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Sunday, February 17, 2013

iMore Editors' Choice: Uber, Little Inferno, Jot mini, and more

Every week, the editors and writers at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps, accessories, gadgets, and websites. This week's selections include a stylus, a service that will make it easier than ever to call a taxi or car, an app that will tell you everything you need to know about your favorite brands by simply taking a photo of their logo, a news app that speaks to you, a fiery hot game, and a nutrition app.

Little Inferno - Simon Sage

Little Inferno brings the simple joy of lighting things on fire to your iPad. This more-than-slightly-off-kilter game has players toss various objects into a Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace to earn Tomorrow Bucks. Tomorrow Bucks are spent on ordering new objects from catalogs, which, when burned up in certain combinations, award Tomorrow Stamps. Tomorrow Stamps can speed up the delivery of new objects, while achieving a certain number of combinations will unlock new catalogs.

Every object you can order has a high amount of visual polish a reacts realistically to being light on fire and moved around, right down to sound effects, physics, and the way it crumbles under a blaze. Little Inferno was made by the same crazy people that made World of Goo happen, so pick this one up if you?re looking for something out of the norm.

$4.99 - Download now

Jot mini - Chris Oldroyd

As part of my quest to become paper free I decided it was about time to start using my iPad to take hand written notes at meetings etc. I currently own a Pogo Sketch stylus and to be honest it?s like having a marshmallow on a cocktail stick. I needed something more accurate and more like a pen.

I did some research and decided to pick up a Jot mini stylus and I am so glad that I did. The Jot started life as a Kickstarter project and is known as the stylus with the small clear disc on the end but the feel of an actual ball point pen. Well I can tell you one thing, it is absolutely superb. It is highly accurate and feels just like you are using a real pen and I can?t praise it highly enough.

The Jot mini is simply a cut down version of the Jot Pro stylus and it may not be the best choice if you have bi hands. For me it is perfect and if you are in the market for a stylus, you would be mad not to get one of these!

$21.99 - Buy now

BizVizz - Ally Kazmucha

BizVizz is one of those apps that doesn't have any real world application but does provide a lot of interesting information. The main concept behind it is that you can scan any company logo by taking a photo of it, BizVizz will then spit out all kinds of information on that company from their tax rates to campaign contributions they've made.

While it's not something that everyone will want to know, for those who are interested about their favorite brands, how much they make, what political parties they've been affiliated or contributed to, and more - it's definitely an interesting find.

BizVizz may be intriguing to iPhone users that have strong political affiliations or the ones that care about who they are buying from and what they're doing with the money they put in their pockets. I've been scanning random logos for a few days now and have found BizVizz to be very enlightening in some cases.

Free - Download Now

Winston - Joseph Keller

Sometimes I wish Siri would bring me information at certain points in my day, telling me about news items while I do other things. That?s exactly what Winston does. Winston is an app that speaks to you, reading out news, weather, and your social feeds. There are a number of channels to to choose from as news sources, with politics, technology, and gaming just a few examples. You can also allow Winston access to your Twitter and Facebook feeds so that he can read them out to you. When you enter the app, tap the Briefing section at the top of your screen to get a rundown of the news since you last opened the app, along with the time and weather.

Winston isn?t perfect. Pronunciation can be an issue, and when parsing social feeds for relevant information, Winston sometimes fixates on a single word that is strange out of context. But though it?s still definitely a work in progress, Winston is still solid enough to use for quick information updates. Winston is currently free on the App Store.

Free - Download Now

Uber - Rene Ritchie

I don't have the Uber car service here in Montreal yet, but they sure do have it in San Francisco and I made use of it several times while at Macworld|iWorld 2013.

Here's how it used to work: I'd leave a restaurant or party, walk for blocks looking for an ATM, make sure I was secure while getting money, walk a bunch more blocks looking for a taxi, and then finally, maybe, get a ride, then fumble for cash and change and stumble off.

Here's how it works with Uber: Leave a restaurant or party, tap a button, get told a car is 2 to 4 minutes away, watch the car approach on a map, get a call to make sure it finds me, get in, go, get out, get on with my life.

It feels like a luxury, but when you need a car to take you some place, it also feels like a necessity.

The app is free, the rides get billed to your credit card.

