December 2011 Archives

For Multitaskers, 2012 May Be a Year of Revenge

The overall unemployment rate is 8.6 percent, but break down the number by educational attainment and the picture looks different. Those with college degrees are the lucky ones: the jobless rate for them is 4.4 percent. That compares with 8.8 percent for those with only a high school diploma and 13.2 percent for those with no diploma at all.

Consider, too, that less than 30 percent of the United States population age 25 or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. Large groups of Americans will continue to be unemployed or underemployed unless more training and educational opportunities become available.

Interesting article. I was specifically stuck by the information above. Perhaps it's just because I live in NYC (where everyone seems to have at least a bachelor's degree) but to see that less than 30 percent of the above 25-year old population has a college degree is jaw dropping.

It confirms my belief that the only way to rebuild our country is to rebuild the schools.

(Via NYTimes Technology)

Christy Wyatt on How Motorola Plans to Stand Out From the Android Pack

We’ve focused over the past year in four key areas. They’ve moved a little bit away from what I’d call aesthetics and focused more on user experience and performance.

I don't understand why she thinks "aesthetics" and "user experience and performance" are mutually exclusive.

We’re not a content company, per se. We don’t have a music store or a video store or a book store. We’ve really never gone down that path, because we believe the consumer has many viable paths for buying content already.

So she's admitting that a single seamless enduser ecosystem isn't important? How is this different from other Android makers again?

Smart actions are essentially your device is monitoring its own performance behavior. If it starts to notice there are things it could be doing better, it will make a gentle suggestion to the user. Something like, “I notice that your battery is running low, if you wanted to dim the screen and turn off a certain network setting then you will get better battery performance.” And, if you are open to it, “Would you like your phone to continue making those kind of suggestions?”

Great, so the phone is constantly interrupting me to fix it when I'm trying to actually use it.

This sounds fan-freakin'-tastic, Christy. Let me know how this works out for ya.

(Via AllThingsD)

Verizon Wireless Will Not Institute Single Payment Fee

“At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless.

According to @kenwalker, it has everything to do with last night's posting. I think he's right.

That being said, I still don't trust these guys. They'll find some way to charge that additional $2, I guarantee it.

(Via VerizonWireless)

Apple's Jonathan Ive Gets Knighthood in Honours List

"He has a very determined sense of getting things right."

Congrats, Jony.

(Via BBC)

Been listening to El Barrio on Spotify. This is the best Funk, Soul, Disco, Boogaloo I've ever heard...

Interested in reading excerpts from Ron Paul's past publications?  Just check out the @RP_Newsletter Twitterfeed.

KU Blasts Howard, 89-34

Tyshawn Taylor and Conner Teahan scored 13 points apiece, leading the Kansas men's basketball team to an 89-34 victory over Howard on Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

(Via KUSports)

Statement From Verizon Wireless on 4GLTE Network

Being a pioneer comes with growing pains. The recent issues that affected our customers’ 4GLTE service were unforeseen despite careful, diligent planning, deployment and ongoing upgrade programs.

Maybe an extra $2 a month from each customer will prevent these kinds of outages?

(Via VerizonWireless)

Verizon Introduces "Convenience Fee" for Some Online, Phone Payments

Verizon Wireless today instituted a new $2 “convenience fee” for customers who make a single bill payment by telephone, and for some who pay online via the Verizon Web site. Customers can avoid the new fee by enrolling in Auto Pay — or by paying by e-check, online directly from their bank Web site, at a Verizon Wireless store, using a Verizon Wireless gift card or rebate, or by good old-fashioned check or money order.

Hey, Verizon – this is why people hate you.

(Via AllThingsD)

Andy Rubin Didn't Delete "Open" Tweet, Twitter Lost It, Then Found It

“During maintenance we encountered a bug. It caused us to drop a very small percentage of tweets. One of those was Andy’s. As soon as we realized this, we began work to restore them. We were able to recover them quickly and they’ve now been restored,” Twitter spokesperson Carolyn Penner tells me (from vacation no less).

She also notes this hasn’t happened before, so it was a tricky thing to figure out what was going on.

Uh huh.

(Via Paris Lemon)

Stephen Hawking Looking for Technical Assistant to Help Maintain and Improve His Speech System

If you're proficient at repairing customized hardware and want to work side-by-side with one of the greatest living physicists, there's job opening at the University of Cambridge that might interest you.

That's a helluva résumé builder.

(Via The Verge)

10 Things We Learned About Apple This Year

1. Apple did have a succession plan — an obvious one.
2. Apple is happy to go a whole year without a major hardware design revision.
3. Apple isn’t tied to its once-a-year, at-the-same-time-every-year product cycles at all costs.
4. The iPhone is apparently enough of a mainstream news story that lots of people stop buying them when they hear a new one is coming out.
5. Even the best supply chain in the business isn’t perfect.
6. The iPad really is special.
7. Apple will deeply integrate a startup-y third-party Internet service if it’s the right one.
8. Apple has more ambitions for the living room than it’s letting on.
9. Surprise! Apple’s ad biz was rocky.
10. Apple is planning to get much, much bigger.

