August 16, 2013
Writing better CSS ∞
Mathew Carella gives some thoughts and examples on writing good CSS.
Victim of beard profiling ∞
Duck Dynasty star Jase Robertson:
“I asked where the bathroom was and he said, ‘Right this way, sir.’ He was very nice,” Robertson shared on Live With Kelly & Michael. “He walked me outside, pointed down the road and said, ‘Good luck.'”
Stuff like this happens to me as well. It especially pisses me off when it happens in the hotel I’m staying at.
August 15, 2013
Grammar and spelling mistakes ∞
Matt Gemmell:
Whatever a person’s excuse might be, it’s difficult to get past the idea that this is someone who has failed to comprehend and internalise the rules of a language they’ve used almost every day of their life. That’s the magnitude of the negative impression being created. It’s like publicly, repeatedly demonstrating that you can’t tell the time, or count – and that you bizarrely don’t see those deficiencies as particularly worrisome or problematic.
I’ll be the first to admit that I make some very stupid mistakes when I write. They are not from lack of understanding and it horrifies me each time it happens. (I took extra time with this post).
Amplified: I Would Have Brought a Cannon ∞
Jim and Dan discuss Apple’s September 10th event, a lower-cost iPhone, Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 update, App Store vs. Google Play revenue, and more.
Sponsored by Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off), Squarespace (use code DANSENTME8 for 10% off), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME8 for 30% off), and Smile.
Wax Trax! The Documentary
Can’t wait for this. Documents one of the most important indie labels of the 1980s – they had bands like Front 242, KMFDM, The KLF, Laibach, Ministry and many others.
(Thanks to Dan Frakes on Twitter for the info.)
Droid Life writer: “Why I use an iPhone” ∞
Ron Offringa:
Last week in my opinion piece about why I think Android users should consider the Moto X I opened up the article with an admission: I currently use an iPhone 4S and I plan on getting the next iPhone. This wasn’t supposed to be a secret (if you follow me on Twitter then you would have noticed that I use iOS most of the time). On the Droid Life Show I have shown my iPhone and discussed using my iPad. That said, I know that a lot of readers did not know, and more importantly, were surprised or upset to read that I use an iPhone.
Much respect Ron.
CARROT Alarm ∞
CARROT is a hilariously twisted AI construct who wants nothing more than for you to get out of bed every morning. Her witty spoken dialogue, beautiful songs, and innovative wake-up system will have you starting each day with a smile on your face.
If you have to wake up, it might as well be “hilariously twisted.”
Expenses Planner ∞
Cool app that helps you plan ahead for upcoming expenses. I like apps like this that do one thing and do it well.
The Loop Magazine: The Future of the Human Interface, Part 2 ∞
In this issue, Rene Ritchie looks at the future of human interface and how iOS 7 has given him a glimpse into the future; Matt Gemmell remembers Dire Straits’ Alchemy Live; Canadian rock star, Ra McGuire from Trooper, talks about his life with the F-Word; Chris Domico is frustrated about how the Internet has turned us into idiots; and Matt Dusenbury analyzes Apple’s “Designed in California” ad campaign.
You can preview all of the articles online or download the app for iPhone and iPad, and subscribe with a seven-day free trial.
A history of beards in the workplace ∞
People are scared of beards.
August 14, 2013
Freaky YouTube Easter Egg
This is just weird. Go to any YouTube video and when it starts playing type:
1980
A missile command game comes up and starts to attack the video. You may have to type it in a few times before it works.
Defending iOS ∞
Benedict Evans:
A new, cheaper, high-volume iPhone would have the potential to mitigate or even reverse this trend. Clearly, like current low-end Android, it would sell to a demographic with a lower average engagement and purchase rate and so the average iOS rates would drop. However, it would mean that iOS’s reach would expand significantly at the expense of Android. How would a $200 or $300 iPhone sell? Easily double digit millions, possible up to 50m units a quarter.
Great article.
App Store vs. Google Play revenue
Headlines blazed across the Internet this week that Google Play revenue grew by 67 percent, while Apple’s App Store only grew by 15 percent during the same time. Something about that seemed odd to me.
I’m no Horace Dediu, so please forgive my simplistic look at this, but when I looked at the stories, I realized that the research company didn’t actually provide any revenue numbers. How do they know the revenue from either company? It seems they are trying to work it out themselves, but that’s a guess at best.
Even Google will only say that “they’ve paid more money to developers this year already than all of last year.” They don’t provide any revenue at all, but say users have downloaded 50 billion apps.
Apple gives us some numbers to work with. At WWDC Apple said it paid $10 billion to developers since the App Store opened—$5 billion in the last year alone. Apple says it has 900,000 apps available and over 50 billion downloads from the App Store.
Since we don’t know how much Google has in revenue, 67 percent of thin air, doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Let’s assume that Apple’s growth is accurate1, 15 percent of billions of dollars seem pretty significant to me.
Who knows what’s accurate with research companies these days. ↩
iCloud Beta goes iOS 7 ∞
It looks pretty good. I still think Calendar and Contacts look a bit stark, but not as much on the Web site with the subtle color changes.
Yojimbo 4.0 eschews iCloud for Wasabi Sync
Bare Bones Software of Wednesday announced the release of Yojimbo 4.0, a new version of their digital junk drawer app for the Mac. The new release is available for download from their Web site – it’s no longer available through the Mac App Store.
