* Posts by Recaf

43 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Jan 2011

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey rebrands himself a 'single point of failure' and quits

Recaf
Alert

Re: Zuck should follow his lead.....

Mark Zuckerberg actually only owns about 16% of Meta, but is pretty much the only shareholder with any voting rights.

Apple beat Epic Games 9-1 in court. Now it's appealed the one point it lost

Recaf
Stop

Judge found Apple is not a monopolist?

The statement that "US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found Apple is not a monopolist and found in favour of the fruity company on nine of ten counts" is not strictly true: my understanding is that she stated that Epic had not provided enough evidence to show that Apple was a monopolist, and that she was disappointed in the quality of evidence that was provided, which is not quite the same thing.

Under fire for 30% cut, Apple really isn't giving anything away with introduction of subscription offer codes

Recaf

Re: I wonder...

From the date an individual user makes their first subscription payment; Apple take 30% from any subscription payments they make within the first 12 months, 15% after that.

€13bn wings its way back to Apple after Euro court rules Irish tax deal wasn't 'state aid'

Recaf
Facepalm

All about jobs? Unlikely!

"The country's position is probably that the jobs brought by these companies are more valuable than added taxation."

No, it's more likely because 0.005% of Apple's entire European profit is still a lot of money to a small country like Ireland, and a lot better than the 0% it would get if Apple was based anywhere else.

Apple: We're defending your privacy by nixing 16 browser APIs. Rivals: You mean defending your bottom line

Recaf

Re: This is not about privacy

This already happens with other web APIs, like microphone and location, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be applied to others... apart from preventing PWAs having near-native functionality, obviously.

Google begs for US Entity List exemption to let Huawei use its mobile services – report

Recaf

AOSMS?

Google have been furiously arguing that APIs can't be copyrighted, so why don't Huawei spend some of that $1bn creating an API-compatible replica of GMS for non-Google phones that offers equivalent fictionally and can hook into equivalent Huawei/Amazon/other services?

Android Open Source Mobile Services, perhaps?

NBD: A popular HTTP-fetching npm code library used by 48,000 other modules retires, no more updates coming

Recaf

They are now

That's kinda the point: they are now, but weren't a decade ago, and people are still importing 1,000 lines of code (or whatever) where one now does the same job.

WebAssembly gets nod from W3C and, most likely, an embrace from cryptojackers online

Recaf
WTF?

Flash ah aaaahhhh!

So we're told again and again that plugins, like Flash, are evil security threats that must be banned and will be blocked entirely after 2020 to save us all from their malicious intents... Only for them to be replaced by basically the same thing (but no doubt implemented in half a dozen ever so slightly different ways by each of the major browser makers, like HTML5, to ensure you need to implement the usual array of workarounds and polyfills)

Leaked EU doc plots €100bn fund to protect European firms against international tech giants

Recaf

Stop selling everything!

Surely it would be easier just to stop US tech giants buying up every European tech company that becomes even slightly successful or competitive?

Tens to be disappointed as Windows 10 Mobile death date set: Doomed phone OS won't see 2020

Recaf
Facepalm

Re: It was...

It's actually one of the nicer mobile platforms to develop native apps for (at least Win Pho 7/8 were), but Microsoft moved the goalposts so much between releases (7-8-10) that most developers just gave up and moved on to more popular platforms instead...

FYI: Twitter's API still spews enough metadata to reveal exactly where you lived, worked

Recaf

You have to opt in

Is it really a privacy issue when you have to actively CHOOSE to include your location with your tweets?

Motorola strap-on packs a 2,000mAh battery to appease the 5G gods

Recaf

2H = Q3/4

"Some time in the second half of 2019"

Online pharmacy slapped with £130,000 fine for flogging customer data

Recaf

So, ignorance is a defence?

They're saying that breaking the rules was not deliberate, not that they weren't deliberately selling customer data.

I always thought ignorance was no defence, but apparently ICO see things differently.

BBC joins war against Flash, launches beta HTML5 iPlayer

Recaf

Re: It took them fucking long enough

It's comments like this that show the complete (or perhaps willful) lack of understanding about the state of HTML5 video.

Despite the hyperbole, HTML5 video implementations and support still vary wildly between browsers and OS, particularly when it comes to DRM: just look at the number of comments here referencing hidden settings and developer flags.

iOS got HTML5 video first because it requires HLS, a format that only has half-arsed support on Android and almost no support at all on desktop browsers.

A Flash free world is coming, but until all major browsers finally implement a standard platform for encrypted video which is enabled by default, media companies will be forced to continue using Flash to fill the gaps.

If all the effort that went into publicly hating Flash went into lobbying browser developers, maybe we'd get there sooner.

Don't suit up: Microsoft drops dress code for Android visitors

Recaf
FAIL

It's OS/2 all over again

OS/2 2.0 had "better Windows than Windows" so no one bothered creating any native applications.

Now Windows will have "not quite as good Android as Android" and the seven remaining Windows Phone developers will no doubt be deciding if they'd prefer Java or Objective-C.

Microsoft to Windows 10 consumers: You'll get updates LIKE IT or NOT

Recaf
Coat

Stop moaning

I'm not sure quite how having the latest version of Paint or Hotmail is going to help, but knowing that (most) users will have the latest version of Windows installed can only be a good thing for developers.

So much time developing modern web, and to a lesser extent mobile, applications is spent creating workarounds or polyfills for missing features of version X of browser Y or an ancient versions of Z that people can't (or won't) upgrade from, it'll actually be nice to know that there's at least one platform where you can start using the latest features in the SDK as soon as it's released, rather than having to wait a year or two for the World to catch up.

Roku 3: Probably the best streaming player on the market ... for now, at least

Recaf

Roku Media Player

You don't need Plex or Server IO: just install Roku Media Player to add DLNA/UPNP support, including Windows media sharing.

