What took you guys so long?

Airbnb and Uber are two darlings of disruption, adored by one segment of the population (their users) and despised by the people they disrupt.

If something goes wrong—a party breaks out, somebody gets robbed, the cops show up, someone slips and falls—it’s not the tenant, or some sharing-economy guru in Silicon Valley, who’s going to be held responsible. It will be the owner’s problem. That’s why at the first hint of Airbnb usage, Podziba explains, “I tell them to do what I did: Get surveillance cameras. Hire a private investigator. And do the necessary steps to get them out.”

Disruption frequently involves a short cut, finding a way to avoid paying the price that comes with the territory. Since the disrupted businesses are all bound to following the rules, the disrupting force has a clear advantage. Sometimes this can be good news, as an inefficient business model is turned on its head, forced to reinvent itself to be more efficient. Good for consumers, good for the economy.

But sometimes disruption creates a false economy. A disruptive force uses a short cut to dramatically improve service or cut costs, a short cut that is not viable in the long term. But in the short term, the disruptive force races through an industry, wreaking all sorts of havoc.

What sort of disruptive force does Uber and Airbnb bring to the table? The jury is still out.

AnandTech:

iOS 8 will expose just about every manual camera control possible. This means that ISO, shutter speed, focus, white balance, and exposure bias can be manually set within a custom camera application.

For “serious” iPhone photographers, iOS 8 will open up a whole new range of possibilities.

Grantland:

There are two things that make Diplomacy so unique and challenging. The first is that, unlike in most board games, players don’t take turns moving. Everyone writes down their moves and puts them in a box. The moves are then read aloud, every piece on the board moving simultaneously.The second is that prior to each move the players are given time to negotiate with each other, as a group or privately. The result is something like a cross between Risk, poker, and Survivor.

I played this game in college and loved it. The key is you can’t win the game without cooperating with at least one other player but you also can’t win without screwing over at least one other player. The “when do I screw over my friend?” is the most fraught part of the game. If you loved this game, you’ll surely like crystalroll casino gambling games.

TUAW:

Everyone knows they are supposed to back up, but maybe you aren’t sure what you should do or how you should do it. I’m here to help.

A good read of the various backup methods and procedures.

Esquire:

The very mention of that word—the single-most offensive name one could ever call a Native American—has always made my blood boil.

Non-Natives may never quite understand how deep the term “redskins” cuts into ancient wounds that have never quite healed, and maybe it’s not reasonable to expect them to. But every time Dan Snyder refuses to change his NFL team’s name, even with tribes paying for powerful ads in opposition like the one that recently aired during the NBA Finals, Snyder plunges a long, twisted blade into our hearts.

For any numbers of reasons enumerated here and elsewhere, it’s time to change the name of the team.

The Center for Reading Research:

Some words are better known to men than to women and the other way around. But which are they? On the basis of our vocabulary test, we can start to answer this question. These 24 words should suffice to find out whether a person you are interacting with in digital space is male or female.

I knew all twelve of the “men’s words” and all but two of the “women’s words”. If you have the time, be sure to take their vocabulary test, too.

In a strongly worded statement issued to international media yesterday, the Department of Finance said that Ireland was “confident that there is no state aid rule breach in this case and we will defend all aspects vigorously.” It signalled its intent to fight the ruling in the European Court of Justice should the commission find against the State.

Good for Ireland.

Farad Manjoo spent some time with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Nieh and Viennot discovered all kinds of new information about the content in Google Play, including a critical security problem: developers often store their secret keys in their apps software, similar to usernames/passwords info, and these can be then used by anyone to maliciously steal user data or resources from service providers such as Amazon and Facebook. These vulnerabilities can affect users even if they are not actively running the Android apps. Nieh notes that even “Top Developers,” designated by the Google Play team as the best developers on Google Play, included these vulnerabilities in their apps.

Android isn’t secure? I’m shocked.

Traditional television is static. Here’s your list of channels, watch what you like. If you have a DVR, you can time shift your shows, record them to watch later. On-demand offers another level of time shifting and access to a library of content, some of which you have to pay for. DVR and On-demand extend the traditional TV model, making it a bit more dynamic.

Apple TV and its WatchESPN app take this one step further.

I found some hidden features of the WatchESPN app on Apple TV that make it the best overall tool for U.S. cable and satellite TV subscribers who want to absorb as much of the sites and sounds of World Cup without actually being there.

