Dan Moren, Macworld.com:

Apple’s social networking service for music, which debuted as part of iTunes 10 in 2010, has come to an end. A message on the service says that it will no longer be available as of September 30.

Thank goodness. I haven’t been given cause to say this about many Apple creations, but what a turd of a product. Good riddance.

M.G. Siegler, writing for TechCrunch:

Apple is not and will not make changes just for the sake of change. And while some may now be clamoring for this change, the paradox is that if Apple did make some big changes, many of the same people would bitch and moan about them. Apple is smart enough to know that in this case, most people don’t really want change, they just think that they do because that’s the easiest way to perceive value: visual newness.

With every release of the iPhone, people conflate visuals and innovation. Form and function are not mutually exclusive and aesthetic isn’t the only component of design.

Sure, the iPhone 5 looks like a stretched iPhone 4S - for good reason, the design works. It’s understandable that people often associate a new package with an innovative product. But consider the magic in what Apple accomplished with the iPhone 5.

Apple enhanced graphics performance on the retina screen, added a faster processor, threw in the latest Wi-Fi and cellular technology, and improved the camera. They did all of this while simultaneously shrinking the phone’s thickness by 20% and maintaining or improving battery life. That’s the magic. That’s the turn.

A wonderful post from Dr. Chad Shafer:

“Never forget!”  How could anyone forget?  This is rhetorical.

Eleven years older, maybe wiser.  I dream of the small things.  We cannot forget 9/11, but I wish we could remember the next day just a little bit better.

Also, if you aren’t following Dr. Shafer, shame on you. His photo-of-the-day posts are worth it alone, where he lets you live vicariously through his prolific travels.

Eleven years ago, I was driving to school in rural Tecumseh, Oklahoma. As a senior, I decided it best to play hooky from first hour that day. I was arriving later than normal and happened to be listening to the radio. Shortly before 8:00 a.m. CDT, news interrupted whatever music I was listening to, reporting an explosion at the World Trade Center. Details were scarce, but soon after there were reports of another explosion. It was then that reporters began to mention that planes were flown into the towers.

I entered my English class and the television was already tuned to news coverage of the crashes. It wasn’t long after that the subsequent attack at the Pentagon and the crash at Shanksville, Pennsylvania were reported. I distinctly remember the feeling of lost control. Our country was under attack and whatever false sense of security we felt in our small school was destroyed. It brought back raw memories of the Oklahoma City bombing. We spent all day in that room watching coverage of the terrorist attacks and discussing our feelings.

After school, I went to my job at the local grocery store. I remember the panic of people buying food and supplies - telling of sky-high gas prices and rumors of other attacks. With the benefit of calm hindsight, there was little to fear in a rural town that sits 30 minutes east of Oklahoma City. However, in that moment, we were all of one country and of one people - borders melted and petty differences washed away. As far as everyone knew in Tecumseh, we were all under attack. September 11 was an unreal day, one that forever changed the course of our country.

As we remember that day eleven years ago, we are flooded with tributes that tell us to “never forget”. I always find such statements bizarre, especially so for this event. How can we forget something that hasn’t ended? Sure, the instantaneous events of that day are long gone and our lives have resumed. Make no mistake, the ramifications of September 11 are still felt today - it isn’t over.

Families lost loved ones and the associated pain is never gone - they can’t forget. To this day, we are all forced to remove shoes, endure physical pat-downs, and face unknown radiation effects - liberty lost for security gained. To ordinary citizens, we can’t forget. Our country entered two wars following that day. Soldiers were injured, maimed, and killed. I personally know people who lost members of their family while they defended our country. Those wounds, mental and physical alike, are still fresh - they can’t forget.

Speaking of war, the mission in Afghanistan remains active. Think about that for a minute. The youngest soldiers fighting today in a war spawned by the September 11 attacks were in first grade when those planes stole our innocence. Despite the deaths of the mastermind and dozens of his underlings, we remain. Despite frequent attacks from those our soldiers try to help, we remain. Despite no clear outcome goal, we remain. We have asked brave soldiers and their families to endure over a decade of hell in the name of our safety. Meanwhile, the politicians in charge of their plight waste time bickering about petty nonsense like fucking tax returns or birth certificates. Even more egregious, they either politicize the military’s effort as a means for career gain, or worse, they fail to acknowledge the soldiers who still fight today, even with millions listening. To those who are still defending our freedoms, the reverberations of planes crashing into buildings are still felt today - they can’t forget.

Hopefully as time passes, lessons will be learned from that day, wounds will be healed, and innocence restored. As we reflect on events that transpired eleven years ago, let’s not worry about forgetting. Our entire world is filled with reminders of that day. We can’t help but to remember September 11. We will surely never forget.

Fabian Oefner:

What you see on these images are color pigments dancing on a speaker. By placing the pigments on a speaker and then playing music through it, the membrane of the speaker starts to vibrate, creating these funny looking figures. To capture the very moment, in which the pigments are lifted into the air, a microphone was attached to the flash system. Like this every time the micro picks up a sound, it triggers the flashes.

These are pretty awesome photos. Oefner also gives a behind-the-scenes look at the project.

Paul Bourke:

The following is a “photographic” gallery of fractals patterns found while exploring the planet with Google Earth. Each is provided with a KMZ file so the reader can explore the region for themselves.

Very cool.

Not long ago, Rush Limbaugh once again confirmed his idiocy to the world when he referred to National Hurricane Center meteorologists as “weather dolts.” I wanted to scream until red in the face at his comment, but being a Ph.D. candidate in meteorology meant that people would assume a bias. Plus, every time Rush Limbaugh’s name is mentioned, a cute chinchilla gets kicked in the shin.¹

With apt timing, the ever awesome Nate Silver came to the rescue:

Why are weather forecasters succeeding when other predictors fail? It’s because long ago they came to accept the imperfections in their knowledge. That helped them understand that even the most sophisticated computers, combing through seemingly limitless data, are painfully ill equipped to predict something as dynamic as weather all by themselves. So as fields like economics began relying more on Big Data, meteorologists recognized that data on its own isn’t enough.

It’s a long piece, but Silver does a great job of conveying the realities and uncertainties associated with weather forecasting.

I study methods to model turbulence in the lowest portion of the atmosphere, so forecasting isn’t something I directly deal with. However, I personally know many who do forecast and they are good - damn good. So, I urge to you to read Silver’s article and make Rodney Dangerfield happy by giving forecasters a little respect.

Doree Shafrir tells of her struggles with parasomnia and shares the stories of some who have been injured (or killed in one case) as a result of such sleeping disorders. As someone who has had bouts with sleep walking since childhood, I found Shafrir’s article both intriguing and disconcerting.

Mark Milian and Adam Satariano, reporting for Businessweek, on the rise of blogger John Gruber:

Last year, Apple inducted Gruber into an elite club of outsiders who get access to products before they hit stores, a group that includes Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times.

It wasn’t soon after switching to the Mac platform that I quickly became aware of John Gruber. His would be the one I would pick if I was only allowed to read one Apple website. While an unapologetic fan of what makes Apple products great, he writes with an honest voice, whether that be shining a positive or negative light on the company. I think it is pretty cool that a guy started a one-man operation and through hard work and great writing built a brand - a brand associated with passion, love of detail, and wit. If you like design and/or Apple and related technologies, give him a read.

Nilay Patel, The Verge:

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Verge that Amazon is working on a smartphone that runs a variant of the Kindle Fire’s Android-based operating system, and we’re now hearing that the device will be shown to the press tomorrow.

Interesting. One advantage that Amazon will have that Google didn’t when they first launched the Nexus - the experience to handle direct customer support.