February 24, 2012
Aspyr notes that its newest update to Civilization V: Campaign Edition has caused problems for Lion users. The update coming from the Mac App Store seems to be the trouble, and only for Lion users, according to Aspyr – Snow Leopard users aren’t having difficulty, nor are customers who downloaded the software through Steam.
“We are working with Apple to rectify the issue but in all fairness, this is no fun for customers and we haven’t found a good vehicle for updating customers on what’s going on. We typically see less than 10% of affected users ever click through and submit support tickets, so lots of people are out there frustrated,” explained Aspyr spokesperson Elizabeth Howard.
To make it up to its customers, Aspyr is heavily discounting Civilization IV and Civilization IV: Colonization on the Mac App Store, down to $4.99 each. What’s more, once the update problem is fixed, Aspyr plans to offer Civilization V: Campaign Edition customers free access to the Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack, DLC content for the game.
More details on the issue and workarounds are here.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
An update to FXpansion’s drum sampler. The new version adds native 64-bit support for Windows 7 and Mac OSX, as well as a new kit and bonus kit-pieces from the BFD2 library recorded at London’s Air Studios (2 full kick/tom/snare sets, 2 crashes, 2 rides and a hihat).
Written by Peter Cohen
Adam Satariano and Douglas MacMillan for Bloomberg:
Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s most valuable company, acquired San Francisco-based Chomp Inc., which helps users sort through the widening array of software applications for mobile devices. … Chomp’s software lets people search through the hundreds of thousands of downloadable applications available for Apple’s iPad and iPhone, as well as gadgets running Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
Reporting on this for TechCrunch, MG Siegler suggests that Apple will use Chomp to revamp the App Store. Discovering new apps certainly has gotten harder as the store has gotten larger and larger. If Chomp is one way to improve that experience, all the better.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
We are aware some of you may not currently be able to access certain services on BlackBerrys including, email, some internet access, BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry App World. We are working with RIM to resolve this and we will let you know as soon as we know more.
RIM’s new CEO is right, nothing really needs to change, the company is just fine. Customers on Vodafone don’t seem to agree though.
Written by Peter Cohen
Eric Caoili for Gamasutra:
Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian on Thursday revealed what he’s been up to since ditching Disney: a new, core-focused mobile studio.Called Industrial Toys, the developer says it wants to veer away from the “inferior gameplay, graphics, and … elementary mechanics” that the space is mostly known for, instead promising free-to-play titles with “intricately advanced layers of narrative and gameplay.”
Disney Interactive announced Seropian left earlier this month. He’s been joined by another Bungie alum, Brent Pease, who most recently worked at Dreamworks Animation. The company’s already set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account.
February 23, 2012
Written by Shawn King
ESPN:
As the No. 10 Chevrolet rolled to a stop Thursday, the front end destroyed after a horrific impact with the inside retaining wall, Danica Patrick let her crew know she was all right.She did it with three simple words, two of which would make many blush.
The Daytona 500 is this weekend and this video reminds you of not only how dangerous the race is but also, paradoxically, how safe it is.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Michael Hiltzik for the LA Times:
Technology news bloggers’ curious habit of accepting investments from the very people they’re presumed to be covering objectively blew up last week over what might be termed the Path Affair.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
I want nothing to do with this thing.
Written by Shawn King
EFF:
If you want to keep Google from combining your Web History with the data they have gathered about you in their other products, such as YouTube or Google Plus, you may want to remove all items from your Web History and stop your Web History from being recorded in the future.Note that disabling Web History in your Google account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information and using it for internal purposes. It also does not change the fact that any information gathered and stored by Google could be sought by law enforcement.
Hat tip to Daring Fireball.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Eric Slivka for Mac Rumors:
A Shanghai court has declined to issue an injunction that would have barred sales of Apple’s iPad in the city, a ruling that is part of the dispute between Apple and Proview Technology over the trademark on the iPad name.
Round, round we go.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Ryan Cash and his views on Flickr.
Microsoft’s denial of Office for iPad was half-hearted at best, saying only that the story was “based on inaccurate rumors and speculation.” I said at the time the statement was released that something seemed strange.
Microsoft could have come out and said, “these rumors are completely false. We have no plans to offer Office for iPad at this time.” That surely would have put an end to it. But they didn’t do that.
