Category: Google Plus Archive

Why did I just uninstall Shareaholic?

Because the extension added contextual advertising to the PayPal login screen. That means (a) I can’t trust my browsing, even on HTTPS sites, to be private (yeah, I know DNS and Chrome’s anti-malware filter already get this info), and (b) I can’t trust secure sites to not be modified as long as the extension is installed.

Stepped out to look at the moon and Jupiter again on the way to shuffle laundry. Saw a meteor while I was out there.

Stepped out to look at the moon and Jupiter again on the way to shuffle laundry. Saw a meteor while I was out there.

Stacy comments on Google+: Sean was entranced by it too. Unfortunately we got into it over the fact that it was Jupiter and not a star. Ah five, they seem so rational until they don’t.

Words mean things. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with jargon…

Words mean things. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with jargon, they don’t always mean the same things to different people.

Phil Plait: Scientists are from Mars, the public is from Earth | Bad Astronomy

A couple of days ago here on G+ I linked to a table that shows words scientists use, and how the public hears them – and it’s not the way the scientists think. I had more to say, so I wrote a whole post about it.

Bottom line: if scientists want to sway public opinion, they need to make sure what they say can be understood.

–GP

What scientists say, and what people hear, isn’t always the same thing. That’s a problem with any kind of jargon, but when you get into things that have been politicized, it’s important to be clear.

–FB

Storm, smog and sky above LAX.

They’re finally replacing the broken window in my old 11th-floor office. (It’s been held together with duct tape for months.) I’m still in the same suite, so the air pressure just started pulling a serious breeze from the vent in my ceiling.

I should really go grab lunch…

—

Why, yes, that was thunder I heard. Good thing the window replacement is done.

—

Storm, smog and sky above LAX. I’ve seen one lightning bolt and heard a few thunderclaps. The darker clouds are bunched up over Palos Verdes.

The user’s space has been used up

It’s rare that translating from English to (in this case) Chinese and back to English improves things, but “The user’s space has been used up” is clearer than “Mailbox over quota.”

Wayne suggests on Google+: lol might be because Chinese like to be more formal in their phrasing so Chinese probably translated to something like “The user’s space…”

Interesting theory: Amazon could buy Netflix, but wouldn’t want…

Interesting theory: Amazon could buy Netflix, but wouldn’t want to buy the current business with all its shipping centers in places where Amazon doesn’t have to pay/collect sales tax. If Netflix spins off the discs first, then Amazon gets Netflix’s catalog, technology…and most importantly, the zillions of TV sets and set-top boxes that have the streaming client included.

Netflix split to set up Amazon streaming merger? | ZDNet

Netflix’s move to separate its DVD-by-mail service may pave the way for Amazon to buy the company, argues an analyst.

Comments on Google+:

Brion: Possible… but I’ve always found netflix’s streaming catalog to be insufficient as is… best of a bad lot I guess!

Me: Yeah. That’s the main reason we still have the DVD subscription: 80% of our queue isn’t available streaming. In this theory, the big win for Amazon would be the install base.

Brion: Yep… hell, with any luck Amazon can strong-arm better deals with the studios. 😛 But I’d still love blanket non-exclusive compulsory streaming licenses: if the content’s out there for sale to the public on little plastic disks, anybody should be able to stream the same material for a nice standard fee (like ASCAP etc’s public performance, radio, & streaming systems… but maybe not as annoying. The reason Pandora doesn’t let you choose exactly which songs to play is to comply with the hoops necessary to qualify for the compulsory licensing, since they presumably think they can squeeze more money for on-demand services. A couple years out of date, but good overview of the lay of the land there from JWZ: http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/webcasting.html )

Me: Wow. That is profoundly screwed up.

Updated Netflix thought: Dairy farms get together to raise prices…

9/15: Netflix thought: If dairy farms got together and hiked up the price of milk, would you blame your grocery store for raising their prices?

9/16: It must be the Netflix/studio milk/dairy farm analogy that’s got @Peerindex convinced that I write about breakfast cereal.

9/20: Updated Netflix thought: Dairy farms get together to raise prices, putting the squeeze on your local grocery store. The local store raises their prices to cover their higher costs. People blame the grocery store.

Then the grocery store responds by spinning off a separate store. One store will only sell milk in cardboard cartons and cheese. The other store will only sell milk in plastic bottles or yogurt. This is, of course, to make your life easier.

On Facebook

Of course, there’s always The Oatmeal’s explanation: https://theoatmeal.com/static/netflix.html

Brion adds:

One store pipes fresh delicious milk direct to your faucets, but only carries 1% because the dairy cartel is being paid by another grocery chain for an exclusive right to whole, skim, and 2%.

It turns out that Facebook allows you to log in with two variations of your password…

Interesting: It turns out that Facebook allows you to log in with two variations of your password: One with the first letter capitalized (because so many mobile phones automatically capitalize the first letter of a field to “help” you) and one with all the capitals/lowercase flipped (so that you can still log in with CAPS LOCK on).

Facebook passwords are not case sensitive (update) | ZDNet

On Facebook