International Business Times:

A future iPhone could protect itself from falls by using the vibration motor to adjust its centre of gravity, meaning smashed screens may be a thing of the future-past.

A patent awarded to Apple by the US Patent and Trademark Office this week, describes a “protective mechanism for an electronic device” and calls on the iPhone’s processing power to recognise a fall, calculate the potential impact, and work at lightening speed to come up with a plan to save the fragile glass screen.

Once the phone’s speed of descent, time to impact and any degrees of spin have been calculated using the accelerometer and gyroscope already fitted to current iPhones, the system then calls on the vibration motor to fire, which shifts the handset’s centre of gravity, countering the spin and ensuring it lands screen-up.

Fantastic. Like a cat!

Issue 30 of The Loop Magazine posted yesterday on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. We have nine stories available in the latest release, including a couple on iTunes Festival London that took place in September; Nathan Barham looks at tools for education; Johannes Zhou tells us what memory athletes do; Darren Murph talks about what he learned from buying his mother an iPhone; Rob Annese looks at his experience being an iPhone convert; Brock Winstead looks at real estate and Zillow; Alex Davies delves into Google search and advertising; and finally Darren Murph takes us on vacation… for a tenth of the price it would normally cost in “Travel Hacking.”

The Loop Magazine costs $1.99 per month and you get about nine articles to read. There is a preview of each article in this month’s issue, so you can try before you buy.

Tekrevue:

So, what does this mean? At best, it means only very modest improvements for some models, certainly less than most would expect from a system as old as the 2012 Mac mini. At worst, it means a dramatic decrease in performance, with some 2012 configurations absolutely destroying their 2014 counterparts in multi-core workflows.

The good, bad and downright ugly of the latest Mac mini. Not a machine I have a lot of faith in recommending.

The Independent:

Turn off the spine-tingling music and forget everything you thought you knew about this solitary, “mindless killing machine”. Sharks have individual personalities. They socialise, choose best friends and create social networks of unusual complexity. They can be trained by humans to complete simple tasks, much more quickly than rabbits or cats, for instance, and retain the knowledge for much longer.

Sharks also teach each other new tricks: how to find food, identify predators and charm mates. Like sea turtles, some travel huge distances to return to their own birthplace, again and again, to give birth themselves. Most don’t need to swim continuously to survive. And rather than being near-blind and reliant on smell, which is the general perception, they in fact have advanced sight. They feel pain. And the boldest sharks face a greater risk of dying before adulthood.

Why does any of this matter? Well, we’re killing about 100 million sharks every year, 11,000 an hour.

Like many of us, I have been fascinated by sharks since first seeing the movie “Jaws” as a kid. But, far from giving me nightmares, it instilled a lifelong fascination with these amazing animals.

Animagraffs:

Speakers push and pull surrounding air molecules in waves that the human ear interprets as sound. You could even say that hearing is movement detection. So what makes a speaker travel back and forth at just the right rate and distance, and how does that make sound?

I thought I knew how speakers worked. After watching this cool web page, I realized I had no clue how speakers worked.

Washington Post:

Imagine for a second that your job is to gather intelligence on government officials in Washington, or financiers in London, or entrepreneurs in San Francisco. Imagine further that there existed a database that collected daily travel information on such people with GPS-quality precision– where they went, when they went there and who else went to those same places at the same times.

Now add that all this location data was not held by a battle-hardened company with tons of lawyers and security experts, such as Google. Instead, this data was held by a start-up that was growing with viral exuberance – and with so few privacy protections that it created a “God View” to display the movements of riders in real-time and at least once projected such information on a screen for entertainment at a company party.

And let’s not forget that individual employees could access historical data on the movements of particular people without their permission, as an Uber executive in New York City reportedly did when he pulled the travel records of a Buzzfeed reporter who was working on a story about the company.

Wouldn’t that strike you as a hacking opportunity of remarkable awesomeness?

Interesting speculative piece.

More tech deals for today. Go get ’em.

