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  • Wow! Couple’s close encounter with surfing killer whales in boat wake

    Holy Kaw!
    Peg Fitzpatrick
    24 May 2013 | 1:30 pm

  • 'The Simpsons' Theme Park Coming This Summer

    Mashable
    Christina Warren
    24 May 2013 | 1:39 pm
    Look alive, Simpsons fans — everyone's favorite animated family is getting its own expanded area at the Universal Orlando Resort. Woo-hoo! The Simpsons franchise has had a presence at Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood since 2007. In 2008, The Simpsons Ride launched in both locations. This summer in Orlando, Universal is expanding the world around the show and building a Springfield replica within the park. Universal Orlando says there will be an outdoor attraction and a new ride — Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl. Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob will also…

  • Dear Abbys: A New Esquire Column Sources Life Advice From 100,000 People

    Fast Company
    Christina Chaey
    24 May 2013 | 12:06 pm
    "Dear Abby" comes into the Internet age with a new Esquire column chock-full of advice from 100,000 of the author's closest friends. Who do you turn to for life advice? In "My Huddled Masses," a new weekly Esquire column, editor-at-large A.J. Jacobs is turning to 100,000 of his closest Facebook friends. The experiment in life advice for the masses puts Jacobs at the helm of an open-sourced pool to which anyone can contribute. Jacobs describes his role as a kind of Nate Silver of columnists, "curating and collating and commenting on the mass’s responses." Each week, he'll print the best…

  • Microsoft And Google Bury The Hatchet To Work On A Windows Phone YouTube App With Ads

    TechCrunch
    Chris Velazco
    24 May 2013 | 1:31 pm
    Once a upon a time, Microsoft saw fit to put together a YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 and it was actually pretty great — it let users download videos straight from the app and there was nary an ad to be found. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Google wasn’t too pleased: after all, the features that made the app so appealing didn’t exactly jibe with YouTube’s terms of service, and the search giant demanded the offending app be removed. Well, after a bit of back and forth (and a conciliatory update), it seems the two companies have finally come to an agreement.

  • Overcoming the impossibility of amazing

    Seth's Blog
    Seth Godin
    24 May 2013 | 2:00 am
    If you set your bar at "amazing," it's awfully difficult to start. Your first paragraph, sketch, formula, sample or concept isn't going to be amazing. Your tenth one might not be either. Confronted with the gap between your vision of perfect and the reality of what you've created, the easiest path is no path. Shrug. Admit defeat. Hit delete. One more reason to follow someone else and wait for instructions. Of course, the only path to amazing runs directly through not-yet-amazing. But not-yet-amazing is a great place to start, because that's where you are. For now. There's a big difference…
 
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    Mashable

  • 'The Simpsons' Theme Park Coming This Summer

    Christina Warren
    24 May 2013 | 1:39 pm
    Look alive, Simpsons fans — everyone's favorite animated family is getting its own expanded area at the Universal Orlando Resort. Woo-hoo! The Simpsons franchise has had a presence at Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood since 2007. In 2008, The Simpsons Ride launched in both locations. This summer in Orlando, Universal is expanding the world around the show and building a Springfield replica within the park. Universal Orlando says there will be an outdoor attraction and a new ride — Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl. Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob will also…

  • 3D-Printed Splint Helps Baby Breathe Again

    Vignesh Ramachandran
    24 May 2013 | 1:16 pm
    When a baby was afflicted with a condition that blocked his ability to breathe, professors at the University of Michigan developed a 3D-printed splint that saved the child's life. Baby Kaiba Gionfriddo was only six weeks old when he stopped breathing and turned blue, as explained in the video above. Doctors discovered Kaiba had severe tracheobronchomalacia, a condition that causes a collapse of the windpipe, blocking the body's flow of air. This rare condition affects only 1 in 2,200 babies. When treatments failed to help, Kaiba's doctors went to the University of Michigan. That's where two…

  • Customize and Code Your Own Robots With Linkbot

    Eric Larson
    24 May 2013 | 1:00 pm
    California-based company Barobo is all about robots. Their newest invention, Linkbot, is a modular robotic platform that lets you build and customize your own robot, block by block, like LEGOs You start with a single bot. It's ready to go as-is, but you can add your own flavor by connecting two or more bots together into different shapes. What's especially cool is the hands-on coding feature, called PoseTeach, which allows you to program the bot with your hands on the outside instead of a keyboard. While you make adjustments on the outside, the Linkbot automatically writes and remembers the…

  • Report: Yahoo Bidding for Hulu

    Lauren Indvik
    24 May 2013 | 12:46 pm
    The roster of companies interested in acquiring a stake in Hulu is growing. In addition to The Chernin Group (in partnership with Providence Equity), Guggenheim Digital, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable — whose bids were reported on Thursday night and Friday morning — Yahoo, private equity firm KKR and talent agency William Morris Endeavor (in partnership with Silver Lake) have also placed bids, according to AllThingsD and Bloomberg. AllThingsD reported earlier this month that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer had met with Hulu executives, but after the company dropped $1.1 billion on Tumblr…

  • Finally, a Video Game That Lets You Play as a Badger

    Matt Silverman
    24 May 2013 | 12:31 pm
    If there's one thing gamers have been clamoring for, it's more badger simulators. And by "more," we mean "one singular" badger simulator, because to our knowledge, there is no such genre. SEE ALSO: 10 Exciting Indie Games We Can't Wait to Play That's about to change, thanks to Swedish indie studio Might and Delight, makers of the charming 2012 platformer Pid. In its new game, Shelter, a player assumes the role of a mother badger, who must forage for food and protect her cubs from the dangers of — wherever badgers live. Cleveland? I don't know. The studio dropped a video (watch above) of…
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    Fast Company

  • Dear Abbys: A New Esquire Column Sources Life Advice From 100,000 People

    Christina Chaey
    24 May 2013 | 12:06 pm
    "Dear Abby" comes into the Internet age with a new Esquire column chock-full of advice from 100,000 of the author's closest friends. Who do you turn to for life advice? In "My Huddled Masses," a new weekly Esquire column, editor-at-large A.J. Jacobs is turning to 100,000 of his closest Facebook friends. The experiment in life advice for the masses puts Jacobs at the helm of an open-sourced pool to which anyone can contribute. Jacobs describes his role as a kind of Nate Silver of columnists, "curating and collating and commenting on the mass’s responses." Each week, he'll print the best…

  • A New Model To Pay For Infrastructure in Chicago

    Stan Alcorn
    24 May 2013 | 12:00 pm
    The Chicago Infrastructure Trust creates a new way to pay for things like improvements to bridges and roads that won’t destroy the city’s already stretched budget. The next big thing is funding urban infrastructure is now coming online in Chicago, and Tim Logan has done a deep dive on what that means at Next American City. The core idea is simple: Governments across Europe, Canada and Australia have long turned to the private sector to help finance public assets, and even in the U.S., more places are dabbling in it. But it’s still rare for cities to take the lead. And no…

  • Steven Holl’s Sports Complex For Columbia Looks Like A Transformer

    Sammy Medina
    24 May 2013 | 12:00 pm
    Steven Holl’s first building in New York is packed with the architect’s signature, whimsical flourishes. After designing buildings all over the world, from Helsinki to Beijing, the New York-based architect Steven Holl has finally completed his first freestanding structure in the city. Unfortunately, it’s on a neglected corner lot at Manhattan’s northernmost point--a less than prominent location for Holl’s belated New York debut. In New York, his adopted city of 35+ years (Holl was born and trained in Seattle), Holl has only done a few small galleries and interior…

