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Zoepfli

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Yes, and that message is "art is as much about the object itself as it is about its sociological context."

Put something into a museum and everybody will look at it reverently. Sell it on the street and most will ignore it. Sad. But human.

Also, we have ample proof that the US Government cannot be trusted period. An entity that cannot be trusted can still reflect on itself, realize it has done lots of wrongs, and trust others that are reaching for higher standards.

I have a hunch icons and text are recognized by a different part of the brain, and the best way is to use them together, e.g. have an icon plus some text right next to it.

Some people are image oriented, and can go by the icons. Some people are text oriented and can just read the text.

The text helps first timers who might not yet be aware of certain icon conventions. The icons help power users because icons with clear silhouettes can be read very fast.

And yet another group of people read the text and look at the icon every time - even during repeated use. Because there are several parts of the brain that recognize a command, they feel more assured that what they are about to click is the right thing, and therefore feel more comfortable with the GUI.

All of this is nothing new, really. It goes back to the very first GUIs. There is 30 years of experience with this, there are probably lots of studies that this is indeed a good way to go.

So no, we should not kill the icon.

My attempt at a good translation:

NSA critic Ilija Trojanow: German writer not allowed to enter US

Despite an invitation to a conference, german writer Ilija Trojanow was denied entry to the US - without reasoning. In the past, Trojanow signed a petition of protest against NSA surveillance.

Hamburg - Writer Juli Zeh broke the news: Through Facebook, she passed on a message from her college Ilija Trojanow. According to it, Trojanow was denied entry into the US. "He's marrooned at the airport in Brasil and can't participate in a conference on german studies in the US", said Zeh.

Ilija Trojanows' publisher Hanser confirmed this account upon request from Spiegel Online. Trojanows reported monday evening via SMS from Brasil "I was denied entry into the US today. Will be an arduous journey home".

Juli Zeh linked the denial of entry with a protest against NSA surveillance she initiated. Zeh presented the german chancellery a petition with 65000 signatures on september 18.

Trojanow was not present at the presentation, but he was one of the first signees, the Schöffling publisher coordinators told Spiegel Online. The writers alluded to a "historic attack on our democratic state under the rule of law".

"Let's frame it in a positive light: Our commitment makes an impact. It is being noticed", writes Zeh on Facebook on the entry ban to her "friend and fellow activist". Zeh and Trojanow wrote a non-fiction book on internet surveillance called "attack on freedom" in 2009. Zeh continues: "Let's frame in a negative light: it's a farce. Pure paranoia. People sticking up for civil liberties are treated like public enemies". In the comments on her posting Zeh emphasizes that Trojanows' ESTA application was answered positively, so in her opinion there can't be a problem with his visa or a work permit issue.

Ilija Trojanow, born 1965 in Bulgaria and escaped to Germany in 1971, received the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2006 for his adventure novel "Der Weltensammler" (The Collector of Worlds). He held a honorific speech for nobel laureate Herta Müller at the Franz-Werfel human rights award. He was in Salvador de Bahia on invitation from the Goethe institute. He was supposed to talk about his latest novel "EisTau" (IceDew) on a conference of the German Studies Association in Denver.

(Edit: congress -> conference)

In the switch to https everywhere, we have barely started. For every HN and wikipedia with https there are 20 websites without (and whether the ones that do https do really secure https is yet another question).

Somebody should go through the top 10k websites and make a list, then repeat every few months.

Google timer 13 years ago

Doesn't work for me neither. Might be because I'm in Europe. The given URL redirects to www.google.de

iPhone 5s Teardown 13 years ago

To kill the TouchID sensor, but keep the home-button functionality intact, and keep the design the same, does anyone know if one can just cut that TouchID cable?

In other words: Where is the physical home switch located, inside the TouchID assembly or below it, on the main board?

If anybody is wondering which GTA5 to get - PS3 or Xbox, Digital Foundary has got you covered:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-grand-theft...

According to them the versions are nearly identical, with a very tiny advantage to the PS3 version.

In this light, it's interesting that the PS3 version got 97% while the Xbox360 version got 98%:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/grand-theft-aut...

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/grand-theft-auto-v

Shot tower 13 years ago

Interesting. So in essence, the 19th century used zero gravity fabrication. Who knew?

IMHO, Apple's claim doesn't matter at all. If the NSA wants to get inside your iPhone and add some code, it will find some way to do so - either with the help of Apple, through a backdoor or a recent vulnerability.

And once it's inside, the NSA is free to install a code snippet that uploads your fingerprint directly to their server.

My Final Post 13 years ago

Apple created their own brand stores, so why didn't Oakley? This would have prevented them from being so dependent on a third party...

The tools that allow me to be more efficient are not only available to me, but to everybody including my competitors. This results in an efficiency jump of the whole industry.

Workers don't benefit that much, because my competitors suddenly have a lot of free time to sell, which drives down prices. Me and my competitors end up working more, until our previous work/life balance and wage level is restored.

End result: Workers are more efficient, but work the same amount, and earn the same amount. Buyers benefit because they get more for less money.

Article mentions "credit card java applets on SIM cards". I've never used one of those, and I know nobody in the western world who does.

I always presumed that these sim java applets are crapware that is mercifully hidden on todays smartphones.

It's also my impression that Mastercard and Visa paid a hefty stupidity tax by thinking in the 2000s that it would be important to have their software on SIM cards, not foreseeing that smartphone apps would just bypass that whole layer.

Anybody know of an application in the western world, on smart phones, where these java applets are really used?

Logic Pro X 13 years ago

Interesting.

As far as I remember, for the past 3 years, every app put into those stores by Apple themselves received unlimited upgrades.

Everybody wanted to do paid upgrade, pressuring Apple into adding some paid upgrade feature into the store. Apple always declined, saying "do as we do, support unlimited upgrades, you'll earn enough because the market is growing".

Some devs did paid upgrades by creating a new app with a new name, creating some issues along the way (people that just bought the old version a day ago have no upgrade path etc.) Not idea.

People guessed that Apple would add some "paid upgrade" feature once they needed it themselves.

Now Apple decided for the first time to create a paid upgrade, and apparently they - just created a new app...

Apple could have done better here.

Logic Pro X 13 years ago

So what's the upgrade policy? I suppose since the Mac App Store doesn't support paid upgrades, everybody gets the new version for free?