Romain Dillet at TechCrunch:
When Myke Hurley and Stephen Hackett launched Relay FM, they expected to build a small independent network of weekly tech podcasts. Just a year later, Relay FM features 16 different shows and delivers 1.5 million downloads every month. Building this loyal audience was an overnight success six years in the making.
If you want to learn a lot about our podcast network and how we run our company, this article is for you. What a day!
This article is written by my friend Thomas Brand, who blogs at EggFreckles.net.
Apple released four distinct Newton form factors containing eight different models between August 1993 and February 1998. Each form factor was an evolutionary step forward for the platform, and introduced design considerations and features that were different from past and subsequent models. Choosing a Newton requires understanding each models benefits and weaknesses and applying that knowledge towards selecting the Newton that best meets your requirements.
The OMP (Original MessagePad) was unveiled and released on August 3, 1993 at MacWorld Boston. It’s release was somewhat premature and it is referred to by some Newton faithful as the ‘grand public beta test’.
Source for all block quotes: msu.edu 
Image Credit: Jonathan Zufi, iconicbook.com
Despite having similar technical specifications as later Newtons the OMP is limited to the kind of personal information management we attribute to yesterday’s PDAs or today’s most rudimentary mobile phones. Names, Dates, To Dos, Notes, and the ability to send simple faxes and emails are the OMP’s killer features, but its premature software, and inadequate cursive handwriting recognizer Calligrapher, limit its usefulness as a MessagePad.
Unfortunately Calligrapher the word-based handwriting recognition engine in the Newton which was developed by the Soviet programmers at Paragraph International Inc. got more attention for what it couldn’t do than what it could.
Being a word based recognizer Calligrapher can only decipher words that are in its dictionary and even then it has to be trained for several weeks before it gets proficient. Using an Original MessagePad for taking notes often requires adding unknown words to the dictionary and rewriting them several times before the OMP can decipher them correctly. Things got better one year later with the release of the MessagePad 100 which added individual character recognition, but both MessagePads are limited by their early software that can’t accept many later Newton applications.
The golden screen color, graceful curves, and soft touch casing of the Original MessagePads make these two models some of the most attractive Newtons ever made. But real work on a MessagePad requires real character recognition, and these original MessagePads just don’t offer the versatility or the recognition to make them anything more than collector’s items.
In March 1994, at the same time the MessagePad 100 was released, Apple updated the Newton form factor with the introduction of a new model. The MessagePad 110 offers improved portability over the Original MessagePad with a smaller display and flip over screen protector that resembles the front cover on a reporter’s notepad. The stylus was redesigned into a more familiar round shape, and internalizing the holster started a trend that made all subsequent MessagePads thinner and more comfortable to hold. The 110 shipped with the same limited Newton OS 1.3 software as the MessagePad 100.
Image Credit: Jonathan Zufi, iconicbook.com
Although all second form factor MessagePads look identical at first glance they were produced during a transition period in Apple’s Newton platform, and have different specifications. The MessagePad 110 and the initial release of the MessagePad 120 shipped with the same 1.3 software that makes the Original MessagePads unsuitable for daily use, but later models like the MessagePad 120 second revision and the MessagePad 130 shipped with Newton OS 2.0 and its new printed handwriting recognizer Rosetta.
The printed recognizer in OS 2.0 was flawless and required no dictionary or learning period. It worked with familiar and strange handwriting styles alike. It only required separated printed characters to analyze. Even today, its recognition system is unmatched in the computing industry.
Other additions that made it into OS 2.0 include Ink Text, the ability to write and format natural unrecognized handwriting. A text expand feature that allows predetermined shortcuts to be automatically expanded into full length text. The ability to rotate the display into a landscape orientation, and compatibility with an optional external keyboard. Even the the most basic applications like Notes gained custom stationary, and Names gained user defined fields. So many improvements came with Newton OS 2.0 that I can’t recommend choosing a Newton without it.
The MessagePad 130 is my recommendation for a Newton from this form factor. Not only does it sport the comfortable size of the 110, and 120 but it is guaranteed to ship with Newton OS 2.0, an extra 512k worth of memory, and over 78,000 new words in its Calligrapher dictionary. It may not have the soft touch casing of the Original MessagePads, but it does have a textured screen with a backlight that is more pleasurable to write on; even in the dark.
The MessagePad 130 was just a taste of things to come. The introduction of the MessagePad 2000 brought a true revolution to the MessagePad hardware.
