City of Cupertino just published the latest set of must see Apple Campus 2 plans, including that of the underground auditorium.

I’m amazed every time I look at these plans.

Laura Hazard Owen:

In a complaint sent to the Department of Justice this morning, Barnes & Noble says that the DOJ’s proposed settlement with HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices “represents an unprecedented effort” to become “a regulator of a nascent technology that it little understands.”

Nice aggressive stance by Barnes and Noble.

Engadget:

RIM will no longer be making the 16 GB model of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The 16 GB PlayBook will continue to be available for distributors and retailers while quantities last. We continue to remain committed to the tablet space and the 32 GB and 64 GB models of the BlackBerry PlayBook continue to be available from our distributors and retailers around the world.

Only two more models to axe and we’ll be free of the PlayBook altogether.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt for Fortune:

Finally, it seems, he had heard enough. On Thursday, Judge Richard A. Posner, a jurist famous for cutting through thickets of legalese to the nub of an issue, took one of the mobile phone industry’s most closely watched patent trials — Apple v. Motorola — and tossed it out of his courtroom.

My latest column on Techpinions:

Some people think Apple will release a television with new menus or Siri integration. I don’t believe they are thinking big enough. If Apple enters that market they will disrupt it and change it forever.

We are currently investigating the leak of some Last.fm user passwords. This follows recent password leaks on other sites, as well as information posted online. As a precautionary measure, we’re asking all our users to change their passwords immediately.

Let’s just assume that every password is going to be leaked.

Dell’s Australian managing director Joe Kremer talking about the iPad:

“People might be attracted to some of these shiny devices but technology departments can’t afford to support them,” he told a media and analyst briefing in Sydney. “If you are giving a presentation and something fails on the software side it might take four days to get it up and running again. I don’t think this race has been run yet.”

Listen up Joe. You’re talking about using an iPad, not one of your shitty Dell computers. You shouldn’t talk about things you have no idea about. You just look stupid.

You look stupid Joe.

“Mobile devices will compete with dedicated handheld gaming devices, but select consumer segments like core gamers and those individuals who do not want or have a smartphone or tablet will still provide some demand.”

Some demand hardly seems like a positive outlook for the future. Makes sense though since forecasts are down for gaming devices and more people are buying devices like the iPhone. Gaming companies are paying a lot more attention to mobile devices too.

Neil Hughes for AppleInsider:

A new survey of American iPhone buyers has revealed that 73 percent choose the high-end iPhone 4S, while 38 percent of those buying Apple’s smartphone reported switching from Android or BlackBerry.

So, people buy Android-based phones and use them as a trade-in towards an iPhone?

Dave Caolo:

I recommend using a simple four-step process to get your electronic mailbox as close to empty as you can, every day.

I know what Dave says makes sense, but I work in exactly the opposite way. I have email in my inbox dating back many years and have no problem finding anything, at any time.

With the way search works in OS X and in Apple’s Mail app, I can search individual emails by just using a few keywords — that simple method has rarely let me down. I just mark messages I need to do something with as unread and move on with my day.

Granted, that’s probably not the most efficient way to do things, but I’ve tried to be more organized with email in the past and it took more time than it was worth.

The bonus is that I always know where all of my email is.

Matt Brian:

Virgin Mobile USA will offer the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S with unlimited data and messaging plans through Sprint’s Beyond Talk plans, starting at $30, and will be available three separate tariffs.

Impressive.

Unfortunately, Airfoil Speakers Touch can no longer receive audio directly from other iOS devices or iTunes.

I’m glad to see that the app is back, but it’s disappointing that Apple admits the developer did nothing wrong and yet they still have to remove functionality.

CNET:

While the Intel representatives wouldn’t allow us to hold the unannounced device or talk about in-depth specs, we were able to pry out some information.

How, and in what goddamn world, is that a ‘Hands On’?

Dan and Jim discuss next week’s WWDC, the LinkedIn password leak, MacBook Air copycats, and much more!

Sponsored by Appsfire, Squarespace (coupon code DANSENTME6), and Hover (coupon code DANSENTME for 10% off).

Massive Greatness:

What Google actually unveiled today is their own vulnerability in the space. Beyond a few tiny leaks, no one knows what Apple’s mapping product will be like. Google has by far and away the best mapping product on the planet. But they still felt the need to hold this meaningless press conference today. That’s fighting down, not up. And it’s a big mistake because it conveys the opposite of what Google was trying to convey: concern, not confidence.

