Dani Deahl and Casey Newton have a breathtaking look at what’s going on inside the sinking ship of SoundCloud. If you’re hosting your podcast there, I’d spend this weekend looking for a new host.
Oral History of Avie Tevanian, Part Two »
Part Two of Avie Tevanian’s oral history has been posted to YouTube by The Computer History Museum.
Sketchy Rumor on iPhone SE Update Appears »
The rumor comes from French-language blog iGeneration, which cited an unnamed source claiming Apple will hold a product event in late August to introduce an updated version of the 4-inch smartphone.
Mickaël Bazoge, the author of the article, told MacRumors that he received the info from a “new source” with an unproven track record. He expressed some skepticism, but added that the source “seems reliable.”
As Rossignol points out, no iPhone has ever been launched in August. However, the SE was the first iPhone to launch in the spring outside of the Verizon iPhone 4.
The SE has most of the technology found in the iPhone 6S. I don’t see Apple revving this to match the iPhone 7 quite yet, and many think the 4-inch phone is a one-off, doomed to die on the vine. If that happens, I know my wife would be disappointed.
Apple Machine Learning Journal »
A new online journal, published by Apple, about machine learning. A while back, there was a story about how important publishing is in this field. While this doesn’t meet all those needs, it’s a nice look into what the people on this team are working on, at least to an extent.
There’s even an RSS feed.
Query #3: Don’t Make Fake Children »
This week on my new tech Q&A show with Serenity Caldwell:
Michael wants to keep his location private on social media, Neal is looking into iCloud Family Sharing and Max just wants to keep his AirPods clean. Then, a fix for a forgetful Spotlight and the country Ren calls home.
Oh, and Ren has a fake child in her iCloud account, stuck there until they turn 18.
Ungeniused #29: Going Over Niagara Falls »
This week on the most educational podcast on your iPhone:
Many people have gone over Niagara Falls in things like barrels and giant rubber balls. You shouldn’t try it.
My thanks to our sponsor:
- Mack Weldon: Smart underwear for smart guys. Get 20% off with the code UNGENIUSED.
Liftoff #51: Dark Matter, with Dr. Katie Mack »
This week on Liftoff, Jason and I were honored to talk with Dr. Katie Mack. She is a theoretical astrophysicist working on dark matter at the University of Melbourne. On this episode, she explains what dark matter is, and the potential it has to change our understanding of the universe, physics and more.
It was a real honor to talk to Dr. Mack, and I hope you enjoy our interview. Thanks to Blue Apron for sponsoring this week’s episode.
Transmit 5 »
Panic’s FTP client for macOS just received a huge update. The new version is faster, supports more cloud services, and now syncs your servers with other Macs and iOS devices. Interestingly, but not shockingly, Transmit 5 is not in the Mac App Store.
I’ve used Transmit for a decade, and was glad to upgrade today. Go check it out.
Kbase Article of the Week: Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter Requires Thunderbolt 3 »
Breaking into Buran »
Eric Berger, writing about the Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle program, which was mothballed after a single flight in 1988:
When I visited Russia and Kazakhstan in 2014, one of the Buran mock-ups was on display in Moscow, and a second vehicle could be toured on the grounds of a museum at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This is the spaceport where Yuri Gagarin launched from more than half a century ago and where Russian and US astronauts still fly to the International Space Station today. During our visit, we saw a hangar where additional Burans were rumored to exist from a distance and asked to go inside. We were given a perfunctory no, so we didn’t.
Now, two adventurers who post videos on YouTube and style themselves as “Exploring the Unbeaten Path” have posted a dramatic video after sneaking onto the well-guarded grounds of the Kazakhstan spaceport at night. The duo spent the next day in the hidden hangar of the Buran vehicles taking impressive photos, videos, and capturing some pretty amazing drone footage of two mostly completed orbiters.
The video is great: