Vermyndax vermyndax

There’s one thing that’s been on my mind recently. I’m sure you’re familiar with the news that Apple has been delivering Safari by default to Windows users with iTunes installed. I think just about everyone agrees that this is committing a fairly heinous crime against your users, but let’s analyze a different take on this.

Back in June of 2007, Steve Jobs declared his intention to get “the best browser in the world” on as many Windows PC’s as he could. This declaration was reinforced at Macworld 2008 in January of this year. Mr. Jobs was hell bent on gaining market share with his browser on both major platforms. He wants that market share like, uhh, well, now.

Once again, the iPhone rules the press with a heavy dollop of enticing news.

There’s a lot here on the surface and a lot below the surface. Let’s scratch the surface first.

The announcements about Apple licensing ActiveSync are interesting. There was lots of speculation in this regard and greetz to those who called it. I myself lost a bet. I was thinking that Apple might actually thumb their nose at ActiveSync and employ webdav for Exchange 2003 (much like Entourage) or web services for Exchange 2007. Of course, that would not be a quick route to policy controls on the device itself (i.e. remote kill), so ActiveSync makes the most business sense both in time and money. It’s a good investment. I was just hoping they wouldn’t just… well, because.

Full text of MSFT e-Mail: Microsoft execs on Vista problems: “Full text: Microsoft execs on Vista problems

A federal judge today unsealed internal Microsoft e-mails that have been used to support the plaintiffs’ case in the lawsuit over the ‘Windows Vista Capable’ program. Snippets were previously read aloud in court, but the full messages go further to reveal extensive hand-wringing, at the highest levels of the […]”

(Via Dvorak Uncensored.)

It just occurred to me, while reading Mr. Dvorak’s post, that there’s a possibility that Intel specifically torpedoed Microsoft and Vista over the past few years to turn the tide in favor of Apple.

Recreated historic photos with senior citizen models – Boing BoingI am disturbed by this.  Very.  

HUNTSVILLE, AL: A creature formed by excess cable in a data center has been slain by an intrepid systems administrator armed with a caution sign.

The creature, which formed after floor tiles were opened for the first time in 7 years, spoke to the systems administrators working in the area and taunted them with “trash talk.”

“It told me I couldn’t network my way out of a paper bag,” said Mortimer Franklin, a Windows 2003 systems administrator. “That really upset me, because I was right in the middle of following the wizard to install Exchange 2003. I know how to follow directions, so its claims just weren’t true.” Mr. Franklin was so offended by the taunting of the creature that he put down the clipboard containing instructions on how to do his job and informed security.

Woman Arrested For Committing Act of Love. : Lock the Bedroom Door on Offsprung.com

The only warning I’m ever going to give you: this link is from a sex blog. If you can’t deal with that, don’t click.

So this link briefly explains the situation of a woman in France who was overcome with desire when seeing an all-white painting and she kissed it. It was a sloppy, wet kiss that smeared lipstick all over the painting. It actually looks more like someone’s skin was opened and some blood was smeared across it, but whatever. The point is, she was arrested.

6 die from brain-eating amoeba – Infectious Diseases – MSNBC.com

This one is real, folks. There’s a one-celled organism out there that likes to enter through your nostrils, swim up to your brain and feed on the gray matter until you die. That’s not Stephen King or Clive Barker – this one is real. Scary, real life stuff. It’s a good thing I stopped swimming in lakes at around 8 years old!

So I listened to Macbreak Weekly #59 today while walking around the block. A substantial piece of the discussion involved the impending iBrickness, which by now, has either happened to you or not happened to you.

I also caught Leo’s latest rant on the iBrickify rants by Apple. While I agree with him on some points that speak to the desires of freedom, I believe he is addressing the wrong crowd.

Look people – the problem is not with the technology or the company itself. It’s the ability of any company writing any laws they like to maintain whatever death grip they intend to maintain. By using vehicles like a EULA or a cell phone contract, companies in the US market stifle (more like squash) innovation and freedom. You could blame part of it on capitalism, but a lot of it on greed.

I’m reading a lot of backlash today regarding Apple’s announcement that an upcoming firmware update may turn the iPhone into an iBrick.

Most of reactions can be filed under kneejerk, but since that will be the smallest word on the tag cloud (cough cough), let’s analyze this a little bit.

Apple is preemptively warning consumers that some of the publicly available hacks for the iPhone may have caused “damage” of some kind that will either be repaired or turned into an open bleeding wound. The point is not so much that Apple is warning that you may have an iBrick, which is what most people are sticking with. Rather, people feel the point is that Apple is announcing they “intend” to brick you.

Iranian Unit to Be Labeled ‘Terrorist’ – washingtonpost.com

Uh oh. Sneaky backhanded move at play here.