Ünnecessary Ümlaut

Icon

A surplus of geekery by :: Fred Abercrombie

Animated GIF: Steve Jobs Terminates Self as CEO, Releases Book Cover

iResign

“To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community: 

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. 

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee. 

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple. 

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. 

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you. 

Steve “

• •   • •

RELATED:
Brick Bang: Classic LEGO Spaceman Animated Gif
TRON Beard: Beardo Optico Revisited
Pics: People Who Look Exactly The Same In Every Pic
Gif: Floating Cat is Hypnotic

Play: Organ Trail

I remember playing Oregon Trail on Apple IIs in elementary school. Loved it. Right up there with Lemonade Stand in terms of 8-bit edu-tainment.

Just in time for Halloween the game is back from the dead, with an apocalyptic twist: Organ Trail. All thanks to a band of developers known as The Men Who Wear Many Hats. How long can you survive?

RELATED:
Awesome: Sears Website Gets Zombified
TCB: Zombie and Day of the Dead Elvis Busts on Etsy
SF: Headin’ to the Bay Bridge? Honk If You Love Zombies
Watch: Flaming Zombie Pants Push Shopping Cart!
Geek Out: ASCII Easter Egg on Tron Soundtrack Website
iPhone: Inside Apple’s Kid A-like Testing Facility
SF: Homeless Man Breaks Fourth Wall of iPad Ad (in Ladies Loafers)

iPhone: Inside Apple’s Kid A-like Testing Facility

Located deep in the heart of the Apple campus is the $100 million Infinite Loop Lab. Engadget scored a look inside the former “black lab” and revealed what seems like a pretty-damn thorough testing facility.

KID A-pple
Although the chilly, dark ‘n glitchy goodness of Kid A‘s “Everything in Its Right Place” makes an ironic-enough soundtrack, this Radiohead rarity is even more fitting …

NOBODY TESTS IT BETTER
Radiohead “Nobody Does It Better” (Carly Simon)

• •   • •

Those blue spikes are made of sound- and signal-dampening foam. The room above tests signal strength at any angle by strapping the device to a rotating arm. When Engadget arrived there was an iPad being tested. They asked why and Apple responded “…[we’ve been testing the iPad] for years.” Interesting.

• •   • •

Testing the iPhone pain threshold in the MacHAL 9000 Iron Maiden. Or something to do with WiFi networks.

See the rest »

Hack: iVictrola, iGramophone, and CD Phonograph

One of my favorite projects from Blue Ribbon Salvage is the idea of turning vintage Gramophone speakers into hanging lamps. I thought that was an awesomely beautiful way to repurpose these already-gorgeous pieces of musical history. The idea of simply reusing them as an iPhone speaker was always dreamily tossed around, but never acted upon.

Thankfully, designer Matt Richmond pulled through with this hack of an old Victrola phonograph horn, the iVictrola. More pics and info at HEMagazine.

<)))

Another take on the iGramophone concept is from Tristan Zimmerman, the ultra-modern, Design Exchange Award-winning Phonofone II. Available for purchase at Charles & Marie.

<)))

Not sure if this is playable or just a concept. Rad either way. Designed by Yong Jieyu & Ama Xue Hong Bin, the Phonograph CD Player consists of a disassembled CD player with the laser positioned like a classic needle tracing a wax groove. More info at Engadget.

RELATED:
Geek Out: Clever Hack Makes Any Song Swing
SF: Homeless Man Breaks Fourth Wall of iPad Ad (in Ladies Loafers)
Hack/Remix: Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody On Old School Computer Gear
Live: Rockin’ Home Furnishings from Bughouse

SF: Homeless Man Breaks Fourth Wall of iPad Ad (in Ladies Loafers)

They were lined up perfectly. Like, “you complete me” perfectly. Half man. Half Apple ad. A creature out of Greek marketing mythology. If only my crappy iPhone camera captured it more clearly. And that’s the smallest irony of this picture.

Spotted on Market Street, SF.

KYEO, never know what you’ll see:
KYEO: Ominous Shadow Art on California Street
KYEO: Urban Mushrooms
KYEO: Wheatpaste on Market St, Name That Casual Male
KYEO: Breadface & Blues Wheatpastes in Chicago’s Roscoe Village
FYI: Shit You Can’t Flush on Southwest Airlines