The Next Web:

In the past 24 hours, Apple appears to have started prompting iOS devices owners and those with Apple IDs within iTunes to make their accounts more secure, requiring them to pick three security questions and enter their answers when they download a new app.Whilst the new prompt will undoubtedly help secure accounts, many Apple device owners are confused by the new pop-up message and believe it is a phishing attempt.

Great idea from Apple but “springing” this on users without prior knowledge has caused a lot of unnecessary confusion and consternation among users.

The Wall Street Journal:

At the heart of the U.S. government’s suit against Apple and some publishers over e-book pricing is something called “agency pricing.”It’s a term for a new way of setting e-book prices that came about as Apple prepared to introduce its iPad in 2010. Under the traditional “wholesale” pricing model, publishers had long charged booksellers around half the cover price of a book, leaving booksellers to discount the books if they wanted.When Apple entered the fray, it offered publishers the ability to set their own prices.

Good explanation of what the two different pricing models are and how the effect book prices.

Marketplace:

Last week, Marketplace’s Rob Schmitz actually got inside a Foxconn factory in the southern city of Shenzhen. He didn’t meet anybody who was poisoned on the job. He didn’t meet any 13-year-old workers. Nobody he talked to had been hurt in an explosion. He says the stories he heard were more about China than Apple.In the first of two reports, Rob introduces us to the people behind our iPads.

The Apple Store is the place where those experiences are made far better or far worse. Being on the front lines means gathering some great war stories. Stephen is here to share a few of his.

Jeff Scott:

The lack of an ability to download previously paid for digital goods, in the case an app, is the real problem. In the world of digital distribution, one where we are moving to a cloud-based backend and a Post-PC world, the apps and other digital media you buy in the App Store, you expect to be available forever. But the sad truth is, they are not available if the developer chooses to pull them. There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of Tetris for iPad users that will find that out next time they upgrade devices and try to download the app.

I signed up for this yesterday to give it a try. It’s a curated list of stories that people you follow find interesting. You can find friends through Twitter or Facebook to make things a bit easier. You can also check out the staff recommendations.

There’s so much crap around the Internet these days, I’m all for looking through some good stories. I like it so far.

Dark Roasted Blend:

Dizzying heights, pervading mists and isolation seem to invariably fuel humankind’s spiritual quests and lofty aspirations, so it comes as no surprise that we find monasteries and other sacred architecture suspended high above deep valleys, perched on impossible rocks and looming over gorges. The air is certainly clearer there, though at these heights, it’s often much foggier.Serving partly as castles and almost always as unconquerable fortifications, these ancient sites were built on steep cliffs and daring promotories, often accessible only by secret paths – and thus provide the utmost seclusion amid serene surroundings, so valued in true spiritual devotion.

As a Canadian, all I can think of is, “It must be a bear to get beer up there.”

The best-selling Anne Geddes Baby Record Book, My First Five Years is now available in an incredible new way to record your baby’s precious early years. Imagine being able to record your baby’s favorite lullaby, to have proud grandparents film a keepsake message for their new grandchild, and to have the ability to store all of your captured moments in one place.

I love Anne Geddes. If this were available when my kids were young, I’d definitely buy it.

Music & Memory is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

The group is also asking for donations of your old iPods. Sounds like a good cause to me.

Om Malik:

Infact I get so much unwanted email from the service and from people I don’t know and don’t want to know. Today, I got so frustrated with the whole email thing, that I shut down the account. Done! I will give them full credit for making it much easier than say Facebook to delete my account.

I must say this is similar to my experience with LinkedIn. I did use it when I left Macworld to show recommendations, but that’s about it.

CNET:

The Department of Justice “has a far better case against the publishers than Apple,” says Dominick Armentano, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Hartford and author of Antitrust and Monopoly who’s now affiliated with the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. “If the CEOs of the various publishers got together in hotel rooms to discuss prices, they are sunk” and might as well settle, he says.

The aim of this article is to find out why people still find it difficult to use CSS sprites. Also, we’ll come up with a couple of substantial improvements to current techniques.

I like, but don’t understand how to implement sprites. I’ll do it one day.

