The Latest Development

17/08/2020

Fortnite leads an epic movement against Apple and Google's 30% App Tax

So meta... Fortnite-maker Epic Games started a Battle Royale on Thursday by adding its own in-app payment system to bypass the "App Tax." The privately-owned video game maker, worth over $17B after a fresh fundraise this month, knowingly defied the App Store Empire:

Apple and Google take a 30% cut of in-app purchases, downloads, and subscriptions from non-Apple/Google apps.
Fortnite hates that. So it added its own in-app payment option, offering a 20% discount to players who used that instead of Apple/Google's. In response...
Apple and Google expelled Fortnite from their app stores for violating rules by bypassing the 30% fee. Then, Epic promptly filed War and Peace-sized lawsuits against both tech giants. It also dropped a Pixar-worthy video to troll Apple: "Nineteen-Eighty Fortnite."
Don't hate the player... hate the platform-player. Epic's lawsuits try to establish the App and Play stores as competition-crushing monopolies. This isn't a revolutionary call-out: for years, Apple has been getting heat for being a player in a marketplace it also controls. The Fruit has been accused of playing favorites with its own apps.

Epic's bold PR campaign is drawing more scrutiny than ever on Apple and Google's app store dominance. Facebook, Spotify, and Tinder-owner Match have come out in support of Epic against the “App Store tax.”
If Epic wins, Apple and Google might have to reduce or remove their fees. Apple made ~$15B in sales from the App Store last year (around 5% of its total sales).
THE TAKEAWAY
The App Store isn’t just a marketplace — it’s more like a public utility... We use apps to communicate, travel, shop, and eat. Google's Android controls 85% of the global operating system market, while Apple's iOS has 15% — every mobile app goes through their stores. These stores have created an explosion of opportunity for developers, but with caveats: Developers have to swallow Apple/Google's 30% sales tax on the mobile economy. Even Apple TV takes a 30% cut of $30 digital rentals for Disney's Mulan. All that could change with Epic's movement.

25/02/2020

Get clean! Chrome>About> run update

Google yesterday released a new critical software update for its Chrome web browser to patch zero-day flaw (CVE-2020-6418) that has been reportedly exploited in the wild.

13/11/2018

VC is a common denominator of the most successful tech startups, but it isn’t a prerequisite, especially at the early stage.

01/11/2018

not bad... privacy at the hardware level.

New Apple MacBook Disconnects Built-in Microphone "Physically" When Lid is Closed to Prevent Eavesdropping

10/10/2018

"This is kind of serious. Google+ has been shut down after a report of a security bug — that it failed to disclose to users."

09/10/2018

Mannabase Universal Base Income allows for a FREE exploration into crypto. Nothing to lose... just let it accrue.

09/10/2018

TIP 108: Human SPAM Detector
Follow these steps to "get a clue" about who sent you a curious email. ( DEL.
3. Quick Spelling and Grammar check
Some of the errors are common, but the grammar always gives it away. If you're not convinced, go onto #4
4. Do the servers match?
If the ReplyTo: and From: servers are different, odds are, it's crap.

TIP 108, in Closing: Don't be scared of having junk mail. EVERYONE has junk mail. Just keep it clean, use commonsense, and move on with your day. If you need a SPAM filter, get one... just make sure it's not one that is grabbing your data as well. We'll take about understanding the basics of online privacy in an upcoming TIP. :-)

22/08/2018

"the company even slightly changed its location policy, making it clear that even after turning off the Location History option, some Google services would continue collecting location information on you."