Linked List: May 12, 2014

Monday, 12 May 2014

‘Beats by Tim’ ★: Mule Radio honcho Mike Monteiro joins me for a very special episode of my podcast. Topics include the nature of podcasting and the future of The Talk Show, design legend Massimo Vignelli, ComiXology’s abandonment of in-app purchasing now that they’re owned by Amazon, and more.
A Love Letter to Twitter ★: Doug Bowman, on his last day as Twitter’s director of design, shows us how to leave a company.
‘If You’re Hungry, There’s a Roast in the Fridge.’ ★: Great Mother’s Day story by Erika Hall:

That moment has stayed with me my whole life — that cool, controlled response to a threat, the absolute refusal to play the victim. In both my grandmother’s stand against city hall and my mother’s calm dispatch of a home invader, I witnessed the assertion of one’s basic right to live life without being fucked with. And I saw the power of that assertion.

Neither my grandmother nor my mother would have ever described themselves as feminists. Far from it.

But I sure do.
Ken Shirriff Takes Apart an iPad AC Adapter and a Cheap Counterfeit ★: Ken Shirriff:

One safety difference is obvious: the Apple charger has much more insulation. The upper (high-voltage) half is wrapped in yellow insulating tape. Some components are encased in shrink tubing, there are plastic insulators between some components, and some wires have extra insulation. The counterfeit charger only has minimal insulation.

The build quality of the Apple charger is much higher. In the counterfeit charger, some components are visibly crooked or askew. While this doesn’t affect the circuit electrically, it indicates a lack of care in construction.