This took my breath away. Bonus points for checking this out on an iOS device — the built in accelerometer and gyroscope make exploring the views even more stunning.

Couldn’t help but realise this image is exactly what Google Photo Sphere could have been.

If you’re anything like me, you bought GarageBand for iOS as soon as it was announced. It was initially iPad-only. Did you realise the app is now universal? If you’ve got an iPhone, you can install it there for free, too.

On top of that, here’s the guide for using GarageBand on your iPhone to create ringtones… for your iPhone. This is something I can get behind.

I learnt a few things whilst reading this. You might, too.

I especially like the Guided Access section on the second page: got any non-tech-savvy friends or relatives and want to stay in contact with them? How about an iPod touch or iPhone with FaceTime and Guided Access enabled? The possibilities are almost endless.

Harry Marks has some… things to say about The Verge’s review of the Surface Pro:

[G]iving a below-average product an above-average grade forces readers to question the credibility of every review prior and since this one. This isn't an "It's not for me" situation. This is just a bad device. Why is it so difficult for The Verge to just come out and say it? Why are there so many "but ifs" instead of one definitive opinion?

I give the Surface Pro a 4/10. I give The Verge's reviews a 2/10.

I think a lot of large news organisations find it incredibly difficult to say negative things when given a product to review. That’s bad practice. If someone asked me to review something and I thought it sucked, I’d say so.¹

Publishing a review containing many negatives coupled with a lot of “but ifs” with an overall positive score gives me, the reader, an impression that the reviewer is unable to have a bold opinion.

Covering up flaws in products or dampening your own view isn’t healthy, isn’t interesting writing and isn’t as helpful to your readers as having a honest and critical attitude.

Go on, take a stand. Have an opinion.

—

1: I’d probably initially tell the person in question, rather than writing several hundred public words trashing the product. (Unless it’s a really fun several hundred words.)

From The Verge’s video review of the Surface Pro:

It's the best surface by a long shot… But I’m less and less convinced that you want a surface in the first place.

Ouch. From the written review:

But if you’re going to buy a $900 tablet, get the decked-out iPad with LTE and 128GB of storage, and if you're going to buy a Windows laptop, check out the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga or the Dell XPS 12. Which leads me back to the same question Josh asked about the Surface RT: who is this for?

So, who’s the Surface Pro for?

My guess? Microsoft. Just like the Surface RT. Here’s what I said in January:

In short, tablets are where the growth is happening in larger-than-phone computing — and Microsoft has little presence there. In traditional PC sales, Microsoft receives around $50 for a license of Windows, and $67 for a license of Office.

The Surface RT, with its Apple-esque 30%+ margins, is a way for Microsoft to keep revenue and profit high, without manufacturers like Asus and Dell paying $50 a pop for a Windows license… Manufacturers who could easily switch to making hardware for Android — which lacks this hefty fee. Sometimes, Google will even pay manufacturers to use Android.

Shockingly beautiful yet disturbing look at US gun murders in 2010. Over 400,000 stolen years, taken in just one calendar year.

David Pogue reviews the Surface Pro over at The NYT — this is the full-blown Windows 8 version of Microsoft’s tablet. (Yes, that one.) Things start to look a bit dubious when “TileWorld” (the Metro UI) is brought up:

(Since Microsoft refuses to give this environment a name, let’s go with TileWorld.)

TileWorld has been jarringly stapled to the regular Windows desktop underneath it. You wind up with two Web browsers, two control panels, two Mail programs, two completely different looks.

That doesn’t sound particularly user-friendly. Battery doesn’t fare much better — emphasis mine:

Microsoft says the Pro will get about half the battery life of the non-Pro Surface, which would mean about 4.5 hours. I say, you’ll get 4.5 if you’re lucky; I barely got 3.5 hours from a charge.

Ouch.

Guess that’s why there aren’t many other two-pound, half-inch-thick laptops with Intel i5 processors.

I guess so.

Some powerful words from ex-Westboro Baptist Church member, Megan Phelps-Roper. She’s left the WBC and is trying to work out what to do:

Up until now, our names have been synonymous with “God Hates Fags.” Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what we did.

I wonder how she’ll change her life for the better from now on. The first step — leaving the WBC — was undoubtedly one of the most difficult things possible for a Church member of her status.

I wish her well.

Here’s some beautiful early-week inspiration From Aral Balkan:

Objects have value not because of what they are but because of what they enable us to do.

Stephen Hackett lays out the case that maybe we’re further away from a Retina iPad Mini than we hoped.

Daniel Eran Dilger, Apple Insider:

The fact that iOS is more than twice as popular on the web as all Android devices combined calls into question market statistics by research firms such as IDC, which recently stated that Apple's share of the tablet market had fallen to 43.6% of worldwide tablet sales. That report was presented by Adrian Covert of CNNMoney to state that "Android is the new king of tablet market share."

How does Android, with its reported huge sales and massive install base, make up for less than half the web browsing usage of iOS?

To see this and eight other ‘believe it or not’ energy numbers from 2012, check out this article by Mark Halper over at SmartPlanet. Fascinating (and slightly worrying) stuff.