Many many apps want far too many permissions. But if you firewall the app it doesn't really matter what it knows, it won't be talking to the Internet.
What I'd really like to see in Android is apps running in a sandbox and you being able to deny specific permissions for any app (with the caveat that may break the app, but so be it.)
With iOS all the permissions and spying is behind the scenes so as not to confuse or concern the user.
I graduated in the late 1980s and I had to work to get my hands on computers. About all I got significant hands-on time with were Apple IIs. I quickly learned more than the teacher and got sent to the principal's office for correcting her one too many times. I was also apparently an early software pirate, I copied some sort of system disk and got in trouble for that. I don't even remember why, I didn't have an Apple at home.
There was a room full of PCs in the school but I somehow never figured out how to get my hands on those. I think they were teaching typing or something on them.
The main computer room had an early Mac that the yearbook geeks would crowd around, I wasn't a bit interested in it. No command line.
Use the store discount cards but lie liberally on the application form. Don't give them your real name or address or anything else that's real. Problem solved. The discount cards are the only way to get a decent price at many grocery stores now.
There is nothing that I hate more than grinding, repetitive work towards a virtual goal that is ultimately meaningless. Maybe if I got paid $50 for finishing the game I'd be more motivated. I feel the same way about jigsaw puzzles, a company prints a nice glossy photo and cuts it into 500 pieces, and I'm supposed to feel fulfilled by putting it back together? It's a complete waste of time to me.
To me games are about strategy, living vicariously, and the journey/experience. Nothing embodies that more than "sandbox" games. In Oblivion and Skyrim, I never did finish the main storyline, I just wandered and explored. GTA IV and Fallout 3 I finished, but there is still tons of fun in just wandering.
I guess when I'm not wealthy and am tied down to a job I wander in virtual worlds because I can't in real life. Plus the virtual worlds have no real penalties for screwing up, so I can go punch a deer or steal a loaf of bread and no harm is done.
Steam is good, but it's not great. How about allowing me to put my games in more than one category? How about allowing me to list my games that support co-op or multiplayer? The data is already in the Steam store database.
At best it's just Win7 with a new fancy touch homescreen. The old desktop is still there. And the upgrade price is very good especially for those with XP or Vista.
I don't care if Win8 does come with a Microsoft Store, I'll still go to Steam for games. Unless MS can do a LOT better job than they did with Games for Windows Live!!!!!11!!11!!!
Why would anyone pay tens of thousands of dollars to submit a patch? That content distribution system is obviously broken, it is in both Microsoft's and the developer's best interest to make things right.
I think a 20% is more than "slightly below" the 30% increase Viacom wanted. I'm no DirectTV fan, but a 30% price increase is rather steep.
As for as my mandatory "I don't pay for cable/satellite" post, I haven't paid since 2007 or so. I have TivoHD to record HD OTA and Netflix. I have more than enough to watch, and Netflix eventually gets many of my favorite programs that I used to watch on cable for $65+ per month. I'm not one of those people that has to see something the moment it comes out. Once you can relax about that, you can save a lot of time (no commercials) and money.
Agree completely on the space. I installed Folder Organizer and GoLauncher on my Android tablet so I could have more home screens and even more space for icons and folders.
Between Android and iOS there are plenty of apps, I would imagine Windows has a fraction of that amount.
You really don't want a little-used niche product in the tech world, or you'll be left out on future developments.
How can self-driven cars co-exist with driverless cars? It needs to be all or nothing, or else the driverless cars will slow to a crawl trying to avoid every bad or aggressive self-driven car out there.
There will certainly be some pain. Suppose the first step is to make the Interstate highways auto-drive only? People would rightfully object to that.
You can usually back out of the updates, but there are far too many updates.
Netflix on my PS3 has some really weird scrolling issues, each row of covers keeps scrolling without my doing anything. It was fixed briefly last year and now it's back. Aren't all PS3s basically the same? How did this pass QC?
I can maybe understand some sort of DRM for the first year or two a game is out. But I've never even heard of half these games. How long are they going to hold these gamers hostage?
That was my thought. They were trying to entice users to upgrade to Vista and 7 by not allowing XP to run the latest IE. That wasn't exactly an enticement to me.
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Many many apps want far too many permissions. But if you firewall the app it doesn't really matter what it knows, it won't be talking to the Internet.
What I'd really like to see in Android is apps running in a sandbox and you being able to deny specific permissions for any app (with the caveat that may break the app, but so be it.)
With iOS all the permissions and spying is behind the scenes so as not to confuse or concern the user.
The companies keep closing down and setting up under a different name and/or location, always one step ahead of the law.
It refused to run on my ~1.5 megabit connection. So the only place I tried it was on my tablet at a restaurant for a few minutes.
I could see it being ok for casual games, but anything requring precise timing would be very annoying.
I graduated in the late 1980s and I had to work to get my hands on computers. About all I got significant hands-on time with were Apple IIs. I quickly learned more than the teacher and got sent to the principal's office for correcting her one too many times. I was also apparently an early software pirate, I copied some sort of system disk and got in trouble for that. I don't even remember why, I didn't have an Apple at home.
