Imagine if there were competing flash runtimes. What if Adobe made “Adobe Flash”, Microsoft made MS Flash* and Google had it very own GFlash plugin. Three runtimes that all played .swf files in your browser, each competing with each other to be the fastest, the most secure, or the most efficient.
I’m pretty sure nobody would mind about Flash so much then.
Let’s not kid ourselves, nobody outside the FSF has an ideological problem with flash being “closed” software, and it’s not like Flash is the only way you can make annoying ads (you may have seen people mention BusinessWeek’s animated header-covering HTML5 animated ad). Nope, the performance is all John Q. Web User** cares about.
Meanwhile, browser makers are deadlocked in an arms race towards faster, more efficient and more stable HTML, CSS and JavaScript rendering so that they can compete for your business (that would be the fractions-of-a-penny that search engines pay them every time you use that built-in search field).
Earnest competition in an open market leading to a better product? Somebody call Maggie Thatcher!
* Silverlight is not the same as MS Flash for the purposes of this discussion, since it can’t play the same .swf files.
** Not that John Q. Web User cares nearly so much as John Q. Web Pundit, of course.
Published on
03/05/2010 in
links.
High budget porn-spoofs continue to confound me. Who actually buys these?
Unrelated: why is The Joker holding a Star Trek TOS phaser?
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Published on
29/04/2010 in
links.
I suddenly care less about clicktoflash’s youtube and vimeo munging abilities.
It’s still invaluable as an ad-blocker that only blocks the most offensive and obnoxious ads, mind you.
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Published on
28/04/2010 in
links.
A pop-star apologising for taking a then-legal recreational drug? I can only imagine he’s apologising for being a goddamn pansy and not injecting heroin into his foreskin.
Pop star Dappy apologises after it emeges he took the drug mephedrone, also known as meow meow, before it was made illegal.
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Published on
27/04/2010 in
links.
My new bank, Ally Bank, configures a security question and answer for customer service calls. In addition to your SSN, date of birth, and mother’s maiden name they also ask you the question you specify and wait for the answer you’ve provided. This is good, because many standard questions are guessable in a way that user-defined questions may not be.
A real live human operator always asks the question and waits for a real live answer. This measure has the potential to not just improve my account security but add entertainment value as well:
Q: Do you know why I think you’re so sexy?
A: Probably because you’re totally in love with me.
Q: Need any weed? Grass? Kind bud? Shrooms?
A: No thanks hippie, I’d just like to do some banking.
Q: The Penis shoots Seeds, and makes new Life to poison the Earth with a plague of men.
A: Go forth, and kill. Zardoz has spoken.
Q: What the hell is your fucking problem, sir?
A: This is completely inappropriate and I’d like to speak to your supervisor.
Q: I’ve been embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from my employer, and I don’t care who knows it.
A: It’s a good thing they’re recording this call, because I’m going to have to report you.
Q: Are you really who you say you are?
A: No, I am a Russian identity thief.
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