When we think of old communications technology, many of us picture 10Base-2 coax connectors or maybe 2400 baud modems. But what about wax-covered cardboard discs? The Smithsonian discovered and digitized such a disc containing the voice of Alexander Graham Bell saying, "Hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell." Now you can hear what the inventor of the telephone sounded like on 15 April 1885.

Stymied by oddities when outputting video from an iPad to an HDTV, the folks at Panic took a hacksaw to Apple’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter to investigate. To their surprise, they found what appears to be a miniature computer, complete with a processor and 2 gigabits of RAM (for reference, that equals 256 MB of RAM, the same amount shipped in the original iPad). Panic’s initial speculation was that the processor was outputting an AirPlay signal (which would partially explain some compression artifacts that appear on screen). However, an anonymous but apparently knowledgeable commenter, who sounds like he or she works at Apple, explained that the adapter’s approach “essentially allows us to output to any device on the planet, irregardless of the endpoint bus (HDMI, DisplayPort, and any future inventions) by simply producing the relevant adapter that plugs into the Lightning port.” See for yourself!

Twitter reset the passwords for 250,000 users last week after it became aware of numerous unauthorized access attempts. According to Twitter’s Director of Information Security Bob Lord “…attackers may have had access to limited user information – usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords” for a quarter of a million accounts. Although it would be inconvenient to have someone else posting to your account, the greater danger is to people who reuse passwords among other services. As always, we recommend creating strong passwords, preferably using tools such as 1Password or LastPass.

At iMore, Rene Ritchie looks at the fusillades being thrown at Apple so far in 2013 — endless nonsensical punditry, rumors of iPhone production cutbacks, possible stock price manipulation — and how everyone is attacking the supposedly invincible market leader. He argues that Apple is fighting against psychology as much as competing products, and points out the company’s edge. Ritchie writes: “But here’s the thing — Apple has been here before. They’ve been to the very bottom, and they came back. Apple knows they’re beatable — that everyone is beatable — and they know how to fight their way back. It’s part of them now.”

More than a year after becoming Apple CEO, Tim Cook has granted an extended interview with Bloomberg Business that reveals more personal detail. Although it’s clear that Cook isn’t baring his soul — he’s very savvy about reinforcing Apple’s marketing messages and knows how to evade tricky questions — we do get a better sense of how this normally private man is dealing with the massive attention being Apple’s CEO brings.

Citing the desire for “changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams,” Apple announced that Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall is leaving the company in 2013. Also packing up, apparently immediately, is Senior Vice President of Retail John Browett, with CEO Tim Cook taking over his duties until a new head of retail operations can be hired. Meanwhile, other Apple senior vice presidents are taking on additional responsibilities. Industrial designer Jonathan Ive will start working with software teams to “provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company.” Eddy Cue of Internet Software and Services assumes responsibility for Siri and Maps, in addition to overseeing the iTunes Store, the App Store, the iBookstore, and iCloud. Craig Federighi, who formerly headed up Mac Software Engineering, will also lead iOS development. And Bob Mansfield, who abruptly retired in June 2012 only to return in an unspecified role a short time later, will lead a new Technologies group that combines all of Apple’s wireless groups.

Journalists and analysts in the United States often forget the impact that Apple’s worldwide presence has on the company’s success, but it’s significant. Graham Spencer at MacStories has put together an impressive overview of where Apple sells its media properties: music, movies, TV shows, ebooks, and apps. He also includes the same figures for Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.com as comparison, demonstrating that Apple maintains a sizeable head start on the rest.

We’re not sure what’s more amazing about this Saturday Night Live sketch from last week: that the bit is funny, or that it pokes fun at Apple products and the entire industry in a way that doesn’t reflexively rely on lazy rumors or reporting. In it, bloggers from CNET, Wired, and Gizmodo are interviewed about the iPhone 5’s problems such as the new Maps app, lens flare when taking photos of the sun, being too thin and light, and susceptibility to scratches. Count on a trio of guests to put them in their place. (Our apologies to international readers since Hulu isn’t available in other countries. You may be able to find a copy on YouTube or other video sharing sites before NBC has it removed.)

On 18 September 2012, Jeff Carlson is giving a free online presentation about the concepts and techniques in his book “The iPad for Photographers” at 5:00 PM Pacific (8:00 PM Eastern). Over the course of the hour, he’ll demonstrate how to import photos wirelessly from a camera to the iPad, rate and tag images while still on location, edit the photos directly on the iPad, and more. This will be a live demonstration (not just a set of Keynote slides), and there will be plenty of time for questions. Register at Peachpit’s site and tune in Tuesday!

Viewing the photos sent back from NASA’s Mars Curiosity mobile science laboratory has been exciting over the last week, but here’s one with a twist… and a roll. Open this link on an iOS device that contains a gyroscope sensor — like the iPad 2 and third-generation iPad, iPhone 4 and 4S, and fourth-generation iPod touch — and navigate the panorama by tilting and moving the device. (Bonus points for scanning the horizon while you’re sitting in a swivel chair!)