What do you listen to while you code/design?

October 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We’ve been spending a lot of time at our keyboards lately, working on a major re-write of our mobile client.  Which means we’ve been racking up the hours on our Pandora accounts.   I think it’s high time I just pay the 1 year subscription.

I have about 35 stations on my account and each serve a purpose.  I’ve got a station for the gym, one for the road, one for the ladiezzz (not really).  But the stations I tune into the most these days are my “Work Stations”.  You know what I mean.  Every designer and developer has a playlist of music that helps us get in and stay in the zone.  Lately, mine has been a steady rotation of house, Michael Nyman, and Final Fantasy soundtracks (yeah I said it!).

How about you?  We’re always looking to expand our music arsenal, so feel free to share your playlists with us in the comments, on our Facebook page, or send us a tweet on Twitter.

Weigh in:

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Filed Under: Quick Poll

Google Android outsells Apple iPhone

May 10, 2010 by 2 Comments

Analysts have been predicting this for quite some time, and if you’ve seen our presentation “Taking Advantage of the Emerging Multi Billion Dollar Mobile App Market“, you would have seen the figures there as well.  The forecast: Google Android will outrank Apple iPhone by 2013.

Reports have been trickling in that Android has already begun to fulfill the prophecy.

Today from Mobile Beat:

Smartphones based on Google’s Android mobile operating system have outsold Apple’s iPhone in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2010, according to a report by research firm The NPD Group. The data places Android, with 28 percent of the smartphone market, in second place behind RIM’s Blackberry smartphone market share of 36 percent. Apple now sits in third place with 21 percent.

Between that and dem fightin’ werdz from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, it seems like there’s a war a-brewin’.  What side will you be on?

Weigh in:

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Filed Under: Mobile Industry, Quick Poll Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dear Google Android,

May 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

It's... beautiful.

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned Google’s active recruitment of iPhone devs. Nexus One devices in hand, Google Android enticed the devs to the Open-Side.
Well, Google, as big supporters of Google Android and proponents of open platform development, the MiKandi Team and our community of developers would like to you ask something:

“We can haz Nexus One, too?”

Weigh in:

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Filed Under: Developers, Quick Poll Tagged With: , ,

Steve Jobs: “There’s a porn store for Android”

April 8, 2010 by 2 Comments

Today, during Q&A at Apple’s iPhone OS 4.0 Developer preview, Steve Jobs gave a lil ol’ “porn store” on Android a major shout out.  Or jab.  But whatever, we’ll take it.

When asked about Apple’s plans to allow unsigned applications on the iPhone, Jobs replied:

You know, there’s a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go – so we’re not going to go there.

*coughcoughSAFARIcoughcough**

And then Twitter went crazy.  There’s a porn store for Android??  Yes, there is.  But we like to think we are more than just porn.

We’re the app store that treats you like an adult.

That means, developers, you have a space to share your adult themed apps without censorship.  And users, now you have the space to browse the apps you want.

Many feel that Jobs latest statement re: unsigned apps goes deeper than just not wanting porn on his product.  Says TechCruch:

For years, iTunes has sold songs with explicit lyrics and movies with graphic nudity. Further, as we’vepointed out numerous times, the iPhone comes with Safari. The web has quite a bit of porn on it. Hell, many porn sites have even launched HTML5 versions that are optimized for the iPhone. Yes, parents can disable access to Safari with parental controls, but Apple could easily add a similar parental control setting to restrict running unsigned applications, too.

The real reason that Apple won’t allow for unsigned apps? They want to maintain full control over the iPhone, in part to ensure that it’s a nice, clean environment. And also so that they can block applications from their competitors, like they’ve done to Google.

We really like how Rob Jackson at Phandroid puts it:

There is something to be said for Jobs’ desire to retain Disney-like control of his company’s moral stature and attempting to ensure the safest experience for its customers. Fine, I get it, admirable and wonderful. But taking a swing at Android for allowing users to do what they want?