Free - Download now

Healthy Diet & Grocery Food Scanner by ShopWell - Leanna Lofte

Nutrition Week in iMore and Mobile Nations Fitness Month is coming to a close, so this week I went on a hunt for an app the promotes healthy eating and stumbled upon this app that tells you if your groceries are good for your diet. It's called Healthy Diet & Grocery Food Scanner by ShopWell and here's how it works:

After you sign up with an account, or login with Facebook, you go through a series of menus to tell ShopWell what your diet goals are, what foods you value, which ones you want to avoid, and which ones you're allergic to. Once you've completed the setup, then you simply scan the barcodes of food in the grocery store or your cupboards and ShopWell will tell you if it's a good match for your needs and why, the nutrition facts that's color codes the stuff you do and don't want, and a color-coded list of ingredients.

If you're trying to be a little more health-conscious with what you eat, ShopWell is a great app to help you with that endeavor.

Free - Download now

Your choice?

Now that we've chosen our favorites for the week, we want to hear yours! Did you pick up a killer app, accessory, or game this week? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Atvv4XWqWY0/story01.htm

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Northwestern football does the "Harlem Shake"

Yeah, it happened.

You know the Harlem Shake? That dance that isn't actually the Harlem Shake?

Well, as you can see, Northwestern football has now done their version. Props go to:

1) dude with American flag booty shorts

2) dude making out with an Under Armour dummy (apparently, this is offensive lineman Matt Frazier)

3) dude in a banana suit sexually assaulting someone in what appears to be a gorilla suit in the middle of a scrum. Come to think of it, this is really sexually charged.

4) Kain Colter rocking matching orange... well, whatever those are and a hat.

5) Guy in a sombrero riding a guy in a hot dog costume like a horse

My point is, I hate my life and everything about it. I sort of knew this was eventually going to happen after I had to do a post about Georgia doing their Harlem Shake video. It actually turned out pretty well!

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Source: http://www.sippinonpurple.com/northwestern-wildcats-football/2013/2/16/3995870/northwestern-football-does-the-harlem-shake

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Bomb kills 64 in Pakistan's Quetta

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Sixty-four people including school children died on Saturday in a bomb attack carried out by extremists from Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority, police said.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni group, claimed responsibility for the bomb in Quetta, which caused casualties in the town's main bazaar, a school and a computer center. Police said most of the victims were Shi'ites.

Burned school bags and books were strewn around.

"The explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device fitted to a motorcycle," said Wazir Khan Nasir, deputy inspector general of police in Quetta.

"This is a continuation of terrorism against Shi'ites."

"I saw many bodies of women and children," said an eyewitness at a hospital. "At least a dozen people were burned to death by the blast."

Most Western intelligence agencies have regarded the Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda as the gravest threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally.

But Pakistani law enforcement officials say Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has become a formidable force.

TENSIONS

Last month the group said it carried out a bombing in Quetta that killed nearly 100 people, one of Pakistan's worst sectarian attacks. Thousands of Shi'ites protested in several cities after that attack.

Pakistani intelligence officials say extremist groups, led by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, have escalated their bombings and shootings of Shi'ites to trigger violence that would pave the way for a Sunni theocracy in U.S.-allied Pakistan.

More than 400 Shi'ites were killed in Pakistan last year, many by hitmen or bombs, and the perpetrators are almost never caught. Some hardline Shi'ite groups have hit back by killing Sunni clerics.

The growing sectarian violence has hurt the credibility of the government, which has already faced criticism ahead of elections due in May for its inability to tackle corruption and economic stagnation.

The schism between Sunnis and Shi'ites developed after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 when his followers could not agree on a successor.

Emotions over the issue are highly potent even today, pushing some countries, including Iraq five years ago, to the brink of civil war.

Pakistan is nowhere near that stage but officials worry that Sunni extremist groups have succeeded in dramatically ratcheting up tensions and provoking revenge attacks in their bid to destabilize the country.

(Reporting by Jibran Ahmed; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-kills-15-pakistans-quetta-140259606.html

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Hunter voted out as head of NBA players' union

HOUSTON (AP) ? Billy Hunter was ousted from his job as executive director of the union in a unanimous vote by NBA players who said Saturday they will "no longer be divided, misled, misinformed."

"This is our union and we have taken it back," players' association president Derek Fisher said.

Fisher said it was a day of change for the union, which has seemed inevitable since a review of the union last month was critical of Hunter's leadership and urged players to consider whether they wanted to keep him.

They didn't.

