http://www.garoo.net/en/ Garoo en Copyright 2012 2012-02-08T01:59:04+01:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 “Forget SOPA, Hollywood Already Had a Field Day with the Justice System” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2012/01/18/11055-forget-sopa-hollywood-already-had-a-field-day-with-the-justice-system/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2012/01/18/11055-forget-sopa-hollywood-already-had-a-field-day-with-the-justice-system/ pandodaily.comUnder the “theft” conception of copyright law, what, exactly, is the deprivation when someone makes illegal copies?  It really boils down to just one thing:  money.  Copyright infringement – renamed copyright theft — deprives the copyright holder of some of his or her expected profit from exploiting the copyright. […] Failure to pay expected money under a contract doesn’t trigger a penalty: contract law usually says that a party can recover the money she expected but not punitive damages or attorneys fees (unless parties have specifically bargained to pay attorneys fees for a breach).  Failure to pay rent usually requires payment of rent to cure the default.  Failure to put money in the parking meter prompts a ticket for $60.  In New York City, failure to pay the $2.50 subway fare results in a maximum fine of $100. That’s an immensely seductive analogy, and I’m sure it’ll be widely linked and tweeted, but it’s also completely incorrect (and I’m rather disappointed that it’s written by a lawyer). People aren’t sentenced to pay astronomical damages because they downloaded a song, but because they uploaded it. The author mentions in passing that Jammie Thomas was found guilty even though it was never proven that anyone had downloaded a file from her, but I’m pretty sure I remember the argument being that she had offered them for download and that was enough — it still wasn’t about her downloading them. To get back to the author’s analogy: people aren’t found guilty of jumping the turnstile, but distributing fake subway tokens… by the thousands. I don’t expect you’d get away with a $100 fine for that. On the other hand, the author’s point about how copyright infringement came to be known as "copyright theft" is entirely right, and quite depressing.

pandodaily.com

Under the “theft” conception of copyright law, what, exactly, is the deprivation when someone makes illegal copies?  It really boils down to just one thing:  money.  Copyright infringement – renamed copyright theft — deprives the copyright holder of some of his or her expected profit from exploiting the copyright. […]

Failure to pay expected money under a contract doesn’t trigger a penalty: contract law usually says that a party can recover the money she expected but not punitive damages or attorneys fees (unless parties have specifically bargained to pay attorneys fees for a breach).  Failure to pay rent usually requires payment of rent to cure the default.  Failure to put money in the parking meter prompts a ticket for $60.  In New York City, failure to pay the $2.50 subway fare results in a maximum fine of $100.

That’s an immensely seductive analogy, and I’m sure it’ll be widely linked and tweeted, but it’s also completely incorrect (and I’m rather disappointed that it’s written by a lawyer). People aren’t sentenced to pay astronomical damages because they downloaded a song, but because they uploaded it. The author mentions in passing that Jammie Thomas was found guilty even though it was never proven that anyone had downloaded a file from her, but I’m pretty sure I remember the argument being that she had offered them for download and that was enough — it still wasn’t about her downloading them.

To get back to the author’s analogy: people aren’t found guilty of jumping the turnstile, but distributing fake subway tokens… by the thousands. I don’t expect you’d get away with a $100 fine for that.

 

On the other hand, the author’s point about how copyright infringement came to be known as “copyright theft” is entirely right, and quite depressing.

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]]> 2012-01-18T19:08:11+01:00 “Will Siri Change the Rules of the Search Game?” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/26/11053-will-siri-change-the-rules-of-the-search-game/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/26/11053-will-siri-change-the-rules-of-the-search-game/ tidbits.comHow Siri Disrupts Search – Siri doesn’t replace search, but in many cases it circumvents it by directing users straight to integrated partner services. When you ask for the nearest Indian restaurant there’s still a search taking place, but it’s through Yelp, not a generic search engine that would include Yelp plus various other results. By skipping the search engine and going straight to a designated source there is no place to insert advertising. It would be very interesting if that ended up preventing Google from adding Siri-like functionality to Android. Smartphone users don’t mind that there are ads in Google searches, because that’s the way it is everywhere. They don’t mind the ads in Angry Birds, because that means they get Angry Birds for free. But if Google adds a complete voice interface to Android, and it’s full of ads? The comparison with iOS will be direct and undisputably detrimental. (Because, unlike third-party apps, this is a part of the OS, i.e. something the consumer feels like they’re paying for.) And if it’s not full of ads? Then Google would be killing some of its search engine’s ad revenue without producing anything to make up for it. So the only viable option is for Google to never ever add something as powerful as Siri to their mobile OS. Considering how popular it’s getting, Siri could be the first really visible differentiator between Apple’s "you’re the customer" and Google’s "you’re the product." It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out.

tidbits.com

How Siri Disrupts Search – Siri doesn’t replace search, but in many cases it circumvents it by directing users straight to integrated partner services. When you ask for the nearest Indian restaurant there’s still a search taking place, but it’s through Yelp, not a generic search engine that would include Yelp plus various other results.

By skipping the search engine and going straight to a designated source there is no place to insert advertising.

It would be very interesting if that ended up preventing Google from adding Siri-like functionality to Android.

Smartphone users don’t mind that there are ads in Google searches, because that’s the way it is everywhere. They don’t mind the ads in Angry Birds, because that means they get Angry Birds for free. But if Google adds a complete voice interface to Android, and it’s full of ads? The comparison with iOS will be direct and undisputably detrimental. (Because, unlike third-party apps, this is a part of the OS, i.e. something the consumer feels like they’re paying for.) And if it’s not full of ads? Then Google would be killing some of its search engine’s ad revenue without producing anything to make up for it. So the only viable option is for Google to never ever add something as powerful as Siri to their mobile OS.

Considering how popular it’s getting, Siri could be the first really visible differentiator between Apple’s “you’re the customer” and Google’s “you’re the product.” It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out.

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]]> 2011-10-26T21:23:49+01:00 “Android Chief Andy Rubin Says Your Phone Should Not Be Your Assistant” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/20/11052-android-chief-andy-rubin-says-your-phone-should-not-be-your-assistant/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/20/11052-android-chief-andy-rubin-says-your-phone-should-not-be-your-assistant/ allthingsd.com“I don’t believe that your phone should be an assistant,” the Android chief said. “Your phone is a tool for communicating. You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone.” What the hell? Is he spouting random bullshit just to minimize the importance of Siri, or is he sincerely clueless about what a smartphone actually is?

allthingsd.com

“I don’t believe that your phone should be an assistant,” the Android chief said. “Your phone is a tool for communicating. You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone.”

What the hell?

Is he spouting random bullshit just to minimize the importance of Siri, or is he sincerely clueless about what a smartphone actually is?

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]]> 2011-10-20T14:40:24+01:00 “Cleaning…” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/14/11051-cleaning/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/14/11051-cleaning/ marco.orgPrior to iOS 5, the system never deleted the contents of Caches and tmp, so they were safe places for apps to put data that should always be available but could be redownloaded if the user did a complete restore or otherwise lost all data, and therefore shouldn’t be taking up space in backups and slowing down syncs. […] But in iOS 5, there’s an important change: Caches and tmp — the only two directories that aren’t backed up — are “cleaned” out when the device is low on space. It’s properly ridiculous that this is happening in the version of the OS that introduces the Newsstand. Magazine apps download 300MB issues, are required by the developer guidelines to store them in the Cache folder, and… iOS is going to delete the issue without warning when it’s low on space? Nice forethought, guys. Particularly considering that, as Marco Arment points out, this problem is most likely to manifest itself precisely when you’re stocking up your iPad with media in anticipation for an internet-free trip. Until it’s fixed, you know what this means: always leave a gig or two free on your device.

marco.org

Prior to iOS 5, the system never deleted the contents of Caches and tmp, so they were safe places for apps to put data that should always be available but could be redownloaded if the user did a complete restore or otherwise lost all data, and therefore shouldn’t be taking up space in backups and slowing down syncs. […]

But in iOS 5, there’s an important change: Caches and tmp — the only two directories that aren’t backed up — are “cleaned” out when the device is low on space.

