From Apple PR:
Apple today announced that its global developer community has earned over $70 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.
Apple announcing App Store numbers a week before WWDC probably means a packed keynote. Oh yeah.
snippetsSwift Playgrounds coding app enables kids to program and control LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3, the Sphero Robot, Parrot Drones and more.
This is very, very cool. Canāt wait until I can play with this with Robie (and/or Bettina) in a few years.
Also telling, next weekās keynote must be very packed if none of these (literally) cool toys are getting a demo.
snippetsThe Skype you know and love has a fresh design and a ton of new features to stay connected with the people you care about the most.
I understand that mobile has to be the priority for any platform, and that naturally means competing with iMessage, WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, etc. But, anecdotally I think most people use Skype differently than those platforms.
Skype is closer to LinkedIn than Snapchat, and this redesign makes it feel like a me too app, rather than stand up on it strengths. This makes it more likely that youāll start using the other ā more popular ā apps for what you use Skype, than the other way around.
My bet would have been to a friendlier Slack type solution, that takes advantage of pre-paid credits rather than paid plans for advanced features.
snippetsApples latest iPad represents the return of the iBook and white MacBook device in the lineup. A solid ācurrentā version thatās easy to recommend without having to attach footnotes or corollaries.
The iPad with keyboard already exists. Visit apple.com/ipad and the third hero image shows an iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard (with multitasking and App switching).
The iPad with trackpad also existsā¦ on software. Use two-finger gestures on the iPad software keyboard and you get a mouse pointer. A way to use this feature with a hardware keyboard is inevitable, at least if Apple expects us to consider the iPad a viable alternative to MacBooks.
A recent rumor made the rounds about ARM-based MacBookās with a locked down macOS. This makes little sense to me. You can basically get the macOS mentioned in the rumor with App Store and OS auto-update options already available on macOS.
Both of these are blasphemous on their own way. Diminishing users system access on macOS and adding a mouse pointer to iOS, both break a basic assumption of the platform.
However, both platforms are already going down a slippery slope towards these unnatural features. On macOS, the arrival of the App Store and iCloud Drive started a questionably successful path to lock down the OS and filesystem.
Even on iOS, the all terrible mouse has shown up in disguise since version iOS 9āāāwith Trackpad Modeāāāwhich is useful with the virtual keyboard, and frustratingly missing on hardware ones.
A classic error when looking at Apple is to assume they worry about providing an answer to a category: Netbooks, PDAs, wireless speakers, etc.
Apple provides innovative answers to problems with high-margin solutions they can iterate on. Sometimes, these answers overlap what a few of the things the industry was trying to address with a category, but not focus on the one thing Apple set out to.
I do think Apple could benefit from a similar answer to the Chromebooks ā and it involvers the iPad with a Smart(er) Keyboard.
Apple daydreamingThe Essential Phone is expertly crafted using titanium and ceramic, has a stunning edge-to-edge Full Display and captures stunning images (even in low light) with the worldās thinnest dual camera system ever built for a phone.
This is a beautiful phone. At $699, also extremely well priced given specs: 128GB storage, 4GB RAM, titanium/ceramic body, etc1
Is it worse than McDonalds? Probably not, but at least you donāt feel good about eating McDonalds, and thatās where the problem is. This idea that Soylent is healthy tricks you into thinking that if you have your Soylent, youāve done your good-eating-deed for the day, instead of thinking of it as a last resort like a protein bar.
Good point.
I think that Soylent is a great alternative to most lunch options around my office, which is why itās my default meal. But the combination of fasting and Soylent does make me go overboard for dinner sometimes. So will be giving this some thought.
snippetsThe original analogue tapes are the highest definition version of the record, and nothing will ever beat them. However in the 20 years since the original release mastering technology has improved a lot, and with new equipment and techniques we can make a digital version thatās an improvement of the original transfer.
Iām getting this. While I donāt think Iāll appreciate the higher quality of the remaster, the influence this album had on me was huge. I love this album. My mom took me to the store to buy this album on a Friday after high school, and suddenly I had a musical taste that really clicked.
snippetsBeautiful laptop, and amazing introduction video. If this was the new MacBook Air, Iād be excited. Sadly, regardless of Windows 10 S or Pro, Iād choose ChromeOS or Linux first.
snippetsNew Experian survey explores consumer satisfaction with AirPods and other voice-first hardware.
