As those who follow me on Twitter know, we’re in the hospital with our oldest son this week. I’ll catch you awesome people in a few days.
Year: 2012
‘From China, With Lies’
This week on the 512 Podcast, Myke I discuss the This American Life thing and the new iPad.
This episode was made possible by TextExpander.
NYT Cuts Free Digital Articles to 10/Month
New York Times Co said on Tuesday it will halve the number of free articles readers can view on its NYTimes.com site.
Starting in April visitors to the website will be able to read up to 10 free articles a month, down from 20 free articles previously. The change comes one year after launching the paid digital subscription, which now has 454,000 paid subscribers.
Apple PR, on iPad Heat
The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications. If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.
As I noted in my review, this new iPad is the first I’ve owned that gets warm at all, but it isn’t bad at all. I don’t think I’d ever consider it hot, even after an hour of gaming.
‘Enough’
My friend Patrick Rhone has written a new book, titled Enough.
Now, I haven’t read all of it, despite having a copy of for over a week. Why? Because it isn’t the kind of book you simply sit down and read. Enough is a collection of essays, and each one has spurred thought and introspection.
I don’t think I’ll finish the book for some time, and that’s precisely why I wanted to link to it. This book is about making you think, and that’s a good — and increasingly rare — thing.
You owe it to yourself to get this book. Seriously.
Sponsor: TextExpander →
TextExpander is an excellent example of a great OS X tool. If you have stuff you type more than once, TextExpander is well worth the money. You’re wasting time if you aren’t using it. It can be can be as simple or as geeky as you need.
I have all sorts of things in TextExpander, including:
- My email addresses (including my 37 character work address)
- Typos I commonly make
- HTML and Markdown snippets I often use
- The standard copy in my podcasts’ show notes
Whatever your level of experience, there’s a TextExpander tip for you:
Getting Started: Make a snippet for your email address. You’ll be amazed at the keystrokes you’ll save not having to type that over and over.
Intermediate: Add one of the Predefined Groups, like HTML/CSS snippets or instant URL shorteners. There’s even an AutoCorrect group to fix your typos.
Advanced: Try fill-in snippets, which have multiple variable fields. For example, you could have a form letter with blanks for name, product, company, etc. Type your abbreviation, fill in the fields and you’re done.
Even More Advanced: Create your own AppleScript and shell script snippets.
Check out a free demo. Don’t miss the 20% off special discount. Use the coupon code SYN0312 in the Smile store (Expires March 31, 2012).
Peak iPad Production: Fewer Hours for Workers
Hot on the heels of This American Life’s Mike Daisey takedown, Apple has revised its Supplier Responsibility homepage to reflect its latest monthly update (as promised) about working conditions at its suppliers’ factories. The company says that over 500,000 workers actually worked less during a peak iPad production month thanks to rules laid out in its Supplier Code of Conduct. Instead of 60-hour work weeks like they’d been accustomed to (the maximum inside Apple’s Code), workers actually averaged closer to 48 hour work weeks during February 2012.
You can view the updated report on the company’s website.
Promoted Tweets to Appear for Brands Users Aren’t Following
Wait, is that the right word?
Apple Sells 3 Million New iPads
Apple today announced it has sold three million of its incredible new iPad®, since its launch on Friday, March 16.
[…]
“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.”
That’s just four days.
Newspapers Online
U.S. newspapers lost $10 in print advertising revenue last year for every $1 they gained online, a deeper loss than in 2010, as competition from Internet companies increases, a study by Pew Research Center found.
Newspaper revenues declined more sharply last year than in 2010 when publishers lost $7 in print advertising for every $1 generated from online outlets, according to Pew’s study entitled “State of the News Media,” which is published today.
This is nothing pay walls can’t fix, right?
On Being a Better Person with OmniFocus
OmniFocus makes me a better person because it reminds me to do things, even if they need to be done at a date and time considerably later than when I realize they need to be done.
I agree with Brett on this. I have a lot of unusual things in OmniFocus to help keep me on track with my personal goals and responsibilities. It’s a great tool to get all sorts of things done.
Apple Launches Dividend and Share Repurchase Program
Subject to declaration by the Board of Directors, the Company plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012.
Additionally, the Company’s Board of Directors has authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program commencing in the Company’s fiscal 2013, which begins on September 30, 2012. The repurchase program is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs.