I watched this yesterday and was impressed, but I hadn’t tried it. Now I have tried it several times and I am dumbfounded by how well this tip works. Not only do I only need one paper towel to dry my hands, but they are actually more dry in the end. Amazing.
Since we last checked in the TSA had a huge check mark they put in the win column, [when they found gun parts in a stuffed animal and a knife in walker of an elderly person](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0514-travel-briefcase-20120514,0,5437194.story). The story is rather surprising to me, not because the TSA did their job, or bragged about doing their job, but because some person thought that these tactics would work. The kicker:
>A man traveling with his 4-year-old son contended that he didn’t know the gun parts were in his son’s toys.
That’s a crafty 4-year-old.
Speaking of crafty, [the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general surveyed how well the TSA is doing at fixes problems after security breaches are found and as CNN reports](http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/15/us/tsa-breaches/index.html):
>The Transportation Security Administration is failing to adequately report, track and fix airport security breaches, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
>As a result, the TSA “does not have a complete understanding” of breaches at the nation’s airports, says a report from the inspector general.
Well, if you can’t fix the problem, hide the problem.
Speaking of problems, apparently the TSA doesn’t care if you are former advisor of presidents and Nobel Peace Prize winner — nope that won’t stop the TSA from groping you. Just ask former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 89, [who got the “full monty” from the TSA](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/henry-kissinger-gets-tsa-pat-down/2012/05/14/gIQAHDgBPU_blog.html). Patting down an old man in a wheel chair is bad enough, but it’s pretty bad when he probably has a higher security clearance than your boss.
What’s worse than that? Well how about buying $184 million dollars worth of security equipment and instead of installing it you just store it in a warehouse in Texas? [According to the Washington Post, that’s exactly what is going on](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/tsa-equipment-gathering-dust-house-investigators-say/2012/05/08/gIQAaG9WBU_story.html). Actually what’s worse is when you are a government agency that knows you are about to be found out, so this is what you do:
>The delay was a deliberate effort to get rid of 1,300 pieces of unused screening equipment before investigators arrived in February, the report said.
In the end, it didn’t work, but `A` for effort?
Speaking of the letter A ((Ok that was a stretch.)) , [the TSA wants to remove the “human factor” from viewing the porno-scanner images, instead replacing the human body with an avatar](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/body-scanner-vulnerabilities/) — no word yet if you can use your Twitter Avatar or not.
Lastly, since we are talking about identity, [a Newark Liberty Airport security supervisor is charged with identity theft](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRPORT_SUPERVISOR_FAKE_IDENTITY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-05-14-20-00-29) (hat tip to [John Gruber](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/15/air-travel-tsa)) — going back 10 years. Now I don’t think this guy was TSA, but I bet as a security supervisor, TSA didn’t think twice about letting him into secured areas. I have got to get me a security badge…
Chris Dixon:
>Google makes the vast majority of their revenues when people search for something to buy or hire. They don’t have to stoke demand – they simply harvest it. When people use Facebook, they are generally socializing with friends. You can put billboards all over a park, and maybe sometimes you’ll happen to convert people from non-purchasing to purchasing intents. But you end up with a cluttered park, and not very effective advertising.
Really great (short) post that highlights a key problem for Facebook going forward.
Cyrus Farivar:
>General Motors has announced that it would be pulling its paid advertising from Facebook, saying that it had too little impact.
You mean people don’t click on ads *even* when those ads are on Facebook? Huh, who would have thought.
[Dustin Curtis argues that Ballmer shouldn’t even be on that Forbes list of CEOs to be fired, saying](http://dcurt.is/steve-ballmers-microsoft):
>Unfortunately, while fiscally rational decisions have been good enough to get Microsoft to where it is today, such decisions have never and will never catapult a company into the top of the future. It’s the difference between a CEO who is good enough and one who is better. Ballmer, I think, is firmly in the good enough camp.
>He might even be slightly better, because we should not forget this very consistently true fact: Microsoft makes around $5.5 billion every three months. In pure profit.
Don’t we all want a CEO that we can define as “good enough, maybe better”?