Sony Pictures was hacked last week, bringing its operations to a halt. From Deadline.com:

Things have come to a standstill at Sony today, after the computers in New York and around the world were infiltrated by a hacker. As a precaution, computers in Los Angeles were shut down while the corporation deals with the breach. It has basically brought the whole global corporation to an electronic standstill. I’d heard that this began with a skull appearing on screens, and then a strangely ominous message telling users they’d been hacked by something called #GOP. It gets more bizarre as the message claims this is just the beginning and then threatens to release documents by 11 PM this evening. There is no reason given why this is happening, and no specific demands. Mentioned are websites in places around the world, some of which don’t even function.

Now, Sony has discovered that at least five screeners (review copies of unreleased motion pictures) have been leaked on-line. From Variety:

“Fury” has been downloaded by over 888,000 unique IP addresses since showing up on peer-to-peer networks on Nov. 27, according to piracy-tracking firm Excipio. That’s high enough to be the second most-downloaded movie currently being pirated, and it’s not out of movie theaters yet.

Another big Sony movie, “Annie,” is also being pirated, this one three weeks ahead of its own wide release. Other Sony movies being downloaded include “Mr. Turner,” “Still Alice” and “To Write Love on Her Arms.”

There is some speculation that North Korea is behind this, in retaliation for Sony’s upcoming comedy, The Interview, in which James Franco and Seth Rogen run a tabloid news show and score an interview with Kim Jong-un which turns into an assassination attempt.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

In the market for an iPad mini, iMac, or MacBook? Ready to buy one today? Read on.

The Roosevelts:

2014 is coming to an end and if you didn’t get all the majestic locations checked off your travel bucket list this year we have 50 photos that inspired awe and wonderment in 2014.

Spectacular images showing the awesome beauty of our planet.

The Passion of Former Days:

A terrific set of cigarette cards depicting a flight from London to Amsterdam in the early days of commercial air travel. The images (each “from an official photograph supplied by Imperial Airways”) are accompanied by text detailing “our” flight, from check-in and take-off, to views over the Channel, France, and Brussels (where we land for lunch), to the final landing in Amsterdam.

I’ve included the backs with the text, as the little details are fascinating insights into a time when planes held “as many as” 20 passengers, reached cruising altitudes of 3,000 feet, and got from London to Brussels in “only” two and a half hours.

For the vast majority of us, flying is an awful experience but, in the 1920’s, if you could afford it, flying was a lot more genteel. The descriptions on the backs of these cigarette cards are also wonderful insights in to how writing has evolved and how information was presented to customers of the day.

Oregon Live:

With emotions running high as speakers were addressing the crowd, he noticed a young man with tears in his eyes holding a “Free Hugs” sign among a group of people.

After talking to Devonte about such things as school, art and life, Barnum said he pointed to the sign and asked, “Do I get one of those?”

I’d seen the picture all over but the stories of the event and the people behind it, in particular Devonte, are amazing. Don’t read without a tissue or two handy.

The New York Times:

Thanksgiving weekend in 1990, I spent two hours at the loneliest place in the world for an obscure novelist — the book-signing table at a Waldenbooks in a suburban New Jersey mall.

I sat at the table smiling like a game show host. Store patrons scurried past me, doing all they could to avoid eye contact. I kept smiling. I straightened out my pile of free bookmarks for the umpteenth time, though so far none had been taken.

A lovely story about perspective.

Jim and Shawn talk about trading in your iPhone, Tim Cook, Google replacements, AC/DC, Rush and The Tragically Hip!

Sponsored by Audible (Visit the link to get a free audiobook of your choice and a free 30-day trial membership)!

My thanks to Pad and Quill for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. I have one of these bags and I love it.

Pad and Quill, a Minneapolis based company, began as an idea on a napkin in 2010. Starting with 4 prototypes, a barter to paint our web designers deck and a Paypal account to track orders, Brian and Kari began shipping cases from their basement and since they have grown to a business selling tens of thousands of unique hand crafted products a year.

Initially riding the Apple iOS wave, Brian and Kari (Mr and Mrs PQ) sought to bring to market iPhone and iPad cases crafted from organic materials such as leather, Baltic birch wood and buckram linen book cloth. Over time, the celebration of the craftsman, the accentuation of natural beauty and the delight of their customers solidified as the core values of the company, driving the creation of an expanded line of iPhone cases, iPad cases, sleeves, and tech bags.