Richard Leadbetter for GamesIndustry International:

But make no mistake, Apple has clear designs on expanding its gaming empire, having dominated the mobile sector with the right products at the right time, backed by the most powerful graphics hardware in the market. In a week where Apple’s market cap has exceed $600bn and where it accounts for 36 per cent of S&P’s total 500 Index Q1 earnings, the sky’s the limit. It’s no longer a case of whether Apple will bring its own brand of gaming to the home, it’s a matter of when and how…

Leadbetter goes into some serious detail about the hardware inside the new iPad, what it means for gaming, what the strengths, benefits and problems are, and what it suggests for Apple’s future roadmap. If you have any interest in how the new iPad stacks up as a game system and its potential, this is definitely worth a read.

Lauren Goode for AllThingsD:

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Nest, maker of a “smart” thermostat and target of a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by industrial giant Honeywell, has submitted a formal response to Honeywell’s claims.The start-up has also brought Richard “Chip” Lutton, a 10-year Apple Inc. veteran who managed the company’s patent portfolio, on board as vice president and general counsel.

Nest was founded by Tony Fadell, formerly in charge of Apple’s iPod division. The company made waves earlier this year for introducing a programmable home thermostat with a radically simpler, smarter interface than what you can buy elsewhere. No sooner had the company introduced its first product then it was hit with a lawsuit by Honeywell, which says that Nest is infringing its patents.

Chip Lutton left Apple in 2011.

Here is my latest column for TechPinions where I look at iCloud:

iCloud is not just a syncing service — it’s a content delivery mechanism that will play an increasingly important role in future products.

Part of a letter Axl Rose wrote to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of “Guns N’ Roses”.

NHL GameCenter 2011-2012:

The National Hockey League has an updated GameCenter app that adds new features and expanded coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs that start this evening. This update has round-by-round coverage of the playoffs and highlights of games.You can view playoff videos with commentary, highlights and top moments and even listen to live game radio during the playoffs. Game alerts are also available for each playoff series. NHL GameCenter 2011-2012 is available from the App Store as a free download.

Go Canucks Bruins!

Sigh.

AppleInsider:

The Finnish handset maker had previously told investors it expected to break even on device sales during the quarter, but its operating margins proved to be around negative 3 percent. Nokia now expects its second quarter of 2012 to be similar to or below the first quarter.

Apple updated its Web site today highlighting a number of ways professional video editors are using Final Cut Pro X.

Jeff John Roberts:

Now, state governments are seeking their own pound of flesh. Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has just announced that his state and 15 others have filed an antitrust lawsuit again Apple and five publishers in Texas.

The states say it’s cost consumers $100 million.

The Wall Street Journal:

Worldwide tablet sales will nearly double in 2012 on sky-high demand for Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPad, technology research firm Gartner Inc. predicted.Global customers are seen buying 118.9 million tablets including the iPad in 2012, a 98% increase from last year.Though competitors like Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android are expected to make inroads, Apple’s iOS will continue to be the dominant tablet operating system, Gartner said. The firm expects it to account for 61% of customer sales.

While each year is predicted to be the year of the tablet, this continues to be Apple’s market, with everyone else vying for second place.

James Brightman for GamesIndustry International:

“But I don’t think we’re far away from that at all. If you talk to any of the smart kids in the class, I think all of them are looking at how do we build good IP for theses devices, and I think Infinity Blade is now the benchmark and I think Epic and Chair have done a wonderful job there.”

Brightman quotes Remedy Entertainment CEO Matias Myllyrinne, whose company debuted their popular Max Payne game franchise on the iPad this week. Myllyrinne says that the limiting factor for iPad gaming isn’t about machine’s horsepower at this point, it’s about building “the right kind of content for that medium.”

Shortly before his death last week, Jim Marshall, creator of the famous amplifier, gave his last interview to Alfred Hickling. He talked about his debt to Hendrix and Spinal Tap – and his final invention, the one-watt amp.

WSJ:

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, alleges Apple and the publishers reached an agreement where retail price competition would cease, retail e-books prices would increase significantly and Apple would be guarantee a 30% “commission” on each e-book sold.

Forget new gear, weapons, or sophisticated targeting systems. The newest tool coming to combat troops is low-tech: beards. In a report released yesterday, research think-tank Xegis Solutions noted that beards have a direct correlation to combat effectiveness.

Damn right!

[Via Scott Johnson]

A drop dead simple utility for any New Yorker. You tell the little robot, (we call him Metro for short) how much money you have on your metrocard, he spits back out you what you need to put on it to get an even fare.

A simple utility, but I can see how useful this would be.