Metal drumming cover of “Carol of Bells” by Sean Lang:

Apple has opened the iTunes Store to 56 additional countries, bringing the official tally to 155. From Apple’s Press Release:

Apple® today announced the launch of the iTunes Store® in Russia, Turkey, India, South Africa and 52 additional countries featuring an incredible selection of local and international music from all the major labels and thousands of independent labels. The iTunes Store features local artists including Elka in Russia, Sezen Aksu in Turkey, AR Rahman in India, and Zahara in South Africa, international artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Coldplay, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang. Customers can choose from over 20 million songs available to purchase and download on the iTunes Store.

[…]

The iTunes Store is available in 119 countries and is the best way for iPhone®, iPad®, iPod®, Mac® and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music online. […]

Customers also have access to the revolutionary App Store℠ with more than 700,000 apps available in 155 countries.

I find it weird that India and Russia have just now received the iTunes Store. Now they have one more place to spend their money.

After waiting a few days to let others seek out bugs that squeaked through, I have finally updated to iTunes 11.

iTunes 11 Welcome Screen

iTunes 11

What I found interesting was how the welcome screen presented me with two questions:

1. Do you want to watch a tutorial?
2. Can we access information about your library?

While I am happy they are asking my permission before accessing my personal library for information (and even defaulting to “No Thanks”), I have to wonder why they made a tutorial. The interface is rather refreshing and considerably easier to use in comparison to previous versions.

I watched both tutorials—out of curiosity—and found them to be short (both under three-minutes each) and concise. Still, I wish I had those ~five-minutes back.

Ars Technica reports on the end of Nintendo Power magazine, and how the final episode pays homage to its beginnings:

Nintendo Power Magazine Covers

The first and last Nintendo Power magazine covers

TenFingerCrunch

Back in August, when I was the first to report that Nintendo Power would be ceasing publication at the end of the year, I was largely able to compartmentalize my personal feelings about the move in favor of reporting on the facts. But today, when I saw the above image of the magazine’s final cover (left)—one that pays loving homage to that iconic Issue 1 cover from 1988 (right)—it really hit me how much the death of Nintendo Power represents the end of an era.

I still remember the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine. Of all the issues I had, the first was the only one that ever stuck around.

The Joy of Tech™ sums it up perfectly:

The Joy of Tech™ Comic - 2012.12.01

Geek Culture

Hint: Chicken Little is Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster.