Reuters:

Facebook has agreed to settle an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into deceptive privacy practices, committing to cease making false claims and to submit to independent audits for 20 years.

Around 12PM EST, Apple called our head office to let us know they were going to go ahead and pull our app iTether from the App Store. They stated it was because the app itself burdens the carrier network, however they offered us no way to remedy the solution… We were very clear when listing the app what the primary function was and they even followed up with several questions and requested a video demo then they approved the application.

Told you it wouldn’t last long.

High speed photography is a technique in which a camera is set up to take pictures of objects in motion that would normally be too fast to be seen by the naked eye. It usually involves a tremendous amount of patience and an awful lot of trial and error. Though everyone has access to equipment that make it possible to take high-speed photographs, only a skilled photographer can capture that one in a million shot.

I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite out of these samples.

American Airlines and its parent company are filing for bankruptcy protection as they try to cut costs and unload massive debt built up by years of high fuel prices and labor struggles. There will no impact on travelers for now.

Maggie Shader:

Remember how two malls annoyed more than a few people by announcing that they would be tracking shoppers’ movements via their cellphone signals? Yeah, well that’s no longer happening — at least for now.The malls have suspended their plans after a U.S. senator raised the same privacy issues that everyone else had already mentioned.

Come on, you knew that wasn’t going to last long.

WSJ:

The social networking firm is now targeting a time frame of April to June 2012 for an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter. The company is exploring raising $10 billion in its IPO—what would be one of the largest offerings ever—in a deal that might assign Facebook a $100 billion valuation, a number greater than twice that of such stalwarts as Hewlett-Packard Co. and 3M Co.

That’s just an unbelievable amount of money.

Kirk McElhearn, for Macworld:

If you live in an area like me, AppleCare is a worthwhile investment. If you’re near an AppleStore, however, and you use your Mac at home, spending an extra $150 or more may not seem worthwhile. You can always drop into the Apple Store and get a diagnosis or repair (if it’s still the first year).

I’m asked regularly by friends who are new to the Apple ecosystem if buying AppleCare is worth the money. I recommend it – in fact, I’ve rarely not used it, especially on work gear that gets used a lot, like my laptops.

There’s certainly a case to be made against buying AppleCare for iPhones, iPods and iPads, as they’re lower-cost items with fewer moving parts that are a bit better designed to be durable (arguably).

Tether is an application that allows your Mac and PC to take advantage of your smartphone’s data plan, providing you access to the Internet on your laptop anywhere there is cellular coverage from your smartphone.

Can’t imagine this will be available for very long.

Alastair Sharp for Reuters:

The company said on Tuesday that it will launch its new Mobile Fusion device management software in the first quarter, allowing corporate IT staff to set and monitor rules for passwords, apps and software on a range of devices, including Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and smartphones using Google’s Android operating system.

Maybe Apple can show RIM how to make a native email client.

Brian X. Chen:

A store employee, Diego Aguirre, demonstrated an internal application running on iPod Touches that, for the last few weeks, has had the ability to show the in-store location of a shopper who has come to pick up a purchase.

That’s nifty.

Evelyn M. Rusli, for the New York Times:

Several start-ups have also rebuffed Zynga this year, including Rovio. This summer, Rovio, the maker of the popular mobile game Angry Birds, walked away from discussions of a deal worth roughly $2.25 billion in cash and stock, three people briefed on the situation said.

Zynga is the social game developer behind Facebook hits like FarmVille. The company is preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock, and many expect that there will be an exodus of talent from the company after employees who get big stock option packages are able to convert those options into cash.

Nick Bilton, for the New York Times:

Michael Altschul, senior vice president and legal counsel for CTIA, the wireless industry association, said a study that it conducted more than a decade ago found no interference from mobile devices.“The fact is, the radio frequencies that are assigned for aviation use are separate from commercial use,” Mr. Altschul said. “Plus, the wiring and instruments for aircraft are shielded to protect them from interference from commercial wireless devices.”

“Better safe than sorry” is the crux of the FAA’s rationale against allowing people to use electronic devices, but it seems pretty silly. Then again, so do a lot of government regulations.

Now that is a legendary guitar. Looks like it’s only at the Hollywood location though.

Great site for board game fans.

Matt Gemmell:

There’s an entire spectrum of terms available besides ‘copied’, ranging from “inspired by” to “plagiarised”, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be influenced by the work of others. The key is to ensure that you’re consciously agreeing with a design, rather than just aping (mimicking unthinkingly – a definition which no doubt does our hairy cousins a grave disservice). Sadly, much of the technology sector simply apes.

Brilliant article from Matt.

