Insanity: CISPA Just Got Way Worse

I'm starting to think our government is run by evil aliens on a mission to troll us until we give up entirely. These internet bills are just getting ridiculous. 

In any case, this is just another in a long list of legislation that is by the government for the government, I'm sure it helps big corporations somehow.

 It's a great article, read it. 

Read More: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120426/14505718671/insanity-cispa-just-got-way-worse-then-passed.shtml

PC Pro Editor Takes The Microsoft Challenge and Gets Hacked

This guy, Barry Collins, gets challenged by Microsoft to try Hotmail, has a good time with it, and at the last minute his account gets hacked. He then writes his entire story to revolve around this hacking incident, which he describes as compromising the majority of his online accounts.

Hotmail does have a reputation for getting hacked, much more so than Gmail, but I don't think this has much to do with the service itself. It has far more to do with the expertise of it's users, and the things they do online.

 The simple fact that all Barry's accounts were compromised points to him using the same password everywhere. Someone could have easily mined his password from a different service and used it here.


This is just Bogus, if your story is going to be about hotmail's lack of security, why not back it up with some data? and why not cover more of the rest of your experience?


Read More: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2012/04/25/moving-from-gmail-to-hotmail-the-disastrous-conclusion/

Wired Digs Deep Into Klout

It appears as though Klout is about popularity pure and simple. The most popular influencers are the ones that can find and exploit the average.  If you aren't trying to be one of those people, your Klout score isn't going to be great, that's it. 

If you're happy with developing real relationships and having fun experiences, I wouldn't worry about Klout.  

"Over time, I found my eyes drifting to tweets from folks with the lowest Klout scores. They talked about things nobody else was talking about. Sitcoms in Haiti. Quirky museum exhibits. Strange movie-theater lobby cards from the 1970s. The un-Kloutiest’s thoughts, jokes, and bubbles of honest emotion felt rawer, more authentic, and blissfully oblivious to the herd. Like unloved TV shows, these people had low Nielsen ratings—no brand would ever bother to advertise on their channels. And yet, these were the people I paid the most attention to. They were unique and genuine."

Read More: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/ff_klout/

Mobile OS Fragmentation Data: Android Doing Terrible

The data wrangler extraordinaire Luke W has pulled up some pretty compelling data on mobile OS fragmentation, and it doesn't look good for Android. More than just having a billion different handsets on a billion different versions of Android, the Android versions are mega old.

"92.8% of Android users are on version 2 (2.1-2.3) of the operating system. Just 2.9% are on the latest version 4. (source)"


Unsurprisingly Apple is doing a much better job of keeping their handsets up to date, but not as good as one might think.

"All of Apple's smartphones released in the past three years support the latest version of iOS. (source)"


"15 weeks after launch iOS 4 was at 70% and iOS 5 was at 60% while Ice Cream Sandwich got to just 1% share at the same age. (source)"

I expected Apple to have numbers much closer to 100%, there was no data on Apples current numbers, but if you didn't update after 15 weeks you probably aren't going to. Overall I think the computing industry has done a terrible job of selling customer on why they should stay up to date, and even worse in enabling them to do so.

Windows finally made it an automatic process and I feel like Apple is starting to move in that direction. I'm not sure consumers will ever care to update, as long as things are working, but it's a necessary evil.

For the rest of the data, please visit: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1545

The guy does some great work 

Online Ads Are Worse Than I Thought

I don't write software for delivering ads, but how hard can it be to tell whether your user is male or female? I'd bet many users would just offer their demographic data to their web browser, if prompted, especially if it was mostly anonymous.

If Google Chrome would promise that I never received an ad for a tampon again, i'd do it.  Maybe these people are just trying too hard... maybe I under-estimate the paranoia of the general public.

Why hasn't a web browser offered to collect and store this information? or sell it? Seems like a win-win-win.

Read More: http://allthingsd.com/20120423/bombs-away-web-ads-miss-their-target-all-the-time/

Beyond The Press Release: Twitter’s “Innovator’s Patent Agreement”

As usual, the majority of tech blogs and pundits didn't go beyond Twitter's press release to truly understand what this move actually means.

