This looks like a great app for those that like to easily apply effects and filters to their photos. They have a pro version too.

I think that every site could do with some minimalism. You certainly don’t have to take it to the extent I did with The Loop, but even cleaning up and eliminating those elements that aren’t needed would make a big difference for the visitor.

Metal Guitar Gods is an expansion pack for EZmix 2, focusing solely on amp and cab simulation presets for guitar and bass. It comes with everything from rhythm, lead and clean sounds to settings for acoustic guitar and bass.

EZmix is a great plug-in that makes it quick and easy to get a great sounding mix. Basically, you pick a preset and you’re done. You can fine tune it if you want, but they usually sound pretty good as they are.

Apple gets $6050 per square foot and Tiffany’s, its nearest competitor, gets $3017 per square foot.

BlackBerry or iPhone? It’s been a battle for years, but Apple’s smartphone offering may be the healthier pick for anyone with allergies, according to new research from the U.S.Nickel used in the production of the Canadian Research In Motion product has been found on the device’s buttons and keyboards, where it could cause an allergic reaction such as dry, itchy skin, says a study presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

What happens next, you touch a BlackBerry and puppies cry out in pain?

Such a great, simple writing app.

CNET got their hands on Steven Sinofsky’s memo to employees announcing his departure. They also received a copy of Steve Ballmer’s memo to employees.

Ballmer doesn’t exactly gush with emotion for the man that lead the Windows team and has been with the company since 1989. Word on the street is that Sinofsky wanted Ballmer’s job as CEO, but it doesn’t look like that was going to happen.

Ina Fried:

Sources have said the move came amid growing tension between Sinofsky and other top executives. Sinofsky, though seen as highly talented, was viewed at the top levels as not the kind of team player that the company was looking for.

Interesting times when Apple and Microsoft will let top executives like Sinofsky and Forstall walk or be forced out.

Dan Nakaso for the San Jose Mercury News:

John McAfee, the Silicon Valley creator of an antivirus software that bears his name, was being sought Monday by police in Belize as a “person of interest” in the slaying of a fellow expatriate on an island where McAfee lived a high-profile existence, police said Monday.

McAfee left the company he founded in the early 90s, and later expatriated to Belize in 2008. Local police raided his home in April looking for drugs and guns, but released him later without being charged.

The murder victim was McAfee’s neighbor. His body was found by his housekeeper, with bullet in his head. Police haven’t announced a motive for the murder yet.

The one-stop Apple shop.

Microsoft said the head of its flagship Windows division and the driving force behind Windows 8, Steven Sinofsky, will be leaving the company with immediate effect, shortly after the software giant launched the Surface tablet.

This seems odd to me. It doesn’t have the feel of a planned departure.

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.