Curtis is right, Microsoft *is* profitable, but there’s another factor to success: value. After all a CEOs primary directive is to *increase* stakeholder value.
Let’s measure value by market cap, and the earliest market cap data I can find is from 6/30/2002, well after Ballmer took Microsoft’s reigns. At that time Microsoft had a market cap of $296.23 billion, as of this writing Microsoft has a market cap of $257.18 billion.
A loss in market cap value of $39.05 billon, **Billion**.
No matter what Microsoft nets quarterly, the company is still worth *less* today than it was when Ballmer took control.
And that’s being generous, take a look at this chart:
MSFT Market Cap data by YCharts
What this shows is that Microsoft’s market cap is highest at the beginning of the year, declining towards the end — it’s been doing this since 2008. So I think it’s safe to assume that by years end Microsoft will be worth far less than it is today (even if you average the market cap over the course of the year).
No matter how you look at it, Microsoft *is not* worth what it was when Ballmer took control. It doesn’t matter how well Ballmer does on a quarterly basis, because the aggregate shows the truth. [Ballmer needs to go](https://brooksreview.net/2011/05/ballmer/).
*And, again, I own stock in Microsoft.*
Adam Hartung:
>Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today. Not only has he singlehandedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets) but in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits of not only his company but “ecosystem” companies such as Dell, Hewlett Packard and even Nokia. The reach of his bad leadership has extended far beyond Microsoft when it comes to destroying shareholder value – and jobs.
[As I said a year ago](https://brooksreview.net/2011/05/ballmer/), he needs to be gone.
Back when my wife was registering for all of our “baby stuff” for showers she asked me which diaper bag we should get. I am pretty sure I said pick “whatever” because I was confident Target wouldn’t have what I wanted, and knew my wife wouldn’t put up with me spending months trying to find the *right* bag.
So now we have this shoulder bag that claims to be a diaper bag, something parents will likely need to carry almost every time they exit their homes for quite a while. And the bag we have isn’t very good.
I could list out everything wrong with the bag, but it’s just easier to say that there isn’t a single thing I like about our diaper bag. It almost offends me.
So I started looking for a better diaper bag. Weeks later I still hadn’t found a single diaper bag that looked suitable. They either looked like a diaper bag, or looked like something I would laugh at if I saw someone else carrying it.
Then I had an idea ((Which can be dangerous and is often expensive.)) . The best bag I have *is* my Tim Bihn Smart Alec, so what if I just used that bag. There’s a problem: I don’t want to own two, and I don’t want to have to go through the process of converting the bag into and back from a diaper bag every time.
Yet, after thinking about it more I realized that most everything I keep in the Smart Alec are things I would like to take anyways in a diaper bag outing, I just needed a quick way to add or subtract the diaper specific items and things like my MacBook Air.
Enter [Tom Bihn’s packing cubes](http://www.tombihn.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=001&Category_Code=PCUBES).
Since I can easily remove the padded laptop sleeve, and that being the only item I wouldn’t want when using the Smart Alec as a diaper bag, this looked like a simple fix.
I ordered [two of these packing cubes](http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/PCUBES/TB091) (Tri-Star small-all fabric and the same in the non-all-fabric option) and hoped they would be enough. Turns out they are perfect, but a third cube is needed for bottles, so I ordered [this one](http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/PCUBES/TB0915).
Now I have one packing cube with diapers and wipes. Another with a change of clothes. A third with all the other miscellany that ends up in the diaper bag and bottles. It takes me less than two minutes to go from computer bag to diaper bag.
That’s acceptable because I get to use a bag that I love.
What’s also neat is that the packing cubes still fit in the ”real” diaper bag, so it is still always ready to go for my wife (I toss the packing cubes back in that bag when I change out my backpack). So now I have a diaper bag that I love at very little extra cost, and a system that is very flexible.
I only wish I had thought of this weeks ago.
I know most of you don’t use the Smart Alec, but the nice thing about this is that there are probably packing cubes that fit your setup very nicely — it’s worth playing with, because diaper bags suck.
