Charles E Smith

Government For Sale

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:59:14 -0500

Unnamed movie studio exec:

“God knows how much money we’ve given to Obama and the Democrats and yet they’re not supporting our interests.”

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when people are essentially saying that they’re upset because the president isn’t essentially taking a bribe.

Nevermind the willingness from all of these people to sell free speech so they don’t have to update their business model.

New sale cuts BlackBerry PlayBook price by as much as $400

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:10:18 -0500

New sale cuts BlackBerry PlayBook price by as much as $400:

I think it’s time to start feeling bad for RIM. They are going to take a bath on this in an swimming pool sized tub.

What’s sad is that while I was interested in picking up a Touchpad during HP’s liquidation of its failed tablet, I can’t bring myself to consider a Playbook for anything short of free.

Samsung's Galaxy Ace Bringing Innovative Design to Mobile

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:04:16 -0500

Samsung's Galaxy Ace Bringing Innovative Design to Mobile:

Unfortunately, it’s not their design, it’s Apple’s from 4 years ago.

I’d kind of like to see Samsung’s lawyers explain how they are not intentionally ripping off Apple.

Marco Arment Gives Insight Into His Time Working at Staples

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:54:37 -0500

Marco Arment Gives Insight Into His Time Working at Staples:

Couple of other good reasons not to shop at Staples.

PSA: Monoprice. I’ve order tons of stuff from Monoprice, and I’ve been blown away by the quality, especially given what I paid for it. No, I don’t work for them, nor am I getting money for this. Do your parents a favor and just tell them to let you order cables for them.

Comments Still Off - Matt Gemmell

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:50:35 -0500

Comments Still Off - Matt Gemmell:

Wonderful results from not letting the bottom section of your article become a cesspool.

That's Sir Jony Ive, to You... and Everyone Else, Actually

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:14:00 -0500

That's *Sir* Jony Ive, to You... and Everyone Else, Actually:

My computer was designed by a knight. You?

Bullshit

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:31:06 -0500

Bullshit:

Who’s product is worth the bullshit?

"Hacker Proof - Secured By GoDaddy."

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:53:21 -0500

"Hacker Proof - Secured By GoDaddy.":

I hope that is just a slogan and not an actual contractually binding agreement.

Siri Ported Successfully to any iOS 5 Device, With a Catch

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:00:48 -0500

Siri Ported Successfully to any iOS 5 Device, With a Catch:

The catch: You need an authorization token in order to connect to Apple and actually make it work. You can bypass this with a proxy, but as yet proxies are slim. But if you have a friend that just got a 4S…

Anyway, great work from chpwn. Definitely a huge step if you’ve got an older device and still want Siri.

Samsung’s Lack of ICS Updates is an Android Problem – Marco.org

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:29:43 -0500

Samsung’s Lack of ICS Updates is an Android Problem – Marco.org:

Marco Arment, with something I didn’t think about in my earlier posts:

And what about tablets, which should probably be expected to have a useful life closer to a computer’s than a phone’s? The original iPad is nearly two years old, runs iOS 5 well, and will probably get a few more significant OS upgrades. The Galaxy Tab is one year old and it can’t run the latest version of Android.

I kind of just feel had for non-iPad tablet buyers at this point.

GoDaddy Not Actually Opposing SOPA

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:47:13 -0500

GoDaddy Not Actually Opposing SOPA:

On another note:

Hover
Namecheap
NearlyFreeSpeech
Dreamhost

I’m with Hover, and they were very helpful in transferring my domains from GoDaddy a couple of years ago.

Told You GoDaddy Supporting SOPA Seemed Fishy

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:00:00 -0500

Told You GoDaddy Supporting SOPA Seemed Fishy:

Looks like it would have given them exemption. On the plus side, they are now hemorrhaging customers.

Couldn’t have happend to a nicer bunch.

The Dearth of Android Software Updates

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:36:51 -0500

The Dearth of Android Software Updates:

This is going to get a bit meta, as I’m linking to a post linking to a post (shut up with the Inception jokes), but here’s John Gruber:

It’s almost certain that this is what the executives at these Android device makers think, too. Why bother with software updates? We’ve got their money. Let them buy a new device if they want the latest software.

Now, that in mind, take my history. Bought the orignal iPhone. It got better the entire time I owned it. Not really any competition at upgrade time, so I got a 3G. At the end of my time with the 3G (when the iPhone 4 came out), there is a ton of competition. But I bought another iPhone. Sure, it was the best phone available, but by this point I trusted Apple, and with an iPhone I felt like I would get a return on the investment.

The alternative with Android: There is a new flagship phone every 6 weeks. And those 6 weeks are likely going to be the entire time the device gets any software updates. You might get security patches. But realistically an Android device’s software feature set is locked when it ships. Conversely, an iPhone will get better as you own it.

