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Comment Some clarification (Score 2) 257

As someone who uses both the Apple ecosystem, and Spotify, I don't feel this article is very forthcoming -- and isn't painting a complete picture.

Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple's payment system, including upgrading from our Free to our Premium service.

I made an account on their webpage, and signed up to pay them via PayPal. I'm sure PayPal is taking a cut. I certainly believe it's nowhere near 30%, but you're not "forced" to use Apple's payment system for the one type of payment transaction you're going to do.

As an alternative, if we choose not to use Apple's payment system, forgoing the charge, Apple then applies a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions on Spotify.

I have an account setup, I download the Spotify App from the App store -- and this is claiming that because I didn't pay via Apple that I am limited? Bullshit. Any limitation is there either way.

For example, they limit our communication with our customers -- including our outreach beyond the app. In some cases, we aren't even allowed to send emails to our customers who use Apple.

Again, citation needed. If you sign up via the web, you can easily get a user's email.

Apple also routinely blocks our experience-enhancing upgrades. Over time, this has included locking Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod, and Apple Watch.

Sure, you don't get the best integration with the ecosystem. I'll totally concede this. But Apple Watch now can control the Spotify app with effectively the same level of control it gives to Apple Music. Siri can control Spotify, but you can't speak out artists and the like. So Apple isn't locking them out, but again I fully concede that they are hindering the experience.

Submission + - Woman says her identity was stolen 15 times after Equifax data breach (marketwatch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Stories are starting to pour in about those impacted by last month’s massive Equifax data breach, which compromised the private information of more than 140 million people.

Katie Van Fleet of Seattle says she’s spent months trying to regain her stolen identity, and says it has been stolen more than a dozen times.

“I kept receiving letters from Kohl’s, from Macy’s, from Home Depot, from Old Navy saying ‘thank you for your application,'” she said to CNN affiliate KCPQ.

But she says she’s never applied for credit from any of those places. Instead, Van Fleet and her attorney Catherine Fleming say they believe her personal data was stolen during the massive Equifax security breach.

“It’s a product that they want to sell and that they need to profit off of,” said Fleming. “That’s what they care about.”

Fleming has filed a class-action lawsuit against Equifax, saying they were negligent in losing private information on more than 140 million Americans.

“Countless people, I mean, I’ve really, truly lost count, and the stories that like Katie’s, the stories I hear are heart-wrenching,” Fleming said.

Comment Hardware control ... (Score 1) 214

by dreamstateseven (#55083575) Attached to: Why Are There So Many Knobs in Audio Software?
Keep in mind a lot of these plug-ins can be controlled by external hardware. That is, I'm turning a knob on my controller, and the knob on the screen is turning at the same (relative) rate. It may not fully justify the reason for having such designs, and certainly doesn't explain the need for the brushed aluminium finish mimicry. I think it's also owed to a lot of people who use the software, would absolutely love to use the hardware solutions if they were available - because knobs and lights are awesome after all. So the whole skeuomorphic design is firmly footed in marketing.

Comment Re:So now we need warning labels on jobs??? (Score 1) 476

by dreamstateseven (#54095723) Attached to: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working Yourself to Death
Uber never struck me as intending to be someone's full time 40 - 60 hour working job. The early (innocent) model to me seemed more as the post above stated -- "Got extra time?" then yeah, put that idling car to work. But then people viewed it as a potential for a full-time job when it never really seemed to have the foundation to be such a thing. That said, I fully acknowledge that there was an aggressive ad campaign showing how much people could make driving for Uber Black etc. But I think it's a similar thing with AirBnb -- the original "model" as I saw it, was a forum for people to rent out a room BnB STYLE. Where you wake up, and have breakfast with the owners of a property in a far off land before you go off and do a tourism thing or play a gig. But then it's descended into a glorified lodging site to a profitable ends for many. I think that's part of the issue with the whole gig-economy. Lack of controls around this mean there will be people that try to profit from a model that wasn't quite intended to be used in such a way, and then those that try and squeeze wages out of a job that doesn't really have that much fruit to bear (that again, are hit with the marketing campaigns that also seem to fall outside of any control mechanism).