A fantastic post by `brentcas` in *The Verge* forums ((Still the place to find the best content on *The Verge*.)) rethinking the app switcher in iOS. I don’t like all of the concepts that he introduces (such as clear all apps), but I think what he shows *is* a better app switcher.
For starters I like the idea of two dedicated pages, one for settings and another for music, that show page specific controls below the menubar. The double-tap home button is massively convenient, but right now I think Apple is limiting its usefulness too much.
I always thought mine was fairly uncommon, but it turns out I am wrong (despite never knowing anyone that shares my birthday with me). But, wow, look at July, August, and September.
iCloud is Apple’s online “cloud” offering of sync, storage, email, and more. It is the successor of MobileMe and thus also the successor to the infamous .Mac, but it’s more than just a new name — it’s a new game for Apple. This time around Apple [knows how important iCloud](http://gigaom.com/apple/for-apple-icloud-is-just-the-beginning/) is to the success of iOS and OS X.
A [report from the Wall Street Journal](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577404180417927436.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines) (subscription required) talks about rumored upgrades to iCloud — all of which make sense if you really think about how important iCloud is to Apple. iCloud is essentially the sanity glue for all iOS+Mac users out there — of which there are millions.
iOS and OS X can survive on their own without iCloud — that much we know from history. However, at this point, iOS and Mac OS X cannot survive *together* without iCloud — because without iCloud the alternative is Exchange or iTunes, both of which are cumbersome at best and downright aggravating most of the time.
Apple products are often described as something that ‘just works’ and while you may disagree with that, it’s hard to disagree with the notion that a large part of the ’just works’ ideology is: seamless integration of hardware and software.
That’s easy with laptops, that’s easy with mobile, but it’s hard if you want the seamless integration *between* two different (or same for that matter) devices. This is why most of us nerds love Dropbox sync, because Dropbox makes it easier to work on two Macs in a back and forth scenario. This is what iCloud is trying to solve between not only Macs, but Macs and iOS.
This is why iCloud success is crucial to Apple.
This is a problem Microsoft will also need to solve, but by the very nature of Google, it’s not a problem that Google need solve — because they have solved it as much as they want to: use Google products only on the web, we don’t do desktop.
It only makes sense then that iCloud keeps expanding, because the more tasks it takes on between devices, the happier users will be and Apple will also strengthen two key areas:
1. Bullet point checklists when compared with competitors.
2. Platform lock-in. If all your data lives in iCloud and not Microsoft or Google, well you are far less likely to undertake such a large data migration.
I would be surprised if iCloud wasn’t a very large part of WWDC this year. Apple will be putting the finishing touches on iCloud’s integration with iOS and Mac OS X, but they will also need developers to give widespread adoption to its use for the service to catch on.
This should scare Microsoft and Google, but more than that I think it should scare Dropbox. As much as I love Dropbox, iCloud is easier.
A widely adopted, seamless, fast, robust iCloud is the greatest threat to Apple’s competitors — and this time around I think Apple knows it.
Engadget has an update from Kaspersky about whether they are really working with Apple or not:
>The article reports that Kaspersky Lab had “begun the process of analyzing the Mac OS platform at Apple’s request” to identify vulnerabilities. This statement was taken out of context by the magazine – Apple did not invite or solicit Kaspersky Lab’s assistance in analyzing the Mac OS X platform.
That doesn’t sound so much like the publications fault, as much as Kaspersky stretching the truth. Good luck working with Apple now, Kaspersky.
Joe Kissell on the annoying habit of getting calendars alerts spread out across all your Apple devices at roughly the same time:
>Ultimately, I would like to see a system of cascading alerts. My devices make their best guess about which one is primary at the moment, and display any alerts on just that one device. If I dismiss an alert there, that’s the end of the story. If a few minutes go by without any action from me, the next-most-likely device displays the alert, and so on. But regardless of where I ultimately see that alert, explicitly dismissing it makes it disappear from all my screens.
I like that idea and think it may be the most simple from a users perspective. I always thought another way would for Macs and iOS devices to somehow know (maybe by WiFi network) when they are near each other and only sound the alert once.
