May 2012
16 posts
Secrecy and Torture →
Larry Siems:
When the men and women they asked to break those laws protested, knowing they could be prosecuted for torture, they pretended to rewrite the law. They commissioned legal opinions they said would shield those who carried out the abuses from being hauled into court, as the torture ban requires. “The law has been changed,” detainees around the world were told. “No rules apply.”
...
Tennessee Lawmakers Need A Reality Check →
Mariah Smith:
The Gateway Sexual Activity Bill was passed by the Tennessee House of Representatives. The bill outlaws students handholding with each other while at school (because, according to the Tennessee House of Reps this is a “gateway” to sexual activity.) It also allows the parents of the student to sue the teachers if they feel the teachers aren’t doing enough to prevent sexual...
Perian to Retire After a Final Update →
Federico Viticci:
Perian’s developers are asking that the community step forward to handle support requests, and they are directing new users to download Niceplayer as an alternative. Perian should continue to work on Lion as time permits, but its compatibility with Mountain Lion is undetermined. The source code will be posted to Google Code or GitHub soon for developers to learn from. If...
EU cookie law: taking the biscuit? →
You may have heard a lot of hoo-ha recently about the ‘cookie law’ – the latest round of changes to the EU’s Directive of Privacy and Electronic Communications. The changes introduce a legal requirement for website owners to obtain users’ consent before using cookies on their machine. This has big implications for every website that uses cookies – in practice, just about all of them.
...
You do other things when you’re not on the... →
Iain Broome:
However, once I came to my senses, I realised that nothing had happened while I’d been away from the web. Actually, that’s not true. Lots had happened. But nothing bad in internet terms. I didn’t feel any less informed. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. Certainly nothing that I couldn’t hop back into as soon as I was ready.
Lots of good things happen when you...
Stuck in the Middle with Users →
Devin Chalmers:
Apple’s not crazy, or evil; they’re just looking out for themselves, like all of us. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem like they’re equipped to compromise. People who don’t compromise turn crazy, or at least they lose all their friends.
Simplicity Comes by Design →
Greg McKeown:
But then my Apple lunch companion wondered aloud: “Why don’t more CEOs bring greater clarity to what their companies should not be doing?” It’s a significant question.
It’s a great question.
The Lengthening Arm of Uncle Sam’s ‘Pirate’... →
Myles Peterson:
Through bypassing the courts and going straight to our legislators, who are arguably compromised in their ability to deal with the United States, the American Government is achieving the outcomes Hollywood lawyers and lobbyists could not. If Australian law will not deliver the results entities such as the RIAA and MPAA are pleased with, it can be circumnavigated by applying US...
Why Publishers Don't Like Apps →
Jason Pontin, Technology Review:
The paid, expensively developed publishers’ app, with its extravagantly produced digital replica, is dead.
A must read.
Now We’re Just Haggling Over the Price →
Macdrifter:
But here’s the thing, it’s not the reader’s problem. It’s capitalism. Provide a valuable product that is unavailable somewhere else and people will pay for it. If they don’t, then I guess it wasn’t valuable enough. Maybe all they think a site is worth is a split second of looking at an ad. Maybe they can find that same link or analysis on a dozen other WordPress sites.
Exactly.
“I’d rather be competing with 1,000 copy cats than 1,000 innovators.”
– Mike McCue
One year on (Macchiato man) →
My good internet friend, Yagan Kiely, celebrated his first year blogging yesterday. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying his stuff for almost as long as his site has existed - which I’m thankful for. If you like what he’s writing, I’d suggest you should listen in on what he’s saying as well.
Welcoming Your Employees →
That’s how to properly welcome an employee.
My crazy, overpriced, three-computer writing... →
Yuvi Zalkow:
I realize almost any of these tasks could be done with the other computers. There is a bunch of overlap between these devices (and the overlap is only growing), but for me it’s a matter of where these tasks feel most natural, most pleasurable, most productive.
Precisely how I use my three favourite computers.
Don't Be Afraid To Write If You Don't Write Right →
Michael Schechter:
I’m not suggesting that you should publish crap. Read your work, reread it and read it again. Care enough to create something of quality. Care enough to learn and improve as you continue. Just don’t let the fear of imperfection keep you from caring enough to publish. If you lack the skill yourself, ask an editor for help while you develop. If you can’t afford or find an...
Poor For Editing →
John neatly summarizes the issue with the iPad’s software keyboard in response to a concept video that’s been making the rounds this week:
Once you get used to it, the iPad keyboard isn’t bad for typing, but no matter how acclimated you are it’s poor for editing. It’s fiddly, slow, and (because you have to take a hand off the keyboard) disruptive to select text.
The problem with this...
