beowulfschmidt

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beowulfschmidt
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  • DeepSeek's iOS app sends unencrypted data to Chinese servers

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    This is the app some FBI personnel were allegedly found to be using.  Brilliant.
    ronnwatto_cobrabyronl

  • Epic Games shifts EU app store strategy after missing target by 71 million users

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    rezwits said:
    mattinoz said:
    They should get SteamOS running and include a AppleSilicon build give Game developers a single target for their store regardless of the host system of the hardware 
    What's funny is how SteamOS had NO F-ing PROBLEM competing with the AppStore what-so-ever!  Amazing how they even created their own device and so on and so on!

    What a marooooon...

    2¢

    Except that Steam (SteamOS is an operating system, not a store) doesn't really "compete" with Apple's app store.  They serve two different markets, with little overlap.  Steam sells PC games, many of which also work on the multitude of handheld gaming machines that have hit the market since Steam Deck was released, which are basically lower powered PCs in a handheld form factor.  Apple's store serves the phone and iPad market, along with Macs.

    The overwhelming majority of games for which Apple provides a platform are not in the same category as the ones Steam sells.  Many Steam served games will run on a Mac, but looking at Steam's stats, which they publish every month, Steam on Mac OS comprises less than 2% of all users, with Windows at 96%.  Even Linux beats out MacOS, at about 2.25% as of the last survey.

    As for non-gaming apps, again, there's no competition.  Apple serves many apps in many categories for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.  Steams servers up a few non-game apps, but the vast majority of those are gaming adjacent, such as Blender, along with a host of utilities that help controllers work better, provide aids in VR, and such.

    watto_cobratiredskills

  • Apple's fix for bad AI notification summaries won't actually improve results

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    You can turn off AI notifications on a per app basis, as was stated in the article. Developers can't opt out by default today, and maybe that can come in a later update, but users do have control over the feature. I personally don't understand the outrage towards this feature. I find it quite useful.

    You don't understand why BBC is upset that Apple Intelligence is mischaracterizing BBC articles?  How would you feel if someone summarized this very article as "Apple refuses to fix BBC article summaries"?
    watto_cobraelijahgAlex1Nkkqd1337

  • Congress asking Apple and other big tech what they're doing about deepfakes

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    I'm not American, nor a lawyer, but doesn't the First Amendment say "Congress shall [not] abridge freedom of speech"? When they put pressure on any company to "proactively address the proliferation of deepfake pornography" isn't that a direct attempt to make companies abridge people's freedom of speech?

    I recognized one signatory on the list of questions. She was a Democrat. Were all the signatories Democrats?

    The amendment actually says "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech..."  "Pressuring" a corporation skirts that restriction unless they decide to impose some sort of punishment.  It can be a very fine line, and until the unlikely action of the U.S. Supreme Court to stop them, they'll continue.

    However, Congress and U.S. courts have created many, many exceptions to unabridged free speech.  Incitement to violence, for instance.  Fraud.  Misleading advertising.  Certain forms of pornography.  Intimidation.  Often, the legitimacy of any given "speech" hinges on the intent of that speech.  Parody and satire, for instance, even though potentially depicting entirely false information, are protected speech, while false accusations of crimes or misdoing fall under slander or liable, which are not covered by free speech.
    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondonentropyswatto_cobra

  • iPhone 17 Pro may forego titanium, instead get alumimum & glass

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt

    The reasoning for the switch in material is unknown,

    Um, no it's not.  The reason is money.  There might be other secondary reasons mixed in, but the bottom line is "reduce cost of the phone without making the phone quality suffer."


    williamlondonlukei