Fortunately Marco Arment did.

 This agreement has been given all the loopholes needed for Twitter to continue to do pretty much anything they want with the patents their engineers create. It basically amounts to nothing more than a ploy for PR and good will from consumers.

Read More: http://www.marco.org/2012/04/18/twitter-patent-agreement

Ikea Furniture with Integrated Entertainment Center

Ikea is finally pushing forward with something I have actually wanted, furniture with integrated web-enabled TV,  speakers, and Blu-ray. The screen sizes range from 24 to 48 inches. I for one, can't wait to see this become more mainstream, and move to other types of furniture as well.

-Tim Lovall


http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20416490/ikea-begin-selling-web-connected-tv-integrated-into?source=rss

European carriers: Lumia phones are 'not good enough'

Bummer, looks like Windows phones are dealing with more than just a late start. Having a bad reputation or no reputation at all is going to be their biggest hurdle. Where are Microsoft ad dollars going? I haven't seen anything substantial to date, maybe they are holding off until they iron a few more kinks.

In any case, I hope the only way Microsoft is going to solve this is with some great PR and whole lot of time.


Read More: http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/17/2954174/european-carriers-say-lumia-phones-not-good-enough

User Experience And The Poison On The Tip Of The Arrow

A piece of genius that points out the obvious. It's amazingly easy to get caught up in the design of the aesthetic and forget about the the design of the user experience.

"...Real design is about creating a thoughtful, engaging user experience. Aesthetic styling can be then applied to enhance the experience as long as it doesn’t get in its way.
There’s a reason why the most successful internet companies have fairly utilitarian design — take Facebook, Google or Amazon as an example. The focus is on creating a fantastic experience that delights users and adds value."
- Uzi Shmilovici

Read More: http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/15/user-experience-and-the-poison-on-the-tip-of-the-arrow/

New Revenue for Musicians: Branded Artist Apps

On paper this seems like a great idea, but in reality I think it will fail.

The app markets are going to be flooded with largely similar apps with minor content variations. Ultimately this dilution will make the endeavor mostly fruitless for artists as profits slide, while making it more challenging for users to find the best of these apps.

I'm sure many of the artists will also choose to put in minimal effort on contributing to these apps or even have PR people populating the app for the artists.

The real winners here will be the people stamping out the apps.

My prediction, pain!

Read More: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/branded-artist-apps/

Google's Protectionism Bad for Innovation?

Whoa, this is way off the mark. I do realize that attacking popular technology companies is a great way to generate page views but this is moronic. Claiming that Google is not innovative because they copied other technologies, that's just getting desperate for attack ammo.  All innovations are based off their predecessors.

Just dumb.

Even more so, the entire concept of the article is that Google would be better off if they did not try to hold control of their company, because then they would be accountable to shareholders.

Really? Seriously?

That worked out great for Microsoft right? Dell? Yahoo? AOL?

Oh I get it, having a group of people, interested in making a quick buck off your company, with major influence over all decisions in your company is a fantastic idea. Should drive some deep innovation.


Read More:http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/04/13/googles-paranoid-governance-structure-has-made-it-less-innovative-not-more/

About Time: New GlowLight Nook

I have aggressively avoided buying an E-reader for the simple fact that my primary reading time is at night, and I would still need a reading light.

I can't believe it took this long!

I probably won't buy a nook because I love Amazons eco-system, but I bet this will drive Amazon to add integrated lighting into their devices. This will at the least drive great press towards nook, and at the most revitalize their sales numbers. Good move Barnes and Noble.

Read More: http://allthingsd.com/20120412/barnes-noble-wants-to-be-amazing-in-bed-with-new-glowlight-nook/

Why Spider-Men Isn’t Such A Bad Idea

Miles Morales meeting Peter Parker for some training or something? Sounds like a decent idea to me. I don't actually read many comics these days, but this article was a great primer on the world of the newest Spider-man, Miles, and why this cross-over will work out just fine.

