MyAppleMenu - Thu, Mar 19, 2015

Thu, Mar 19, 2015 The Create-A-City, Spot-A-Tiger Edition

Tiger-Tagging App Aims to Boost Surveillance

Jonathan Webb, BBC:

The project is called Wildsense and it emerges from research at the University of Surrey, where a team of computer scientists has a particular passion for wildlife conservation - and they want to share that with the public.

They have developed the app as a tool to turn the internet's vast wealth of images, and the help of willing iPad users, into valuable data for conservationists.

The 'SimCity' Empire Has Fallen and 'Skylines' Is Picking up the Pieces

Emanuel Maiberg, Motherboard:

​> Mariina Hallikainen, CEO of small Finnish game developer Colossal Order, is having a good day. When I call her, it's only been a few hours since she learned that Colossal Order's SimCity-like game, Cities: Skylines, has sold more than half a million copies in its first week. The first 250,000 of those were sold in the first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling game its publisher Paradox Interactive has ever released.

Apple Is Ignoring a Major Problem with MacBook Screen Stains

Matthew Humphries, Geek:

From viewing the images it looks to be an issue with the screen coating Apple applies at the point of manufacture. The bonding is possibly breaking down and forms what looks like a stain in the display. Alternatively, it could be related to cleaning products used on the display or keyboard area, but surely there’d be many more cases of staining if this was the cause.

Stuff.

What seems likely from Launcher’s history and return to the App Store, though, is that Apple has been thinking about the way developers take advantage of iOS 8, and even without a public update on their guidelines, they are loosening some of the restrictions from last year.

TouchTone is a dark, smooth puzzle game about the surveillance state. The player manipulates simple, clean circuits of light -- and once they all connect, must review information logs and decide whether to flag them as suspicious.

Behind the App: The Story of Simplenote

Andy Orin, Lifehacker:

It wasn't a hit overnight, but Simplenote's popularity slowly snowballed and now it's available on a variety of platforms. We caught up with Fred and Mike to hear a bit of their story behind the app.

Develop.

The Changing - And Unchanging - Structure of TV

Ben Thompson, Stratechery:

The benefit for Apple is the strengthening of their ecosystem: owning the TV will make iPhone and Watches more valuable; this too is the main way in which consumers win, and why they will switch: a better UI, better integration with their devices, and a company that actually cares. Just be prepared to pay the same, if not more, than you pay today.

Screens May Be Terrible for You, and Now We Know Why

Brandon Keim, Wired:

For more than 3 billion years, life on Earth was governed by the cyclical light of sun, moon and stars. Then along came electric light, turning night into day at the flick of a switch. Our bodies and brains may not have been ready.

Hardware Designs Should Be Free. Here's How to Do It

Richard Stallman, Wired:

We already have suitable licenses to make our hardware designs free. What we need is to recognize as a community that this is what we should do and to insist on free designs when we fabricate objects ourselves.

Notes.

In short, Apple Pay’s security, speed, and convenience became a stress test for the banks that could expose otherwise manageable weaknesses in their processes and decisions.

Parting Words

Thanks for reading.