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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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About the new version of the backup utility:

Have no fear. SuperDuper v3.0 is here, and it includes full High Sierra HFS+ and APFS support!

Dave Nanian has written about the changes under the hood required to support APFS+ on his blog.

3.0 is a free update to owners of SuperDuper and is out now.

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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.

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This fortnight on Ungeniused:

People have raced hamsters, pigs and even turtles for years. Dive into the world of illegal betting on backyard race tracks and … whatever it is turtles do when they are in competition with one another.

My thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this episode. Enter offer code UNGENIUSED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

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This week on Query, we’re back with our iPhone X impressions, answers about the cameras, Face ID and more.

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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.

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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.

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