It’s properly ridiculous that this is happening in the version of the OS that introduces the Newsstand. Magazine apps download 300MB issues, are required by the developer guidelines to store them in the Cache folder, and… iOS is going to delete the issue without warning when it’s low on space? Nice forethought, guys. Particularly considering that, as Marco Arment points out, this problem is most likely to manifest itself precisely when you’re stocking up your iPad with media in anticipation for an internet-free trip.

Until it’s fixed, you know what this means: always leave a gig or two free on your device.

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]]> 2011-10-14T00:02:12+01:00 “Limited RAM in Apple’s A5 chip in iPad 2, iPhone 4S motivated by battery life concerns” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/13/11050-limited-ram-in-apple-s-a5-chip-in-ipad-2-iphone-4s-motivated-by-battery-life-concerns/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/13/11050-limited-ram-in-apple-s-a5-chip-in-ipad-2-iphone-4s-motivated-by-battery-life-concerns/ appleinsider.comKaragounis [the group program manager of Microsoft’s Performance team] points out that "minimizing memory usage on low-power platforms can prolong battery life," noting that "In any PC, RAM is constantly consuming power. If an OS uses a lot of memory, it can force device manufacturers to include more physical RAM. The more RAM you have on board, the more power it uses, the less battery life you get. "Having additional RAM on a tablet device can, in some instances, shave days off the amount of time the tablet can sit on your coffee table looking off but staying fresh and up to date," Karagounis wrote. I always assumed it had to be negligible. Actually, in operation, it probably be is — but the writeup specifically mentions battery usage when the tablet is sleeping, and that makes sense: RAM is just about the one and only thing that can’t be turned off at all while the device is idle. When you see that the iPhone 4S loses one third of its standby battery life and the only reason I can imagine is Siri’s requirement for the gyroscope and accelerometer to stay on at all times (so that it activates when you put the phone to your ear), it makes sense that doubling the number of RAM transistors to power would have a noticeable effect after all.

appleinsider.com

Karagounis [the group program manager of Microsoft’s Performance team] points out that "minimizing memory usage on low-power platforms can prolong battery life," noting that "In any PC, RAM is constantly consuming power. If an OS uses a lot of memory, it can force device manufacturers to include more physical RAM. The more RAM you have on board, the more power it uses, the less battery life you get.

"Having additional RAM on a tablet device can, in some instances, shave days off the amount of time the tablet can sit on your coffee table looking off but staying fresh and up to date," Karagounis wrote.

I always assumed it had to be negligible.

Actually, in operation, it probably be is — but the writeup specifically mentions battery usage when the tablet is sleeping, and that makes sense: RAM is just about the one and only thing that can’t be turned off at all while the device is idle.

When you see that the iPhone 4S loses one third of its standby battery life and the only reason I can imagine is Siri’s requirement for the gyroscope and accelerometer to stay on at all times (so that it activates when you put the phone to your ear), it makes sense that doubling the number of RAM transistors to power would have a noticeable effect after all.

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]]> 2011-10-13T14:35:09+01:00 Steve Jobs, in a 1996 interview about NeXT, reprinted in... http://www.underachievementunlocked.com/en/archives/2011/10/13/11049/ http://www.underachievementunlocked.com/en/archives/2011/10/13/11049/ Steve Jobs, in a 1996 interview about NeXT, reprinted in Wired’s homage edition on the iPad: Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

Steve Jobs, in a 1996 interview about NeXT, reprinted in Wired’s homage edition on the iPad:

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

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]]> 2011-10-13T14:17:21+01:00 “Apple’s Fourth Interface” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/12/11048-apple-s-fourth-interface/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/12/11048-apple-s-fourth-interface/ shawnblanc.netSteve said that each of the three user interfaces made possible a revolutionary new type of product. The mouse enabled the Macintosh. The click wheel enabled the iPod. Multi-touch enabled the iPhone. What will Siri enable? The iPhone nano is coming, isn’t it?

shawnblanc.net

Steve said that each of the three user interfaces made possible a revolutionary new type of product. The mouse enabled the Macintosh. The click wheel enabled the iPod. Multi-touch enabled the iPhone. What will Siri enable?

The iPhone nano is coming, isn’t it?

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]]> 2011-10-12T17:26:26+01:00 Nolan Bushnell on Steve Jobs http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/11/11047-nolan-bushnell-on-steve-jobs/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/11/11047-nolan-bushnell-on-steve-jobs/ kotaku.comI’ve heard people say that he has difficulty with things, but the reality is that when I say prickly… Steve did not abide fools gladly. And I think that’s okay. I think we’ve got way too many fools. Just quoting this for no particular reason. Not for self-serving purposes of any kind.

kotaku.com

I’ve heard people say that he has difficulty with things, but the reality is that when I say prickly… Steve did not abide fools gladly. And I think that’s okay. I think we’ve got way too many fools.

Just quoting this for no particular reason. Not for self-serving purposes of any kind.

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]]> 2011-10-11T18:43:53+01:00 “Apple went dark” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/06/11046-apple-went-dark/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/10/06/11046-apple-went-dark/ plus.google.comToday a guy I know at Facebook told me that Apple just "went dark" this weekend and stopped answering emails and phone calls (they had amazing new iPhone and iPad apps and a new developer platform all ready for announcing). Folks inside Facebook thought they had done something massively wrong. No, they hadn’t. Truth is you had something deeper to deal with.

plus.google.com

Today a guy I know at Facebook told me that Apple just "went dark" this weekend and stopped answering emails and phone calls (they had amazing new iPhone and iPad apps and a new developer platform all ready for announcing). Folks inside Facebook thought they had done something massively wrong. No, they hadn’t. Truth is you had something deeper to deal with.

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]]> 2011-10-06T12:58:58+01:00 “Instagram 2.0 review: Insta-grumble” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/09/27/11045-instagram-2-0-review-insta-grumble/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/09/27/11045-instagram-2-0-review-insta-grumble/ myglasseye.netAcross the board distinctive elements of each filter have been compromised. Filters that were washed out are now more contrasty. Filters that were contrasty are now more washed out. They’ve all drifted towards the same look. I did feel like Instagram 2.0’s filters had gotten weaker, but couldn’t be bothered to check, and didn’t really want to believe they had screwed it up so much. Or maybe I didn’t want to find a confirmation because I knew it would piss me off and make me want to stop using the app. Look at the comparisons: basically, the original image’s colors appear in the final image much more than they used to in the most extreme filters. I’m pretty sure I understand why: when I programmed my own photography app for iPhone, I did have to make choices between speed and filter intensity and richness. Some things can be achieved with GPU-accelerated functions, others can not. But the problem is, Instagram made the wrong choice. They compromised their best asset, distinctive filters, to solve two problems that nobody cared about: low picture resolution and having to wait for the effects to be applied. Guess what: Instagram wouldn’t have become the success it has if that really bothered the public so much. (Yes, people are impatient, but Instagram was already quite fast. As for the resolution, Joe User definitely doesn’t give a damn that his pictures are now 2000-pixel wide.) Instagram was far from broken, and they tried to fix it. Oh, and they made the interface worse, too — but I’ve already talked about that, and there’s no need for side-by-side comparisons to realize it. By the way, the article includes a quote from Instagram confirming that, no, you can not change the gradient on the tilt-shift feature (and you probably still won’t in the future, but at least it looks like they’re going to make it softer).

myglasseye.net

Across the board distinctive elements of each filter have been compromised. Filters that were washed out are now more contrasty. Filters that were contrasty are now more washed out. They’ve all drifted towards the same look.

I did feel like Instagram 2.0’s filters had gotten weaker, but couldn’t be bothered to check, and didn’t really want to believe they had screwed it up so much. Or maybe I didn’t want to find a confirmation because I knew it would piss me off and make me want to stop using the app. Look at the comparisons: basically, the original image’s colors appear in the final image much more than they used to in the most extreme filters.

I’m pretty sure I understand why: when I programmed my own photography app for iPhone, I did have to make choices between speed and filter intensity and richness. Some things can be achieved with GPU-accelerated functions, others can not.

