Musings on making friends with mobiles

I see Google has messaged me in Webmaster Tools about some sites of ours that aren’t mobile-friendly.    No surprises there, since some of our sites were hard-coded in HTML a long time ago, before people thought about using cellphones for internet access.    The theory is that those that don’t comply will be downgraded […]

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‘Planet Key’ is good old-fashioned Kiwi satire

Fed up with the Electoral Commission barring Darren Watson from expressing his valid view with his satirical song ‘Planet Key’, I made a spoken-word version of it for my Tumblr a week ago, with copyright clearance over the lyrics. I wrote: Since the Electoral Commission has imposed a ban on Darren Watson’s ‘Planet Key’—in fact, […]

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The religiosity of the superbrands

Another friend asked the Windows laptop v. Macbook question on her Facebook today.    You can predict what happens next. The cult came by. As with the last time a friend asked the same question.    The cult always comes and proclaims the superiority of the Apple Macintosh. And it is a blinding proclamation, of […]

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Google pays out US$17 million over Doubleclick privacy hacking

When surfing, there are precious few people who, like me, de-Googled their lives. There’s the odd blog post here and there, but, overall, those of us who took the plunge are few and far between. It still puzzles me, given the regular privacy problems that I find on Google Dashboard (Google supporters will argue that […]

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How brands fool us

The Google experience over the last week—and I can say ‘week’ because there were still a few browsers showing blocks yesterday—reminds me of how brands can be resilient.    First, I know it’s hard for most people to believe that Google is so incompetent—or even downright corrupt, when it came to its bypassing Safari users’ […]

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Google, hacks, privacy breaches, and ad codes: there’s a pattern emerging here

In all my recent posts, I’ve stopped short of saying that Google hacked us, but that the code inserted had Google’s name all over it.    But if Google was party to or had profited from hacking, then it wouldn’t be the first time, right?    Remember when Google hacked the Safari browser to track […]

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Thinking to the future as Lucire turns 15

I’ve written so many editorials about Lucire’s history for our various anniversaries that now we’ve turned 15, I feel like I’d just be going over old ground. Again. I’d do it maybe for the 20th or 21st, but the story has been told online and in print many times.    But 15 is a bit […]

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Apple’s brand evangelism can have a negative effect, providing an opportunity for rivals

What a great post today from Eric Karjaluoto on his blog about Macs v. PCs.    He outlines his gripes on a number of fields and doesn’t believe Apple holds a great advantage any more.    I have to say I agree with him.    On his Facebook, I wrote the following. Well said, Eric.  […]

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Where do the Mac evangelists hide when Apples go, ‘Boom’?

Once again, I posted a Tweet (which went on to my Facebook) about Apple messing up (this time, about Mail with disappearing attachments). There were no replies.    Interestingly, whenever I post about a Windows bug, the Mac evangelists all swarm on to it, usually with the sentiment, ‘Get a Mac.’    They all disappear […]

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Happy birthday, Lucire

Above The first issue of Lucire in 1997. Below right Lucire’s first iPad cover. [Cross-posted at Lucire] An hour ago, we turned 13. Normally this wouldn’t have merited much of a mention, since 13’s not the sort of number people tend to celebrate. But I happened to be up, after a long day catching up […]

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