Googles Problem: Relevancy

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 11:03:31 PM. © Daring Fireball

MG Siegler on Google’s promotion of Google Plus pages in web search results:

I?m going to go ahead and make a prediction: this does not endwell for Google. I?m not saying Google falls as a result of thismistake — that would be foolish, they?re too big to fail anytimesoon — but I do think that over an extended period of time,whether users consciously realize it or not, they?ll start lookingelsewhere for their information needs because Google has strayedfrom their foundation.

It’s a philosophical line they never should’ve crossed. What made Google Google is that their web search results were better than anyone else’s, and were ordered simply by their best guess as to relevancy. Even when they introduced ads, they did it in a way that was true to the same spirit: the ads most relevant to the search terms. They profit handsomely and deservedly from this.

I think their decision to artificially promote Google plus pages above more relevant pages on competing social networks is the modern-day equivalent of the ’90s era search engines turning their homepages into “portals”. A search engine should be designed to send users quickly and accurately away to whatever sites on the Internet they’re looking for. The ’90s-era search engine portals blew this, because the whole portal idea was to keep users on their sites rather than send them away. This Google Plus integration is the same thing — an attempt to keep users on Google.com for another page view or two.

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Read The Full Article:
http://pandodaily.com/2012/01/23/googles-real-problem/

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Speaking of EULA Restrictions on the Output of
Apps (PDF)

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 09:03:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

From page 6 of Microsoft’s EULA for Office 2010:

HOME AND STUDENT SOFTWARE. For software marked ?Home and Student?edition, you may install one copy of the software on up to threelicensed devices in your household for use by people for whom thatis their primary residence. The software may not be used forcommercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating activities.

I’m pretty sure Adobe has similar terms for the educational versions of their design apps. It’s not exactly analogous to Apple’s iBooks Author terms, because Microsoft and Adobe allow full free commercial use upon buying the full-priced editions of their apps. Apple has no commercial edition of iBooks Author. Adobe and Microsoft want you to buy their software; Apple wants you to sell your book through iBookstore.

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Read The Full Article:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/6/16630C2A-E42E-4A07-BB92-1DB5563634D9
/Microsoft%20Office%202010%20pdf/clientallup_eula_english.pdf

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The Lads from Liverpool - Puts Beatles Fans to
the Test

post from prMac on 23 January 2012 09:00:00 PM. © prMac

Do you know all there is to know about the Beatles? TourBuddy Systems LLC asks that question with the launch of "The Lads from Liverpool" - the largest collection of Beatles trivia and information on the App Store. This interactive quiz offers Beatles Buffs a treasure trove of over 500 questions about the band, their music, the members and their lives both on and off the stage. Dynamic scoring means that harder questions earn players more points and updates.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37406.htm

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More Still From Dan Wineman on the iBooks Author
EULA

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 08:03:54 PM. © Daring Fireball

Dan Wineman:

Even if we?re right and Apple doesn?t care about PDFs or plaintext files, that?s still the Apple of today. The Apple of 20years from now might turn out to be a completely differentcompany, and this EULA has no expiration date. That?s a dangeroussituation for authors and publishers who care about long-termdistribution rights. It would be best for Apple to clarify theterms now — and, I hope, loosen them — rather than prolong theuncertainty.

Completely agreed.

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Read The Full Article:
http://venomousporridge.com/post/16378325291/intent-doesnt-matter

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30 Percent

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 08:03:54 PM. © Daring Fireball

Microsoft’s Frank X. Shaw, in a series of three tweets regarding the iBooks Author licensing terms:

If you write a novel in Word, we promise not to take a 30% cut.
Likewise, if you deliver a speech in PowerPoint, we promise notto take 30% of your speaking fees.
If you manage your finances in Excel, we promise not to take30% of your income.

OK, but none of these things are true for users of Pages, Keynote, or Numbers. iBooks Author is not a new e-book editing component of the iWorks suite, regardless how many people wish that it were. It is a dedicated front-end to the iBookstore.

The only fair comparison would be to the licensing requirements of the e-book editing and layout app for Microsoft’s e-book store, neither of which exist. Microsoft could make a lot of friends if they released a free editing tool as polished as iBooks Author which places no restrictions upon its output. I’m not going to hold my breath on that.

(The fact that Shaw is able to even attempt to make hay on this point is yet another reason that I still consider it a mistake for Apple to assert the blanket “if you sell it, you must sell it through us” restriction.)

