Yikes! China Plans To Filter Internet During Olympic Games
Say what? A Communist country has declared they intend to monitor every move reporters make and filter content on the internet? Someone call Yahoo! or Google. We need to get this cleared up asap.
The Beijing Olympics were plunged into another controversy on Wednesday as China announced a backflip on Internet freedoms for the thousands of foreign reporters covering the Games.
China’s decision to reverse a pledge on allowing unfettered web access proved an embarrassment for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had repeatedly said foreign press would not face any Internet curbs in Beijing.
Give me a break people. This is what happens when you put faith in a government that doesn’t have faith in it’s people. Were you really shocked?
Useless Information: RealPlayer Patches Some Holes
Apparently, there are a couple of bugs in the RealPlayer that need to be patched. Funny, I had no idea. This is the first I have heard of it, and like many people, I have yet to patch my system.
RealNetworks has issued four critical patches for several versions of its RealPlayer running on Windows, Linux and Apple’s Mac OS X.
The flaws could allow a hacker to run malicious code on a PC or cause the computer to reveal information, according to an advisory from Secunia, a security vendor based in Denmark.
RealPlayer is an application that plays audio and video streamed over the Internet.
Wow. I just remembered why I haven’t patched my system. Because RealPlayer hasn’t been installed on my system. That’s right. I have never installed Real Player on this computer, and I won’t.
In fact, I haven’t installed RealPlayer on any system in over four years. Why? Because I think their software is a piece of crap, I don’t like everything it installs on my system, and when I did run it, it crashed my system or bogged it down so bad, it wasn’t worth my time.
In fact, I remember the last thing I watched on the RealPlayer. It went something like this.
[buffering][buffering][buffering] blah blah blah [buffering] blah [buffering] blah blah [buffering] blah blah [buffering][buffering] blah blah blah [buffering][buffering][buffering][buffering][buffering][buffering][buffering]…
I used to have it installed on a flash drive, but decided to remove it to make room for something much more important. Sudoku.
Personally, I am waiting for the patch that reduces the amount of crap it installs on my system, and makes it run the way software should. I know, that day may never come.
I can wait.
Spending My Weekend Working On Stuffr
Not much to post here today, other than the fact that I have been ultra busy on the next version of Stuffr.
I am adding support for SmugMug to the interface, to make it ultra-easy to manage galleries, upload images, and link to them from within posts written in Stuffr.
As I get closer to releasing the next version I plan to write a post on why I chose to integrate the SmugMug API, and not some of the more “popular” free services.
In fact, the following screenshot is hosted on SmugMug.
This will probably change a bit before I release it though, so don’t get too excited.
Sometimes You Have To Clean House
Earlier today, Nick Bradbury asked a good question about the features included in free software…
Yesterday I wrote about killing unused features. But what about killing a feature that people do use?
He’s talking about FeedDemon, and he really wants to kill a feature that I use every day. As a software developer, however, I understand where he is coming from.
The News Item List in FeedDemon is not the most popular of features and apparently not too many people use it. I have used that feature since day one, but it is now “inactive” by default so many people don’t even know about it. As a longtime FeedDemon fan, I use that feature everyday. In fact, removing the news item list would change the way I use FeedDemon, and it would be quite a shock for me to get used to.
As a developer though, I think he should remove it. The feature slows things down and is a pain in the butt for him to maintain. If I was the developer of FeedDemon, I would remove it. If a feature is a drain on the system and would improve overall performance it needs to be pulled for the benefit of the software package.
I recently pulled a few features from Stuffr. It no longer works with Twitter or Pownce, and I pulled the “technorati tagger” because I felt it was no longer adding value to the application. I’ll never make much money by riting and maintaining Stuffr. The donations that have come in thus far won’t pay for a trip to the dollar store, let alone a trip to the Outer Banks, but I do it because I enjoy it. I needed a good blogging application that worked the way I wanted it to, and I wrote Stuffr to fill that need. I certainly hope other people find it useful as well.
There are a lot of people saying they will “never use FeedDemon again” if Nick removes the feature and people are really fired up. It’s going to be a tough decision for him, but whatever he decides, I will still be a FeedDemon fan, and more than likely, I’ll be using the product for a long time to come.
Flaw Exposed Too Soon
With internet and computer security always being tested, are you shocked that a human, you know, a non-perfect creature at best, accidentally slipped and let the cat out of the bag?
A computer security company on Monday inadvertently published details of a major flaw in the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) several weeks before they were due to be disclosed.
