Month: November 2024
‘It’s so easy to lie’: A fifth of children use fake age on social media
The regulator finds a fifth of children are pretending to be adults, potentially exposing them to harm.
The regulator finds a fifth of children are pretending to be adults, potentially exposing them to harm.
AirPods Pro 2 for Just $154 at Amazon
Borderline incredible discount on AirPods Pro 2 at Amazon. This is just short of $100 off the retail list price of $249. (Buy through this link and I’ll get rich on the affiliate commission.)
★
Borderline incredible discount on AirPods Pro 2 at Amazon. This is just short of $100 off the retail list price of $249. (Buy through this link and I’ll get rich on the affiliate commission.)
John Siracusa’s Review of Delicious Library 1.0
John Siracusa, in his inimitable style, reviewed Delicious Library 1.0 upon its release, 20 years ago this month:
Part of what makes the Mac community so special is that so many
Mac developers have itches — and, more importantly, corresponding
talents — that have little or nothing to do with computers. I
invite you to look again at some of the screenshots and artwork in
this application. Someone loved those graphics. Someone sweated
over every pixel of that application window. Someone knows what it
means to be a lover of art, music, books, video games. This is in
addition to (not instead of) the ability to write great code.
All of these human facilities and experiences have been harnessed
to create not just a mere “program”, “application” or (God forbid)
“executable”, but a digital love letter to collectors. Delicious
Monster, from its products to its web site, exudes a
spirit of passion and fun. “I’ve never been happier at work”, Wil
Shipley told me in an email. “I think it shows in the finished
product.”
I think so too. It may only be version 1.0, but it’s delicious.
Re-reading this review — which I first linked to, with little comment, upon publication — reminded me of several things. First, Siracusa is one of the few writers I’ve ever felt competitive with in this racket. This whole thing is so fucking good, and touches upon so many subtle points that are so hard to convey in words. (In some ways it’s better to read in its original multi-page layout, via Internet Archive, but those archived versions are inexplicably missing some, but not all, of the screenshots, and for a review of an app as visually ambitious as Delicious Library, the screenshots are essential. But the current Ars Technica version of the review, although it has all the inline images, is missing this “larger version” of Delicious Library’s main window. Open the version I’m hosting in a tab for reference. Note too that “larger version” meant something different 20 years ago — it’s only 183 KB, but is the largest image in the review.)
Second, I had forgotten just how ambitious Delicious Library 1.0 was, right out of the gate. I remembered that Delicious Library eventually supported barcode scanning via webcams, but that feature was in fact present in version 1.0. It worked incredibly well. And the feature was so far ahead of its time. In 2004, no Mac had yet shipped with a built-in camera. Instead, we all bought Apple’s standalone $150 iSight camera, which connected via FireWire. (What a gorgeous device.) By the end of his effusive review, Siracusa (unsurprisingly) has a wishlist of additional features, but what was in Delicious Library 1.0 comprised far more than a “minimal viable product”. It exemplified Apple’s — and Steve Jobs’s — own ethos of debuting with a bang, right out of the gate. It made you say “Wow!” And then you’d think, “Oh, but it’d be cool if it…” and, it turns out, it did that too.
Delicious indeed.
★
John Siracusa, in his inimitable style, reviewed Delicious Library 1.0 upon its release, 20 years ago this month:
Part of what makes the Mac community so special is that so many
Mac developers have itches — and, more importantly, corresponding
talents — that have little or nothing to do with computers. I
invite you to look again at some of the screenshots and artwork in
this application. Someone loved those graphics. Someone sweated
over every pixel of that application window. Someone knows what it
means to be a lover of art, music, books, video games. This is in
addition to (not instead of) the ability to write great code.
All of these human facilities and experiences have been harnessed
to create not just a mere “program”, “application” or (God forbid)
“executable”, but a digital love letter to collectors. Delicious
Monster, from its products to its web site, exudes a
spirit of passion and fun. “I’ve never been happier at work”, Wil
Shipley told me in an email. “I think it shows in the finished
product.”
I think so too. It may only be version 1.0, but it’s delicious.
