Linked List: November 22, 2010

Monday, 22 November 2010

Mobile Safari Improvements in iOS 4.2 

Maximiliano Firtman on what’s new in Mobile Safari for web developers (including accelerometer support). (Via Mark Pilgrim.)

Matt Kernan Stands His Ground 

After returning to the U.S. from a flight to Europe, Matt Kernan was asked by TSA to go through a new backscatter machine. He declined, and declined to be groped as well. This is his story. Keep in mind that he wasn’t trying to get on a plane — he’d just gotten off one and was simply trying to go home.

Samsung Sells 600,000 Galaxy Tabs in First Month 

Impressive.

The Integrated iPad News Daily 

Horace Dediu on why newspapers are so heavily tied to actual printing:

To give you an idea of how important the printing plant is, consider that a huge proportion of a newspaper’s assets are tied up in its printing plant. That plant is so large and so demanding that it ends up causing the whole business to revolve around it: Print runs are done at night to make sure the product is delivered in the morning. That puts a hard deadline on the writers to submit stories before the product is “frozen” into a final edition. Writers and editors and advertisers need to march in lock-step to the cycle time of a big manufacturing operation.

And advertising revenue is going to sink, not rise:

In the US, a large part of the local paper’s revenue base was wiped out by Craig’s list. Classifieds are a fading memory. With respect to regular ads, the story is almost as bad. 26% of ad spend in 2009 was allocated to print, while only 12% of time spent consuming media was spent on it. In contrast, Internet use is at 28% of time where only 13% of ad dollars are allocated.

Apple’s Video Demo of AirPlay in Action 

Killer feature: it works in the background, so you can use your iPhone or iPad to browse the web or check email or whatever while the video continues to stream from it to your Apple TV. Or you can just turn the iPhone/iPad display off.

Maybe They Should’ve Called It ‘YouTube TV’ 

Electronista on the latest TV networks to block Google TV:

Websites for Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and other networks now show that the “content is unavailable for your device” rather than loading the Flash video. The restriction was expected earlier given Viacom’s failed lawsuit against YouTube but comes relatively late. It joins blocks from Fox, NBC, SyFy, ABC and CBS and now virtually leaves just Turner as one of the major networks allowing Google TV.

How many devices become less useful after they hit the market?

Macworld’s Top Ten List of Features iOS Still Needs 

Pretty good list, I say. They’ve also got a list of the top new features that are in iOS 4.2.

‘Point-and-Shoot Has Become Point-and-Shoot-and-Share’ 

Nice piece from MG Siegler on how the ability to share is pushing smartphones past dedicated point-and-shoot cameras:

Smartphones are always connected. Point and shoots never are. When I take a cool picture, I often want to share it right away. With my smartphone, it takes 20 seconds. With my point and shoot, it’s impossible. I have to wait until I get home, upload it to my computer, then upload it to the web.

He points to the camera popularity trends on Flickr as proof: The iPhone 3G is the single most-used camera on Flickr. Flickr’s a site for enthusiasts, though. Note that fifth-most-popular camera is the Canon 5D Mark II, which retails for $2500.

Siegler also writes:

And if you look at the popular point and shoot list, you’ll see that all of them are trending downward. Fast. Meanwhile, cameraphones are going the opposite way. Soon, I imagine that several Android phones will join the iPhones at the top of the popular list.

I’ll take that bet.

Oprah Says the iPad Is Her ‘Number One Favorite Thing Ever’ 

Oprah: “Words cannot describe how I feel for this device.”

I wonder if Apple will sell a lot of them for the holidays?

TSA Screeners Dislike the Pat-Downs, Too 

Steven Frischling:

A few days ago I contacted 20 TSA Transportation Security Officers (TSO) to ask their opinions of the new “enhanced” pat downs. Of the 20 I reached out to, 17 responded. All 17 who responded are at airports where the new “enhanced” pat down is in place … and the responses were all the same, that front line TSOs do not like the new pat downs and that they do not want to perform them.  I expected most to not like the pat downs … but what I didn’t expect was that all 17 mentioned their morale being broken down.

