512 Pixels

Fraser Speirs:

Except in a few cases, which I’ll explain, the apps that appear in the multitasking bar are not currently running. When you press the home button, iOS will tell the app to quit. In almost all cases, it quits, it stops using CPU time (and hence battery) and the memory it was using is eventually recovered if required.

The thought that apps in the multi-tasking tray are running seems to be growing. I think Apple’s UI for this could be a little more clear.

That said, if people go through and “quit” all these apps every once in a while, is that a big deal?

Drew Schuster has posted a nice alternative to the Pinboard backup solution I posted about the other day.

Frank Warren, the man behind PostSecret:

99% of the secrets created were in the spirit of PostSecret. Unfortunately, the scale of secrets was so large that even 1% of bad content was overwhelming for our dedicated team of volunteer moderators who worked 24 hours a day 7 days a week removing content that was not just pornographic but also gruesome and at times threatening.

Bad content caused users to complain to me, Apple and the FBI. I was contacted by law enforcement about bad content on the App. Threats were made against users, moderators and my family. (Two specific threats were made that I am unable to talk about). As much as we tried, we were unable to maintain a bully-free environment. Weeks ago I had to remove the App from my daughter’s phone.

Simply terrible.

This thing will you give you nightmares.

My son would have a heart attack if he saw this video.

Terence Chea:

In the interview, Steve Wozniak and the late Steve Jobs recall a seminal moment in Silicon Valley history - how they named their upstart computer company some 35 years ago.

[…]

The interview, recorded for an in-house video for company employees in the mid–1980s, was among a storehouse of materials Apple had been collecting for a company museum. But in 1997, soon after Jobs returned to the company, Apple officials contacted Stanford University and offered to donate the collection to the school’s Silicon Valley Archives.

Within a few days, Stanford curators were at Apple headquarters in nearby Cupertino, packing two moving trucks full of documents, books, software, videotapes and marketing materials that now make up the core of Stanford’s Apple Collection.

According to this article, the collection has tons of neat stuff in it. I really wish Stanford would open this collection up for documentation and sharing.

via MacRumors

I’ve written my “end of the year” post a couple of times now, but was unhappy with it each time.

That frustration has been a thread through my year. Don’t get me wrong, the year actually went pretty well, but I just have a hard time with a lot of things these days.

In March, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. I’m making progress in my life, and taking care of myself for the first time since Josiah was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, but I’m learning this battle is very often a few steps forward, then a few steps back.

The people in my life — both in the “meatspace” world and the online one — have been incredible this year. Without my wife, kids and friends, I don’t want to think about what would happen.

That’s where you lovely people come in, too. Thanks for reading my stuff. It’s always flattering when I see numbers grow month after month. Your time means a lot to me.

I don’t know what 2012 has in store. I suspect it will be much like 2011, just hopefully not as dark.

I’ll see you then, nerds.

So, so good.

The Telegraph:

Charlie Le Quesne was trying out the iPhone 4S at a Tesco store in Coventry when it told him: “Shut the f \ up, you ugly t**.”

While I’d be horrified if this happened to one of my kids, as a nerd, I have to chuckle at someone setting Siri up like this.

The fact that Tesco is sending the iPhone back to Apple for “diagnostic tests” is even more hilarious.

via @imyke

Sounds like Todd Wasserman maybe has a hunting buddy with a helicopter.

Speaking of podcasts, Brett was kind enough to have me on as a guest for episode five of his new podcast. Here’s the description:

This week discussion ranges from tattoo inventory and selling stuff online to telling your kids that Santa doesn’t exist. Brett and Stephen recall their experiences of drinking on airplanes and Myke interrogates Stephen about the alcohol of his homeland.

It was the most fun I’ve had behind a microphone in a while.

This week, Myke and I discussed unnatural disasters that took innocent lives on both sides of the pond.