Freeview's rumoured '£100m YouView killer' is real – and it's yet another digital TV thing

Recaf

FFS!

Why can't they just make services available using the existing Freeview HD IPTV standard?

Another £100m bites the dust.

Can't wait for 4G? Take heart, 5G is on the way

Recaf

IPTV?

Why is Ofcom so convinced the future of TV is IP? More than a decade after the first consumer broadband appeared in the UK there are still large swathes of the country that don't have it and 3G coverage is still patchy at best!

Internet Explorer 11 for Win7 bods: Soz, no HTML5 fun for you

Recaf
Headmaster

Chrome for Android dropped support

Google dropped support for all plugins, including Flash, when it released Chrome for Android long before Adobe announced it wouldn't be releasing any new versions of the plugin for Android.

IP telly upstart stuffs Comedy Central, MTV in Freeview box

Recaf

Why not 1 IP stream per channel?

Why do Freeview IPTV providers insist on having multiple streams per channel? Surely one stream per channel would be far better for EPG integration, if nothing else?

Find a program on the EPG, switch to channel 2XX, IPTV stream plays, life's good.

Can't agree on a coding style? Maybe the NEW YORK TIMES can help

Recaf

4 SPACES?!

Tabs! For the love of God, use tabs! What's wrong with people? Spaces indeed.

NSA PRISM-gate: Relax, GCHQ spooks 'keep us safe', says Cameron

Recaf
Big Brother

Requires a warrant?

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that "to intercept content of any individual’s communications in the UK requires a warrant signed by me or the Home Secretary."

Translation: "I've given them permission to intercept your communications."

BBC iPlayer downloads BORKED by Adobe Air update

Recaf
Stop

Re: Testing, testing, 1-2

Pre-release versions of AIR are available from Adobe Labs website months in advance of release, so BBC have no excuses for not knowing about this sooner.

BT wins ad watchdog ruling against BSkyB's 'instant movie' claim

Recaf
Facepalm

Oh, the hypocracy

So, the ASA block an ad for using "instant" to mean <1 minute, but still allow mobile networks to describe <1GB of internet usage as "Unlimited".

Oh well, at least they seem to be heading in the right direction...

Biz bosses 'to save £400m' as UK.gov axes green red-tape

Recaf
FAIL

"over the next 20 years"

That's £20m/year across all UK companies or about 5p each. What a load of bollocks.

Microsoft kills Windows Live brand

Recaf

Re: Changing again?

Unless of course they finally drop it and merge "MSN Messenger" into Skype?

Parliament ponders £400,000 iPads-for-MPs plan

Recaf
WTF?

Plus 3G subscription, Apple Care, leather case...

Let's call it £1m. It's only tax payer's money after all.

Nokia exec praises Brazilian...

Recaf
Boffin

Using the same calculation as the UN...

... who calculated the 7 billionth human being by picking a random name out of a hat and with a margin of +/- 1 year.

You know, using a nice accurate, scientific method ;-)

Nokia partners with EA in major WinPho game push

Recaf

XBox live is free

Silver is free, Gold is around £30/year (needed for network play)

BlackBerry PlayBook in US price plummet

Recaf
Happy

Re: Why is Android important?

From a developers' perspective, it's not the Android OS itself that's important, but the PlayBook's support for the Dalvik virtual machine (i.e. Android apps) and Adobe AIR, which make it a viable platform to develop for, despite its relatively small user base.

Recaf
Thumb Up

£169

We picked one up for £169 (£140+VAT) at PC World as a test device after discovering it can run Android apps and have been pleasantly surprised by how good it is.

If nothing else, it plays DivX and has HDMI straight out of the box ...

Apple to conquer connected TVs? Steady on, lad

Recaf

"aren't service providers offering TV like services required to provide freeview channels free of charge?"

No, although I believe that Sky and Virgin are obliged to provide access to the UK's 5 main PSB channels (BBC1/2, ITV1, C4, C5) as part of their license.

Recaf
WTF?

"This rumoured TV set may not include any access to live channels"

I think they'd struggle to sell even the most dedicated Apple fanboi a TV that can't receive regular TV channels!

Adobe Flex SDK bombshell STUNS developers

Recaf
FAIL

Adobe does a Nokia

Do they share a PR company?

Fujitsu £2bn broadband project throttled at both ends

Recaf
FAIL

Give taxpayers' money to Virgin Media? You may as well burn it.

Need I say more?

Virgin offers unlimited action for a fiver

Recaf

ASA

If you're as fed up with it as I am, complain via http://www.asa.org.uk/

Recaf
FAIL

How is 3000 texts 'unlimited'?

Regardless of how tired my fingers might get, unlimited should mean unlimited: if it's 3000 texts, say "3000 texts", I've had enough of all this 'fair use policy' bullsh*t.

Ads overseer told to bring down 'up to' broadband speeds

Recaf
Stop

Typical

It's time to apply the same rules to broadband as the banking sector: making 'typical speed' the most prominent element of the advertisement.

Sex offenders will get a review – after 15 years

Recaf
FAIL

Sex offenders will automatically come off the register?

"Explaining that the government will do the minimum to comply, she explained that sex offenders will automatically come off the register."

A missing 'not' in there somewhere, I suspect ;-)

Memo to Microsoft, RIM, Nokia: Quit copying Apple!

Recaf
WTF?

Confused?

You begin by saying companies should innovate not imitate, but in the same breath say Nokia and others should embrace Android rather than develop their own platforms.

Make your mind up!

PSP 2 'as powerful as PS3'

Recaf
FAIL

Enough to outclass the 3DS?

Probably not: the existing PSP technically outclasses the DS in almost every way and look at how that turned out.