Good thoughts by Dan Frommer.

(Via SplatF)

Apple Will Not Release iPad 3 at Macworld or CES

I checked with a number of my sources today and an iPad 3 is not planned for release at Macworld. In case you’re wondering, an iPad 3 won’t be released at CES either.

Duh.

(Via The Loop)

Alexander Graham Bell Goes Digital

Voices recorded by inventor Alexander Graham Bell more than 125 years ago are being heard now, thanks to digital imaging technology.

Fascinating.

(Via CNN)

Asana - Task Management for Teams

Impressive Project Management tool.  This will give 37 Signals a run for their money.

Insights on the writing of Steve Jobs

I just sat there and looked at the guy. He kept saying, 'Don't be afraid. You can do this.'

Great interview with Walter Isaacson.

(Via CNN Money.)

Wife got me this for Christmas. Picture looks amazing. Buy it.

Citizen Kane (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

New Yorkers Now Live 2.4 Years Longer Than Other Americans:

Rats and roaches and other assorted vermin aren't knocking New Yorkers like they used to, as the average life expectancy of a newborn today in New York is 2.4 years higher than the national average, the city's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a presser today.

2.4 happier, livelier, and sunnier years.

(Via The Atlantic Wire)

You Sense It Or You Don't

If you've got a taste for something, a nose for something, an eye for something, an ear for something, a feel for something, and you find a product that soothes that sense, then you have a special gift: the ability to cast judgement on inferior efforts. Other folks? They'll either sense it too, or they won't.

Good stuff.

(Via Red Sweater)

Should You Replace Your Laptop With an iPad 2?

I think it’s possible to use an iPad as one’s primary device for professional-level content creation. Actually, scratch that. I’m positive it’s possible — because I’ve been doing it for the past three months, and I’ve been having a really good time.

Is it possible? Sure. But it totally depends on a user's workflow. Diff'rent strokes to move the world.

(Via Time)

What to Expect from 2012's Ultrabooks

We’ll see MacBook Air-style offerings from major PC manufacturers that weigh around three pounds and measure less than an inch thick, but won’t require nearly as much compromise as ultraportable notebooks have in the past.

Roger Angell: The U.S. Postal Service Ends Next-Day Delivery

Christmas has flown, and mail at home this week will produce shiny bargain-sale notices, some bills and invitations, an early thank-you note for a gift, and a late Christmas card or two, but perhaps not an actual letter. There’s nothing new about this, but a bit of sadness, a pang, has remained since the Postal Service announced, last month, that it will soon drop any promises of next-day delivery for first-class letters. The post office is broke, and the forty per cent of the first-class mail that currently reaches us within a day will now arrive in two, or even three.

Another nail.

(Via The New Yorker)

iTouch Gloves. Best gloves to use with a touch-screen device.

Hackers Breach the Web Site of Stratfor Global Intelligence:

In a sinister Christmas message, the Anonymous hacking collective penetrated the site of Stratfor and began sending donations from people in its database to diverse charities.

I'm amazed that a company who publishes a daily newsletter on security issues didn't encrypt this information. It's so dumb I wonder if it's true. Hopefully more information about this breach will be forthcoming.

(Via NYTimes Technology)

Apple has been successful in making the consumer – you and me – the true customer. They have managed to bring the iPhone to the masses without succumbing to the whims and desires of the mobile phone carriers: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Microsoft could try and follow Apple's playbook and take Windows Phone 7 directly to the consumer, but they don't have the proper mechanisms in place to succeed. It takes more than just great software and hardware for a mobile device to thrive in such a competitive marketplace.

Microsoft is missing three key components:

1. Retail Stores. There are over 350 Apple Stores worldwide, with dozens more planned in 2012. These stores promote the Apple lifestyle, a product in and of itself. It's a joy to go to an Apple Store, and many are considered essentials stops when visiting Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, China, Switzerland, Spain, Hong Kong, the Netherlands or Sweden. Shoppers feel safe and special when they're at the Apple Store.

2. Software Ecosystem. Only Apple (and Amazon, to a lesser degree) understands that the experience goes beyond the product. Buying the iPhone, iPad, iPod or Mac is only the first step; there's a whole world of content to be explored! Fortunately, acquiring said content is just as easy – and fun – as using the device. Apps, Music, TV Shows, Movies, Books, Podcasts are just a click away. Microsoft (and Google, for that matter) don't have anything that's remotely close to matching Apple's breadth of content.

3. Developer Community. Developers prefer to code for devices that they enjoy using. It should come as no surprise that Developers are flocking to iOS because of rich tools, a vibrant community, and a great payoff.

I'm not saying that Microsoft won't be able to match – or even beat – Apple at their own game. They are, after all, a software company that has a lot of money. But by some estimates, it's too little too late.

