Janko Roettgers:
Now that’s a coincidence, if there ever was any: Earlier this month, Amazon filed for two trademarks for extended warranty and servicing under the Kindle brand. Turns out that the description of these services was lifted verbatim from Apple’s AppleCare trademarks.
Surely they could have come up with their own wording.
Yeah – it’s a Nike spot but it certainly captures how many Canadians feel about the game and its importance to our identity. Thanks to SlyM for the link to the video.
The first video ever to hit 1 billion.
The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows Apple has achieved its highest ever share in the US (53.3%) in the latest 12 weeks*, with the iPhone 5 helping to boost sales.
This is for the US market, but what must be scary for the competition is that Kantar expects Apple’s growth to continue through December.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’ve written about my similar feelings on The Loop and my personal site in an article called “Sometimes too much is just too much.”
National Geographic has posted an image on its photo feed saying it was “suspending new posts to Instagram. We are very concerned with the direction of the proposed new terms of service.”
It’s one thing when individual users stop posting to Instagram, but when an organization like National Geographic stops, you’ve got problems.
This is an older article, but still very cool.
Don Melton:
I don’t recall all the names, but one that stands out is “Freedom.” Steve spent some time trying that one out on all of us. He may have liked it because it invoked positive imagery of people being set free. And, just as possible and positive, it spoke to our own freedom from Microsoft and Internet Explorer, the company and browser we depended on at the time.
I just love these types of stories.
Amazing amount of work went into this edit particularly when you realize it holds up as a mini-movie all on its own.
The creator, Genevieve Ip, has helpfully posted a list of all the movies and music included in the piece.
I use the alarm on my iPhone a lot when I travel, but I have never seen any alarm look this cool. You just move your finger up and down to change the time and swipe right to turn it on. This is the epitome of doing one thing and doing one thing right.
Sports has always played a big part in the life of many of us and Sports Illustrated captured some amazing moments in the history of sport. Here are there “Top 100”. I’ve included my favorite shot here but I bet The Loop’s Publisher would choose number 21.
Nice video.
Sometimes it’s just as fascinating to see what wasn’t released.
I love autocorrect.
Feral Interactive announced Thursday that F1 2012, a Formula One racing game, has been released for Mac. The game costs $50 and is available for download from Feral’s Web site; it’s coming to the Mac App Store and other download sites as well.
F1 2012, the official game of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship, was originally developed for Codemasters for consoles and PC, released for those systems in September – a much smaller gap that Mac gamers are accustomed to with some Feral releases. It’s also the first Formula One game to appear on the Mac in more than a decade.
F1 2012 features all of the teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 season, with 20 real-world tracks like Circuit de Monaco, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and more.
Not only do you get to drive these open wheel high performance race cars, but you also can work under the hood, fine-tuning the car’s handling characteristics depending on the circuit, weather and your own preferences. The game supports split-screen, online and LAN multiplayer.
System requirements call for a 2.0 GHz Intel Mac with 4GB RAM, 512MB or better graphics card and OS X 10.7.5 or later. Some graphics cards are not supported – visit Feral’s Web site for details.
This is an app I’ve had on my iPhone since the very first version. It was just updated a couple of days ago and is still great.
One of the things missing out of AC/DC coming to iTunes was their concert videos. They are now available.
Jim and Dan discuss the iPad and iPad Mini sales, their favorite text editors, the great London beer flood of 1814 and more.
Definitely worth a read.
This would be great to see in 2013.
Cecilia Kang, The Washington Post:
The federal government on Wednesday announced a landmark update to child online privacy laws, establishing guidelines that make it harder to track a gadget-obsessed generation with constant access to the Web.
The FTC’s announcement makes changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which was passed in 1998 and obviously needs to be radically altered to fit the generational changes that have happened with technology use since then.
According to the report, new amendments require firms to seek permission from parents to collect information about their children, including photos, videos, and geolocation info. The intent is to close loopholes that have heretofore allowed social media services to collect personal information about children without a parental notice.
James Brightman, GamesIndustry:
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) announced today that Infocom co-founders Dave Lebling and Marc Blank will be receiving the 2013 AIAS Pioneer Award, presented to them by Steve Meretzky, vice president of game design at Playdom, during the 16th DICE Awards on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 at The Joint in the Hard Rock Resort and Casino Las Vegas.
Zork introduced adventure gaming to the first generation of personal computer owners, and Infocom, the company that published it, built a business out of the now nearly forgotten computer genre of interactive fiction: games that eschew graphics in favor of the written word.
I dearly loved Zork and the many other games Infocom published – funny, challenging and wonderfully immersive games that emphasized using your creativity, imagination and puzzle-solving skills to win. It’s great to see Lebling and Blank receive this industry honor.
By the way, if you’re a fan of interactive fiction and you haven’t already seen it, check out Get Lamp, a wonderful documentary about this very subject.
Asbury & Asbury:
But there’s a writing angle to the whole thing that needs some airing. The whole story is already being co-opted as a case study in the importance of clear communication and getting the tone right. This worries me, because that’s exactly what it isn’t, at least not in the way that’s being suggested.
A writerly breakdown of Instagram’s recent communications that should give pause to anyone watching this story.
A little history on Jenny from Wikipedia:
“867-5309/Jenny” is a song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone that was released on the album Tommy Tutone 2, on the Columbia Records label. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in 1982 (see 1982 in music). Co-writer Call came up with both “Jenny” and the telephone number and completed the song with Keller.
The song caused a fad of people dialing 867-5309 and asking for “Jenny”.
Now some people got the famous Jenny phone number and are recording the messages that come in.
This is an article from earlier this year, but it’s also something I’ve talked about on Amplified. The cabinet speaker is a very important part of your tone. It’s an interesting read.
Damn.
Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook and Andrew Mason at Groupon almost made the list, but escaped.
GamePolitics:
Blizzard has banned “several thousand” Diablo III players for using bots, according to this Battle.net forum thread. In announcing the bans, Blizzard said that these kinds of acts (using cheats and exploits) are “undermining the spirit of fair play,” and that the company plans to release new tools in the early part of 2013 that make it easier for players to report bad player behavior and cheating to Blizzard.
Good news for Diablo III players who are frustrated by other gamers who are clearly taking advantage.