Clear for iPhone→
Clear looks to be a pretty slick app for managing your various lists. I’ll definitely be trying this out once it’s released. [Vimeo]
Will the real Google please stand up?
Sarah Lacy of PandyDaily writes that Google should do itself a favor and just come clean already about its Search Plus Your World results:
This isn’t an issue of whether Google—as a for profit company—should have the right to push its own services over others. This isn’t an issue over what Twitter or Facebook would do in Google’s shoes. To me, the interesting issue isn’t even anti-trust. This is an issue of what Google promised users back when it went public, without a gun to its head, without any pressure from any competitors to do the right thing.
This is a Google v. Google issue.
We don’t expect for-profit companies to be martyrs. But Google chose this path. And cynics always said it would be tested once Google was under fire. There is a short window here for Google to either walk its own talk or redefine what the rules are.
I know I often link to (mostly) negative stories about Google/Android and (mostly) positive stories about Apple, but make no mistake about it: I love Google. All this Search Plus Your World stuff doesn’t actually bother me at all — at least not yet. And let’s face it, at the end of the day, I’m still going to be using Google (sorry, Bing!), Gmail, and all the other Google products that I’ve come to know and love.
This isn’t about criticizing Google at all, but the company does seem to be at a very tricky crossroads of sorts, and I’m actually really interested to see which path it takes. If Sarah Lacy’s latest article is any indication, Larry Page may have already given everyone a hint. [PandoDaily]
Don't forget to "take your medicine"→
Adrien Chen of Gawker conducted a fascinating interview with an IT guy who services a different kind of clientele: high net-worth individuals and criminals. One of his unique services is to provide members of drug rings with prepaid cell phones and a supply of SIM cards that are cleverly rotated using a pill box:
With Martin’s system, each crewmember gets a cell phone that operates using a prepaid SIM card; they also get a two-week plastic pill organizer filled with 14 SIM cards where the pills should be. Each SIM card, loaded with $50 worth of airtime, is attached to a different phone number and stores all contacts, text messages and call histories associated with that number, like a removable hard drive. This makes a new SIM card effectively a new phone. Every morning, each crewmember swaps out his phone’s card for the card in next day’s compartment in the pill organizers. After all 14 cards are used, they start over at the first one.
Of course, it would be hugely annoying for a crewmember to have to remember the others’ constantly changing numbers. But he doesn’t have to, thanks to the pill organizers. Martin preprograms each day’s SIM card with the phone numbers the other members have that day. As long they all swap out their cards every day, the contacts in the phones stay in sync. (They never call anyone but each other on the phones.) Crewmembers will remind each other to “take their medicine,” Martin said.
Like I said, pretty fascinating stuff. [Gawker via kottke.org and Daring Fireball]
Tree in a puddle
Speaking of my last post, I really like this shot that I recently took in Washington Square Park of a tree’s reflection on a drizzly afternoon.
Getting the picture
A surprising thing happened when the iPhone 4S was released back in October. No, I didn’t get one — which is actually kind of surprising by itself — but more significantly, I stopped taking pictures on my iPhone 4. Call it “camera envy,” but whenever I saw a picture that was taken on a 4S, I immediately felt like my iPhone’s camera was inadequate.
Of course, this was complete horseshit. Just because a better camera was released didn’t make my existing camera any worse (and as a corollary, a better camera doesn’t mean that your pictures will automatically turn out amazing — just look at my photos from my Canon 7D and you’ll see what I mean).
Sadly, it took me way too long before I finally came to this realization and started taking pictures on my iPhone again. None of them are particularly great, but the important thing is that I’m back on the saddle — and that’s the only way to improve.
Here are a few of my recent shots on Instagram:
Star Wars Uncut -- a crowdsourced remake→
I may be a geek, but I’m actually not a huge fan of the Star Wars series. Still, this entirely crowdsourced remake is pretty damn awesome. From the YouTube description:
The Story:
In 2009, thousands of Internet users were asked to remake “Star Wars: A New Hope” into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.
Confessions of a Publisher→
Sarah Lacy has a fascinating article on her newly launched PandoDaily site that provides an insider’s perspective on how Amazon may be planning on taking out book publishers altogether:
[Publishers] can’t pay $1 million for books anymore. Amazon could probably afford to lose $20 million/year in their publishing arm just to put the other publishers out of business. I think that’s what they’re trying to do–throw money around in an industry that doesn’t have any, until Amazon becomes not only the only place where you buy books, but the only place that publishes books, too.
So rather than getting a 30% of an ebook (with the other 70% being split between the publisher and author), they’ll be getting a 70% cut (with the other 30% going right to the author). Funny thing is that it’s actually better for authors.
Meanwhile, John Gruber of Daring Fireball goes one step farther by suggesting that Amazon’s dominance may be the opening that Apple needs to step into the market:
It’s occurred to me that Apple’s stunning successes over the last decade could be a hindrance to its ongoing negotiations with content companies — movie studios, TV networks, book publishers, etc. Imagine a weekly poker game where, week after week, the same player wins. Every goddamn week. Pretty soon that player is going to stop being invited to play. That’s Apple.
Apple’s opportunity with books is that there’s already a dominant money-winning bully at the table: Amazon.
I have no idea what Apple is going to announce at tomorrow morning’s event — and for the record, I’m not expecting much at all — but I’m definitely really interested in seeing how the future of publishing will turn out. [PandoDaily via Daring Fireball]
This is what Madeline did→
I really love this video twist on a Project 365 (which is typically done as a photography project). It’s a great way of looking back on the year and remembering some of the things that you did:
I hope this video inspires you to treasure every day you get and find the good, beautiful moments in even the worst days (even if it’s just going for a walk, taking a drive, or spending time with a pet).
I recently linked to a sweet self-portrait Project 365 done by Jeff Harris that I also really liked. I really want to try one of these someday. I clearly missed the New Years cut, but perhaps for my 31st birthday… [Vimeo via Eddie]
Clara C - I Won't Give Up (Jason Mraz cover)→
I’m not familiar with the original by Jason Mraz, but this is a pretty nice song. I’ve been a fan of Clara C ever since I heard her Rocketeer cover last year. Good stuff. [Doobybrain and Hans]
Protect your lens in the most delicious way possible→
I don’t always carry around my lenses in a wrap, but when I do, I use a burrito. [Photojojo via PetaPixel]