The Changing Browser Market 

Speaking of Josh Marshall, he revealed some interesting numbers regarding browser and OS usage among the TPM audience:

Indeed, if you add up Mac and the iOS (iPhone, iPad, etc.) devices, 34.95% of visits to TPM are now coming from some Apple operating system.

TSA Chief Digs in on Body Scans and Pat-Downs 

The AP:

Pistole on Sunday noted the alleged attempt by a Nigerian with explosives in his underwear to try to bring down an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight last Christmas. “We all wish we lived in a world where security procedures at airports weren’t necessary,” he said, “but that just isn’t the case.”

So one man from Nigeria tries to pack a bomb in his underwear last year, and now we’re all subjected to invasive naked body scans and physical pat-downs. Keep in mind that this “underwear bomber” succeeded in destroying nothing other than his own genitals, and that experts agree that even if his bomb had worked as he intended, it wouldn’t have brought down the plane.

Here’s the question for Pistole, and anyone else who argues that these new TSA procedures are an appropriate response to that incident: What happens if the next guy hides his bomb up his ass?

The Republican War on Science 

Josh Marshall:

Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) is running to be the head of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has a key role in climate policy. And he created a stir a couple weeks ago after he reiterated his belief that global warming is not a problem because God has promised he wouldn’t destroy the Earth again after Noah’s flood.

Watch the video. That is not an exaggeration of his stance on climate change and environmental policy. We can do whatever we want to the environment and no harm will come, because The Bible says God won’t allow the earth to be destroyed.

Google Docs Web Apps Now Support Mobile Browsers 

Google:

In the next few days, we’re rolling this out to English-language users around the world on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad.

The comments are largely complaints from people with Android 2.1 handsets.

App Store Rejection of the Week: The Snuggie Sutra 

The e-book version is on sale in iBooks, but an iPad app version was rejected, because of a blanket policy: “We don’t need any more Kamasutra apps.” It’s not a “Kamasutra app”, though — it’s a parody of Kamasutra apps.

Apple TV 4.1 Software Update: AirPlay and VoiceOver 

Two big new features. AirPlay is really the key feature in Apple TV 2. The original Apple TV was a standalone $200-300 device; more or less an iPod for your TV. The new Apple TV is a $99 peripheral for your iPhone and iPad. How do you get video from your iOS device to your TV? If you have an Apple TV, just hit play.

As for VoiceOver, does any other home theater system offer this level of accessibility?

Isarithmic History of the Two-Party Vote in U.S. Presidential Elections 

Fascinating data visualization by David B. Sparks, depicting the ebb and flow of election results in the U.S. since 1920. Be sure to watch the video. (Via Kontra.)

Paul Krugman: ‘There Will Be Blood’ 

Paul Krugman:

The fact is that one of our two great political parties has made it clear that it has no interest in making America governable, unless it’s doing the governing. And that party now controls one house of Congress, which means that the country will not, in fact, be governable without that party’s cooperation — cooperation that won’t be forthcoming.

TSA Pat-Down Leaves Traveler Covered in Urine 

Harriet Baskas, reporting for MSNBC on Thomas Sawyer, a retired teacher and bladder cancer survivor who now wears a urostomy bag to collect his urine:

“One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.”

The security officer finished the pat-down, tested the gloves for any trace of explosives and then, Sawyer said, “He told me I could go. They never apologized. They never offered to help. They acted like they hadn’t seen what happened. But I know they saw it because I had a wet mark.”

Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer said he had to walk through the airport soaked in urine, board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.

This is how United States government agents treat innocent citizens.

This is sick. Update: Here’s the story behind the incident, from The Salt Lake Tribune.

iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch 

Apple PR:

“iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

“Once again”?

And some news:

The Find My iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch) feature is now free to use without a MobileMe subscription and helps you locate your missing device.