April 2012
50 posts
Congress just deleted the Fourth Amendment →
Leigh Beadon:
Previously, CISPA allowed the government to use information for “cybersecurity” or “national security” purposes. Those purposes have not been limited or removed. Instead, three more valid uses have been added: investigation and prosecution of cybersecurity crime, protection of individuals, and protection of children. Cybersecurity crime is defined as any crime involving network...
T&Cgate →
Yagan Kiely on the Google Drive privacy debate:
What Google has, is a “a worldwide licence”. A licence does not give Google ownership of the intellectual property. A licence is similar (with glaring, but unimportant – for the purpose of this analogy - differences) to renting physical property; you, as the owner, still have legal ownership of the physical property, but the person renting merely...
The Mozart of Chess: Magnus Carlsen →
Talent, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary:
[…] natural aptitude or skill […]
Now watch this video about Magnus Carlsen to get the real-life definition.
Clear 1.1
I loved Clear even from before day one, when I first saw its promo video. It’s the first app I’ve seen that’s been built entirely for gestures, without window chrome or buttons of any kind. It is the perfect example of just how minimal an app can possibly be, while still being useful and relatively versatile. And with only one style1 throughout its entire UI - the app is truly unique.
A while...
“Trying to defeat an ideology by killing individuals is like trying to save a...”
– Ze Frank in the show with ze frank
Phil Schiller on Instagram →
Phil Schiller:
Instagram is a great app and community. That hasn’t changed. But one of the things I really liked about Instagram was that it was a small community of early adopters sharing their photographs.
Now that it has grow [sic] much larger the signal to noise ratio is different. That isn’t necessarily good or bad, it’s just not what I originally had fun with.
I agree.
AirPlay Enabled Displays →
Shadoe Huard:
Imagine iOS applications that not only mirror their screen views to external monitors, but that are able to display two separate views used simultaneously to enhance an experience. For instance, imagine how a simple application like iA Writer for iPad could be improved by such duality. While the iPad’s screen itself could be used to display an enhanced virtual keyboard with a...
Ideal Immigration
Dislaimer: I can not take everybody’s side, but I’ll try to be as objective as I can. I will actively refer to Norway and Norwegians, but I’m convinced that my arguments as well as their counterarguments are just as relevant in most other wealthy countries.
The issue is this: some perceive immigrants as “unhealthy citizen”. It is queerly common to believe this. In fact, almost everyone I know of...
“The fair price for a product isn’t cost-of-goods plus (say) 10 percent. The fair...”
– John Gruber
Windows Phone 7
Joshua Topolsky:
Let me just put this bluntly: I think it’s time to stop giving Windows Phone a pass. I think it’s time to stop talking about how beautifully designed it is, and what a departure it’s been for Microsoft, and how hard the company is working to add features. I am very aware of the hard work and dedication Microsoft has put into this platform, but at the end of the day, Windows...
Silence →
Rob Malanowski:
The precious sound of silence. You know the sound. The world around you has stopped, gone quiet. Minutes pass and still no sound. Suddenly, your brain comes alive. Synapses begin firing one after another, ever faster. Silence is all around you, but your mind is moving at the speed of light.
“Reporter: You don’t take losing lightly, do you Gordon?
Strachan: I don’t take...”
– Gordon Strachan
Olympics 'policy' not to pay musicians →
Corporate Watch:
Professional musicians approached by the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) to play at sporting events during the Games have been told its policy is not to pay artists and that they should do it “for the exposure”.
This… this… I don’t understand it.
Via Yagan Kiely.
Ruffled Feathers →
Ben Brooks:
At some point every service must be paid for in one manner or another. This is true of all free services from Instagram to iCloud. Perhaps Instagram starts flooding your feed with ads, or iCloud requires you to buy the latest gear to be able to use it.
One way or another a free service must financially benefit those that run it, or that service will die.
Therefore, as a...
Introducing the Innovator’s Patent Agreement →
Adam Messinger, writing for Twitter’s official blog:
The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation without their permission. What’s more, this control...
Science, Pseudoscience, Nutritional Epidemiology,... →
Gary Taubes:
So how can we explain this tiny association between the risk of eating a lot of red and processed meat — the 1/100th-the-size-of-the-lung-cancer-cigarette effect–compared to eating virtually none? Again, we have an observation — or an association, two or more things happening in concert; let’s think of all the possible reasons that might explain why these two variables,...
“You start to die the moment you are born. The whole of life is cutting through...”
– “Live and Let Die” by Ian Fleming.
John Cleese on Creativity →
I was reminded by Merlin Mann about the great lecture John Cleese gave on creativity:
Das Keyboard Pro for Mac →
Garrett Murray:
I’ll tell you this, friends: It’s hideous and it’s loud and it’s heavy and it’s huge… but I love typing on it. I love the feeling of rattling off a long paragraph of text uninterrupted while the air is filled with insanely loud clacking and I love the way the keys feel as I strike them. If I can just control my gag reflex each morning when I walk into the office and see the...
