In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook (FB) from his Harvard University dorm room, hoping to see what his classmates were up to on campus. The following eight years brought international fame, unimaginable wealth, a hit Hollywood movie, a disastrous initial public offering, a sagging stock price—and one unprecedented achievement. On Sept. 14, the company reached 1 billion active users.
It is amazing.
Founded in 2000, AssistiveWare has established itself as the worldwide leader in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X and iOS.
I got a demo of the voices from CEO David Niemeijer in June. I can’t tell you how impressed I was.
Mikey Campbell for AppleInsider:
According to Interbrand, Apple’s brand value increased 129 percent to reach an estimated $76.5 billion, the most growth shown by any of the top 100 companies on the global list. In determining value, the firm measures financial performance of branded products or services, the role of brand in the purchase decision process and the overall strength of the brand.
Coca-Cola was No. 1.
On this week’s episode of Amplified, Jim and Dan discuss advertising for mobile devices, Nokia’s financial woes, untold stories about Steve Jobs, growth of the tablet market and the rumored “iPad Junior”, the iPhone 5’s vibrations, AT&T’s coverage and dead zones, Apple Maps, Stevie Ray Vaughan, blues, guitars, and more!Sponsored by Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME10 for 30% off any package), Squarespace (use code DANSENTME10 for 10% off), Shopify (three months free on signup), and CacheFly
George Dvorsky for io9:
Advice for guys who are struggling to deal with their receding hairlines: You might just want to shave it all off. A recent study involving three separate experiments has shown that men who shear the hair off their heads are perceived as being more dominant, taller, and even stronger.
To borrow Jim’s line for a moment, yep.
But the increased perception of masculinity comes at a price: namely, diminished attractiveness.
Bullshit.
The Noun Project has just launched a great redesign and aims to collect every icon, pictogram and symbol from everywhere, even from you.
Very cool.
Dave Grohl took to the Foo Fighters Facebook page Tuesday with a note confirming the band will take a hiatus just a few days after his onstage comments at the Global Citizen Festival in New York led to rumors of a break-up.
One of the last shows they did was at the iPhone 5 launch, and I was there.
Forbes:
[First, some rambling crap about what the writer calls “Mapplegate;” that neologism alone angers me enough to want to put my fist through a wall. Then…]
Steve Jobs set the bar so ridiculously high that it’s almost unfair to criticize what happens on Cook’s watch. It’s like ridiculing David Lee Roth for not being able to successfully replace Howard Stern in morning drive radio. Roth was out of his league.
But let’s not stop you from suggesting that Tim Cook should be fired over “Mapplegate.”
What absolutely arrogant, stupid bullshit.
I’m loving these articles that Dave Caolo is putting together. This one is on how to use the Do Not Disturb feature on the iPhone.
Initiated already back in 1977 by Prof. Rido Busse, the negative award “Plagiarius” serves to inform the public about the problem of fakes and plagiarisms and the negative impacts they have on not only the economy as a whole, but also on small companies and designers.
Samsung could win this hands down.
They say that those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Good advice.
Nokia’s recent attempt to get people to buy their phones is to make fun of Apple’s lack of color in the iPhone. Keep in mind that the iPhone 5 had 2 million pre-orders in 24 hours and sold 5 million in the first couple of days.
Let’s take a quick look at Nokia’s latest numbers posted on July 19:
Now, let’s look at Apple’s, posted July 24:
You’ll notice that Apple sold more iPhone 5s in the first weekend than Nokia sold Lumias in an entire quarter (90 days).
And here is Nokia’s ad making fun of the iPhone.
Since Nokia seems to be circling the drain and may even have to sell its headquarters, I thought I’d help out. How does this one look?
Nejc Žorga Dulmin sent me this picture of his grandfather (89), his wife and him with three generations of the iPad. He said his grandfather has been reading the newspaper on the iPad for a year because it’s easier to handle and he can pinch and zoom.
Much respect to his Grandfather.
“We are evaluating different options for non-core parts, such as real estate holdings, and that includes the headquarters,” spokeswoman Maija Taimi told Reuters.
Nokia makes fun of the iPhone 5 and it can’t even sell enough phones to keep its headquarters.
