November 9, 2012
Ozzy’s in the studio tracking vocals for the new Black Sabbath album ∞
Hell Yeah!
Happy Birthday Poynter ∞
The Poynter Institute is a non-profit school for journalism located in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Mismatch ∞
Horace Dediu:
If stores did not show any effect of poor management, then why was Browett fired? I suspect it had mostly to do with a mis-match of understanding of the job the stores are hired to do by consumers and by Apple itself. The company treats the stores as a sales channel but also as a communications channel with its customers.
A complete and total mismatch.
Pocket ∞
I setup Pocket on my Mac and iPhone1 and I really like what I see so far. It’s interesting that even though the company has a Mac app available, I actually like using the Web site more. I think it’s probably because most of the things I save are from Reeder or Web browser, so I’m already there. Switching to the app just seems like an extra step for me. But that’s the way I work, everyone is different.
- I’ll do my iPad this weekend. ↩
Mac mini with Fusion Drive lab tests ∞
Macworld’s Jim Galbraith puts the new Mac mini through some tests.
UK judges furious with Apple ∞
This is like a comedy.
Eighties-era arcade hit Dragon’s Lair now on Mac App Store
Digital Leisure Inc. has released a new version of its classic arcade video game Dragon’s Lair on the Mac App Store, it’s available for $9.99.
The game chronicles the adventures of the intrepid night Dirk the Daring as he tries to rescue voluptuous Princess Daphne from the evil dragon Singe. The game won accolades when it first appeared in the 1980s for pioneering the use of laser disc media in video games. Unlike most video games of the era, the game featured hand-drawn cel animation created by legendary animator Don Bluth. Players interacted by moving Dirk using a joystick and jumping at key moments in the action; the game would then either progress or Dirk would meet an ugly end, playing out different animations depending on the action.
Dragon’s Lair has made several reappearances over the years and is available for iOS, but this marks its Mac App Store debut.
Nexus 7 catches on fire ∞
That’s a meltdown.
iPad MIDI Control Surface for Mainstage ∞
Great article from Darren Burgos on how to get everything setup.
Shitheads ∞
Christine Erickson for Mashable:
Here’s reason number 560,893,242 why you should never film yourself doing any sort of criminal act. Four Walmart employees in Pikeville, Ky. recorded themselves purposefully throwing and damaging new iPads (or the iPad3) while in what appears to be the stockroom.
Stupid shitheads.
JCPenney posts big Q3 sales decline ∞
CNBC:
J.C. Penney, which is in the early stages of a multiyear turnaround, reported a 26 percent decline in third-quarter sales at stores open at least a year, a steeper drop than the 17.9 percent that Wall Street analysts were expecting.
Ron Johnson, Apple’s former head of retail, took the reins of the struggling department store chain last year.
This never would have happened under Steve Jobs’ watch. Wait, what?
Tablets top holiday shopping lists over PCs ∞
Sharon Gaudin for Computerworld:
Asked if they’d rather receive a PC or a tablet as a holiday gift, 59% of respondents in a PriceGrabber survey opted for the tablet, the price comparison shopping site said.
The majority asked for iPads, either the full-sized one or the new mini.
Apple named the world’s most innovative company ∞
For the third year in a row, we asked our survey participants to name the companies they thought were the world’s most innovative. This year, Apple didn’t just top the rankings (as it did the past two years); it increased its lead substan- tially. The company — which in Au- gust 2012 became the most valuable in history, measured by market capi- talization — was named by almost 80 percent of respondents as one of the three most innovative companies in the world, up from 70 percent last year.
You can download the PDF report.
Apple donates $2.5 million to Hurricane Sandy relief ∞
9 to 5 Mac has a letter sent from Apple CEO Tim Cook to employees about the donation.
Sony’s debt rating one notch above junk ∞
The downgrade to Baa3 from Baa2 follows a one-notch cut by Moody’s in October, which also said its outlook on the firm remained negative. Another cut would lower its rating to junk, forcing some funds to offload its debt and curtailing the company’s ability to raise money in credit markets.
It’s really sad. They were once such a powerful company with great products.
If it’s too good to be true ∞
People, do not buy an iPad from some guy at a gas station for $200.
November 8, 2012
Fantastical for iPhone is coming ∞
I’m looking forward to seeing how they do with this.
Windows 8 apps have built-in ads ∞
So apps in Windows 8 have built-in advertisements. Wow. Microsoft is totally thinking about the user experience in its new operating system.
Windows 8 is 84 percent less frustrating than Windows 7 ∞
Windows 8 crashes 55 percent less and is 84 percent less frustrating than Windows 7, according to a new report.
It’s good to have goals.
Dan Lyons’ angry writing ∞
Dan Lyons was funny as Fake Steve Jobs, but as someone trying to be taken seriously as a writer, he’s failing. He seems angry, bitter and completely out of touch.
Apple’s app approval process ∞
Tricia Duryee for All Things D:
Apple has been criticized for a slow approval process before, and many delight in the fact that Google’s Android has none at all.
Okay, I’ve heard about Apple’s approval process slowing down, as it does sometimes, but comparing it to Google is just ridiculous. Android is infested with malware and to not even bring that up is misleading readers.
Guitar Rig 5 Pro ∞
I’ve been using Guitar Rig since it was first introduced years ago and love it. I was just in my studio building a couple of new presets and realized how versatile the app is for customizing your guitar tone. It comes with a lot of amps and cabs, but my favorite component is Control Room Pro.
Control Room Pro gives you eight slots to put in amps, mics, adjust mic placement, adjust phase and room ambient sound. You can also adjust the volume of each cabinet you add. That will definitely give you a custom sound.
It’s worth taking a look at.
Borderlands 2 for Mac due on Nov. 20
Eagle-eyed gamers noticed recently that Borderlands 2 recently popped up on Steam as a Mac offering, although no Mac version was actually available. Turns out a Mac version is coming soon – November 20, 2012, to be precise, from the folks at Aspyr Media. It’ll cost $59.99 and will be available in a physical box, as well as for download (a Mac App Store is coming).
Borderlands 2 is a four-player cooperative shooting action game that features all-new gameplay and all-new environments to explore. Players once again return to the world of Pandora, this time to take down Handsome Jack and the Hyperion Corporation, either alone or with up to three other players working cooperatively online. The game features drop-in-drop-out gameplay.
Borderlands 2 for Mac supports Steam Play, so you can start a game on the Mac and play it on the PC or vice versa. Aspyr is reading the “Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty” and “Mecromancer Pack” downloadable content for purchase at the time of the title’s release, and has promised to support future DLC as it becomes available.
System requirements will call for OS X 10.7.5/10.8.2 or later, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz or better, 4GB RAM, 13GB hard drive space, ATI Radeon HD 2600 or Nvidia Geforce 8800 or better 3D graphics with at least 256MB VRAM.
AT&T and FaceTime ∞
AT&T has made a shift in its highly unpopular FaceTime over cellular policies today. Previously, it would allow the use of FaceTime only on Mobile Share plans, now it will allow any LTE device customers (aka those with an iPhone 5 and LTE iPads) on a tiered data plan to use FaceTime over cellular.
That still leaves 3G devices out of the mix. However, there are far fewer LTE devices being used than 3G and I don’t think AT&T’s network could handle all the traffic if they opened it up completely.
I don’t give a shit what you just bought, shut up
“Why I bought an iPad mini” and “Why I didn’t buy an iPad mini” articles are the height of tech blogger solipsism. No one gives a shit how you spend your money. Shut up and write something interesting, fool.
Avid WoW player wins Maine state senate seat after all
In early October we brought you the news that a state senate candidate in Maine was attacked by the opposition for being an avid World of Warcraft enthusiast. Smear ads tried to paint her as out of touch with reality.
Good news for WoW players curious about the outcome: Colleen Lachowicz won her seat.
The most important game ever released for iOS is here, at last
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is available for download.
Fall of the Iron Curtain ∞
From the Google Cultural Institute.
Twitter passwords compromised ∞
The cause of the compromise is not described in detail in Twitter’s email — it just says “Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter”.
Yikes.
My advice for writers and bloggers
Over the past few years I have been asked by many new and established bloggers what the secret is to blogging successfully. In fact, I’ve been asked so many times that I started thinking about it quite a bit and I’ve come up with the answer.
There is no secret. Stop looking for it because you’re not going to find it.
I’ve seen posts on the Internet that claim to give you the best tips for running a successful blog, but I think it’s all bullshit. If you follow that advice, you’ll spend more time working on the site than doing what’s important — writing content.
Here is the one rule that I follow and have followed for the last 20 years of writing: Be honest.
That’s it. I don’t worry about SEO, or making sure that I have lots of keywords in the headlines or anything but writing the content and believing that what I write is the truth. Although for websites that are just starting, SEO is very crucial. Hiring a reputable SEO service provider Malaysia ensures that your website receives the attention it deserves in the competitive online landscape, leading to improved rankings and increased visibility. This SEO agency in South Carolina is also highly recommended.
The only thing I have to offer my readers is honesty. They deserve that from me.
There is no doubt that I have a lot of fun writing and I take companies like Samsung, RIM and Microsoft to task for some of the silly things they say. I also believe that what I say in those stories is the truth. Whenever I need help for SEO, I contact this Boston SEO agency.
I stand behind my opinions on those stories, but honesty doesn’t mean you should be blind. I read a lot of differing opinions and if I’m wrong, then I’ll admit it. You see, honesty goes both ways.
I don’t always go with the popular opinion among my fellow journalists, but I’m comfortable in stepping out on my own and speaking my mind.
I certainly don’t expect everyone will agree with the opinions that I write on The Loop and that’s okay. In fact, it’s great. What a boring world we would live in if everyone agreed with me, all the time.
I enjoy reading articles where the writer has an opinion that they can back up. The stories I hate are the ones that take both sides of an argument so they don’t offend anyone. What’s the point of writing that?
I appreciate all the support my readers give me, whether that’s by becoming a member, subscribing to the RSS, following me on Twitter or reading the site.
I do believe The Loop’s success comes from that one guiding principle — be honest.