The 2000/2100 series has an ECL backlit screen like the MP130 but with twice the number of pixels (480 x 320 vs. previous model’s 320 x 240) in a 20% increase in screen dimensions resulting in a high resolution display (100 dpi vs. 85 dpi). It also propelled the newton from being just black and white pixels to 16 level grey scale pixels.
Starting with the MessagePad 2000, the Newton was no longer just a personal information management device with messaging capabilities. It could now perform basic multimedia tasks including displaying greyscale photographs, and playing simple melodies over its internal speaker.
image via iFixIt
Of course all of these additional capabilities require a large improvement in performance, and the MessagePad 2000 got it with a 162MHz StrongARM 110 RISC chip that puts out 150 MIPS (@400 MIPS/watt).
The previous Newtons all had 20MHz ARM RISC chips that ran at 15 MIPS (1/10th the speed) and 100 MIPS/watt thus using 4 times as much power. The net result of the StrongARM chip is an unbelievable ten fold increase in speed with 1/4 the power usage.
In addition to the high-res greyscale screen, the multimedia capabilities, and 10x improvement in performance the MessagePad 2000 offers twice as much memory as the 130, and the MessagePad 2100 offers almost twice as much memory as the 2000.
Although both MessagePads shipped with Newton OS 2.1 and greatly improved performance, a 2100 or upgraded 2000 is the Newton to get if you want to experience the most of what the platform has to offer. The additional memory is practically a requirement for internet browsing and multitasking, and because these were the last MessagePads released they have the hardware specifications required to experience the entire back catalog of Newton software.
Image Credit: Jonathan Zufi, iconicbook.com
The eMate 300 is Apple’s first and only non-MessagePad Newton with a built-in keyboard. The eMate 300 was designed to take the rugged lifestyle of a K-12 education. For example the eMate’s keyboard has no circuitry hidden underneath to avoid damage from liquid spills, and its protective casing is designed to withstand drops from a student’s hands. If the screen or keyboard is damaged, both are designed for easy removal and replacement.
The screen on the eMate 300 has the same number of pixels but is slightly larger than the MessagePad 2000. And its built-in keyboard adds a row of function keys along the top which replace the button bar and provide one-touch access to built-in applications and common commands such as Close and Backlight On/Off.
The eMate 300 makes a great first computer for a child, but its underpowered 25MHz processor and traditional clamshell design offer few benefits over a older model laptop.
My first Newton was a MessagePad 130 and I fell in love with its ease of use, character recognition, and slender form factor. In my opinion no other Newton is better for quick portable note taking. Later models such as the 2100 are far more versatile, but their features pale considerably when compared to modern devices like the iPad. If you are looking for a first Newton that will do everything the platform has to offer get a 2100. But if you are looking for the optimal MessagePad to do what a Newton does best, Note taking, a MessagePad 130 is the smallest device you will find with real hand writing recognition.
I’m a couple of weeks into indie life and things are going pretty well. It may be a side effect of having done most of my work on the side for so long, but I haven’t hit any real surprises yet.
Sure, there’s stress about workspace and finding the right balance between work and home life, but except for being late for a phone call today, nothing’s really come off the rails.
I’ve been interested in where my time goes, so starting last week, I have been tracking it with an iOS app called Hours.
Hours can be incredibly fine-grained for billable hours, but I’m using it to track my time in big buckets. I’m less interested in how much time any one individual task takes me as I am in where chunks of time go. I ran an export of my hours last week and the results can be seen here:
My work falls into four main buckets: Relay FM, this website, consulting and freelance writing. For those bad at math, I exactly clocked 38 work hours from Monday, August 10 to Saturday, August 15.
There are no real surprises in this chart to me. The hours break down about how I felt they would break down, with Relay FM taking up about half my time and everything else going down from there. I suspect that consulting number will shrink as I wrap up some stuff for my former employer, but for now, I think this balance works. It’s a decent reflection of where my income is, which is encouraging. If I was spending 50% of my time for 15% of my income, I’d be worried, but so far, so good.
Michael Bierut:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Design Program is a modernist vision for an optimistic future. The logo (often referred to as the “worm”) evokes qualities of unity, technical precision, scientific capabilities and uniqueness. Reduced to its simplest form; the one width, continuous-stroke letters are as contemporary today as when the logo was first introduced by Richard Danne (Design Director) and Bruce Blackburn (Designer) at Danne & Blackburn, New York, NY) more than 37 years ago. How then, in 1992, after 19 years, did such an emblematic design program for a future-oriented Federal Agency be dropped for it’s previous (now current) Insignia (the “meatball”)? What follows is a heartfelt personal account from Mr. Danne on the obstacles and achievements of one of the century’s most important and widely published design programs.
