Chris Martucci on PayPal making someone destroy a violin to get his money back:
Indeed, the company specifies in its Terms of Service: “PayPal may […] require you to destroy the item and to provide evidence of its destruction.”
So the seller is out $2,500 and a violin that made it through WWII.
Technologizer:
I’m all in favor of developers drawing upon old games for inspiration, improving them and turning them into entirely new ideas. And I like fan-made homages when they expand significantly on the original and–this is important–are not sold for commercial gain (Vector Tanks cost $1, and Extreme cost $2). But in this case, the makers of Vector Tanks simply copied Battlezone’s look, feel and core play mechanics, and added a few frills. That’s a soulless approach to game design, and it’s best left to Atari.
Jared Newman defends Atari’s decision to go after Black Powder Media, an iOS developer which released a Battlezone-style tank combat game. He raises some good points, including the double-standard often applied to big game developers that engage in the same sort of action as indie developers. Read it for a different perspective on this debate.
AllThingsD:
Today, the company is unveiling plans for its Roku Streaming Stick, a flash-drive-sized dongle that plugs into the back of television sets to enable the same streaming capabilities as a Roku box.
Roku is leapfrogging Apple by offering a new device that’s little bigger than the average thumb drive, but packs all the features of set-top digital video streaming devices like Roku’s other offerings and the Apple TV. It’s pretty remarkable, and a smart idea. Roku’s new stick features an HDMI port and works with TVs compatible with Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL). It’s expected to be released in the second half of 2012 at a price that’s yet to be determined.
iPad users are estimated to have cumulatively downloaded three billion applications since the launch of the iPad in 2010. This was 19% of all cumulative downloads by Apple users. The iPhone took as long as two years before being able to achieve this level of downloads, while the iPad made it within nearly a year and a half. In comparison, Android tablets only have around 440 million downloads thus far.
WOOHOO, Android is winning. Oh wait…
Cult of Mac:
Apple has begun an attack on App Store piracy. The popular resource for cracked iOS apps known as Apptrackr recently said that Apple has begun sending large amounts of takedown notices, thereby forcing Apptrackr to relocate many of its servers and implement more steps for its users to avoid legal ramifications.
Good for Apple.
Beginning Friday, January 13, iPhone 4S will be available in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.
To celebrate the end of another exciting year in type, our type experts put their heads together to compile our annual “Best Of” list, highlighting the typefaces that surprised, impressed, and delighted us.
The Salt Lake Tribune:
In 1980, a plane carrying Frampton’s equipment (but not Framton himself, of course) for a show in Panama went down, supposedly destroying all of the instruments on board — including Frampton’s cherished 1954 Gibson Les Paul.But two fans, one in Holland and one on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, as well as the CEO of the Curaçao Tourist Board, were albe to reunite Frampton with the guitar in an emotional meeting last month in Nashville.
As most of us were celebrating the holidays and getting ready for the new year, one music legend was fighting for his life. Unfortunately, Richard Lainhart didn’t win his battle. Below is a note posted by his wife. There are also plenty of links to his music and videos.
Richard Lainhart February 14, 1953 – December 30, 2011Dear friends of Richard, It is with a heavy heart that I that I must tell you Richard Lainhart, composer, musician, technologist, filmmaker, and digital artisan died Friday, December 30, 2011.On December 17, Richard complained of pains in his side and was admitted to the hospital for tests which showed an intestinal cancer. He was operated on on December 21. After the surgery (which showed the cancer had not spread), there were infectious complications which took his life on December 30.He struggled valiantly to overcome his infection, but it was not to be. We are all in shock and cannot grasp the idea of his not making music, talking music, teaching, posting and playing.Caroline Meyers Richard Lainhart’s wife
The Fender Select Stratocaster HSS takes the refined elegance of its triple-single-coil brother and amps it up through the roof with the extra power of a humbucking bridge pickup. Features include a striking Antique Burst gloss-lacquer finish and natural binding on a sleek flame maple-top body.
Okay, I want one of these.
It seems that not every company on the list of SOPA supporters actually support the bill. Taylor Guitars on Tuesday provided me with some information that explained how they initially ended up on the list of supporters.
“In August 2011, Taylor Guitars, its trade organization, NAMM, and other music industry manufacturers offered a signature of support on a U.S. Chamber of Commerce letter sent to Congressional members to encourage the introduction of anti-piracy and counterfeiting legislation,” Taylor said in a statement provided to The Loop. “As the letter was not bill-specific, we felt the spirit of its intent was in accordance with our efforts to confront ongoing piracy and copyright infringement issues that we, like many others in the industry, continue to battle.”
