The Desktop is Back

Sony is back to OpenStep (!) with SNAP:

Sony’s Networked Application Platform is a project designed to leverage the open source community to build and evolve the next generation application framework for consumer electronic devices.

The developer program gives access to a developer community and resources like SDK, tools, documentation and other developers.

The foundation upon which this project is base comes from the GNUstep community, whose origin dates back to the OpenStep standard developed by NeXT Computer Inc (now Apple Computer Inc.). While Apple has continued to update their specification in the form of Cocoa and Mac OS X, the GNUstep branch of the tree has diverged considerably.

Wayland is talking about phasing out X11:

The problem with X is that... it's X. When you're an X server there's a tremendous amount of functionality that you must support to claim to speak the X protocol, yet nobody will ever use this. For example, core fonts; this is the original font model that was how your got text on the screen for the many first years of X11. This includes code tables, glyph rasterization and caching, XLFDs (seriously, XLFDs!) Also, the entire core rendering API that lets you draw stippled lines, polygons, wide arcs and many more state-of-the-1980s style graphics primitives. For many things we've been able to keep the X.org server modern by adding extension such as XRandR, XRender and COMPOSITE and to some extent phase out less useful extension. But we can't ever get rid of the core rendering API and much other complexity that is rarely used in a modern desktop. With Wayland we can move the X server and all it's legacy technology to a optional code path.

Jean-Louis Gassée:

Someday, the progress in HTML implementations and better, thicker pipes might move the boundary between local and Cloud applications. But for the time being, conventional desktop “productivity” apps such as word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation programs have an advantage over their Cloud competitors.

Anil Dash:

Cloudtop apps are delivered as native code on nearly every supported platform, from desktop computers to smart phones, with an interface that scales appropriately.

While the app may have a web interface, that's largely a convenience and is not usually the primary way in which you interact with the app.

Oh, and let's not forget RIM's acquisition of QNX.

OpenID is a nightmare:

We already have the ability to sign up with username/password - but we're going to make that the *only* way to register for our site from now on.

Apps On!

New Post-it notes by 3M for mobile dev:



(Although I find the image of hipster mobile developers scribbling on them while sipping their lattes deplorable.)

It's bad

They looked in my iPhone's address book.

... it's not like it could be anyone's "business model" to use that data. But now, as far as I know, some unknown startup in California has all my data.

This is bad and ugly on two levels: first, that a company would slurp your private data without asking; second, that your computer lets it do this.

there is hope

the use of location-based services is actually declining in America, from 5% of the online population in May to 4% last month

trotsky on HN:

If facebook can really deliver a rock solid web mail client, I think they will really be a company to watch in the rest of 1996 and 1997.

Dear Google

If you read this - please let me turn off that instant preview thingy.

When I look at a web page, I like to massage the text by clicking around a lot on the page. (It's a subconscious thing...) Now, this brings up preview images.

While we're at it: what's the star icon next to each result for?

Thanks,
Manuel