I always wonder myself why everybody assumes that they somehow use a supercomputer to crack encrypted streams. The NSA probably has access to private keys by Verisign, Thawte, etc... and can just perform MITM attacks. After all, most companies use a US-based Certificate Authority.
I prefer that they exploit the full power of their latest and greatest, but it's sad that only a mere 1% can access the latest and greatest:( (as of today, I'm sure this will change very quickly)
I have tried Siri on a jailbroken iPhone 4 and it works just as well, I did not notice any difference. I doubt this is a major reason for not enabling this on the iPhone 4, especially when taking into account how little difference "just" the improved camera and a dual core processor is to most users.
I would think the improved hardware sensor played a major role, but again, Siri worked just as well for me on an iPhone 4.
Also, I'm surprised that they advertise as "removing most or all of the background noise", while Siri did a fairly good job of knowing who was talking to her, it gets confused too often, which means that it won't work very well if other people in the room are talking.
When did I say that they somehow were falsely advertising or tricking customers into thinking those were actually ePub files? I didn't. They did, however, decide to base their file format *very heavily* on ePub3, and change it in a way that will make it incompatible, without submitting their changes to the International Digital Publishing Forum (who maintain the ePub file format on which the ibooks file format is heavily based).
Yes, actually, I would expect from a big company such as Apple who is a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum. Especially when they are selling this as a way of reshaping education and school textbooks.
Repeat with me: I'm not saying that they *must* contribute to standards, only that I think it is greedy of them not to do so, considering the circumstances and their competitive advantage.
It is worth noting that you can't export to standard EPUB3 file format, only to PDF. PDF is obviously non-interactive, while the EPUB3 standard would allow for most if not all of the interactive elements that can be created with iBooks Author.
Many argue that they are in their right to put that EULA, and that others have done it before (Microsoft's Word, for example). And they are absolutely right. That does not mean, however, that this isn't a very greedy move - many even describe it as 'evil' - and just like it happened with Microsoft in the past, I can totally understand why.
Having a right to do something is not incompatible with being greedy or even evil.
A peek into.iba files and a comparison with epub files evidences that Apple deliberately re-designed and implemented features in order to make the ibooks file format incompatible with industry standards. Again, while they are fully in their right to do this, this should be worrying to anyone who appreciates healthy competition and doesn't enjoy Microsoft-like monopolies. Ironically, this has happened with Apple being a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum, who manage the EPUB standard. (This really smells like embrace-extend-extinguish to me.)
Perhaps what bugs me the most is that in spite of all this, no-one (AFAIK) has taken the time to provide an alternative tool which allows to create interactive ePub documents just as easily. It seems to me that Apple was first to do this "properly" (as it usually happens), and in this case there is no technical reason why it could not have been created 1 or 2 years ago by other industry leaders - I have used iBooks Author and it isn't much more than a glorified presentation editor.
What if arab countries start seeking extradition of US citizens for women who don't cover their faces in public, or because they didn't do certain things (like traveling) with their husband's written permission?
What about european countries seeking extradition of US citizens for carrying guns in public?
I'm sure there are _many_ things which are done every day by US citizens but are illegal in other countries, perhaps some of which do have extradition treaties!
PD: I realize most US citizens think this is ridiculous, too. I'm not confronting them, just making the same statement with switched roles.
Most apps run well on every android version thanks to the design of API cross-compatibility (I have experienced this myself, being an early android developer).
However, I don't think you can avoid the fact that the OS itself is fragmented when your OS takes 6 months to a full year to be available on the majority of android handsets.
In addition, has Mr. Schmid had a look at this chart, put up by google themselves? http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html It reads OS fragmentation all over it! And this is PRECISELY what pisses many (geek) users off, that they can't get the latest and greatest or that new phones come to market being outdated!
"While it is unclear if the government would specify how long these living restrictions would remain in place, news reports indicated it could be decades. That has been the case for areas around the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine after its 1986 accident." - is that also FUD? Considering the consequences of disasters not nearly as bad as Chernobyl, which also had terrible consequences (i.e. death), I would say the risk of rendering areas inhabitable for decades or centuries is still very real. Maybe the reactors were a bit outdated, but how many other outdated reactors - such as the ones from Japan certainly were, as they have rendered a big area inhabitable for decades - are in operation throughout the world?