But the problem is, Instagram made the wrong choice. They compromised their best asset, distinctive filters, to solve two problems that nobody cared about: low picture resolution and having to wait for the effects to be applied. Guess what: Instagram wouldn’t have become the success it has if that really bothered the public so much. (Yes, people are impatient, but Instagram was already quite fast. As for the resolution, Joe User definitely doesn’t give a damn that his pictures are now 2000-pixel wide.) Instagram was far from broken, and they tried to fix it.

Oh, and they made the interface worse, too — but I’ve already talked about that, and there’s no need for side-by-side comparisons to realize it. By the way, the article includes a quote from Instagram confirming that, no, you can not change the gradient on the tilt-shift feature (and you probably still won’t in the future, but at least it looks like they’re going to make it softer).

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]]> 2011-09-27T23:54:30+01:00 “The advice is to log out of Facebook” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/09/25/11044-the-advice-is-to-log-out-of-facebook/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/09/25/11044-the-advice-is-to-log-out-of-facebook/ nikf.orgBut logging out of Facebook only de-authorizes your browser from the web application, a number of cookies (including your account number) are still sent along to all requests to facebook.com. Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit. Nice. Can’t quite decide which is more likely — wonderfully gratuitous evil, or simple oversight?

nikf.org

But logging out of Facebook only de-authorizes your browser from the web application, a number of cookies (including your account number) are still sent along to all requests to facebook.com. Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit.

Nice. Can’t quite decide which is more likely — wonderfully gratuitous evil, or simple oversight?

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]]> 2011-09-25T18:09:14+01:00 Facebook Officially Unveils Stalking List http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/09/13/11043-facebook-officially-unveils-stalking-list/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/09/13/11043-facebook-officially-unveils-stalking-list/ techcrunch.comFinally, there’s one list, adorned with a star, that highlights your very best friends. […] Every time someone on this list of close friends makes an update or posts a photo, you’ll see it in your feed no matter how small a change it is, and you’ll (optionally) get a notification about it (notifications are those alerts marked with a red badge at the top of the screen). More seriously, though, the "Acquaintances" list on the other end of the spectrum is a good idea: Add someone to it, and only the most important status changes (marriages, new jobs, etc.) will appear in your News Feed; you’ll ignore their day to day posts. That’s smarter than having to completely mute people on your home page. But I’m sure it’s bound to break Facebook somehow if I add almost every one of my contacts to that list.

techcrunch.com

Finally, there’s one list, adorned with a star, that highlights your very best friends. […] Every time someone on this list of close friends makes an update or posts a photo, you’ll see it in your feed no matter how small a change it is, and you’ll (optionally) get a notification about it (notifications are those alerts marked with a red badge at the top of the screen).

More seriously, though, the “Acquaintances” list on the other end of the spectrum is a good idea:

Add someone to it, and only the most important status changes (marriages, new jobs, etc.) will appear in your News Feed; you’ll ignore their day to day posts.

That’s smarter than having to completely mute people on your home page. But I’m sure it’s bound to break Facebook somehow if I add almost every one of my contacts to that list.

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]]> 2011-09-13T23:08:01+01:00 “After A Magnetic Pulse to the Brain, Study Subjects Cannot Tell a Lie” http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2011/09/08/11042-after-a-magnetic-pulse-to-the-brain-study-subjects-cannot-tell-a-lie/ http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2011/09/08/11042-after-a-magnetic-pulse-to-the-brain-study-subjects-cannot-tell-a-lie/ popsci.comThe eight people who had their left DPC stimulated lied more often, the researchers said. The ones with the right DPC stimulated were more likely to tell the truth. The experiment was repeated while a different brain region was stimulated, and that region, the parietal lobe, had no effect. As always, it’s terribly scary and depressing to realize how much our very personality is at the mercy of a random change in the environment.

popsci.com

The eight people who had their left DPC stimulated lied more often, the researchers said. The ones with the right DPC stimulated were more likely to tell the truth. The experiment was repeated while a different brain region was stimulated, and that region, the parietal lobe, had no effect.

As always, it’s terribly scary and depressing to realize how much our very personality is at the mercy of a random change in the environment.

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]]> 2011-09-08T04:01:14+01:00 “HP producing ‘one last run of TouchPads’” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/08/31/11041-hp-producing-one-last-run-of-touchpads/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/08/31/11041-hp-producing-one-last-run-of-touchpads/ thisismynext.comDespite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand. What? Wait, I’m sorry, whaaaaat? The devices they’re selling at a huge loss are sold out because they’re sold at a huge loss, so… HP is going to manufacture a few more devices to sell at a huge loss? I may be missing something important (like, at $99 they’re actually not sold at a loss? that’d be hard to imagine), but my immediate reaction is that they’re working really, really hard to make sure everyone knows they’ve gone absolutely insane. Unless they’re going to sell them at full price (or at any other price than $99), in which case they’re not insane, just insanely stupid. “They’re listed for hundreds of dollars on eBay! Quick, we need to make more!” P.S. This explanation makes some sense. Doesn’t excuse the awfully stupid communication around the whole affair, but then what would?

thisismynext.com

Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand.

What? Wait, I’m sorry, whaaaaat?

The devices they’re selling at a huge loss are sold out because they’re sold at a huge loss, so… HP is going to manufacture a few more devices to sell at a huge loss?

I may be missing something important (like, at $99 they’re actually not sold at a loss? that’d be hard to imagine), but my immediate reaction is that they’re working really, really hard to make sure everyone knows they’ve gone absolutely insane.

Unless they’re going to sell them at full price (or at any other price than $99), in which case they’re not insane, just insanely stupid.

“They’re listed for hundreds of dollars on eBay! Quick, we need to make more!”

 

P.S. This explanation makes some sense. Doesn’t excuse the awfully stupid communication around the whole affair, but then what would?

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]]> 2011-08-31T00:27:56+01:00 Making LESS Useful http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/08/31/11040-making-less-useful/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/08/31/11040-making-less-useful/ I’ve already posted about my web development workflow, and the bit of AppleScript that lets me upload the local file I’m editing to its rightful place on the web server by hitting a simple hotkey in TextWrangler. But there was a problem with this: it made a pain of using the awesome LESS.app (which allows you such awesome and simple things as defining a color in a variable in the beginning of your CSS file and using it a bunch of times, so you only have to change the value once if you want to make adustments — just as an example among a bunch of more elaborate stuff). Since I was editing the .less file and I wanted to upload the compiled .css file rather than the file I was editing, my workflow just didn’t work. As a result, I just didn’t use LESS unless the benefit was really huge. That’s until I finally realized I could automate that process, too — AppleScript should be powerful enough to automatically detect that I’m trying to upload a .less file, and then work with the .css instead, shouldn’t it? And I should be able to make it do that, right? So, here goes the updated script: set fileName to "" tell application "TextWrangler" save document 1 of window 1 set fileName to (file of document 1 of window 1) as string end tell set AppleScript’s text item delimiters to "." if fileName contains "." then set {fileBasename, fileExtension} to {text 1 thru text item -2, text item -1} of fileName else set {fileBasename, fileExtension} to {fileName, ""} end if if fileExtension is "less" then set fileName to fileBasename ".css" ignoring application responses tell application "Transmit" open fileName end tell end ignoring Reminder: for this to work, you have to set up your favorites in Transmit with “DockSend” enabled — that’s the bit of magic that makes Transmit upload a file where it belongs on your server depending on where it is on your local hard drive.

I’ve already posted about my web development workflow, and the bit of AppleScript that lets me upload the local file I’m editing to its rightful place on the web server by hitting a simple hotkey in TextWrangler.

But there was a problem with this: it made a pain of using the awesome LESS.app (which allows you such awesome and simple things as defining a color in a variable in the beginning of your CSS file and using it a bunch of times, so you only have to change the value once if you want to make adustments — just as an example among a bunch of more elaborate stuff). Since I was editing the .less file and I wanted to upload the compiled .css file rather than the file I was editing, my workflow just didn’t work. As a result, I just didn’t use LESS unless the benefit was really huge.

That’s until I finally realized I could automate that process, too — AppleScript should be powerful enough to automatically detect that I’m trying to upload a .less file, and then work with the .css instead, shouldn’t it? And I should be able to make it do that, right?

