Fred Wilson:

The new media world has its pros and cons. The pros are that I’ve got a blog to set the record straight and that everybody is recording everything. The negatives are that bloggers don’t feel compelled to write accurate headlines and twitter can amplify the inaccuracies when those headlines get tweeted and retweeted.

TiVo Stream seamlessly delivers the content available on a consumer’s TiVo Premiere or Premiere Q DVR to alternative screens such as iPads and iPhones. Unlike similar offerings in the market, this is the first product to enable streaming or download of shows simultaneously to multiple portable devices without interrupting what’s playing on the television. The power of TiVo Stream enables users to quickly transfer shows to their mobile device for viewing outside the home.

Om Malik:

When I see Kickstarter I don’t see a company. Instead, I see a social movement. I see people doing things for people. I think of Kickstarter as a reflection of me, which is why I engage with it.

That’s what so interesting about Kickstarter — the projects succeed or fail based on public support.

It’s a free update for existing Pro Tools 10 users. Go get it.

Adam Haworth:

We all know Ping is kind of shit. Well, not kind of. It is shit. But I’ve been thinking recently (dangerous, I know) and I reckon there are a few ways that it can be rescued. Apple’s failed attempt at “social” is not dead yet.

I don’t think Apple knows what to do with Ping. That seems clear because users don’t know what to do with it either. I don’t know that a separate app is the way to go because social networking and sharing is such an impulsive decision — it almost has to be done on the spot.

Lemkesoft has released GraphicConverter 8.0, a major new release for the graphic conversion and editing utility. This latest version adds support for 64-bit Intel-based Macs and new batch processing capabilities among many other additions.

GraphicConverter 8.0 is a free update for owners of GraphicConverter 7, but is a paid upgrade of $29.95 for users with versions 1 through 6. If you’ve never bought it before – and you should – it’s $39.95.

Daniel Keller for Universal Audio:

While you’ve been working hard and paying attention to the songs, the parts, the sounds, and all the other big-picture stuff, maybe something’s just ever so slightly out of tune. I’m not talking about the really obvious slightly sharp high E string on the rhythm guitar; sometimes it’s the subtle stuff that makes all the difference.

Nothing like an out of tune instrument to kill recording.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear a Boston University student’s constitutional challenge to a $675,000 penalty for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs on the Internet, but his lawyer says there’s still a chance the amount could be reduced.

Florian Mueller:

Apple’s motion is fairly likely to succeed. If and when it does, there will be formal U.S. bans in place against all three of the leading Android device makers.

That’s what happens when you steal from your competitors.

“Comic Sans was designed because when I was working at Microsoft, I received a beta version of Microsoft Bob. It was a comic software package that had a dog called Rover at the beginning and he had a balloon with messages using Times New Roman.”

Erica Ogg:

But what do the developers who will have to deal with the implications of a larger screen think? I talked to a few iOS app makers, and interestingly, many of them are not convinced Apple would actually “pull an Android,” as one developer put it, and make it more complicated to design for a bunch of different screen sizes (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S and something new).

Love it.

The initial challenge was to create a classic semi-transparent 3D box with 6 sides. The final challenge was to create a complete 3D bar chart which we will create in this tutorial.

So much better than plain images or using JavaScript.

The 336 New Colors enrich the current PLUS SERIES palette, providing a more comprehensive selection. All color families are extended to include a wider variety of values, saturation and undertones – from subtle pastels and reliable mid-tones to the intensity of deep tones, vivid brights and vital, nuanced neutrals.

Reuters:

The chief executives of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd are used to running the show at their global tech empires, but they will be in for a different experience when they arrive at a San Francisco federal courthouse on Monday.Apple’s Tim Cook and Samsung’s Choi Gee-sung, whose companies are embroiled in bitter patent litigation, have been instructed by a federal judge to appear for court-supervised mediation. A joint court filing in April said that “as directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate” in the discussions. In other words, it was not exactly their idea.

I wonder if the judge will make them hug it out?

Space.com:

Solar eclipses such as annular eclipse on Sunday can be treacherous for the inexperienced. A ring (“annulus”) of the sun’s disk remains in view even at the moment of maximum coverage by the moon. Your eye’s iris will be fooled by the relative darkness of the moon’s silhouette. But dangerous direct sunlight appears around the edges and can hurt you badly without precautions.Experienced eclipse chasers watching a total solar eclipse will have a short time — during totality only — when they may view the eclipse directly. Don’t try this unless you are with someone who has done it before and can still see. But don’t try it at all under Sunday’s annular solar eclipse.If you’re planning to watch a solar eclipse or look for sunspots, what is the proper optical filter material for sun-watching?

Om Malik on Facebook back in the day:

when asked how the company will make money, Mark apparently said the company isn’t currently focused on monetization and will be looking to extend their platform’s reach. He doesn’t have to – if Facebook Connect works, the money will follow.

Rolling Stone:

Beards have been a hallmark of rock style since the Sixties, when the Beatles announced their adulthood by getting very, very shaggy. Facial hair on rock stars can range from the theatrical (Rob Zombie, ZZ Top) to the artfully scruffy (Thom Yorke, Bon Iver) to the meticulously detailed (pretty much any nü-metal band). We asked you to name your favorite rock beards; you can click through to see who you picked.

I call bullshit. Jim’s beard isn’t included. Hard to argue with Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, though.

A classic from FAIL Blog.

Many thanks to SuperMegaUltraGroovy for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week with Capo.

Reverse Engineering Rock and Roll: Capo is a revolutionary tool that helps you learn the music in your iTunes library. Available for your Mac, iPhone, iPod, and iPad.

Download the free trial for the Mac, and check out the new mastering-quality slowing engine that retains the detail in your music all the way down to quarter-speed!

Federico Viticci’s incredibly in-depth look at Apple’s App Store.

Premiering in June of 2012, Big Week is hosted by Dan Benjamin and features the news that matters, regular segments, interviews, reporting from 5by5 Newshounds, listener feedback, and discussion with an all-star panel

Over the past five quarters, the onetime darling of mobile telecoms has eroded its cash pile by 2.1 billion euros ($2.7 billion) – a rate that would wipe out its entire 4.9 billion euros reserves in a couple years.

Truly amazing how far they have fallen.

Building on state-of-the-art encryption standards, DropKey quickly and easily encrypts any file specifically for your recipients — without the need for a password or the hassle of juggling a bunch of keys!

They are giving away the app until May 20.

Update: 5/8/2015 This product is no longer available.

Jeremy Stanley:

Lots of tinfoil hat, bat-shit insane talk right there. What annoys me to no end is that Curtis omits an important part of this story.