I think this is really cool and I'm really excited to try to get one.

From what I have learned these coins probably sell for something like $13. But if they are in high demand, it's possible they will wind up costing a lot more.

Which is pretty fitting for how a lot of people see Apple :P

I would like to see who was banned for these reasons, so I can have the option to check out their style of journalism.

I have been anticipating this, and hoping that we could skip over the "challenge" era and just proceed directly to a fully robotic zone.

With so few challenges, whereas umps typically mess up about a dozen pitches per game, this still leaves a lot of distraction and time for argument. And, virtually any time a player argues, he is instantly thrown out of the game. The umps have all become extremely impatient with this, no matter the tenor of the conversation.

More importantly, the pitches that are the most interesting as a fan are not ones that are compatible with a challenge system. When a pitcher can 'paint' the edge or corner of the zone, so that just a small fraction of the ball is over the plate, it's a great thrill. Likewise, if a batter can work the count by holding back from a close call, it feels way better if they are rewarded for that, than if they are penalized. I think they can turn the strike zone into a really compelling aspect of the game, even more so, and by the way doing this properly would make it 3-dimensional.

The calls from behind the plate actually do determine the winner of a game pretty frequently. It also happens in the playoffs. And once that becomes apparent, you tend to lose a lot of interest in watching. NBA and NFL have suffered mightily from this problem. They're ok financially now, but it's still not necessarily an enjoyable product. I think baseball has done well to lead the way forward - they have lots of new rules that they're loving even when they are not popular. And this idea of this particular tradition being really important to people I think is probably concentrated a lot in the people who actually work for the league. The umps need to be fast but they also need to be subject to good reviews, and I think they appreciate it when they are.

Another thing I nearly forgot. The catchers of the league have made two massive adjustments to their entire approach, just for the purpose of framing pitches better so they can "steal strikes". First, they all set up with one knee on the ground, rather than squatting. This is part of the reason they can no longer throw out runners who are stealing second base. Second, they often creep up closer to the batter so that their catch point is more central to the plate. This doesn't lead to collisions very often, but it's kind of not cool for those guys to be jockeying for that territory, and when they do hit one another, it's obnoxious to untangle the interference calls.

I have always loved the NHL model, where only the team captain can speak to the ref. Trying to watch a basketball or soccer game? Sounds fun .... until I see the guys all start whining, gesticulating and caterwauling. Baseball players aren't quite so pitiful - but I assure you I am not tuning in to watch these men complaining to someone who will then do nothing to help them. Frankly it's much more badass to have a respectful demeanor towards the officials.

As cameras have gotten better, computers, and as clips are being circulated more, this topic has ballooned - and while one umpire (Angel Hernandez) retired, we still have CB Bucknor ruining peoples' days with regularity. The league/union had the chance to try promotion/relegation to get the best umps into the majors, and did nothing. I'm grateful that this system is moving forward. But I fear it may not give me much relief, and I doubt it will motivate my homeys to begin watching baseball.

I think with our current lifestyle, people are losing their IDs more than ever before. There could also be a relevant window for theft as we proceed with the vetting process to figure out who is actually a citizen over the coming years.

The potential benefits of having digital ID are pretty interesting. There are also some risks. Part of me is a bit miffed to see this program disrespected. On the other hand it's always possible that the way it was being done was not good.

Now that Palantir is working to synchronize federal records, this could be a relevant development. Helping everyone get a valid ID is an enormous, complex task. But it is incredibly important, especially since this situation plays such a central role in partisan differences of opinion about election integrity.

From what I've seen 99% of those involved have the best of intentions. Yet, the skewing of thought has prevailed in the same direction for decades.

Science is frequently seen as the least-skewed type of writing. It is still pretty far from foolproof. And when things that are not foolproof are cited by further work, there's not an obvious way to address all of them at once.

I applaud this work. Let's stay tuned!

