Category: Business

Categories
Business

REJECTED!

The FastScripts LogoDaniel Jalkut: “Unfortunately, this update is not available on the Mac App Store. Apple has now rejected it twice, citing the behavior of the app when it is used to run one of Apple’s own bundled scripts:

/Library/Scripts/Mail Scripts/Create New Message.scpt

This script is terrible to start with, but starting in OS X Lion, it simply doesn’t work. It fails with cryptic errors, and FastScripts faithfully reports them. Apple is rejecting FastScripts for the behavior of a faulty script that is bundled with OS X Lion.”

This is super frustrating. Daniel is the creator, and publisher, of my favorite Mac Weblogging software, MarsEdit. He’s a super nice guy and seems to take things in stride, but this, this would put me over the edge for a time.

There is a silver lining. A Mac Developer has an option, at least for the time being. Daniel is offering FastScripts 2.6.1 through his own store. Get it while it’s HOT!

Daniel is an Indie Mac Developer, and all around good fella. Please support him and his family by purchasing one of his awesome, hand crafted, Mac products. No, I’m not paid to endorse Mr. Jalkut or Red Sweater Software. I just like his software.

Categories
Business

Competition In The Loyalty Space

Forbes: On the loyalty front, Walker wants Foursquare to be about much more than just a punchcard that gives an extra sandwich for buying 10 sandwiches. Walker wants Foursquare–and its merchants–to be able to know much more about users and what they like most at a business. “Facebook is the center of your online universe,” Walker says. “I’d love Foursquare to be the center of your offline loyalty universe.”

It looks like the kids at Punchd were on to something. Google vs. Foursquare vs. Groupon vs. [Who?].

The loyalty wars are on!

Categories
Business

More on Patent Trolls

Washington Post: Gizmodo senior reporter Mat Honan disagrees, arguing that patent trolling is suffocating America’s ability to innovate, particularly in the technology sector. Honan wrote on Tuesday, “These are the tapeworms crawling through the nutrient-rich belly of American innovation, full of bile and [expletive], slowly starving us to death.”

Sigh.

Categories
Business

Software Patents Are Good, Right?

Cigarettes suckguardian.co.uk: “Simon Maddox, a UK developer, has removed all his apps from US app stores on both iOS and Android for fear of being sued by Lodsys, a company which has already sued a number of iOS and Android developers which it says infringe its software patent.”

Remember boys and girls, software patents are good for you!

No, wait, it gets worse. Apple is now suing HTC over silly stuff. This is definitely not moving technology and innovation forward. It’s taking us backward.

I feel really bad for the Indies of the software world. They’re just trying to eek out a living and they have to deal with Patent Trolls that don’t actually create anything. Pathetic.

Categories
Business

On Google+ Naming

CNet News: “Gundotra explained to Scoble that the requirement isn’t about real names or legal names. Instead, “it is about having common names and removing people who spell their names in weird ways, like using upside-down characters, or who are using obviously fake names, like ‘god’ or worse.”

I’m sure a lot of folks will be plenty mad about this but it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m not a fan of pseudonyms.

Categories
Business Cloud Life

The Dark Side of the Cloud

Skull and BonesThomas Monopoly @thomasmonopoly: “On July 15 2011 you turned off my entire Google account. You had absolutely no reason to do this, despite your automated message telling me your system “perceived a violation.” I did not violate any Terms of Service, either Google’s or account specific ToS, and your refusal to provide me with any proof otherwise makes me absolutely certain of this. And I would like to bring to your attention how much damage your carelessness has done.”

Here’s an example of The Mythical Cloud gone wrong.

Categories
Business

Facebook, It’s not about the money

Fast Company: “Creating a social network is so last week. Today, American Express is unveiling a social media platform called “Link, Like, Love” that gives card members personalized deals on Facebook based on their social graph, while also giving businesses an easy way to set up shop on different social networks. Local and national merchants are already signed on to the program, which dynamically updates new deals in a dashboard tailored to a cardholder’s likes, interests, and friends.”

You can’t call Facebook dumb, that’s for sure. This appears to be at least part, if not all, of their answer to Groupon.

Categories
Business

Not bad for a bunch of kids

The Tribune: “Morse and Google would not confirm a purchase price, but according to website techcrunch.com, two unnamed sources pegged the acquisition price between a low seven figures and $10 million.”

Two founders, six total team members, just graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and now you’ve sold your company for a reported $10 million dollars to Google. What are you going to do next?

Bravo, hats off, congratulations, etc, etc. This is pretty unbelievable awesome news.

The only downside is we lose a startup to Google. Cal Poly has produced more great talent that’s now moving up the state to Mountain View to join “The Google.” More brain drain.

Categories
Business

Lodsys, destroying software one patent at a time.

Beware of Trolls.Craig Hockenberry [via Twitter]: “Doing cross promotion in your app? Lodsys has a patent for that, too:”

Craig links to this post on the touchArcade forums. Lovely. Basically if you have a link in an application that promotes an upgrade to the paid version, or a different application all together, you’re in violation of a Lodsys patent.

What does that mean for links on web pages? What if I have a link from the web page of Product A to Product B? That is promotion, or as the letter states “elicited perception”, right? Does this frivolous patent only apply to mobile?

I also love the closing paragraph of the letter, it just drips with sarcasm.

“I trust that this has clarified the matter and that you now understand that we are not mistaken. We would like to enter into meaningful discussion with you about an appropriate license that is scaled to your use of our patented invention. We look forward to doing that as soon as possible.”

Makes me want to punch someone in the face.

Darned trolls.

Categories
Business

Some people never learn

New York Times: “Month by month, the discourse has gotten more primitive; with stunning speed, the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis have been forgotten, and the very ideas that got us into the crisis — regulation is always bad, what’s good for the bankers is good for America, tax cuts are the universal elixir — have regained their hold.”

We know what caused the eventual 2008 meltdown in our financial system, but we choose not to fix it.