Jeff Carlson takes a look at the iPad mini from a photographer’s perspective. Carlson previously published a book called “iPad for Photographers” so he has some good insight on the subject.

Wired:

Chances are you won’t be present in person during tomorrow’s total solar eclipse, which will only be visible on land from a tiny sliver of Australia. Not to worry — the internet has got your back, and there are plenty of ways to catch the action from the comfort of your own browser.Total solar eclipses over land are relatively rare, with any given region expected to have one every 375 years on average. The next total solar eclipse will take place over equatorial Africa on Nov. 3, 2014, though the region where it will happen in is notorious for clouds. A total solar eclipse will pass through the central and eastern U.S. on Aug. 21, 2017, ending a 38-year U.S. eclipse drought.

Dave Winer at Gizmodo:

By the way, this is why the orchestrated reviews of products are often worthless. I invite Mossberg, Pogue or Gruber to re-review their iPad Mini now, a week after their initial reviews, and let us know if they’re actually using it. And if they still think it’s a winner. I believe it’s not only not a winner, but it signals a new Apple that’s no longer beyond compare, no longer insisting on delighting its users to the point of orgasm.

Dave didn’t ask, but I stand by my review and I’m still using my iPad mini.

PandoDaily:

Best Buy recently announced that it will match Amazon on price this holiday season — a move that will likely further depress its margins at a time it can least afford it. 75 percent of the items offered by Best Buy are cheaper on Amazon, on average by 17 percent.Best Buy is trying to play a game it can’t win in a sport it doesn’t participate in — like a middling veteran basketball player suddenly switching to hockey.

Not many in the US retail market think this Christmas will being anything but bad news for Best Buy.

Speaking on today’s News Hub video show, Lessin reports Apple started a program earlier this year called “Blue Sky” that lets employees take two weeks to work on projects outside their normal responsibilities.

Great move by Apple. As pointed out in the article, this is what Google has done for quite a while.

Though that’s a small dip, the change is noteworthy because for several years, text messaging had been steadily growing in the United States. Mr. Sharma said it was too early to tell whether the decline here would continue, but he noted that Internet-based messaging services, like Facebook messaging and Apple’s iMessage, had been chomping away at SMS usage. He said the decline would become more pronounced as more people buy smartphones.

At this point, I think there is only one person that I’ve texted in the past couple of months — everyone else has been an iMessage. I’ll admit, I’m not sad to see the carriers get screwed with lost revenue after making us pay exorbitant fees for years.

Action-shooter “Halo 4,” released last Tuesday, is on its way to reaching $300 million in global sales in its first week, making it the biggest launch in the decade-old Halo franchise’s history, the company said.

I love my Xbox, but never got into Halo. Still this is one product in Microsoft’s arsenal that is hugely successful.

I still have not tried in-flight Wi-Fi. Every time I fly they tell me it’s not available on that flight or it’s broken.

As you might expect, I’m a “less is more” kind of guy. I don’t understand how some sites think the busy design works for its readers/customers.

I downloaded this over the weekend and love it.

One of the emerging challenges for web designers is creating web typography that works in the mobile environment as well. But it can be difficult, and there are many things to consider. The keys are to focus on readability, contrast, space and responsiveness.

Matt Alexander on what’s he’s learned after his first year of writing.

The NEW Squier Strat Guitar with USB & iOS Connectivity gives you a huge range of tones and all the features you expect from Fender—plus the convenience of direct connection to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. The Squier Strat with USB & iOS Connectivity is available exclusively at the Apple Store.

Good for Fender for doing this.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

3Ders.org (via Gizmodo):

“Propshop commissioned us to build three plastic models of the Aston Martin DB5. We could have easily printed the legendary sports car in one piece at a scale of 1:3 using our high-end VX4000 printer, which can build moulds and models in dimensions of up to eight cubic metres. But the British model builders were pursuing a different approach. To ensure that the Aston Martin was as true to detail as possible, and for the purpose of integrating numerous functions into the film models, they decided on an assembly consisting of a total of 18 individual components. The entire body is based on a steel frame, almost identical to how vehicles were assembled in the past,” says voxeljet CEO Dr. Ingo Ederer.

So Voxeljet actually printed individual car components to replicate the vintage Aston Martin DB5 that meets its untimely end in Skyfall. Even then, though, it wasn’t cheap – one of the surviving models was auctioned off for $100,000.

This week I spoke to Jason Bonfig, merchant vice president for computing at Best Buy. Bonfig told me that Best Buy has invested 50,000 hours worth of training to bring employees up to speed.

Very smart move by Microsoft and Best Buy. Microsoft must have known that people would be confused by the new interface, so to combat that they have experts on hand to make it all seem very simple.

Shawn Blanc is searching for a new camera. I’m still satisfied with my iPhone — it’s always with me and takes great photos.

Q brings over 25 new features ­installed, tested and managed ­as a free platform update to all Igloo customers.

Igloo users can now post blogs, wiki articles, documents and status updates right from their email. Igloo has also developed a brand-new calendar that integrates with your intranet and your desktop calendar applications. Q also adds a smart search that finds relevant content and displays it instantly and inline. Igloo has also introduced the ability to find and @mention users from any content entry field.

Igloo is trying to make work a better place. A recent IDC report states “… Igloo had the best overall solution capability rating from respondents.” IDC placed Igloo in the Major Players category for enterprise social software. You can download a complimentary copy of the report from Igloo .

Get an intranet you’ll actually like. Try Igloo.

“Samsung Electronics recently asked Apple for a significant price raise in (the mobile processor known as) application processor,” the person was quoted as saying in the report. “Apple first disapproved it, but finding no replacement supplier, it accepted the (increase.)”

Samsung gets caught stealing Apple’s designs, so they raise the price of the chips by 20 percent.

The sad part is most people don’t expect much from RIM with these new devices. I can’t imagine the reception will be positive and I think this is the company’s last stand.

Mr. Ballmer declined to give exact figures for sales of Microsoft’s 1 1/2-pound tablet computer, introduced Oct. 26 to compete with Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) highly successful iPad.

Apple sold 3 million iPads in three days.

HTC and Apple® have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

Ella-raye Dickens for DesignModo:

When people ask me to describe the importance of web design – I often compare it to the front cover of a book. As with a book – you often judge the content inside on the front cover – whether you consciously intend to or not.

Rob Pegoraro has both devices and is deciding which one he’ll return.

Sounds cool.

I know people hate them, but they make millions of dollars and sell out concerts everywhere.

Thanks to Doxie for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week.

Just announced: Doxie One, the easy new way to go paperless for just $149.

Doxie One scans your paper – simply, automatically, and with no computer required. To scan, just push the button and insert your sheet. Doxie scans anywhere with a simple, elegant design.

When you’re ready to organize, sync scans to your Mac or iPad, just like a digital camera. Doxie’s elegant Mac app creates multi-page searchable PDFs you can save or send to Evernote, Dropbox, or via iMessage. Doxie even works with your iPad with both Apple’s Lightning and 30-pin SD Card Reader accessories.

Reserve your new Doxie One today – just $149.

I don’t own a V guitar, but the King series looks nice.

Trash Apple and then start buying the stock when it falls. Come on.

An interesting distinction.

“When you take down almost everything, it becomes a disease.”

That’s the category I would fall into. I think mine comes from doing so many live updates over the years though. When you are trying to quote people all the time, the need to get everything is important.