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For fuck sakes, the plaintiffs didn’t even own eligible iPods to bring the $350 million lawsuit.

Yes, I am breaking the gift guide by putting this here. Why? Because as you’ll notice, none of us recommended the Nexus 9 (edit: Cameron recommended it, but don’t listen to him), because it’s not exactly great. In fact, I’d argue no Android tablet is. The Shield Tablet is a lot of bang for your buck, but the screen kind of sucks and the battery life isn’t spectacular (standby is bad in particular) and it’s heavy, thick, and kinda ugly.

Much respect Android Police people.

As a user, when sites put text on an image, I like the blur or using the out-of-focus techniques. I always feel like contrast makes the text much easier to read, which makes my interaction with the site or app much better.

An interesting post from John Martellaro. I’ve wondered about this myself after using Apple Pay recently. Sometimes, I need to sign, while other times they just wave me on without any other interaction.

Photographer Brooks Kraft has been covering the White House since 2000, and over the years, he’s had plenty of opportunities to document the unveiling of Christmas decorations at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This year, however, he decided to mix things up a bit — and shot the event with Apple’s new iPhone 6.

Great story.

The tone-creation possibilities are now virtually infinite with BIAS. Download artists’ signature amps, or try out the latest and most popular matched amp models created by your fellow guitarists.

The new version of BIAS Desktop really is amazing. You can match a real amp using the software and then recall it whenever you want. The company made some new amp match models available to download from within the app.

PDFpen 2 is fully optimized for iOS 8 with an all new look and feel which runs on both iPad and iPhone. The enhanced toolbar and new editing bar make popular writing and highlighting features easy to access, with minimal taps. Import and export documents via iCloud Drive, making it easy to share cloud-based documents not just with the Mac, but with other apps on an iPad or iPhone. Use AirDrop to quickly send documents to other devices. PDFpen 2 supports palm and wrist protection when writing and highlighting. Documents can be secured with a password. Number pages automatically, including Bates numbering. All this and more make PDFpen 2 the perfect solution for all of your mobile PDF editing needs.

In short, we’re told that while Transmit iOS can download content from iCloud Drive, we cannot upload content to iCloud Drive unless the content was created in the app itself. Apple says this use would violate 2.23 — “Apps must follow the iOS Data Storage Guidelines or they will be rejected” — but oddly that page says nothing about iCloud Drive or appropriate uses for iCloud Drive.

I really don’t understand some of these decisions.

During an appearance before a U.S. appeals court on Thursday, lawyers for Samsung sought to have vacated the $930 million judgement awarded to Apple earlier this year in a landmark patent infringement lawsuit, saying the sum was “absurd.”

No, what’s absurd is that Samsung made so much money from copying Apple’s design. The judgement against Samsung should have been much more.

This is great, I love it.

Mashable:

The Calgary Hitmen held their 20th annual Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday, which allowed fans to throw 25,214 stuffed animals onto the ice in a heartwarming and entertaining display of charity.

The bears, which are bagged prior to tossing, are gathered up by the team and donated to more than 60 charities for the holiday season.

The Hitmen do this every year and it’s heartwarming and funny every time I see it.

Apple on Monday released its list of the best and most downloaded music, apps, TV shows, movies and books from its stores. There are certainly some great apps and music in this year’s, along with some surprises, like the top selling album being “Frozen.” […]

Darrell asked Eddie to make him a replica of his famous black and yellow striped guitar a few months before he died.

When Van Halen arrived at the viewing, he had the guitar, but it wasn’t what Rita expected. He brought his original 1979 Bumblebee Charvel Hybrid VH2 to be placed inside Dimebag’s casket and buried along with him.

Much respect to Dime and Eddie.

The New Yorker:

High oil prices would force governments, corporations, and consumers to find another way to power the world. It was a nice dream, but it’s over now. We are awash in cheap oil. Propelled largely by a boom in domestic production, due to hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,’’ and horizontal drilling, oil prices fell below $70 a barrel on Thursday—from a high in June of $112.12. Prices have fallen nearly every day for the past two months, and some economists predict that we will soon see oil selling for less than fifty dollars a barrel.

Domestic production isn’t the only reason prices are falling but it’s certainly true that cheaper oil just delays the inevitable.

Peter King:

The sight of players going into contact without helmets is jarring to observers accustomed to standard football drills. Players dive at tackling dummies, or push into blocking sleds, or wrap up a live runner without helmets. Their heads are bare, and so by instinct, they don’t lead with their heads.

“At first, tackling without a helmet doesn’t seem like the best idea, with the size of the guys we have around here,” says Cameron Shorey, a 6-5, 252-pound sophomore defensive end. “But when we started doing it, it made more sense to keep our heads out of the contact zone. We use our chests, use our legs, and absorb most of the force with our bodies, not our heads.”

I love football – I played it in high school – but I definitely believe we have to find ways to make it safer for the players’ brains.

My thanks to Algoriddim for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. Algoriddim, creators of the world’s best selling DJ app with over 15 million downloads on iOS, has partnered with the AppStore and (RED) to bring you an exclusive (PRODUCT)RED version of djay. Available for a limited time only, djay 2 for iPhone and iPad contains a free (djay)RED skin as well as an exclusive (djay)RED sample pack available via In-App Purchase. From now through December 7, 100% of the proceeds when buying djay 2 or any of the (djay)RED In-App Purchases go to (RED)’s fight against AIDS.