 

So, here goes the updated script:

set fileName to ""

 

tell application "TextWrangler"

save document 1 of window 1

set fileName to (file of document 1 of window 1) as string

end tell

 

set AppleScript’s text item delimiters to "."

if fileName contains "." then

set {fileBasename, fileExtension} to {text 1 thru text item -2, text item -1} of fileName

else

set {fileBasename, fileExtension} to {fileName, ""}

end if

 

if fileExtension is "less" then set fileName to fileBasename & ".css"

 

ignoring application responses

tell application "Transmit"

open fileName

end tell

end ignoring

 

Reminder: for this to work, you have to set up your favorites in Transmit with “DockSend” enabled — that’s the bit of magic that makes Transmit upload a file where it belongs on your server depending on where it is on your local hard drive.

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]]> 2011-08-31T00:00:00+01:00 “New Approaches To Designing Log-In Forms” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/08/24/11033-new-approaches-to-designing-log-in-forms/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/08/24/11033-new-approaches-to-designing-log-in-forms/ uxdesign.smashingmagazine.comMost of what’s in the article is pretty bad for security / privacy and shouldn’t be applicable in many instances (showing a searchable list of users before login precludes hidden accounts, and showing you which account goes with a given e-mail address is awful for privacy), but these are two excellent ideas: Facebook’s mobile Web experience tackles this in a small but useful way. If you enter an incorrect password when trying to sign in, the website will change the password field to plain text so that you can actually see your input. Facebook also offers an alternate way to log in, using your email address or phone number (screenshot below). It’s a small enhancement but one that can go a long way on mobile.

uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com

Most of what’s in the article is pretty bad for security / privacy and shouldn’t be applicable in many instances (showing a searchable list of users before login precludes hidden accounts, and showing you which account goes with a given e-mail address is awful for privacy), but these are two excellent ideas:

Facebook’s mobile Web experience tackles this in a small but useful way. If you enter an incorrect password when trying to sign in, the website will change the password field to plain text so that you can actually see your input. Facebook also offers an alternate way to log in, using your email address or phone number (screenshot below). It’s a small enhancement but one that can go a long way on mobile.

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]]> 2011-08-24T03:14:03+01:00 “Spoilers don’t spoil anything” http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2011/08/12/11032-spoilers-don-t-spoil-anything/ http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2011/08/12/11032-spoilers-don-t-spoil-anything/ arstechnica.comWarning: the link above displays a spoiler about Harry Potter 6 because people on the web are looking for nothing if not a license to print spoilers. This is an amazingly stupid story that’s been on the web the last couple of days, and the reason why it’s stupid is in the first sentence of this paragraph: The first thing you probably noticed is that people don’t like literary stories. (And that’s a shame, because Updike’s “Plumbing” is a masterpiece of prose: “All around us, we are outlasted….”) But you might also have noticed that almost every single story, regardless of genre, was more pleasurable when prefaced with a spoiler. Yeah. The study showed that people who don’t particularly enjoy reading won’t enjoy it any less if they’re spoiled, and they might even be more interested in what they’re reading after being told that something’s gonna happen in the end. That’s certainly interesting (and Hollywood seems to have completely integrated that idea, judging by how they produce trailers), but it has absolutely nothing to do with the very people who are hung up about spoilers — those of us who are actually interested in stories in the first place. So just stop linking to this bullshit "study," okay?

arstechnica.com

Warning: the link above displays a spoiler about Harry Potter 6 because people on the web are looking for nothing if not a license to print spoilers.

 

This is an amazingly stupid story that’s been on the web the last couple of days, and the reason why it’s stupid is in the first sentence of this paragraph:

The first thing you probably noticed is that people don’t like literary stories. (And that’s a shame, because Updike’s “Plumbing” is a masterpiece of prose: “All around us, we are outlasted….”) But you might also have noticed that almost every single story, regardless of genre, was more pleasurable when prefaced with a spoiler.

Yeah. The study showed that people who don’t particularly enjoy reading won’t enjoy it any less if they’re spoiled, and they might even be more interested in what they’re reading after being told that something’s gonna happen in the end.

That’s certainly interesting (and Hollywood seems to have completely integrated that idea, judging by how they produce trailers), but it has absolutely nothing to do with the very people who are hung up about spoilers — those of us who are actually interested in stories in the first place.

So just stop linking to this bullshit “study,” okay?

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]]> 2011-08-12T21:28:59+01:00 “Design Sales Site Fab.com Hits 350,000 Members, Raises $8M To Celebrate” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/07/26/11031-design-sales-site-fab-com-hits-350-000-members-raises-8m-to-celebrate/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/07/26/11031-design-sales-site-fab-com-hits-350-000-members-raises-8m-to-celebrate/ techcrunch.comFab.com, which started out as Fabulis, a social networking site for gay men, has not only recently changed its name but also started from scratch with an entirely new business centered around online flash sales of design items. No, wait, seriously?

techcrunch.com

Fab.com, which started out as Fabulis, a social networking site for gay men, has not only recently changed its name but also started from scratch with an entirely new business centered around online flash sales of design items.

No, wait, seriously?

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]]> 2011-07-26T17:50:50+01:00 “Google Responds to Google+ Account Suspension Controversy” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/07/26/11030-google-responds-to-google-account-suspension-controversy/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/07/26/11030-google-responds-to-google-account-suspension-controversy/ mashable.comHorowitz also took time to dispel the rumor that a suspension of a Google+ account means that a user loses his or her access to Gmail, Google Docs or other Google services. “When an account is suspended for violating the Google+ common name standards, access to Gmail or other products that don’t require a Google+ profile are not removed,” he said. Is he saying that all the testimonies to the contrary were lies? I’m not buying it. I’d be a lot more confident if they said that disabling Gmail accounts was a mistake and they’ll never do it again — but denying that it ever happened in the face, of so many articles? This whole thing is a giant screw-up and they’re making it worse by the day.

mashable.com

Horowitz also took time to dispel the rumor that a suspension of a Google+ account means that a user loses his or her access to Gmail, Google Docs or other Google services. “When an account is suspended for violating the Google+ common name standards, access to Gmail or other products that don’t require a Google+ profile are not removed,” he said.

Is he saying that all the testimonies to the contrary were lies? I’m not buying it. I’d be a lot more confident if they said that disabling Gmail accounts was a mistake and they’ll never do it again — but denying that it ever happened in the face, of so many articles? This whole thing is a giant screw-up and they’re making it worse by the day.

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]]> 2011-07-26T16:29:11+01:00 “Brief thoughts on Google Plus” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/07/02/11029-brief-thoughts-on-google-plus/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2011/07/02/11029-brief-thoughts-on-google-plus/ radar.oreilly.comWithin hours, the early Plus invitees were actually using Google Plus for conversations. Not just nattering back and forth, not just comments on the service itself, but real conversations. That’s fundamentally different from Google Wave, where I rarely saw any discussion that wasn’t about Wave itself. Interestingly, I’ve seen the same with my contacts — and I really don’t know why that would be. I don’t share stuff on Facebook nor on Plus, so I have no idea what motivates those people to actually start posting to Plus this time. Except for the fact the Wave’s interface was too daunting, obviously.

radar.oreilly.com

Within hours, the early Plus invitees were actually using Google Plus for conversations. Not just nattering back and forth, not just comments on the service itself, but real conversations.

That’s fundamentally different from Google Wave, where I rarely saw any discussion that wasn’t about Wave itself.

Interestingly, I’ve seen the same with my contacts — and I really don’t know why that would be. I don’t share stuff on Facebook nor on Plus, so I have no idea what motivates those people to actually start posting to Plus this time.

Except for the fact the Wave’s interface was too daunting, obviously.