  • A Forest Hideaway Proves Concrete And Cozy Can Go Together

    Sammy Medina
    24 May 2013 | 10:45 am
    The AV house makes an excellent case for concrete at the domestic scale. A common, if facile, critique of Brutalism is that it is widely unsuited to domestic application. A home, after all, is not a city hall (Brutalism was most extensively rendered in the service of civic structures), and it need not embody the lofty ideas of an entire populace. Nor do the big, brash, and top-heavy concrete forms of sprawling government or housing complexes transfer to the single family home all that well. Surely, few would characterize unfinished, “textured” concrete surfaces as comfy. But BAK…

  • World's First 3-D-Printed Bullets Join A Growing DIY Arsenal

    Christina Chaey
    24 May 2013 | 10:01 am
    In a YouTube video, a gun enthusiast shows off shotgun slugs he claims came from a 3-D printer. The growing arsenal of 3-D-printed weapons now includes homemade bullets. As highlighted by the Daily Dot, a Tennessee man recently posted a YouTube video demonstrating what kind of damage can be done (hint: a lot) by the plastic shell, created by 3-D-printing enthusiast Tony Griffy. The fact that the plastic bullet is fired from a real gun is a twist on the approach you're probably more familiar with: a real bullet being shot from a 3-D-printed gun. That gun, dubbed "The Liberator," was first…
 
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    TechCrunch

  • Microsoft And Google Bury The Hatchet To Work On A Windows Phone YouTube App With Ads

    Chris Velazco
    24 May 2013 | 1:31 pm
    Once a upon a time, Microsoft saw fit to put together a YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 and it was actually pretty great — it let users download videos straight from the app and there was nary an ad to be found. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Google wasn’t too pleased: after all, the features that made the app so appealing didn’t exactly jibe with YouTube’s terms of service, and the search giant demanded the offending app be removed. Well, after a bit of back and forth (and a conciliatory update), it seems the two companies have finally come to an agreement.

  • Gillmor Gang Live 05.24.13 (TCTV)

    Steve Gillmor
    24 May 2013 | 1:07 pm
    Gillmor Gang – Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, John Taschek, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Recording live today at 1pm Pacific time.

  • Laptop Week Review: Samsung 700T Fly Or Die

    John Biggs
    24 May 2013 | 12:57 pm
    In lieu of a formal review, Matt Burns and I sat down to take a look at the Samsung 700T AKA ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T, a convertible tablet that has a small button on the keyboard that pops out the Windows 8 tablet that forms the brains of the machine. The device is a bit chintzy – more pressed metal and injected plastic than I like to see on a laptop – but at about $1,000 retail it’s an acceptable compromise for Win8 users who are looking for a nicer tablet. I gave this device a Fly simply because I like the idea – a laptop that turns into a tablet with much fuss…

  • Google Needs To Bring Emerging Markets Online To Grow Its Business Opportunities In The Next 10 years

    Drew Olanoff
    24 May 2013 | 12:21 pm
    The WSJ has reported that Google is participating in discussions with emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa about setting up wireless network infrastructure in cities and towns. A source told the WSJ that: “The wireless networks would be available to dwellers outside of major cities where wired Internet connections aren’t available and could be used to improve Internet speeds in urban centers.” This aligns with Google’s goals of surrounding the world with technology that fits into our daily lives. That’s a “don’t be evil,”…

  • Gmail For Android Could Soon Get A Navigation Drawer

    Frederic Lardinois
    24 May 2013 | 12:19 pm
    The folks over on Android Police must have spent some of their time rewatching I/O videos. While they were doing that, they spotted a potential leak during the “Structure in Android App Design” session. In it, it seems, Google quietly leaked screenshots of what looks to be a revamped interface for the Gmail app. If this turns out to be a real product, and the presentation sure made it look like that, the app could soon get a new navigation drawer that should make using it quite a bit easier – especially for those of us who like to use lots of labels in Gmail. Currently,…
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    Seth's Blog

  • Overcoming the impossibility of amazing

    Seth Godin
    24 May 2013 | 2:00 am
    If you set your bar at "amazing," it's awfully difficult to start. Your first paragraph, sketch, formula, sample or concept isn't going to be amazing. Your tenth one might not be either. Confronted with the gap between your vision of perfect and the reality of what you've created, the easiest path is no path. Shrug. Admit defeat. Hit delete. One more reason to follow someone else and wait for instructions. Of course, the only path to amazing runs directly through not-yet-amazing. But not-yet-amazing is a great place to start, because that's where you are. For now. There's a big difference…

  • Thoughts on education and the burgeoning trophy shortage

    Seth Godin
    23 May 2013 | 2:00 am
    It's graduation season, so a few relevant links about school, students and our future: Here's the audio of an interview I did with PlayBuffet My TEDx talk about education And a reminder about Stop Stealing Dreams, a free manifesto that asks, "what is school for?" I hope we can ask this question more and more often... Feel free to share with your favorite graduate. Or her parents. Bonus: 20 video minutes at Creative Mornings.

  • Let's start with "sorry"

    Seth Godin
    22 May 2013 | 2:43 am
    By the time the phone rings, there's already trouble. When that manager is called or this department is reached, it's because someone is disappointed, angry or stuck. Illness, broken promises or a real urgency have led to this new conversation even taking place. So don't start with, "[Name of company] mumble mumble" as if there's a blank slate just waiting to be written on. There's already a lot of writing on that slate. Don't demand to know the record number or begin with doubt and an edge of dismissal. Be on our team. "It sounds like we've got a situation on our hands..." is a fine way to…

  • Levels of marketing magic, the placebo effects of desire

    Seth Godin
    21 May 2013 | 2:45 am
    ANTICIPATION: Before the product is released, the true fans are buzzing and speculating and waiting in line. The anticipation is self-reinforcing, a placebo effect of desire. UTILITY: The album is good, the software is useful, the book changes things. It works better than we hoped. Exceeding expectations pays significant dividends. REMARK: It's purple. Remarkable. Worth talking about. The word spreads. Ten people tell ten people and suddenly, it's abuzz. Not because of PR or hype, but because the remarkability is built right into the product or service itself. And more people enjoy things…

  • You should buy the book

    Seth Godin
    20 May 2013 | 8:33 am
    Mitch Joel is a generous and perceptive blogger. Well worth the daily read. He has a new book. You should buy it. David Meerman Scott writes an essential blog, daily. His book is a classic. You should buy it. Tom Asacker writes a very thoughtful blog about marketing. Worth the read. He has a new book. You should buy it, too. Every day, Mark Frauenfelder and Corey Doctorow blog tons of goodness at Boingboing. They each have books. You should buy them and share them. Bernadette Jiwa's blog keeps getting better and better and you are probably already reading it. She has a new book on the way.
 
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    Wired Top Stories

  • Game|Life Podcast Ponders the Cloud-Based Future of Xbox One

    Chris Kohler
    24 May 2013 | 12:49 pm
    We look at a possible future for Xbox One that's not a box at all.

  • New Wireless Electronics Could Heal Wounds and Then Dissolve

    Nadia Drake
    24 May 2013 | 12:44 pm
    Scientists have built a remote-controlled electronic device that is absorbable by the human body.

  • New Details on the Unroyal End of Richard III, 'King in the Car Park'

    Brandon Keim
    24 May 2013 | 10:55 am
    For two short years he was King of England, one of the most powerful men in the world. Then he was killed, desecrated, and dumped in a hastily dug grave, the location of which would be forgotten and rediscovered, centuries later, under a parking lot. So ends the tale of Richard III, which over the last several months has played out like a Game of Thrones episode combined with CSI and told by archaeologists.

