In February, I posted a link to a story that found Google was willfully usurping browser cookie settings in iPhones and iPads in order to track users.

The Federal Trade Commission just punished them:

Google Inc. has agreed to pay a record $22.5 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it misrepresented to users of Apple Inc.’s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking “cookies” or serve targeted ads to those users, violating an earlier privacy settlement between the company and the FTC.

Now, to Google, $22.5 million is a cup of coffee. However, the public implications are far broader. This case, coupled with other recent behavior, acts to erode Google’s brand trust. Millions of people do not mind that they are the product packaged for Google’s customers - the advertisers. However, when privacy is so recklessly disregarded, users might just decide they are no longer for sale.

Design agency, Now!:

Wikipedia is one of our favorite sources of accumulated knowledge, hats off to Jimmy Wales.

But from the user’s and designer’s point of view it still has room to improve.

That’s why we decided to spend two spring months on this project, looking for the ways how to make it better, reader or editor friendlier, clearer and aesthetically satisfying.

Wikipedia is an awesome collection of knowledge. It is also an ugly (and confusing for some) website. I like the proposed changes by Now!, even if they will never happen.

Jay Yarrow, Business Insider, on Samsung’s - shall we say - inspired designs:

It’s not an Apple exclusive thing.

Are all of Samsung’s designs stolen? Of course not. That’s not what we’re saying. But, there are a lot of products through the years that were clearly inspired by a rival.

Check out the photos. Not sure how you defend that.

Kevin Quealy and Graham Roberts looks at how historically impressive Usain Bolt was in winning the 100m in 9.63 seconds:

Based on the athletes’ average speeds, if every Olympic medalist raced each other, Usain Bolt (the London version) would win, with a wide distribution of Olympians behind him.

Check out the awesome data visualizations used to compare runners dating back to the 1896 Athens games.

tl;dr: Usain Bolt is damn fast.

(via: Oliver Reichsten)

The Oatmeal gives an awesome visual history of the music industry’s evolution. In regards to their vision of the future, it is already happening with success.

Adam Mann, Wired.com, details how to follow the landing of NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity. The touch-down is roughly on target for Sunday, August 5 at 10:30 p.m. PDT (August 6, 1:30 a.m EDT). Hopefully it succeeds.

John Brownlee, Cult of Mac:

The Samsung vs. Apple legal brouhaha has been a pretty tedious story to cover up until now, but over the last week, those of who with a professional interest in paying attention to the bickering were finally rewarded when Apple started coughing up images of their early iPhone prototypes in the court filings.

Be sure and check out the photos of the different iPhone prototypes. The only solace I take in how ugly some designs look is that Apple had the sense not to release them. I love seeing design evolution.

Dr. Harold Brooks looks at how the U.S. tornado count in 2012 compares historically:

One way of thinking about the late spring and early summer tornado season is that the atmosphere missed more than 40% of a typical year’s tornadoes in 3 1/2 months. Compared to 2003, the comparable period in 2012 had more than 900 fewer tornadoes.

Brooks also discusses issues that arise in attempting to make such comparisons. Worth the read.

Peter Bright, Ars Technica, reports that Microsoft is dropping their Windows 8 “Metro” branding in fear of legal disputes:

From now on, the new terminology that Microsoft is using is “Windows 8-style UI” when talking about Windows 8 applications, and “New User Interface” when talking about the company’s full product line-up.

Asked for comment, a Microsoft spokesman told us:

We have used ‘Metro style’ as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names.

First, you shouldn’t laugh at Microsoft because there is a possible legal dispute over the Metro name. Heck, Apple routinely shoots first and asks questions later.¹ You should laugh because they don’t have the sense to hold on to catchy branding for an innovative product - instead defaulting to some awful legacy-inspired nonsense.

Second, in regards to the comment from Microsoft, let me decode it for you:

We have used ‘Metro style’ during product development because that was the product’s name. As we approach launch, a German company might sue us, so we are transitioning to some uninspired, soulless name that only Steve Ballmer thinks is a good idea.

Once again, Redmond snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Embarrassing.

Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices, as quoted in a report from IDC:

The vast majority of consumers continue to favor the iPad over competitors, and Apple is seeing increasingly strong interest in the device from vertical markets—especially education. While iPad shipment totals are beginning to slow a bit in mature markets where the device saw early traction, growth in other regions is clearly more than making up the difference.

IDC reports that the iPad now comprises 68.2% of the tablet market, with Samsung the next closest competitor at 9.6%. The report notes that the companies chasing Apple are making inroads via 7-inch tablets. It is interesting to think how Apple’s 7-to-1 advantage might change if they were to release an iPad mini.