Comment Re:Lightning ear buds provided, not an adapter? (Score 1) 274

by dreamstateseven (#52839937) Attached to: Apple To Unveil 'AirPods' That Use Custom Bluetooth Chip
I totally see them making the $39.95 3.5mm adapter, at least to soften the "blow" in the immediate -- especially when you consider their unit cost on it would probably be less than $1. Don't forget about the $59.99 adapter that will let you charge and have 3.5mm headphones plugged in simultaneously.

Comment Push for new Bluetooth? (Score 1) 274

by dreamstateseven (#52839921) Attached to: Apple To Unveil 'AirPods' That Use Custom Bluetooth Chip
I'm not thrilled with the loss of the 3.5mm jack -- especially with the thought that other manufacturers could follow suit in the next few generations. Even with annoying dongles on the horizon, I don't see the analog hole ever being entirely plugged. Maybe this will start the push for a better (standardized) Bluetooth protocol? Perhaps one that can actually support lossless audio? I'm sure this would take a number of years before it becomes a standard and widely implemented enough ...

Submission + - Ashley-Madison hack claims first victims (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by wired_parrot
wired_parrot writes: Toronto police are reporting that 2 unconfirmed suicides have been linked to the data breach. This follows pleas from other users of the site for the hackers to not release the data before it was exposed- an anonymous gay Reddit user from Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal, pleaded for the data to be kept private: "I am about to be killed, tortured, or exiled," he wrote. "And I did nothing". And when The Intercept published a piece condemning the puritanical glee over the data dump, one user whocommented on the article said she's been "a long term member" of the site because her spouse's medical condition has affected their intimate life. Her spouse knows she's engaged with other Ashley Madison members, she says, but now fears she will likely lose friends and have to find a new job now that her association with the site is out there.

Submission + - 2015 Corvette Valet Mode Recorder illegal in some states (corvetteblogger.com)

Submitted by innocent_white_lamb
innocent_white_lamb writes: The 2015 Corvette has a Valet Mode that records audio and video when someone other than the owner is driving the car. Activating the Valet Mode allows you to record front-facing video as well as capture audio from within the car so you can help keep your Corvette safe when itâ(TM)s in the hands of others.

Well it turns out that recording audio from within the car may be considered a felony in some states that require notice and consent to individuals that they are being recorded and now GM is sending notices out to dealerships and customers alerting them to this fact as well as promising a future update to the PDR system.

Submission + - China is keen to send its own mission to Mars in the wake of India's Mangalyaan (examiner.com)

Submitted by MarkWhittington
MarkWhittington writes: The recent arrival into Mars orbit of both NASA’s MAVEN and India’s Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission has not escaped the notice of China, according to a Thursday story in Xinhua. The achievement of its Asian rival has especially proven galling to the Chinese. China has yet to successfully send a space probe beyond the moon. The development has elicited calls in Beijing to accelerate China’s Mars program.

China currently plans to send a rover to Mars in 2020 and, perhaps, do a Mars sample return mission in 2030. However, it feels that India, which China regards as its rival in an Asian space race, has stolen a march and has left the Chinese behind. China is now keen to try to play catchup with its own Mars mission.

One of the hold ups for a Chinese interplanetary exploration program is the delays surrounding the development of the Long March 5 rocket, which will be roughly the equivalent of the America Delta IV in its capabilities. The Chinese launch vehicle has slipped to at least 2015 because of the technological challenges it faces. The Long March 5 is also needed to launch the 20 ton modules of the Chinese space station, currently planned for later this decade.

Submission + - Intel Putting 3D Scanners in Consumer Tablets Next Year, Phones to Follow (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Intel has been working on a 3D scanner small enough to fit in the bezel of even the thinnest tablets. The company aims to have the technology in tablets from 2015, with CEO Brian Krzanich telling the crowd at MakerCon in New York on Thursday that he hopes to put the technology in phones as well.

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