  • Holder Should Demand Feds Get a Warrant to Read Our E-mail

    David Kravets
    24 May 2013 | 10:30 am
    Attorney General Eric Holder is on record the Department of Justice supports legislation that generally would require the government to get a probable-cause warrant to read your e-mail. That we're having this discussion is because federal law, dating to the President Ronald Reagan administration, allows the cops to access your e-mail without a warrant if it's been stored in the cloud at least six months. For years, Congress has been debating changing the law that we'd expect to be the norm in some third-world, despotic nation. Now its time for the United States, and Holder in particular, to…

  • Obama Just Made Himself a Prisoner of His Own Gitmo Policy

    Spencer Ackerman
    24 May 2013 | 7:43 am
    Obama wants to close Guantanamo and capture more terrorists than he kills. But unless Obama is about to get way radical, this is kind of an either/or situation.
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    @ProBlogger

  • How to Create a Blog Purpose Statement in 3 Simple Steps

    Darren Rowse
    23 May 2013 | 8:54 am
    Yesterday, I shared a series of questions to help those bloggers seeking a little clarity when it comes to what their blog could be about. Today, I wanted to share 3 more questions – these are not so much focused upon YOU as a blogger but upon your readers. Hopefully they’ll also help you achieve a little clarity. Who are your readers? What do they need? How will they change as a result of reading your blog? Answer these 3 questions and you will actually have a pretty good purpose statement for your blog. You could certainly go into some real depth on each question but even doing…

  • 7 Questions to Ask Yourself to Bring Clarity to Your Blogging

    Darren Rowse
    22 May 2013 | 8:28 am
    Do you feel like you’ve lost clarity around what it is that you’re trying to do with your blog? I’ve recently bumped into a few bloggers grappling with this idea. Some were new,  even ‘Pre’ Bloggers, while a couple had been blogging for a while but had lost some direction. Out of these conversations, I put together a set of questions to help them think it through. The questions revolve around asking: What are YOU About? While I won’t guarantee you instant clarity on answering these questions I hope that putting a little time aside to work through them…

  • 7 Steps to Proofreading Like a Pro

    Guest Blogger
    21 May 2013 | 9:37 am
    This is a guest contribution by Charles Cuninghame, website copywriter and owner of Text-Centric. I’m sure we can all agree that proofreading is the least fun part of blogging. But while it may be tedious, it’s well worth the effort. Typos are not only embarrassing, they can also cost you money. In a widely reported study in 2011, British entrepreneur Charles Duncombe found a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half! If you don’t have a product, then you could be missing out a blog subscriber or repeat visitor! Here’s a tried and tested proofreading process that I’ve…

  • Are You Balancing Emerging Technology with Effective Strategy?

    Darren Rowse
    20 May 2013 | 8:21 am
    Last week I was asked at a conference to reflect upon the future of digital and among other things I made a reflection that seemed to resonate with those gathered. It was: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. As online publishers we see a steady stream of articles being written about new and future technologies, companies and trends in the online publishing space. It is certainly an exciting time to be doing what we’re doing with such amazing development happening all around us and some amazing projections being made about what is ahead of us – however in the midst…

  • How to Blog Like a Pro: Workshop on the Gold Coast Australia – Next Week

    Darren Rowse
    19 May 2013 | 7:56 pm
    Next week (29th May) I’m running a special workshop at the Internet Conference on the Gold Coast here in Australia. The workshop is titled – How to Blog Like a Pro – and you’ll get 4 solid hours of teaching in it – all delivered by me in a workshop limited to 40 people only. The workshop has only previously been available to those signing up to the full 3 day conferences as an add-on but there are a few tickets still available and so I asked the organisers if we could sell them as a stand-alone ticket (i.e. you don’t have to come to the full 3 day event).
 
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    Lifehacker

  • Make Something Great with PVC Pipe This Weekend

    Adam Dachis
    24 May 2013 | 1:00 pm
    Although not one of the DIY All Star materials, people use PVC pipe to create all sorts of awesome things because it's cheap, sturdy, and versatile. This weekend, grab some at your local hardware store and tackle one of these fun projects.Read more...    

  • Cork or Twist: What's the Best Way to Stop Up a Wine Bottle?

    Tessa Miller
    24 May 2013 | 12:00 pm
    Cork, synthetic cork, or screw cap? Each medium has its perks, it seems. But which one keeps wine aging the right way? The experts at Stack Exchange attempt to put the controversy to rest.Read more...    

  • Make a MacBook Dock with Sugru and a Few Cables

    Adam Dachis
    24 May 2013 | 12:00 pm
    Laptop docks generally don't come cheap—especially when you have a Mac. DIYer Johan Frick put together a simple docking solution with the necessary cables and a little bit of Sugru, saving a ton of money in the process.Read more...    

  • This Week's Most Popular Posts: May 17th to 24th

    Whitson Gordon
    24 May 2013 | 11:30 am
    This week we looked at the best Android phones around, got some career advice, and got some nice airline and hotel upgrades. Here's a look back.Read more...    

  • What Mistakes Can Ruin Your Professional Reputation?

    Adam Dachis
    24 May 2013 | 10:30 am
    Finding a job is a challenge these days, but keeping one can be a challenge as well. US News describes eight simple mistakes you can make to ruin your professional reputation, from leaving a job to early to failing to keep your commitments. What mistakes have you made, or seen others made, that hurt their reputation and made it more difficult to get another job?Read more...    
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    MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors

  • iPhone Urinalysis App Draws U.S. Government Scrutiny

    Jordan Golson
    24 May 2013 | 11:33 am
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to BioSense Technologies over its iPhone uChek urinalysis system, asking why its medical app hasn't been cleared by the agency. The app is one of the first that turns the iPhone into a medical device, designed to read urinalysis test strips that are normally examined by users and compared to a color-coded chart. With the uChek system, patients can take a picture of the strip with the iPhone's camera and then receive an automated readout of parameters like glucose, urobilinogen, pH, ketone and more. The app also stores results which then…

  • Apple Slashes Prices on Refurbished iPad Mini and iPad 4 Models

    Eric Slivka
    24 May 2013 | 8:14 am
    Apple today significantly reduced prices on refurbished models of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad, with all models now carrying approximately 15% discounts relative to brand-new units. iPad mini - 16 GB Wi-Fi: $279, down from $299 previously and $329 brand-new - 32 GB Wi-Fi: $359, down from $389 previously and $429 brand-new - 64 GB Wi-Fi: $439, down from $489 previously and $529 brand-new - 16 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $389, down from $429 previously and $459 brand-new - 32 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $469, down from $519 previously and…

  • More Details on Jony Ive's Flat iOS 7 Design: Heavier on Black and White

    Eric Slivka
    24 May 2013 | 6:30 am
    9to5Mac shares more details on Jony Ive's redesign for iOS 7, noting that not only will it bring a flatter look to the operating system but also more emphasis on black and white design elements.Sources have described iOS 7 as “black, white, and flat all over.” This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements. [...] For the upcoming operating system, which Apple says will be unveiled at its June Worldwide Developers Conference, Ive has not simply picked areas of the software design to tweak. He has essentially made his…

  • AT&T's GoPhone Prepaid Brand to Gain iPhone and LTE/HSPA+ Support Tomorrow

    Eric Slivka
    23 May 2013 | 7:33 pm
    MacRumors has learned that AT&T's GoPhone prepaid wireless brand will be undertaking a significant expansion of its services starting tomorrow, offering support for AT&T's fastest LTE and HSPA+ data networks for the first time and also adding official support for the iPhone. Until now, GoPhone has allowed iPhone users to sign up for service, but without cellular data access. With the changes coming tomorrow, the iPhone will have access to the full range of AT&T services through GoPhone, including LTE data and Visual Voicemail. GoPhone will support three service plans for the iPhone, including…

  • Apple Posts New iPhone TV Ad 'Music Every Day'

    Jordan Golson
    23 May 2013 | 7:12 pm
    Apple started running a new iPhone ad this evening called 'Music Every Day', the second in a series that launched last month with a spot entitled 'Photos Every Day'. Both ads in the campaign focus on people actually using the phone, rather than just the phone itself. Every day, more people enjoy their music on the iPhone than any other phoneIn a series of colorful clips, the iPhone is used by owners to listen to music at school, in the shower, at the gym, at a club, at a swim meet and more. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • Letter to Brazilian Apple Repair Centers Suggests June 2013…
 