I think that, for any Apple apps that do not display this option to users, the reason is because they are not tracking the data in those apps.

I believe the only Apple products that include ads are the App Store, Major League Soccer, and Friday Night Baseball.

I know this is kind of missing the point, but if they're advertising an extended warranty, they better end the ads when you buy the warranty.

It would also be nice if you could end them for $20 or something like this.

If they can't comply with common-sense scenarios like that, the risk of escalation feels a lot higher.

The cost of repairs is a serious problem that Tim Cook often seems to be on the wrong side of. It's great to see that there is some pressure for him to reprioritize this aspect of the customer experience.

With that said, though, the technical lift that makes this possible is probably very dense. The way that biometrics in iPhones bypass the CPU-like components in favor of a secure enclave is one of the more complex aspects of the hardware setup. It's probably more secure than it really needs to be, but they still take great care to not back off on any technique that prevents surveillance.

I don't know yet whether this system update is one that, theoretically, makes the device less secure or not.. I'd refer to John Siracusa or John Gruber, who will get to the bottom of the story within a week or two.

Obtaining an ID is very challenging, which is a massive dilemma, since either tightening or loosening the standards will discourage and discount different types of voting. It MIGHT be true that election fraud is uncommon in the US, but this doesn't mean it will always be something that can never happen.

The states in the US need to make improvements in the techniques they use to issue ID cards, and using technology to do this is probably what Tim was subtly hinting at. After all, Apple has identification technologies that are available to anyone, and have almost never been compromised in any way. Additionally, they have technology for triangulating data to establish confidence without just dumping the data into the public domain.. for example, you could use location data to double-check that someone was voting in the right place (which is a common problem that technically qualifies as fraud).

I wonder if it still uses React Native or if they moved to a truly native system. Presumably SwiftUI is a bit too unstable for an application like this, but if not, it could explain quite a bit of how this was achieved.

I really hope that technology for restricting web content to a given geographic zone becomes common.

For instance, if I could write a tweet that would only be visible in New York state.

This is such an incredible dilemma - that law enforcement is crippled by civilians having such easy access to strong encryption, but providing a backdoor seems to inexorably lead to political persecution.

However, using a blockchain to mediate the requests for data might provide a middle path. I believe it could provide three dynamics that would facilitate legitimate investigations while also preventing abuse.

1 - Each request for data would be paid for individually. This would prevent a PRISM-like approach where the feds simply aggregated all the data there is.
2 - There would be publicly visible records of how often data was being requested.
3 - If there was a certain piece of data that was subject to abuse (such as the security cameras from Andrew Yang's campaign manager's office or something), members of the public could band together to outbid the feds, thereby preventing them from procuring the data.

There could be other mechanics that moderated access, rather than simply using money and bidding in this way. For example, the feds could be limited to 100 queries per year, or they could gain access only after stakeholders in the blockchain voted on the individual matter.

AirPods are a very strong business, but this analysis has been debunked by Neil Cybart (who crunches these numbers all day and has for several years).

According to Neil, last year's revenue is about 7.5 billion, not 12 billion. https://twitter.com/neilcybart...

No Agenda is the best podcast I've found this year, after getting into a ton of them last year.

Twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, Adam and John broadcast roughly 3 hours of analysis of both political issues and the mainstream coverage thereof. They are quite good at pointing out how lots of news outlets seem to routinely misunderstand and misreport the relevant parts of huge stories.

They also speak about using technology without being enslaved by it, and more of the topics that interest them personally.

Adam was one of the creators of podcasting (along with Dave Winer who helped design the XML feeds that were used), and was a VJ from early MTV, he has an amazing broadcast voice. John was a longtime tech writer and editor, and now runs a number of shows.

For most insiders it's pretty hard to know if this change in the arrangement actually means he will stop working on Apple products.

Many people in this kind of role eventually choose to take a sabbatical or something. It's also possible that being an administrator didn't suit him as much as just making industrial art.