Two histories of Myst

It’s hard to explain today what kind of an amazing revelation the original Myst was. I never finished the game but I loved playing it.

Understanding “Hotel California”

A classic song that receives a very dense music theory dissection in this video. I don’t understand 75% of what he’s saying but it’s still interesting.

Meet the people who grind out the best movie trailers in the world

I love movie trailers. I scour YouTube and my RSS feed for the latest ones and will spend hours watching them on the AppleTV Trailer app. A well-done trailer is like a little movie in and of itself. A good one doesn’t give away too much of a movie but gives you enough to make you want to see it. If you are a movie trailer fan, go to IMDB and check out some of your favourite movies from the 1930s-1970s. The style of trailers has changed remarkably over the years.

Study: 75% of King County drivers believe they can safely text and drive

This was a study done in the Seattle area but there’s no reason to believe the results would be much different anywhere else. People in cars are remarkably stupid when it comes to judging their ability to multitask in general and even worse when it comes to using their cell phone in the car.

Google: Security keys neutralized employee phishing

Security keys have been around for a long time – I used one at an engineering firm I worked at 25 years ago – but I wonder if this kind of implementation will not only become more widely used but maybe trickle down to average consumers? Also, there are security concerns regarding plugging in USB devices at work and how secure those devices are in and of themselves. Still, a step towards a different future of passwords.

One of the stars of ‘Planet of the Apps’ is trashing Apple

This is just revisionist history. The problems with that show started long before Apple Marketing got involved. I’d argue it started with the hosts, Vaynerchuk included, and just snowballed from there. Face it, Gary – it was a bad TV show.

“Midnight Run” at 30: in praise of the ‘Casablanca’ of buddy comedies

My Australian wife had never seen this movie (as the story notes, it bombed at the box office) so we watched it a few weeks ago and she nearly wet herself laughing. De Niro is utterly brilliant in this comedic role (as is the sadly late Dennis Farina) and Grodin is wonderfully neurotic and annoying.

Apple: Don’t default on default apps

As a photographer, I’d love to be able to change the default photo app and I’d love to change the default mapping behaviour to a different app as well. The vast majority of users are unlikely to ever do this but for “power users” of one sort or another, it would be a nice feature.

Review: a counterfeit, $100 iPhone X

While I wouldn’t use one of these even if you paid me the $100, it’s still very interesting to see what these fake iPhones can and can’t do.

Sextortion scam uses recipient’s hacked passwords

I received this email scam as well but it didn’t worry me. While it was a password I’d used in the distant past, now that I use 1Password, I knew it wasn’t to anything I still use.

How do cyclists physically survive the Tour de France?

As corrupt as pro cycling may or may not be (hint: it is), I still love watching the Tour de France, not just for the beautiful scenery but in sheer awe and admiration for what these athletes put themselves through.

Which car brands have the most (and least) loyal owners?

I found this fascinating. As someone who doesn’t own a car and doesn’t really care about cars, I had no idea that brand loyalty was so low in this market. No wonder the advertising around it is so prevalent and forceful. Customers are ripe for changes.

The entire history of steel

I now know more about steel than I ever did and I had fun reading this very accessible article with my 12 year old.