512 Pixels

When the inevitable happens:

If your Newton freezes or “hangs,” take your stylus and press the Reset button in the battery compartment on the back of your Newton. This should allow you to restart your Newton.

Today, astronauts on the International Space Station sampled space-grown lettuce:

The red lettuce eaten Monday – accompanied by a dash of vinaigrette dressing – was grown in a specialized canister aboard the International Space Station during recent weeks and had sprouted from seeds that were glued into place on Earth. Astronauts placed the seeds and their pouches in a system that provided the water and light needed to make the plants grow. Half of the landmark crop was eaten while the other half will be returned to researchers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for closer study.

While at NASA this summer, I got an up-close look at a duplicate of the rig used to grow these space veggies. While this may not seem like the most exciting science experiment, growing food in space will be critical on manned missions to Mars.

Larry Page:

What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main internet products contained in Alphabet instead. What do we mean by far afield? Good examples are our health efforts: Life Sciences (that works on the glucose-sensing contact lens), and Calico (focused on longevity). Fundamentally, we believe this allows us more management scale, as we can run things independently that aren’t very related.

This is crazy. In short, Google will become a sibling to a bunch of other companies, and Alphabet will replace it as the parent organization, including on the stock market. Sundar Pichai will become Google’s next CEO, which is an obvious choice, and I think a good one.

IDG’s Jeremy Kirk:

Customers of the oft-criticized security and performance program MacKeeper have until Nov. 30 to file a claim for reimbursement, the result of a proposed class-action suit settlement.

Those who bought MacKeeper before July 8 are eligible, according to the settlement website where claims can be filed.

I wonder if this would cover the hours of my life spent uninstalling this junk for customers.

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Mark Hackett — hey, brother! — writing about what he has learned in making films about Sudan:

If there’s one thing every human being in the world has in common, it is our collective love of stories and storytelling. The world’s most ancient texts are filled with sweeping stories of early civilization. Today, we can’t get enough of big-budget films, post-apocalyptic books, and real-life stories of ordinary people becoming heroes. We’re wired to come together around those who who create, write, and show.

A good documentary film does a lot more than simply provide the facts. A good documentary film will also provide a story. An excellent documentary film will have you so riveted to the story that you barely even realize you are learning a lot about the social issue the filmmaker wants you to focus on.

So, how do you tell a good story?

John Callaham at iMore:

Verizon Wireless will be making some big changes in both its device data plans and its smartphone purchase options, starting on August 13. On that date, Verizon will offer four data plans, with no more separate single-line or family plan options. The carrier will also do away with two-year contracts and their smartphone subsidies, with customers now offered the option of either paying for the entire retail price upfront or paying via a monthly installment plan.

I’ve been a Verizon customer since the iPhone 4, and honestly, I have no idea if this is good news or bad news for me. I think this will make my family’s monthly bill go down, but I need to run it by a team of mathematicians and physicists. Stupid carriers.

Ashwin Vasavada, project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory mission:

It’s a summer of milestones for Mars Exploration. Fifty years ago, Mariner 4 became the first spacecraft to take close-up pictures of Mars. Thirty-nine years ago, the Viking 1 Lander became the first spacecraft to successfully land on the Red Planet. And now, Curiosity celebrates 3 years on Mars – operating well over a thousand Martian days.

In three years, the 1-ton rover has made some significant findings, including encouraging information about radiation levels on the Martian surface, the presence of methane, and — of course — water on the Red planet.

I’ve long praised the Apple Extended II keyboard for its amazing typing experience. While I don’t use it anymore, I miss my big beige noise machine.

While some may think all old keyboards are alike, they are not created equal. The AppleDesign keyboard may look of similar vintage, but its rubber dome switches are no match for the Extended II’s mechanical ones.

While Apple’s support document doesn’t bring this up, it does list many other differences between the two accessories:

• The Extended Keyboard II has two ADB connections, one on the right side, and one on the left side. The AppleDesign Keyboard has one ADB connection on the underside of the keyboard for a mouse or other pointing device. There is a 6-foot long cable permanently attached at the front of the keyboard for connecting it to the Macintosh.
• The Extended Keyboard II has a multi-position switch at the back of the keyboard for adjusting the keyboard angle to several positions. The AppleDesign Keyboard has two feet on the underside for raising the keyboard angle.
• The AppleDesign Keyboard is slightly smaller and lighter.

I love the look of all of these old panels and machines, but this video is a little scary to think about for more than a moment or two.

This week on Connected: the end of iCloud Drive follow-up, the start of my independent life and my super-late Apple Watch review and then the return of “weekly” picks.

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While I worked part-time at my previous gig most of July, today marked the start of my first week working for myself.

While I didn’t get caught up on my to do list, it was great knowing that tomorrow morning, I’ll drive to the office space I share with my brother, record a podcast and jump right back into my projects. I’ll do all of this, during the working day, without stealing time from a J-O-B job.

It’s profoundly surreal, but incredibly freeing, to be focused on my writing and podcasting full-time. There’s still lots to work out with budgets and time management and extra things I could take on, but it’s all under the category of my work. That’s what makes it so much fun, despite the unknowns.

On NBC’s genius show Parks and Rec, Ron Swanson gives some great advice about splitting time and attention to Leslie Knope:

Don’t half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.

I’m in, Ron. Let’s do this.