March 14, 2012
Written by Peter Cohen
Greg Smith for the New York Times:
TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.
And this is just the opening paragraph. It goes on for two pages. If you weren’t mad at investment banks before for ruining the economy, you’ll sure as hell be pissed off by the time you’re done.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Matt Alexander:
Producing a weblog – whether you choose to contribute substantive content of your own or not – is not a matter of competition, but of self-expression.
I agree with Matt. I encourage all new writers to have a voice of their own, not just follow the crowd. I follow people, not companies.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Like most things, the old give way to the new. A good list of podcasts that are taking over.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Bobby Solomon tests Nike’s newest lifestyle product, which the company describes like this:
Nike+ FuelBand tracks your activity through a sport-tested accelerometer, then translates every move into NikeFuel. Nike+ FuelBand tracks running, walking, dancing, basketball – and dozens of everyday activities.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
MacUpdate started its spring Mac software bundle today. The bundle features 11 Mac apps worth $378 for $49.99. Apps in the bundle include VMware Fusion 4, Drive Genius 3, PDFpen 5.
March 13, 2012
Written by Jim Dalrymple
I’ve linked to articles defending Instapaper, so it’s only fair to get the other side of the story. Zach Weigand posted his thoughts, and later updated the post, about why he switched to Readability.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Rian van der Merwe:
My loyalty comes from the fact that I’m unable to separate Instapaper from its creator, Marco Arment.
And it works really well.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
AppleInsider:
“Proview clearly made that arrangement so they wouldn’t have to give the money to their creditors in” mainland China, [Apple spokesperson Carolyn] Wu said. “Because they still owe a lot of people a lot of money, they are now unfairly trying to get more from Apple for a trademark we already paid for.”
Apple bought it fairly. Proview needs to go away.
Written by Shawn King
New York Times:
After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered sets of reference books that were once sold door to door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, the company is expected to announce on Wednesday.In a nod to the realities of the digital age — and, in particular, the competition from the hugely popular Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools, company executives said.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica was probably the first “adult” books I ever read as a kid. They opened the world up to a fat little kid in Nova Scotia.
Written by Shawn King
Wired Science:
Are you too far south or in too bright of a city to catch the spectacular auroras that have been streaking across the sky lately?Not to worry. The Canadian Space Agency’s AuroraMAX Camera — located in the City of Yellowknife, near the Arctic Circle — can fulfill all your Northern-Light-viewing needs every night from now until late May.The AuroraMAX camera, run in collaboration with the University of Calgary and Astronomy North, will turn on automatically when darkness falls (around 7:30 MDT tonight) and provides spectacular, full-sky views of the Northern Lights. Peak aurora activity is expected in the hours just before and after midnight (Mountain Time).
Canadians are such nice people.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Kyle Baxter:
I have no doubt that Apple is working on a small iPad, but that’s a separate question of whether they will actually release it. Let’s think through it.
That’s always important to remember. Apple experiments with a lot of different products, but that doesn’t mean they’ll ever get released. Having said that, Kyle has some interesting points.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
You thought I was joking, right. No, it’s true. The most backward tablet in the world just got worse. The only thing they forgot was a stylus — maybe they can get some from Samsung.
What the hell are these guys thinking?
Written by Peter Cohen
Sara Forden and Jeff Bliss for Bloomberg:
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission subpoenaed Apple Inc. (AAPL) as part of its antitrust probe of Google Inc. (GOOG), seeking information on how the computer maker uses the search engine on the iPhone and iPad, two people familiar with the matter said.
The FTC wants to find out if Google is abusing its position as dominant Internet search tool to boost its revenue in the mobile phone market, according to an expert consulted for the article.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
As we look around the web, we see so many examples of designers who have brilliantly used color in web design projects to make the page or various page elements really pop. Even in some cases when we see designers opting for more minimal designs, using bold splashes of color can really take the look to fantastic new heights in very simple ways.
And I thought I was being bold with The Loop’s purple.
Written by Peter Cohen
CNN:
The United States, the European Union and Japan filed a trade case Tuesday over China’s export restrictions on minerals that are crucial for the production of many high-tech devices, according to EU and U.S. officials. The case aims to pressure China to lift export limits on certain minerals known as rare earths, a senior Obama administration official said.
China mines a huge percentage of rare earths used in high-tech manufacturing, and has gradually reduced the amount of material it will export. The United States claims China is hoarding the minerals; China defends its decision, and says its doing it out of environmental concerns and in-line with World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines.
Written by Peter Cohen
Steve Peterson for Gamesindustry.biz:
Some predicted that established publishers with big budgets, experienced developers, and huge brand names would quickly dominate the mobile markets.But a new analysis by mobile analytics firm Flurry completely demolishes that prediction, showing that established publishers only control about one third of the games being played on mobile platforms.
Big console and PC game publishers have certainly tried to muscle their way in, but iOS and Android have given rise to new publishers that dominate the platform.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Ben Brooks brings up some good points about this “via” and “hat tip” debate.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
On Sunday, HH Sheikh Mohammed tweeted the launch of the iPad “Minister e-briefcase” for UAE Cabinet members.
Every government should do this.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Apple soon changed the codename to “BHA.” Upon learning that it stood for “Butt-Head Astronomer,” Sagan filed a lawsuit for defamation of character, and lost.
I can just see Steve giggling as he changed the codename.
Update: As many of you noted, Steve wasn’t at Apple during this time.
Written by Peter Cohen
Jenna Wortham for The New York Times:
A marketing agency touched off a wave of criticism and debate when it hired members of the local homeless population to walk around carrying mobile Wi-Fi devices, offering conferencegoers Internet access in exchange for donations.
On one hand it seems exploitative, but clearly the homeless people recruited for the effort don’t mind, and the marketing company that arranged the program worked with a homeless shelter as well. The director of the shelter is surprised at the blowback as well.
I look forward to people asking Jim how they can access his wireless hotspot at the next tech event he’s at. He’ll either punch them in the face or he’ll make some extra money.
March 12, 2012
Written by Shawn King
Yahoo! Travel:
While staircases are fundamentally a means to get from one point to another, they become cool—and worth seeking out—when the form is made at least as important as the function. Whether in shops, museums, or the great outdoors, the staircases we’ve found are inspiring works of public art and provide interesting perspective on a destination.
Even us lazy guys would enjoy taking some of these stairs.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
In addition to the list of bug fixes, Apple posted the security improvements in the new version of Safari.
Written by Shawn King
Gadling:
In honor of its upcoming 100-year anniversary, the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa is offering an amnesty for anyone who has pilfered something from the hotel over the last century. The historic, castle-like hotel in the Canadian capital has already received more than 60 items from people all over North America.“The amnesty part means there are no questions asked,” said Deneen Perrin, the hotel’s director of public relations. “It doesn’t matter whether your grandmother took a silver spoon and put it in her purse or if someone’s parents maybe worked in the hotel and took something, we’ll take it back.”
Shows how nice Canadians are.
Written by Shawn King
The (unofficial) SXSW Torrents:
This torrent includes all the tracks that could be previewed on the SXSW website for SXSW 2012 as of March 6, 2012. This year’s collection includes 1,219 files totaling 7.52GB. Torrents for 2005-2011 are also available.
Would you like a buttload of free (and legal) music, from (mostly) undiscovered bands? These torrent files are your ticket.