Re-reading this review — which I first linked to, with little comment, upon publication — reminded me of several things. First, Siracusa is one of the few writers I’ve ever felt competitive with in this racket. This whole thing is so fucking good, and touches upon so many subtle points that are so hard to convey in words. (In some ways it’s better to read in its original multi-page layout, via Internet Archive, but those archived versions are inexplicably missing some, but not all, of the screenshots, and for a review of an app as visually ambitious as Delicious Library, the screenshots are essential. But the current Ars Technica version of the review, although it has all the inline images, is missing this “larger version” of Delicious Library’s main window. Open the version I’m hosting in a tab for reference. Note too that “larger version” meant something different 20 years ago — it’s only 183 KB, but is the largest image in the review.)
Second, I had forgotten just how ambitious Delicious Library 1.0 was, right out of the gate. I remembered that Delicious Library eventually supported barcode scanning via webcams, but that feature was in fact present in version 1.0. It worked incredibly well. And the feature was so far ahead of its time. In 2004, no Mac had yet shipped with a built-in camera. Instead, we all bought Apple’s standalone $150 iSight camera, which connected via FireWire. (What a gorgeous device.) By the end of his effusive review, Siracusa (unsurprisingly) has a wishlist of additional features, but what was in Delicious Library 1.0 comprised far more than a “minimal viable product”. It exemplified Apple’s — and Steve Jobs’s — own ethos of debuting with a bang, right out of the gate. It made you say “Wow!” And then you’d think, “Oh, but it’d be cool if it…” and, it turns out, it did that too.
Delicious indeed.
US regulator says AI scanner ‘deceived’ users after BBC story
In a proposed settlement, Evolv Technology will be banned from making certain claims about its products.
In a proposed settlement, Evolv Technology will be banned from making certain claims about its products.
This startup’s microliner promises a cheaper route to electric flights
It’s been a tough year for air taxi startups. The UK’s Vertical Aerospace is running short of cash, while Germany’s Lillium faces bankruptcy. Targets for commercialisation keep getting extended. Investors are hesitant to commit. The reason for all the struggles is pretty simple. Building, certifying, and commercialising brand-new aircraft designs like electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) is complex, notoriously expensive, and depends on lengthy regulatory processes. That’s partly why German startup Vaeridion is pursuing a simpler, potentially cheaper, route to electric flight using an aircraft it calls the “microliner”. “The microliner looks like a regular plane and it…This story continues at The Next Web
It’s been a tough year for air taxi startups. The UK’s Vertical Aerospace is running short of cash, while Germany’s Lillium faces bankruptcy. Targets for commercialisation keep getting extended. Investors are hesitant to commit. The reason for all the struggles is pretty simple. Building, certifying, and commercialising brand-new aircraft designs like electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) is complex, notoriously expensive, and depends on lengthy regulatory processes. That’s partly why German startup Vaeridion is pursuing a simpler, potentially cheaper, route to electric flight using an aircraft it calls the “microliner”. “The microliner looks like a regular plane and it…
This story continues at The Next Web
Europe’s flying taxi dreams falter as cash runs short
Makers of a new generation of European electric aircraft are struggling to raise money.
Makers of a new generation of European electric aircraft are struggling to raise money.
These will be the most in-demand skills for developers in 2025
The Dutch labour market is experiencing a persistent talent shortage, according to a new salary survey report. The research also flags that when it comes to hiring in 2025, artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning are expected to be among the hottest functional areas companies are most likely to recruit talent for next year. In line with this, a recent study by Indeed found that over the past year, job postings mentioning generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) or related phrases have increased dramatically across the US and Europe. In Germany, for example, there has been a 3.9x increase, France has…This story continues at The Next Web
The Dutch labour market is experiencing a persistent talent shortage, according to a new salary survey report. The research also flags that when it comes to hiring in 2025, artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning are expected to be among the hottest functional areas companies are most likely to recruit talent for next year. In line with this, a recent study by Indeed found that over the past year, job postings mentioning generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) or related phrases have increased dramatically across the US and Europe. In Germany, for example, there has been a 3.9x increase, France has…
This story continues at The Next Web