With each product being constructed by hand, by craftsmen and women skilled in the century old trades of woodworking, bookbinding, and leather craft every customer receives a product that was essentially made for them. While they’ve come a long way from passing packages to the mail guy through their basement window, both Brian and his wife Kari enjoy the day to day interactions with their customers and dreaming up new ideas for future hand crafted products.

New York Times:

Want the best deals on electronics, but don’t feel like camping out for two weeks in front of Best Buy? Stay home on Friday, but don’t wait too long after that to shop online.

Prices for products like personal computers, cameras, TVs, toys and video games tend to hit their low point of the season not on Black Friday but in the two to three days afterward, according to the data from PriceStats, which monitors daily online price changes for a wide range of goods.

So-called Cyber Monday sales are one reason for the post-Friday drop. Another is that older models of goods fall in price over the weekend when the newest ones are introduced to the market in time for the holiday season, said Pilar Iglesias, the firm’s chief executive officer.

The Wirecutter:

The holiday season is approaching once again, and that screaming you hear is the sound of Internet users everywhere becoming inundated with holiday “deals.” Thousands of deals. Tens of thousands of deals. And, as you may know from experience, most of those deals don’t actually result in any kind of savings.

In fact, they are often a waste of money due to marketing trickery or just plain bad products. In fact, according to our research so far only 0.6% of the 42,000 deals we’ve studied since early November are actually a good deal on a good piece of gear. Our attitude is dictated by a general idea: if we wouldn’t buy it ourselves or tell our friends and family to do so, we won’t list it. If the price or the item itself is not good, we won’t list it.

This time of year, we are inundated by “deals”. The folks at The Wirecutter do a great job of separating the wheat from the chaff. It’s also a great list if you are looking for gift ideas.

Vox:

I write about economics for a living, so I understand concepts of deadweight loss and depreciation and inefficiency.

That said, I still ask my parents for gift cards for Christmas every year. And I buy them for people, too.

I know this is a sacrilege, and you might, too — there are all sorts of articles out there about how gift cards are sincerely a terrible, horrible gift. And yet I keep wanting them. It could be because I’m just a bad decision-maker, but I think there are excellent reasons to get a person a gift card … provided you buy it for the right kind of person.

I think gift cards can have their place for certain people. Do you give gift cards? Do you like to get them?

Can you get to Lake Tahoe on December 3rd at 7pm? If so, come meet Woz, support an excellent cause (the Lake Tahoe Unified School District) and get a cool custom “Woz Rocks” Hard Rock Cafe pin.

As part of the event, guests who purchase one of Hard Rock Cafe Lake Tahoe’s new pins will have the opportunity to meet with Steve Wozniak and receive his signature. The “Woz Rocks” Pin ($30 at event) features Steve Wozniak playing a computer shaped guitar while riding a Segway. In addition, Hard Rock Cafe Lake Tahoe created a second “Woz Rocks” pin ($20 at event) which features the same image of Steve wearing “Berkeley blue and gold” to honor the Apple co-founder’s alma mater. Both pins will be available at Hard Rock Cafe Lake Tahoe’s Rock Shop retail store for a limited time while supplies last.

True to Hard Rock’s “Love All – Serve All” mantra, proceeds from sale of Hard Rock’s “Woz Rocks” pins will benefit the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. The pin sales will assist in providing a quality learning environment so all students can develop competence in basic skill areas and are prepared to be responsible, contributing citizens.

Here’s Woz, talking about his new pin.

Vanity Fair:

I am afraid of the cops. Absolutely petrified of the cops. Now understand, I’ve never been arrested or held for questioning. I’ve never been told that I “fit the description.” But that doesn’t change a thing. I am afraid of cops the way that spiders are afraid of boots. You’re walking along, minding your own business, and SQUISH! You are dead.

Simply put, I am afraid of the cops because I am black.

I’m not as Black as Bell but I am the same height and weight and I know the feelings he describes.

Mental Floss:

What do Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Toy Story, Reservoir Dogs, Titanic, Anchorman, 22 Jump Street, and more than 200 other films and TV shows have in common? Not much besides the one and only Wilhelm Scream.

