Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac.com:

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has not been shy on the emailing as of late, has sent out a lengthy letter to all of his employees that is a direct response to these recent reports of factory worker mistreatment.

Cook’s opening:

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are. For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.

There is no doubt that Apple is leading the industry in terms of supplier responsibility and transparency. However, in light of recent reports, it is clear that problems still exist. The response by Tim Cook has a hint of “yeah, but we suck less.” The real question is, are U.S. consumers willing to trade their expectations of affordable pricing and immediate availability for improved working conditions? Recent sales figures suggest no.

On the heels of the absurd bill proposed by Sen. Ralph Shortey, Oklahoma is again making a national name for itself. Rep. Mike Reynolds has drafted legislation to ban homosexuals from serving in the Oklahoma National Guard. He is essentially trying to overturn the national repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell on the state level.

The Huffington Post:

The Tulsa World reported on Tuesday that state Rep. Mike Reynolds (R) of Oklahoma City introduced a bill to bar gays and lesbians from the Oklahoma National Guard. Reynolds told the World that the bill was created “in response to requests from members of the Oklahoma National Guard” and would reinstate DADT among the state’s part-time soldiers.

But according to the Human Rights Campaign and The Equality Network, the proposed bill goes even further. “The bill goes beyond the discrimination contained in the now-repealed DADT statute, and allows government officials to directly question someone about their sexual orientation – essentially removing the ‘don’t ask’ component contained in DADT,” the groups said in a joint statement released Tuesday.

For Reynolds to introduce this bill, one would expect that the military views the repeal as a growing problem. Right? Otherwise, Reynolds just looks like a bigot - using public resources to pursue a personal agenda. While Reynolds claims his motives stem from concerns levied from members of the Oklahoma National Guard, he refuses to state who, or even how many, have relayed such concerns.

Since Reynolds won’t be more forthcoming, I wonder what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, thinks:

Today, with implementation of the new law fully in place, we are a stronger joint force, a more tolerant joint force, a force of more character and more honor, more in keeping with our own values.

Hey, what does he know about military policy? He just chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mike Reynolds is a State Representative!

I was happy to see the Tulsa World offer an editorial opinion that expressed the outrage this bill deserves:

How much more embarrassment can this state stand from the likes of Reynolds? He says he is doing this because he has been asked to by National Guard members. How many? Who are they? Let’s have them step up and stand alongside their champion.

The repeal of DADT was the right thing for the U.S. military. It is the right thing for the Oklahoma National Guard. All Oklahomans deserve the chance to serve their state and country. Reynolds should be ashamed for not believing that.

Ensuring that people like Sen. Shortey and Rep. Mike Reynolds never again represent Oklahoma should be on everyone’s shortlist entitled, “How to Improve Oklahoma.”

The fact is that they are currently the national face of Oklahoma. Frankly, that face deserves to be covered with a brown paper bag right now. For shame.

Serkan Toto, TechCrunch:

Big N today released another set of disappointing results for the first nine months of its fiscal year (April to December 2011). The company lost a whopping US$630 million, compared with a profit of US$635 million in the same time frame last fiscal.

Imagine how much money Nintendo could make if they would relent and release their games on Android and iOS.

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said the following during the company’s latest financial results:

There is cannibalization of the Mac by the iPad but we continue to believe there is much more cannibalization of Windows PC’s by the iPad and there are many more to cannibalize. We love that trend, we think it’s great for us.

Horace Dediu’s excellent analysis seems to corroborate Cook’s claim:

The new data shows that the iPad alone would be the largest PC vendor and Apple with iPad and Mac combined is selling 5 million more units (or 30%) than the top PC vendor.

The impact of the iPad is not specific to any single vendor (Apple included). It competes for time and purchase decisions across all computing alternatives and though many times it’s additive, it is also substitutive and will become increasingly so.

Just think about that. Apple now sells more units of a single device than does any other vendor’s combined product lineup. That is pretty astounding when you consider the iPad didn’t exist two years ago. Talk about disruptive.

Amazing update to the original 1972 “Blue Marble” photo of Earth. The image was stitched together from small photographs taken by the Suomi NPP satellite.

(via: Ross Kimes)

If you love the idea of spending time in quiet, simple, and elegant buildings that are located in remote locations - look no further.

Just don’t let it affect your relationships with others. You cannot quit whenever you want. Trust me.

(via: megnut.com)

I am a lifelong Oklahoma resident - born and raised as they say. Over the past 27 years, I have grown accustomed to some rather obnoxious, hateful, and repressive ideologies from our leaders. Not much surprises me anymore. Every so often, however, something occurs that leaves even me slack-jawed. This is one of those instances.

