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The Did-Not-Execute Edition Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Bait And Switch: How Apple Created Nintendo’s Best Console, by Dan Masters, OMD

You may question why Apple should concern themselves with focusing on games; after all, they take a decent cut from the fraction of users known as “whales” while doing practically nothing, and they have over one billion iPhone users, many of whom play at least one game occasionally. I would agree, if not for the fact that Apple set themselves up for success with all the right pieces, but they simply did not execute. Indeed, this is merely part of a concerning pattern of Apple’s content fumbles — see: podcasts, TV, movies, iBooks (and, arguably, even audiobooks).

Furthermore, Nintendo’s success — so close to Apple’s home in every respect — highlights the significant market they ceded. Apple’s foresight became their demise, much like Microsoft has often experienced.

A Kat And Her iPad: How This Digital Artist Got Her Start, by Erna Mahyuni, Stuff

"We had a big laugh over the doodle I made with my finger," she said. But after seeing how quickly her "doodles" would get responses after sharing them on social media, Kat was hooked.

Saying she knew little proper about art or drawing prior to getting serious with the iPad, she found the experience exhilarating. "It's as if you've found a new room in a house you've lived in all your life...and the idea that an entire universe of potential opened up to me, well, I've never felt anything quite like it."

The Wandering Path: A Review Of Seed By Joanna Walsh, by Julian Hanna, 3:AM Magazine

At the centre of Seed is the process of writing and remembering, and the difficulty of doing so honestly and accurately: “I remember these things, but I don’t remember anything we said.” Part of this difficulty may be universal to writing in general, but the problem is also local and specific, a particular cultural reluctance to speak about unpleasant things. How can you write when you were always taught not to speak honestly, or to speak at all? As the Northern Irish side of my family used to say, even concerning the most apparently harmless subjects, “Whatever you say, say nothing.” How then are you meant to be a storyteller?

All this is doubly true, it seems, for women. Having her period is an example of the protagonist being forbidden from expression: “It asks to be mentioned but is unmentionable and it asks and asks again.” The world is filled with embarrassing, unspeakable, inconvenient things. Curiosity about her mother’s tampon is summed up as follows: “She didn’t tell me. I didn’t ask.” Her parents watch television; no one knows or discusses anything about the real world, the one outside the house. This again is very poignant for the present: our fraught relationship with nature, our modern alienation from everything real. The difficulty of finding a voice is exacerbated by the fact of never being the focus of any story: “No words have been used here.” This absence, however, is precisely what gives the narrative its meaning and drive: “For something to be real it must be said. Stories are the only real things.”

Middle Kingdom

Apple’s Dangerous Market Grab In China, by Dipayan Ghosh, New York Times

The Chinese government claims its new rules will enhance domestic security efforts, providing privacy protections for Chinese nationals while also safeguarding “national cyberspace sovereignty and security.” It would be naïve, however, to think of these new regulations as anything but a severe restriction on the right to free information.

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Why, then, was Apple so quick to announce the new Guizhou data center, in effect signaling its compliance with the aggressive new rules? It’s simple: Apple hopes to protect its market share in China. Many internet companies — like Facebook — stand to be shut out forever under these rules, and smaller companies will avoid the market altogether because they lack the capital to stomach the compliance costs.

Apple’s Greater China Business Now Has Its Own Managing Director For The First Time, by Jon Russell, TechCrunch

While there are many business reasons to have a Greater China MD — Apple’s revenue from the region can make or break its quarterly earnings report — having a lead may help with sticky issues in the country.

Stuff

Apple Updates Logic Pro X With New Drummers And Performance Improvements, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Today's update brings three new Drummers able to play percussion in the styles of Pop, Songwriter, and Latin, and the new Drummer loops can be added to songs and customized with performance controls.

10 Hidden Features Of Apple Music You Need To Know, by Matt Elliott, CNET

Apple Music was redesigned in 2016 in an effort to streamline the app. While Apple did succeed in its efforts to make the app easier to navigate, it's still quite easy to get turned around when hunting for music across Apple's vast, 40-million-plus song catalog. Here then are some tips to help you keep track of which end is up when rocking out with Apple Music.