Doesnāt surprise me at all, the AirPods are my favorite Apple gadget in a long time. But, curious about how many use it as a voice-first hardware. First thing I did was turn-off Siri on double-tap.
snippetsAuphonic can now generate shareable videos from audio files, including a dynamically generated waveform and your cover image (or possible chapter images) as background.
This is really cool1, it lets you create a video out of your audio. Which is easier to share and way more catchy on social networks. If/when I do another podcast, this will likely be on the workflow.
Auphonic is amazing for podcasts. Did most of ColofĆ³nās audio cleanup there.ā©ļø
Here are the books I read over the past 6 months. As usual, the fiction ones were on Kindle, and the non-fiction as audiobooks.
Luciferās Hammer by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle. | ā
recommended
I was in the mood for a disaster book that dealt with the aftermath, and on that it delivers. The book is from the 70ās, which is fun for the prehistoric tech enviroment, but not so much for some flat (and sexualized) female characters.
Killfile by Christopher Farnsworth. | ā
recommended
Fun action-thriller page turner with believable superpower (as in good balance of superpower versus its downside). This is a perfect weekend vacation book.
Deathās End (Remembrance of Earthās Past) by Cixin Liu, Ken Liu | ā
recommended
The final book in The Three-Body Problem trilogy. Among the best Sci-Fi Iāve read. I donāt think it is my favorite of the three, but thatās not saying much given how I love the first two. If you enjoy mind-stretching Sci-Fi, read these books.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. | ā skip it
Great premise, powerful start, but it lost me in the second half. Maybe I was expecting more Sci-Fi, and it ends up being more action thriller. If you like do-over books give it a try, but I just went through the motions in the end.
The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty) by Ken Liu | ā
recommended
Borderline fantasy ā or as much fantasy as Game of Thrones is. This feels more of an early Roman or Japanese empire story set in a fantasy geography. Fun story with very strong characters.
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth Book 1) by N. K. Jemisin. | ā
recommended
Fascinating fantasy world. Actually, the world itself is a character, which in a novel with very strong characters says a lot. Iām likely in for the whole series.
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth Book 2) by N. K. Jemisin | ā
recommended
Suffers a bit as a sequel, but still a great read. It advances the story nicely to the next book, which Iāll read for sure.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky | ā
recommended
A new classic hard Sci-Fi about humans leaving earth for the starsā¦ without much of the usual cliches involved. While never dense, it gets a bit slow sometimes, but itās for good reasons and you get rewarded for it. Among my favorite books of 2016/2017.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. | ā
recommended
Not my typical fiction book, itās basically a combination of deeply studied viking folklore stories put together, which makes a somewhat coherent book ā as much of folklore does. I read it because I love Gaiman and was somewhat intrigued by the topic. I enjoyed it a lot more than expected.
How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise by Chris Taylor | ā
recommended
Rogue One was coming and I wanted a Star Wars fix. Itās a journalist view of the Star Wars property, written by a fan. It worked really well for me, since it steps back and look at the big holes in the universe, without loosing the love for it.
A Little History of Philosophy (Little Histories) by Nigel Warburton. | ā
recommended
I thought this was going to be a copycat of A Little History of the World1, but was gladly disappointed. If you struggle like me to put historic characters in context ā or in a timeline ā this is a great book. Complex concepts are explained as simply as possible, and very dense ones are highlighted enough so you can look for more if interested.
Just realized I didnāt review that book, will add soon.ā©ļø
You will be leading an initiative to deliver hardware directly from Spotify to existing and new customers; a category defining product akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles.
Spotify bluetooth/4G headphones? smartwatch? green discman? Car Stereo?.
snippetsA 4K restoration of the 1997 space epic will hit multiplexes on Sunday, May 14th and Wednesday, May 17th as part of Fathom Eventsā 20th anniversary re-release, Entertainment Weekly reports.
