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Review & Outlook: Apple's Star Chamber - WSJ.com:

Which gets to the heart of this bizarre case: The numbers show that, far from hurting the market, the publishers' and Apple's agency model actually helped it. They allowed Barnes & Noble to gain a foothold in the e-book market, provided relief to the independent brick-and-mortar stores, and gave consumers lower rather than higher prices.

:doh:

Oh PS with Nest’s built-in sensors now Google knows when you’re home, what rooms you’re in, and when you’re out. Just FYI.

— Ryan Block (@ryan) January 13, 2014

Great.

More here.

Formula For Perfect Parallel Parking Is Bigger Than The Spot.

Well, now that that's figured out, we can move on to the smaller things in the world…

(I honestly don't remember the last time I had to parallel park. But I live in Erie, PA, so that has a lot to do with it.)

This is how I feel like virtually every AppleScript problem I undertake turns out. The best solution: set a hard limit of 15 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever. Whatever stage you reach by then, stop.

I can tease him and he's cool with it. Pet peeve or something of mine. 🙂

Tim Bray:

You can't make money. Seriously, Apple is always talking about the billions and billions they pay out of the app store, so why is it that I don't know anyone who's making serious money on mobile apps?

I know plenty of people making money. I guess Tim just doesn't know any of them. Apple's not lying about the money they're paying out.

The GenieGo application for Mac OS X is reasonably good, but adjusting its volume adjusts your system volume… which makes working while you're trying to watch a show quietly in the background rather annoying, since ALL of your system sounds are now quieter. 😛

When I last blogged about this, back in 2006 (!!), we were only on round 12.

TextExpander was only at version 1.3 (!!).

Today I got an email announcing TextExpander 4.2.1, so I checked it out. I'm trying it, and thus far, I'm liking it. It expands every time so far, and the only missing feature that I used a few times in TypeIt4Me is the ability to simulate other keyboard presses (like the backspace key) when expanding.

Why am I trying TextExpander - and actually going so far as to buy the upgrade ($15) and commit to using it for awhile? Because TypeIt4Me doesn't seem to be getting attention. The last update is approaching a year old, and none of the instructions were even updated for Mavericks and the new Accessibility controls or System Prefs.

TextExpander, on the other hand, continues to get attention.

The site: Apple - iPad - What will your verse be

The video ad:

Settings - Google+ - Holy heck did I just turn off a LOT of stuff that was on without my knowledge.

Netflix's dumbed-down algorithms

Netflix's big problem, it seems to me, is that it can't afford the content that its subscribers most want to watch. It could try to buy streaming rights to every major Hollywood blockbuster in history — but doing so would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and could never be recouped with $7.99 monthly fees. What's more, the studios can watch the Netflix share price as easily as anybody else, and when they see it ending 2013 at $360 a share, valuing the company at well over $20 billion, that's their sign to start raising rates sharply during the next round of negotiations. Which in turn helps explain why Netflix is losing so many great movies.

John Gruber also links to Can I Stream.It?

How is this legal? How can they seize my laptop or cell phone for any reason?

A federal judge today upheld a President Barack Obama administration policy allowing authorities along the U.S. border to seize and search laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices for any reason.

…

Alarmingly, the government contends the Fourth-Amendment-Free Zone stretches 100 miles inland from the nation's actual border.

A Speck in the Sea - Worth reading. And how big of a jerk would Jimmy Buffett have beef he had said "no, let's keep fishing?"

Back this Project on Kickstarter, please. I'd like to see it get funded. 🙂