Panic's Truck Drops Off Transmit 5, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

I’ve been testing this one a while (Transmit is my primary tool for moving files back and forth to my remote web servers) and I really like the integration with Panic’s cloud-sync service, because I also use Transmit on iOS and now the two apps can keep their favorites in sync.

Google Introduces The Feed, A Personalized Stream Of News On iOS And Android, by Casey Newton, The Verge

Google today is rolling out its take on the news feed, a personalized stream of articles, videos, and other content. The feed will appear in its flagship app for Android and iOS, simply called Google. The feed, which includes items drawn from your search history and topics you choose to follow, is designed to turn Google’s app into a destination for browsing as well as search. Google is hoping you’ll begin opening its app the way you do Facebook or Twitter, checking it reflexively throughout the day for quick hits of news and information.

Lightroom For iOS Gains Brush Selection Tool W/ 3D Touch & Apple Pencil Support, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

Adobe is out with a new version of Photoshop Lightroom for iPhone and iPad that brings a new Brush Selection tool and much more. Lightroom’s new Brush Selection tool supports pressure sensitive input on iPhones with 3D Touch and iPad Pros with Apple Pencil.

Halide Review: Instantly Better Photography, by Jake Underwood, MacStories

As you line up your shot in Halide, you’ll have the opportunity to make adjustments – focus, ISO, white balance, and exposure – that will change the way your picture will look.

Develop

Apple Rolls Out New Developer Tools To Aid In Subscription Retention, by Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider

Apple on Tuesday announced the launch of server notifications and enhanced receipts for subscriptions, including auto-renewable subscriptions, tools that provide actionable information for retaining paying users.

Notes

Monett School District Buys 970 iPads For Middle School, by Murray Bishoff, Monett Times

iPads are easier to handle when taking pictures or videos. The apps are more intuitive on the iPad versus the laptop. With the iPad, teachers have access to educational applications available the App Store which would continue to provide differentiated methods to help unlock learning for our students. The iPad also has the ability of personalizing access and controls to ensure that the intent of the device was for learning.

This iPhone Photo Has Made It Onto Billboards Across The World, by Yvette Tan, Mashable

When Filipino Instagrammer Francis Olarte snapped a photo of his niece, he wasn't expecting it to be seen by million across the world.

Four Apple Contractors Accuse Qualcomm Of Antitrust Violations, by Stephen Nellis, Reuters

Much of the language in the contractors' allegations mirror Apple's objections to Qualcomm's business model. A senior Apple official confirmed that the company is helping to fund the contractors' legal defense as part of an indemnification agreement among the firms. Apple has also formally joined the contractor case as a defendant.

Silicon Valley Mostly Quiet In Internet Surveillance Debate In Congress, by Dustin Volz, Reuters

Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple Inc and other major technology firms are largely absent from a debate over the renewal of a broad U.S. internet surveillance law, weakening prospects for privacy reforms that would further protect customer data, according to sources familiar with the matter.

[...]

The companies' relative inactivity is explained by several legal challenges in Europe to an agreement between the United States and the European Union, known as the Privacy Shield, the sources said. The litigation hinges on whether U.S. surveillance practices afford enough privacy safeguards. A coalition of human rights organizations has urged Europe to suspend Privacy Shield unless Section 702 is substantially reformed.

The Curious Comeback Of The Dreaded QR Code, by David Pierce, Wired

Don't look now, but QR codes have begun to creep back. They have different names now—Snap Codes and Spotify Codes and Messenger Codes and Other Things Codes—and a much improved sense of style, but the idea hasn't changed. Because QR codes, it turns out, were just ahead of their time. They required a world where everyone always had their phone, where all phone had great cameras, and that camera was capable of doing more than just opening websites.

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I am not an emoji person. I am more of an emoticon person. :-)

And I'm showing my age. :-(

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Is Wii Sport a sport or a game?

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Thanks for reading.