Back to me. I’m an iPhone 4 customer. I skipped the iPhone 4S. Now, Samsung would look at that and say “Well, of course you did. You got most of the features of the 4S without upgrading your hardware.” And they’d be entirely wrong. I, like most Americans, can’t afford to plop down $500 on a phone every year. So like most Americans, I follow the subsidy upgrade path. Which means the 4S was never really on my radar. Which means that Apple could either make me as happy as possible for two years until I can upgrade, and hope I stick with Apple, or they can be as entirely shortsighted as Android manufacturers have been, and ensure that I won’t buy from them again.

But don’t listen to me. Ask one of the 10 million Samsung Galaxy S users how they feel about missing the boat on a major upgrade, even though their phone probably still smells of the packaging it came in.

GoDaddy Supports SOPA. That Seem Strange to Anyone?

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:48:53 -0500

GoDaddy Supports SOPA. That Seem Strange to Anyone?:

Via Wil Wheaton’s twitter.

Given that I would only assume that SOPA would make the job of a domain registrar more difficult, I have a few questions:

Is GoDaddy being motivated externally by something else? (money, political pressure, etc)
Is GoDaddy actually trying to make itself the worst in it’s field?
Seriously, does GoDaddy know what business it’s in?

Fortunately, I transferred all of my domains from GoDaddy to Hover a while ago. But seriously, given that GoDaddy’s audience must largely intersect with those that would be savvy enough to know (and likely oppose) SOPA, and given that GoDaddy has no positive stake in SOPA passing, what in the flying hell are they thinking?

Oh well, like people needed another reason to switch from GoDaddy.

A Long-Time Apple Nerd’s Review of the Galaxy Nexus and First Experience With Android — Shawn Blanc

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:28:53 -0500

A Long-Time Apple Nerd’s Review of the Galaxy Nexus and First Experience With Android — Shawn Blanc:

Why doesn’t the iPhone have 4G? Shawn talking about 4G on the Nexus:

Here’s the crazy part: when I am actually using the 4G network for tasks — such as turn-by-turn navigation or video streaming — it will drain 1-percent or more of battery life per minute.

Even just having 4G turned on (but not in use):

With 4G simply being enabled, even if I am at home where I have Wi-Fi, and if I use the Nexus very little, the battery will be dead by the end of my day (about 10 hours).

Basically, even just having 4G on means you won’t get through the day. Using it means you might not make it through a meeting. Does anyone else notice how every review of this phone has said that 4G is better left off?¹

How responsive is the software (Android, Ice Cream Sandwich)?

However, I think think speaks more of Twitter and perhaps less of the entire Android OS because most of the native Android apps scroll very smoothly.

Most of the native apps are smooth? Why not all?

Read the Shawn’s Final Verdict section. We pretty much totally agree on that.

Ben Brooks points out that Josh Topolsky says in his review 4G battery life is “not a dealbreaker”. I wonder what standard he has for battery life? ↩

Perspective: 17 Killed in 9/11. Since Then, 200 Times More Drowned in Bathtubs.

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:35:56 -0500

Perspective: 17 Killed in 9/11. Since Then, 200 Times More Drowned in Bathtubs. :

But one of those we spent a few billion (trillion?) dollars on solving.

Microsoft’s iOS Apps

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:31:41 -0500

Microsoft’s iOS Apps:

Ben Brooks:

If we go by a favorite saying of the tech web, that Office is far more important to Microsoft than Windows, would it not make sense then that 10 years from now Microsoft is just a really good “app” company?

I’ve been wondering about that for a while. I actually think Microsoft keeping it’s fingers in iOS, even though it might mean the eventual death of Windows, is a smart move. Microsoft is a software company first, and a platform company second. If they want to continue to be a software company, that occasionally means being platform agnostic.¹

I still can’t say that I disagree with them trying to hang on to Windows tooth-and-nail. It would be ludicrous for them to give up this cash cow without a fight. ↩

Ashton Kutcher on SOPA

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:28:18 -0500

Ashton Kutcher on SOPA:

Kutcher:

Placing search engines and ISP’s in the middle of policing for piracy is plane[sic] and simply a bad and confused attempted by well meaning people that fundamentally don’t understand how the the Internet works.

Please note that I’m posting this not because “it’s official now that a celebrity said it”, but because he’s actually got a horse in the race, and is still against it. Ashton Kutcher presumably is a big enough name to get DVD royalties in his contract.

No clue how much Ashton actually understands about the internet, but I do know that everyone who seems to even kind of get how the thing works is against SOPA.

CES: Microsoft, you're fired. Microsoft: No, I quit!

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:21:56 -0500

CES: Microsoft, you're fired. Microsoft: No, I quit!:

With a stage presence like Steve Ballmer to come and announce vaporware, why would CES do this?

MG Siegler’s take:

Is it possible both sides came to those conclusions independently? I suppose. But let’s be realistic, that rarely happens. And if you read their statements carefully, they actually don’t suggest that at all.

Apple Patents Using Apps During Phone Calls

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:27:36 -0500

Apple Patents Using Apps During Phone Calls:

There’s surely no one that’s done this before? And this clearly doesn’t have any negative consequences for consumers.

Patent office is a joke.