Linked List: June 3, 2015

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Gorgeous, amazing pure HTML/CSS/JavaScript website by Bryan James.

New PayPal User Agreement Opts You Into Receiving Robocalls ★

Brian Fung, reporting for The Washington Post:

PayPal users, this is for you.

The payments company is rolling out an update to its user agreement that threatens to bombard you with “autodialed or prerecorded calls and text messages” — and worse, by agreeing to the updated terms, you’re immediately opted in.

PayPal can even reach you at phone numbers that you didn’t provide. Through undisclosed means, PayPal says it has the right to contact you on numbers “we have otherwise obtained.” […]

“If you do not agree to these amended terms,” the revised document says, “you may close your account within the 30 day period and you will not be bound by the amended terms.”

In other words, put up with it — or get out.

I don’t even see the need to comment on this one.

Chris Sacca: ‘What Twitter Can Be’ ★

Chris Sacca — a major investor in Twitter — wrote an enormous essay on what he sees as the way forward for the service. I wish there were a Cliff’s Notes summary, because it’s rambling. But, it’s also full of interesting insights. I like this bit, as a summary of what’s wrong at the moment:

It’s worth noting that Wall Street is the only place in the world where 300 million people using a service and an additional 500 million people visiting a site each month lead to charges that it isn’t “big” or “mainstream.”

That said, Twitter has failed to meet its own stated user growth expectations and has not been able to take advantage of the massive number of users who have signed up for accounts and then not come back. Shortcomings in the direct response advertising category have resulted in the company coming in below the financial community’s quarterly estimates. In the wake of this, Twitter’s efforts to convince the investing community of the opportunity ahead fell flat. Consequently, the stock is trading near a 6-month low, well below its IPO closing day price, and the company is suffering through a seemingly endless negative press cycle.

Up Next ★

Speaking of iOS apps, Up Next is interesting. It’s a to-do list manager that integrates with your iCloud reminders. I know, there are a million to-do list apps on the App Store, but what brought Up Next to my attention is that it has a good WatchKit app, too. I’m not sure why Apple didn’t include a built-in Reminders app on Apple Watch, but Up Next gives you access to your iCloud reminders list, right from your watch. Incredibly cheap: just $2.

Pinpoint ★

Remember Bugshot, an iPhone app Marco Arment made a few years ago for marking up screenshots with red boxes and arrows? The guys at Lickability have taken it over, expanded its features, and rebranded it as Pinpoint. It’s good, and it’s free — with a clever (or at least novel) in-app purchasing model where you pay to unlock additional colors.

See also: Federico Viticci’s review.

Tony Fadell: ‘The First Secret of Design Is Noticing’ ★

Good talk from Tony Fadell at TED.

New York Times: No New Apple TV Next Week ★

Brian X. Chen, writing for the NYT:

Apart from more powerful watch apps, Apple’s developer conference is also set to showcase software advancements for OS X, the Mac operating system, and iOS, the mobile operating system powering iPhones and iPads. In addition, Apple plans to unveil a new streaming music service it developed with Beats, the music company it acquired for $3 billion last year, according to people briefed on the situation, who declined to be identified because the details were confidential.

Yet one much ballyhooed device will be absent from the conference: a new Apple TV, Apple’s set-top box for televisions. The company planned as recently as mid-May to use the event to spotlight new Apple TV hardware, along with an improved remote control and a tool kit for developers to make apps for the entertainment device. But those plans were postponed partly because the product was not ready for prime time, according to two people briefed on the product.

Insert sad trombone song here.

Update: I like Moltz’s take.

On Apple’s Privacy Argument Regarding Cloud Services ★

Thomas Ricker, writing for The Verge, regarding Tim Cook’s harsh words on the privacy implications of “free” online services backed by targeted advertising:

Arguably, Google Maps is better than Apple Maps, Gmail is better than Apple Mail, Google Drive is better than iCloud, Google Docs is better than iWork, and Google Photos can “surprise and delight” better than Apple Photos. Even with the risks.

If Apple truly cares about our privacy then it should stop talking about how important it is and start building superior cloud-based services we want to use — then it can protect us.

There’s much I would quibble with regarding Ricker’s piece, but his conclusion, quoted above, is spot-on. Apple needs to provide best-of-breed services and privacy, not second-best-but-more-private services. Many people will and do choose convenience and reliability over privacy. Apple’s superior position on privacy needs to be the icing on the cake, not their primary selling point.

Showtime to Offer Standalone Over-the-Internet Service Via iTunes for $11/Month ★

Wonder why they didn’t wait until Monday’s keynote to announce this? Maybe because Apple didn’t get a three-month exclusive window like they did with HBO?

Reconcilable Differences ★

New podcast, cohosted by Merlin Mann and John Siracusa. Sweet.

See also: Cortex, another new podcast on the Relay network, with CGP Grey and Myke Hurley.

Last Task After Layoff at Disney: Train Foreign Replacements ★

Julia Preston, reporting for the NYT:

The employees who kept the data systems humming in the vast Walt Disney fantasy fief did not suspect trouble when they were suddenly summoned to meetings with their boss.

While families rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and searched for Nemo on clamobiles in the theme parks, these workers monitored computers in industrial buildings nearby, making sure millions of Walt Disney World ticket sales, store purchases and hotel reservations went through without a hitch. Some were performing so well that they thought they had been called in for bonuses.

Instead, about 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off.

What a dick move. I expect better from Disney.

Speaking of Unpaid Apple Product Placement on Twitter ★

The Cleveland Indians bullpen caught teammate Brandon Moss’s landmark 100th career home run. They delivered a ransom note for the ball.

Stephen Colbert Made Us Something ★

Nice watch.