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The Before-And-After Edition Friday, April 8, 2016

Apple Shares 'Behind The Scenes' Look At Recent Siri Ad Starring Cookie Monster, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

In the ad, we see some before and after shots, showing more footage of Cookie Monster waiting for his cookies. Cookie Monster asks over and over again when his cookies will be ready, and has a cute conversation with Siri where he offers her a cookie when they're done.

What The iPhone Has Done To Cameras Is Completely Insane, by Roberto A. Ferdman, Washington Post

The biggest hit has been to point-and-shoot cameras. Sales of the lower-quality, fixed-lens, hand-held devices way too many people used to tie to their wrists have fallen off a cliff since the iPhone's introduction. And few no one expects them to climb back up.

Healthy Check

Can You Trust An App With Your Mental Health?, by Jean Hannah Edelstein, The Guardian

To truly help people achieve recovery, or at least management, of mental health issues, we need to regard it as a community epidemic. Maybe some apps can contribute to that. But real, living humans will play a far more important part.

Stuff

Outlook For Android And iOS Adds Facebook, Evernote, And Wunderlist Calendars, by Chris Welch, The Verge

Today the company announced a new feature called Calendar Apps, which lets you integrate calendars and to-dos from other apps — Facebook, Evernote, and Wunderlist to start — and puts it all in one place next to your everyday calendar.

How To Create Stunning Double Exposures With Enlight, by Rob Lefebvre, Cult of Mac

Launch Enlight, then choose two photos: the image you want to superimpose on top, and the image you want to choose for the base layer.

Activity++ Review, by Jake Underwood, MacStories

Activity++ will make its way onto your devices because of its convenience. On either platform, the app presents activity data in digestible sets of information that are accessible and void of any clutter. Don't think, however, that the data is simple; rather, consider that Activity++ has a form of presentation superior to Apple's own Activity app.

Microsoft's Hub Keyboard App Is Now Available For iOS, by Nick Statt, The Verge

Hub Keyboard mixes a neat minimal design with some powerful attachment and search buttons on top.

How Mickey Mouse Ended Up In Crossy Road, by Andrew Webster, The Verge

When tiny studio Hipster Whale created the smash hit mobile game Crossy Road, it did so over the course of just 12 weeks with a team of just three people. But the follow-up, the recently announced Disney Crossy Road, isn't quite so small. The game, which launches today on iOS and Android, took nearly a year to create, a collaboration between Hipster Whale and developers at Disney. It features nine different worlds based on franchises like Toy Story and Zootopia, and nearly 150 characters to collect and play as. "It's been a much bigger project," says Hipster Whale's Matt Hall. "We can solve some of the problems that we saw in Crossy Road by rebooting it, so to speak."

Develop

Why I Love Ugly, Messy Interfaces — and You Probably Do Too, by Jonas Downey, Signal v Noise

Products that solve big, hairy problems are life savers. I love using these products because they work so damn well. Sure they’re kind of a sprawling mess. That’s exactly why they work!

We needn’t all pray at the beautiful minimalist design altar. Design doesn’t have to be precious. Toss out your assumptions and build what works best.

Google Is Said To Be Considering Swift As A ‘First Class’ Language For Android, by Nate Swanner, The Next Web

About the time Swift was going open source, representatives for three major brands — Google, Facebook and Uber — were at a meeting in London discussing the new language. Sources tell The Next Web that Google is considering making Swift a “first class” language for Android, while Facebook and Uber are also looking to make Swift more central to their operations.

Notes

Apple Disappointed In Mississippi Religious Objections Law, by Bracey Harris, The Clarion-Ledger

In a statement Thursday, the corporation said the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act "empowers discrimination."

FBI Director: We Bought 'A Tool' To Hack Terrorist's iPhone, by Charles Riley, and Lorenzo Ferrigno, CNNMoney

"The people we bought this from, I know a fair amount about them, and I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it, and their motivations align with ours," he said.

The FBI director also said the purchased tool worked only on a "narrow slice of phones" that does not include the newest Apple models, or the 5S.

Bottom of the Page

My right leg cramped out in the middle of the last night, and I woke up with a headache this morning. And I am glad I survived today.

~

Thanks for reading.