I was trying to put what I thought was an interesting, provocative yet reasoned argument which questions the effectiveness of the nuclear energy "path". Looks like someone got irritated and can't discuss "like adults do".
Back to my point, if you will, leaving zones of the planet inhabitable for centuries is a very high prize many aren't willing to pay. Who says deaths/twh is the correct metric? Oh, maybe that is one of the reasons this news: they would like to find a better energy source! BTW, color me suspicious about that article, which says: "a death at one of the japanese nuclear plants following the 8.9 earthquake". *A* DEATH? If you didn't know, radioactivity doesn't instantly kill you. How many were killed or damaged the *instant* the explosion occurred at Chernobyl? Exactly. That article was written March 13, 2011. Also, how about taking into account thousands of homeless, costs of recovery, environmental costs of radioactive leaks, environmental costs of radioactive wastes, etc etc etc and you end up with one Fing big disaster, which is what Fukushima is any way you want to look at it. Of course, one could argue that this was due to the earthquake, which was followed by a tsunami, which was followed by the Fukushima incident. But it is about the risk. A very high risk, judging by the unfortunate results of Fukushima. Shit DOES happen, as everybody can see.
Now, I'm not saying they should magically stop being dependent on 40% (or 80% or whatever it is for every country) of a country's energy source, like many politicians claim, because it is unreasonable. But one must take into account the costs, the consequences, and ask: is it worth it? Should we move away or further invest in nuclear energy?
I think it is a question worth asking, discussing and worth thinking about. So I won't shut up, mind you.
They are dependent on nuclear energy obviously, and 40 years is probably quite a feat. But after those 40 years, when there is radioactive waste that will last for thousands, and after leaving certain zones inhabitable for centuries... was it worth it?
Actually, thanks to Wikileaks we now know that the head of PROMUSICAE (the RIAA-equivalent in Spain), Guisasola, secretly pushed for having Spain included in the infamous 301 List. http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=10MADRID179 After Spain was finally included in that list, he claimed that being included in that list was "a national dishonor", and used this argument in order to push for Ley Sinde, the aforementioned SOPA-like law.
Only a few days ago, this law was finally passed. Most Internet users are against this law because it does not change which sites become illegal - it merely changes the *referee*. As a result, judges have been replaced by a commission whose members are privately selected by private lobbying parties (aka spain's RIAA). This might sound like something outrageous, but sadly this is exactly what has happened. If this was not bad enough, keep in mind that this occurs right after *years* of judges ruling *in favor* of those websites that they want to take down (no hosting sites, just linking sites)
Last time I checked, WebOS was really snappy and smooth, and provided a great user experience. Maybe games were hard to code, but the apps I tried out when the first WebOS phone came out felt MUCH smoother than my Android phone.
There are probably many reasons why WebOS failed, but I am very confused by this statement given how well WebOS felt (And I have read the same from many many users in the Internet). The complaints about WebOS were never that it felt like a web app, too limited or that it felt too sluggish, but rather the lack of apps and devices.
Techradar wants to talk and judge usability of the all-time favourite linux desktops, and yet their own website looks like THIS: http://i.imgur.com/IOyKu.png
I know other browsers render it centered, but that's not the (only) point, it's that their web looks awful: about 1/4 is margins, which is OK, and of those 3/4 1/4 is the content, which is split into 7 tiny sections (just give me the whole article and don't make me page every 3 paragraphs, it's almost 2012, for christ sakes!), tiny text, tiny images, and 3/4 of crap (related content, ads, menus, more related content, more related content).
It's not like they can't provide a very valid examination of linux desktops, but their site does not inspire very much credibility when they themselves get it so wrong, IMHO.
What makes you think Amazon will not be suing others for ridiculous and non-innovative technology such as buying items with 1 click? Oh wait, they already did AFAIK:)
Still, I feel Apple is more of a patent troll and more of a control freak, so I kinda still agree that they are worse, but that doesn't mean its good, and comparing to Apple would be pointless.
