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Where professional journalism goes to die.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
IE 8
In case you haven't heard about it before, SmartScreen is designed to keep IE users from wandering onto malicious websites. Sites like those which repeatedly turn up in Facebook scams. And it certainly appears as though SmartScreen is helping, based on what Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch posted on the MSDN blog.
According to Dean, SmartScreen blocks more than 2 million malicious URLs every day.
If you have friends or family who swear by IE but still haven't upgraded to version 8, this might be just the thing to change their mind. After all, is there anyone who doesn't want a little added security when they're browsing the web?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Please step away from the Mac with that cigarette
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Chrome OS demo
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Editorial: Chrome OS is what I want, but not what I need
By Paul Miller posted Nov 19th 2009 4:20PM
Built-in Google notifications
Drag and drop in the browser
Another instance of what appears to be a core Chrome OS competency that I've had to hack into my life -- in this case using the wonderful but fundamentally limited Mailplane. Why should it take an all-new OS to make dragging and dropping files to and from web applications a common occurrence? I also love the concept of plugging a drive or an accessory into my computer and its default action being to present itself to my browser. This does not sound like crazy talk to me.
Persistent panels
I love the pop-up IM window that can be minimized or moved to the sidebar, but sticks with me whatever tab I'm in. No word on these coming to the standard Chrome, but they should -- particularly with all these online music services these days breathing new life into the dreaded pop-up window.
Login-populated, portable user environment
If 90% of what I do is in a browser, why can't I take that environment with me with as a simple login? This is another thing mobile phones are starting to get into, particularly again with Android and webOS, and that I'm glad to see Firefox is bringing in version 4 with Weave.
Free but compatible
The idea of someone making open source software that's targeted at specific hardware and even dictates some of its environment shouldn't feel so refreshing. Android has struck a nice balance between a tightly regulated ecosystem of Google-approved "sure thing" devices and a wild west of non-Google devices powered by the open source elements of the OS. I've always been rebuffed by Linux due to the inconsistent hardware support and knowledge that if the system breaks I won't know how to fix it or get back to my data. The combination of the cloud-reliance and Google's heavyweight status means I could actually see myself buying a Google-branded 3rd party device -- a monetary commitment that I've never felt Ubuntu quite merited, despite its multitude of partnerships. I'd love to see a company like HP (for instance) go beyond mere skinning of Ubuntu and really commit to stepping on Microsoft's toes and investing in an open source desktop operating system to the point that it can offer true competition.
But... I still need my real OS
Google's concept of a Chrome OS device as a second computer is probably my largest point of departure. I think these features are things that should be built into a "real" OS, and I don't want to juggle two different laptops of minimal physical distinction. (A phone + laptop makes sense, I'm not sure a phone + netbook + laptop does.) Sure, the security, stability and boot-time functions of Chrome OS are what set it apart from a traditional desktop OS, but those usually pretty low on my priority list: I haven't gotten a virus in seven years, my computer rarely crashes (Firefox on the other hand...), and I don't have to worry about boot time because my computer is always in sleep mode.
There's also the fact that many web apps have been designed to operate with a local storage of files to draw from (Flickr, YouTube, Gmail, blogging), so I'm not sure I want to juggle the appropriate USB stick everytime I want to be more than a passive consumer of content -- if all my creation takes place in Google silos, I actually start to become a less productive member of the web.
If Chrome OS can breath new life into low-powered hardware and provide a low-cost alternative for someone who just wants to do email and play Dolphin Olympics 2 on their netbook, then that's great, but for me, a self-described power user, I'd benefit more from watching these features land on my Mac and Windows and Ubuntu PCs than from waving goodbye to Photoshop and iMovie in exchange for a Google-built operating system.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Apple's big problem
If you’re a baseball fan like I am, then you know that it in order to win, teams need more than just marquee stars. The role players, pinch hitters and relievers — all have to contribute in order for a team to win. A weak link can blow a game. Same goes for companies — every member of the team has a role to play. Why do I bring this up? Apple’s iTunes App Store and its murky and muddled policies.
