Samantha Grossman:

Over the past five years, the average net worth of Canadian households has exceeded that of American households. So for the the first time in history, Canadians are wealthier than Americans — by more than $40,000, on average. In 2011, the average net worth of a Canadian household was $363,202, compared to $319,970 in the U.S., according to Environics Analytics WealthScapes data published in the Globe and Mail. (‘Average net worth’ measures the total combined value of a household’s liquid and real estate assets, minus debt.)

The collapse of the American housing market in 2008 is one of the major factors, according to the report.

Wired:

Jobs has been dead for nearly a year, but the biography about him is still a best seller. Indeed, his life story has emerged as an odd sort of holy scripture for entrepreneurs—a gospel and an antigospel at the same time.To some, Jobs’ life has revealed the importance of sticking firmly to one’s vision and goals, no matter the psychic toll on employees or business associates. To others, Jobs serves as a cautionary tale, a man who changed the world but at the price of alienating almost everyone around him.For those who, like Jobs, have pledged to “put a dent in the universe,” his thorny life story has forced a reckoning. Is it really worth being like Steve?

Peter Kafka:

The Department of Justice posted the settlement, invited public comment, and then ignored the public comment.

Why bother asking for public comments if you’re just going to ignore them anyway?

Francie Diep for InnavationNewsDaily:

A half-inch-long juvenile jellyfish pulses and swims much like any of its compatriots in oceans all over the world. The major difference? It’s entirely man-made. “It’s a biohybrid robot. It’s part animal, it’s part synthetic material,” said Kevin Kit Parker, a bioengineer at Harvard University who led the jellyfish-building effort.

The “jellyfish” was engineered to help scientists understand how biological pumps work, to aid them ultimately in creating artificial hearts using biological material. It’s an amazing step forward, if a bit creepy. The “biohybrid robot” comprises silicone material and heart cells harvested from rats.

There’s a video embedded on the page that show you the “artificial jellyfish” in motion, and it really does look like a jellyfish.

Jeff John Roberts for paidcontent.org:

The Justice Department released a document today that characterized criticism by Apple and publishers of a controversial price-fixing settlement as “self-serving” and ill-founded. The Department also pointed to recent ventures by Google and Microsoft as evidence that the e-book market is thriving and that Amazon’s dominant position has been overstated.

The Department of Justice is on its heels after Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) told them to call off their lawsuit in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that ran earlier this month.

There’s a lot in here, from how the DoJ perceives Apple’s role in all this, to responses to the Authors Guild, another outspoken critic of the settlement, and more. Suffice to say that the Department of Justice has not been convinced that its settlement wasn’t acting in the best interest of the public.

And even uglier than before.

Luthier Andrew Guyton adds a neck to Brian May’s Red Special.

Look what FedEx just delivered. I’m going into the studio to play.

Aaron Souppouris for The Verge:

Dead Trigger, a zombie FPS for smartphones from the makers of Shadowgun, is now free to download on Android thanks to rampant piracy on the platform. In a statement on Facebook, developer Madfinger Games says that even at $0.99, the piracy rate on Android devices was “unbelievably high.”

Anecdotally, I’ve heard similar stories from other game developers. While piracy on jailbroken iPhones can lead to a loss of income for iOS developers as well, most everyone agrees that the problem isn’t just rampant on Android devices – it’s endemic.

The more experienced among you already know these, but it’s a helpful tip.

Great tip from Chris Oldroyd.

M.G. Siegler:

I have no problem if someone wants to hurt themselves. I have a problem with people who want to hurt other people. My right to extend my arm ends at your face.

Microsoft went from businesses to the home. Apple has gone from the home to businesses.

Mark Crump takes a look at a number of audio interfaces for the iPhone and iPad. Good article.

Marco Tabini:

Customers are not investors. When you buy something, you are not taking on a stake in the manufacturer. You need to want to buy software because it’s the best fit for your needs, and not because you want to do someone a favour, or because of some hope about its future. To do otherwise creates an unhealthy relationship between buyer and seller that does not reflect the simple reality of commerce.

There’s been a lot written in the past 48 hours or so about Google’s acquisition of Sparrow, the developer of e-mail software for iOS and OS X. Some are squarely siding with displaced customers, who say they’ve been ripped off by the company, who’s taken the money and run. Others lament that acquisitions like this hurt indie software development in the long run because it makes customers gun-shy about future purchases.

Tabini throws in a much needed dose of reality: smart customers should pay for software that has the features they need, instead of banking on the developer’s promises (or their own wishes) for future development. That’s a fool’s bet.

“You are doing important work — please don’t stop.”

