.

I haven’t seen this in action, but it sounds cool.

Struggling to return strong profits, Samsung has slashed the retail price of its flagship smartphones — the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge — by €100. After the deduction, the revised cost of the 32GB variant Galaxy S6 is €599, whereas its Galaxy S6 Edge counterpart will slightly break the bank at €699. The smartphones were launched just four months ago.

[…]

The company is also rumored to launch two new smartphones, namely the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5 in the coming days.

Throw shit at the wall and see what sticks.

This is very cool. Great find by Tina Roth Eisenberg.

Brett Terpstra:

My point is, optimism is not the shining light of the enlightened human being. I’m tired of reading “inspirational” quotes on Facebook about how optimism is a goal we should all strive toward. Optimism and pessimism are not light and dark sides, they’re complementing halves of the same token. We need each other, you and I.

Interesting read.

Eddie is just such a great player.

My thanks to Hullo for sponsoring The Loop this week. You already know the ergonomics of your desktop workstation are important; have you considered your sleep ergonomics? Hullo customer Matt writes:

“I’m kind of shocked myself at how big a difference it’s made, and surprised to find myself writing one of those seemingly overenthusiastic reviews, but Hullo deserves it. So worth it—the ability to precisely shape the pillow so that it supports my neck just right is something I’ll never want to give up!”

Check out Hullo for 60 nights. If you don’t like it, just send it back for a refund.

Globenewswire:

Apple Pay usage in the US is growing, driven by both increased frequency of transactions and the expanding base of iPhone 6 owners, according to The Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) Apple Pay Tracker, which interviewed 500 iPhone 6 and 6+ owners between May 29 and June 15, 2015. Forty-two percent of US Apple 6/6+ owners reported having used Apple Pay, virtually identical to the proportions reported in two previous waves of the study conducted in February and April 2015. “While the proportion of users has remained stable, the denominator has grown through new iPhone and Apple Watch sales and the upgrade cycle. We’ve also seen the average number of transactions increase both in-store and in-app,” says Marianne Berry, Managing Director of ACG’s Payment Insights practice.

So the proportion of iPhone 6 users using Apple Pay is staying constant, but as the number of iPhone 6 users increases, Apple Pay use increases proportionately.

Logical.

Stephen Hackett, writing for 512 Pixels:

A friend of mine recently gave me a stack of old Apple documents, and included were scripts for three Apple-approved radio ads pushing the Apple IIc for the holiday season of 1984.

The three ads — titled 20 Gifts, Christmas Card and Perfect Present — extol the virtues of the machine, including its compatibility with programs written for the IIe. Dealers also promised easy credit and help with the purchase of accessories such as a modem or mouse.

I wonder what else was in that stack.

BatteryBox:

If you’re a MacBook user, you’re losing an average of 1 hour of total battery life by using Chrome. Firefox is a little better, but Safari is the clear winner. You’ll want to use Safari if you want to get the most battery out of your laptop.

Wow! An hour of laptop life is a huge difference. There’s a lot more to the study, worth a scan.

A great read from Jeffrey Zeldman. I especially liked this:

(Hint: if you’re thinking about leaving your job, you probably want to.)

If you ever wondered what swear words are popular around America, this story maps it out for you—literally.

[Via Kottke]

Great app. I’ve been using Reeder for years.

Using insights from our more than 500 million Shutterstock downloads, discover which emotions businesses, marketing agencies, and media organizations are using to design an ongoing relationship with their customers.

I’m not a fan of infographics, but I did find this fascinating.

Are you a metalhead or a bot?

Brilliant.

As security researcher Nicholas Weaver put it in a (now deleted) tweet, ”Imagine if Windows patches had to pass through Dell and your ISP before they came to you? And neither cared? That is called Android.”

The way Android users get updates is just so screwed up.

I’ve been playing with a replacement calculator for the Mac. Magic Number has been out for a while, but is new to me. There is an incredible amount of functionality built into the calculator, yet it is incredibly easy to use.

To get a basic sense of Magic Number, spend a few minutes going through the Getting Started page. Note that a number of the screen shots are short little animations (start them by clicking the classic play triangle).

The thing I like the most about Magic Number is that the math looks like math. For example:

Even after you enter a calculation, you can edit individual elements and recalculate. This is the tiniest tip of the iceberg here. Magic Number is incredibly robust, chock full of features. And a new, free update is coming in mid-August, supposedly full of new stuff. Can’t wait.

Silicon Valley Business Journal:

Apple has been criticized for the curvaceous project being closed off and suburban in its orientation (large earthen berms will block the public’s view of the campus from bordering streets). But the new public visitor’s center shows Apple is at least making a concession to the public’s great interest in the Spaceship.

The plans show a super-modern glass-walled structure topped by a carbon-fiber roof with extended eaves, punctuated by large skylights. On the ground floor: A 2,386-square-foot cafe and 10,114-square-foot store “which allows visitors to view and purchase the newest Apple products.” Stairs and elevators take visitors to the roof level, about 23 feet up. There, they’ll be able to behold the multi-billion-dollar campus.

There was never any doubt that Apple would have some sort of area for the general public, similar to the present Employee Store. Whether it will be a full blown Apple Retail location where you can buy Apple’s hardware (unlike the Employee Store where the general public can only buy accessories and Apple-branded merchandise) remains to be seen.

Wristly polled about 1,000 Apple Watch owners.

86.1% are still wearing their watch daily. I know I do. I’m actually surprised the number is that low.

78% agree or strongly agree that they are doing more standing. Same number are more aware of their health.

Lots more numbers to absorb. Read the article.

The Verge:

Former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have signed up for a new motoring show on Amazon Prime, set to air in 2016. The news ends months of speculation about the trio’s future on TV after the BBC refused to renew Clarkson’s contract following a “fracas” during filming this year. The deal is a major coup for Amazon’s streaming service, which lags behind rival Netflix, and although there are no details of how much the firm paid for the trio, a company insider told the London Evening Standard: “We have made a significant investment.”

It’s a three year deal and set for broadcast in 2016. Clarkson is a buffoon but there is no argument that the trio, even for non-car lovers, are a fun team to watch. I’m looking forward to seeing the new format and whether or not this version of the show is better or worse now that the boys will be free from the restraints of the BBC.

Something just broke in the universe.

[H/T Kirk McElhearn]

Tom Brady, responding to accusations that he destroyed his phone to hinder the Deflategate investigation:

I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances.

No matter your take on Tom Brady, there’s no arguing he has great taste.

Charlie Warzel, writing for BuzzFeed:

“I am going to show you how touchscreens help me,” he says to the camera. Moments later, we see Hills in his wheelchair, facing a desk with an iPad perched atop. We watch Christopher, a resident of Queensland, Australia, move forward slightly, struggle for a moment, and then pause, unable to reach the iPad screen.

“I keep reading things about the touchscreen overtaking the mouse and keyboard and this really scares me,” he confesses into the camera. Hills’ Athetoid cerebral palsy has left him unable to walk or use his hands, and, at that moment in 2012, his fears were understandable. “I think touchscreens are an amazing technology, but my disability means I can’t use my hands — so let’s face it,” he says. The video — shot, edited, and posted by Hills — is an arresting reminder of an alarming truth: Technologies aimed at, hyped by, and marketed toward an able-bodied majority often overlook the eager constituency of the disabled.

Apple added the first version of Switch Control in iOS 7. That, along with other assistive technology, changed everything for Christopher. Instead of touchscreen technology being a barrier to keep him out, it became a life changing boon.

“The thing that comes to mind is the day I made my first phone call. I was 15. I was able to call mum at work. As you can imagine, this was a very big thing,” Hills told BuzzFeed News of using Switch Control for the first time.

Inspiring article.

Anyone that’s every listened to me talk about guitars knows how much I love Taylor. Their workmanship, attention to detail, and tone are second to none. I just got this beauty today.