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]]> 2011-07-02T20:52:57+01:00 Opening cutscenes for Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/10/28/10966-opening-cutscenes-for-red-dead-redemption-undead-nightmare/ http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/10/28/10966-opening-cutscenes-for-red-dead-redemption-undead-nightmare/ gametrailers.comgametrailers.comIt took me a while to decide what I really thought of this DLC for Red Dead, but now I’m certain I’m offended. I realize that many people (including me, for that matter) miss playing as John Marston, and I would have accepted the premise if it only involved him, but bringing his family and other supporting characters (most especially B., seen in an earlier trailer) into this is tasteless, cruel, incoherent, disrespectful and a lot of other adjectives. I’d have been quite curious to play a zombie game in the Red Dead engine and environment, but absolutely not under those conditions. Do not mess, even "ironically," with the tragic story and characters you had so well established. (GTA IV introduced entirely new characters for its DLCs, and that worked perfectly fine.)

gametrailers.com

gametrailers.com

It took me a while to decide what I really thought of this DLC for Red Dead, but now I’m certain I’m offended. I realize that many people (including me, for that matter) miss playing as John Marston, and I would have accepted the premise if it only involved him, but bringing his family and other supporting characters (most especially B., seen in an earlier trailer) into this is tasteless, cruel, incoherent, disrespectful and a lot of other adjectives.

I’d have been quite curious to play a zombie game in the Red Dead engine and environment, but absolutely not under those conditions. Do not mess, even “ironically,” with the tragic story and characters you had so well established. (GTA IV introduced entirely new characters for its DLCs, and that worked perfectly fine.)

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]]> 2010-10-28T15:19:50+01:00 “iOS 4.2 Will Transform Your iPad’s Screen Lock Switch Into A Mute Switch” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/15/10937-ios-4-2-will-transform-your-ipad-s-screen-lock-switch-into-a-mute-switch/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/15/10937-ios-4-2-will-transform-your-ipad-s-screen-lock-switch-into-a-mute-switch/ appadvice.comChanging hardware button functions has been argued as of recent, and denied to developers like TapTapTap, due to the fact that it’s not “what users expect” and could be confusing. TapTapTap and other camera app creators tried to use the volume buttons as options to activate the camera shutter to improve convenience but were ultimately deflected by Apple’s review team.

appadvice.com

Changing hardware button functions has been argued as of recent, and denied to developers like TapTapTap, due to the fact that it’s not “what users expect” and could be confusing. TapTapTap and other camera app creators tried to use the volume buttons as options to activate the camera shutter to improve convenience but were ultimately deflected by Apple’s review team.

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]]> 2010-09-15T23:51:39+01:00 Daring Fireball on the iPad and Kindle http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/15/10936-daring-fireball-on-the-ipad-and-kindle/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/15/10936-daring-fireball-on-the-ipad-and-kindle/ daringfireball.net A world where Kindle hardware sales pale in comparison to the iPad but where there’s a very popular Kindle app for iPad that competes against iBooks is not a bad situation for Amazon. Apple is only selling e-books for use on their own devices; Amazon is willing to sell e-books anywhere they can. That ought to be updated with "should be" — yes, it would be the smartest strategy for Amazon to focus on selling their e-books on whatever platform can read them, but I don’t think that strategy should include a comparative TV ad that goes head-on against the iPad. This move just makes no sense to me. I’m guessing they’re afraid that iPad users might stick with iBooks and not bother to download the Kindle app… but the correct answer to that is definitely not to antagonize the iOS fanboys. (Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the ad with the sound off, so for all I know they say the iPad is awesome and the Kindle is just complementary. But somehow I doubt it. Even though that’s exactly what they should say.)

daringfireball.net

A world where Kindle hardware sales pale in comparison to the iPad but where there’s a very popular Kindle app for iPad that competes against iBooks is not a bad situation for Amazon. Apple is only selling e-books for use on their own devices; Amazon is willing to sell e-books anywhere they can.

That ought to be updated with “should be” — yes, it would be the smartest strategy for Amazon to focus on selling their e-books on whatever platform can read them, but I don’t think that strategy should include a comparative TV ad that goes head-on against the iPad. This move just makes no sense to me.

I’m guessing they’re afraid that iPad users might stick with iBooks and not bother to download the Kindle app… but the correct answer to that is definitely not to antagonize the iOS fanboys.

(Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the ad with the sound off, so for all I know they say the iPad is awesome and the Kindle is just complementary. But somehow I doubt it. Even though that’s exactly what they should say.)

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]]> 2010-09-15T21:48:45+01:00 “Exclusive: Facebook Blocked API Access to Ping After Failure to Strike Agreement, So Apple Removed Feature After Launch” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/03/10935-exclusive-facebook-blocked-api-access-to-ping-after-failure-to-strike-agreement-so-apple-removed-feature-after-launch/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/03/10935-exclusive-facebook-blocked-api-access-to-ping-after-failure-to-strike-agreement-so-apple-removed-feature-after-launch/ kara.allthingsd.comNormally, this API access is open and does not require permission. That is, unless some entity wants to access it a lot. In that case, Facebook requires an agreement for reasons primarily centered on protection of Facebook user data and, of course, infrastructure impact. It’s hard to blame Facebook here. When Apple brags about having 160 million users, with credit card number on file, and decides to sic all of them (and simultaneously) on a Facebook app that will harvest the social network which Facebook took pains to cultivate for years (and for no other purpose than the harvesting itself — unlike, say, Zynga games which bring a lot of page views back to Facebook), you can’t quite fault Facebook for wanting to get some kind of compensation. Apple isn’t building something on top of the Facebook platform here, they’re trying to piggyback and supplant it. It’s also easy to imagine Steve Jobs deciding — at the last moment, after long, failed negotiations — that Apple is big enough not to need Facebook at all, that it can just as well construct its social graph from scratch. Because that’s how much Steve Jobs and Apple know about social networking: not very. If Apple is serious about Ping — and they should be, since music recommendations with inline preview have the potential to push a good deal of product — I wager that they’re the ones who will have to give in. Sure, people are signing up for Ping, but if my "entourage"’s experience is any indication, they’re not making a lot of friendship connections and, on Ping more than anywhere, the social graph is where the money’s at. (I’m assuming that the provision regarding a compensation for extensive use of the API does exist in Facebook’s terms of use, but I see no reason to doubt it — and I’m too lazy to check — because it just makes sense.)

kara.allthingsd.com

Normally, this API access is open and does not require permission. That is, unless some entity wants to access it a lot. In that case, Facebook requires an agreement for reasons primarily centered on protection of Facebook user data and, of course, infrastructure impact.

It’s hard to blame Facebook here. When Apple brags about having 160 million users, with credit card number on file, and decides to sic all of them (and simultaneously) on a Facebook app that will harvest the social network which Facebook took pains to cultivate for years (and for no other purpose than the harvesting itself — unlike, say, Zynga games which bring a lot of page views back to Facebook), you can’t quite fault Facebook for wanting to get some kind of compensation. Apple isn’t building something on top of the Facebook platform here, they’re trying to piggyback and supplant it.

It’s also easy to imagine Steve Jobs deciding — at the last moment, after long, failed negotiations — that Apple is big enough not to need Facebook at all, that it can just as well construct its social graph from scratch. Because that’s how much Steve Jobs and Apple know about social networking: not very.

If Apple is serious about Ping — and they should be, since music recommendations with inline preview have the potential to push a good deal of product — I wager that they’re the ones who will have to give in. Sure, people are signing up for Ping, but if my “entourage”’s experience is any indication, they’re not making a lot of friendship connections and, on Ping more than anywhere, the social graph is where the money’s at.

 

(I’m assuming that the provision regarding a compensation for extensive use of the API does exist in Facebook’s terms of use, but I see no reason to doubt it — and I’m too lazy to check — because it just makes sense.)