This is a fascinating read, whether not you’re into space stuff or not.
In addition to Liftoff, we’re also announcing Top Four, a podcast hosted by Tiffany and Marco Arment in which they basically rank things like movies, TV shows, games and more. It’s a ton of fun to hear.
Over the past six months or so, I’ve been writing, talking and thinking a lot more about space and how we get there.
That’s led — somewhat inevitably — to a new podcast on Relay FM. We’ve named it Liftoff.
Here’s the fancy description my cohost Jason Snell came up with:
Liftoff is a fortnightly podcast about space, the universe, and everything. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand the latest developments as explained by enthusiastic space fans Stephen Hackett and Jason Snell.
Jason’s a huge space nerd, and it’s been a ton of fun working with him on this project. As the description says, we’ll be keeping things casual on the science end. We believe these topics should be approachable by anyone.
Episode 1 is out today, and we’ll be publishing every other week. Go subscribe to hear us talk about space lettuce (!) and the Curiosity rover on Mars.
I owe a huge thanks to our talented and mysterious designer for the Liftoff art. All I said was “it should look like a mission patch,” and I think it’s my new favorite art on the network.
Magic Number is the calculator for the rest of us. Unlike other calculators, it lets you do math naturally.
You can see math as math. Typing is completely ‘what you think is what you type’. Editing is delightfully simple. Everything clicks. Magic Number is all about making calculations easier and enjoyable.
No wonder The Loop calls it a fantastic calculator for OS X.
And you can do more. You can zip through tax and time. Help your kid with fractions and algebra. Sail through statistics and complex numbers. Nothing gets in your way. You feel empowered.
Here’s the best part: Magic Number is 50% off until the end of August. That’s $5 instead of 10.
Don’t miss out. Treat yourself with Magic Number.
Mark Harris at The Guardian:
Apple is building a self-driving car in Silicon Valley, and is scouting for secure locations in the San Francisco Bay area to test it, the Guardian has learned. Documents show the oft-rumoured Apple car project appears to be further along than many suspected.
In May, engineers from Apple’s secretive Special Project group met with officials from GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco that is being turned into a high-security testing ground for autonomous vehicles.
In correspondence obtained by the Guardian under a public records act request, Apple engineer Frank Fearon wrote: “We would … like to get an understanding of timing and availability for the space, and how we would need to coordinate around other parties who would be using [it].”
Apple declined to comment.
Apple’s car project — dubbed Project Titan — has been in the news already this year, with reports of Apple poaching employees from Tesla and other companies.
This article definitely adds fuel to that fire (sorry), and seems to confirm that at least part of the project involves self-driving cars, as this facility specializes in such testing.
My feelings on this are still rather conflicted. While its hard to reconcile why Apple would be doing this, I know objectively that a company as big as Apple always has to be looking into the future, beyond its current scope. I’m sure that my conflicted feelings are in line with how people felt when their favorite computer company started making music players 15 years ago.
Joseph Keller:
Apple has introduced a new feature for iCloud on the web that allows you to restore deleted items. Not only can you recover files that you’ve deleted, but also restore contacts, calendars, and reminders. This new feature also shows you how long it will be until those items are permanently deleted if you choose not to restore them.
This is a huge addition to iCloud. While this still doesn’t seem as robust as Dropbox’s versioning system, it’s nice to know what I do keep in iCloud has an extra layer of protection.
Apple:
You can use Boot Camp to install Windows 10 on supported Mac models that have OS X Yosemite installed.
Finally.
Mitchel Broussard at MacRumors:
Apple yesterday began contacting some customers who recently purchased third-generation Apple TVs, informing them that their devices had shipped with an unspecified faulty part and offering an exchange for a brand-new unit shipped from the company.
As Broussard points out, this is a highly irregular way for the company to be dealing with this, leading many to believe (myself included) that this affects a very small number of units.
This week on Connected:
This week, Federico returns to discuss Force Touch on the iPhone with Stephen and Myke, then the trio discuss the upcoming iOS 9 review on MacStories.
My thanks to our sponsors this week:
Next Tuesday at 1:15 PM Eastern, Myke and I will be taking questions on the live stream to celebrate the first anniversary of the network. You can submit questions on Twitter using #RelayQA and come hang out in the IRC with us.