Writing for Fortune, Philip Elmer-DeWitt outlines how Samsung is going after the foreman of the jury in the patent trial that resulted in a $1 billion ruling in Apple’s favor. Samsung claims he’s guilty of misconduct, but DeWitt isn’t buying it.
Anthony Stauffer is a great blues player and teacher. I thoroughly enjoy watching his guitar lesson videos.
Okay, that’s just cool.
Slate:
Pagination is one of the worst design and usability sins on the Web, the kind of obvious no-no that should have gone out with blinky text, dancing cat animations, and autoplaying music. It shows constant, quiet contempt for people who should be any news site’s highest priority—folks who want to read articles all the way to the end.Splitting articles and photo galleries into multiple pages is evil. It should stop.
It’s not “evil” but it is incredibly annoying and definitely should be stopped.
Terminal U:
Overpackers take note: this could be the invention that changes your life forever. Or it could also be the most gimmicky travel accessory you’ve ever seen.The “Hop” as it’s been called, is a suitcase that you don’t have to lug through the airport. You don’t even need to pick it up, as it follows you wherever you go – a bit like a lost puppy.
This is one of those things that, when you read about it you think, “Hey – that could be kinda cool!” Then you watch the video and think a bit more about it you realize, “oh yeah…this is a really stupid idea.”
Great numbers for Apple. Everyone else looks flat or down. Keep in mind these numbers are before the iPhone 5 was released.
The Weather Channel:
During the upcoming 2012-13 winter season The Weather Channel will name noteworthy winter storms. Our goal is to better communicate the threat and the timing of the significant impacts that accompany these events. The fact is, a storm with a name is easier to follow, which will mean fewer surprises and more preparation.
Winter is coming.
Hurricanes have been given individual names for years and those fancy pants Europeans have been naming winter storms since the 1950’s. The list of names is interesting too – I can’t wait for that storm with the K name so we can all look skyward and scream, “KHHAAAANNNN!!!”
Om Malik talking about Color and Airtime:
I added up all those random quotes from Gannes’ post so you can see what he is saying: absolutely nothing. Airtime really is a house of cards standing on a handful of matchsticks.
I love it when smart writers get angry and say what they are thinking.
I love reading stories about Steve.
Feral Interactive is bringing Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition to the Mac this November. The game includes all previously released downloadable content including the Harley Quinn’s Revenge Pack. Pricing and system requirements were not announced.
You once again inhabit the role of the Dark Knight as Batman must fight Gotham’s worst collection of thugs and villains in a sprawling setting five times larger than the one found in Feral’s previous Batman release, “Batman: Arkham Asylum.”
The game features side missions, secrets and puzzles that you need to work through in order to succeed. You’ll go toe-to-toe with Batman’s famous foes, including The Joker, The Riddler, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, The Penguin and Mr. Freeze.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system is gaining on Research In Motion, a new study says, but it still has a long way to go before catching Android and iOS.
It’s one thing to lose ground to iOS and Android, but when Windows Phone OS catches you, you’re done.
The Pew Research Center reports that tablet ownership among American adults has doubled in the past year, from 11 percent to 22 percent. An additional three percent regularly use a tablet owned by someone else, meaning a full quarter of American adults now have access to a tablet.
Among them, more than half – 52 percent – use an iPad, while 48 percent use some variation of an Android-based tablet, including 21 percent who use a Kindle Fire. That’s a marked downturn in overall marketshare for Apple, which owned 81 percent of the market in 2011. Apple’s still moving quite a large number of iPads, but the market has grown and lower-priced Android tablet makers have sought to fill the gap.
The study suggests that there is some brand loyalty among tablet owners, too – 57 percent of iPad users also use an iPhone, while 66 percent of Android tablet users also have an Android-based phone.
It’ll be interesting to see how this trend is affected if and when Apple introduces the oft-rumored iPad mini.
I love the fact that many of the things we used to rely on scripts to do can now be done with HTML5 and CSS3.
The second-generation Nest Learning Thermostat is 20 percent thinner and has a new all-stainless steel ring that mirrors your wall color or pattern to create a chameleon effect and blend into any décor even more effectively
It’s those small details that matter so much.