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]]> 2010-09-03T01:38:12+01:00 “How Apple Quietly Killed $149 Video iPods… And More” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/01/10934-how-apple-quietly-killed-149-video-ipods-and-more/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/09/01/10934-how-apple-quietly-killed-149-video-ipods-and-more/ ilounge.comAccording to Apple’s pages, the three-button remotes that were previously integrated into the headphones packaged with the iPod shuffle and iPod touch are now gone; all of the iPods are shown as coming with the same plain old earbuds, which would mean that the iPod touch now needs to rely on its rear-mounted microphone for audio input unless there’s something else hidden inside, or attached as an accessory. Apple’s base model Earphones with Remote + Mic sells for $29 as an upgrade. Wow, that sucks. It isn’t absurd to make you buy a new set of earphones if you want to use your iPod touch for Skype (although, well, it’s a little absurd in that Apple wants you to use FaceTime), but it’s particularly annoying for the Nano. In my writeup of the keynote, I was going to say that the new Shuffle had become the only iPod you can conveniently use without looking — whether in your pocket, or while doing something else. Then I edited the words out when I figured that the Nano would have a remote on the earphone cord. Without it, the touch-screen iPods offer terrible UI for real-world usage. (And I can’t check right now because apple.com is hammered by people who desperately want to play with the new iTunes.)

ilounge.com

According to Apple’s pages, the three-button remotes that were previously integrated into the headphones packaged with the iPod shuffle and iPod touch are now gone; all of the iPods are shown as coming with the same plain old earbuds, which would mean that the iPod touch now needs to rely on its rear-mounted microphone for audio input unless there’s something else hidden inside, or attached as an accessory. Apple’s base model Earphones with Remote + Mic sells for $29 as an upgrade.

Wow, that sucks. It isn’t absurd to make you buy a new set of earphones if you want to use your iPod touch for Skype (although, well, it’s a little absurd in that Apple wants you to use FaceTime), but it’s particularly annoying for the Nano.

In my writeup of the keynote, I was going to say that the new Shuffle had become the only iPod you can conveniently use without looking — whether in your pocket, or while doing something else. Then I edited the words out when I figured that the Nano would have a remote on the earphone cord. Without it, the touch-screen iPods offer terrible UI for real-world usage.

(And I can’t check right now because apple.com is hammered by people who desperately want to play with the new iTunes.)

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]]> 2010-09-01T23:54:56+01:00 “Palm puts webOS 2.0 SDK into limited release starting today” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/31/10932-palm-puts-webos-2-0-sdk-into-limited-release-starting-today/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/31/10932-palm-puts-webos-2-0-sdk-into-limited-release-starting-today/ engadget.comI like card stacks — navigating both the list of running applications, and the list of open Safari tabs, is pretty much a chore on iOS, and Palm has a big advantage there by treating each web page as a separate open app (um, I think that’s how it works?). Just Type, or Quicksilver for mobile, is very promising if the API is well structured. And Exhibition, which lets apps display ambient information when the phone is docked, is something iPhone users have been dreaming of for years. Nothing huge so far, but very nice refinements; I can’t wait to see what devices HP proposes to run this OS on. (Is there any chance at all we could be spared the inevitable iPad clone?)

engadget.com

I like card stacks — navigating both the list of running applications, and the list of open Safari tabs, is pretty much a chore on iOS, and Palm has a big advantage there by treating each web page as a separate open app (um, I think that’s how it works?). Just Type, or Quicksilver for mobile, is very promising if the API is well structured. And Exhibition, which lets apps display ambient information when the phone is docked, is something iPhone users have been dreaming of for years.

Nothing huge so far, but very nice refinements; I can’t wait to see what devices HP proposes to run this OS on. (Is there any chance at all we could be spared the inevitable iPad clone?)

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]]> 2010-08-31T22:22:21+01:00 New Xbox controller now official http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/08/31/10931-new-xbox-controller-now-official/ http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/08/31/10931-new-xbox-controller-now-official/ majornelson.comThe problem with the existing D-pad is that it tries to do too much (four directions plus push down), ending up not doing any of it right. I seriously doubt that adding a pinch of Decepticon functionality on top of that will make it perform better. At least the new pad (which will apparently be only available separately, at least for a while — huh?) looks pretty. Mostly. I’m not sure about the black accents.

majornelson.com

The problem with the existing D-pad is that it tries to do too much (four directions plus push down), ending up not doing any of it right. I seriously doubt that adding a pinch of Decepticon functionality on top of that will make it perform better.

At least the new pad (which will apparently be only available separately, at least for a while — huh?) looks pretty. Mostly. I’m not sure about the black accents.

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]]> 2010-08-31T19:14:46+01:00 “Apple’s Next Generation iPod Touch and Nano Cases Outed” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/26/10929-apple-s-next-generation-ipod-touch-and-nano-cases-outed/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/26/10929-apple-s-next-generation-ipod-touch-and-nano-cases-outed/ slashgear.comAs for those small square things above the bigger cases, those are supposedly for the sixth-generation iPod Nano. The case seems to be created specifically for a touchscreen device, as the entire back of the gadget would be covered, but the whole front would not be. And considering we’ve heard rumors that the new Nano will lose that trackwheel, we’re beginning to think those earlier leaked images of the iWatch (or whatever) were indeed showing off the iPod Nano. Oh man, it totally is time for an Apple watch, isn’t it? Just have the iPod nano display the time of day (with an OLED screen — where only the active pixels are lit — it may be possible to make the battery last, like, a whole day!), put interchangeable straps of leather on each side and, boom:  Watch. And, yes, I’d buy it even though I haven’t worn a wristwatch in a year.

slashgear.com

As for those small square things above the bigger cases, those are supposedly for the sixth-generation iPod Nano. The case seems to be created specifically for a touchscreen device, as the entire back of the gadget would be covered, but the whole front would not be. And considering we’ve heard rumors that the new Nano will lose that trackwheel, we’re beginning to think those earlier leaked images of the iWatch (or whatever) were indeed showing off the iPod Nano.

Oh man, it totally is time for an Apple watch, isn’t it? Just have the iPod nano display the time of day (with an OLED screen — where only the active pixels are lit — it may be possible to make the battery last, like, a whole day!), put interchangeable straps of leather on each side and, boom:  Watch.

And, yes, I’d buy it even though I haven’t worn a wristwatch in a year.

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]]> 2010-08-26T23:28:49+01:00 A free iPhone app to upload uncompressed video to YouTube http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/26/10928-a-free-iphone-app-to-upload-uncompressed-video-to-youtube/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/26/10928-a-free-iphone-app-to-upload-uncompressed-video-to-youtube/ theappleblog.comI’m reluctant to give my Google account credentials to a third-party app, but having bought an iPhone 4 and iMovie for iPhone in order to make pretty 720p videos [of my cat], I just can’t avoid it.

theappleblog.com

I’m reluctant to give my Google account credentials to a third-party app, but having bought an iPhone 4 and iMovie for iPhone in order to make pretty 720p videos [of my cat], I just can’t avoid it.

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]]> 2010-08-26T16:03:35+01:00 “Jack Dorsey connected the dots to create Twitter” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/24/10927-jack-dorsey-connected-the-dots-to-create-twitter/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/24/10927-jack-dorsey-connected-the-dots-to-create-twitter/ sfgate.com"How could this possibly work?" said IDC Financial Insights analyst Aaron McPherson, adding that eliminating a merchant account is akin to dangling fresh meat for criminals. "They are just so overhyped and it seems to be entirely based on Dorsey’s celebrity." First time I see anyone actually make sense in a Square writeup. (But the rest of the profile on Jack Dorsey is interesting.)

sfgate.com

"How could this possibly work?" said IDC Financial Insights analyst Aaron McPherson, adding that eliminating a merchant account is akin to dangling fresh meat for criminals. "They are just so overhyped and it seems to be entirely based on Dorsey’s celebrity."

First time I see anyone actually make sense in a Square writeup. (But the rest of the profile on Jack Dorsey is interesting.)

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]]> 2010-08-24T20:43:07+01:00 “Flash Player 10.1: This Video is Not Optimized for Mobile” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/20/10926-flash-player-10-1-this-video-is-not-optimized-for-mobile/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/20/10926-flash-player-10-1-this-video-is-not-optimized-for-mobile/ slashgear.comTruth be told, it can all be summed up in just a few sentences: “I’m the last person on Earth who wanted to believe Steve Jobs when he told Walt Mossberg at D8 that Flash has had its day. I’m sad to admit that Steve Jobs was right. Adobe’s offering seems like it’s too little, too late.” Laughing Out Loud.

slashgear.com

Truth be told, it can all be summed up in just a few sentences: “I’m the last person on Earth who wanted to believe Steve Jobs when he told Walt Mossberg at D8 that ‘Flash has had its day.’ I’m sad to admit that Steve Jobs was right. Adobe’s offering seems like it’s too little, too late.”

Laughing Out Loud.

