The Best Explanation of Gamergate I've Heard Yet →

If you want to really understand Gamergate, the absolute best way to do it in my opinion is to listen to episode 9 of Virtual, Myke Hurley and Federico Viticci's video game podcast. I had read several articles about Gamergate, but still didn't fully understand it, the sequence of events and all the players — victims, really — involved. Federico did an amazing job of explaining it all, and then he and Myke had a great discussion. 

If you're not overly interested in video games, but just want to learn about Gamergate, you can jump in just past the 30-minute mark, but I'd recommend listening to the whole episode. 

Gamergate is a terrible situation, and it makes me both angry and sad. It's so disappointing that there are such disgusting human beings in this world. It's not just how they think that's totally backwards, but how they've acted on those thoughts and feelings that is truly disturbing. 

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Priceless Surprises with Mariano Rivera & Tommy Lasorda

Christian Bale to Play Steve Jobs in Upcoming Biopic →

I think Christian Bale is a fantastic actor, but everything I've ever heard or read about him has pointed to him being super-intense and a bit of a dick. Sounds like he's the perfect guy to play Steve Jobs. I refused to watch Ashton Kutcher as Jobs, but I'll see this movie for sure. 

Pet Peeve of the Week: 'Irregardless' Isn't a Word!

I started this segment last week where I pick on some English language mistake that people commonly make.

One that's been bugging me for years is irregardless. But, I looked it up, and apparently it is, in fact, a word. It's just a really shitty word. Even if it is technically a word, it's a poorly formed word because the prefix 'ir-' is totally redundant. The suffix '-less' is already a negative, to make regardless mean "without regard" or "showing no regard". The addition of the negative prefix in front of regardless just isn't necessary. The Oxford English Dictionary and Dictionary.com both label irregardless as "nonstandard". 

Here is Jonathan Owen for the Huffington Post defending that irregardless is indeed a word, but he's definitely not arguing that it's a good word:

One commenter, the same who said, "Irregardless is not a word," noted rather aptly, "There is absolutely no value to 'irregardless' except to recognize people who didn't study." Exactly. There is nothing wrong with its ability to communicate; it's only the word's metacommunication--that is, what it communicates about its user--that is problematic. To put it a different way, the problem with irregardless is entirely social: If you use it, you'll be thought of as uneducated, even though everyone can understand you just fine.

There you have it. It's technically a word. Go ahead and use it. People will get what you mean, but you'll sound stupid.

Inbox by Gmail →

The Verge's David Pierce on Inbox:

Inbox feels a lot like the future of email, a tool for showing you everything you need to get done and helping you accomplish it all.

I also love that Google develops with equal priority for Android and iOS. I know that's a smart business move, too, but it's one of the things I like about Google. They've got the new iPhone 6 in their promo video.

How One Boy With Autism Became BFF With Apple's Siri →

To Siri, With Love was getting linked all over the web yesterday. What a great story by Judith Newman, writing  about her 13-year-old autistic son for The New York Times:

It all began simply enough. I’d just read one of those ubiquitous Internet lists called “21 Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone Could Do.” One of them was this: I could ask Siri, “What planes are above me right now?” and Siri would bark back, “Checking my sources.” Almost instantly there was a list of actual flights — numbers, altitudes, angles — above my head.

I happened to be doing this when Gus was nearby. “Why would anyone need to know what planes are flying above your head?” I muttered. Gus replied without looking up: “So you know who you’re waving at, Mommy.”

Another one of my favourite parts:

It’s not that Gus doesn’t understand Siri’s not human. He does — intellectually. But like many autistic people I know, Gus feels that inanimate objects, while maybe not possessing souls, are worthy of our consideration. I realized this when he was 8, and I got him an iPod for his birthday. He listened to it only at home, with one exception. It always came with us on our visits to the Apple Store. Finally, I asked why. “So it can visit its friends,” he said.

A truly heartwarming story. 

