corebeliefs

auxio said:

lkrupp said:

Remember, people, this is the former 'Facebook security chief’. Facebook and security are mutually exclusionary terms.

I was just about to say the same thing.  If people are outraged about CSAM scanning, they surely know about Facebook scanning everything (and not just hashes).  A former Facebook employee weighing in on it?  That's a joke right?

I'm not tracking the argument here. If anything, an ex-Facebook security chief would be more credible on this subject for the reasons you and others are stating, for the same reason the government uses embedded informants. They know what they're talking about. 

I believe Epic has a point, and don't believe Epic forfeited anything by agreeing to the original Apple contract. Contracts are re-negotiated often, even iron-clad ones. Business is often about exerting influence based on a company's popularity with consumers. Apple commands its price premium because of this.

Regardless of the proposed motives for it, Epic has a point in wanting consumers to have a choice that Apple doesn't want to give. The device isn't a rental, and without the App Store ecosystem the value of the device we are paying for is much less. They go together.

But here is where I believe Apple should get a pass. Desktop computers that Epic references are much more forgiving of any kind of program run on it. Epic is trying to get the same system applied to mobile devices which are finely-tuned for battery life, performance, and security. If Apple ever is made to allow other app stores on its devices, it should be able to indemnify itself from offering support for the device, unless the device is wiped to a factory refreshed state. 

olivertwist said:

I have tried Apple iBook Author, Adobe InDesign, Scrivener, Vellum as well as several obscure apps for creating ebook. Many of them have serious shortcomings and are frustrating to work with due to their limitations. Sometimes, they don't export to epub properly (lot of inconsistencies in the final product). One workaround I've used a lot of times albeit one shortcoming: Microsoft Word and Calibre. I use Microsoft Word to create the draught version of ebook then export it to Calibre which in turn creates the epub, mobi, azw, etc. versions. Calibre does a very good job of creating epub versions. However, the only issue I have with Microsoft Word and Calibre is their inability to create the table of content with linkable chapters that allow the readers to jump to the selected chapters.

While we're on the subject of Apple iBooks and Apple Books, Apple ought to be ashamed for causing the "planned obsolesence" while promoting its committment to the environment. I learnt to my shock that any notes and highlights created in iOS devices running iOS 11 and later do not appear in macOS version of Apple iBooks app, especially High Sierra or earlier. The only indication was the pop-up warning in my iOS devices, letting me know that I would have to upgrade my Mac computer to Mojave to take advantage of "new features" in Apple Books. In order to see them, I must upgrade my Mac computer to Mojave or Catalina, which is impossible with my nine-year-old iMac (Mid-2010) running High Sierra. My iMac is running flawlessly and marvellously so I have no reason to replace my iMac with newer ones and contribute to the environmental waste.

P.S. Don't suggest the DOS-Dude patch for installing Mojave and Catalina in the vintage Mac. I tried it before, and my iMac couldn't display the colour correctly (Blue shows up as orange, etc.) due to ATI Radeon video card not optimised for Metal. ATI had the drivers that would address this issue, but Apple refused to certify them.

It looks like a TOC is possible to create in Calibre, but looks a bit involved.