Even before today’s non-event, I had been thinking more about Apple’s move into mapping. When the news broke, everyone knew it was a big deal, but I actually still think it’s being underplayed. It could be a massive deal.

Robert Falck gives his thoughts on iOS 6. Good article, I liked reading this one.

Alan Duke for CNN:

Science fiction author Ray Bradbury, whose imagination yielded classic books such as “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Martian Chronicles” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” has died at 91, his publisher said Wednesday. Bradbury “died peacefully, last night, in Los Angeles, after a lengthy illness,” HarperCollins said in a written statement.

Very sad, albeit inevitable, news. Bradbury’s career spanned more than 70 years, and the prolific author wrote books, screenplays, teleplays and short stories. He was a huge influence on generations of science fiction writers – and will remain so for many years to come.

Nathaniel Beard, of the world’s premier beard-faced band The Beards, has hit back at Victorian top cop Ken Lay who wants to ban beards and ponytails. Mr Lay is facing an investigation into whether his campaign to defoliate the entire police force is a breach of human rights.

Get ’em beard-faced Aussie.

Lex Friedman:

Two stories about potential user data leakage at the networking company trickled out late Tuesday and early Wednesday. One suggested that the LinkedIn iOS app may leak personal data from your calendar to the LinkedIn website; the second report indicates that a Russian hacker may have posted 6.5 million LinkedIn passwords on the Web.

I guess a little bit of security is too much to ask for.

Now the CEO feels that regardless of what AT&T (cough… Stephenson) wants, the company might have to start offering data-only smartphone plans in the distant future to compete with other cellular providers in coming years.

The grip of big telcos is loosening.

Dwight Silverman:

During Airtime’s launch event, Parker and Fanning said they wanted to recapture the excitement and energy of the popular AOL chat rooms of the 1990s – which strikes me as a dubious goal at best – but still provide some safety for users.

There was nary a mention of Zune, an existing Microsoft music and movie service, at the E3 event where Xbox Music was announced. But afterward, a Microsoft spokeswoman, Melissa Stewart, confirmed that the Zune brand is going away so Microsoft can use the better-known Xbox brand for its entertainment services, including its online video service.

Xbox is one Microsoft product that I do like.

Two slots just opened up for the balance of June on our advertising network, The Deck. We’ll do a nice price for an advertiser who can pull the trigger quick.

This is the ad network used by The Loop.

Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device. Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we’ll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite.

Mat Honan for Gizmodo:

If you have a Facebook account, you’ve likely seen your dull friends post some version of a “privacy notice” there recently. The idea is that posting it as your status will somehow prevent Facebook from, well, doing the things Facebook does with your information. It’s nonsense. Don’t be that person.

I’m astonished at how many people who ought to know better have fallen into this trap. It’s ridiculous magical thinking that repeating some incantation will save you from the big, bad government robots and others who want to do you harm.

You gave away your privacy rights the second you signed up for a Facebook account. If it’s really that big a deal to you, cancel your account and delete all the information therein. And wake up, and realize any time you’re not paying for something (and even sometimes when you are), you are the product that’s being sold – to advertisers and anyone else capable of paying the service provider for your information.

That goes for Facebook, that goes for Google, that goes for a lot of online services, and no legalese sounding bullshit you’ve posted to your wall is going to change that.

Donating your old discs to CDSweep will help advance cutting-edge scientific research into the causes and treatment of autism and provide the fast-growing number of affected individuals with the gift of hope. You can even request that your CDs be digitized and sent back to you as MP3s for free.

Mike Rose:

Nuance isn’t yet saying anything specific about iOS integration for Dragon ID — “We aren’t providing details yet, but we’re in discussions with several of the top OEMs,” was the word via the company’s PR rep.

As Mike said voice login isn’t new, but this could be interesting.

The Atlantic:

Of all the noises that my children will not understand, the one that is nearest to my heart is not from a song or a television show or a jingle. It’s the sound of a modem connecting with another modem across the repurposed telephone infrastructure. It was the noise of being part of the beginning of the Internet.

Thanks to Daring Fireball for the link.

TBWA/Chiat/Day’s Lee Clow, the advertising genius behind the “Think Different” and “1984” advertisements, sums up his relationship with Steve Jobs.