"Just got off the phone with Google over their Android app store (Market or Google Play to those keeping track of the name changes) about an application that I purchased that can no longer be found. Evidentially their new policy in the Market can be summed up as a head shrug and the words 'I got mine'. They have decided their fifteen minute refund window is not only absolute, but also applies even in cases where the developers are actively screwing over their customers." Yes, it's an angry rant, and yes, if that bother you, you can skip it, but the guy or girl has a point. Google has some major work to do on the Play Store.

If there's one defining characteristic of Android, it's the operating system's extensive customisability. Since I'm quite curious what you guys are doing to your phones, I figured I might as well just ask you what your phone looks like - homescreens, widgets, applications, lock screen, whatever. Another thing that has me curious - what Android version are you running? Do you use a custom ROM, or do you prefer stock?

"Shares in Nokia plunged 17% after the mobile phone giant surprised investors by saying it expected to make losses in the first half of 2012. The Finnish company said competition in the industry had led to lower sales particularly in India, the Middle East, Africa and China. Nokia had previously expected to break even in the first quarter." And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the Lumia 900 is suffering from a software flaw, and the company has started offering $100 in compensation. Not a good start for such an important flagship device.

"The Justice Department could sue Apple as early as Wednesday over alleged electronic book price-fixing, while settling with several publishers as early as this week, two people familiar with the matter said." I feel safe already. Update: ...and we have lift-off.

"Kubuntu will have a new sponsor in Blue Systems from the 12.10 cycle starting in May. Kubuntu is a community led project to create a KDE flavour as part of Ubuntu. Our sponsor since it started has been Canonical who are now moving to focus on their Unity flavour. We would like to thank Canonical for this kind support and wish the best success for the Unity flavour (also called Ubuntu). Blue Systems sponsors a number of KDE projects and will encourage Kubuntu to follow the same successful formula as it has always had - community led, KDE focused, Ubuntu flavour." This makes me happy.

"Germany's upstart Pirate Party has overtaken the Greens to become the third strongest political grouping in the country, according to a new poll. The survey by Forsa for broadcaster RTL showed support for the Pirates, whose platform is based on internet freedom and more direct participation in politics, pushing up to 13 percent and outstripping the Greens for the first time." Not surprising. I have lots of close friends in Germany (especially in the former DDR), and for obvious reasons, I've noticed they tend to have a very firm grasp of concepts like privacy and government spying. The bit about six parties being a lot and troublesome for coalition building made me smile.

"On the Linux kernel mailing list, Willy Tarreau has announced that there will be no more releases for version 2.4 of the Linux kernel. Tarreau, who is responsible for maintaining the Linux 2.4 kernel, said that 'few people' still use this version. According to him, these users are better served by a central Git repository that collects bug fixes and that he has now created such a repository for them." I remember when 2.4.0 was released... Proper USB support! Them were the days.

Oh RIM. Already back-peddling on the whole 'let's remove sideloading to prevent the Android chaotic cesspool', are we? PR damage control mode engaged: "We're not getting rid of side-loading on the BlackBerry PlayBook OS or in BlackBerry 10." I think I know where the real chaotic cesspool is, RIM.

"The man who co-founded Apple - the world's most valuable company - in the garage of Steve Jobs' parents, fears the torrent of intellectual property lawsuits being filed by companies such as Apple, Samsung, Google, HTC and Nokia could prevent future entrepreneurs from treading a path to technology fortune." Well, mr Wozniak, you are, technically, still an Apple employee. Shouldn't be too hard for you to get an audience with mr Cook.

"All support for Windows XP and Office 2003 will end in two years as of this past Sunday. Mainstream support for two other entities ends this week however. Mainstream support for Windows Vista will end on Tuesday 10th April, and for Office 2007 ends today." You should be using Windows 7 anyway.

Very sad news indeed. Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore International and the man behind Atari, has passed away this past weekend. At 83, he passed away, surrounded by family and friends. People like this don't come in dozens, so we lost one of the great men of computing.

I hate when I have to report on stuff I just don't care about. However, it's big news, because for some reason I'm not particularly privy to, this photosharing service is more popular than god. Yes, Facebook has acquired Instagram. Update: "At the end of the day, that's what Instagram filters are: a crutch, a misguided replacement for a properly composed shot and a decent sensor."

"Windows Phone is fighting an uphill battle. Microsoft still has work to do in terms of user experience and the big hardware partners like HTC and Samsung are starting to lose interest and putting in only token efforts. But Nokia is keeping the platform in the conversation. We're not willing to consign Windows Phone to the same level of hopelessness as the open-source webOS or the out-to-pasture BB OS precisely because Nokia is too big and too active a partner." Having a big partner is by no means a guarantee. Microsoft is doing whatever it can - both legal and should-not-be-legal - to get people to buy Windows Phone, and it isn't working. A brand only gets you so far - you need a compelling product, too, and as much as I like Windows Phone, it's just not there yet compared to iOS and Android.

RIM has announced it's going to remove the PlayBook's ability to sideload applications. The company claims it's to prevent the piracy problems in the "chaotic cesspool of Android Market". However, the company provided no evidence, studies, or whatever to back up their claims. Considering the state of RIM's business, I'd say the company has bigger fish to fry, but alas. At this point, I'm just hoping they don't do a BeOS, but open the QNX code before they go belly-up.