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Software

Download.com Now Wraps Downloads In Bloatware 397

Posted by Soulskill from the do-not-want dept.
MrSeb writes "At Download.com, page designs have been repeatedly tweaked over the years to push its updater software (now called TechTracker), TrialPay offers, and the site's mailing list. Bothersome, perhaps, but certainly not inexcusable. They've got to make money off the site somehow, after all, and banner ads don't always do the job. Now, things have taken a turn for the worse: Cnet has begun wrapping downloads in its own proprietary installer. Not only will this cause the reputation of free, legitimate software to be tarred by Cnet's bloatware toolbars, homepage changes, and new default search engines — but Cnet is even claiming that their installer wrapping is 'for the users.'"

Comment Re:Well that didn't take long. (Score 1) 135

by Black.Shuck (#36363926) Attached to: iOS 5 Jailbroken

If you want to make fanboys squirm, it's good to start by not being wrong. Apple changed an entire industry. Google copied their work and have so far made only obvious, incremental improvements.

I'm not saying this isn't praiseworthy, but being over-congratulatory is a far more myopic worldview than one that fairly acknowledges Apple's initial hammer-blow followed by steady (if slow) improvements.
Television

Tesla Sues BBC's Top Gear For Libel 547

Posted by samzenpus from the release-the-stig dept.
thecarchik writes "About two years ago BBC's Top Gear aired a test drive of the then relatively new Tesla Roadster. In the particular episode, Tesla Roadsters are depicted as suffering several critical 'breakdowns' during track driving. Host Jeremy Clarkson concludes the episode by saying that in the real world the Roadster 'doesn't seem to work.' Tesla claims that the breakdowns were staged, making most of Top Gear's remarks about the Roadster untrue. Tesla also states that it can prove Top Gear's tests were falsified due to the recordings of its cars' onboard data-loggers. What's Tesla asking for in the lawsuit? Tesla simply wants Top Gear to stop rebroadcasting the particular episode and to correct the record."

Comment The Internet isn't a thing. It's an agreement. (Score 1) 1

by Black.Shuck (#34643484) Attached to: FCC Vote: Reactions Are Pouring In

I think Doc Searls and David Weinberger say it best:

What the Internet Is and How to Stop Mistaking It for Something Else.

* No one owns it.
* Everyone can use it.
* Anyone can improve it.

Because the Internet is an agreement, it doesn't belong to any one person or group. Not the incumbent companies that provide the backbone. Not the ISPs that provide our connections. Not the hosting companies that rent us servers. Not the industry associations that believe their existence is threatened by what the rest of us do on the Net. Not any government, no matter how sincerely it believes that it's just trying to keep its people secure and complacent.

To connect to the Internet is to agree to grow value on its edges. And then something really interesting happens. We are all connected equally. Distance doesn't matter. The obstacles fall away and for the first time the human need to connect can be realized without artificial barriers.

The Internet gives us the means to become a world of ends for the first time.

Net Neutrality is a non-issue because it is a fundamental constituent of the agreement that is the Internet. If you want to get rid of Net Neutrality, you have to get rid of the Internet.

http://worldofends.com/

Sorry for the cross-post with another story; I think the points made on that site are rather important to the matter at hand.

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