well there is one small problem to blogging from an iPhone, and it’s not typing speed as some might think. It does seem that mobile Safari does not believe the text input for WordPress really is a text field. So, I have to type in code mode. Not that bad, really, if I can bring info directly from the trenches =)
So today the iPhone 1.1.1 firmware came out, with obvious problems for those that have unlocked their phone. It was to be expected, really. I was following Engadget’s posts about the issue and the comments to see exactly the extent to which the firmware affects unlocked phones and I was quite taken aback by some of the opinions people had with regards to the unlocking. Especially what I perceive to be a misunderstanding of some of the reasons for which unlocking is a good thing.
One can’t help but feel annoyed and maybe slightly envious on all these people that are getting rich off of Web 2.0 without creating or inventing anything themselves. No community contributions, no breakthrough docs to get respect, just smoke. You don’t even need to really understand what the hell’s going on all the time, just play it cool and have a few friends that do the same as you. Get on a podcast, a videocast, start a news site or a social networking site even when they are far from original. It’s all about giving the story a spin.
Shortly you get advertisers and people sending you things for no reason. You don’t deserve them, you don’t use them to advance anything. You might review them, from your throne as an alleged technology pundit - nothing more than a misinformed enthusiast, really. Why give an iPhone for free to Leo Laporte who was one already, makes money off of talking about it but doesn’t know things that I, left without Internet for two weeks, already have clear in my head?
There is an acceptable quantity of uncertainty to be expected in news. There is an expected level of advantage-taking in terms of business, in general.
I’ve come to terms, though, that the real makers, the O.G.s1 move silently. An IRC channel someplace, a lone wiki. Only by handle known. I’m just hoping more people start seeing past the consumerist push that Web 2.0 is. Part of me sees it as nothing more than an extension of the seedy things of physical life2 into the cyberculture. I’m beginning to see it less as a technological advance or a content-access model.
1. I moved house and had to wait for my ISP to remember to hook me back up online1. I also switched jobs [which is quite not the big event for me anymore] but that took some time to organize and whatnot.
2. The OLED keyboard is out. Go buy one for US$1500.
3. I love it when MAFIAA lackeys get theirs. The latest to get pwnt, as you might’ve heard, are MediaDefender. Full story linked to TorrentFreak at the top of the MediaDefender-Defenders mail archive site2.
4. After reading through some reviews from the Internet Police, I can’t help but wonder why so many people tend to put “fuck you if you don’t like me” notes on their websites. Personal or not, a publicly-accessible website is bound to attract some level of commenting from others. Certainly, if one gets offended so easily by some random Joe’s disparate thoughts on some matter, that someone might just as well quit life: it gets harder than this, fuckers! You have to stand in front of someone that’ll drill you a few more holes and smile. You need to be able to pick apart constructive criticism and see how you can implement it. And for fuck’s sake, doesn’t anyone read anymore?
- The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
Today I had to deal with some Apple trolling and a reminder of why I appreciate Cupertino’s products.
I’m seeing headlines on Ars Technica about a ’storm worm’ that uses current knowledge to lure its victims. Specifically, it will grab and use current news headlines and other such information to make itself appear legitimate.
Virus writers used to do things for fun and games. Much in the same manner as hackers, they would find ways to mess around with the operating system, open up its holes and take advantage of them. Sure, there was the part of convincing somebody into installing said worm, but you’d be surprised how almost everybody can do some social engineering without much prior knowledge of things. But now things are changing.