Stand with Algoriddim, App Store, and (RED) to fight for an AIDS FREE GENERATION.

Get djay 2 on the App Store today: Mix Tracks. Save Lives.

Photofocus:

The folks at Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain has produced a (free) comic book that explains copyright in both a clear and interesting way. Learn about the delicate balance between intellectual property and the public domain – the realm of material that is free to use without permission or payment.

Every “content creator” should understand the basics of copyright and this comic book is a clever and visually interesting way to do it.

Wired:

At a space shuttle launch, a front row seat is 3 miles away. If you want to get closer, you have two options: Be an astronaut, or be a camera. Photographer Dan Winters got a rare chance to explore the second option.

In 2011, after NASA announced it would be ending the shuttle program, Winters received permission to document the final launches of the space shuttles Discovery, Endeavor and Atlantis. He’s compiled that work in the book Last Launch. A shuttle launch is a violent event, yet Winters captured them with the same stunning intimacy found in his portraits. And while he had unparalleled access to make that happen, the logistics were tremendous. At WIRED by Design, the photographer explained how he got the shots.

Both the above video and the Wired article are fascinating looks at both the technical and emotional side of photographing these last moments of history.

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This is Colossal:

The game units have been designed and approved for use by the city of Hildesheim, Germany where they were installed two weeks ago. Rebranded as the ActiWait, the devices aren’t just a clever way to pass the time while waiting for cars, hopefully they disuade impatient pedestrians from darting through traffic.

Who said Germans don’t have a sense of humour and fun?

Six Colors:

Apple’s getting its lunch eaten by competitors, and the hits just keep on coming. The most recent numbers have Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV pulling ahead of Apple’s set-top box, and you know what? They should be. Right now, they’re better products: they have support for more services, they have more flexibility, and they’re cheaper.

The Apple TV, on the other hand, hasn’t gotten a meaningful upgrade since 2010.

He’s not wrong. I used to recommend the Apple TV wholeheartedly but it’s far too long in the tooth now.

From Reuters. Fair warning – these are news shots and some are very graphic and disturbing but all are powerful.

Fascinating video. If you’re looking for a special treat for yourself or a wonderful gift to give this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with a bottle of Woodford Reserve Bourbon. One of my favourites.

TidBITS:

OS X 10.10.1 Yosemite has been out for a bit now and while it is working fine for many people, there are still a variety of complaints making the rounds on the Internet. Here then is a collection of five problems and solutions (or at least workarounds) that we’ve either experienced or had reported to us.

Not all of these will be applicable to everyone but some might help speed things up for you.

Popular Mechanics:

What a lovely video. What a delicate and sentimental homage to an elder statesmen of the land speed wars. What a beautiful, pastoral day, perfect for rolling out a… What uh…. What are they doing with the…. DEAR LORD. IT RUNS.

It’s called “The Beast of Turin” and it looks and sounds like the car Satan would drive. Thanks very much to Glenn Ramsey for the link.

Priceonomics:

To counterbalance its simplicity, the Slinky has an utterly complex backstory. The toy has dealt with a slew of uncanny circumstances — an inventor who fled to South America to join a religious cult, a seven-figure debt, a mind-boggling reemergence under unlikely leadership — and has somehow managed to persevere with very little redesign.

I don’t know how popular the Slinky is outside of Canada and the US but is there anyone who didn’t get one of these for a gift at some point? And how long did it take you (or your rotten little brothers) to break it?

Dan Frakes:

A couple months back, I tweeted that the iOS 8 share-sheet extension I really wanted was one that would let me send myself an email—in other words, to share the current thing via email, but to have the resulting email message pre-addressed to me.

Like Dan, I do this frequently on iOS and have been using and liking this little extension.

Jim and Shawn talk about drum loops, Home Screen apps, the CIA and David Lee Roth!

Sponsored by Backblaze (Visit the link for a free trial and then it’s just $5/month per computer for unlimited backup, and it backs up fast) and lynda.com (Start learning something new by visiting lynda.com/thebeard and get a FREE 10-day trial where you can access all of their 2,400+ courses).

Apple is throwing its support behind the second annual Hour of Code by holding free one-hour coding workshops at its retail stores, around the world. […]

Reuters:

An anti-discrimination bill championed by Alabama’s only openly gay lawmaker will bear the name of Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook, a native of the state who came out as gay in October.

Democratic state Representative Patricia Todd said on Wednesday the technology giant was initially hesitant about having Cook’s name on her bill but later embraced the idea.

Very happy to see Apple changed their mind regarding this. The bill won’t pass though.

Revenues from online shopping on “Cyber Monday” surged 15.4 percent higher than last year, setting a new all time peak in U.S. ecommerce, with online mobile sales overwhelmingly driven by customers wielding Apple devices.

This doesn’t really surprise me that much. People seem to be very comfortable using their iOS devices for many things, including purchasing items from a variety of stores. This is something I see that sets Apple apart from its competitors—people have confidence in its products, which leads to confidence in doing other tasks, like shopping.