This is babysitter worthy. Will report.
snippetsThe Golden State Warriors superstar recently told Chris Haynes of ESPN that he deleted all of the social media apps from his phone before the playoffs began. The reason behind it, of course, is he wants to devote all of his attention toward winning another championship.
I think the time for early adopters to adopt no social apps is here.
/via jamcnn
snippets
Firefox 43
Thatās why todayās release of Firefox for desktop ships with two new themes: Compact Light and Compact Dark. Compact Light shrinks the size of the browserās user interface (the āchromeā) while maintaining Firefoxās default light color scheme.
Enjoying the new themes, and snappiness of Firefox versus Chrome. Will use it as my work default for a few days.
snippets[ā¦] Iām a bit obsessed with Newportās work right now, and especially his account of how the digital environment we inhabit is training us out of concentration and into distraction in ways that are bad for us, bad for our work, and ultimately bad for the world.
Halfway through the episode and I already deleted all social apps from my phone againāāāwill use the websites for the next month.
/via coliver.
snippetsA visual introduction to probability and statistics.
I say amazing a lot, but this is AMAZING.
snippetsGreat lesson on idle time. I just want to print the results somewhere.
R for Robot
[ā¦] I gave myself the challenge to create a set of illustrations, from A to Z that would hopefully end in some sort of Alphabet Kidās Book.
More cool designs at Ć l Power website.
snippetsAmazing online magazine from the team at Stripe:
Increment is dedicated to covering how teams build and operate software systems at scale, one issue at a time.
Just skimming the first issue makes me realize I would have paid for it. This is a great contribution to the tech community.
snippetsAmong some welcomed better High DPI support and fixes, Build 3128 of ST3 has nice looking new icon:
Sublime Text 3 new icon
No more replacing the default icon by me.
snippetsA bunch of interesting snippets in the article:
This technical distinction is also present in consumer behavior. eBooksāwith their instant access and cheap pricesāsell generally 6x more quantities than print books for us. That said, a print book will generally generate 7x more revenue than an eBook.
Very interesting, and I strongly agree with the next sentence in the paragraph:
Itās hard to generate revenue on an eBook because the whole premise of the platform is, I want this quickly and at the cheapest price possible. The premise of a print book in the digital age is driven by luxury: I read better on paperā¦orā¦I like the feeling of turning a page. You canāt create much markup on utility, whereas you can create a great deal of markup on luxury.
The whole article reads like summary notes of an industry paper, worth the bookmark.
snippetsAlways, always, go extra-large:
The math of why bigger pizzas are such a good deal is simple: A pizza is a circle, and the area of a circle increases with the square of the radius.
Happy friday.
snippetsGreat overview by Sebastiaan de With on my the Pro market should matter to Apple:
Without a truly top-tier workstation, Apple will miss out on a huge segment of digital creatives that can craft the future of human-machine interactionāāāsomething way beyond tapping a piece of glass. It would lack a Mac workstation with the raw computing power to prototype VR and AR interactions, build game worlds, simulate complex models and render the effects of tomorrowās great feature films all the while offering those same creatives a platform to create for its own mobile devices.
These are all rational reasons. We have less access to the financial ones, but Iām sure theyāre there. Lastly, thereās the feeling of coolness; of getting the right tool for the job. Thatās a thing Macās are slowly loosing.
But it does seem that Apple finally noticed.
snippetsOriginally didnāt get the Trish AI spokesperson concept, but as a Soylent user, this ad represents how I think about the product.
snippetsFrom imranq, Ask HN thread:
Advice from my physics professor: make a detailed plan and then discard the plan and do what you feel.
This doesnāt mean the plan was unnecessaryā¦rather the plan carves out the neural pathways in your mind
Have been coming back to this a lot this week.
snippetsWe felt overwhelmed by our phones so we built a better one. Smart technology re-imagined for a less distracted life.
Lots interesting ideas. Seems like these should be features and not an Android fork, but will be happy if it finds a niche.
snippetsI still donāt use bots, but they continue to be released ā with some interesting integrations.
What Iām hoping for is a smart(ish) bot valet. A meta bot which connects to other bots based on what Iām asking. Basically the lovechild of Siri and IFTTT, without all the configuration, and can read and write.