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]]> 2010-08-20T17:42:42+01:00 “Manager’s best friend: Dogs improve office productivity” http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2010/08/19/10925-manager-s-best-friend-dogs-improve-office-productivity/ http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2010/08/19/10925-manager-s-best-friend-dogs-improve-office-productivity/ economist.comThey wondered in particular if the mere presence of a canine in the office might make people collaborate more effectively. And, as they told a meeting of the International Society for Human Ethology in Madison, Wisconsin, on August 2nd, they found that it could. Filed for future reference.

economist.com

They wondered in particular if the mere presence of a canine in the office might make people collaborate more effectively. And, as they told a meeting of the International Society for Human Ethology in Madison, Wisconsin, on August 2nd, they found that it could.

Filed for future reference.

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]]> 2010-08-19T02:11:35+01:00 “Apple’s ’Freedom From Porn’ Enforcer Drawn To Porn Stars and Escorts on Twitter” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/19/10924-apple-s-freedom-from-porn-enforcer-drawn-to-porn-stars-and-escorts-on-twitter/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/19/10924-apple-s-freedom-from-porn-enforcer-drawn-to-porn-stars-and-escorts-on-twitter/ valleywag.gawker.com"Apple’s policy allows for employees to have apps on the App Store if they’re developed and published prior to their start at Apple." But in fact, as Chen shows, three of Shoemaker’s seven apps went onto the app store weeks after his employment began, according to dates gleaned from Shoemaker’s Twitter accounts and from the iTunes profiles of his apps. In one case, a Shoemaker app was published over a month after Shoemaker started work at Apple; in two other cases, they were published nearly three weeks after his work began.[…] Shoemaker himself is in the fart-app game with his pre-Apple offering Animal Farts I don’t give a damn that the guy in charge of the App Store follows escorts on Twitter — it is a bit weird, but none of our business. But, really, Apple hired to direct the App Store a guy who made a fart app, a pee simulator, and poetry magnet apps? Just… why?

valleywag.gawker.com

"Apple’s policy allows for employees to have apps on the App Store if they’re developed and published prior to their start at Apple." But in fact, as Chen shows, three of Shoemaker’s seven apps went onto the app store weeks after his employment began, according to dates gleaned from Shoemaker’s Twitter accounts and from the iTunes profiles of his apps. In one case, a Shoemaker app was published over a month after Shoemaker started work at Apple; in two other cases, they were published nearly three weeks after his work began.[…]

Shoemaker himself is in the fart-app game with his pre-Apple offering Animal Farts

I don’t give a damn that the guy in charge of the App Store follows escorts on Twitter — it is a bit weird, but none of our business. But, really, Apple hired to direct the App Store a guy who made a fart app, a pee simulator, and poetry magnet apps?

Just… why?

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]]> 2010-08-19T02:06:10+01:00 “Avatars Will Be Redesigned For Kinect” http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/08/18/10923-avatars-will-be-redesigned-for-kinect/ http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/08/18/10923-avatars-will-be-redesigned-for-kinect/ next-gen.bizRare updates Xbox 360 Avatars as unrealistic proportions affect hand-eye coordination when using Kinect. That sounds a little stupid, but (a) the whole point of Kinect is to target morons with no sense of abstraction, and (b) I’m not gonna mourn the bobbleheads. I don’t like PlayStation Home, but at least my avatar there is somewhat sexy.

next-gen.biz

Rare updates Xbox 360 Avatars as unrealistic proportions affect hand-eye coordination when using Kinect.

That sounds a little stupid, but (a) the whole point of Kinect is to target morons with no sense of abstraction, and (b) I’m not gonna mourn the bobbleheads. I don’t like PlayStation Home, but at least my avatar there is somewhat sexy.

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]]> 2010-08-18T19:01:06+01:00 “jQuery’s Mobile Strategy” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/14/10922-jquery-s-mobile-strategy/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/14/10922-jquery-s-mobile-strategy/ jquerymobile.comGreat news! jQuery is updating for mobile platforms, I’ll finally be able to use it everywhere again! Oh, wait… Note that we’re not releasing a separate “mobile only” build of jQuery. The bug fixes and workarounds that we develop will be included directly in mainline jQuery. You will be able to continue using the single script file containing jQuery and get all the benefits of working across all the new mobile browsers. Thus far these changes are only yielding a minimal increase in file size (no more than a couple hundred bytes) and no appreciable change in performance. Well, that’s great, isn’t it — because jQuery is already too big to fit in most iPhones’ web cache* (meaning it has to be reloaded with every page, meaning page loads are slow, meaning you just can’t use it on an iPhone site**), so bigger is… better than… a mobile-only version… that would have been smaller… and would have worked. I used to think that jQuery was the work of geniuses. But it seems that no open-source project can ever escape entropy. (It would be so simple to selectively load a different javascript file depending on the platform you’re running on — you know, if you intended to actually optimize for mobile browsers and mobile networks.) * In case you want to tell me that jQuery is 24KB when gzipped: The object size limitation in Safari is based on the decompressed file. I just downloaded the latest minified jQuery, and it’s 70KB, so it would be cached on no iOS device except the iPhone 4. ** Unless you make it one single page that loads everything in Ajax, which is… well, I think it’s more acceptable on the mobile web than on the desktop, but it’s still poor form. And if you’re doing a full-on web-app, people want App Store apps instead anyway.

jquerymobile.com

Great news! jQuery is updating for mobile platforms, I’ll finally be able to use it everywhere again! Oh, wait…

Note that we’re not releasing a separate “mobile only” build of jQuery. The bug fixes and workarounds that we develop will be included directly in mainline jQuery. You will be able to continue using the single script file containing jQuery and get all the benefits of working across all the new mobile browsers. Thus far these changes are only yielding a minimal increase in file size (no more than a couple hundred bytes) and no appreciable change in performance.

Well, that’s great, isn’t it — because jQuery is already too big to fit in most iPhones’ web cache* (meaning it has to be reloaded with every page, meaning page loads are slow, meaning you just can’t use it on an iPhone site**), so bigger is… better than… a mobile-only version… that would have been smaller… and would have worked.

I used to think that jQuery was the work of geniuses. But it seems that no open-source project can ever escape entropy. (It would be so simple to selectively load a different javascript file depending on the platform you’re running on — you know, if you intended to actually optimize for mobile browsers and mobile networks.)

 

* In case you want to tell me that jQuery is 24KB when gzipped: The object size limitation in Safari is based on the decompressed file. I just downloaded the latest minified jQuery, and it’s 70KB, so it would be cached on no iOS device except the iPhone 4.

** Unless you make it one single page that loads everything in Ajax, which is… well, I think it’s more acceptable on the mobile web than on the desktop, but it’s still poor form. And if you’re doing a full-on web-app, people want App Store apps instead anyway.

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]]> 2010-08-14T02:00:15+01:00 “Twitter Blog: Pushing Our (Tweet) Button” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/12/10921-twitter-blog-pushing-our-tweet-button/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/12/10921-twitter-blog-pushing-our-tweet-button/ blog.twitter.comYou can very easily transform their branded button into a "Post to Twitter" bookmarklet for you to use anywhere, and it’s silly that they didn’t think to publicize that fact (but then, geeks haven’t been their main target for a while). I’d been looking for an official bookmarklet for a while now, one that wouldn’t need to go through third-party servers, especially since I’ve gotten my iPad: having to copy and paste URLs is a pain when hitting a bookmarklet should work just as well. So here’s the bookmarklet (which you could conceivably extend to populate the tweet with selected text when appropriate, but I don’t care, and I don’t mind using copy-and-paste for that): javascript:window.location='http://twitter.com/share?text='+ encodeURIComponent(document.title)+'url='+ encodeURIComponent(window.location); If you don’t see anything above, that’ll be because I put it in a textarea so it could easily be copied and pasted on the iPad. You can also drag this link to your bookmarks bar if you’re on a platform that provides such elaborate functionality. (You’d think maybe someday iOS would let users create bookmarklets without jumping through so many hoops?)

blog.twitter.com

You can very easily transform their branded button into a “Post to Twitter” bookmarklet for you to use anywhere, and it’s silly that they didn’t think to publicize that fact (but then, geeks haven’t been their main target for a while). I’d been looking for an official bookmarklet for a while now, one that wouldn’t need to go through third-party servers, especially since I’ve gotten my iPad: having to copy and paste URLs is a pain when hitting a bookmarklet should work just as well.