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    chrisbrogan.com

  • Be Open to Inspiration

    ceb
    10 May 2013 | 8:41 am
    I’ve been in a bit of a fog the last week or so. Nothing worth talking about, really. Depression stuff. But then it lifted. What’s interesting to me is how I found my footing and how I got back on track, and so there are two items I want to share with you from this: the actual learning, and more importantly, the realization of what got me there. Be Open to Inspiration Humans have this way they deal with too much information. They discard tons of inputs and keep what they feel is important. This is necessary, by the way. Can you imagine how busy your brain would be if you thought…

  • Do Local Businesses Deserve Your Money?

    ceb
    7 May 2013 | 1:38 pm
    I sat at the counter at my local restaurant the other day and waited for over 7 minutes without anyone bothering to acknowledge that I was there. And then I walked out. And so did my money. For good. In fact, I drove to McDonalds, got some scrambled eggs and an iced coffee, and was in and out of the system within the same 7 minutes. (You can save your comments with disdain for McDonalds. If you’re a parent, you go there, unless you don’t. Either way. It’s not the point.) Now, before you try to defend this other place, no, it wasn’t busy. Yes, at least two employees had seen me, and…

  • Why Use These Outlier Social Media Tools?

    ceb
    30 Apr 2013 | 4:21 pm
    Why should you bother using tools like Vine and Instagram, and the like? That question was asked to me by Pam Vitaz, and she asked it somewhat in this context (my words not hers): Vine’s interesting, but you basically just shot a funny video. Why do that? Here’s the video she meant: Can’t see the video? Click Here. Can’t hear sound? Hover over it and click the little sound thingy. On the surface, it’s the kind of question you can answer with “why not?” But that’s not good enough. Why Use These Outlier Social Media Tools? First, it’s your…

  • Can You Work at Being Fearless?

    ceb
    29 Apr 2013 | 7:03 am
    Fear is at the heart of most of our worst choices. I read this facebook post by James Altucher and it really punched me in the stomach. But that’s just one punch in a series, because every time I question how I ended up somewhere, the real answer (underneath all the bull answers) is fear. It’s why most stupid things happen, why all bad things happen (when humans are involved), and is even worse than you think. I’m afraid of a weird collection of things. I’m afraid of sharks (ever since seeing Jaws at a very young age – because I pestered my parents tirelessly til…

  • Sponsored Post – Mobile Productivity and the Future

    ceb
    24 Apr 2013 | 4:53 am
    Can you be productive while on the road? I say yes. In fact, I’m writing this from a hotel room before heading off to a meeting with a client. The following is sponsored by Cloud Powered Work, which is a project with IDG, LinkedIn, and Microsoft’s Office365. Everything in this post is mine, and my opinions are my own. I just produced an episode of my radio show from my hotel room, because I realized that an episode was due and I hadn’t done the work before I took off for the day. Last night, while I waited for my slightly delayed airplane, I cracked open SkyDrive pulled down…
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    Copyblogger

  • Here’s How Austin Kleon Writes

    Kelton Reid
    24 May 2013 | 5:00 am
    Steve Jobs famously misquoted Picasso when he said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” What Picasso really said was, “Art is theft.” T.S. Eliot said something far closer, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” I learned all of this from Austin Kleon, bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, a guide I recommend to all writers seeking insights for tapping into your endless reserves of creativity and innovation. As a noted speaker, and prolific blogger, Mr. Kleon offers timeless wisdom on the secrets of borrowing inspiration from your heroes…

  • 30 Quick Editing Tips Every Content Creator Needs to Know

    Stefanie Flaxman
    23 May 2013 | 4:00 am
    Inbox 0: in a bad way. Has your brilliant content still not scored you that dream writing position, lucrative business partnership, or sweet recognition among your peers and target audience? If you think your articles are top-notch, but there’s a lonely tumbleweed blowing through your barren website, it may be because you’re just a writer. You heard me, Gloria. If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody calling? Once you create a blog or email newsletter, you need to also actively take part in its evolution. While keeping diligent focus on your content production, you must also review…

  • How to Nail the Opening of Your Blog Post

    Demian Farnworth
    22 May 2013 | 5:00 am
    The opening four notes to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony are the most popular notes in Western music. Dun dun dun dum … They are stormy. Heroic. Disorienting. Short enough to be remembered. Portentous enough to be memorable. Today you’ll find those notes everywhere. In movies, commercials, and songs when the dramatic and foreboding are needed … And we hardly bat an eye. We recognize them, we know them, and we love those first four notes. Not so for Beethoven’s opening night at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien in 1808. One contemporary composer of Beethoven —…

  • 5 Things Every Copywriter Needs to Know About Their Prospects

    Amy Harrison
    21 May 2013 | 4:00 am
    What do you really know about your prospect? Their age range perhaps? Where they live? What they do for a living? Useful definitely, but not enough to create copy that rouses emotion and compels action. For that we need to take a journey much deeper into the dark recesses of our customers’ minds … Want to join me? Today’s article is inspired by someone who understood that in writing, how well you knew your ‘characters’ made the difference between captivating an audience, or boring them. In 1946 The Art of Dramatic Writing, (now regarded as one of the best works…

  • 14 Free Ebooks and an Updated 20-Part Internet Marketing Course

    Brian Clark
    20 May 2013 | 5:00 am
    Can’t see the video? Click here. Free Registration About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Google+. Related StoriesWhy We Still Need to Write, Even When We’re Scared5 Ways to Bond with Your Blog’s Audience11 Compound Word Errors that Might Make You Look like a Numbskull
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    Macworld

  • The Week in iOS Apps: Music all around you!

    24 May 2013 | 9:30 am
    Like music? Like making it? Discovering new artists? Figuring out who the heck is singing that song on the TV commercial? We’ve got you covered in this week’s roundup of new and updated iOS apps. The Doors Father! Yes son? I want to buy the $5 The Doors app for iPad, which features more than 700 images and over 100 music and sound clips featuring Oliver Stone’s favorite band. There are also a half-dozen short films—we call them videos now—featuring some of the band’s most beloved songs. C’mon baby, take a chance with us. Guitar! by Smule To read this article in full or to leave…

  • Horace Dediu's four questions for Tim Cook

    24 May 2013 | 7:38 am
    The ever sharp tech analyst has four incisive questions for the Apple CEO ahead of Cook's appearance at next week's D11 conference. (asymco.com)

  • Bugs & Fixes: iTunes 11.0.3 update improves app updating

    24 May 2013 | 6:00 am
    Along with the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, the recently updated iTunes 11.0.3 introduces several interface tweaks. For my money, the most welcome addition is one that Apple doesn’t even mention on its “About iTunes 11.0.3” page: a redesigned interface for checking on and downloading updated iOS apps. On the downside, if you’re among the unlucky minority, the new iTunes version may crash on a regular basis. Updating apps gets a welcome makeover Back in 2010, I detailed several problems with how the app update process worked in iTunes — and how it could be improved.