Apple TV offers flexibility that your traditional set top box does not offer. This is a bridge from the static world of traditional television to the dynamic world of the net. Subtle, perhaps, but I think this is just a taste of things to come. Good writeup.

Microsoft has overhauled their master Microsoft Services Agreement (MSA) that covers Bing, MSN, Outlook.com/Hotmail, etc., and sent out a mass emailing to let folks know how serious they are. There’s good mixed with bad here.

The agreement itself is not necessarily user friendly, but it is definitely written to be much easier to follow. As an example, one of the first things you’ll see, in big bold letters, is this:

IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES, SECTION 10 CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH MICROSOFT. PLEASE READ IT.

The agreement then offers an FAQ that lays out some important questions and answers. Most service agreements do not do this, counting on you to read all the small print and read between the lines. Kudos to Microsoft on this. But, read on.

Here’s what Microsoft says about privacy:

As part of our ongoing commitment to respecting your privacy, we have updated the Microsoft Services Agreement to state that we do not use what you say in email, chat, video calls, or voice mail to target advertising to you. Nor do we use your documents, photos, or other personal files to target advertising to you.

Not clear if this is a shot across Google’s bow, but it sure reads that way to me. The one inconsistency for me here is that the MFA does not actually contain this privacy language. Instead, it points you to various privacy agreements. When I go to the Windows Services Agreement, for example, I see this language:

We use demographic information – gender, country, age and postal code but not your name or contact information – from your Microsoft account to provide personalized ads to you. You may opt out of receiving targeted ads from Microsoft Advertising by visiting our opt-out page.

Though the two privacy statements to not strictly clash, they certainly paint different pictures as to how Microsoft will use your info to create targeted advertising. Far less transparent, in my opinion.

CNBC did a short interview with Elon Musk that I found interesting. Though the questions asked were simplistic, Musk’s responses were telling, gave a sense of his seriousness of purpose. There are plenty of critics out there, but there’s no denying his talent. If he says he’s going to put a human on Mars by 2026, I believe him.

Stanford Magazine:

Lipreading, which makes one sense do the work of another, is a skill daunting to describe. Rachel Kolb, deaf since birth, shares its mysteries.

Interesting article from the point of view of a deaf person. I’m sure I’ve made the same mistake – assuming if a deaf person can read lips, it’s easy for them.

Jim returns from his well earned vacation to talk to Dan about the potential for an Amazon phone, WWDC two weeks later, the new iMac’s importance as a serious production machine, operating systems as a product, Apple’s veil of secrecy, and more.

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Moom is Many Tricks’ window moving and zooming app. If you find the behavior of the green zoom button mysterious and thus avoid using it, you’ll love Moom—hover over the green button, and a pop-up palette appears, letting you quickly choose from five built-in size/location options. But you can also create custom commands that will move windows to other displays, size and position them exactly as you wish, or perform many other actions, including centering. Finally, if you use one display at one location, but multiple displays elsewhere, Moom can memorize your open windows for both setups, and automatically switch to the saved layout when the display setup changes. Check it out at Many Tricks.

Macworld:

Mix looks to be yet another example of Adobe pushing to expand the technologies it developed for Photoshop into non-desktop areas like the cloud and, by extension, mobile devices like the iPad. I suspect that artists, designers, and hobbyists who like creating compositions or who want an image editor that ties directly into some of Photoshop’s editing tools and Creative Cloud are going to like Mix. A lot.

I like that Mix doesn’t require a paid Creative Cloud subscription (although it does require an Adobe ID). Makes it more likely I’ll try it out.

New York Times:

Amazon on Wednesday introduced its own smartphone — a device optimized to allow customers to consume great amounts of video, books and music, preferably from Amazon.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, announced the new phone, Fire, here in Seattle, the company’s headquarters.

Amazon executives asked themselves, Mr. Bezos said, only one question: “Can we build a better phone for our most engaged customers?”

“Our most engaged customers” seems to be the key here. What do you think? Is there anything compelling in the “AmaFone” for you?

Paleofuture:

From the 1950s until the 1970s Bell Labs spent over $500 million developing the videophone. But the technology failed to achieve mainstream success. Why?

The story of the Bell Labs videophone — from the experiments of the mid-50s, to the expensive and ultimately failed consumer trials of the 1970s.

