Good Education:

Dying to become a master of Google’s search engine? If so, look no further than Power Searching with Google, a new, free class offered by the tech giant starting July 10th. The course promises to teach users “tips, tricks and tactics” that’ll help you “find exactly what you’re looking for, when you most need it.” Real talk: Even if you don’t spend your time dreaming about how to improve your searching skills, you should take Google up on their offer to teach you. Google’s education program manager Terry Ednacot writes on the Google Blog that no matter what your current searching ability may be—from those of us who have no idea you can use the search box as a calculator to folks who are already masters of Boolean logic—through the six 50-minute lessons of the class, you’ll learn how to use the search function to “solve everyday problems” and help you “find what you need faster.”

You would be surprised at how much better your search results, whether for school, work or play, will become if you know how to use and access Google more efficiently.

Here’s what he told an engineer who left for Google in 2004, after hurling a chair:

“Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy!” Ballmer yelled, according to the court document. “I’m going to fucking bury that guy! I have done it before and I will do it again. I’m going to fucking kill Google.”

Reminders — when and where you want them.

The app is coming soon and I’m excited to see it.

From my latest column on Techpinions:

By trying to combine what people do on their PC with what they want to do on a tablet, Microsoft feels it is offering the best of both worlds.The problem with that, as I’ve said before, is that people interact differently with a tablet than they do a computer. So, in reality, you don’t get the best of both worlds, but rather a mishmash of each.

Associated Press:

Tens of thousands of Americans may lose their Internet service Monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago. Despite repeated alerts, the number of computers that probably are infected is more than 277,000 worldwide, down from about 360,000 in April. Of those still infected, the FBI believes that about 64,000 are in the United States. Users whose computers are still infected Monday will lose their ability to go online, and they will have to call their service providers for help deleting the malware and reconnecting to the Internet.

It’s unlikely any of you are affected by this issue but it’s easy to do a quick check. Go to The DNS Changer Working Group site and click on the “Detect” button.

This week, Dan and Jim tackle the latest rumors of a 7″ iPad. They also compare RIM’s BlackBerry 10 transition to Apple’s shift to Intel processors, and more.

Sponsored by Zoompf, Sifter Stickers, and Dark Sky.

Industry analyst Ben Bajarin takes a look at the fluctuations in Apple’s stock.

An explanation from Marco Arment about what happened to his Instapaper update for iOS last night. After downloading the update, the app would just crash on launch.

Lukas Hermann has quite an in-depth piece on MacStories today about music apps for the iPad. I’ll be honest — I skipped the discovery content and moved right into what he had to say about creation. I agree with his choice of apps, although I would have added the Apogee JAM to the list of hardware devices.

Definitely a worthwhile read.

Tips straight from the guys who made the app.

[Via 52 Tiger]

Great comic at TechHog about RIM.

When will retailers learn that future purchases rely heavily on how we’re treated now?

Born in 1926 near Turin in the industrial north of the country, Pininfarina worked with top carmakers during his long career, designing the Ferrari Testarossa, Fiat 124 Spider and Maserati GranTurismo, among others.

There’s a lot of design talent in one man.

Chris Matyszczyk, CNET:

Gates began by being circumspect, saying that the market hadn’t declared this was what it wanted yet, but he said that the idea of Apple having to create a Surface-like device was “a strong possibility.”

“This is a seminal event,” he declared.

Um… no.

Rene Ritchie:

One of the worst things a company can ever do is mistake their products for their business. Products come and go. If you mistake your product for your business, when — inevitably — that product goes, your business goes with it.

Apple evolves its products as technology allows, giving users a new way to do things. Other companies try desperately to hold on to a successful product and milk it for all its worth. Consumers are becoming more educated and see stunts like that for what they are.

Ted Landau has a nice overview on how things are going, good and bad.

Reuters:

Apple was threatened with the temporary closure of its operations in Italy and with further fines of up to 300,000 euros ($377,500) if it does not offer customers a free two-year warranty as demanded by Italian law. Italy’s AGCM competition and market authority has already imposed fines of 900,000 euros on divisions of Apple, which offers a paid technical support service, for failing to tell customers about their rights to free assistance. But months after the previous fine, Apple has failed to comply with the antitrust request, the watchdog said.

The most common request we’ve had over the years is for editable user constants, so they’re now available. Not only can you create and export your own categories of constants, but they will sync automatically to all your devices via iCloud.

Another great update from James Thomson.

Very interesting chart.

Candid, controversial and funny…the original and unedited interview with Steve Jobs, conducted by tech journalist and former Apple Inc. employee Robert X. Cringely, from 1995 when Steve Jobs was still CEO of NeXT Computer and Pixar.

Research In Motion Ltd Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on Tuesday there is nothing wrong with the company as it exists now, denying the maker of BlackBerry smartphones is in a “death spiral.”

Clearly they’re screwed.

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I started using this over the weekend. It’s like amp modeling except for cabinets. I’ll let you know how I make out with it.

Jean-Louis Gassée:

A short five years ago, the BlackBerry was sine qua non in the smartphone world. Today, the future looks gloomy.

Alex Brooks has a nice look at what he expects for future Retina Macs.

Jackie Dove has a look at some services that can replace what you had with MobileMe.

AppleInsider:

The 65.27 percent share of Apple’s iOS platform, which is found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, was up from 62.65 percent in May. Apple’s share has steadily risen, growing from a 53 percent position in August of 2011.

Apple’s next closest competitor in mobile browsing marketis Google’s Android platform, which took 19.73 percent in the month of June.

I’m not going to say it, I just won’t. (Android is winning)

Incredible.

Avid has agreed to sell its consumer audio and video product lines. The company’s consumer audio products are being sold to inMusic, the parent company of Akai Professional, Alesis and Numark, among others.

The products involved in this transaction include M-Audio brand keyboards, controllers, interfaces, speakers and digital DJ equipment and other product lines. Avid will continue to develop and sell its industry-leading Pro Tools line of software and hardware, as well as associated I/O devices including Mbox and Fast Track.

Separately, the company’s consumer video editing line is being sold to Corel Corporation.

Tough times.

That’s when the real sneaking around began. For the next two months, Avitzur had to find new ways of getting into the building. He kept his canceled badge around his neck and timed his arrival for when he knew there’d be crowds coming through the front door.

What a fascinating story. A must read.