The app features:

• Discography – Flip through the full collection of Hendrix’s albums. iTunes integration lets you play the songs you own, sample those you don’t and purchase new tracks from within the app.
• Filmography – Discover documentaries, live performances, and other films about Hendrix.
• Venues – See photos, video clips, and descriptions of the concert venues that defined the Hendrix legacy
• Locations – Geo fencing alerts will let you know when you are near Hendrix landmarks. Visiting the landmarks will award you virtual passport stamps.
• Social Media Integration – Share accomplishments and information from the app with your social network with the integrated Twitter sheet and Facebook.
• Connect the experience across multiple devices – Use AirPlay to connect with your Apple TV or Airplay speakers

I beta tested this app and it was amazing.

Elvis Costello on the pricing of his new box set:

Unfortunately, we at www.elviscostello.com find ourselves unable to recommend this lovely item to you as the price appears to be either a misprint or a satire.All our attempts to have this number revised have been fruitless but rather than detain you with tedious arguments about morality, panache and book-keeping – when there are really bigger fish to filet these days – we are taking the following unusual step.If you should really want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we can whole-heartedly recommend, “Ambassador Of Jazz” – a cute little imitation suitcase, covered in travel stickers and embossed with the name “Satchmo” but more importantly containing TEN re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived – Louis Armstrong.

Quite an unusual step. The album is currently listed on Amazon for $202.

Fantastical is the Mac calendar you’ll actually enjoy. Create events with simple sentences like “Go to lunch with John on Tuesday” or “Summer vacation 6/9-6/16.” Easily locate and search for your events with Fantastical’s beautiful and easy to navigate calendar. Fantastical works with iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, and Outlook and is compatible with OS X Lion and Snow Leopard.

Try Fantastical now for free, or purchase it from the Flexibits Store or on the Mac App Store for only $19.99.

Huffington Post:

With a 50 percent discount on the $540 phone for the first 1,000 buyers, lines started forming in front of Pacific Place mall on Thursday night. By daybreak, impatient shoppers started rattling the gates.And when rumors spread that the new smartphones – commonly known as Bellagio – had already sold out, the crowd of 3,000 went crazy. Several people fainted in the crush.

Well, at least RIM can stir a crowd somewhere.

Laurie Burkitt, for the Wall Street Journal:

China’s Ministry of Education announced this week plans to phase out majors producing unemployable graduates, according to state-run media Xinhua. The government will soon start evaluating college majors by their employment rates, downsizing or cutting those studies in which less than 60% of graduates fail for two consecutive years to find work.

Either that, or build more Starbucks.

Benjamin Wallace, for Wired:

In the public’s imagination, overnight the bitcoin went from being the currency of tomorrow to a dystopian joke. The Electronic Frontier Foundation quietly stopped accepting bitcoin donations. Two Irish scholars specializing in network analysis demonstrated that bitcoin wasn’t nearly as anonymous as many had assumed: They were able to identify the handles of a number of people who had donated bitcoins to Wikileaks. (The organization announced in June 2011 that it was accepting such donations.) Nontechnical newcomers to the currency, expecting it to be easy to use, were disappointed to find that an extraordinary amount of effort was required to obtain, hold, and spend bitcoins. For a time, one of the easier ways to buy them was to first use Paypal to buy Linden dollars, the virtual currency in Second Life, then trade them within that make-believe universe for bitcoins. As the tone of media coverage shifted from gee-whiz to skeptical, attention that had once been thrilling became a source of resentment.

A really fascinating read. Long.

Bitcoin, for the uninitiated, is a form of online currency not linked to “real world” money, so supposedly is less traceable – it rose in public awareness along with a service called Silk Road, a server that lets people buy and sell narcotics – where bit coin was the preferred currency.

Wallace’s piece examines the history of bitcoin, the forces behind its creation and ascension, and what has ultimately led to its downfall as well (bitcoin’s value has dropped precipitiously).

I’d like to thank My Living Desktop for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop.

Time to bring your desktop to life. Since 2005 My Living Desktop has been bringing a unique cross between a Video Desktop (moving wallpaper) and a traditional screensaver to your Macintosh. My Living Desktop adds a whole new dimension to your computing experience by turning your Mac’s desktop into a beautiful, moving environment… complete with soothing sounds.

My Living Desktop provides a wide array of stunning, relaxing high definition video scenes shot from all over the world that you can use on your desktop and as a screensaver. You can even import your own movie segments to create a truly personal and unique desktop environment.

Michael Surtees:

Ultimately I really liked the concept of collecting information without having to do much at the time of it being on. Up hasn’t gone far enough with creating options for the person using the device to start slicing the data in ways to make it meaningful information.

As Michael points out, adding these types of features won’t be difficult for Jawbone.

Bloomberg:

AT&T Inc. (T), with its T-Mobile USA takeover facing regulatory opposition, is preparing the biggest remedy proposal yet to the Justice Department to salvage the $39 billion deal, according to a person familiar with the plan.The company is considering an offer to divest a significantly larger portion of assets than it had initially expected, said the person, who declined to be identified because the plan isn’t public. Though the exact size of the disposals hasn’t been determined, they could be as much as 40 percent of T-Mobile USA’s assets, the person said.

AT&T has billions riding on the outcome either way. They’re motivated to make it happen no matter the cost.