So here’s the bookmarklet (which you could conceivably extend to populate the tweet with selected text when appropriate, but I don’t care, and I don’t mind using copy-and-paste for that):

If you don’t see anything above, that’ll be because I put it in a textarea so it could easily be copied and pasted on the iPad. You can also drag this link to your bookmarks bar if you’re on a platform that provides such elaborate functionality. (You’d think maybe someday iOS would let users create bookmarklets without jumping through so many hoops?)

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]]> 2010-08-12T19:33:07+01:00 “Never Forget – Hu2 reminder stickers” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/07/10920-never-forget-hu2-reminder-stickers/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/07/10920-never-forget-hu2-reminder-stickers/ macgasm.netThat’s not a bad idea at all.

macgasm.net

That’s not a bad idea at all.

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]]> 2010-08-07T16:25:47+01:00 “Deep Inside Xbox 360 Kinect and Why It’s the Future of Microsoft” http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/08/07/10919-deep-inside-xbox-360-kinect-and-why-it-s-the-future-of-microsoft/ http://www.bewarethefrog.com/en/archives/2010/08/07/10919-deep-inside-xbox-360-kinect-and-why-it-s-the-future-of-microsoft/ gizmodo.comThe Kinect’s size and shape is dictated almost entirely by the 4 microphones located along the bottom. It has to be precisely that large to accommodate the mics and the exact positions they need to be in. Interesting. Also, there’s a fan instead the Kinect — it’s just made of three cameras and four microphones, and there’s a fan (which only kicks in when needed). Probably because Gizmodo says it uses a freaking laser to illuminate your living room.

gizmodo.com

The Kinect’s size and shape is dictated almost entirely by the 4 microphones located along the bottom. It has to be precisely that large to accommodate the mics and the exact positions they need to be in.

Interesting. Also, there’s a fan instead the Kinect — it’s just made of three cameras and four microphones, and there’s a fan (which only kicks in when needed). Probably because Gizmodo says it uses a freaking laser to illuminate your living room.

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]]> 2010-08-07T15:43:35+01:00 “There can be more than one” http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/07/10918-there-can-be-more-than-one/ http://www.ff00aa.com/en/archives/2010/08/07/10918-there-can-be-more-than-one/ chipotle.tumblr.comI’ve noticed the same effect: Mac and iPhone zealots tend to talk up how much they like their devices, while Windows and Android zealots tend to talk up how much they hate Macs and iPhones. This asymmetry has always struck me as odd. Heh.

chipotle.tumblr.com

I’ve noticed the same effect: Mac and iPhone zealots tend to talk up how much they like their devices, while Windows and Android zealots tend to talk up how much they hate Macs and iPhones. This asymmetry has always struck me as odd.

Heh.

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]]> 2010-08-07T15:36:03+01:00 “Great, even our beds could be causing cancer” http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2010/07/29/10916-great-even-our-beds-could-be-causing-cancer/ http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2010/07/29/10916-great-even-our-beds-could-be-causing-cancer/ dvice.comThus, as we sleep on our coil-spring mattresses, we are in effect sleeping on an antenna that amplifies the intensity of the broadcast FM/TV radiation Huh. Sounds dubious, but not altogether absurd.

dvice.com

Thus, as we sleep on our coil-spring mattresses, we are in effect sleeping on an antenna that amplifies the intensity of the broadcast FM/TV radiation

Huh.

Sounds dubious, but not altogether absurd.

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]]> 2010-07-29T17:20:46+01:00 Twitter - 2012.02.07 http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/07/?twitter http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/07/?twitter Today I made myself a whole new collection of faceplants Ican look back on in excruciating fondness for months to come. ~ Funny, after yesterday Ifeel _literally_ one year older. ~ I'm kind of surprised that people are still shocked when an app uploads their address book without asking

Today I made myself a whole new collection of faceplants I can look back on in excruciating fondness for months to come. {@}

 

Funny, after yesterday I feel _literally_ one year older. {@}

 

 

Get my tweets as soon as I post them by following me on Twitter: @garoo, @ff00aa and @bewarethefrog.

]]> 2012-02-07T23:59:59+01:00 Twitter - 2012.02.06 http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/06/?twitter http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/06/?twitter The demo for the DarknessII is just about totally awesome. ~ He's making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty and nice ~ Ilove the vanishing act at the end of Madonna's show. A bit sad to see her move so stiffly though.

The demo for the Darkness II is just about totally awesome. {@}

 

♫ He's making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty and nice ♫ {@}

 

I love the vanishing act at the end of Madonna's show. A bit sad to see her move so stiffly though. {@}

 

Get my tweets as soon as I post them by following me on Twitter: @garoo, @ff00aa and @bewarethefrog.

]]> 2012-02-06T23:59:59+01:00 Twitter - 2012.02.05 http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/05/?twitter http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/05/?twitter Disappointed by the Amalur demo (yeah, I'm late). Iliked everything they were going for, but they didn't quite get there. ~ I'd completely missed the bit about Facebook making a $1billion _profit_ last year._Fuck!_ ~ Doubles day on Fringe was really fun; too bad the week's fringe investigation itself was boring. ~ Chat en chaleur pour la troisime fois en six semaines. Faut dire qu'on avait t pas mal tranquilles l'anne dernire.

Disappointed by the Amalur demo (yeah, I'm late). I liked everything they were going for, but they didn't quite get there. {@}

 

I'd completely missed the bit about Facebook making a $1 billion _profit_ last year.

_Fuck!_ {@}

 

Doubles day on Fringe was really fun; too bad the week's fringe investigation itself was boring. {@}

 

Chat en chaleur pour la troisième fois en six semaines. Faut dire qu'on avait été pas mal tranquilles l'année dernière. {@}

 

Get my tweets as soon as I post them by following me on Twitter: @garoo, @ff00aa and @bewarethefrog.

]]> 2012-02-05T23:59:59+01:00 Twitter - 2012.02.04 http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/04/?twitter http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/04/?twitter Apple clarifies iBooks EULANo surprise there whatsoever. (But it did need to happen, of course.) ~ Damnit, not working is so much more fun than working. ~ Why does Xcode set the build number of a new project to "1.0" rather than "1" (or maybe even "0")? ~ God Ihate how, every time you create a new project in Xcode, it's subtly different from the last one you created in a previous version.

Apple clarifies iBooks EULA
No surprise there whatsoever. (But it did need to happen, of course.) {@}

 

Damnit, not working is so much more fun than working. {@}

 

Why does Xcode set the build number of a new project to "1.0" rather than "1" (or maybe even "0")? {@}

 

God I hate how, every time you create a new project in Xcode, it's subtly different from the last one you created in a previous version. {@}

 

Get my tweets as soon as I post them by following me on Twitter: @garoo, @ff00aa and @bewarethefrog.

]]> 2012-02-04T23:59:59+01:00 Twitter - 2012.02.03 http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/03/?twitter http://www.garoo.net/en/archives/2012/02/03/?twitter Things cats refuse to learn, no.23: Humans can't see in the dark. Splotch. ~ Man Arrested for Stealing a Glacier ~ Ten terrible things from Mass Effect2: the awful charactersNine great points; Istill like the final boss. ~ Idon't like Give Me All Your Luvin' but, damn, it sticks. ~ The Verge explores iMessageIhadn't even thought about how easy it makes it to _intentionally_ spy on someone.

Things cats refuse to learn, no. 23: Humans can't see in the dark. Splotch. {@}

 

 

”Ten terrible things from Mass Effect 2: the awful characters”
Nine great points; I still like the final boss. {@}

 

I don't like “Give Me All Your Luvin’” but, damn, it sticks. {@}

 

The Verge explores iMessage
I hadn't even thought about how easy it makes it to _intentionally_ spy on someone. {@}

 

Get my tweets as soon as I post them by following me on Twitter: @garoo, @ff00aa and @bewarethefrog.

]]> 2012-02-03T23:59:59+01:00