  • Review: Battle with comic legends in Injustice: Gods Among Us for iOS

    24 May 2013 | 5:30 am
    Comic book characters have so far struggled to score a smash hit on a mobile platform, with few titles proving worthy of the Marvel and DC Comics' names. But Injustice: Gods Among Us for iOS hopes to change all that with a huge cast of iconic characters, a savvy trading card game mechanic, and an enticing price of free. While Injustice still feels like a cheapened version of the console game it's based off of, Warner Brothers has at least produced an addictive and fun title that will appeal to its younger fan base. The game is billed as a collectable card game first and a fighting game…

  • Mac Gems: Eye-Friendly is a handy resolution switcher for Retina MacBooks

    24 May 2013 | 4:05 am
    Jörg Jacobsen’s $5 Eye-Friendly (Mac App Store link) is the third resolution-switching utility for the Retina MacBook Pro that I’ve looked at, after Pupil () and QuickRes (). In my quest to find the ideal resolution-switching app for my Retina MacBook Pro, is the third app the charm? Eye-Friendly’s menu on a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro Like the other two apps, Eye-Friendly appears only in the menu bar. When you want to change your display’s resolution, you click the Eye-Friendly icon and mouse over your display (the menu lists your laptop’s built-in display, as well as any external…
 
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    ReadWrite

  • Google Planning Wireless Networks To Connect The Next 1B People - WSJ

    24 May 2013 | 1:25 pm
    If Google had its way, everyone in the world would be on the Internet, using Google services. To bring that goal to fruition, Google is reportedly working to build cellular networks in Africa and Southeast Asia to help bring hundreds of millions of people online for the first time. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is in talks with countries like Kenya and South Africa to fund and deploy cellular networks in those countries, using wireless spectrum reserved for television broadcasts.  Bone deep in Google’s business strategy is that the more people that use the Web, the more…

  • Microsoft And Google Declare A Truce In Their YouTube Fight

    24 May 2013 | 1:03 pm
    Google and Microsoft are finally shaking hands and agreeing to work together over Microsoft's controversial YouTube app for Windows Phone devices. "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time," Microsoft and YouTube said in a joint statement sent to ReadWrite.  Microsoft will take down the current YouTube app from the Windows…

  • iOS 7 Rumor Watch: 'Black, White and Flat All Over'

    24 May 2013 | 12:11 pm
    It's widely rumored that Apple's new iOS 7, to be unveiled at WWDC next month, will ditch the company's ill-fated love affair with "heavy textures," also known as skeuomorphic design, for a more flattened take on the user interface. A new report from 9to5mac on Friday suggests that this new flat design will also incorporate lots of black and white, though it's unclear just how far this simplified color scheme will permeate the new OS. (See also: iOS Users Beg Apple: Set Our iPhones & iPads Free!) Other updates will reportedly include changes to the longstanding lock screen, new…

  • Google Has A Trojan Horse To Disrupt TV: Really, Really Big Data

    24 May 2013 | 10:08 am
    It's a huge year for TV's future. Yet for all the excitement about Web-first soap operas, data-driven programming and the disruption of broadcast, the Internet TV "inflection point" that 2013 has become is just the beginning. A Trojan horse is slowly rolling into town, and it's bursting at the seams with data. Wheeling it along is none other than Google.  Indeed, if the data-fueled success of Netflix's House of Cards is as crucial to TV's future as many believe, what Google is most likely planning will make the transformation we've witnessed so far look like early innings in a very long…

  • 3 Reasons Why Digital Detox Is So Enticing

    24 May 2013 | 9:08 am
    Guest author Sam Hailes is a freelance journalist from the UK. "What does this button do?"  That was the cryptic yet clever final tweet from John Mayer in 2010 when he abandoned his 3.7 million followers. 5% off your food bill. That was the offer that LA restaurant Eva gave to customers who surrendered access to their mobile phone for the duration of their meal. "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage." That is the error message that frustrates, angers and infuriates millions of people across the world. What has happened to us? 15 years ago nobody banked online, updated…
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    Smashing Magazine Feed

  • Beyond The Button: Embracing The Gesture-Driven Interface

    Thomas Joos
    24 May 2013 | 2:09 am
       As a mobile UI or UX designer, you probably remember the launch of Apple’s first iPhone as if it was yesterday. Among other things, it introduced a completely touchscreen-centered interaction to a individual’s most private and personal device. It was a game-changer. Today, kids grow up with touchscreen experiences like it’s the most natural thing. Parents are amazed by how fast their children understand how a tablet or smartphone works. This shows that touch and gesture interactions have a lot of potential to make mobile experiences easier and more fun to use. Challenging…

  • Building The New Financial Times Web App (A Case Study)

    Wilson Page
    23 May 2013 | 2:52 am
       When the mockups for the new Financial Times application hit our desks in mid-2012, we knew we had a real challenge on our hands. Many of us on the team (including me) swore that parts of interface would not be possible in HTML5. Given the product team’s passion for the new UI, we rolled up our sleeves and gave it our best shot. We were tasked with implementing a far more challenging product, without compromising the reliable, performant experience that made the first app so successful. We didn’t just want to build a product that fulfilled its current requirements; we…

  • Designing CSS Layouts With Flexbox Is As Easy As Pie

    David Storey
    22 May 2013 | 5:31 am
       Flexible box layout (or flexbox) is a new box model optimized for UI layout. As one of the first CSS modules designed for actual layout (floats were really meant mostly for things such as wrapping text around images), it makes a lot of tasks much easier, or even possible at all. Flexbox’s repertoire includes the simple centering of elements (both horizontally and vertically), the expansion and contraction of elements to fill available space, and source-code independent layout, among others abilities. Flexbox has lived a storied existence. It started as a feature of Mozilla’s…

  • Mobile UX Research: Exploring Ten Fundamental Aspects Of M-Commerce Usability

    Christian Holst
    21 May 2013 | 6:30 am
       Everyone is talking about mobile. Some e-commerce websites are venturing into it. Mobile commerce (also known as “m-commerce”) has immense potential, exhibiting a 86% growth rate and hitting $25 billion in 2012 (set to reach $86 billion by 2016, according to eMarketer). It’s also a whole new platform, with new interaction methods and usage contexts that introduce a host of limitations and pitfalls to watch out for when designing and running an m-commerce website. With few best practices yet established, m-commerce is, to a large degree, unchartered territory when it…

  • Case Study: Typographic Design Patterns And Current Practices (2013 Edition)

    Jan Constantin
    16 May 2013 | 7:25 pm
       Good typography has always been a defining aspect of effective Web design, and this holds true especially for websites in which the emphasis is on presenting a large amount of content — specifically, articles, news and stories. Whether for a magazine or international newspaper, the designer of any website that distributes a lot of content has always had to consider typographic details as seriously and thoroughly as a print designer would. In 2009, we conducted a survey of then current typographic practices. Since then, responsive design techniques have clearly gained…
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    CNN.com - Top Stories

  • Binge eater loses 70 pounds

    24 May 2013 | 1:14 pm
    The letter Jacki Monaco wrote was fraught with emotion. "Dear food," it began. "You have been my dearest friend and my most painful enemy."

  • Florida teen's parents campaign against charges

    24 May 2013 | 12:58 pm
    Kaitlyn Hunt, charged with a crime for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, rejected a deal that would have required her to plead guilty to a child abuse charge. Hunt's family is waging an online campaign in the case. FULL STORY

  • Hostin: She should've taken deal

    24 May 2013 | 12:58 pm
    Kaitlyn Hunt, who was charged with a felony for having sex with her 14-year old girlfriend, has rejected a plea deal.

  • 911 calls unanswered in Oregon areas

    24 May 2013 | 12:26 pm
    Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is considering legislation that would declare a public safety emergency in some Oregon counties where residents often have been left to try to fend for themselves.

  • A $98 stump of wood, for hipsters

    24 May 2013 | 12:25 pm
    I've been camping countless times in the forest -- as one does -- and without fail, there's always plenty of wood just lying around.
 
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    Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider

  • Today Triple Scoop Music is launching my Signature Music Collection for Landscape & Travel

    Scott Kelby
    23 May 2013 | 9:01 pm
    I’ve been a fan of Triple Scoop Music even since I heard some of the instructors at Photoshop World using their royalty-free music tracks in their photo slideshow presentations. As a musician myself, I am just so impressed with the quality of their  tracks — their stuff is “the real deal.” That’s why I was so psyched when they asked me to put together a Signature Collection of  their music tracks that I thought would be perfect for landscape and travel photography slideshows and videos.The “Scott Kelby Signature Series Vol 1 – Landscape and Travel…

  • It’s Free Stuff Thursday!