It could be that Microsoft has a place on stage during Apple’s iPad event, which is expected to be held in the next few weeks. That would be the perfect reason for them to issue this half-hearted statement denying the existence of the software for iPad.
Apple likes to highlight cool software for the device it’s introducing, so why not Office? It would be more beneficial for Microsoft than Apple, but still I think Apple would give them a place at the keynote.
I think John Gruber nailed it when he said:
…if Microsoft does get a demo slot on stage during the iPad 3 keynote, Microsoft would be getting much more out of it than Apple.
The days of Microsoft dictating things to Apple are gone. These days Microsoft needs Apple.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
You know your product is shit when a cartoon character makes fun of it.
February 22, 2012
Written by Shawn King
Ars Technica:
To highlight work done to improve the sound of compressed music files, Apple recently launched a “Mastered for iTunes” section on the iTunes Store.How does this work? Ars spoke with Masterdisk Chief Engineer Andy VanDette, who recently completed a project remastering the bulk of Rush’s back catalogue. As part of the process, VanDette created special versions of each song specifically for uploading to the iTunes Store.
I bet you didn’t realize the effort that goes into creating music for the iTunes store.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Bob Brewin:
The command did not provide any explanation for the move in its notice on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Officials originally planned to acquire 2,861 iPad2 tablet computers to serve as electronic flight bags, storing digital versions of paper charts and technical manuals.
That’s unfortunate, I wonder what caused that?
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Matthew Panzarino:
Following several weeks of controversy surrounding the way that applications were handling customer data, the California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that several companies with a stake in the app game have agreed to new privacy protections for users of apps, including Apple, Microsoft, HP, Amazon, Google and RIM.
Now users will be able to view an app’s privacy policy before downloading.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
I’ve been playing around with Screens 2.0 all day and I love it. The app allows you to connect your Mac or iOS device to another computer on the network, see its screen and interact with the computer. I tried it on my Mac and iPhone, but haven’t gotten around to the iPad yet, but I haven’t had a single problem. It took a couple of tries to nail the position of my finger when using the iPhone version, but that’s a minor user thing.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Brian Caulfield for Forbes:
AMD’s engineers were trying to do too much, too quickly, however, shifting to a new manufacturing process at Global Foundries for a processor with a radical new design.AMD couldn’t even get early working samples of Llano to Apple on time, one former employee says. Several former AMD employees disagree on just how close AMD came.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Reuters:
The storied Silicon Valley company, which has been trying to move past the internal upheaval that marked 2011, posted quarterly sales declines in three of its key units: personal computers, printers and enterprise equipment.
The PC market sucks for everyone but Apple.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Daniel Jalkut released an update for his great blog editing software, MarsEdit. Fixes improves how the app works with Safari 5.2 and it prevents a possible hang while parsing Lightroom libraries.
Well, that was fun.
Earlier today we posted a three-minute video that depicts a supposed art photographer who uses overweight naked guys farting as his muse. On the surface it looks like a promotional video for Dell – slick enough to pass for the real thing if the subject matter weren’t so absurd. Still, folks have wondered if maybe Dell is behind it after all – maybe it’s some slick viral marketing maneuver.
Nope.
Dell says it’s not involved at all. Lionel Menchaca, Dell’s chief blogger, popped by our forums a short time ago to tell us that Dell is not involved at all. A prepared statement Menchaca posted a link to reads:
This video is in no way affiliated with Dell, but it’s great to see creative professionals get inspiration from using our products. Our dell.com/takeyourownpath program is all about celebrating people who take their own professional path. Regarding this parody, we consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery.
So there you have it. And if you haven’t seen the video, please check it out at the link above. It’s a gutbuster.
Written by Shawn King
Gizmodo:
Jeb Corliss hit the side of Table Mountain while attempting a wingsuit jump. Now, the footage from the cameras mounted to his helmet is available—and it looks terrifying.
I love these wingsuit videos but this guy was asking for trouble “flying” so low, trying to grab the balloons!
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Erica Ogg at GigaOm:
Apple is being sued by Brandywine Communications Technologies over multimedia voicemail in its iPhone and iPad products. In the complaint filed in the U.S. district court for the middle district of Florida Tuesday, Brandywine claims that Apple is infringing on two patents it owns related to mobile voicemail.
A patent holding company — I hate that.