This is a really tough problem to solve for Apple, but I think we can be assured they are working on it. If evidenced by Messages on the Mac alone. When you are iMessageing you don’t get alerts on all your devices under very particular circumstances — that’s Apple’s acknowledgment of the annoyance factor that comes from multiple alerts. And Messages largely works in a very similar manner to what Kissell is suggesting.
So if you want to know the direction Apple may take with calendar alerts, I don’t think you need to look any further than Messages on the Mac.
Or more specifically: “What the Dark Sky team learned when trying to get pre-ordered copies of their iOS app to backers.”
The end result of which was a massive increase in funds spent. I look forward to reading more of their posts about their Kickstarter experience.
Work isn’t a place – it’s what you do.
And you might work on a lot of devices – a Mac, an iPhone, an iPad – in a lot of places. You might work on the road or maybe from home (with your Aeropress and clickity keyboard). And that makes it hard to securely use a shared drive, coordinate with clients and collaborate with your team.
Igloo offers a complete digital workplace – you get full access to all your files, project discussions and plans for world domination. The information you need to work is available anywhere in the world, literally at your fingertips.
Igloo has a space for your team. Each team gets dedicated file sharing, Twitter-like microblogs, activity streams and a host of other collaboration tools in one cloud-based platform. [Plans start at just $4/user/month](http://j.mp/KcOveJ).
Work better, not harder.
Enter to [win an Aeropress](http://j.mp/IXAEgh) and [try Igloo free for 30 days](http://j.mp/IXAEgh).
I never thought I would want to stick something like this on my desk or any other piece of furniture — so when these came out I dismissed them. Then my wife and I moved and we each got new nightstands — nightstands that had no way to keep our charger cables on the top.
After weeks of have to fish around the floor to plugin my phone and then try to discern in the dark if I had a hold of the iPad or iPhone charger, well I broke down a bought these. This is easily in the top 10 of best things I have bought for $10 or less.
They just work perfectly, no really.
So if you notice that you have a cable that keeps dropping to the floor when you want it on your desk, or wherever, do yourself a favor and order these.
(They also come in other colors, [like white](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004K2YBQI/ref=nosim&tag=brooksreview-20).)
Nate Barham offers up a suggestion on why digital pagination is oddly nice:
>The fact that the page-flip animation is “slow,” that’s a feature. As someone who teaches literature and language every day, processing time can be a huge factor in a reader’s ability to internalize and apply information. Pagination can be helpful in doing so with digital content.
After reading this I couldn’t help but notice that I do enjoy that fraction of a second break that I get when I “flip” the page.
This is really interesting to me, because even though I hate skeuomorphic tricks — well — I prefer the iBooks style pagination in Instapaper. It just feels right to me. Scrolling is too tedious and the fast pagination is too fast and disorienting. I like the iBooks page flip — oddly enough.
My thanks to Smile for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote their PDFpen software. It is the best PDF software you can get for your Mac, but don’t just take my word for it.
Macworld just reviewed the [PDFpenPro](http://www.macworld.com/article/1166723/pdfpenpro_5_8_1_a_feature_filled_app_for_pdfs.html) and [PDFpen for iPad](http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=1180638&expand=true), giving them [4.5](http://www.macworld.com/article/1166723/pdfpenpro_5_8_1_a_feature_filled_app_for_pdfs.html) and [4](http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=1180638&expand=true) mice respectively.
As a TBR reader you can save $15, allowing you to get both the Mac software and iPad app for the price you would pay for *just* the Mac app. What a deal.
Paul Smalera:
>It’s easy to believe that Facebook can stay in control of the Web in perpetuity by acquiring tech’s prettiest young things. But remember that a decade ago, Google looked like the substrate of the Internet. Nearly everything about the way we surfed flowed through Google. Now, not so much. While Google is far from toppled, a tectonic shift has created new land masses in the ocean, where previously there was only misty horizon.
Google was in trouble the minute TV ads started showing their Facebook URLs instead of their web address. Companies now say: “find us on Facebook” and that’s bad for Google because Facebook has its own search box free of Google ads.