    Brad Moore
    22 May 2013 | 10:13 pm
    The Digital Photography Book Part 1 – Second Edition Okay, Scott already announced the release of the new version of his best-selling book, The Digital Photography Book Part 1 – Second Edition. But since today is Free Stuff Thursday, I figured we would give away FIVE FREE copies to some lucky commenters! Whether you already have the first edition and just want the latest version, or if you want to give a copy to a friend, or if you just don’t have any version of this book and want it, leave a comment for your chance to win! Or, you can head over to KelbyTraining.com, Amazon,…

  • It’s Guest Blog Wednesday featuring Vincent Versace!

    Brad Moore
    21 May 2013 | 9:01 pm
    Photo by Douglas DublerA Tale of Two PhotosOnce a year, on the anniversary of Guest Blog Wednesday, Scott affords me the opportunity to share some thoughts. All I can say is that it is a good thing that he gives me a year between these guest blog posts. Once again, thank you, Scott, for your gracious generosity.Tale 1Of all of the images I have or will take in my life, I suspect “Paris in Snow” will be by far my most iconic. It is the cover of my book From Oz to Kansas, and Epson uses it as the image on their worldwide packaging of Cold Press Natural paper. So the image has received some…

  • Motorcycle Shoot (behind-the-scenes)

    Scott Kelby
    21 May 2013 | 4:22 am
    (Above) Here’s a behind-the-scene shot from Friday’s shoot.  This is a three-light shoot: Two 4-foot strip banks above (with Elinchrom strobes), and there’s one additional softbox in front (you can see the light-stand right behind my laptop) that’s putting some extra light on the engine — it was a little dark in there with just the two strobe directly above the bike.I asked my Creative Director Felix Nelson if I could shoot his Harley, but he was doing some serious tinkering with it at home and it wouldn’t be ready for days, so he suggested calling our…

  • The 2nd Edition “Refresh” of my “Digital Photography Book, Part One” is here

    Scott Kelby
    19 May 2013 | 9:01 pm
    OK, if you already have the first edition of the book, DON’T BUY THIS ONE!!!! That’s because it’s a “refresh” and not a “rewrite.”The original book was published back in 2006, so I brought the book up-to-date with a pretty significant refresh using today’s latest cameras, updates and changes in gear; plus I added a short chapter with some advice I’ve learned since then; I went through and updated all the photos  (man, it’s excruciating to look back at the images you were taking seven years ago), and techniques where needed…
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    Digital Photography School

  • Spirit: Weekly Photography Challenge

    Darren Rowse
    24 May 2013 | 12:31 pm
    Yesterday we published a post from Hailey Bartholomew with Tips for Taking Portraits that Reflect the Character and Spirit of Your Subject that gave me the theme of this weeks challenge. Your challenge is to take and share an image on the theme of ‘Spirit’. Feel free to approach the theme in any way that you wish – you might want to take a portrait that shows someones true spirit or you could photograph something that is ‘Spiritual’ or even photograph something that represents your spirit. Be as creative as you’d like! Once you’ve taken your…

  • Home Is Where The Heart Is: How To Take Portraits In It

    Guest Contributor
    24 May 2013 | 8:52 am
    by Lynsey Peterson. I hate nature. There. I said it. It’s like glitter—it seems like such a fun idea but no matter how careful you are, it gets all over you and 7 showers later you still find it in your hair. This is further complicated by the fact that I live in what is known around the planet as one of the most beautiful places in the world. As a photographer, it’s dreamy situation; I could photograph a family in a parking lot (and I have) and the surroundings are more beautiful than many conventional parks in the world. So most of the time I have to suck it up and schedule an…

  • The Sony RX100 at Dublin Zoo [USER REVIEW]

    Guest Contributor
    23 May 2013 | 1:16 pm
    by Sarah Hipwell It’s been about four years since my last visit to the zoo. Last week my two girls had a break from school so I decided to take them along with my Mum for a day out to visit the animals at Dublin Zoo. I brought my trusty new Sony RX100 and as a backup I brought my Nikon D300 DSLR. In the end the D300 camera didn’t come out of my bag! I really wanted to test out the RX100 and see how well this compact camera performed in the wild! Actually, I had been interested in purchasing a compact camera for a while now. My husband has taken some great shots with his Retina iPhone. But…

  • 3 Tips for Taking Portraits that Reflect the Character and Spirit of your Subject

    Guest Contributor
    23 May 2013 | 7:57 am
    A Guest contribution by Hailey Bartholomew from You Can’t Be Serious. 1. Do Something Who are you photographing? If you don’t know them well, find out what they love to do and where they relax the most. Maybe they love to row boats or take picnics at their favourite park every Sunday. Maybe you are photographing your grandmother who loves to be out in her garden. Go and do that with them. Whatever they love to do to relax, tag along with your camera. But don’t sit back on the sidelines hoping to catch a moment from far away – get down and into whatever they are doing.

  • Learn How to Use the Sharpening Tools in Lightroom

    Guest Contributor
    22 May 2013 | 12:23 pm
    There’s no question that Lightroom is a powerful piece of photo processing software, but due to that power sometimes it’s not as easy to wrap our heads around everything it has to offer, that’s in part why I started my Let’s Edit YouTube series a weekly segment in which I share my own editing workflow for viewers to learn from. After starting this series one of the most commonly asked questions was to go into more detail on how the sharpening tools in Lightroom work. Sharpening in Lightroom is broken down into four different sliders – Amount, Radius, Detail and…
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    TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

  • Apple cuts prices on refurbished iPad mini, iPad 4

    John-Michael Bond
    24 May 2013 | 2:30 pm
    Apple has further reduced the prices of refurbished iPad minis and 4th generation iPads. The mini is now sporting a 15% discount, while the 4th generation iPad has a 16% discount. You can find the new prices below for each respective model. iPad mini 16 GB Wi-Fi: $279 refurbished $329 brand-new 32 GB Wi-Fi: $359 refurbished $429 brand-new 64 GB Wi-Fi: $439 refurbished $529 brand-new 16 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $389 refurbished $459 brand-new 32 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $469 refurbished $559 brand-new 64 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $549 refurbished $659 brand-new 4th generation iPad 16 GB Wi-Fi: $419…

  • Wake Alarm wants you to get out of bed ... now!

    Steven Sande
    24 May 2013 | 2:00 pm
    Being the sucker that I am for well-designed user interfaces, I was immediately intrigued by the new Wake Alarm app (US$1.99 launch price) from Tiny Hearts. For just a couple of bucks, you're going to get an alarm app that is easy to set, lets you snooze with a quick slap of your iPhone, and turns off only if you actually have the energy to turn the iPhone over. Launching Wake Alarm displays the current time in a light blue ring on a blue and purple gradient. To set the alarm time, spin the ring with a finger to set the minutes or tap on the hour and spin the ring to quickly jump through the…

  • Friday Favorite: Type2Phone

    Erica Sadun
    24 May 2013 | 1:30 pm
    Type2Phone ($4.99) is one of the most practical tools in my development toolbox. It emulates a Bluetooth keyboard from your Mac. With it, you type to your iOS device using your normal desktop keyboard. While this may not sound like a big thing for many iOS users -- after all, the onboard keyboards and new dictation features streamline text entry -- it is a huge deal for devs and IT coordinators who have to keep typing similar things into apps and settings, over and over again. For example, take Game Center development. You usually work with many different accounts, testing to see how access…

