Introducing Emoji++ →

David Smith:

Being friends with Casey Liss I have a lot of experience with Emoji, but the way it is implemented in the default iOS keyboard has always driven me a little bit crazy. Why oh why are there six pages, some of which is split into ten sub pages. None of which scroll!

And then don’t even get me started on actually trying to find anything.

Why are shoes(👞) under the face(😃)?
Why are volcanos(🌋) under the flower(🌸)?
Why is the coffee(☕) under the bell(🔔)?
Why is the Union Jack(🇬🇧) under the car(🚘)?!

I feel like I’m always I’m playing a game of memory each time I’m try to craft my perfectly composed Emoji response.

So when iOS 8 introduced the concept of custom keyboard I knew I wanted to replace the built in one with something better. Something faster.

The result is Emoji++. A custom keyboard for iOS 8 that actually makes sense.

Download. Download now.

A Rare Look at Apple’s Design Guru →

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Robert Sullivan:

When you sit down with Ive, he is eager to chat—too eager, maybe, for the Apple time-minders who are always looking around for him—and will take a while to respond to a question, smiling as he says, “This is going to be a kind of oblique answer. . . .” We are talking in a white room, distracted only by a black non-Apple television—itself a signpost to the question, When will Apple make TVs or whatever will replace them? Noticeably, his phone neither rings nor vibrates; he has designed the moment for concentration. He nurses a white mug of tea, and the only thing in the room besides an iPhone is the pair of reading glasses designed by his friend Marc Newson and tucked into the front of his T-shirt: simple, delicate, but clear and strong. “I wish I could articulate this more effectively,” he continues, addressing his ambitions as a designer. “But it is to have that sense that you know there couldn’t possibly be a sane or rational alternative.”

The central focus of this piece is the design of the Apple Watch. As many have pointed out, it probably isn’t a coincidence, after a Paris Fashion Week event featuring the Apple Watch, that Apple chose to make Ive available to Vogue. Apple is wading into the waters of high fashion, there’s no doubt about it.

/via Six Colors

Interstellar Trailer No. 3

At some point, all of the hype finally catches up to this movie, right? I’m still trying to understand how it’s a co-production of Paramount and Warner Bros.

I mean, am I going to pre-order tickets? Of course.

Derek Jeter Announces ‘The Players’ Tribune’ →

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Derek Jeter:

I do think fans deserve more than “no comments” or “I don’t knows.” Those simple answers have always stemmed from a genuine concern that any statement, any opinion or detail, might be distorted. I have a unique perspective. Many of you saw me after that final home game, when the enormity of the moment hit me. I’m not a robot. Neither are the other athletes who at times might seem unapproachable. We all have emotions. We just need to be sure our thoughts will come across the way we intend.

So I’m in the process of building a place where athletes have the tools they need to share what they really think and feel.  We want to have a way to connect directly with our fans, with no filter.

#2 is wasting no time. It sounds like a pretty great idea. Know how I know? I follow about 10 sports blog daily and not a one had an article about this. Nervous much?

But maybe they shouldn't be so worried. Jeets didn’t use the oxford comma in his mission statement, and he did a Q&A on Twitter where he committed the Old Person sin of signing his tweets. Also—that name. Tribune? Really?

The Gist’s Pledge Drive →

I began listening to The Gist after Ira Glass name-dropped it on an episode of This American Life about a month ago and I haven’t missed an episode since. In yesterday’s episode, host Mike Pesca made an announcement. A pledge drive was beginning. But in lieu of the usual ask-for-money event, they’re trying, unsurprisingly, something different. Pesca does want a pledge from his listeners—a pledge to get at least one person in the next week to subscribe to The Gist.

So that’s what I’m asking you to do. Go right now, either in your podcast app of choice, or in iTunes, and subscribe. If you like language, and words, and a unique, honest take on current events (both mainstream and off the beaten path), The Gist is the podcast you should have already been listening to.

First ‘Inherent Vice’ Trailer

Looks tremendous. I’m already working on getting over being annoyed by writers who think they’re movie critics.

Taco Bell vs. US Taco Co.: A Linguist Examines Word Usage in Menus →

Kiera Butler:

Next, Jurafsky picked up on descriptors. "So there's all of those adjectives and participles," he says. "Fluffy." "Seasoned." That's one thing that's common on cheaper restaurant menus—as if the restaurant feels the need to try and convince its diners of the quality of the food. A fancier restaurant, he explains, would take it as a given that the diner expects the eggs to be fluffy and the pico de gallo to be freshly prepared.

My favorite linguistic shading in this piece is the title.

Anthony Bourdain Has Become the Future of Cable News, and He Couldn’t Care Less →

Rob Brunner:

Parts Unknown is the flagship of Bourdain's somewhat accidental empire. He also presides over two other current TV programs: the PBS docuseries The Mind of a Chef (which he both narrates and executive produces) and the Esquire Network travel show The Getaway. He's a mentor on ABC's reality competition The Taste (season 3 premieres in January), and he oversees an Ecco/HarperCollins imprint that has released four books since it kicked off in May 2013. He has written six food books of his own--including his 2000 memoir, Kitchen Confidential--and several crime novels. Recently, and much to his surprise, he's even become a new face of CNN, which is currently being overhauled by former NBCUniversal president and CEO Jeff Zucker. His show could lead an industry-wide shift toward a more documentary-focused cable-news landscape.

For Bourdain, it has been a long evolution: from heroin-addicted chef to punk-rock-foodie author to global citizen on a mission to simply understand a bit about our world. It's a testament to Bourdain's work ethic and creative drive that after 14 years on television, he's still pushing to get better, go deeper, seek out complexity, avoid the obvious and conventional. At a time when he could simply coast, Bourdain seems as energized as ever.

But right now, at Tori Shin, he’s mostly just hungry.

I was a Bourdain groupie for a long, long time. I checked out towards the end of No Reservations, but after reading a few write-ups about Parts Unknown, I decided to give him another shot. I’m glad I did. I thought something about it felt different and this really great piece confirmed it. Make sure you read to the end to see what his future plans are.

Devon Still’s Pre-Cancer Surgery Pep Talk to His Four Year-Old Daughter →

There are plenty of non-shithead NFL players. Seems like Devon Still is one of them. And you know what? Kudos to the Bengals, too. The full story is here; the video, here.

Give ‘em hell, Leah.

‘But those are the words for the process…’

/via Howard Bryant