"We want to make it clear that we are here to serve only the best interests of the players," Fisher said. "No threats, no lies, no distractions will stop us from serving our memberships."

Hunter said in a statement that he hadn't received word of his dismissal and blasted the interim executive committee for the process it followed, saying "certain individuals made sure the outcome was pre-ordained."

"In addition, given the legitimate legal and governance questions surrounding the eligibility of the members who voted and the adherence, or lack thereof, to the constitution and bylaws, I do not consider today's vote the end, only a different beginning," Hunter said. "My legal representatives and I will resume communication with the NBPA to determine how to best move forward in the best interests of all parties."

In brief remarks, Fisher said a new executive committee was elected and he will remain as president. The Spurs' Matt Bonner is vice president, Miami's James Jones is secretary-treasurer and the Nets' Jerry Stackhouse the first vice president. The Clippers' Chris Paul, Golden State's Stephen Curry, Denver's Andre Iguodala, the Hornets' Roger Mason, Jr. and the Clippers' Willie Green are vice presidents.

Hunter had led the union since 1996, guiding the players through three collective bargaining agreements and helping bring their average salaries to more than $5 million, highest in team sports. But Fisher pushed for the review after a falling out between the two leaders, and though it found Hunter wasn't guilty of any criminal activity involving union funds, it cited a number of conflicts of interests and poor choices that led the players to remove him.

Commissioner David Stern was aware of the union's actions but had little comment.

"We await notification from the union as to who we should be dealing with because it has been a principle of faith with us that we will deal with whomever the union tells us to deal with," Stern said.

Released in January, the review conducted by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP criticized Hunter for hiring family members and friends. It said he knew his 2010 contract extension wasn't properly ratified by union rules, and raised questions about everything from travel expenses to the amount he spent on gifts.

Players acted quickly, putting Hunter on a leave of absence on Feb. 1. He hoped to be invited to Saturday's annual meeting, which included about 35 players, superstar LeBron James among them.

But Hunter's attorneys said their client was told he wouldn't be welcomed. They said his contract was legal and indicated there could be a lawsuit if the players removed him and attempted to withhold the more than $10 million that remains on his salary.

"We do not doubt that this process will possibly continue in an ugly way," said Fisher, who then reminded reporters that there are three ongoing government investigations into Hunter, likely the reason he didn't take questions after his remarks.

It's a swift fall for the 70-year-old Hunter, a former athlete who was well-respected by many players. But agents didn't like him, questioning his bargaining strategies and frustrated they didn't have a bigger role in his union.

Hunter's family did, and that was another central issue of the report. He had since fired his daughter and daughter-in-law, and cut ties with a financial institution that employed his son. He also instituted an anti-nepotism policy at the NPBA.

"After 17 years of representing NBA players during CBA negotiations and defending their rights in other proceedings, not once was there an occasion where one side was denied an opportunity to be heard," Hunter said. "The current interim regime in control of the NBPA has set a terrible precedent for the union. It violates every tenet of fairness upon which the union was founded. Now that this has occurred, I will continue to examine all of my options, including whether the fairness that was absent from the NBPA process might be available in a different forum."

Fisher, Paul, Bonner, Mason and Jones were holdovers from the previous executive committee. Stackhouse, who along with James was vocal during the meeting, joins Iguodala, Curry and Green among the newcomers.

Fisher and Hunter clashed during the 2011 lockout and their fractured relationship divided the union. Hunter originally persuaded the executive committee to vote to request Fisher's resignation last year. Fisher did not resign and instead pushed for the outside review, which lasted more than eight months and cost the union more than $4 million.

The law firm reviewed NBPA documents and emails, and interviewed more than three dozen witnesses. It found that Hunter spent more than $100,000 on gifts for executive committee members ? including a watch worth more than $20,000 for Fisher before their falling out ? and accepted a payout of $1.3 million for unused vacation time when records made it unclear how his time off was kept.

Fisher remains president even though he isn't on an NBA roster, having asked the Dallas Mavericks for his release after a brief stint earlier this season. He gave no update on what would happen to the executive director position. Union attorney Ron Klempner was appointed to the position on an interim basis when Hunter was placed on leave.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hunter-voted-head-nba-players-union-224341489--spt.html

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Re-calculating? (Or Why Good Exchanges Are Important - CraftyPod

Broken & Stacked

Image bypygment_shots, via Flickr

So, I know I haven?t been very present around here lately. 2013 has started in a rather worrisome way for me, and I?ve been doing my best to cope and grow. And in such times, it can be hard to be publicly perky.