  • Judge reportedly leaning towards DoJ in Apple ebook case

    Yoni Heisler
    24 May 2013 | 1:00 pm
    In less than two weeks, Apple will head to trial over allegations that it colluded with five publishing houses in an effort to inflate the price of e-books. Indeed, the Justice Department last week released internal Apple emails which it claims supports the allegation that Apple was a "ringleader" in a price fixing conspiracy. In one such email, Apple executive Eddy Cue explained to Steve Jobs that he was able to secure a deal with Random House by threatening to block an app of theirs from getting into the App Store. With a trial on the matter scheduled to kick off on June 3, Bloomberg…

  • Ailing Mac? Try Drive Genius 3

    Ilene Hoffman
    24 May 2013 | 12:30 pm
    When your Mac starts acting unreliably your first line of defense is Apple's Disk Utility, but that solves a small number of problems, such as permissions and disk verification and repair. A good second line of defense is Drive Genius 3 for Mac from Prosoft Engineering. Drive Genius offers repair and maintenance utilities you can use to make sure your hard drive runs at maximum efficiency. This US$99 suite of programs includes the following modules: Information, Defrag, DriveSlim, Repair, Scan, DrivePulse, Integrity Check, Initialize, Repartition, Duplicate, Shred, Benchtest, and Sector Edit.
 
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    Strobist

  • Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters is Now Available on DVD, and Netflix Streaming

    22 May 2013 | 9:00 pm
    ©Gregory Crewdson Netflix have acquired the rights to stream Ben Shapiro's excellent 77-minute documentary, Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters. You can also buy it outright on DVD for $24. Sadly, the Netflix access this is US-only (maybe Canada? nope!) and only for Netflix streaming subscribers. But this is still far and away the biggest audience to have had access to the film. There's no telling how long it will be up to stream. Netflix is notorious for having, then not having, the rights to a movie. So just in case, don't wait too long. You can stream it here. (Many thanks to reader Tim…

  • On Assignment: Back to the Well

    21 May 2013 | 9:00 pm
    Tian Lu (left) and Yuri Shadrin are both accomplished pianists in their own right. But when they play as a duet (on the same piano) they produce an intuitive mix of music and banter that could only come from the married couple that they are. He is Russian, she is Chinese. Which made them the perfect choice to perform in China later this month in commemoration of an upcoming regional trade partnership between China and Russia. So I shot their publicity portraits in one of my favorite little environmental portrait nooks in Howard County—under the fountain downtown at the lakefront. I have…

  • Q&A: Photek Softlighter II or Paul Buff PLM?

    17 May 2013 | 3:00 am
    Sydney, Australia-based photo assistant Diego asks: You seem to use the Photek Softlighter a lot. How would this compare to the Paul Buff PML Soft-Silver with the White Diffuser? While they are similar (both sub-$100 Octa killers) they are pretty different under the skin, So which model you'll prefer depends on how you'll use it… Read more »

  • Readers Shoot Back: Vivian Chung

    13 May 2013 | 8:11 am
    Dontcha hate it when your bride-and-groom portrait gets photo-bombed? Okay, maybe not if it's by a Beluga whale. And for Vancouver wedding photographer (and Strobist reader) Vivian Chung, this well-planned cameo was no accident. Complicating things, she only had a little time—and a key technical restriction—to make this shot. Read more »

  • Lighting In Layers on Lynda.com

    13 May 2013 | 8:00 am
    I am happy to announce that Strobist's video series, Lighting in Layers, has by special arrangement been adapted for the video tutorial site Lynda.com. Those of you who are Lynda subscribers can now view the videos there. (This includes Lynda's many corporate subs, so check with your company.) Last week saw the launch of the first segments, which are primarily aimed at beginners. Additional sessions will be released each week. So even if you are not a newb, stick around. It'll get more complex soon enough… -30-
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    News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Sign up for the DPReview newsletter today!

    24 May 2013 | 1:08 pm
    Just a reminder - you can get a weekly update of all that's new in the digital photography world by subscribing to the Digital Photography Review Newsletter! As well as updates on what we've published, we'll also be sharing sneak peeks at what we've go in the pipeline, as well as a weekly cartoon strip, readers' polls, jokes, suggestions for photo projects and more. Click through for more details. 

  • Vine enthusiast Jethro Ames explains the art of 6-second storytelling

    24 May 2013 | 11:54 am
    Video sharing service Vine has generated a lot of buzz in recent months. Vine allows you to share videos of up to six seconds in length as either a single continuous take or as a 'collage' of short duration clips. Art Director Jethro Ames saw Vine as a challenge and decided to push his limits to see what he could do with the app. The result is a series of imaginative timelapse videos that are perfectly executed down to the last detail. Click through to see his work, and our interview on connect.dpreview.com.

  • Sigma announces availability of 35mm F1.4 DG HSM for Sony and Pentax

    24 May 2013 | 3:00 am
    In a brief note on its Japanese website, Sigma has announced that the Sony and Pentax mount versions of its highly-regarded 35mm F1.4 DG HSM 'Art' lens will go on sale on 31st May. It's also announced that the Nikon-mount version of its 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM 'Sports' telephoto zoom will be available at the same time. We gave the 35mm F1.4 our Gold Award when we reviewed it back in December, for its combination of exceptionally good optics and solid build at a price rather lower than the camera manufacturers' equivalents.

  • Canon still pursuing Foveon-style multi-layer sensor design

    23 May 2013 | 11:32 am
    Canon has patented a color-sensitive multi-layered sensor design, showing the company is still pursuing the technology. Like Sigma's Foveon chips, the multi-layered design allows each of the sensor's pixels to capture color information without the need for colored filters. The patent, discovered by the Japanese Engineering Accomplishment blog, suggests a system to promote resonance within the sensor, in an attempt to make the lower layers of the sensor more sensitive. (from Egami blog)

  • Photographer captures concert with DSLR-mounted GoPro

    23 May 2013 | 11:20 am
    If you've never had the chance to stand in the front row and shoot a live concert, Montreal-based photographer Pierre Bourgault has the next best thing. He attached a GoPro camera to the top of his Canon DSLR and recorded a seven-minute video of his shooting experience at a Dead to Me concert. He then overlaid the actual photos taken at the show, which you can view after the break.
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    Lightroom Killer Tips

  • Should You Create Multiple Catalogs In Lightroom?

    jgilbert@photoshopuser.com (Matt Kloskowski)
    20 May 2013 | 11:01 pm
    For years, catalog questions tend to be the most popular questions I get at my Lightroom seminars. One of those questions is whether or not to create multiple catalogs in Lightroom. See, back in Lightroom 1, it became fairly common knowledge that when your catalog grew to a certain size in photos (say 20,000) that it would slow down and you should create a new catalog so Lightroom would keep running quickly. But that’s not the case anymore. Lightroom doesn’t have a photo limit that anyone has hit. Adobe doesn’t even recommend creating multiple catalogs anymore. So the first…

  • Lightroom And WPPI Coming Your Way (Chicago, Atlantic City, Vegas and LA)

    jgilbert@photoshopuser.com (Matt Kloskowski)
    15 May 2013 | 9:00 am
    If you live in Chicago, Atlantic City, LA or Las Vegas then you’ve got a WPPI “On the Road” stop coming your way. NAPP and WPPI are teaming up to provide you with some killer Photoshop and Lightroom training at each event. RC Concepcion, Pete Collins and I will be teaching along side plenty of other great instructors in each city. Here’s the link to WPPI’s website if you want to find out more and below is the list of cities and dates. Hope to see you there! • Chicago: May 21-22 • Atlantic City: June 3-4 • Los Angeles: July 15-16 • Las Vegas: August…