The iPad Air 2 (And a Few Cursory Words Regarding the iPad Mini 3) →

John Gruber's review of the new iPads is the most thorough and thoughtful review I've read so far. I also like the title of his review, as a reference to how little stage time the iPad mini 3 got at Apple's event. 

I was going to try to pick out the highlights, but you should really just read the whole thing. It's great. Here's a small tidbit on the feel of the iPad Air 2:

The end result is a markedly improved iPad, just in terms of it being an object you hold in your hands. It really does feel like we’re getting close to just holding a piece of glass. It’s very thin, very light, and very comfortable to hold. The improved display is a noticeable improvement over all previous iPads. Retina iPhone displays have been laminated to the glass touch screen ever since the first retina model (the iPhone 4, back in 2010). It really does feel like the difference between pixels-under-glass and pixels-on-glass. Now the iPad Air 2 offers the same thing, and it’s gorgeous. Even better, the iPad Air 2 one-ups the iPhone 6, with an anti-reflective coating. It’s quite noticeable, and very welcome. On a dark screen, it’s the difference between being able to see a reflection of my own face on the display, and being able only to see a silhouette of myself. I hope and expect this anti-reflective coating to spread to next year’s new iPhones and iPad Mini.

Also don't miss the section on the performance of the A8X SoC. The performance of this new iPad is truly remarkable.

Reviews for the New iPads Are Here

It would appear the embargo has been lifted and the reviews for the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 have begun flowing out of the usual outlets.

Here are some of them:

The Verge's Dieter Bohn on the iPad mini 3

The Loop's Jim Dalrymple on both the iPad mini 3 and the iPad Air 2

The Verge's Nilay Patel on the iPad Air 2

Re/code's Walt Mossberg on the iPad Air 2

The summary so far? The iPad mini 3 isn't really much of an update other than Touch ID — which is awesome — and a gold option. The iPad Air 2 is the best tablet in the world, but somehow is underwhelming because it's not revolutionary.

The first assessment I tend to agree with. Basically, Apple is charging $100 for Touch ID only. That's it. That is a bit disappointing. Last year felt like a real breakthrough when both the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina Display (now the iPad mini 2) had the same internals, including the same 64-bit A7 processor. A year later, Apple has further differentiated their two sizes of iPads by more than just screen size. The result feels strange. The iPad mini 3 doesn't feel like that great of a deal. You get the same device as last year, with Touch ID, at the same price. By comparison, the iPad mini 2 seems like a much better deal. It's the same device as the iPad mini 3, minus Touch ID, for $100 less. It's amazing the context price provides. The iPad mini 2 seems like a great device for $299, but the iPad mini 3 is seems disappointing for $399. Is Touch ID worth $100 to you? It might be. 

On the iPad Air 2, however, I feel like it's more of the same yearly response to Apple's iterative —evolutionary, not revolutionary — process. It seems that some agree that it's the best tablet in the world, but it's not enough. Initial reactions to Apple products seem to always want more. I haven't had the luxury of five days with review units, but I will say, the iPad Air 2 looks awesome. It is 18% thinner, with a much, much better camera, Touch ID, tri-core processor, double the RAM (2 GB), and Apple Pay. Honestly, I'd be pretty happy with that upgrade. But, after saying all that, I'm not going to buy one. At least, not yet. I have the iPad Air, and it's still an amazing device. I'm sure I'll be an iPad Air 2 owner at some point, but not from day one.

Apple’s Jonathan Ive in Conversation with Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter

I posted a short clip of this interview a while back, but here's the full thing now. Jony Ive is an extremely thoughtful speaker.

Apple Q4 2014 Quarterly Results →

I didn't get around to linking to the results yesterday. iPhone and Mac sales were up, iPads sales were down, profits and revenue were up.

Tim Cook:

Our fiscal 2014 was one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Apple Releases iOS 8.1 — Here's What's New →

Once again, Federico's got us covered. Apple Pay (US only), Camera Roll, iCloud Photo Library, SMS Relay, and more.

