Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth with the weekend wrapup

My Mac Pro: 10 Reasons It Was a Smart Purchase Decision

http://www.eweek.com/pc-hardware/slideshows/my-mac-pro-10-reasons-it-was-a-smart-purchase-decision.html




First Apple Reseller Finally Closes After 37 Years

http://time.com/32561/first-apple-reseller-finally-closes-after-37-years/


Here's a newsletter from the second oldest Apple dealer in the U.S.

http://tinyurl.com/mm2yfhd




BUYER'S GUIDE: How To Choose The Right iPad

http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-buyers-guide-2014-3




How I Moved Away From The Mac After Leaving Apple

http://readwrite.com/2014/03/20/apple-mac-windows-pc-balance#awesm=~ozixBiGqRhHLCp




Apple Rejects Tank Battle 1942, Then Approves; Shows How Stupid The iOS Approval Process Is

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140317/08084426593/apple-rejecting-tank-battle-1942-then-approving-shows-how-stupid-approval-process-is-ios-apps.shtml




Mac education sales have grown in US since iPad debut

"Since U.S. education sales have been virtually flat over the past seven years, we find the Mac's performance to be nothing less than outstanding," Charlie Wolf said.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/03/17/mac-education-sales-have-grown-in-us-since-ipad-debut-weakening-apple-cannibalization-worries




Yahoo, Google and Apple also claim right to read user emails

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/21/yahoo-google-and-apple-claim-right-to-read-user-emails




This Is What Happens To Your Files When You Stop Paying For A Microsoft Office Subscription

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-when-office-365-expires-2014-3




Why Yelp-Like Websites for the Enterprise Products Don't Work

a large percentage of the reviews are from people who aren't legitimate.

too many reviewers fall into three categories.

1)  Company shills, which range from employees to paid contributors who say nice things about the product or service but have never actually used it 
2)  Company enemies, which can include disgruntled employees, employees of competitors or unreasonable customers 
3)  Trolls, or people who just love to go on the Web and cause folks pain because they can

real reviewers don't have the writing skills of the fake ones, so often the best "read" is from a person who isn't honest.

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/unfiltered-opinion/why-yelp-like-websites-for-the-enterprise-products-dont-work.html




Nearly half of identity thefts involve medical data

hackers are getting access to your health care data ("protected health information," or "PHI" in regulatory speak), and the real world consequences of that are far more devastating.

If an impostor uses your insurance to gain access to health care, it can also affect your own ability to access care: many insurance plans have yearly caps on certain types of care - and no insurance company is going to pay for "one person" to have an appendectomy twice. An identity thief with access to your insurance could drain your coverage before you even know it's happened - and leave you in the lurch when you need it.

An identity thief could very well use their access to your medical records to get the prescription drugs you need for your own health and well-being - leaving you both without your meds and with a suspicious doctor or pharmacist wondering why you maxed out all your refills so quickly and are coming back for more.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/medical-id-theft-is-even-scarier-than-the-target-breach-2014-03-18




Digital Coup: Twitter Use Jumps to New High in Turkey

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/digital-coup-twitter-use-jumps-to-new.html




Recent events in Turkey, and prior events in Egypt and Libya got me thinking about the amazing power of social media.

The Law of Social Media: Arrogant fools who think they can control social media quickly discover social media controls them.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/law-of-social-media.html




This Guy Makes Millions Playing Video Games on YouTube

Difficult as it may be to believe that online audiences throng to watch strangers play video games, Let's Plays have surged in popularity.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/03/this-guy-makes-millions-playing-video-games-on-youtube/284402/




In This Video, a Singer Shows How Much Photoshop Is Actually Used In Music Videos

http://www.businessinsider.com/singer-boggie-shows-how-much-photoshop-is-in-music-videos-2014-3




Mt. Gox finds 200,000 lost bitcoins

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mt-gox-finds-200000-lost-bitcoins-wsj-2014-03-20




Meet The Company That's Trying To Offer All The Benefits Of Bitcoin But Without All Of The Headaches

it was only a matter of time before someone carved out all the meaty parts of Bitcoin while leaving the gristle for others:  Enter Ripple.

A key distinction between Bitcoin and Ripple:  While the former is based on a community, the latter is designed to solve problems of commerce.

all Ripple coins have been 'pre-mined,' meaning all the coins that will ever come into existence have been created, by Ripple itself.

"If you look at the cryptocoin universe available now, you see whole families of cryptocurrencies derived from Bitcion — they use the same technology," Denis Kiselev said. "Ripple is the only one that's substantially different, with a different mechanism of transaction confirmation, that allows you to do instant transactions across currencies, and only cryptocurrencies. I see it as a major step forward, a major advancement."

it's still early, but definitely something to watch.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ripple-profile-2014-3




The problem with data journalism

Michael Mandel said:
"I applaud the increased use of data in journalism. But they can't just hire graphic designers to make pretty pictures. Making sense out of raw data requires more analytic firepower and more willingness to do independent research than journalists have traditionally been comfortable with. But it also requires a new set of ethics about how to responsibly use data. That conversation hasn't started yet."

http://qz.com/189703/the-problem-with-data-journalism/#