Linked List: November 26, 2013

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Sentence of the Day 

IT Pro:

However, it’s not all bad news for Apple, added Coulling, because it’s one of the few firms making money out of the booming tablet market at the moment.

What percentage of all tablet profits is Apple making “at the moment”? Do tell.

‘No Taxes Paid… Just a Golden Color’ 

Vaclav Smil, in an interview with Clive Thompson for Wired:

Apple! Boy, what a story. No taxes paid, everything made abroad — yet everyone worships them. This new iPhone, there’s nothing new in it. Just a golden color. What the hell, right? When people start playing with color, you know they’re played out.

I don’t know what’s more ridiculous: the idea that Apple pays “no taxes”, or that the only thing new in the iPhone 5S is the gold color option. Combined, they put Smil on my “pay no mind” list.

Update: And why didn’t Clive Thompson challenge Smil on these points? They’re blatantly false, but stand unchallenged in the article text. What about the editors at Wired?

‘Checkin’ Out Butts With Siri’ 

This week on my podcast, The Talk Show: special guest John Moltz joins yours truly to discuss TextExpander and changes to iOS 7, Buttsgate, Microsoft’s “Scroogled” campaign, and Apple’s R&D spending.

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Elementary OS 

Love the subhead on this Wired piece: “It may look like Apple’s Mac OS X, but it’s not.”

It looks like Mac OS X if someone designed it based on verbal descriptions of OS X, circa Leopard, shouted over a bad cell phone connection, and translated through different languages a few times.

Goldieblox and the Three MCs 

Great piece on the complexity and murkiness of copyright law by Andy Baio.

FDA Orders 23andMe to Halt Sales of DNA Tests 

Anna Edney, reporting for Bloomberg:

23andMe Inc., the Google Inc.-backed DNA analysis company co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, was told by U.S. regulators to halt sales of its main product because it’s being sold without “marketing clearance or approval.” […]

Wojcicki, who recently separated from her husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, started 23andMe about six years ago to help people assess their risk of cancer, heart disease and other medical conditions.

I feel obligated to point out that 23andMe sponsored my podcast, The Talk Show, back in July this year.

‘And if We Ask You to Leave, for God’s Sake, Don’t Start Yelling About Your “Rights”. Just Shut Up and Get Out Before You Make Things Worse.’ 

Another restaurant makes a glasshole policy.

Where Americans Buy Cell Phones 

Ina Fried:

The carrier stores are still the dominant place for Americans to get their new cellphones, but two other retailers — Apple and Best Buy — have emerged as significant channels.

Apple, of course, sells only iPhones, but accounts for about 11 percent of retail phone sales, according to a survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Best Buy, which sells phones from all major carriers and all the big operating systems, accounts for 13 percent of sales.