Interesting, the new Cadillac STX will have a reconfigurable gauge cluster.
via CarScoop

via theFJP

So one of the many things announced in Apple’s WWDC Keynote was the system-level integration of Facebook with iOS and OS X.
This is interesting because there have been rumors for a while now of Facebook working on their own phone.
If it’s true they’re building a phone, then they don’t want to make their (future) competitor stronger by allowing them to bake in system-level support to their platform. On the flipside, if they don’t allow access, then they risk marginalizing their platform, making it less relevant.
I also like John Gruber’s view that the Facebook integration was a nice “fuck you” to Google:

Starting with the opening gag with Siri doing stand-up comedy and continuing through to Apple’s new maps and Siri’s new features, there was an unmistakeable “Fuck you, Google” undertone to the whole keynote. Apple is forcing Google out of iOS. Even the Facebook integration feels like a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” alliance.

I’m with Om Malik though, I don’t trust Facebook with my info:

I just don’t want Facebook constantly tracking me and I don’t want any information leaking especially on my iPhone. Perturbed, I tried to get more details on the integration from Apple. Here is what I understand about how it works – when using the system-level single sign-on, when you want to share something via Facebook, the system logs you into Facebook, shares whatever you want to share — a link, a video, a photo or whatever — and then logs you out.

While I do use Facebook, I’m not one of these sad people who can’t live without it. When I upgrade to iOS 6 I won’t be using the single sign-on. Hell, I don’t even have the app on my iPhone.

Someone isn’t feeling the effects of the European Crisis.

Phil Mickelson is getting tired of cellphones at tournaments:

Golfer Phil Mickelson withdrew from The Memorial Tournament this weekend, and apparently cell phones -or people snapping pictures with them — were to blame. An ESPN article on Mickelson’s withdrawal notes that the pro golfer withdrew from the tournament citing “mental fatigue.” However his mental fatigue may have been cell phone induced.

Good for him. I’m getting pretty sick of the omnipresence of cellphones too. Actually, it’s not the omnipresence, it’s the lack of etiquette and manners.
But I love the irony of the story (my emphasis):

According to four people with direct knowledge, Mickelson sent a text message to PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem from the sixth fairway at Muirfield Village suggesting that a lack of policing fans with cellphones was getting out of hand….

Phil, I’m trying to be on your side on this one, but you’re making it hard.

via David Mihm

via

Drove by The Moscone Center yesterday dropping my mother-in-law off at work.
Looks like Apple’s ready.

Drugs and children’s television. A winning combination since at least 1969.

Dan Ariely has a new book out called The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty. I loved his book from 2010, Predictably Irrational.
From Ariely (via Brain Pickings):

Creativity can help us tell better stories — stories that allow us to be even more dishonest but still think of ourselves as wonderfully honest people.

Reminds me of how documentary filmmaker Ken Burns believes all storytelling is manipulation and lies.

Tecnabob: BMW Patent Shows Manual Transmission That Won’t Let You Pick the Wrong Gear
Where the hell is the fun in driving a stick-shift car where there’s no danger in hitting the wrong gear?
If you’re someone who doesn’t know how to shift gears, maybe you shouldn’t be driving a manual transmission car.
People interested in fool-proof car shifting are also skydiving into huge piles of marshmallows and paving their own roads so there’s no danger in crashing into other cars.
BMW’s tagline is ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’.
A little less so now.

Suck on it, Michael Dell.
via thisisnthappiness

Ian King over at Bloomberg is reporting HTC is being shut out of Windows 8:

Microsoft locked out HTC from the development of products using the newest version of its operating system on concern that HTC doesn’t sell enough devices or have ample experience making tablets, said the people, who asked not to be named because negotiations between HTC and other companies are private.

See, this is why the forecasting done by analysts is so fucking pointless. Like the shit from IDC saying Windows Phone will surpass iPhone’s marketshare by 2016.
The tech world is so volatile, huge changes can and do happen overnight. This is a digital world people. One second Apple is using Google Maps, the next, boom, they’re (probably going to be) using their own (I’m not saying the development is instant, just the decision and execution).
If you work closely with or in technology, never get comfortable.
Stay on your toes. Stay vigilant.

via my Instagram