Forgive the cliche, but coming to work for Booking.com has been one of the best decisions. Within a week of arriving to the Netherlands, I had already created two UI experiments and pushed code to the live site. It was intimidating and thrilling at the same time. Those feelings haven’t left. I’m constantly humbled by the more than 300 super intelligent colleagues of 51+ nationalities! I learn every day. If there’s a day I don’t? It means I wasn’t in the office.
posts
On Disembodied Fingers and the iPhone 5s⇢
Mike Wehner:
Once the tissue is dead – which, in the case of someone chopping your finger off without your consent, should happen within a matter of minutes – two things will happen. First, the finger will lose all electrical charge and will fail to even activate the sensor, and secondly, if by some chance the sensor could be artificially activated, the RF reader that is searching for a print will find no living tissue and fail, leaving the device locked.
If Breaking Bad Had Been Set in The U.K.⇢
Silly America.
OS X 10.8.5 Ships⇢
Apple:
The OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 Update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users. It improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. This update:
Fixes an issue that may prevent Mail from displaying messages
Improves AFP file transfer performance over 802.11ac Wi-Fi
Resolves an issue that may prevent a screen saver from starting automatically
Improves Xsan reliability
Improves reliability when transferring large files over Ethernet
Twitter Files for IPO⇢
The company announced the move in a tweet, naturally:
We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.
Voyager 1 Has Officially Left the Solar System⇢
Jia-Rui C. Cook at NASA:
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. The 36-year-old probe is about 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) from our sun.
New and unexpected data indicate Voyager 1 has been traveling for about one year through plasma, or ionized gas, present in the space between stars. Voyager is in a transitional region immediately outside the solar bubble, where some effects from our sun are still evident.
The Prompt 013: S for Sfingerprint⇢
The day after Apple’s 2013 iPhone event, we discuss the keynote, iPhone 5c, the 5s and more. Rejected titles include “Federico’s Confessions” and “It’s A Win Win Win Win Win."
Sponsored by Squarespace (use code TALLYHO9 for a special 20% off)
The C Stands for Siiiiiiiigh
While in the past, Apple’s just bumped down the current-gen phone, this time, the old phone got a facelift on its way to mid-range land. With the exception of the case and the FaceTime camera, the iPhone 5c is the exact same phone that occupied the top-tier slot until 24 hours ago.
While the changes seem easy to write off, in reality, the 5c is a genius marketing move on Apple’s part. Many are predicting that it may out-sell the 5s. The 5c will not only pick up the market of people who either can’t or don’t pay for the high-end phone, but will be very attractive to new customers as well. The fact that that iPhone is now following in the colorful footsteps of iPod isn’t by accident.
Apple Cans Cards Service⇢
Crickets.
AppleCare+ Sees Changes⇢
Jonathan Seff outlines the changes, but the highlights include a higher repair fee and the ability to purchase the plan for iPods.
Apple Special Event: September 2013⇢
85 minutes of the iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S and Elvis Costello.
RSS Sponsor: Careers at Booking.com⇢
The front-end team at Booking.com continues to grow and we are looking for talented UX Designers, Web Designers, Product Owners, and Front End Developers to come help us create the world’s best accommodation platform.
You’ll work at our head office in central Amsterdam which is sandwiched in-between canals, museums and the occasional statue of an old Dutch master (good evening, Mr. Rembrandt). We’ll pay to move you and your family from anywhere in the world; USA, Portugal, New Zealand, Brazil, Japan, just to name a few! We’ll provide short-term accommodation and help you adjust to your new home in Amsterdam. You’ll be given the freedom to make impactful improvements to a website and collection of apps used by millions of people. We also have unique company perks like bicycle reimbursement, on site lunch, monthly parties, and our world class year end party complete with live performances!