  • A Super Quick Way To Convert Your Photo To Black And White

    jgilbert@photoshopuser.com (Matt Kloskowski)
    9 May 2013 | 11:01 pm
    Hey everyone. Here’s a great little tip for you if you want to see quickly see what your photo looks like as a black and white, without going to a different panel and messing with sliders. Ready… just go to the Develop module and press the V key. Yup… that’s it. It does the default black and white conversion, and gives you a good idea of whether you’d want to process the photo any further as a B&W. If you like it, then head down to the B&W panel and make some more adjustments. If not, just press the V key again and it’ll take you back to the color…

  • What Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud) Means For Lightroom Users?

    jgilbert@photoshopuser.com (Matt Kloskowski)
    6 May 2013 | 11:01 pm
    There’s obviously lots of feedback, buzz, interest, and excitement, from Adobe’s announcement yesterday. If you missed it, in a nutshell, Photoshop as we know it is going totally subscription based. So basically, you can’t buy a stand alone boxed or download copy of it anymore. You have to subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud to get Photoshop CC (CC means Creative Cloud). However, for now you’ll still be able to buy Lightroom standalone without subscribing (even though it’s also included in the CC). By the way, if you hadn’t noticed Photoshop CS is no…

  • Lightroom Tip: Hiding Panels

    jgilbert@photoshopuser.com (Matt Kloskowski)
    2 May 2013 | 11:01 pm
    Did you know that you can hide specific panels in Lightroom? You probably knew that you can collapse a panel just by clicking the tiny arrow next to the name of the panel. But you can also hide them so they simply don’t show up. For example, personally I don’t use the Split Toning panel, so why even have it show up there anymore? To hide it (or any other panel) right click under the Histogram in the dark gray empty area in the Develop module (just to the left of the word Basic in the Basic panel). The panels that are visible will be checked. To hide one or more just click on it.
 
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    MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - iOS Blog

  • Best Buy to Discount iPhone by $50 Beginning Sunday

    Juli Clover
    24 May 2013 | 9:47 am
    Best Buy is launching a new four week promotion that will drop the price of new iPhone purchases by $50. According to AllThingsD, the sale will apply to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S, and the iPhone 5, when purchased with a two-year contract from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint. An iPhone with two-year contract typically costs $200 for the 16GB entry level phone, so with the sale, the price will drop to $150. The discount applies to all phone models. Best Buy has offered similar sales in the past, most recently discounting the iPhone 5 by $50 during the holiday season. Other retailers…

  • Skycore Creates Platform for Passbook Delivery Via MMS

    Jordan Golson
    24 May 2013 | 9:03 am
    Skycore, a marketing and developer support firm, has introduced a new feature to its services platform to allow developers to send Passbook passes to users via MMS. The feature should allow more companies to use Passbook because they won't need users to download a dedicated iOS app. Passbook was a new feature in iOS 6 that allows users to store frequently used items like gift cards or frequent shopper cards, as well as single use items like movie and airline tickets. Developers can have those cards appear right on the lock screen, targeted by time or location. "As with SMS, the recipient of…

  • Letter to Brazilian Apple Repair Centers Suggests June 2013 Policy Changes?

    Jordan Golson
    23 May 2013 | 4:18 pm
    AppleInsider has obtained a letter supposedly sent to Brazilian Apple Authorized Service Providers suggesting that new policies regarding iPhone and iPad repairs will begin soon. Though the letter is taken out of context and has been roughly translated via Google Translate, it suggests that AASP's in Brazil will soon begin repairing broken iPad glass panels and performing more in-depth repairs on iPhones with details of that plan being sent in June 2013. 2. iPad Repair - We will soon begin to repair iPad glass. Further details will be sent next week. 3. iPhone Repair - The Changing Patterns…

  • Angry Birds Space Named App of the Week, Available for Free

    Juli Clover
    23 May 2013 | 10:03 am
    Rovio's Angry Birds Space has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, both the full iPhone and the iPad version of the game can be downloaded for free for the first time ever. Angry Birds Space features the same bird flinging gameplay found in other Rovio titles, but it incorporates new zero gravity game mechanics and space-themed level design.Angry Birds Space features over 160 interstellar levels on planets and in zero gravity, resulting in spectacular gameplay ranging from slow-motion puzzles to lightspeed destruction. With regular free updates, new in-app purchases, brand new…

  • Shazam for iPad Rebuilt as Universal App With Background Auto-Tagging and More

    Eric Slivka
    23 May 2013 | 6:35 am
    Shazam was one of the early App Store success stories, offering users the ability to easily identify music by capturing a snippet of the song and matching it against a database to provide title and artist information. The service has since expanded to integrate with the iTunes Store, YouTube, lyrics, and more, with TV shows and ads even adopting Shazam to allow users to easily learn more about the show or product. Shazam has offered separate apps for the iPhone and iPad since 2010, but the company today unveiled a universal version of the iPhone app that includes a completely rebuilt…
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  • The cat that saved a Japanese train station

    hiufu
    23 May 2013 | 7:00 pm
    Meet Tama, Japan's cutest stationmaster, and her adorable cat-shaped station homeSome 30 minutes from central Wakayama City in southeast Japan is the quiet, rural neighborhood of Kinokawa. Despite the area's un-remarkableness, its train station attracts no shortage of visitors, most under the age of 12. Tama, the hero of Kishi Station. These tourists may not know what there is to see or do in wider Kinokawa, nor do they seem particularly interested -- all they want to do is visit Kishi train station, which serves Kinokawa. They come seeking time, and hopefully a photo, with Kishi's…

  • Healthy Beijing: A wellness guide to the city

    karlac1
    23 May 2013 | 3:00 pm
    Despite legendary pollution, Beijing offers access to nature, healthy restaurants and eco-friendly retreatsBeijing has historic attractions, a vibrant culture and, of course, delicious Chinese food. But with its notorious pollution and regular food scandals, it's not a city one equates with health and wellness. But maintaining a healthy lifestyle while visiting Beijing isn't as challenging as you might think. Here's an insider list of nature-friendly spots, wholesome restaurants, organic stores and green escapes in and around Beijing.  iReport assignment: What are your favorite spots in…

  • Barcelona officials: 'Space hotel' a concept far, far away

    francescha
    23 May 2013 | 7:00 am
    We’ll believe it when we see it, but we kind of want to see itGiant ray gun or futuristic hotel? In terms of new architecture, some cities embrace the shiny, the bold, the outrageous. Dubai, for instance, or Shanghai, or even Seoul these days. One city, however, is turning up its nose at one in-your-face building. Plans for a massive man-made island off the coast of Barcelona featuring a 2,000-suite “space hotel,” a covered marina, “zero-gravity” spa and 24-hour mall have been met with something less than enthusiasm from city officials.  More on CNN: Insider Guide: What to do in…

  • Opinion: Why I hate the beverage cart

    francescha
    22 May 2013 | 7:51 pm
    Responsible for more crushed knees than MMA, it’s time to protect ourselves from the airline drinks trolley Unless they’ve signed up for a gym membership, people don’t typically pay for experiences that come with a high probability of physical trauma. That’s why it’s odd to me that when you book an aisle seat on an airplane, there’s no disclaimer mentioning there’s about a 30% chance that you’re going to get hit with a moving filing cabinet. Because, basically, that’s an accurate description of an airplane’s beverage cart (galley cart, drinks trolley, mobile foot smasher,…

  • Beijing hotels: 9 fantastic new places to crash

    karlac1
    22 May 2013 | 3:00 pm
    Five years after the 2008 Olympics construction boom, new Beijing hotels keep right on comingLeading up to the 2008 Olympics, Beijing went on a hotel building frenzy. Unlike in other Olympic cities, however, long after the medal winners moved on the tourists kept coming. The newest hotels to hit China's capital are seen as ambassadors of the new Beijing. The nine properties listed below have each launched in the last 18 months. Rates are based on a stay in August -- the fifth anniversary of the Olympics' opening ceremony -- and are the lowest offered by the each hotel, based on double…
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