Things are slowly coming back together now, and I?m in the middle of a big re-org that I?m excited about. My posts here will be sporadic for a while as all this is going on behind the scenes.

I did decide to go ahead and share the post below, which I wrote a few weeks back. I think it gets at a new wrinkle in the whole Free and Sustainability subject, and maybe it?s something you?ll find applies to your own online experiences. Enjoy, and I?ll see you around.

sad

Image by Kalexanderson, via Flickr

When I ended my podcast, I knew I?d feel a bit sad. But I wasn?t at all prepared for the anger that welled up inside me. I was one rage-filled woman for a while there. Poor K ? I can tell you, he has the patience of a saint.

On the surface of things, I was angered by the flood of well wishes on Twitter and Facebook, and in my emailer. I knew that anger wasn?t the appropriate response to such kindness, but it was there anyway, utterly undeniable.

It?s just that hearing people say ?I?m so sad that the show is ending? when most of them hadn?t supported the show financially ? that felt painful. Hearing so many people say ?I can?t wait to see what you do next? when my last project was dying ? that felt painful too. Even though I knew in my heart that every single person who said those things did it with the best of intent.

Hyssop-Coriander-Celery-Chilli-Seedlings-8731

Image by graibeard, via Flickr

My friend Kim wisely pointed out that business failures usually have a number of seeds. My podcast failed because not enough people subscribed (or renewed their subscription, or visited my sponsors), but it also failed because I was asking you to pay for something no one else was asking you to pay for. And because my online store wasn?t able to deliver the shows like iTunes does, with a single click and the money transaction kind of hidden. And because I could have marketed better. And because production, sponsorship sales and admin, plus all the technical tasks of maintaining subscribers added up to so many hours, it wasn?t a project I could sustain on my own.

So again, it wasn?t appropriate to be angry at all the nice people who were wishing me well. But I was angry ? really, really angry. And I think I?ve finally figured out why.

It?s because I failed, over the course of seven years, to create good exchanges with most fans of the show. I was angry at myself. And I apologize for the moments when my anger was misdirected.

Swim PT 225

Image by hectorir, via Flickr

That?s a complex idea, so let me explain. I have always sucked at building mutually-beneficial relationships ? in business, in romance, you name it. I?m someone who gives to the point of over-giving, and then hopes everyone will intuit the best way to give back, and then is shocked and disappointed when they don?t. Rinse and repeat, that tendency goes way back.

It?s an unhealthy pattern for so many reasons, and it inevitably leads to burnout. Back in the Day Job Era of my life, when the pattern played itself out to burnout, I?d just quit my job and get another one, hoping that ?this time it?ll be different.? (Spoiler: it never was.)

Now that I?m self-employed, I have nowhere to run from this tendency to over-give. It?s time I faced up to it.

I'm asking for help
Image by nettsu, via Flickr

Here?s what I should have done, in terms of the podcast. Every time a nice person emailed me, over the past seven years, expressing thanks for the value they received from the show, I should have said more than ?Thank you.? Saying ?Thank you? is nice and expected, but you know what? It?s a bit of a door-closer.

Instead, I should have created a future for me and these kind souls by saying something like:?I?m so happy that the podcasts are bringing you value. If you?d like to give something back to the show, how about blogging about it sometime? How about telling your friends? Do you have a contact at any company that might want to sponsor? I?d love any and all help to keep this project going!?

See what I mean? There?s way more power and possibility in asking for an exchange. It?s important to know what you need, and then ask individual humans for it directly. And I didn?t do any of those things. Instead, I communicated the show?s need of support in a general broadcast-y way, which feels somewhat safer to do, but which most of us, truth be told, usually ignore.

first baby steps - _MG_1014
Image by sean dreilinger, via Flickr

It?s not that the show didn?t bring me anything back for my efforts. Of course it did! But I can see now that, by making the shows and putting them out there and never asking anyone else to get meaningfully involved, I just created a kind of bubble around them ? one that ultimately had no choice but to pop.

So here are some things I?m going to do differently, going forward:

? When people say to me, ?Please let me know what I can do to help you,? I?m going to make myself take the opportunity. I?ve made a list of things I need, and it?s posted by my computer so I won?t default to saying ?Oh, I don?t need anything right now, thanks.? This year, I am going to ASK.

