I've been telling many the same thing, but with one exception; Mac and *nix have started out with a better permissions system and therefore users who have downloaded an app from the Internet have been trained to be doubly sure about whatever it is that requires sudo power (e.g, the Mac sudo GUI prompt). Microsoft UAC, on the other hand, has had to deal with transitioning software developers to not write in "Program Files" and other public areas and to save data to personal home folders.
While I'll agree with you that Mac/*nix are not any more secure than Windows, the Mac/*nix users have been taught to take a sudo prompt seriously, while in the early stages and growing pains of UAC, Windows users were easily annoyed by UAC prompts and therefore took the UAC prompts less seriously, because UAC prompted were being triggered by transitioning software developers that did not save data in the user's home folder.
In the end, the security of any system relies on the ability for the user to authenticate and verify software downloaded. But making it more difficult, such as requiring an administrator password to be entered for elevated privileges, makes users more cautious of software requiring a sudo prompt. And while that's not inherently any more secure, at least users think twice before entering their password.
+1 post; allowing website owners to directly process user/pass info for PayPal is potentially a dangerous move if all sorts of security audits/nefarious site owners are processing login info. There's definitely potential for abuse because the redirect kept the user/pass separate from the app processing. We implemented SSO handling via CAS because we could train users never to type in their user/pass on any site except for sso.bigcompany.com.
Further, even banks require all sorts of audits if a website is handling credit card info directly. We have to undergo all sorts of security audits (e.g are you storing cc numbers? who has access to your code? who has access to your database?) before we were even allowed to touch a cc gateway.
Oh, the irony.
There's an article claiming that users of time capsules have a lifespan of 17 months and 17 days. Not sure if there is any truth to this, but it does seem that there is more than one bad apple here.
Does anyone consider length an indicator of good writing? In many cases, no. Technical writing is already too long. As Mark Twain once said, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead."
Unless they are that incompetent...
Probably... It's Microsoft, after all.
TomTom,
Please take advantage of using voice synthesis functions in the 3GS so we can take advantage of the excellent voice developed by Apple. In order to use these functions, several websites have discovered how to access this part of the API:
NSObject *v = [[NSClassFromString(@"VSSpeechSynthesizer") alloc] init]; [v startSpeakingString:@"All your base are belong to us"]; [v release];
Source: High Caffeine Content 5-Jul-2009
The current voice just won't do. Need a voice synthesizer to help with driving. The Apple included one is much better.
I agree with you in principle, but to play the devil's advocate, consider this: Apple doesn't want to support the Pre in iTunes because it sets a precedence that they have to support devices that Apple does not make or endorse (they do allow some non-Apple devices to sync with iTunes; I wonder what the disposition is of those devices with this update). They do a lot of dickish moves, such as charging their iPod Touch users $10 for updates, but, as in those updates, there may be a legitimate reason why they should try to thwart attempts to support it.
Again, I'm not saying that what they did is right, but there is definitely room for a legitimate claim for them removing Palm Pre syncing ability since it never claimed to support it in the beginning (as the Pre is masquerading as a traditional iPod). Furthermore, purchased iTunes music are now DRM-free and the argument is that Palm should develop its own syncing software to transport the music to the device instead of piggybacking on the iTunes facilities.
Of course, I feel that Apple would be better served by creating an iTunes SDK, but it's their software and there are lots of different software and services available, including Amazon. Palm might have been better served by forming an alliance with Amazon and developing a client jointly with them. Now it leaves them in a precarious situation with many users wondering why their syncing no longer works.
It also sets a scary precedent that non-Apple hardware will not be supported on different parts of the OS X operating system. Mind you, I'm a Mac user, but I feel truly uneasy about this precedence. There may be legitimacy to removing support, but it also sets the precedence that Apple can remove support for competing hardware products in various components of the Apple operating system.
Exactly. In fact, it's so easy to get an unlocked iPhone 3GS in Hong Kong, and even includes full warranty service and AppleCare. Visit Apple Online Store - Hong Kong and you can purchase a fully-unlocked, iPhone 3GS without a contract and SIM restrictions so long as you have a Hong Kong shipping address. I'm sure the Chinese who are able to afford an iPhone 3GS will have no trouble traveling south and picking up on these phones for HK$ 6288.
What these telephone companies in China don't know is that Hong Kong is just three hours away from Shanghai. Knowing the acumen of Chinese customers, it won't take them long to learn that they should just purchase their phones in Hong Kong instead of getting screwed over by the Mainland companies.
Work without a vision is slavery, Vision without work is a pipe dream, But vision with work is the hope of the world.