To manage sync in Yojimbo, Bare Bones has turned to Wasabi Sync, a third party sync service provider that supports Apple’s Core Data API. It’s no secret that some developers have had significant problems implementing iCloud Syncing in a way that works well for themselves and their customers; Bare Bones president Rich Siegel made a blog post earlier this year explaining the issues in detail.
Full screen support has been added for the main Yojimbo window and for information item windows, along with updates for improved appearance on Retina displays.
Daylite 4.3 ∞
Marketcircle makes some great products for Mac and iOS.
Nexus 7 gets stellar reviews despite faults, jitters, lagging apps ∞
Reports of “faulty” GPS, “buggy” multitouch, “jittery” scrolling and an ecosystem that “still lags iOS” weren’t enough to stop Google’s latest Nexus 7 from getting a stellar review on par with Apple’s iPad mini.
I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation. Now we wait to get it.
40 maps that explain the world ∞
This is great.
“Absolutely evil” ∞
Larry Ellison talking about Google’s Larry Page:
“We just think they took our stuff, and that was wrong,” Ellison said in an interview with Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning,” which was aired on Tuesday.
When asked if he thought Page was evil, Ellison replied: “I think what they did was absolutely evil.” He fell short of vilifying the man himself as evil.
Microsoft sued on behalf of shareholders over Surface RT ∞
Paul Thurrott:
A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against Microsoft on behalf of its shareholders, alleging that the firm lied about the financial performance of its Surface RT tablet. The surprise revelation that sales were much less than expected came months later than required by law, the suit says, and immediately “eviscerated” $34 billion of Microsoft’s market value, materially impacting shareholders.
The suit names Microsoft as well as Steve Ballmer, Peter Klein, Frank Brod and Tami Reller as defendants.
The news for Microsoft and the Surface RT just keeps getting worse.
August 13, 2013
Lower-cost iPhone ∞
Very smart article from John Gruber. Also note that Gruber refers to a possible new iPhone as “lower-cost” and “lower-priced”—I don’t expect this phone to be cheap in any way.
FutureStack Conference in San Francisco this Oct. ∞
Early Bird tickets are available for another great looking conference in San Francisco.
Universal Audio brings out ENGL amp plug-in ∞
Every time Universal Audio asks what I want next from them, the first thing on my list is an amplifier plug-in—today they delivered. With a tagline of “No Pain. All Gain.”, UA released the ENGL amplifier plug-in.
UA does the best emulations of analog gear in the business, so I’m sure this will quickly become one of my favorites. I’m going to download and try it out.
About Larry Ellison’s comments on Steve Jobs
Larry Ellison’s comments about Apple without Steve Jobs are causing quite a stir this morning. I agree with some of the things that Ellison said, like “He was brilliant, he was our Edison, he was our Picasso.”
I don’t think that anyone, including Tim Cook or the executive team at Apple would argue with those comparisons. Steve was an incredible man that had the ability to read what consumers wanted even before they knew they wanted it—that’s genius.
You also can’t argue with the history. As Ellison said, we’ve seen Apple with Jobs, we’ve seen Apple without Jobs. That’s true, but there is one big difference between this time and when Jobs was kicked out of Apple.
Steve worked hard to leave Apple in good hands. He molded the company, the products, the executive team and the vision he had for Apple. This time when Steve left Apple, he knew he was leaving and he wanted the company to survive and prosper in his absence.
If there was one man on this earth that couldn’t be replaced, it surely must have been Steve Jobs. To me, Apple doesn’t seem to be trying to replace Steve as much as they are trying to carry on the vision that Steve worked so hard to build. That’s what Steve wanted and that’s what we expect from Apple.
eleMount ∞
This universal mount raises the bar, allowing gadgets to be placed on a premium pedestal that matches their beautiful design and quality. One of the most user friendly mount ever designed, eleMount sticks to any flat surface and doesn’t care if you prefer Apple or Android or like to keep your case on. eleMount works just as you’d expect. No suction cups, no locks, no instruction manual. You only need one hand to mount your device.
I like the look of this. I don’t want ugly clamps and plastic pedestals—I’d rather buy a mount from a company that cares as much about design as the company that made my iPhone.
How BlackBerry fell ∞
Vauhini Vara for The New Yorker:
“In terms of a sort of a sea change for BlackBerry,” the company’s co-C.E.O Jim Balsillie said at the time, referring to the iPhone’s impact on the industry, “I would think that’s overstating it.”
To me, the reason that BlackBerry fell is the attitude of it’s co-CEOs at the time. That was the company’s downfall and it went on so long, they may never be able to recover.
U.S. population distribution by age, 1900 through 2060 ∞
This is cool. Be sure to watch the graph changes at the bottom.
20 injured at LG phone giveaway ∞
But what must have sounded like a good idea in the marketing meeting quickly dissolved into chaos. People aren’t stupid. They figured out that the only way to get the voucher was to burst the balloons, and they showed up equipped to do so with BB guns, knives on sticks, and other tools.
That’s never going to end well.
TC Electronic’s PolyTune 2 ∞
I love the fact that you can tune all of your strings simultaneously.
August 12, 2013
The Hyperloop ∞
The solar-powered system, which Musk previously described as a cross between a Concorde, rail gun and air-hockey table, would shoot as many as 28 passengers in each enclosed capsule through a low-pressure steel tube at up to 800 miles per hour, according to the 57-page design plan.
It will be very interesting to see if Elon Musk or someone else will actually build this.