? When people reach out to me to say ?Thank you for all you do in the community,? I?m going to offer them some easy and specific ways to give back, if they choose to do so.

? I?m going to continue making free content, but always with a call to some small, easy action for those who consume it. I know not everyone will take that call, but again, it?s important to ask.

Help wanted sign

Image by andjohan, via Flickr

Actually, I think we could all take a meaningful step in the direction of sustainable Free just by getting clear about what we want to get from our online sharing, and then clearly asking for it. (And yes, I know it?s tempting to say that sharing for sharing?s sake is awesome, but at the end of the day, we do things because they give us some kind of reward back. If we weren?t getting some kind of reward, we wouldn?t do it for long.)

The exchanges we want don?t even have to be monetary. Maybe all you want is for someone to compliment your work. Maybe what you want is more web traffic. Whatever it is, again, it?s important to make that clear. Because how else will we know how to support each other?

How do you ask people for meaningful exchanges? Or do you ask directly? What kinds of exchanges do you wish you were having?

Source: http://www.craftypod.com/2013/02/15/re-calculating-or-why-good-exchanges-are-important-to-sustainability/

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South Africa vs Pakistan 2nd Test Match Day 3 Live Streaming

by rahus | February 16, 2013 at 01:19 am

The genius of Saeed Ajmal came to the fore for the first time in the series, as the Pakistan spinner single-handedly put South Africa on the back foot on day two of the second test at Newlands on Friday.

Pakistan vs South Africa 2nd Test Live Streaming ? Link 1

Pakistan vs South Africa 2nd Test Live Streaming ? Link 2

South Africa went to stumps on 139-5 in response to Pakistan's 338 all out, with Ajmal profiting from a Decision Review System controversy in the process of claiming all five Proteas wickets.

Ajmal's threat was nullified by a seam-friendly pitch in the first test at the Wanderers, but a healthy breeze and a dry surface at Newlands assisted both drift and turn as he recorded figures of 5-41 from 25 bewitching overs.

From the moment that Ajmal was introduced in just the 12th over of the innings, South Africa's batsmen never looked comfortable against the offspinner as they struggled to pick him.

"We know he's a quality bowler, and obviously the wicket has assisted him because there's been a bit of purchase and it's a little bit drier than we thought it would be," South Africa's assistant coach Russell Domingo said.

"Maybe we've been a bit tentative against him. He hasn't given us many scoring opportunities so maybe we need to look at playing a little bit more positively against him."

Ajmal dismissed openers Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen in the second session, before inducing a collapse midway through the third that claimed Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Faf du Plessis.

Smith, Amla and Kallis were all trapped lbw, while Petersen and du Plessis were caught at short leg and slip respectively.

"The home team in the first test were not under much pressure at all," Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore said. "Here they're confronted with a total of 300-plus on the board on a wicket that's totally different to the one in the first test and it's become harder."

Ajmal's haul was not without debate, however, with umpire Steve Davis at the center of a contentious decision to give Kallis out.

Davis, who had already had two other calls overturned by the DRS, appeared to give Kallis out caught before the batsman referred the decision upstairs.

HotSpot failed to find an edge, but ball-tracking technology suggested the ball would have struck the outside of leg stump.

Kallis was therefore given out lbw on 'umpire's call,' despite the ICC's DRS rules stating that decisions over a different mode of dismissal should be "conducted as if the batsman has been given not out."

Kallis sought clarity from Davis before he was eventually forced to leave the field, but while the incident left a sour taste in South African mouths, it took little away from Ajmal's superb effort, which saw him bowl all his overs unchanged.

It more than matched that of Vernon Philander, who had claimed the ninth five-wicket haul of his 15-test career in the morning session as the Proteas clinched the five wickets required to close out the Pakistan innings before lunch.

Philander took three wickets in three overs at the start of the day, including centurion Asad Shafiq for his overnight score of 111, and finished with figures of 5-59.

Left-arm spinner Robin Peterson claimed the final two wickets to wrap up the innings, but not before Tanvir Ahmed and Ajmal had put on 64 runs for the ninth wicket.

"Certainly it was very important that we got as many runs as possible in the first innings, because we feel that the wicket might be a bit harder to bat on as the days go," Whatmore said.

Source: http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/south-africa-vs-pakistan-2nd-test-match-day-3-live-streaming

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