If this portrayal of Miles is accurate I would love to see a Spider-man movie based on him. I'm getting pretty tired of super hero's that are great at everything all the time. Show some real danger make it interesting.


Read More: http://www.williambrucewest.com/2012/04/11/why-spider-men-isnt-such-a-bad-idea/

Is Best Buy following Circuit City to Extinction?

Best Buy is going the way of the dinosaurs, extinction!  Last month, Best Buy announced the closing of 50 stores, and now the CEO has resigned. Their primary competition Circuit City did the same after suffering a quick downward spiral, following the rise of online purchasing.

As seldom as I frequent Best Buy, or even shop there online, I want them to stick around. When I find myself needing something in a hurry they generally have whatever it is I'm looking for. I do, however, realize that accessories and small ticket items cannot keep the employees or the bills paid. Oh well, I buy 99% of my stuff on the Internet now anyway.

-Tim Lovall

http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/10/trouble-in-best-buy-land/

Shanghai Tunnel Tour Sheds Light on Portland's Shady Past

Wanna take a ride on the nostalgia highway of Portland's past slave trade? Apparently in the early days of Portland it wasn't uncommon for bar patrons to be held captive and sold into slavery, and to the Chinese no less.

Oh Portland, always surprising us with your shady under belly.

Read more: http://web.oregon.com/trips/pdx_shanghai.cfm

Sad Day For Mac Users: More than 600,000 Macs infected with Flashback Botnet

Realistically 600,000 is a small number, but still this seems to be the first wide spread mal-ware infection of Mac PCs.

More than being a bad PR item for one of the Macs major selling points, this highlights Apple's decreased focus on their standard computing platform. Had this attack occurred on IOS it would have been dealt with swiftly and probably never would have seen the light of day.

It should be interesting to see how and if Apple PR try to tackle this.

"As CNET blogger Topher Kessler explains, simply visiting a malicious Web site containing Flashback on an OS X system with Java installed will result in one of two installation routes."
Read More: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57409619-83/more-than-600000-macs-infected-with-flashback-botnet/

Original Source: http://news.drweb.com/show/?i=2341

Firefox for Windows 8 the Beginning of a Worrisome Trend

"Mozilla has opted for the middle path through Microsoft’s guidelines for building Windows 8 apps, passing on a pure Metro app and instead making the browser a “Metro style enabled desktop browser.” That means that Firefox for Windows 8 is a hybrid app that can be run as a normal desktop application or as a Metro app."
-Scott Gilbertson Web Monkey

The middle path is what critics have been worried about the whole time, and I find it disturbing. The fact that Mozilla will try to have one app that attempts to marry such disparate UI schemes sounds like a disaster. If all app makers are planning to take this approach, I foresee catastrophe. 

I knew Windows 8 would provide both Desktop and Touch support, but I did not know the apps could do the same. If I were Microsoft I would force apps to be one or the other, and highly incentivise them to be metro. Otherwise we are going to have a sea of confused consumers trying to understand which apps work where and why "my internet is not a touch thingy", and general mayhem. 

I hope Firefox is alone in this middle path, but I get a feeling they are the beginning of a worrisome trend. 

Read More: http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/04/firefox-for-windows-8-beginning-to-take-shape/

The Difference Between Invention and Innovation

This is a fantastic distinction to make, all too often highly visible innovations are considered invention because no one noticed what came before it. Some might even argue that no one has ever invented anything, which would probably be wrong, but arguable none the less.

"In its purest sense, "invention" can be defined as the creation of a product or introduction of a process for the first time. "Innovation," on the other hand, occurs if someone improves on or makes a significant contribution to an existing product, process or service."

It is also nice to see the vale lifted on many of the process entrepreneurs are using to develop their ideas, innovation/invention/entrepreneurship has long been the realm of the 'lucky' and 'gifted'. Where there is actually a process of trial and error and tons of hard work.

On a similar note see Remix Everything, a complete video series on how innovation works within the arts.

Read More: http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2012/03/the-difference-between-invention-and-innovation086.html