Culture

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1176: F1 is now FU

Microsoft's latest security measure involves telling everyone not press F1. Well that's reasonable. If you read everything Microsoft says. Also the juiciest weirdest firing ever happens to the developers of the most successful video game ever.

Tom Merritt Former CNET executive editor

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Tom Merritt

March 2, 2010 12:08 p.m. PT

4 min read

Watch this: Ep 1176: F1 is now FU

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EPISODE 1176

Other Stories

PlayStation Network Service Restored
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/03/playstation-network-service-restored/

Major ACTA Leak: Internet and Civil Enforcement Chapters With Country Positions
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4829/125/
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/01/publicacta-a-peoples.html

Microsoft: Don’t press F1 key in Windows XP
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9164038/Microsoft_Don_t_press_F1_key_in_Windows_XP

AT&T removes Google search from Android in favor of Yahoo
http://androidandme.com/2010/03/news/att-removes-google-search-from-android-in-favor-of-yahoo/

Money sharing comes to Facebook
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8545487.stm

Kickers and Science

Topeka to be Google, Kansas’
http://cjonline.com/news/local/2010-03-01/topeka_to_be_google_kansas

TigerText Deletes Text Messages From Receiver's Phone
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/03/tigertext-deletes-text-messages-from-receivers-phone

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Voicemail

Javier challenges Steve Jobs

——

Hey Buzz,

I think we will find out that the Zune 30 and PS3 outage have the same thing in common. A toshiba chip will be found to be incorrectly checking for leap year. This is causing the computer to come up with an out of range date. For security reasons this causes a failure to connect to PSN. Poor coding in a third party component is causing this. The newer PS3 models are using a different chip altogther or it has been condensed into another chip. This is why you do not need to be on the internet for it to take effect. You only need your clock set correctly. It happened about midnight GMT. So this means it is calculating time in GMT, probalbly minutes and seconds since Jan 1, 2000.

http://gazzettadipublius.blogspot.com/2010/03/ps3-and-zune-30-connection.html

Just a thought

Allan

——

Last week I submitted an application to the Apple App Store called “DuckPhone”. The application is simple, you can tap to hear the sound of a Duck quacking, and you can send the sound as a ringtone. It is based on a meme that arose from a television show, but that detail is somewhat irrelevant. Admitidly, the application is of limited functionality, but I think there are many people who would enjoy it, so I submitted it to Apple. To my surprise, I received the following email:

“Dear Atlantia Software LLC,

We’ve reviewed your application DuckPhone and we have determined that this application contains minimal user functionality and will not be appropriate for the App Store.

If you would like to share it with friends and family, we recommend you review the Ad Hoc method on the Distribution tab of the iPhone Developer Portal for details on distributing this application among a small group of people of your choosing or if you believe that you can add additional user functionality to DuckPhone we encourage you to do so and resubmit it for review.

Sincerely,

iPhone App Review Team”

Seriously? My jaw literally dropped as I read this. Yes, the application is limited in functionality, but it does not violate any of the terms I agreed to when I became an iPhone Developer. This application harms nobody, but rather than let it live or die on it’s own merit, Apple has decided to now move into an even more gray area, where it can approve or reject applications based on its subjective view of what is or isn’t useful. How is this application more or less useful than the hundreds of fart applications, some that have sold millions of copies. How is this application more or less useful than the countless re-distribution of single books as applications. How is this application more or less useful than countless other applications that provide limited functionality, but were still graciously approved by Apple?

This is a line I had hoped would not be crossed, but sadly it has been. I’m not sending this email because the world will be deprived if they can’t experience this application, but rather, in hopes that some or all of you will publish this story so that the public at large continues to hear about the ridiculous behavior of Apple in matters such as these. As time goes on, this platform is becoming more of a burden on developers, this will in turn lead to talented people moving on to more open platforms. In the end, the customer loses, and I sincerely hope Apple will realize this.

Thank you for listening,
Nick

——

Hey guys,

I was surprised to hear you mocking the Twitter-resistant musicians
for their “rock & roll attitude” on yesterday’s show (number whatever-
it-was). What if CNet required each of you to do an hour of violin
practice each day? It’s not what you do, it’s not what interests you.
You’d all revolt! How about a little empathy for the uninitiated?

- Waldron, in Boston

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Come see us at SXSW in Austin, TX!
http://buzzoutloudsxsw.eventbrite.com/