Curious why IFTTT is not in the bot game already? Seems a natural evolution.
The shift toward Google-powered devices is hurting Appleās revenue. Of the $7.35 billion that schools, colleges and universities spent on mobile and desktop computers in 2016, sales of Apple devices fell to $2.8 billion in 2016, from about $3.2 billion in 2015, according to IDC, a market research firm.
This is not like the smartphone marketshare debate, where the iPhone is āloosingāāāāyet has by far the biggest revenue share. On schools they are loosing in both areas.
Then there is the keyboard issue. While school administrators generally like the iPadās touch screens for younger elementary school students, some said older students often needed laptops with built-in physical keyboards for writing and taking state assessment tests.
Either physical or touchscreen, the iPad needs more space for the keyboard if youāre doing common work. I know that for emails, messages and browsing the on-screen keyboard is fine. But to do a paper or report you canāt have the keyboard obscuring half of an already crowed space.
snippetsI know Steve Jobs nostalgia has very little to do with a succesful strategy. But pretty sure that if Steve were aliveā¢, Planet of the Apps wouldnāt be one of Appleās first series:
Carpool Kareoke on the other hand, looks exactly like something heād share on a WWDC:
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence:
Certainly Iām sure there are people that have purchased a Google Home or an Echo instead of a Play:1, but I donāt look at that [and think] theyāre dead to Sonos. Thereās an opportunity to get into their living room and get into other rooms in their home with some of the interoperability work weāre doing.
Sonos devices sound quality continues to be significantly better than Echoās and Google Home. Starting your smart home devices with a AI hub that has a good-enough speaker, and then adding compatible speakers with much better sounds, seems like a solid plan.
snippetsI didnāt kill him because he was crazy; I killed him because he was making sense.
Although I read the books and liked season one, it wasnāt my favorite show. But three episodes into season two, I canāt wait for the next one. The characters and environments took shape, and now itās pure story.
Snippet TV reviewDaniel Steinberg:
Iāve joked that if Eddie Cue loved reading the way he clearly loves music, then iBooks, the iBookstore, and iBooks Author would be amazing. Not only arenāt they amazing, they arenāt even good.
In 2013 I helped out creating ebooks for a family friends. I first did the Kindleās version, and it was a painful experienceāāāsimilar to making a website in the early days. I left the iBook for last, looking forward to the experience. A few days letter, I was back using the epub generator and converting it to the Apple format.
Sad to hear not much has changed.
snippetsMy safety razor, brush and shaving soap always go together underneath the sinkā¦ or at least they did until my 14 month old son started opening every drawer and cabinet in the house.
So I moved the razed to a top drawer. To say that my organizational OCD had an issue with this is an insight of how much time I waste in every one of my workflows. But the raw fear of our small tornado finding my Merkur razor fought fire with fire in my mind.
A week later, Iām actually enjoying the new setup. The razor, the blades and the altoidsā container for used blades now sit together on the drawer.
Parenting keeps generating outcomes likes this. I donāt know if itās Stockholm syndrome, or sanity complacency. But the end of your personal efficiency brings some fun practical shortcuts through the valley of chaos.
Snippet parentingOne of my new yearās resolution is to be frugal. Which as a high level virtue sounds great, but can be difficult to practice everyday. The best trick Iāve found is to not purchase anything if I have some of it left at home.
For most stuff, this means running out of my preferred brand, and dusting off whatever was replaced by it. Shaving creams, aftershave, meat spices and even ebooks.
Curious how long can I last, but I do like that it feels like a rule that nudges me in the right direction.
Lifehack FinanceSometimes you work with people that challenge you, other times, not so much. In most cases it has nothing to do with smarts, just the way a companyās processes work.
On occasion, you start to get challenged because youāre being left behind. Youāre set in your ways, and donāt notice the changing landscape, attitudes and objectives.
Embrace the challenge. Itās not personal, itās business. Youāre getting a chance. Enjoy the gut feeling prism that has given you a new perspective.
Once you notice the challenge, take some time to figure out were the organization is going rather than running behind it. Itāll save you time later, and you might end up getting ahead in the process.
Snippet productivityItās a great exit for Trello. Would have preferred that it was Github the acquirer, but it makes perfect sense for Atlassian.
