David Sparks discusses Apple’s sandboxing requirement for apps sold through the Mac App Store and what it might mean for your favorite software once implemented.

So as users what does all of this mean for us right now? It is hard to say. We could be looking at a serious threat to some of our favorite software or we could be tilting at windmills. Hopefully it is the latter not the former. In the meantime, as a software purchaser, this causes me to pause with respect to purchasing applications in the Mac App Store.

David Ogilvy, in a memo titled “How to Write”:

Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints.

Kathleen McAuliffe, The Atlantic:

Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he’s now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? A biologist’s science- fiction hunch is gaining credence and shaping the emerging science of mind- controlling parasites.

Add this to the list of ways my cats drive me crazy.

Jason Kincaid, reporting for TechCrunch:

Which is why my jaw dropped when I saw that VEVO, a property jointly owned by some of the biggest record labels in the world, was showing a pirated stream of an ESPN football game at its Sundance PowerStation venue last month — on no fewer than two televisions, and a pair of laptops.

VEVO is a Hulu-like consortium for music videos. It is owned by three of America’s Big Four music labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI. The Big Four are a huge component of the RIAA. That’s the same RIAA that staunchly supported SOPA and PIPA, and whose CEO whined about the legislation’s death.

It will be very telling in how this situation is handled. As Michael Arrington notes:

The only way for the legislators and copyright holders who are fighting for tougher copyright laws to maintain any credibility whatsoever is for them to pursue any and all violators, even their own, as aggressively as they pursue everyone else.

Paint me cynical, but I don’t see that happening.

Jim Dalrymple:

… support for the BlackBerry will continue until May 12, 2012.

The U.S. government will instead supply workers with new iPhones and iPads.

Maybe I will reconsider whether to go private sector or government upon graduation.

(via: Ross Kimes)

Every debonair gentleman should know this.

The secret is to fold the shirt in half rather than in thirds. In other words, when the shirt is on its front laid out for folding, turn the sleeve sides over only a quarter of the way, leaving a space between them. Then fold the bottom up so the shirt is roughly halved into a square. Leaving all the folds loose will also help the shirt’s appearance, but only marginally as the state of being packed will inevitably press it to a certain extent.

Jason Kottke on the famous American Gothic painting:

The models he used for the painting were his sister Nan Wood Graham and his dentist, Byron McKeeby.

He also includes a photo of the background house and a photo of the models standing next to the painting. Very cool.

Nate Anderson of Ars Technica offers an awesome point-by-point dismissal of RIAA CEO Cary Sherman’s cry-baby op-ed.

Imagine that you have a friend who wants to clean the public golf course of chipmunks by dumping rat poison by the bucketful from helicopters. You think this is a… misguided idea. But the friend has the ear of the town council and convinces one member to introduce a bill mandating mass quantities of arsenic to be dumped on the golf course. You show up to a hearing and suggest the poison could cause other problems. The friend then goes to a local newspaper and for months trashes your good name, suggesting that you are a dishonest scumbag who furthermore likes the golf course chipmunks and probably profits from them by selling them to research labs by the minivan load. For what it’s worth, the friend suggests that you also support killing the town’s seniors with tainted heart medication imported from abroad.

These jackasses still don’t get it. Do you know why Apple’s iTunes succeeded in the face of piracy? Because they made it easier to just buy the content. They treated customers like, well, paying customers. Idiots like the RIAA and MPAA would rather treat their paying customers like criminals. Instead of making content easy to enjoy, they would rather wrap it in DRM or require distribution through bullshit like UltraViolet.

If these companies want to succeed in selling their increasingly awful music and unimaginative movies, then they should stop punishing those who support their industry for the acts of people who were never going to buy in the first place. Steve Jobs was right - these people still have their heads stuck up their collective asses.

I have had the pleasure of designing the website for the National Weather Center Benefit Bash since its inception. The real work, though, is done by the amazing planning committee. They put together the Benefit Bash in order to promote an awareness of weather related natural disasters through aiding those affected by them. The first Benefit Bash was held in 2009 and donated $550 to a victim of the Lone Grove, Oklahoma tornado. In 2010 the Bash Committee presented $1600 to the Heart of Oklahoma Chapter of the American Red Cross to assist their winter storm recovery efforts. Last year, the Bash Committee donated $1800 to the Heart of Oklahoma Chapter to assist victims of the May 10, 2010 Oklahoma tornadoes.

The 4th Annual Benefit Bash will be held this Saturday, February 11, from 7:00p.m. - 11:00 p.m. The night will feature great music - including a live performance from Thundersnow Machine - dancing, games, and prizes. The theme is “Under the Sea” and attire is semi-formal. Due to space constraints, participants are limited to OU’s South Research Campus faculty, staff, students, and their guests. Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased in advance¹ or at the door. Raffle prize entries are $1 each, with donors receiving recognition at the event.

Proceeds will be donated to the Piedmont Service Center. The Piedmont Service Center is an all-volunteer social service agency that is tasked with long-term relief in the Piedmont area, which was hit by an EF-5 tornado on May 24, 2011. The Piedmont Service Center’s main concern is housing residents who lost their homes to the tornado, half of whom are still without housing.

Additional information can be found on the Benefit Bash webpage. If you are interested in making a donation, please contact the planning committee. Any amount is greatly appreciated and would really help an awesome group.

So, make Barney Stinson proud and suit up, dance, and support a worthwhile cause. This year’s Bash is sure to be legen – wait for it – dary.

Speaking of Tweetbot, version 2.0 for iPhone was released today. The best iPhone Twitter client just got better.

Federico Viticci:

Tweetbot 2.0 accomplishes the difficult goal of dramatically enhancing Tweetbot 1.0 while keeping everything familiar and accessible, proving that Tapbots can still make the best Twitter client around.