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Nikki Sylianteng redesigned parking signage and started a global movement.

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Over at Quartz, Mike Murphy visits the first US national championship:

More than 100 racers took part in the first day of a two-day event, based on small, custom-built drones in what is called first-person view (FPV) racing. The drones have cameras attached to them and broadcast video feeds back to specially-designed goggles that allow the pilots to see as the drones see. The pace of the races—the drones are fast and nimble, and can hit speeds nearing 70 mph—have led to comparisons with pod racing and speeder bike chases in Star Wars...

The video in the article gives a good idea of what it’s like to be a pilot in these races.

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Every idea is derivative. Every execution is unique.

Luke Wroblewski

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Hengtee Lim visits Cafe L’Ambre in Ginza, where coffees can be over 40 years old and the founder/roaster is a centurion:

Think about that for a second. Really think about it. That you might be drinking coffee roasted by someone who has lived a century. A hundred years. It seems ridiculous somehow, impossible.

and this:

I watched the coffee spin, and darken, and I wondered what happens to thoughts and memories when you have a hundred years worth of them. 

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Wired’s Julia Greenberg suggests Apple’s upcoming News app is more than just a take on Flipboard/Zite – it’s about throttling Facebook’s revenue from web publishers:

Publishers will be able to sell their own display adds within the app and keep 100 percent of the revenue. Apple says it will also sell ads itself directly within the app with its advertising platform iAd, and partners who wish to benefit from Apple’s salesmanship will keep 70% of the revenue.

The current state of mobile ads is troubling for Publishers, especially with adblocking coming to mobile Safari in iOS9.

The News app was surely in the works before Facebook announced Instant Articles and the News app does match Facebook’s revenue-sharing offer. But I think Apple will have to sweeten the deal to get more Publishers onto a new app / platform.

Update: Comparison of Apple News vs. Facebook Instant Articles.

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21st Century Birdwatching.

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After The Flood abstracted London’s map to represent data by boroughs:

This choropleth, or shaded cells, format looks most promising and would be a useful resource once their data editor goes live.

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Everything starts and ends with product.

Stefan Larsson, discussing Old Navy’s rebirth at a time when attitudes to fashion and prestige are changing. 

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Peter-Paul Koch recommends (mobile) websites stop emulating apps:

It’s time to recognise that this is the wrong approach. We shouldn’t try to compete with native apps in terms set by the native apps. Instead, we should concentrate on the unique web selling points: its reach, which, more or less by definition, encompasses all native platforms, URLs, which are fantastically useful and don’t work in a native environment, and its hassle-free quality.

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Treat different people differently. Anything else is a compromise.

Seth Godin

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Ken Segall looks to the past, to explain how Apple operates:

Samsung introduced its Galaxy Gear watch in fall of 2013, about two years before the Apple Watch was unveiled. To someone who doesn’t understand Apple, this was simply more evidence that Apple was no longer the leader.

From our vantage point in the future, we see that Apple was simply doing what it’s always done. It was entering an existing market and taking its time to create something that truly stands apart.

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True luxury lies in the fact that you are not too widely known.

Brunello Cucinelli, the King of Cashmere

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It’s not just Tesla that is laden with computers as these car hackers show:

“When you lose faith that a car will do what you tell it to do,” he adds after we jump out of the SUV, “it really changes your whole view of how the thing works.”

Car manufacturers are facing challenging times as such exploits go mainstream.

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Florian Innocente’s has a Flickr album with Apple.com screenshots since 1997. Amazingly, Apple has been iterating on the same design since Steve Jobs took over!

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The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.

Albert Einstein