Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 10th Nov 2012 01:41 UTC
"Despite the fact that I've been using Windows 8 for the past three weeks, I somehow managed to overlook a rather stark feature in the OS: ads. No, we're not talking about ads cluttering up the desktop or login screen (thankfully), but rather ads that can be found inside of some Modern UI apps that Windows ships with. That includes Finance, Weather, Travel, News and so forth. Is it a problem? Let's tackle this from a couple of different angles." Hadn't seen them either - I don't use those applications - but this is pretty despicable.
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RE[4]: Comment by Drumhellar
by Drumhellar on Sat 10th Nov 2012 07:08
in reply to "RE[3]: Comment by Drumhellar"
RE[5]: Comment by Drumhellar
by UltraZelda64 on Sat 10th Nov 2012 07:26
in reply to "RE[4]: Comment by Drumhellar"
Member since:2006-12-05
Really? The bandwidth of a smallish image is your big concern? I mean, all the content that is dynamically loaded as you use the app, constantly updated, and you're worried about, at most, 100KB?
You're grasping for straws.
You're grasping for straws.
Look, the simple fact is that I am completely and utterly against advertising running directly on my computer. I own the machine, and I own the operating system (or a license to it) to be able to run my computer. It is my machine--my property--and I want to run it as I see fit. I am completely against giving free money to companies in the form of automatically-downloaded advertisements directly in the software of my machine, whether it heavily affects me or not.
It's MY computer, thank you very much--I don't need any tips on what shampoo to buy next week (actually, some shampoo was the other ad I remember IIRC--how unfitting and ironic). And I do not want indirectly help to rake in money to some third-party cosmetics and beauty company that I don't give a damn about just for the privilege of using my computer. The simple fact is, if you keep scrolling to the end of, for example, the weather "app," you'll see the ad.
The good thing is, they are avoidable--just avoid the Metro interface and its craptastic "apps" completely. But the fact is, in my testing, I found myself repeatedly being subjected to these ads, far more times than I would like. I have, as usual, made it a point to mentally "block" the ads, so I purposely forgot the exact products; yes, I hate advertising that much. I quickly abandoned further playing around inside Metro after seeing the ads, and went straight for the desktop.
Edited 2012-11-10 07:39 UTC
RE[5]: Comment by Drumhellar
by Lorin on Sat 10th Nov 2012 07:43
in reply to "RE[4]: Comment by Drumhellar"
Member since:2010-04-06
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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2006-12-05
Problem is, I already checked like a week ago in my test install of the RTM evaluation (I'm actually surprised it took so long to hit Slashdot and OSNews...), and it seems that the ad loads whether you scroll all the way over to the end or not. So no matter what you're adding to the ad views (and using your own bandwidth to do it) whether you actually read all the way to the end or not.
They certainly are forced upon your bandwidth, it seems. Anyway, the ability is now there. Now it'll just spiral until it gets worse and worse, and then it will get out of control. Like... gasp... subscription television services. I don't even remember what the of the ads that I saw were exactly (even if I did, I'd rather not say because it would only benefit these companies), but they were laughably obnoxious. I mean... come on... they're advertising a fucking laundry detergent, of all things, in a news applica..., er, I mean, app? Seriously? WTF?!?