From the Lab: Images and Links →
The Soulmen on the Ulysses 3 devblog:
RTF is a bit better in this regard, but apart from the fact that it’s no option for us (or you, using Ulysses), it has its own share of problems: How do you edit links or add attributes (such as title/alt/size etc.)? How do you manage images (e.g. exchange one image for another) or add attributes? Also, try and search for images or links across several RTF...
Environmental Initiative →
Fulham FC:
The introduction of the chickens is just one of the environmental based initiatives aimed at enhancing an ecologically-friendly environment throughout the Club. The hens will be farmed for their eggs in a free range environment that will result in a higher quality egg for consumption by the players and staff.
I can honestly not believe this. Read the rest for a great laugh.
If...
Augmented Paper →
Matt Gemmell:
Design an experience. Make it as beautiful - and as emotionally resonant - as it can possibly be. Then adorn the core experience and content with only as much functionality as is absolutely necessary. Functionality - and software-based thinking in general - is like seasoning. A little is an enhancement; any more destroys the flavour, subsumes the artistry of the chef, and may...
Terms of Agreement - The Good Way →
Most Terms of Agreements I’ve encountered through my time as a recipient of any product whatsoever - whether it’s hardware or software - are awfully crappy. 500px’s Terms of Agreement is the first one I’ve seen that doesn’t suck. Take a look at this excerpt:
Acceptance Of Terms
The web pages available at 500px.com and all linked pages (“Site”), are owned and operated by 500px, Inc....
Wisconsin’s Repeal of Equal Pay Rights Adds to... →
Michelle Goldberg:
On Thursday, with little fanfare, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed a bill repealing the state’s 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which allowed victims of workplace discrimination to seek damages in state courts. In doing so, he demonstrated that our political battles over women’s rights aren’t just about sex and reproduction—they extend to every aspect of women’s...
1
Yesterday it was exactly one year since I first created my this Tumblr site. My first post was entitled Super Simple Payments With Square For iOS:
I have never tried this, and though I really want to, I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon. Square is only available in US right now, and my country is definently not the next one on the list. Looks fantastic though.
(via...
Death, taxes, and now, lack of privacy →
J. Eddie Smith, IV:
If privacy is an endowed asset, then losing privacy is an expense—or more metaphorically accurate, a tax—that we pay in exchange for the consumption of goods that can only exist through the collection of private data.
Complaining about losing privacy while enjoying the fruits of it is no more rational than complaining about property taxes but sending your kids to...
Let’s Not Be Friends →
J. Eddie Smith, IV:
Apple doesn’t give me an iPad because they want to be friends with me. They give me an iPad because I pay them for an iPad. My accountant doesn’t do my taxes because he’s a philanthropist. I pay him to do my taxes.
With money, comes accountability to the customer. If my iPad stops working, Apple has to answer to me. If my tax return has errors, my accountant will be...
Why Facebook Bought Instagram →
BJ McGeever:
Malik says that Facebook is essentially about photos, but I disagree. Facebook is ultimately about social connections and lots of them. What do you need to make more connections? More users and more data. That’s what Facebook gained from this purchase. They now have access to over 30 million Instagram users and all their tasty data and personal information.
Mancini: Title Is Difficult Now →
Teamtalk.com:
However, the Italian did admit that it would be “very difficult” for City to overhaul Manchester United, who now boast an eight-point lead heading into the final six games of the season after beating QPR 2-0 earlier on Sunday.
Speaking after his side went down to a late Mikel Arteta strike at The Emirates, Mancini said when asked if the title was race over: “No, it’s not...
Marked 1.4 →
Brett Terpstra:
There are also print improvements, including the ability to force a page break arbitrarily or to create page breaks before h1 and/or h2 headers. Marked 1.4 can even scroll the preview to the point at which you’re editing in your document (I think I might have buried the lead there).
Wait, come again?
Marked 1.4 can even scroll the preview to the point at which you’re...
“Positive feedback makes us feel better. Negative feedback makes us become...”
– Johan Emil Johansson
“My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest...”
– Sir Alex Ferguson on Liverpool after Alan Hansen questioned his future in 2002.
Via The Independent.
Sparrow
I never thought I would say this: Sparrow is my main mail client for both my iPhone and my Mac. I always liked the Mac version, but the iPhone companion seemed a bit uninspired at the first look. Nevertheless, I’ve ended up using it.
I have three reasons for jumping ship:
Send and Archive;
attachments in the compose screen; and
proper support for aliases.
These three features are...
How the US uses sexual humiliation as a political... →
Naomi Wolf:
In a five-four ruling this week, the supreme court decided that anyone can be strip-searched upon arrest for any offense, however minor, at any time. This horror show ruling joins two recent horror show laws: the NDAA, which lets anyone be arrested forever at any time, and HR 347, the “trespass bill”, which gives you a 10-year sentence for protesting anywhere near someone with...