"When you visit, it automatically checks and lets you know if your Internet address is in the database."
Except most people don't have a fixed IP reserved for them. Does that mean I'm going to get the "warning" because someone else on my ISP downloaded content? (Yes.)
Nevertheless, it's an interesting tool, but this information is probably useless since you still need to contact the ISP in order to know who actually was using that IP in that given time frame. Also, keep in mind that this site currently only displays a time frame accurate to a MONTH (e.g. Dec, 2011) as far as I can see.
If they were trying to scare pirates off, well: Avast, thar! I be not scared!
You missed the point, this is not about getting a new update nor not, which is another matter entirely (although not any less important).
This is about why it takes so long for updates that *are* happening to reach users. Keep in mind that even though ICS was just released, there are phones that are only now getting Gingerbread, the last major Android version. It is sad and it is a rather difficult problem to solve.
Absolutely. I doubt they can't find a model with such a body; sure they can. It's about making the process much shorter and cheaper.
I don't see anyone complaining for the mannequins not being human beings and being too idealistic. Also, keep in mind that this was done for both women and men, and yet protests are raised only for the aesthetic demands placed on female bodies.
That would be true if you didn't have to add an important "feature" to the list:
4) Pages easily break under Opera
I have found myself trying really hard to use Opera as my daily driver. Time and again, I encountered a web page that would not work properly. From pages that would not load at all, to content disappearing when viewed with opera, to buttons and javascript not working, and a long list of etcetera. And by the way, identifying as something else other than Opera did not solve anything, so this wasn't web pages being hostile towards Opera. It was simply Opera not working right.
I tried to use it because if you ignore the serious problem of some web pages not rendering properly or not working at all, it would have been the fastest, more lightweight, speedy, agile and innovative browser by FAR.
Firefox was of course much more bloated and lacked behind Opera in many ways, so when Chrome came along and started what many would consider the best of both worlds, many of those naturally jumped ship. And then people spread the word when they find that it really satisfies their needs, and that is most likely (and grossly) what happened for chrome being so popular nowadays, and not Opera. iMHO.
On top of running debian and being fully open source (well, maybe not the hardware and all the firmware) it seemed fully functional and had great hardware. I still preferred Android because in spite of being less open, it allowed for easier development and I found it more exciting.
It's a shame maemo (or whatever they call it these days) is not going to take off, because it actually looked pretty good, had very good performance, and was very hacker-friendly. Really sad:(
OpenMoko has the flaw (and benefit) of being fully open source to the hardware. Thing is, if they are not going to produce millions, cost is going to be very high. Maybe if they focused on porting maemo and did sell millions.. but I'm not sure millions of people would see the benefit of running open source hardware, for the same reason most don't care if the software is free or proprietary. I think nokia with the n900 and Android with the nexus phones have done a great job of providing a nice trade-off between openness, usability, and popularity (who would have thought the year of the linux smartphone was so nigh!;) )
I honestly would like to see how much console games sell vs PC games. Saying how much of that is due to piracy, I'm afraid, is impossible unless you come up with a model which is better than the download=lost sale model, which is absurdly broken.
I know vgchartz isn't a very reliable source, but according to that site, the super-top-selling game franchise CoD sells 20M. This is a non-trivial delta. Now, maybe Steam accounts for most downloads and those don't show up in vgchartz. I honestly don't know. As I said, I would like to see some real data about sales of PC vs console. But given the a-priori data I am seeing, I would not be surprised to see that the PC has, in fact, become a very different gamer audience.
(sorry, last post got corrupted due to the use of > and HTML being on)
Slashdot Mirror
Precisely Pangolin.
I always wonder myself why everybody assumes that they somehow use a supercomputer to crack encrypted streams. The NSA probably has access to private keys by Verisign, Thawte, etc... and can just perform MITM attacks. After all, most companies use a US-based Certificate Authority.
