November 2011
Apple TV With Bluetooth 4.0 →
9to5mac.com
This is the most interesting bit about the rumored refresh of the Apple TV yet. Apple hasn’t talked a lot about the inclusion of Bluetooth 4.0 in both the iPhone 4S and the recent MacBooks, but it’s clearly there for a reason.
What if we do see some sort of new Apple peripherals as a result? Perhaps a large Magic Trackpad for iOS games running on the Apple TV? Or, as 9to5 Mac suggests, maybe this is about Siri integration? Or maybe it’s simply about a better (faster) iPhone/Apple TV connection for using the great Remote app.
I have no real clue, I just can’t believe Apple would bother to include the new Bluetooth chip in the Apple TV if they didn’t intend to use it — and soon.
I would like my Time Capsule and Apple TV to be one unit. That would be really swell.
“Just counting work that’s on the books (never mind those 11 p.m. emails), Americans now put in an average of 122 more hours per year than Brits, and 378 hours (nearly 10 weeks!) more than Germans.”
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What’s the Matter With the Start-Up Industry? (via courtenaybird)
I find it interesting that that list left out the Chinese, but not terribly surprising that the Koreans work about 500 hours a year more than we do.
“Meanwhile, McKenzie also revealed that he will feature as an elf in the forthcoming The Hobbit blockbuster.”
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Flight Of The Conchords announce plans for a movie | Film & TV News | NME.COM
YES! Figwit returns!
Ken Russell, Provocative English Director, Dies at 84 - NYTimes.com →
nytimes.com
This is sad. Gothic, Layer of the White Worm and Altered States were some of my favorite films as a teenager. I will now put on Thomas Dolby’s soundtrack to Gothic in remembrance.
“Now, however, the EC is planning to ban such activity unless users themselves specifically agree to it. The EU’s data protection working group is currently investigating how Facebook tracks users, stores data and uses that information to serve targeted ads. The ban may take effect as soon as next year.”
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Facebook’s entire business model is under fire in the EU | VentureBeat
Blah blah blah. God, Facebook should put a big checkbox on the front page of the site that says “I understand that to use facebook any more I will be advertised to based on my information.” Everyone would click it and never think twice. Just be done with it.
Here are the two truths about data mining and advertising:
1) Most people don’t care. At all.
2) Advertisers barely even care themselves.
It's Called 'Airplane Mode' for a Reason - NYTimes.com →
bits.blogs.nytimes.com
The most conclusive evidence, for me, in support of Nick’s theory is that every single time I fly, I see at least one person ignore this law, and nothing happens. I’d estimate on any given flight, despite the warning, there are probably about 40 cell phones not turned off, and another 40 in airplane mode. No one actually turns off their devices, and nothing happens. Ever. If it could cause a problem, it would be causing it already. May as well just legalize it.
Play
“I’ve called this glorious tech era we live in now the beginnings of a bubble before. The larger economy as a whole has held it in check but what happens when that check is gone? Will that unbridled enthusiasm I love so much in VCs take us down that trail again? We all kind of held our heads in shame hanging around at family reunions after 2001 when we tanked the economy, right? How awful would we feel if we tanked it again right as things were starting to heat up? I’m not wishing a bad economy on anyone, but it does introduce a healthy dose of caution to these eternal optimists.”
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Second column. Man, writing every week is going to be hard!
“This is tech. We’re new, we’re disruptive. Many of us like Occupy Wall Street. We like their distributed approach. We like their use of technology. But even those of us who don’t, we’re not part of crony capitalism. Until we IPO for a billion bucks, we’re not into being on the inside. We don’t have lobbyists and we’re not looking for unfair advantages. Mr. Bloomberg, just because we’re an “industry” doesn’t mean we want you to protect us from the scary protesters who might muck things up for our inside game. You’re not doing us any favors down there, and while you’re doing it, could you perhaps try and not pretend we’re all buddies? It’s embarrassing us.”
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In my ample free time, I started writing a column for The Observer about tech and/or New York tech and/or advertising and maybe if they let me some other things. I’m gonna keep it informational and theoretical and analytical, it’s not gonna be gossipy and it’s not gonna trade on startup secrets, I promise.
I’ve only done this sparingly in the past, for trade publications in advertising, so, um, let me know what you think. I am sorta new to this.