There was a room full of PCs in the school but I somehow never figured out how to get my hands on those. I think they were teaching typing or something on them.
The main computer room had an early Mac that the yearbook geeks would crowd around, I wasn't a bit interested in it. No command line.
IP address of the server, that seems harmless. Time, harmless.
Is the User ID secret or something that other players could see anyway?
Just stay out of the left lane when not passing and driving will be much safer for everyone.
HTTPS doesn't encrypt the request though does it? The government could still see you requested https://wikipedia.com/how_to_make_bombs.html
Use the store discount cards but lie liberally on the application form. Don't give them your real name or address or anything else that's real. Problem solved. The discount cards are the only way to get a decent price at many grocery stores now.
There is nothing that I hate more than grinding, repetitive work towards a virtual goal that is ultimately meaningless. Maybe if I got paid $50 for finishing the game I'd be more motivated. I feel the same way about jigsaw puzzles, a company prints a nice glossy photo and cuts it into 500 pieces, and I'm supposed to feel fulfilled by putting it back together? It's a complete waste of time to me.
To me games are about strategy, living vicariously, and the journey/experience. Nothing embodies that more than "sandbox" games. In Oblivion and Skyrim, I never did finish the main storyline, I just wandered and explored. GTA IV and Fallout 3 I finished, but there is still tons of fun in just wandering.
I guess when I'm not wealthy and am tied down to a job I wander in virtual worlds because I can't in real life. Plus the virtual worlds have no real penalties for screwing up, so I can go punch a deer or steal a loaf of bread and no harm is done.
Steam is good, but it's not great. How about allowing me to put my games in more than one category? How about allowing me to list my games that support co-op or multiplayer? The data is already in the Steam store database.
Yeah but the interface sucks.
At best it's just Win7 with a new fancy touch homescreen. The old desktop is still there. And the upgrade price is very good especially for those with XP or Vista.
I don't care if Win8 does come with a Microsoft Store, I'll still go to Steam for games. Unless MS can do a LOT better job than they did with Games for Windows Live!!!!!11!!11!!!
Why would anyone pay tens of thousands of dollars to submit a patch? That content distribution system is obviously broken, it is in both Microsoft's and the developer's best interest to make things right.
I think a 20% is more than "slightly below" the 30% increase Viacom wanted. I'm no DirectTV fan, but a 30% price increase is rather steep.
As for as my mandatory "I don't pay for cable/satellite" post, I haven't paid since 2007 or so. I have TivoHD to record HD OTA and Netflix. I have more than enough to watch, and Netflix eventually gets many of my favorite programs that I used to watch on cable for $65+ per month. I'm not one of those people that has to see something the moment it comes out. Once you can relax about that, you can save a lot of time (no commercials) and money.
On my non-technical site (average user is probably 60 years old and not computer-technical) I see:
MS Internet Explorer 45.8 %
Firefox 26.6 %
Google Chrome 14.2 %
Safari 7.5 %
Opera 2.3 %
Windows 84.6 %
Macintosh 9.2 %
Linux 4.5 %
Consumers will take a chance and/or forgive a lot of shortcomings in exchange for a lower price.
Take Steam, discounting Left4Dead by 50% led to a 3000% increase in sales: http://www.edge-online.com/features/valve-are-games-too-expensive
That's probably where the Steam Summer Sale came from. BTW, where is it this year?
Agree completely on the space. I installed Folder Organizer and GoLauncher on my Android tablet so I could have more home screens and even more space for icons and folders.
Between Android and iOS there are plenty of apps, I would imagine Windows has a fraction of that amount.
You really don't want a little-used niche product in the tech world, or you'll be left out on future developments.
Charlottesville isn't North unless you're from Florida. It's firmly in the South. It is sometimes called the Mid-Atlantic region, but it's not North.
How can self-driven cars co-exist with driverless cars? It needs to be all or nothing, or else the driverless cars will slow to a crawl trying to avoid every bad or aggressive self-driven car out there.
There will certainly be some pain. Suppose the first step is to make the Interstate highways auto-drive only? People would rightfully object to that.
Antenna hooked to TivoHD, 42" plasma, Netflix. Total expenditure per month is about $25. The Tivo lets me record anything 24/7 from the free OTA.
Perhaps, but I hope it's a lot less ads than Hulu. They want you to watch a 30 second ad before a 3 minute clip.
I have several different controllers and they all act the same in Netflix. All other apps and games act fine. My controllers haven't had a hard life.
My PS3 is a first gen. 60GB.
I just found it very weird that an app would act like that on standardized hardware.
You can usually back out of the updates, but there are far too many updates.
Netflix on my PS3 has some really weird scrolling issues, each row of covers keeps scrolling without my doing anything. It was fixed briefly last year and now it's back. Aren't all PS3s basically the same? How did this pass QC?
I can maybe understand some sort of DRM for the first year or two a game is out. But I've never even heard of half these games. How long are they going to hold these gamers hostage?
That was my thought. They were trying to entice users to upgrade to Vista and 7 by not allowing XP to run the latest IE. That wasn't exactly an enticement to me.