The so-called Wilhelm Scream is the holy grail of movie geek sound effects, a throwaway sound bite that had inauspicious beginnings and was revived in the 1970s and made into the best movie in-joke ever.

Once you recognize the scream, you’ll be amazed at how many movies use it.

The opt-out feature, available on both iOS and Android, is a periodically updated list of the apps on your phone, which Twitter says it will use to serve you a more “tailored experience,” including “who to follow” suggestions, relevant tweets, and other content it adds to your timeline, as well as its promoted content.

Um, no thanks.

AMPLIFi TT is a tabletop multi-effect that transforms any room into a jam space so you can play, practice and record guitar more easily than ever. Launch the AMPLIFi Remote app and start jamming to the music you love—in your home, office, dorm room or anywhere in between.

This looks like another great product from Line 6. It’s compatible with the Mac and iOS and outputs to any sound system.

A great article from Om Malik on Silicon Valley.

Washington Post:

The Internet’s biggest encyclopedia is a lot like other major sites on the Web: It’s been a little hesitant to weigh in on net neutrality, the idea that all Web traffic should be treated equally by Internet service providers such as Comcast or Time Warner Cable.

That’s because the folks behind Wikipedia actually see a non-neutral Internet as one way to spread information cheaply to users in developing countries. With Wikipedia Zero, users in places like Pakistan and Malaysia can browse the site without it counting it counting against the data caps on their cellphones or tablets. This preferential treatment for Wikipedia’s site helps those who can’t afford to pay for pricey data — but it sets the precedent for deals that cut against the net neutrality principle.

This issue, along with those raised by Mark Cuban in his controversial interview, show the complex nature of the net neutrality argument.

Google is in the middle of a battle with the German Magazine Publishers association, part of a larger battle over Google’s excerpting of content. Magazine publishers, already fighting for their financial lives, want to be paid for excerpted content. Legal firm CMS Hasche Sigle represents the German Magazine Publishers. That’s background. Here’s the issue.

From the New York Times:

Andreas Schwab, a German member of the European Parliament, has been making headlines in the last week after drafting a resolution that calls for the breakup of Google.

But Mr. Schwab is not just a legislator, he is also “of counsel” at the German law firm CMS Hasche Sigle, which has represented some of the German publishing interests that have been most eager to declaw Google. He earns roughly $15,000 to $75,000 annually from the firm, according to a disclosure filing. The firm’s website lists his expertise as competition policy.

There’s some smoke here. The question is, is there also fire? Not clear.

Potential conflicts like working at a law firm are barred by the United States Congress, though permitted in some American state legislatures. European law has no prohibition on holding a second job at a law firm, though it does require disclosure of the relationship.

In an email, Mr. Schwab said he had not discussed his resolution with the law firm and called it “a purely political issue.”

“All transparency rules are fully respected,” he said, adding that many of his colleagues had to weigh in on the resolution. “You can be sure that the text of this resolution” is “based on a neutral assessment of the facts.”

Pomplamoose is an extremely talented indie band, born to be internet musicians. At the core is real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn.

If you don’t know them, you’ve no doubt heard some of their music. They came to life on YouTube (here’s the Pomplamoose channel) with a series of low-budget, but incredibly well produced videos, mostly of covers and mashups.

Pomplamoose has also done a number of highly regarded commercials, including this spot for Hundai and this one for Austrian Mobile.

In short, Jack and Nataly have done everything they can do finance their music/video-making habit. Part of the big picture is touring. In the linked article, Jack lays out all the numbers from their last tour, which netted them a total of -$11,819. That’s not a typo, they actually lost $11,819. But wait, this is not a sob story. This is a success story and well worth the read. I am a fan.

What I find most amazing is the before and after sliding article at the top of the article. In a sense, someone got the bright idea to cover the face of the Marriott Marquis hotel with this giant screen, an entire city block long.

The Mitsubishi Electric screen occupies the entire block of Broadway that lies between 45th and 46th street, and even wraps about another 30 feet around each corner. Its true resolution is 2,368 x 10,048, and it measures over 77 feet tall by 323 feet long.

It’s simply massive. And it’d have to be to stick out in advertising-saturated Times Square.