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Read The Full Article:
https://twitter.com/fxshaw/status/160521731503685633

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More From Dan Wineman on the iBooks Author EULA

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 06:03:07 PM. © Daring Fireball

Dan Wineman:

Yeah, but that only applies to .ibooks files. You can also export.pdf and .txt and those are unrestricted.
Not true. The license defines ?Work? as ?any book or other workyou generate using this software.? That definitely includes PDFand plain text, and it could be construed to include the verywords you type in. So if you use iBooks Author to write yournovel, you might be legally barred from ever selling that novel inany format, not just as an iBook.

I think this is a gross misinterpretation of Apple’s license. I’m willing to bet cold hard cash that Apple has no intention to and will never try to stop a publisher or author from taking content written in iBooks Author and publishing it elsewhere in another format. No one will ever hear from Apple after exporting from iBooks Author to text or PDF.

But I think the license is crummily written, because it’s not precisely clear what Apple is saying. If Apple wants to make bold and far-reaching licensing restrictions, they should express them clearly and succinctly. Whereas I think, much like with the App Store, their lawyers seek to express the legal restrictions in terms far broader than what they actually seek to enforce. I’m willing to make the above bet based on my understanding of the company and the way Apple thinks, not the language of the EULA. (Although I do think the key word in the EULA’s definition of “work” is generate. I say it’s the .ibooks file you generate using iBooks Author upon which Apple is asserting restrictions.)

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Read The Full Article:
http://venomousporridge.com/post/16178567783/common-misconceptions

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Focus on the User

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 06:03:07 PM. © Daring Fireball

Open source “Don’t be evil” bookmarklet that uses Google’s own data to show social results ranked by relevance instead of promoting Google Plus above all others.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.focusontheuser.org/video.php

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A Writers EULA

post from Daring Fireball on 23 January 2012 06:03:07 PM. © Daring Fireball

Daniel Steinberg compares Apple’s iBooks Author EULA to the terms and conditions of a traditional publishers contract for authors:

I?ve been told by a publisher that they want a second edition ofone of my books. Their conditions on me are that I drop thisseries of ebooks I?m working on because it might compete with thetitle. When I said no they responded that that?s ok they?ll justget someone else to revise my book.
My book.
It?s not really mine. Even though the copyright is in my name,that turns out not to mean very much.
So am I bothered by the iBooks Author EULA? No. But maybe that?sbecause I?ve been signing contracts with traditional publishersfor so long.

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Read The Full Article:
http://dimsumthinking.com/2012/01/21/a-writers-eula/

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Antec’s new cleanings solutions offer more
than just a basic clean

Recently, I tried Antec’s new cleaning solutions on my MacBook Pro, iPad and my iPhone 4S. Initially I was a bit skeptical because, well, it’s just cleaning solution. And while Antec has been around in the PC accessory business for a long time, the cleaning solution was just brought out last month. Still, I’ve been a long-time user of iKlear, so I wanted to give the competition a shot.

The solution comes in three flavors: 100% Natural, Triple Strength (which also disinfects), and a deep cleaning gel. The bigger packages include a 240 mL bottle to keep at home or the office and a 60 mL bottle (small enough to get through TSA screening) to carry with you. They also include a cloth with a heavy nap good for picking up dust and dirt. The Deep Cleaning gel comes with a smaller, chamois-style cloth.

I started with the Triple Strength solution and cleaned up my screens with a couple spritzes. It features a non-drip formula that’s safe to spray directly on your screen, but old habits die hard, and I still sprayed the solution on to the cloth, wiped it on the screen, and then used the dry side to finish. The results were impressive, but nothing I wasn’t used to with other cleaners.

The real surprise was that after a day or two of use, there was a noticeable difference. I had far less dust on my MacBook Pro screen and far fewer fingerprints on my iPhone compared to usual. I definitely noticed that my iPhone was still looking great after two days. Sure enough, I went back to the packaging and found that the Antec cleaning solution is anti-static and fingerprint resistant. Color me impressed.

The 100% Natural solution has the same anti-static and fingerprint resistant qualities, but forgoes the chemical additives that add non-drip and disinfectant properties to the Triple Strength variety. Both types are available in a few different combo packages, some of which include wipes in individual travel packets.

I found all the above Antec cleaners at Newegg.com at a pretty good discount off retail too. So not only does this stuff work really nice and keep my screen clean for longer than with the competition’s products, it’s actually cheaper too. Love it.

Disclaimer: Antec provided the products for review.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Read The Full Article:
http://gigaom.com/apple/antecs-new-cleanings-solutions-offer-more-than-just-a-bas
ic-clean/

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Meet Thorsten Heins, the New President and CEO of
Research in Motion

The implicit message from RIM is good news/bad news. The good news: we forced out our ineffective co-CEOs. The bad news: we’ve replaced them with an incoherent crazy person.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QUFwhpcrCTw#

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