Android users who are able to run Chrome Beta (that is, who are running ICS) are literally the 1%, according to Google's platform pie charts:
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
I prefer that they exploit the full power of their latest and greatest, but it's sad that only a mere 1% can access the latest and greatest :( (as of today, I'm sure this will change very quickly)
I have tried Siri on a jailbroken iPhone 4 and it works just as well, I did not notice any difference.
I doubt this is a major reason for not enabling this on the iPhone 4, especially when taking into account how little difference "just" the improved camera and a dual core processor is to most users.
I would think the improved hardware sensor played a major role, but again, Siri worked just as well for me on an iPhone 4.
Also, I'm surprised that they advertise as "removing most or all of the background noise", while Siri did a fairly good job of knowing who was talking to her, it gets confused too often, which means that it won't work very well if other people in the room are talking.
When did I say that they somehow were falsely advertising or tricking customers into thinking those were actually ePub files? I didn't.
They did, however, decide to base their file format *very heavily* on ePub3, and change it in a way that will make it incompatible, without submitting their changes to the International Digital Publishing Forum (who maintain the ePub file format on which the ibooks file format is heavily based).
Yes, actually, I would expect from a big company such as Apple who is a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum. Especially when they are selling this as a way of reshaping education and school textbooks.
Repeat with me: I'm not saying that they *must* contribute to standards, only that I think it is greedy of them not to do so, considering the circumstances and their competitive advantage.
It is worth noting that you can't export to standard EPUB3 file format, only to PDF. PDF is obviously non-interactive, while the EPUB3 standard would allow for most if not all of the interactive elements that can be created with iBooks Author.
Many argue that they are in their right to put that EULA, and that others have done it before (Microsoft's Word, for example). And they are absolutely right.
That does not mean, however, that this isn't a very greedy move - many even describe it as 'evil' - and just like it happened with Microsoft in the past, I can totally understand why.
Having a right to do something is not incompatible with being greedy or even evil.
A peek into .iba files and a comparison with epub files evidences that Apple deliberately re-designed and implemented features in order to make the ibooks file format incompatible with industry standards. Again, while they are fully in their right to do this, this should be worrying to anyone who appreciates healthy competition and doesn't enjoy Microsoft-like monopolies. Ironically, this has happened with Apple being a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum, who manage the EPUB standard.
(This really smells like embrace-extend-extinguish to me.)
Perhaps what bugs me the most is that in spite of all this, no-one (AFAIK) has taken the time to provide an alternative tool which allows to create interactive ePub documents just as easily. It seems to me that Apple was first to do this "properly" (as it usually happens), and in this case there is no technical reason why it could not have been created 1 or 2 years ago by other industry leaders - I have used iBooks Author and it isn't much more than a glorified presentation editor.
That is a VERY interesting thought! Wish I had modpoints.
..but regular internet users.
The summary sounds like it was a specialized group of hackers - it wasn't it was anyone who followed a link like the following:
http://pastehtml.com/view/blaoyp0qs.html
What if arab countries start seeking extradition of US citizens for women who don't cover their faces in public, or because they didn't do certain things (like traveling) with their husband's written permission?
What about european countries seeking extradition of US citizens for carrying guns in public?
I'm sure there are _many_ things which are done every day by US citizens but are illegal in other countries, perhaps some of which do have extradition treaties!
PD: I realize most US citizens think this is ridiculous, too. I'm not confronting them, just making the same statement with switched roles.
Most apps run well on every android version thanks to the design of API cross-compatibility (I have experienced this myself, being an early android developer).
However, I don't think you can avoid the fact that the OS itself is fragmented when your OS takes 6 months to a full year to be available on the majority of android handsets.
In addition, has Mr. Schmid had a look at this chart, put up by google themselves?
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
It reads OS fragmentation all over it! And this is PRECISELY what pisses many (geek) users off, that they can't get the latest and greatest or that new phones come to market being outdated!
Oh, I see what you mean! thanks for the nitpick ;D
That's very informative, thank you.
