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User: Black.Shuck

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Comments · 310

  1. Re:Jailbreaks on New iPad Jailbroken Already · · Score: 1

    Yes, I know that Apple removed pornographic and political apps from their App Store. It's their store, curated by their staff, running on their servers. I will admit it would have been courteous to have outlined a full set of ToC's before the developers spent time writing their apps (an especially shitty situation since devs have to pay $100 a year to get into the App Store, although Xcode is now a free download) but Apple have apologised for that now, and admit their curation standards are a work-in-progress. It's not a complete answer, but things have progressed beyond the sensational to the mundane.

    Anyway, iOS users aren't really denied access to the content you mention, are they? They can still open Safari and browse to whatever they choose. Porn and political japery are mere taps away. You can even fire-up YouTube and watch video replays of RMS eating his own toe-jam in front of dozens of fellow free-software advocates. It's just that Apple offer a curated alternative. It's like apt-get, except with a nice GUI and a bunch of people who try to ensure no malware gets through.

    Don't insist that everyone offering goods in a free-market should be forced to follow your ideals -- it smacks of the totalitarian. If what Apple is doing is wrong the people will vote with their feet and go elsewhere. So far, it looks like the iPad's drought of pornographic and political cartoon apps aren't really hurting the user-satisfaction surveys. Or Apple's bank-balance.

  2. Re:Jailbreaks on New iPad Jailbroken Already · · Score: 1

    Just a show of hands: Has anyone here installed an app on their regular computer -- that is to say, a compiled binary that isn't a web-browser -- that allows them to view political cartoons or pornography? If you have, can you vouch for the experience over using a web-browser?

    I think it's time for someone to take their tinfoil hat off.

  3. Re:Or... on New iPad Jailbroken Already · · Score: 1

    I can't remember the figures off the top of my head, but I believe the App Store counts for about 1% of Apple's revenue stream.

    And no, I don't think the company was founded in order to exert the controls you mention, and everything you've listed can be had by clicking on the "Safari" icon.

  4. Re:Jailbreaks on New iPad Jailbroken Already · · Score: 2

    I think a good reason an "advanced mode" isn't included is they'd have to support it.

    A traditional, non "locked-down" OS is a support nightmare, and Apple sees enough of that with OS X which has a far smaller user-base than iOS.

  5. Re:Astronomical distances and poetry on New Horizons: One Billion Miles From Pluto · · Score: 1

    Current thinking is that the Universe is flat and we can observe about 46 billion light-years of it in all directions.

  6. Re:Call your union rep on Ontario Teachers' Union Calls For Health-Related Classroom Wi-Fi Ban · · Score: 1

    I don't think *anyone* can tell us what's safe.

    I mean, bananas are clearly dangerous from a scientific perspective, but on the other hand they have a strong religious endorsement.

  7. Re:Cheaper iPad 2 on What the iPad 3 Looks Like · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fanboys. Anti-fanboys. Two sides of the same irrational coin if you ask me.

  8. Re:"Greenhoue effect" on Russian Scientist Claims Signs of Life Spotted On Venus · · Score: 1

    What's responsible for the heating?

    Erm, homosexuals?

  9. Re:GRAIL huh? on GRAIL-A Enters Lunar Orbit · · Score: 1

    I'm not your GRAIL-Buddeh!

  10. Re:Insects, we on Hubble Shoots Movies of Stellar Jets · · Score: 1

    Yes. Breathtaking footage.

  11. In a word... on Is Tablet Success Bound To Their Crackability? · · Score: 2

    ...no.

    Enough with the wish-thinking, nerds. Hackers just aren't as populous as non-hackers and never will be, and it's the latter who are buying tablets in droves.

  12. Re:No I don't on A Look Back At the Career of Steve Jobs · · Score: 2

    I don't own a single Apple product and most likely never will.

    And yet Apple has still made your life better.

  13. Neil DeGrasse Tyson on FOX To Host New Cosmos · · Score: 1

    Episode 1: Creation
    Episode 2: Noah's Ark ...

    Unlikely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HooeZrC76s0

  14. ...and the next Chrome UI... on The Next Firefox UI · · Score: 1

    ...will replace the entire nav-bar with a single "I'm feeling lucky" button.

  15. Re:But you cant use it without getting too hot? on Build Your Own 135TB RAID6 Storage Pod For $7,384 · · Score: 2

    It's probably fine.

  16. He missed a trick... on Facial Recognition Gone Wrong · · Score: 1

    Let Clarkson show you how it's done:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3i-HRxf8z4#t=04m39s

    (Skip to 4:39 if the link won't do it for you.)

  17. Re:iOS development on After a Decade, Mac Sales Again Top 10% · · Score: 1

    Last year there were around 50,000 registered iOS developers. I think the number is at least double that today.

    I don't think that 100,000 is shoring up Apple's numbers much.

  18. Obligatory Hitchens on Pastafarian Wins Right To Wear Colander In License Photo · · Score: 2
  19. So FCP 7 magically uninstalled itself from every.. on Is Final Cut Pro X Apple's Biggest Mistake In Years? · · Score: 1

    ...pro machine at the instant FCPX was released?

    Damn Apple, that's some cold-ass shit.

  20. Re:Well that didn't take long. on iOS 5 Jailbroken · · Score: 1

    If you want to make fanboys squirm, it's good to start by not being wrong. Apple changed an entire industry. Google copied their work and have so far made only obvious, incremental improvements.

    I'm not saying this isn't praiseworthy, but being over-congratulatory is a far more myopic worldview than one that fairly acknowledges Apple's initial hammer-blow followed by steady (if slow) improvements.

  21. Re:SOP? on Did Microsoft Alter Windows Sales Figures? · · Score: 4, Funny

    decided by a bunfight

    If only *all* things in life could be decided by a bunfight.

    *sigh*

  22. Re:Hmm on Pope Says Technology Causes Confusion Between Reality and Fiction · · Score: 1

    Of course he exercises free will. He has no choice.

  23. What a testament to the HST... on Hubble Accuracy Surpassed By Earthbound Telescope · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...that it was more than 20 years ahead of any Earth-bound telescope when it launched.

  24. Re:Neteller has virtual preloaded Mastercards on Alternatives To Paypal's Virtual Credit Card Service? · · Score: 1

    I don't have mod-points, but I can vouch for Neteller's service.

  25. Re:To Little To Late on Multitasking In For iPhone 4.0? · · Score: 1

    Don't be such a sourpuss.