The flaw was discovered several months ago by IOActive researcher Dan Kaminsky, who worked through the early part of this year with Internet software vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco and the Internet Systems Consortium to patch the issue.
Just for the record, it’s not nice to hold cats in bags. Or shipping boxes. Not at all.
Stuffr 0.9.7 Has Been Released
The newest version of Stuffr is here. While you thought I was sitting around doing nothing, I was planning a complete overhaul behind the scenes as well as making several changes to Stuffr’s streamlined design.
Over the course of the last couple months, I received quite a bit of feedback. Many of you asked for changes in the interface to make it look less cluttered. So I took some time and re-designed the look and feel to make it more user-friendly, if that was even possible.
Sphere: Related ContentIt’s Not Always Cookies & Cream
Combinations don’t always make something good. Sure, cookies and cream are good together, but what about cookies and sour cream?
Seriously, what’s worse than hearing about Microsoft and Yahoo all hours of the day?
Microsoft is meeting with AOL executives Wednesday to talk about the two companies combining AOL and Microsoft’s online division, according to a news report.
Yikes. All this talk of mergers here and mergers there. I think it’s high time some of these companies started focusing on fence installation. There is no need to consolidate or join forces to make your companies better. Just stick to what you do well and everyone, including your shareholders, will be happy.
Ugh. Combining with AOL? Do they still do anything? I mean seriously. What exactly does AOL have that would make Microsoft better?
I doubt anyone will be able to convince me that this is a good deal for either side. Hey. Get your chocolate out of my peanut butter you nut!
I’m So Sick Of Hearing About This
I, for one, am getting sick of all this Microsoft/Yahoo crap. Just get it over with already. The “proposal” set forth this weekend was a warning shot, fired across the bow of Yahoo.
I think it’s ridiculous that we keep hearing rumors about a takeover and how great it will be for both companies, but I am sure if they plugged all the numbers into a quality budget software package, they would find it’s not a good idea for either company.
Yahoo Inc on Saturday rejected a proposal to sell its search business to Microsoft Corp and hand over the remainder of the company to activist investor Carl Icahn.
Yahoo said in a statement it received the joint proposal from Microsoft and Icahn on Friday evening and was given less than 24 hours to accept. It said Microsoft and Icahn made clear they were unwilling to negotiate the fundamental terms, which include the immediate replacement of Yahoo’s board and removal of top management.
I guarantee that the next shot from Microsoft and Carl Icahn will not miss. They are going for Yahoo blood the next time.
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Sphere: Related ContentI Didn’t Get A New iPhone Yesterday
Last month, I sold my T-Mobile Wing, so I would have enough money to get the new iPhone 3G yesterday. All great plans involving money seem to fail, and sure enough, between a huge per kilowatt increase in the power bill and a couple other circumstances, I wasn’t able to get the iPhone yesterday. In fact, now I have to wait a week or two, at least.
It seems, however, that if I had tried to get it, I might not have had a good experience.
Some of the first people in the U.S. to purchase the iPhone 3G walked out of an Apple Store in New York disappointed Friday when Apple’s plan to activate the new devices in stores backfired.
Problems with the iTunes server caused some enthusiasts who had waited in line for hours to walk out of the store unable to use their new iPhones, according to the disgruntled customers.
There are lines all over the place, and people waiting hours and hours for their beloved iPhones. The only line I have ever waited in, not counting Disneyland, is for Starbucks coffee. Yeah, sometimes I just need my fix.
The good part, if there is one, is now I get to see how everyone likes theres, and that will help me decide if I want black or white, 8gb or 16gb. This should be interesting.
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Sphere: Related ContentToday The App Store, Tomorrow The iPhone
The App Store opened today, for all of the lucky dogs who have a first generation iPhone, and the luckier dogs who will be getting the iPhone 3G tomorrow.
Apple’s new App Store turned on its virtual lights Thursday, featuring third-party applications for the iPhone and the iPod. The store is intended to support developers who are creating applications for the iPhone. The store is also reportedly helping developers get their products into final shape.
I sold my T-Mobile Wing, and a couple other old cell phones, just so I would have the money on hand to get a new iPhone tomorrow. Sadly, several things came up this month and I was forced to spend the money, so I will be waiting a couple weeks before I get my shiny new toy that I have long been craving.
But I haven’t been this excited since I was 17 and found out that a new pimple cream was on the market. Oh happy day!
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