Things I’ve Missed

I was lazy last week and didn’t write anything here. Funnily enough, the world kept turning and interesting and significant things kept happening. Here’s what I missed:

• The DOJ sued Apple, along with 5 major publishers, for collusion and ebook price-fixing. Quick: think of a company that holds a monopoly marketshare on ebooks and directly sets prices so low that publishers must take a loss. (Hint, it starts with A but isn’t Apple.) Read about the case courtesy of Marco Arment. The DOJ is really nitpicking with this one.
• Greenpeace called Apple out for having the world’s dirtiest data centers. Meaning that they rely most heavily on coal power and aren’t using enough renewable energy. Greenpeace does this to Apple every few years, and Apple always releases more info or cleans up its act. This time, they pointed to their new 100% renewable Oregon data center.
• Tom Socca opined that Microsoft Word needs to die. I couldn’t agree more. His problems are chiefly with file complexity and limited editing capabilities. Mine are more basic: ever try adding an image to a Word document and keeping it where you put it? How about creating a decent outline with proper indent levels? Good luck. - via Minimal Mac.
• Joshua Schnell found a set of LEGO decals for a MacBook keyboard on Etsy. I don’t like them – the studs are all wrong and there’s far too much light blue, purple, and pink. (Nothing against those colors, but they aren’t even remotely associated with classic LEGO.)
• Spencer R made a fantastic microscale rendition of the new One World Trade Center and surrounding complex. The blue reflection technique on the windows makes these skyscrapers look far more realistic. - via The Brothers Brick.
• Brickset rounded up the latest crop of iOS LEGO apps. The most exciting is A World of Bricks, which presents the Brickset database of sets and instructions in an iPhone-friendly format. Thank god they changed the icon today, or I’d have to rag on how bad it used to be. The new one is quite acceptable.