Posts by Kneel

Security biz scoffs at Apple's anti-Trojan Gatekeeper

Because there is a big difference between consoles and PCs. Sure, consoles these days are just specialised computers but then, that's the point - they don't have to deal with the myriad tasks a regular PC has to. Flexibility is the PC's greatest asset but that comes at a cost.

Implementing the kind of lock-downs that consoles employ would drastically reduce the appeal of a PC because it is now far less flexible.

Australian sports get busy with copyright special pleading

Must be nice . .

. . . to have deep pockets - make a deal without consulting the existing laws and then pressure the government to change the laws when it turns out you haven't understood them correctly. Or perhaps I am being gullible - perhaps they always knew this would happen and just wanted a reason to get the law changed.

First we get our anti-siphoning laws weakened and now this.

All Optus are doing is providing a service that helps consumers do something they are already legally allowed to do. It is fundamentally no different that providing a program that helps users rip their CDs so they can play them on their MP3 players - something which has been long-settled as thoroughly legal.

It's happening on all fronts - as technology is advancing and the lines blurring, consumers are enjoying the freedom to enjoy their legally-obtained content how and when they want. Content-providers are trying like hell to restrict not only these new freedoms but also rights we have long enjoyed. (E.g. the ability to re-sell a CD or DVD.)

The only way I can see to prevent this gradual restriction of our rights is to simply refuse to pay for any digital content - no iTunes, no Steam, no whatever the hell it is Telstra paid their millions for. That's already my stance but then it seems that most people are happy to trade their rights for convenience.

Atlassian get top G'day gong

Give them an award for going against their stated values of "Don't #@!% the Customer" by removing the ability to use 'wiki markup' in their latest version of Confluence. Never mind that some customers have spent thousands building, customising and populating their wiki and are now facing huge user backlashes, including, in some instances, from senior management.

My favourite part is that they have stopped providing any updates whatsover for the old version - things that are broken will stall that way for ever. So, we're left with a product with bugs that will never be fixed and no feasible upgrade path.

Thanks for the innovation Atlassian - you have officially '#@!%'ed this customer.