This always seemed like one of those technologies forever searching for a problem for it to solve – a problem average consumers really didn’t have or want solved. The irony is now most of us carry around this technology in our pockets every day. But how many of us use it on a regular basis?

Ken Segall:

We all know that things are different in the post-Steve Apple.However, there’s something about the current move to build an in-house marketing agency that’s really, really different. Unlike previous changes, this one isn’t driven by Tim Cook.

It comes from a new place, deeper inside the company — from those who long played a part in Steve Jobs’ marketing machine.

The industry and the press seem to be surprised by this development. To many others, it’s a wonder it didn’t happen sooner.

Some fascinating insights into what may be going on behind the scenes at Apple Marketing. Whether this works out for Apple in the long run will be very interesting to see.

Ifo Apple Store:

Employees of Apple’s retail stores in Australia have reached agreement with the company on a four-year contract that covers pay, benefits and working conditions, but retail observers say Apple’s offer was barely over the retail industry’s current averages, and includes just two percent annual raises.

When the agreement becomes effective this November 1st, starting pay for full-time Level 1 employees will be $20.95 per hour (all rates in U.S. dollars), and Level 2 will start at $25.26. Casual employees will receive 25 percent more per hour to offset fewer benefits. Level 3 employees are management, and will receive a base annual pay of $72,779.

It’s impossible to compare the new Australia pay rates to other regions or countries.

While that’s true and standards of living are different in different countries and cities, it certainly seems, on the face of it at least, that store employees in Australia can make a decent living.

iMore:

There are a lot of cool features coming to iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite this fall. One of the most hotly anticipated is Handoff, which enables you to pick up where you left off in an email, a document and other work between iOS and OS X devices. Handoff is elegantly choreographed dance between devices, operating systems and protocols. It’s partly dependent on Bluetooth 4.0, the most recent widespread deployment of the popular short-distance wireless communication protocol, which includes Bluetooth Low Energy (BT LE). So, how can you tell if your Mac is properly equipped to take advantage of it?

You can check for yourself if you’re not exactly sure which Mac model you have. It’s a little convoluted, so bear with me and follow these instructions to find out.

Sadly, mine isn’t “Handoff-compatible”.

The Globe and Mail:

In an unprecedented ruling, a B.C. court has ordered Google Inc. to block a group of websites from its worldwide search engine – a decision raising questions over how far one country’s courts can exert their power over the borderless Internet.

On the surface, it sounds utterly ridiculous but reading the judge’s reasoning, it makes a little bit of sense. It still likely will get overturned on appeal and might even be unenforceable.

Washington Post:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team’s name “disparaging to Native Americans.”

The landmark case, which appeared before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, was filed on behalf of five Native Americans. It was the second time such a case was filed.

Obviously, this case could have huge implications. It is expected that owner Dan Snyder will appeal the decision.

The ruling does not mean that the Redskins have to change the name of the team. It does affect whether the team and the NFL can make money from merchandising because it limits the team’s legal options when others use the logos and the name on T shirts, sweatshirts, beer glasses and license plate holders.

In addition, Native Americans have won at this stage before, in 1999. But the team and the NFL won an appeal to U.S. District Court in 2009. The court did not rule on the merits of the case, however, but threw it out, saying that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to file it. The team is likely to make the same appeal this time. Team officials are expected to make a statement this morning.

From the team:

Bruce Allen, the team’s president and general manager, said as he walked off the practice field Wednesday: “When the statement comes out, you’ll get it.”

Asked whether the Redskins believe they can continue to use their team name under the circumstances, Allen said: “Did you read it?… We’re fine. We’re fine.”

New for 2014, Jackson commemorates 30 years of sonic mayhem with the 30th Anniversary Soloist. This master-built limited-run homage to the godfather of high-performance guitars is the perfect combination of past and present, with features that evoke the Soloist’s debut year of 1984 and contemporary Jackson design elements.

Hell yes!

“Apple is subject to the same tax laws as scores of other international companies doing business in Ireland,” the company said in a statement. “Apple pays every euro of every tax that we owe. Since the iPhone launched in 2007, our taxes in Ireland have increased tenfold. Apple is proud to have been doing business in Cork, Ireland, since 1980.”

Every country, state, province, and county in the world offers tax breaks to big companies in hopes they will open businesses in their area. All of the people complaining about Ireland would line up to offer Apple incentives to relocate to their towns. This is just silly.

There’s some great advice here.

Toontrack’s drum products are among my favorites.