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Competitors upset at Google promoting own flight results above others:

A Kayak executive speaking to the Journal claims Google "just sort of ignored" the agreement it made to drive more traffic to online travel agencies, but Google said it did so out of necessity. "Google acknowledges it has failed to make good on assurances it would link to the travel sites, but the company says it had no choice," wrote the Journal. ITA founder and Google VP Jeremy Wertheimer was also quoted saying that "[t]he airlines told us that they would not give us [travel data]" if the company provided booking links to travel agencies, though he claimed the company still wants to be able to "include travel sites."

Capitalism isn't bad, but lying is.

(Via Ars Technica)

Amazon Kindle Fire gets rough port of Android 4.0:

Those on the XDA-Developers forums have brought a rough build of Android 4.0 to the Kindle Fire tablet. The early build is meant to hash out a number of problems and features that still don't work with the help of the community.

Great. A crappy OS for a crappy device.

(Via Electronista)

iPad 3 'Home Button' Parts Start Circulating in China

Claimed iPad 3 parts have been circulating for some time already, but a few more pieces to the puzzle are starting to appear.

Compared to the iPad 2, it looks to be the same size, but with a slightly smaller square printed on it.

In other words, it's the beginning of the end.

(Via MacRumors)

OneNote for the iPad

Overall, OneNote for the iPad is disappointing.

Shocker.

(Via TUAW)

Delete All Your Tweets with TwitWipe

If you've made a few tweets you regret over the years and don't really care if the others are saved for posterity, you can delete all the tweets in your Twitter account with the TwitWipe webapp. Of course you can just delete your Twitter account, but that will get rid of everyone you're following, your own followers, and unlink your account from any apps you might still want to use. TwitWipe just gets rid of the tweets and leaves everything else intact.

Perfect for all those college twits who are looking for jobs and are wanting to spruce up their online appearance.

(Via Lifehacker)

Windows Phone is Superior; Why Hasn’t it Taken Off?

My belief is Microsoft’s approach with WP7 has a impedance mismatch with the carriers & device manufacturers while Google’s approach reduces friction with carriers & device manufacturers at the expense of end users.

Impedance mismatch? Really?

I really do like Windows Phone Mobile System 7, but the bottom line is, if Microsoft can't tell consumers why their phone OS is better than everything else out there, it's gonna be the Zunehouse.

(Via ceklog.kindel.com)

Five Predictions For Online Video In 2012:

(1) TV Re-imagined.

(2) Tablets on Fire.

(3) Battle for Your Living Room & Cutting of the Cord.

(4) Personal Video Breakthrough.

(5) HD Video Ecosystem Growth Explodes.

Breathing? Check.

(Via TechCrunch)

Boxee Mac media player reaches end-of-life with new version:

The company is releasing version 1.5 of its desktop app for Mac, Windows and Ubuntu this week, featuring many of the improvements that will be appearing in the Boxee Box firmware early next year, but there's a caveat. This will be the final release of Boxee's desktop build; future development efforts will be focused on the Boxee Box hardware and on tablets like the iPad. The 1.5 version will be available for download on Boxee's site through the end of January 2012, which gives the Boxee team a bit of time to take down the "roll your own" section on the Boxee site.

Unfortunately, I think they're dead in the water. 2012 will see substantial gains in the living room, and it's unlikely that Boxee will be a player. Unless they're purchased, but who would want them?

(Via TUAW)

A lot has been written over the past few days regarding Microsoft pulling out of CES. I'm struck at the different reactions to the news, in comparison to Apple's 2008 announcement about pulling out of the MacWorld conference. I believe the reactions, for the most part, stem from one's faith in the overall strategy found at each respective company.

On one hand, when Apple pulled out of MacWorld, most people believed that Apple's leadership knew exactly what they were doing. After all, it was a good idea for a company to have more control over the timing of their message, not to mention the conferences are expensive. No one questioned if Apple was making a good move or not. The Company had incredible momentum with the iPhone and the rumor mill was abuzz over the inevitable release of a new tablet. Who needed MacWorld, anyway?

On the other hand, there's a bit of controversy as to whether or not Microsoft left CES or was kicked out. This is indicates been coasting for years off their core products (Windows, Office, Internet Explorer). Little to no innovation has left Redmond since Steve Ballmer took the helm in 2000. Morale has suffered at the company over the past few years, as well: I've literally had Microsoft executives tell me that they're unsure of Ballmer's overall strategy and don't believe in him as a leader.

All this being said, pulling out of CES might be a good move for Microsoft. The past two keynotes given by Ballmer have been disappointing to say the least. Perhaps pulling back from the media spotlight at relatively inopportune times will give Microsoft the chance to hone (find?) their message. When they do decide to make an announcement, it will be more fleshed out. Hopefully.

If, however, Redmond fails to deliver a message that consumers find attractive, they will continue their downward spiral into irrelevancy. This doesn't mean they'll die as a company anytime soon. On the contrary, enterprises who have invested millions of dollars into Microsoft products will continue to insist (as much as they can) that employees conform and use "supported" tools (Windows, Office, etc.).

But as a new generation of users insist on using more respectful software, Microsoft will have to change their strategy – and not just their announcement schedule and venue – or they will continue to see declining sales.

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