That seems to be the common theme when talking to people about SOPA — people support anti-piracy legislation, but SOPA is out of control.
Taylor said that its signature of support and its “desire to stop piracy and counterfeiting has been misrepresented as support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261).”
Having read that, I have to wonder how many other companies find themselves in the same position. How many support anti-piracy measures and wrongly found themselves on a list of SOPA supporters.
“Clearly stated, we do not support SOPA and its intent to restrict the Internet,” said Taylor. “The values of freedom, creativity and innovation are at the core of our business, and SOPA is not in accordance with those values.”
It doesn’t matter how much it costs, the PlayBook still doesn’t do anything.
Gamesindustry.biz:
Atari has reportedly been applying legal pressure to developers which it believes are infringing on its intellectual property rights, despite the developers affected claiming that attempts had been made on their part to reach an agreement.
Black Powder Games, developer of one of the games Atari asked Apple to remove from the App Store, cites a “special relationship” between Atari and Apple as why Apple has been so quick to remove titles that Atari says violate its IP.
The Vancouver Sun:
Under intense pressure from a group of shareholders, Research In Motion Ltd. is preparing to unveil a corporate shakeup at the beleaguered BlackBerry maker that could see co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie relinquish their titles as co-chairmen of the board, sources say.
It’s a start, but it would have been better if it had happened two or three years ago.
This is exactly what I love about Universal Audio. They do a tips & tricks post and they go to the creator of the gear to host it. Definitely worth a read and don’t forget to watch the video at the end of the post.
In this video I run through the steps I use to make a chunky rock/metal preset for my guitar. I’m using the Pod HD500 hardware and software from Line 6 to create the tone.
Kara Swisher:
According to sources close to the situation, Apple is planning an important — but not large-scale — event to be held in New York at the end of this month that will focus on a media-related announcement.
Yep.
I love the guy that gets frustrated and throws his notepad down.
Jim Sterling for Destructoid:
Last year, when free speech in the videogame industry was threatened, you asked for help from gamers…Now, when free speech at large is threatened, you not only refuse to fight the threat, you actually join forces with it.
Sterling is talking about the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and its support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a very controversial piece of legislation that critics fear will lead to wholesale censorship of Web sites. Sterling contrasts this with the ESA’s grassroots push to drum up public support when it went up against the state of California in 2011 in a Supreme Court case (the EMA ultimately won).
BBEdit 10 from Bare Bones Software — The leading professional HTML and text editor for the Mac just keeps getting better, with more than one hundred new features. Download the demo and see for yourself!
Why not, they copy everything else Apple does.
Marketing Land:
Imagine if when Windows 7 came out, it was only offered on only one particular Dell computer. It was also uncertain when or if other computers, including those made by Dell, would ever be able to upgrade to it. Welcome to the “clopen” world of Android.
Danny Sullivan does a good job of spelling out what a completely confusing morass Android has turned into, thanks to Google and device manufacturers working on totally different pages.
Electronista:
Samsung has drawn criticism Monday after viewers realized that it was reusing a child actress from an iPhone 4S ad for a Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE spot.
Samsung can’t even think up its own ads. Pathetic.
Many thanks to Instashuffle for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop. Instashuffle is a way to browse Instagram in an endless image stream. And it is now free. On the App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad with iOS 5 and later.
Dwight Silverman:
The wireless carrier [Verizon] has dropped plans to charge $2 for payments made on its website or over the phone. Verizon announced Thursday it would charge the fee, but backed off a day later in the wake of blistering negative reaction, mostly online.
Dwight nailed it in his article — the quick and angry backlash turned the tide.
BBC:
Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of design, has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.Mr Ive, who can now style himself Sir Jonathan, has been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE).
Very nice, congrats to Jonathan.
MTD Bass (a.k.a. Michael Tobias Design) announced the creation of its new charitable non-profit organization, MTDLYFE, Inc.. MTD will host The First Annual MTD Family Reunion Benefit Concert and CD release party at The 2012 NAMM Show on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at JT Schmid’s in Anaheim, CA. All proceeds will benefit non-profit organizations that provide support for musicians, MusiCares and H.E.A.R. Contributions from the musicians, manufacturers and vendors, include support from Bass Player Magazine, Dana B. Goods, Epifani and Gallien-Krueger, MTD Bass will feature many of the company’s most notable artists, including Andrew Gouche, Bubby Lewis, Norm Stockton, Jerry Watts, and more performing live, plus on the double CD set available during the event.