I appreciate that Google treats its smartphone customers like adults. Maybe Mr. Jobs can prepackage the new iPhone 4X with a bib, airplane spoon and some Gerber.

Weigh in:

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Filed Under: Around the World, Quick Poll Tagged With: , , , , ,

Speaking of censorship

February 21, 2010 by 2 Comments

We came across this disturbing projection the other day regarding the landscape of the Internet in 2020.

Internet scholars and high-tech business leaders said the future of the Web probably won’t be as open as it is today, where users can access any information they choose and often for free. Instead, some experts envisioned a future in which walled gardens proliferated or users called for tailored Web experiences where they were willing to pay more for certain services.

Pretty scary stuff.

Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, noted that foreign governments “will attempt to exert more control over the Internet.” The search company recently said it would withdraw from China over practices (it hasn’t yet). He added, “However, I think that these will be relatively small changes, so that the Internet will remain relatively free.”

But Susan Crawford, a former economic adviser to President Obama, warned of a greater threat: “The locked-down future is more realistic as things stand now. We’ve got a very cautious government, an international movement towards greater control and a pliant public. I wish this wasn’t the case.”

Read more.

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Filed Under: Around the World, Quick Poll Tagged With: ,

Australian man in court over Simpsons porn

January 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

From Queensland Times

Kurt James Milner has admitted to possessing cartoon child porn

Kurt James Milner has admitted to possessing cartoon child porn

AN IPSWICH man has admitted downloading graphic cartoon porn images featuring child characters from The Simpsons and The Powerpuff Girls TV shows.

The 28-year-old is now a registered sex offender and will have to report to police after pleading guilty in Ipswich District Court to having the bizarre images on his computer.

Police went to Kurt James Milner’s Leichhardt home on January 24, 2008 after receiving an anonymous tip-off about the disturbing material.

Milner told police he would co-operate but did not want to give them his computer.

But an hour-and-a-half later he phoned police and said they could now have his computer.

Officers discovered the computer would no longer turn on but a year later police forensic experts recovered 64 images of cartoon child exploitation material in the machine’s recycle bin.

The images depicted figures from The Simpsons, The Powerpuff Girls and The Incredibles in sexually explicit positions.

Milner, a former security guard, told police he downloaded the images to show them to his friend “because he believed they were funny”.

He pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child exploitation material and using a carriage service to access child exploitation material.

Milner was sentenced to 12 months jail but it was wholly suspended for five years. A conviction was recorded.

He was also given a $1000 good behaviour bond for five years.

Crown Prosecutor Suzanne Cantatore said the sentence needed to be harsh as it was Milner’s second conviction for having child exploitation material.

Read more here.

What do you think?

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Filed Under: Around the World, Legal, Quick Poll Tagged With:

Free Speech Coalition wants to hear from you

January 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Free Speech Coalition would like to ask you to take a few minutes of time to answer our first survey of 2010. Last year was challenging and transitional for many adult businesses and industry professionals. We would like Your Opinion on what are the most important issues facing the adult entertainment industry today, and what FSC can do to help you do better business.

Please go to FreeSpeechCoalition.com to take the survey. 

About FSC:

The Free Speech Coalition is the trade association for the adult entertainment industry.  Our members consist of a broad range of adult businesses from producers and webmasters to manufacturers, retailers and many, many more.

As the trade association for the adult entertainment industry our responsibilities are threefold: One, to be the watchdog for the adult entertainment industry guarding against unconstitutional and oppressive government intervention; Two, to be a voice for the industry telling the truth about the adult entertainment industry not only in the vital role it plays as an economic contributor, but also in its contribution to quality of life in a healthy society; and finally to provide business resources for our members to facilitate successful businesses in this ever-changing and challenging business environment.

Filed Under: Legal, Quick Poll Tagged With:

Poll

January 18, 2010 by 1 Comment

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Filed Under: Quick Poll Tagged With: ,