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The Sales-or-Rental Edition Thursday, February 25, 2021

Spotify, Apple And Amazon At The UK Streaming Economics Inquiry, by Stuart Dredge Musically

There were some strong signals about where the committee is heading in terms of its likely recommendations though, and some interesting signs of willingness on the part of the DSPs to engage with them.

Plus some useful back-and-forth on whether streams are sales or rentals; some blunt comments on YouTube; and a great big red herring about Harry and Meghan’s podcast fees. Read on.

On Privacy

Apple Mail And Hidden Tracking Images, by John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Mail’s “Load remote content in messages” option is a great solution to bandwidth problems — remember to turn it on the next time you’re using Wi-Fi on an airplane, for example. It’s a terrible solution to tracking. No one would call it a good solution to tracking if Safari’s only defense were an option not to load any images at all until you manually click a button in each tab to load them all. But that’s exactly what Apple offers with Mail.

Stuff

Sir David Attenborough Narrates The "Exhibits" In This AR iPhone App, by Allison Johnson, The Verge

The app directs you to find a flat surface and pinch to zoom the image to the right scale. Once that’s done, the habitat comes to life and a 3D animation begins with Attenborough’s narration. You can move your phone around for a different view as you watch a saber-toothed Smilodon track and maul its unsuspecting prey.

Overcast Overhauls Its Apple Watch App, by Sam Byford, The Verge

Overcast’s update reorganizes the app UI from top to bottom, adding some features that otherwise were only able to be accessed through the phone version. The main screen has large buttons for settings and syncing above a scrolling list of your shows and access to the “now playing” screen.

Nudget Review: Budgeting Made Simple, by Alex Guyot, MacStories

Nudget is a budgeting app designed to streamline the daily input of expenses. Developer Sawyer Blatz created a gorgeous and extremely efficient interface to make budgeting feel light and fun.

'DarkModeBuddy' Is A New Mac App For Automating Dark Mode Switching Based On Ambient Light, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

DarkModeBuddy is a Mac utility that runs in the background to automatically switch your Mac between light and dark modes based on the ambient light sensor.

Notes

Apple Debuts New ‘Ethics And Compliance’ Webpage With Details On Conduct Policies And More, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Apple this week introduced a new “Ethics and Compliance” webpage on its official website that highlights some of the company’s policies created to ensure that its business conduct complies with the law.

Tim Cook Remembers Steve Jobs On What Would Have Been His 66th Birthday, by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

Cook said that the legacy of his friend and former boss is still very much evident in Apple today.

Plus + Plus + Plus = Streaming Name Surplus, by Tiffany Hsu, New York Times

Now the plus sign may end up becoming shorthand for streaming itself, “in the same way the pound sign became the hashtag,” Ms. Doughty said.

Bottom of the Page

I miss the 'good-old-days' when Apple actually spent the time and effort to come up with good product names. Safari. MobileMe. FaceTime.

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There are people, I assume, who declare email bankruptcy, delete everything, and start all over.

Can I declare life bankruptcy, delete my emotions, and start all over?

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Thanks for reading.