Itās no surprise then, that the companyās press release specifically cites Trelloās popularity with business teams in finance, HR, legal, marketing and sales and notes that 50 percent of Trello users work in non-technical functions.
Trello is not efficient, itās flexible. It doesnāt impose order like Jira, and if you use incorrectly it can be chaotic. But for many type of users, itās the modern shared spreadsheet perfect for collaboration.
snippetsAre rules supposed to persuade or dissuade you from something? Take the following question:
Did you write today?
I ask and track this question in multiple ways. Its objective is to encourage me to write. But itās really a reminder type of question. The problem is that I donāt forget to write each day, I struggle with writing.
A question thatās supposed to help me write should make a habit out of writing. It should be easier to successfully answer it than not. It should pull me towards the goal.
In which case a better question is:
Did you write 1 sentence today?
Success is learning the lesson, not passing the test. Even when Iām my own teacher, I forget this.
Personal WritingBack when I still had a Canon DSLR, my main lens was a nifty fifty. I love the concept of accepting its set of restrictions, and getting in return consistent beautiful pictures.
At the same time, knowing that it was probably the best bang for the buck, made me feel like a hip minimalist.
I need to apply this to other aspects of my digital life. My work MacBook Pro has many, too many, utilities and apps that replicate features the macOS already provides.
As I try to reduce friction in my workflows, I donāt necessary end up with increase productivity. I get endorphins from being smart about the workflow, which could come from the final work result instead.
I see a clean install in my future.
ProductivityTurns out, however, Apple did eventually publish the extensionāāāthey just never told us. We donāt know when it happened, but it was likely around or after Thanksgiving, because weād checked a few times since receiving that last email saying we were still under review.
Thereās very few cool/new extensions for Safari nowadays. This dev makes the case that itās a terrible experience for programmers. iOS/Mac codebase consolidation is likely the cause, and again, the Mac gets a downgrade in experience because of it.
snippetsItās amazing the influence social network have in our life. The topic of followers and how to get more came up more than once during our Christmas family gatherings.
How many posts are ok? What sort of content is best? These were questions that didnāt need much explanation across generations.
The basic utility that social networks have become in the smartphone era is probably one of the fastest adopted applications ever.
I do hope this oversharing phenomenon will become this decadeās bell bottoms. Something my son will shudder and laugh at in the future.
SocialMost people would describe their first impression of my Dad as quiet, and of my Mom as fun. I have always enjoyed hearing that Iām certainly my mothers son.
For a long time I wondered: am I good fun? or bad at being quiet?
Thereās two situations that have given me clues that Iām more of an introvert that I let myself believe. Big social events and personal conflict. Both of these extremes exhaust me. More than swimming 5k, more than doing an all-nighter. Iām knocked out when I get home, and Iām tired for days.
In both cases, my extrovert script fails. Thereās too many interactions in which you canāt plan aheadā¦ or think about it for a while. But Iām OK with this.
My concern recently has been that I feel a kind of regret when I let myself go off script. When Iām perfectly honest and spontaneous, I later look back at the conversation with uneasiness. Because I know it could have gone better somehow.
Iām planning to work on this on 2017.
PersonalDuring the last year, I started cooking a lot more. Mostly because I got into sous-vide cooking, and suddenly a lot of weird complex steps had a methodological process with logical flow.
By starting with something that was also new to my wifeāāāwhich is an awesome cookāāāI managed to defeat my initial fear of failure. Thatās dumb I know, but smart Iām not.
In just a few weeks I noticed the benefits of cooking. Not only did I help Ana during the week, but in most cases I felt happier after I finished cooking. Even if youāre preparing a vinaigrette for a salad, all the work cruft thatās top of mind when you arrive home is pushed away.
As with every new topic, I quickly realized how much I donāt know. Yet, thereās many shortcuts that with a 80/20 level of effort, get you to some delicious meals.
Since I mostly did meats this year, Iāll close with the easiest one: temperature. So much anxiety in my past cooking could have been avoided with a thermometer. Some people might have a 6th sense with cooking times, but for everyone else, thereās a target temperature and youāre done with it.
5typos.net