I know people at MusiCares and H.E.A.R. This is a cause that is well worth your support. There is a PayPal link on the site where you can donate as much as you want — even a couple of dollars would help.
I plan to attend the benefit concert next month.
Ben Brooks:
That’s not that hard to understand and the fact that Wasserman can’t understand that shows why is opinion isn’t really that interesting. He then devolves to talking about Kelly Clarkson and Ron Paul… yay?
I love it that Ben speaks his mind.
I’ve been using Line 6 gear for many years and have watched them grow into one of the best amp modeling companies in the business. The Pod HD500 stompbox is yet another success in the Line 6 arsenal.
The HD500 is a lot of things bundled in one box. It’s an audio interface to your computer; an amp modeler; effects modeler; and a stompbox that can connect to your amp or PA. Basically, it’s a unit that’s built to do it all.
I expect different things from an audio interface than I do from a stompbox. When I see a stompbox, I think of playing live and all of the perils that come with that.
The biggest problem for me is toughness. When I see some of these pretty looking stompboxes on the market, I immediately think, “that wouldn’t last a night under my foot.” I’m not saying I abuse my gear, but if it’s made for me to stomp on, that’s what I’m going to do. And the Pod HD500 takes it night after night, song after song.
I’ve been through the problems of pedals getting gummed up or not responding when you step on it. That’s not only frustrating, it pisses me off.
Of course, you don’t just have to worry about playing, but moving the stompbox to and from the venue. Let’s face it, you don’t baby the thing when you’re unloading, do you? No. It gets dropped, thrown, stepped on, spilled on, kicked and flung. It’s the nature of the business.
I’ve been playing for years and my old stompbox was a piece of plywood with the pedals fastened to it. I loved that thing. You could set a bomb off and it would come through unscathed. That’s what the HD500 is like for me.
Enough about toughness, how does it sound? That’s the other important factor, isn’t it? It’s fine to get your HD500 to a rehearsal or gig, but if it sounds like shit, it’s not going to last long.
I work hard on my presets, to get that perfect sound (and by perfect, I mean I keep fiddling with it because I’m rarely satisfied with any tone). Because of that, I usually like to plug the HD500 directly into the PA. That’s just a personal preference.
I’ve tried it running through my JCM 800 and it sounds great, but I like having all of those little nuances in the tone that I get from running the HD500 by itself.
As the name implies, this new stompbox comes with “HD” amp models. That basically means that Line 6 found a way to model the 22 amps in such a realistic way, they could only describe them as HD. But are they really that good? I had my doubts, but was quickly convinced after playing it for a short time.
Amp modeling has come a long way in the past few years and you can hear a difference with the Line 6 HD amps. It was kind of strange to hear them at first — maybe them sounded a bit too real or something. Whatever it was, I liked it.
The HD500 gives you complete control over your tone from detailed amp settings to a variety of effects, mics and cabinets that can be added to your tone. Settings can be changed on the fly, using the controls on the device, or from your computer, using the Line 6 software.
Overall, I like the HD500 software, but I didn’t like the effects edit window as much as I like Pod Farm.
In HD500 Edit the effects window is too small for me. I understand that you can edit multiple effects at once, which is great when building a preset, but I’d like to have the option to zoom in close on an effect and work on that separately. Basically, I’d like the effects window to work like the amp window — focused on one thing.
Arranging amps and effects with the HD500 software is really simple. Just drag and drop things where you want them to be — again, you have total control.
New in this version is the ability to put an effect before both amps if you’re making a dual amp tone. I love that feature. Now I can put a Chorus pedal on the entire tone and let it hit both amps when I turn it on. Very smart fix from Line 6.
One miscellaneous item that is rarely mentioned in any review that should be is the tuner. Line 6 makes the best tuners on the market. Yes, most of us can tune by ear, but every once in a while it’s nice to get back to a perfect standard tuning. I hate those tuners that flutter all over the place, so you never know if you got it right on or not. Line 6 nails it every time with their tuner. I appreciate that.
The HD500 also works with the company’s Variax digital guitars and the DT50 amplifiers. I haven’t had a chance to review either of those items, but hopefully one day soon I’ll do those too.
I don’t know what else you would need from a stompbox that Line 6 doesn’t offer. This is the third Line 6 stompbox I’ve had over the years and all three still work perfectly. They’re tough, they sound great, they’re versatile and they’re accurate in tonal characteristics. Well worth the money.
The other tablets.
Being a tech failure pretty much sums up the year every tablet maker, except Apple, had.