However, AFAIK Fukushima already *has* rendered a considerable zone inhabitable (just like Chernobyl). A quick google search reveals this: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/world/asia/22japan.html?_r=1 , which among other things states:
"While it is unclear if the government would specify how long these living restrictions would remain in place, news reports indicated it could be decades. That has been the case for areas around the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine after its 1986 accident." - is that also FUD? Considering the consequences of disasters not nearly as bad as Chernobyl, which also had terrible consequences (i.e. death), I would say the risk of rendering areas inhabitable for decades or centuries is still very real. Maybe the reactors were a bit outdated, but how many other outdated reactors - such as the ones from Japan certainly were, as they have rendered a big area inhabitable for decades - are in operation throughout the world?
I was trying to put what I thought was an interesting, provocative yet reasoned argument which questions the effectiveness of the nuclear energy "path". Looks like someone got irritated and can't discuss "like adults do".
Back to my point, if you will, leaving zones of the planet inhabitable for centuries is a very high prize many aren't willing to pay. Who says deaths/twh is the correct metric? Oh, maybe that is one of the reasons this news: they would like to find a better energy source!
BTW, color me suspicious about that article, which says: "a death at one of the japanese nuclear plants following the 8.9 earthquake". *A* DEATH? If you didn't know, radioactivity doesn't instantly kill you. How many were killed or damaged the *instant* the explosion occurred at Chernobyl? Exactly. That article was written March 13, 2011.
Also, how about taking into account thousands of homeless, costs of recovery, environmental costs of radioactive leaks, environmental costs of radioactive wastes, etc etc etc and you end up with one Fing big disaster, which is what Fukushima is any way you want to look at it.
Of course, one could argue that this was due to the earthquake, which was followed by a tsunami, which was followed by the Fukushima incident. But it is about the risk. A very high risk, judging by the unfortunate results of Fukushima. Shit DOES happen, as everybody can see.
Now, I'm not saying they should magically stop being dependent on 40% (or 80% or whatever it is for every country) of a country's energy source, like many politicians claim, because it is unreasonable. But one must take into account the costs, the consequences, and ask: is it worth it? Should we move away or further invest in nuclear energy?
I think it is a question worth asking, discussing and worth thinking about. So I won't shut up, mind you.
They are dependent on nuclear energy obviously, and 40 years is probably quite a feat. But after those 40 years, when there is radioactive waste that will last for thousands, and after leaving certain zones inhabitable for centuries... was it worth it?
Actually, thanks to Wikileaks we now know that the head of PROMUSICAE (the RIAA-equivalent in Spain), Guisasola, secretly pushed for having Spain included in the infamous 301 List. http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=10MADRID179
After Spain was finally included in that list, he claimed that being included in that list was "a national dishonor", and used this argument in order to push for Ley Sinde, the aforementioned SOPA-like law.
Only a few days ago, this law was finally passed. Most Internet users are against this law because it does not change which sites become illegal - it merely changes the *referee*. As a result, judges have been replaced by a commission whose members are privately selected by private lobbying parties (aka spain's RIAA). This might sound like something outrageous, but sadly this is exactly what has happened.
If this was not bad enough, keep in mind that this occurs right after *years* of judges ruling *in favor* of those websites that they want to take down (no hosting sites, just linking sites)
Last time I checked, WebOS was really snappy and smooth, and provided a great user experience. Maybe games were hard to code, but the apps I tried out when the first WebOS phone came out felt MUCH smoother than my Android phone.
There are probably many reasons why WebOS failed, but I am very confused by this statement given how well WebOS felt (And I have read the same from many many users in the Internet). The complaints about WebOS were never that it felt like a web app, too limited or that it felt too sluggish, but rather the lack of apps and devices.
Am I missing something here?
Techradar wants to talk and judge usability of the all-time favourite linux desktops, and yet their own website looks like THIS: http://i.imgur.com/IOyKu.png
I know other browsers render it centered, but that's not the (only) point, it's that their web looks awful: about 1/4 is margins, which is OK, and of those 3/4 1/4 is the content, which is split into 7 tiny sections (just give me the whole article and don't make me page every 3 paragraphs, it's almost 2012, for christ sakes!), tiny text, tiny images, and 3/4 of crap (related content, ads, menus, more related content, more related content).
