RSS Sponsor: Balance Open ⇢

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You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, one of the earliest crypto-currencies, but there are others like Ethereum. Balance connects to the most popular crypto-currency exchanges like Coinbase along with traditional financial institutions bridging the gap between the old financial world and the new one.

If you’re not familiar with this stuff, that’s okay…

Balance want to help teach you about crypto currencies, and the macOS and iOS apps they are building will serve as a wallet for all the world’s currencies.

Balance is ready for the future. The current financial system is based on outdated, legacy software. Blockchains are the bedrock of a more secure and open system based on cryptocurrencies, but not many people are using them yet. Balance is poised to change that by becoming a single destination for traditional financial accounts and crypto-currency exchanges.

Learn more at the Balance website.

Timing for Mac ⇢

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My thanks to Timing for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week.

Timing automatically tracks which apps, documents and websites you use — without start/stop timers. See how you spend your time, eliminate distracting activities, and improve your client billing.

The Case for RSS ⇢

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David Sparks, writing about bucking the trend of moving away from RSS readers:

The reason I’ve stuck with RSS is the way in which I work. Twitter is the social network that I participate in most and yet sometimes days go by where I don’t load the application. I like to work in focused bursts. If I’m deep into writing a book or a legal client project. I basically ignore everything else. I close my mail application, tell my phone service to take my calls, and I definitely don’t open Twitter. When I finish the job, I can then go back to the Internet. I’ll check in on Twitter, but I won’t be able to get my news from it. That only works if you go into Twitter much more frequently than I do. That’s why RSS is such a great solution for me. If a few days go by, I can open RSS and go through my carefully curated list of websites and get caught back up with the world.

I totally agree.

Face ID and the iPad

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I still think the iMac Pro could be the next device from Apple to ship with Face ID, but the iPad Pro is an obvious member of that succession plan as well.

Like the MacBooks, there may be a depth issue to overcome when it comes to fitting the Face ID hardware behind the device’s cover glass. Here are the depths of both iPad Pros compared to the iPhone X:

iPhone X 12.9″ iPad Pro 10.5″ iPad Pro
7.7 mm 6.9 mm 6.1 mm

If there’s anything Apple excels at, it’s making technology thinner and lighter. I assume they can trim the Face ID hardware to fit into the chassis of the iPad without any problems.

The more interesting thing is the problem of orientation. The iPad is the most orientation-agnostic device Apple ships. The home button can be at the top, bottom, left or right of the screen.

I think most people use their iPad in portrait mode, with the home button at the bottom or in landscape, with the home button to the right, as it is when clipped into the Smart Keyboard.

Currently, Face ID is decidedly not orientation agnostic. If the user is sitting or standing, the iPhone X must be in portrait orientation to unlock. If the phone is upright and the user is laying down on their side, or if the user is walking through the woods and the iPhone X is in a tripod mount, it won’t unlock.

That’s not a huge deal with the iPhone X, but on an iPad it’s a bigger issue. I don’t know the technical details of why Face ID is orientation specific, but it’s something Apple would need to overcome before stuffing Face ID into an iPad.

I have no doubt Apple is fully aware of these issues and is already well down the road of advancing Face ID so it can show up in an iPad. I’m ready for it; Touch ID already feels old-school on my iPad Pro.

Jony Ive, on Apple Park and the iPhone X’s Future ⇢

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There’s a bunch of nice details about Apple’s new HQ in this in Wallpaper magazine interview, but this bit about the iPhone X jumped out at me:

I wonder, then, if Ive misses the physical click and scroll of the first iPods, that fixed mono-functionality, the obvious working parts, the elegance of the design solution. But I’ve got him all wrong. ‘I’ve always been fascinated by these products that are more general purpose. What I think is remarkable about the iPhone X is that its functionality is so determined by software. And because of the fluid nature of software, this product is going to change and evolve. In 12 months’ time, this object will be able to do things that it can’t now. I think that is extraordinary. I think we will look back on it and see it as a very significant point in terms of the products we have been developing.

‘So while I’m completely seduced by the coherence and simplicity and how easy it is to comprehend something like the first iPod, I am quite honestly more fascinated and intrigued by an object that changes its function profoundly and evolves. That is rare. That didn’t happen 50 years ago.’

The Tale of Two Qi Chargers

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Earlier this week, I picked up Samsung’s $25 Qi wireless charger, based on Wirecutter’s review to use with my iPhone X.

I have not been impressed. While I like the white design, the charger is tall, with my iPhone sitting a good bit off the surface of the table. The top is slippery, and my caseless-iPhone wants to spin around the top of the charger if I don’t sit it down slowly.

The big deal breaker is the LED. Most wireless chargers have a light to indicate that the phone is placed correctly, but the Samsung’s LED is a bright blue that glows at the front edge of the charger. There’s a blue glow that extends out and down across the surface of the desk.

I could tape over the LED, but that would be pretty ugly looking in and of
itself.

I don’t like the light, but it’s not a big deal here in my office. However, the Samsung is way too bright for use on my nighstand, so I picked up the $60 Mophie option from the Apple Store.

It’s more expensive, but better in every way. The height is far less, so the iPhone sits closer to the surface of the table its on. There’s one small LED that is not very bright. I haven’t minded it on my nightstand at all.

Best of all, the top of the black charger is covered in grippy rubber, so the iPhone doesn’t want to move around.1 If you’re looking for a Qi charger, I’ve been happy with the Mophie.

  1. I’ve read that some people have woken up to find that their iPhone has vibrated its way off the charging coils. Maybe its because my iPhone is in DND at night, but I haven’t had this issue with the Mophie. ↩

SpaceX Rocket Engine Explodes in Testing ⇢

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Christian Davenport at The Washington Post:

SpaceX is investigating why one of its rocket engines exploded during a test earlier this week at the company’s facility in Texas, the company confirmed Wednesday.

The explosion involved the next generation of the company’s Merlin engine. The mishap occurred Sunday during what the company called a “qualification test.” No one was injured, but now the company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk once again has to figure out what went wrong with its hardware.

This motor is a “Block 5” version of the company’s Merlin engine, used on the Falcon 9. The upgrade was due to fly next year, which may be in jeopardy now. The accident shouldn’t affect the company’s upcoming customer launches, however, and thankfully no one was hurt.

Twitter Increases Character Count to 280 ⇢

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Aliza Rosen at Twitter:

In September, we launched a test that expanded the 140 character limit so every person around the world could express themselves easily in a Tweet. Our goal was to make this possible while ensuring we keep the speed and brevity that makes Twitter, Twitter. Looking at all the data, we’re excited to share we’ve achieved this goal and are rolling the change out to all languages where cramming was an issue.

During the first few days of the test many people Tweeted the full 280 limit because it was new and novel, but soon after behavior normalized (more on this below). We saw when people needed to use more than 140 characters, they Tweeted more easily and more often. But importantly, people Tweeted below 140 most of the time and the brevity of Twitter remained.

I tried reading the rest of this but it’s all about hashtag engagement so I came here instead.

Liftoff #59: Kinda Bananas and Super Dangerous ⇢

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This week on Liftoff:

SpaceX is returning to Launch Complex 40 and the GRACE mission is coming to an end while Dawn has a new lease on life. Then, discussion of the Gemini capsule and the two uncrewed launches of the program.

My thanks to our sponsors this week:

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code LIFTOFF at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
  • Eero: Never think about WiFi again. Use code LIFTOFF for free overnight shipping.