Don't worry, this one is safe. If you're still wary of updating to any version of iOS 8 because of what happened with iOS 8.0.1, don't be. 8.0.2 was fine and so is 8.1. Go for it.

But, if your issue is storage space, then don't forget that you can update by plugging your phone into iTunes on your computer and you won't need that almost 5 GB of free space that you need for the OTA update.

The Ultimate OS X 10.10 Yosemite Review →

This is the biggest and best Yosemite review that you will find out there. John Siracusa's reviews are epic, and this one is no exception. Make the time to read this beauty. 

The Media is Doing an Awful Job of Explaining Ebola →

Here's a good one from a couple of day ago. Arielle Duhaime-Ross, writing for The Verge, on how the media were totally irresponsible in their reporting on #ClipboardMan:

Ebola is a scary, gruesome disease, so it's only natural that some people are concerned, especially given past "breaches in protocol" in Dallas. But that's why we need reporters to help people make sense of it all (Fox News' Shepard Smith is a great example). They have a responsibility to stop unnecessary panic — to explain why Ebola isn't easy to catch in the US — instead of causing further alarm with unfinished stories and inaccurate statements.

All The Best Coverage of Today's Apple Event

So, what did Apple announce today? There were no big surprises, but in case you hadn't heard, here it is, with links to some of the best coverage I've seen out there:

First, we got some hardware. Apple announced the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, which was pretty much expected. The twist was that, unlike last year, the new iPad Air and new iPad mini don't have the same internals. The new iPad Air received a pretty significant update both externally and internally. Although the outside looks almost exactly the same, it's actually 18% thinner than the first iPad Air—which is just crazy, at 6.1mm. On the inside it has new processors, a much improved camera, and Touch ID. All the new iPad mini got was Touch ID. That's it. MacStories has all the details. Here's the video from Apple:

Apple also announced a new iMac with a Retina display. In fact, they're calling it the new iMac with 5K Retina display. It has 67% more pixels than a 4K display, and all reports so far indicate that it's absolutely beautiful. The Verge has more details. Here's a couple of Apple videos:

The final piece of hardware that Apple unveiled was a long overdue update to the Mac mini, that also included a price drop. The Verge has the coverage again on this one. It's a nice little update to Apple's entry-level Mac. I strongly recommend that anyone considering getting a Mac give the Mac mini a look if they've already got a monitor, keyboard, etc.

Moving on to software, Apple announced that iOS 8.1 and Apple Pay will launch on Monday, October 20th. The best part is they're bringing back the camera roll. Apple really confused photo management on your iPhone when they removed the camera roll in iOS 8. It's a welcome return. Federico has some more details over at MacStories. 

Next up, we're back to the Mac with OS X 10.10 Yosemite. The Verge has got you covered with their review of Yosemite, which is available today as a free update for your Mac. Then, MacStories digs in a little deeper with a more detailed look at Handoff, Instant Hotspot, SMS & Phone Relay. These are the features that make up Continuity and are probably the most exciting updates to OS X, besides the more iOS 7-like user interface changes. You can now receive text messages and phone calls on your Mac, or even finish something you started on your iPhone or iPad, like an email or presentation. 

Maybe the most exciting thing announced today was something that wasn't even mentioned during the event. Dan Frommer over at Quartz, has the scoop on Apple's new "Apple SIM" card that can be used with multiple different mobile carriers. There are only a few carriers on board in the US and UK so far, but this could be huge. If you could actually switch carriers without having to ever swap out SIM cards, that would be amazing. They're introducing it in the iPad first, but as Frommer points out, this could be really disruptive if they bring it to the iPhone next year:

Imagine booting up your iPhone for the first time and seeing four competing offers for your business from different operators—with short or no contract duration. Or an even deeper integration where Apple bills you as a virtual operator and constantly shops for the cheapest connection—perfect for those who travel overseas frequently.

Overall, it was a pretty predictable event from Apple, especially the iPads, after Apple leaked them the day before the event. There will undoubtedly be many people calling this a very disappointing event, but it won't be when we look back. Nothing Apple announced today was earth shattering or even overly surprising, but we still wound up with several very nice iterative updates to Apple's existing products. Everything got better, and in some cases cheaper, too. Not every event can be the next iWatch unveiling. There was nothing to complain about, but that won't stop many folks from doing it anyway. 

The Big Things Google Announced Today

The 5.96" Nexus 6 looks like a pretty serious, and very large phone. It's made by Motorola and has very impressive specs. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop. 

The 8.9" Nexus 9 is a new Nexus tablet made by HTC. This one runs Lollipop, too.

The Nexus Player is Google's new Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku competitor that runs Android TV. Voice search looks just like the Fire TV, and should work great. Google excels at voice recognition technology.

HBO Says It's Going to Start Selling on the Web Next Year →

I really hope this is the full, no-strings-attached, direct to customer streaming model. No more of this 'you must be a customer of this cable company or this ISP' bullshit. And I sure hope it's available in Canada, too. I'm way overdue on my pledge to cut the cord. 

Every Episode of 'Friends' is Coming to Netflix in Canada and the US →

Wow, I'm feeling old. Friends debuted more than 20 years ago. Time flies.

Coming on January 1st, 2015. 

Apple Accidentally Reveals iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 →

Oops! The Verge:

Apple has made an unusual blunder ahead of its Thursday press event; the company has accidentally revealed both of its new iPads: the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. An official user guide for iOS 8 in the iTunes Store has apparently had its screenshots updated ahead of schedule; both new iPads are pictured, and the images reveal each will have a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Aside from the addition of Touch ID, it seems these latest iPads will look nearly identical to their predecessors.

Pet Peeve of the Week: It's 'I Couldn't Care Less'!

For those of you who know me, you will know that I'm a bit of an English language pedant, but only to my close friends, family, and coworkers. I don't go around in public correcting people I don't really care about, because it's kind of rude. But, I think my little-read blog is okay, right? So, I'm going to start occasionally posting some of my pet peeves for a laugh. I don't take it too seriously, and neither should you if you happen to read a post where I'm berating you for some common grammar or language crime.

So, let's set the record straight. The expression goes, "I couldn't care less", not "I could care less". The whole idea is to convey that you don't care at all. If you could care less, then that means you do care to some degree. If you absolutely could not care less, then that means you don't care at all, because you can't care less than zero. The first result for a Google search of "I couldn't care less" is a Dictionary.com FAQ. The second is Grammar Girl. They seem to agree.

I'm not overly excited to see what kind of feedback I've invited now that I've put it out there that I'm somewhat pedantic about English. I'm sure my blog is strewn with many errors, as I'm not a professional writer, and don't have an editor. Should be fun.

Bono Apologizes for Putting U2's New Album in Everyone's iCloud Library →

Really? I do understand that it could have been handled a little better, but really? Anything slightly negative related to Apple just gets so blown out of proportion, it's ridiculous. Should articles still be written more than a month later about this terrible thing U2 and Apple did, that ruined peoples' lives? This is, in some ways, the very definition of a first world problem. 'I really hate this free thing that was given to me, and now it's going to take me 4 seconds of my life to delete it.' Get over it.

Bono, responding to a fan who called it "rude" to automatically distribute the album to iTunes users:

Oops ... I'm sorry about that. I had this beautiful idea. Might have gotten carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that thing. A drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity, a dash of self-promotion, and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years might not be heard. There's a lot of noise out there. I guess, we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.

Apple should have made the album free to download, and advertised the hell out of it in their iTunes store, but not added it to peoples' purchased history and libraries. Sure. But, I believe the way it was handled was done with the best of intentions and no malice. Hopefully this is the last we hear of it. Not likely.