It's not like they can't provide a very valid examination of linux desktops, but their site does not inspire very much credibility when they themselves get it so wrong, IMHO.
What makes you think Amazon will not be suing others for ridiculous and non-innovative technology such as buying items with 1 click? Oh wait, they already did AFAIK :)
Still, I feel Apple is more of a patent troll and more of a control freak, so I kinda still agree that they are worse, but that doesn't mean its good, and comparing to Apple would be pointless.
"When you visit, it automatically checks and lets you know if your Internet address is in the database."
Except most people don't have a fixed IP reserved for them. Does that mean I'm going to get the "warning" because someone else on my ISP downloaded content? (Yes.)
Nevertheless, it's an interesting tool, but this information is probably useless since you still need to contact the ISP in order to know who actually was using that IP in that given time frame.
Also, keep in mind that this site currently only displays a time frame accurate to a MONTH (e.g. Dec, 2011) as far as I can see.
If they were trying to scare pirates off, well: Avast, thar! I be not scared!
You missed the point, this is not about getting a new update nor not, which is another matter entirely (although not any less important).
This is about why it takes so long for updates that *are* happening to reach users. Keep in mind that even though ICS was just released, there are phones that are only now getting Gingerbread, the last major Android version. It is sad and it is a rather difficult problem to solve.
Absolutely. I doubt they can't find a model with such a body; sure they can. It's about making the process much shorter and cheaper.
I don't see anyone complaining for the mannequins not being human beings and being too idealistic. Also, keep in mind that this was done for both women and men, and yet protests are raised only for the aesthetic demands placed on female bodies.
I'm afraid I can't let you patent rectangular shapes, Apple
That would be true if you didn't have to add an important "feature" to the list:
4) Pages easily break under Opera
I have found myself trying really hard to use Opera as my daily driver. Time and again, I encountered a web page that would not work properly. From pages that would not load at all, to content disappearing when viewed with opera, to buttons and javascript not working, and a long list of etcetera. And by the way, identifying as something else other than Opera did not solve anything, so this wasn't web pages being hostile towards Opera. It was simply Opera not working right.
I tried to use it because if you ignore the serious problem of some web pages not rendering properly or not working at all, it would have been the fastest, more lightweight, speedy, agile and innovative browser by FAR.
Firefox was of course much more bloated and lacked behind Opera in many ways, so when Chrome came along and started what many would consider the best of both worlds, many of those naturally jumped ship. And then people spread the word when they find that it really satisfies their needs, and that is most likely (and grossly) what happened for chrome being so popular nowadays, and not Opera. iMHO.
On top of running debian and being fully open source (well, maybe not the hardware and all the firmware) it seemed fully functional and had great hardware. I still preferred Android because in spite of being less open, it allowed for easier development and I found it more exciting.
It's a shame maemo (or whatever they call it these days) is not going to take off, because it actually looked pretty good, had very good performance, and was very hacker-friendly. Really sad :(
OpenMoko has the flaw (and benefit) of being fully open source to the hardware. Thing is, if they are not going to produce millions, cost is going to be very high. Maybe if they focused on porting maemo and did sell millions.. but I'm not sure millions of people would see the benefit of running open source hardware, for the same reason most don't care if the software is free or proprietary. I think nokia with the n900 and Android with the nexus phones have done a great job of providing a nice trade-off between openness, usability, and popularity (who would have thought the year of the linux smartphone was so nigh! ;) )
I honestly would like to see how much console games sell vs PC games. Saying how much of that is due to piracy, I'm afraid, is impossible unless you come up with a model which is better than the download=lost sale model, which is absurdly broken.
I know vgchartz isn't a very reliable source, but according to that site, the super-top-selling game franchise CoD sells 20M. This is a non-trivial delta.
Now, maybe Steam accounts for most downloads and those don't show up in vgchartz. I honestly don't know. As I said, I would like to see some real data about sales of PC vs console. But given the a-priori data I am seeing, I would not be surprised to see that the PC has, in fact, become a very different gamer audience.
(sorry, last post got corrupted due to the use of > and HTML being on)