The Curta hand cranked calculator was introduced in 1948. Developed by Curt Herzstark, it can do basic arithmetic and, a bit laboriously, square roots. This pepper grinder-like black cylinder is mechanically complex, beautifully made and ingenious.
Even though it remained popular in specific areas, such as sports car rallies even into the 1980s, it was generally superseded by the classic slide-rule in the 1950s and 60s. But who knows? Perhaps in the back of Jony Ive's mind, there loomed the concept of a black computational cylinder that ultimately resulted in the design of the late 2013 Mac Pro.
Computational speed: Looks like a blazing hertz or two.
iOS 7 took away visual cues like borders and shapes to easily identify buttons in apps, but that feature is back with the release of iOS 7.1. No more random tapping on words to see if they're buttons, and adding shapes to in-app buttons is easy to do.
Apple released iOS 7.1 on Monday, packing in a host of new features and improvements. Chief among them is the official rollout of CarPlay, the company's new automobile interface for iOS devices. Apple also added a way of controlling how long Siri listens to you, and the company added new features to iTunes Radio.
Samsung and Apple have both agreed to drop some patents from their upcoming mobile device infringement trial, including two of Samsung's standard-essential patents. Samsung dropped a third patent from the case, too, bringing the number of claims it'll pursue in the trial down to two.
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Apple and Samsung may not be able to reach a settlement in their ongoing patent infringement fight, but they can at least find places where working together is an option. Agreeing to drop some patents from this trial will reduce the case's complexity, although Samsung can file a new case centered on the patents it dropped if it wants.
Apple added a new iTunes Festival channel to Apple TV over the weekend so its SXSW concert series can be viewed from the comfort of your own couch. Viewers will be able to watch the concerts live, and this marks the first time Apple has hosted an iTunes Festival event outside of London.
John and Dave started their Sunday morning recording this show for you. When do you listen? Anytime you like, that's when! In fact, come and post in the comments here and tell us when you listen. Inquiring minds want to know!
Your Mac's Sound Preference Pane is the go-to place for choosing audio inputs and outputs, but it isn't the only place you can go in OS X to manage your Mac's sounds. Even though Audio MIDI Setup may sound intimidating, it's loaded with controls that go far beyond what its name implies and can help you fine tune the audio quality your Mac pumps out.
We've gathered 20 different Bitcoin "faucets"—websites that pay out free Bitcoins just for loading up a page full of ads—and tested them to make sure they actually pay out. We started off with eight sites, then eleven and 14, but this update adds six more and updates the descriptions for the original sites with additional information.
There are lots of cool app for your cool iOS devices. Vern Seward points out three that you'll want in this week's Free on iTunes. Notable, Sega: Go Dance, and Smash Hit.
The National Center for Public Policy Research has doubled down on its criticism of Apple's sustainability programs. In a blog post, NCPPR CEO Amy Ridenour suggested that Apple is "greenwashing" itself, or faking its commitment to sustainability, and she suggested that Apple CEO Tim Cook may have faked his outrage and anger during Apple's annual shareholder report last Friday.
Constancy of a good purpose usually leads to success. The ironic thing, however, is that in business, the constancy of purpose cannot simply be making more money than anyone else at any cost. Making money must be a byproduct of a deeper value. Apple has shown us how to do that.
A glow-in-the-dark iPhone charging cable. This is one of those things that now that I've seen it, I don't understand why we haven't had it all along, but now the folks at Color Cables are ready to bring it to us. They've launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund production of Lightning, 30-Pin, and even Micro USB charging and sync cables for our mobile devices that not only glow-in-the-dark, they're colored, too. That will let you quickly tell them apart, and if your household has lots of different devices, you'll realize how handy that would be. Funding options that get you a cable start at US$11 for 3-feet 30-pin and Micro USB and $14 for 3-feet Lightning. There are early bird slots left for a 6-feet $16 Lightning cables, too. This is pretty clever, so check it out.
BitSuites - Work with an expert team of consultants and developers to envision, build, and advance your mobile app strategy. They built our Mac Geek Gab app with us and did an awesome job!
Vern Seward
Bryan Chaffin
John Martellaro
Chuck La Tournous
