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Scrivener [Sponsor]

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Thanks to Scrivener for sponsoring the 512 Pixels RSS feed this week.

Writing a book or research paper is about more than hammering away at the keys until it’s done. Research, shuffling index cards to find that elusive structure - most software is only fired up after much of the hard work is completed.

Enter Scrivener, a content-generation tool that lets you compose and structure long and difficult documents based on material from multiple sources. Adopted by novelists, screenwriters, journalists, lawyers and academics alike, the program allows users to split the editor and view documents, PDF files, multimedia and other research materials next to each other. A virtual corkboard and outliner help with structuring or providing an overview of the draft. Collate, read and edit related text without affecting its place in the whole using Scrivener’s Collections feature. Close out the world in Full Screen mode. And when you’re finished, export to e-readers or the most popular word processing programs for submission.

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Facebook to Launch New Creepy Features Wednesday

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Liz Gannes at All Things D:

Facebook will on Wednesday launch the Open Graph applications it first debuted last September, sources told AllThingsD. These are the apps, made by outside developers, that “frictionlessly” and continuously share users’ actions back to Facebook after a user has given permission once.

The new apps behave similarly to the “read,” “listen” and “watch” Open Graph applications that have already rolled out in the past few months, which include the Washington Post, Spotify and Hulu. So every time your friends read an article or listen to a song, you might now learn about it on Facebook, and possibly even join them in reading or listening at the same time.

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An Interview with Erik Proseus of MemphisWeather.net

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Editor’s Note: One of the nice things about living in a city as large as Memphis is that there’s an independent source for just about everything, including weather coverage. I recently spoke with Erik Proseus, an aviation meteorologist and entrepreneur. Below is our full-length interview about what Erik does, MemphisWeather.net and his recent saga with Apple’s App Store approval process.

Stephen: Thanks for taking some time to talk to me about your app and what you do. For those readers outside of Memphis, what is it that you do? Erik: I own Cirrus Weather Solutions, a private meteorological firm based in Bartlett, TN. One of the primary “faces” of Cirrus is MemphisWeather.net, which provides a full suite of weather and climate data for the Memphis metro area to the general public. Over the past couple of years, one of the main vehicles we have embraced for information dissemination is social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter. Using social media, we have really worked to perfect a technique called “nowcasting,” which provides updated weather information for a hyperlocal area (for us, it’s the Memphis metro) during severe and winter weather. We discuss where storms are, where they are headed, when they will be there (or leave), what threats they pose, and especially details on any watches or warnings that are issued. It’s akin to “wall-to-wall coverage” on TV, only we use Facebook and Twitter, and we have achieved quite a following from people who have come to rely on this very specific information. This past spring, we branched out into mobile applications with Android and iPhone apps, which expands the products that we have provided for some time on our mobile website.

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Apple Posts 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report

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From the report:

Our audits have always checked for compliance with environmental standards. In 2011, in addition to our standard audits, we launched a specialized auditing program to address environmental concerns about certain suppliers in China. Third-party environmental engineering experts worked with our team to conduct detailed audits at 14 facilities. We uncovered some violations and worked with our suppliers to correct the issues. We will expand our environmental auditing program in the coming year.

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