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Siri Says: ‘Google is Big Brother’

I have some advice for the European Union Competition Commission: Lay off. You don’t need to reign in the Google monopoly. Apple will correct the market around search and mobile. That’s one of two related takeaways from Monday’s WWDC 2015 keynote. iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan up Apple’s push into search and proactively-delivered information in big ways. That is if delivery is as good as the company promises.

The other takeaway harkens back to what I told you last week about Tim Cook’s piracy rant against unnamed Facebook and Google alongside the friggin U.S. government—plural if thinking beyond the Feds: It’s BS marketing. Apple prepares a major competitive assault against Big G, hitting where damage can be severe: Perception and profits. I cannot overstate Google’s vulnerability, which ironically is where the search and information giant exploited Microsoft during this Century. 

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Flickr a Day 160: ‘Every Little Piece of My Heart’

I came across the photostream of Lotus Carroll about a month ago. There was never a doubt that she would be featured but more question: “Which piece of art?” For weeks, I kept her Flickr open in a browser tab as reminder. Had intellect triumphed over intuition—post immediately rather than wait—I would have missed delightful self-titled “Every Little Piece of My Heart”, which she shot on May 18, 2015.

Lotus used Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens (gotta love Canon L) to capture today’s selection. Vitals: f/4, ISO 640, 1/200 sec, 88 mm. You might think she performed some Photoshop montage magic, but this is a clever natural shot—a backdoor selfie with focus on her eight year-old. The self-title punctuates meaning. Visual storytelling is rarely this good…unless it’s another pic from her fabulous Flickr. 

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Tidal fixes Android App Bug

On June 3rd, music streaming service Tidal updated its Android aop, which in my extensive testing over the weekend resolves a catastrophic bug that skips songs. The previous version jumped tracks before they finished playing on my Nexus 6 or 9. Last week, the lossless listening provider acknowledged the problem. The fix is in, and I am satisfied.

Tidal delivers HiFi streaming—1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec—at the premium price of $19.99 per month. For a music streaming charging more, about double other paid service competitors, the glitch was inexcusable. I first reported the erratic behavior nearly a month ago. 

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Flickr a Day 159: ‘Fruit Stand around Gulou’

Although self-titled “Tiger the Dog” appealed to be selected, cuteness could not prevail over composition and color. “Fruit Stand around Gulou” takes the Day, also for lighting and being interestingJens Schott Knudsen captured the moment on Nov. 8, 2014, using the Sony Alpha ILCE-7R, a magnificent full-frame mirrorless compact that is primped for street photography. Vitals: ISO 1600, 1/160 sec. He may have used a manual lens, which would explain why f-stop and focal length were not measured.

Jens lives Beijing, China, which is where he captured today’s selection, but he is from Haderslev, Denmark. For a real treat, and to get some insight about his photographic heritage, click through to his November 2013 blog post “50 years Ago“. 

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Responsible Reporting Section 2 ‘The New Journalisms’: Chapter III

It must be Sunday, because here I write another introduction to a chapter from my ebook  Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers. Section 2 introduces five journalisms—contextual and process were presented the previous two weeks. Next up, conversational journalism applies community concepts from local newspapers to the expansive Internet audience, which is actively engaged wherever and on whatever device it may be.

Please also read the other excerpts: Foreward and from Section 1, Chapters, I and II, III and IV, V and VI to grasp the logical flow. Reminder: The book releases into the public domain soon after the serialization completes. 

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Apple Harvests its Logo

If Apple’s streaming music service launches tomorrow at WWDC and is branded with the company’s name/logo, look for broad naming changes ahead. My guess, and it’s only that: the lower-case letter before products like iMac or iPhone will disappear; over time. Under CEO Tim Cook, the branding strategy differs from Steve Jobs. That’s sensible considering where the company is today compared to 1998 when the cofounder introduced iMac.

Apple Watch foreshadows the new nomenclature. Contrary to months of iWatch rumors before launch, the device is identified by sound as Apple Watch, but what you see is the company’s logo, which is one of the most recognizable brand icons ever created. If Apple Music turns out to be more than just streaming, but the replacement for or displacement of iTunes, consider that as sign of future naming conventions to come. If I am mistaken—well, Apple should do what I predict. 

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Flickr a Day 156: ‘Street Lads’

Some pics jump from the photostream and demand to be chosen, as is the case with today’s selection. Simon Evans shot self-titled “Street Lads” on Sept. 20, 2014—around the time that he started blogging—using Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF 27mm F2.8 lens. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 800, 1/450 sec, 27mm.

The pancake lens makes the Fuji mirrorless camera a relatively smaller shooter—well, compared to bulky dSLRs—while offering dramatic benefits of hybrid optical and digital viewfinder. Motion more typically describes Simon’s street shots. The Day Maker is rare exception. “This is what happens when you give in and ‘spare a bit of change'”, he jokes.