In attempting to fend off Apple and Microsoft’s suits against Motorola Mobility and advancing its own patent litigation against both companies, Google, which is facing a lot of regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and abroad over what some allege is abuse of SEPs, has been arguing that proprietary non-standardized technologies that become ubiquitous due to their popularity with consumers should be considered de facto standards.

So, Let me get this straight. Apple spent billions of dollars researching the best interface for mobile devices and patented their findings. Those methods of interacting with a mobile device became so popular, Google illegally integrated them in its inferior Android operating system.

Now that they’ve been caught, they are arguing that the features are standards and are not Apple’s at all.

You know what else is ubiquitous? Search. Why not hand the code for that over to Apple and let them make a search engine to compete with Google.

Dirtbags.

Steven D. Jones and Nathalie Tadena for the Wall Street Journal:

Sustained growth of Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) core Office and enterprise software businesses cheered investors even as the software giant swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss–its first quarterly loss in at least 20 years–after a write-down and increase in deferred revenue related to a Windows 8 upgrade promotion.

Remember the bad old days when Apple used to lose money and Microsoft was the golden child?

Don’t get cocky. It wasn’t that long ago. This industry can turn on a dime.

Brid-Aine Parnell for The Register:

US appeals court has denied Samsung’s second try at holding up a ban on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country.

District Judge Lucy Koh already said that the preliminary injunction she ordered wouldn’t wait until Samsung had completed its appeal against it and the Court of Appeals has backed her up.

Back to the drawing board for Samsung, which was prevented from releasing the Galaxy Tab 10.1 after Apple won an injunction over patent infringement.

Cy Xu and Madison Park for CNN:

In the age of fat payouts and lucrative perks for company executives, the CEO of Lenovo is getting attention for how he used his bonus.

Yang Yuanqing distributed $3 million from his bonus among 10,000 junior-level employees, the China-based technology company confirmed Thursday. The employees, such as receptionists, production-line workers and assistants, each received an average bonus of 2,000 yuan, which is $314, in the name of their CEO.

All told, Yang’s payout was about $14 million, so he can afford to be altruistic. But I’ll bet that $314 meant a lot to some of the folks further down the food chain.

Suzanne Tindal for ZDNet:

Qantas has clocked up an Apple trifecta this week, announcing that it will roll out iPads to its 767 fleet to stream its entertainment.

The tablets will be placed in the pocket before each seat.

Most of the planes outfitted with the iPads will be flying routes through eastern Australia. Qantas also announced that it’s phasing out Blackberry devices in favor of iPhones and that it’s offering pilots iPads to replace paperwork and flight manuals they’d otherwise have to carry.

Wall Street Journal:

Apple’s latest iPad model went on sale quietly on Friday at a retail location in Beijing where unruly buyers and sullen crowds had marred past releases. Roughly 40 customers quietly lined up Friday morning outside the Apple Store in Beijing’s high-end Sanlitun shopping and restaurant district. They waited within a cordon surrounded security personnel and reporters. Store doors opened at 8 a.m. without disturbances.In May 2011, customers who lined up for new white iPhones scuffled with employees, leading managers to lock the doors.For the launch of the new iPad, Apple instituted a system new to the location in which buyers were required to take reservations beginning on Thursday, the day before the launch. Customers were then given a set time to pick up their devices.

Dan Frommer:

Apple has long been fortunate to have an excited fan base promoting its products and helping lure first-time buyers. But did you know that Apple used to distribute free collateral to help its biggest fans spread the message?

Roger Ebert:

Wednesday, July 18, is the 20th anniversary of our marriage. How can I begin to tell you about Chaz? She fills my horizon, she is the great fact of my life, she has my love, she saved me from the fate of living out my life alone, which is where I seemed to be heading. If my cancer had come, and it would have, and Chaz had not been there with me, I can imagine a descent into lonely decrepitude. I was very sick. I might have vegetated in hopelessness. This woman never lost her love, and when it was necessary she forced me to want to live. She was always there believing I could do it, and her love was like a wind forcing me back from the grave.

Film critic Roger Ebert’s touching love letter to his wife. Excuse me – I’ve got something in my eye.

Hell Yeah!

Great song.

Connie Loizos:

There’s also no better way to gain a view into the most interesting startups than to start acquiring some, notes economist Paul Kedrosky. “[Mayer] needs to take that fire hose of startups that used to be directed at Google and redirect it at Yahoo. And the way you redirect it is to show that you’re a frequent, active acquirer.”

Agreed.

Centives:

We all think about it several times a day (it’s not just us, right?…right?) How much would it cost to become Batman? In anticipation of the impending release of The Dark Knight Rises, Centives decided to find out.The total bill? $2.8 million to show the criminal scum that the city doesn’t belong to them.