Oklahoma Sen. Ralph Shortey recently introduced a 42-word bill.

No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients.

Sounds bad right? I certainly don’t want fetuses in my Tucker’s onion burger. What prompted Ralph to pursue such legislation? He must have some pretty damning evidence, right? Sean Murphy of the AP investigates:

Freshman Sen. Ralph Shortey said his own Internet research led him to believe such a ban is necessary

Hmm. His own internet research? He must be some kind of Google ninja. It turns out that he’s just a dumb ass who found a provocative story from a fringe group and failed to exercise independent thinking. Since Ralph is an expert at “internet research”, I am surprised he didn’t find this fact-check by the Miami New Times.

Murphy goes on to note what others think of Ralph’s bill:

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Pat El-Hinnawy said: “FDA is not aware of this particular concern.”

The executive director of the anti-abortion group Oklahomans for Life, which has successfully pushed some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country through the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature, also said he had never heard of human fetuses being used in food research.

“I don’t know anything about that,” said Tony Lauinger.

Why is this unsettling? Oklahoma, my home and the place that I love, is constantly ranked at the bottom of national surveys in education, health care, women’s rights, and more. Yet, this bat-shit-crazy buffoon is elected as a state leader. Instead of tackling issues of merit, this jackass wants legislators to carry handguns on the Senate floor, abolish the Court of Criminal Appeals, and prevent restaurants from putting dead babies on your pizza. If people want change in Oklahoma, how about starting by not electing morons like this guy. I am embarrassed and you should be, too.

Until then, I am going to have a Pepsi.

Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman, Freakonomics.com:

As Mark Twain once wrote, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. However true that may be in general, statistics can be particularly tricky when they are used to assess the effects of IP piracy. Unlike stealing a car, copying a song doesn’t necessarily inflict a tangible loss on another. Estimating that loss requires counterfactual assumptions about what the world would have been like if the piracy had never happened — and, no surprise, those most affected tend to assume the worst. 

This is a good article that debunks some of the numbers floating around regarding the economic extent of piracy. That is not to say digital piracy’s impact is negligible, rather the effect has been exaggerated by those affected.

As I previously wrote:

I am certainly not pro-piracy, but the notion that pirated content is a direct loss to the content provider is slightly fallacious. That is to say, people who pirate content would generally not purchase in the absence of piracy as a means of procurement. Meaning, if someone steals a $2.99 app or a $15.99 movie, it is questionable to say those are equivalent harms to the copyright owners. There are exceptions, however. For instance, when mobile applications require the use of servers to store and transfer data, pirated versions cause a substantive harm to the owner. The pirated copy is using resources that aren’t reimbursed through the sale of the app.

Dr. Robin Tanamachi:

“No warning” is such a familiar refrain, it’s practically a joke. Granted, we meteorologists are accustomed to being the butt of jokes. But “no warning” is worse than a tired tagline or an injurious cliché. It’s a libel that impugns the reputations of my colleagues in the National Weather Service (NWS).

This is an excellent take-down of Dianne Sawyer’s on-air statement of “no warning” regarding the January 22nd tornado outbreak.

On the larger scale, the Storm Prediction Center accurately detailed risks and issued watches with hours of lead-time. On the state level, National Weather Service offices in Little Rock, AR and Birmingham, AL issued a combined 28 tornado warnings.

In short, the “no warning” tagline from the media is a lazy and misinformed attempt to appease victims with someone to blame. Dr. Tanamachi makes an excellent case that “libel” perfectly describes these refrains.

After today’s record Apple financial results were announced, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber had an appetite.

I’ve got a powerful thirst for some claim chowder.

Taking matters into his own hands, Gruber introduced his own four-course meal.

The appetizer: Zach Epstein of BGR.

Claim: “iPad Demand Said to Be Fading as Competition Heats Up”

Actual results: 15.4 million iPads sold, a 111 percent increase over the year-ago quarter.

The soup (chowder of course): Mohan Sawhney.

Claim: “The iPad: In the Middle (of Nowhere)”

Actual result: 15 million iPads sold last quarter; same prices, same connectivity fees as when it debuted.

The main course: Henry Blodget.

Claim: “iPhone Dead in Water”

Actual result: Apple sold more iPhones in calendar 2011 than in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 combined; 55 percent of all smartphones sold by Verizon last quarter were iPhones.

The dessert: Leonid Kanopka, writing for Seeking Alpha.

Claim: “The Apple Bubble Is Ready to Burst”

Nailed it.