Apple’s designers and engineers have done a good job putting together what is an iconic product, the iPhone. Its software gurus have helped foster the app revolution. But it when it come to the App Store approval process, Apple is blowing it.
Let me put it in terms Apple and its management can understand: The foggy and opaque App Store approval process is as big a disaster as Dell’s DJ MP3 Player.
For months now, I have watched the twists and turns of the Apple App Store drama with a degree of bemusement. After all, the rejection (or approval) of quirky and pointless apps aimed at hormone-challenged post-pubescent boys weren’t of concern to me. I couldn’t get upset over Google Voice fiasco, but that was understandable (not acceptable) because it was coming in the way of the carrier voice service. But lately, things have gotten a bit out of control.
The irrational approval process and reasons behind it given by the apparatchiks of Cupertino are driving developers to extreme frustration — especially those who have been Apple loyalists for years. Earlier this week, Joe Hewitt, a well-known programmer and a Facebook employee, threw up his hands in frustration over Apple’s App Store approval process and said he wants to work on a different project. (Check out my video interview with Joe Hewitt.)
No, Facebook isn’t killing its iPhone app — it is a corporation, after all, and will bend over backwards to appease Apple — but Hewitt is someone who’s made many vital contributions toward turning the iPhone into a major platform. He was carrying Apple’s water long before the rest of the 100,000 apps showed up, which is just one of the reasons why he was nominated to GigaOM’s Top 15 Mobile Influencers List earlier this year. When he speaks, I listen — plain and simple. And he expressed his anger in 140 characters.
Today, Rogue Amoeba, a company that is well-known within the Apple community for its audio-focused products, is publicly beating its head against the Great Wall of Cupertino.
Rogue Amoeba wanted to ship a bug fix for their app, Airfoil Speakers, but it took the better part of four months to get it approved. It was an arduous process, one that made the inner workings of the government bureaucracies look like a model of efficiency. The net-net, as described by company CEO Paul Kafasis in a blog post, is this:
First, be aware that Apple is acting as a gatekeeper, and preventing you from getting the software that developers such as ourselves are trying to provide you. We wanted to ship a simple bug fix, and it took almost four months of slow replies, delays, and dithering by Apple. All the while, our buggy, and supposedly infringing version, was still available. There’s no other word for that but “broken.” Right now, however, the platform is a mess. The chorus of disenchanted developers is growing and we’re adding our voices as well. Rogue Amoeba no longer has any plans for additional iPhone applications, and updates to our existing iPhone applications will likely be rare.
Others, such as programmer Jeff LaMarche, disagree with the disenchanted developers and have come to the defense of Apple. But I’m more inclined to side with Kafasis, as this is a problem that flares up more often than California wildfires.
John Gruber, who pens the Daring Fireball blog and is one of the most respected Mac-related writers out there, offers a very balanced view of the situation — and finds Apple at fault. “At a certain point good developers are just going to say, ‘I don’t need this,’” Gruber writes.
Gruber, as we’ve seen in the past, has the ear of the senior management at Apple. So perhaps his fair and balanced assessment is going to help Apple wake up from its stupor.
Apple has a very serious problem on its hands, one that can derail its grand plan. It needs to fix this as quickly as possible. Otherwise the company is going to blow the game in the bottom of the ninth — much like the Phillies in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
10 more Reasons Blackberrys are more useful than an iPhone
Friday, November 13, 2009
T-Mobile announces Blackberry Bold 9700
Blog Archive
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2009
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November
(16)
- IE 8
- Please step away from the Mac with that cigarette
- Chrome OS demo
- Editorial: Chrome OS is what I want, but not what ...
- Apple's big problem
- 10 more Reasons Blackberrys are more useful than a...
- T-Mobile announces Blackberry Bold 9700
- Happy Veterans Day
- REPORT: VW takes over #1 carmaker slot, sings "Wir...
- Now dev's can bite their nails in real time
- The new MSN
- No more netbook Hackintoshing
- The Apple Nation
- Unlock, Jailbreak and Tether your iPhone3G, 3GS 3.1.2
- Verizon just can't lay off the drugs
- Adobe to Apple
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November
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