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.

Storm Sim is the audio experience of a thunderstorm in your pocket. The app is more than a pre-recorded loop; it dynamically generates storms in real-time so it’s always unique and it never repeats.

It supports nearly infinite customization. Add more lightning, dial back the rain, or include a splash of freight train; get that perfect night’s sleep or just relax after a busy day.

Includes sleep and wake timers, AirPlay, LED Clock, add-on packs, and more. It’s a Universal app for iPhone and iPad that supports iOS 5 or higher.

Jim’s note: I showed this app to my wife and not only did she like it, she said she wished she had when the kids were smaller.

But half a year after Reller’s finger-pointing and nine months after Windows 8’s debut, most customers are taking a pass on touch, said O’Donnell.

Wow, Microsoft, you really have your finger on the pulse of what the public wants.

Well, your finger is somewhere, anyway.

Thanks to Auto Adjust for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. Auto Adjust is a photo rescuing app for iPhone and iPad designed to fix photos as fast and as pain free possible. Contrast stretching, levels, curves, color correction, and noise reduction are right at your fingertips without having to dig through menus and popovers. There are no “Projects” or photo libraries that are stuck in the app. Photos are saved to your camera roll and photo stream at their original size with all EXIF and metadata preserved.

Samsung Wallet hit the Google Play Store on Thursday and bears a strong resemblance to the Passbook feature Apple includes on iOS. The app was announced in beta for developers back in February, but it has only just now made it to the Play Store. It is compatible with the Galaxy S3, S4, Note, and Note 2.

The DOJ is looking a lot like the paranoid conspiracy theory guy that lives down the street.

Macworld’s Jon Seff has some recommendations for apps that can help you get the most out of iTunes.

Zakk covers the classic Bill Withers R&B hit “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Really beautiful version of this tune.

Available for sale on iTunes, btw. Off the upcoming double live album “Unblackened,” due out in September.

That’s pretty good.

Today we’re introducing an updated ad experience we think is more attractive for users and more effective for advertisers.

Oh thank you, thank you Google, I really wanted ads in Google Maps.

Shawn Blanc has a great article on how he recently self-published his new book, including the tools he used and the problems he ran into. Worth a read.

Speaking of Benedict Evans, here’s another great post looking at Amazon’s profits, or lack thereof.

Some interesting numbers from Benedict Evans.

James Fallows:

Yesterday I mentioned that yet another NYT story on a brush-with-danger aboard an airliner was suspicious.

Let me rephrase that: The story the imperiled traveler told is phony, and America’s best paper shouldn’t have credulously passed it along.

Five major U.S. publishers objected to the Justice Department’s proposal to limit Apple Inc.’s influence in the electronic-books market, saying it would effectively alter their existing settlements with the U.S. government.

It’s like a giant soap opera.

After reading this review, I’m left with a “ho-hum” feeling.

Something has to be done with these guys to stop them permanently.

Mackie introduced a new line of mixers, new loudspeakers and studio monitors. I’ve been using 1640 Mackie mixers for years and they still work great in my studio. I also have a set of the Mackie SRM450 loudspeakers that I’ve been using for years and they have never failed me. I’ve never used their studio monitors, so I don’t know about those. However, considering I blew up my 8-inch studio monitors a month or so ago, I may give these a try at some point.

Jim and Dan are joined by Peter Cohen the other half of The Loop to discuss AMBER alert disruptions, The Newton’s 20 year anniversary, PDAs as the predecessor to the MacBook Air, the sale of the Washington Post to Jeff Bezos, 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 Igloo.

I’ve been watching Barley for the past few months and I’m impressed with what I’ve seen. The company provides an inline editor, so you don’t need experience in coding to build a Web site. They provide unlimited storage, hosting and templates to get you started.

Great article by Horace Dediu looking at Apple and Amazon.

Amazon, Kobo and Sony are petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to permanently exempt e-readers from certain federal accessibility laws for the disabled, arguing that e-readers are barebones devices designed for a single purpose: reading text.

The petition is interesting because it argues that e-readers’ value lies in the fact that they are inherently limited devices and that any non-reading functions they include, like experimental web browsers, are “rudimentary” and not very useful. Amazon, Kobo and Sony say that if they were forced to comply with FCC regulations and make e-readers fully accessible to people with disabilities, the essential nature of the devices would change, making them more like tablets, more expensive and, overall, less useful for their express purpose.

Okay, admittedly your products suck balls, but to go against implementing accessibility is wrong.

‘In 2009 the Smithsonian found a “secret” message engraved in Abraham Lincoln’s watch by a watchmaker who was repairing it in 1861 when news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Washington, D.C.

I’ll be speaking at SecondConf this year, closing out the conference on the last day. If you’re attending, bring your instrument because we’ll be having a jam session too.

An illustration project by David Navarro

Great illustrations of some of the most famous guitars of all time.

Great idea.