Rants

Facebook: crappily copying yet again

Jeromey Balderrama

For Facebook’s 10th birthday, it looks like they decided to give everyone a gift of a little gift and make a little video montage of your Facebook moments. Just like anything on Facebook, it’s going viral and my news feed is littered with all of these videos.  This is a cute little idea, except for one problem: it’s not theirs. Google came up with the “let’s convert everyone’s pictures into a video montage” last month. To make matters worse, not only did Facebook copy the idea, but their video is lame and limited.  All the video does it tell you when you joined Facebook, show off some random pictures and then displays your “top liked” status updates and pictures. It ends with a montage wall of some of your random pictures.

I wish I could show it to you, but Facebook won’t let you post it outside of their walled garden.  Luckily, Google + allowed me to download my video and post it back to YouTube:

I realize that neither company came up with the concept of making a video montage out of photos, but if Facebook is going to be the second one to implement it on a wide scale, they could at least match the creativity in what they’re copying.  Some of this may be that I’ve been a lot more deliberate in the photos that I’ve posted to Facebook.  Before Clara was born, I hardly posted anything to Facebook – so they may have had slimmer pickings.  However Facebook’s lack of quality photos is due to the fact that they’ve given me less reason to trust them with my photos.  Over the years Facebook has been so convoluted in their privacy controls that I’ve been extremely hesitant to post anything.  Google, on the other hand has at least given me the impression that I have control over my own privacy.  When they implemented their auto-backup of photos, those photos were private by default. While I know both companies profit off collecting my information, the value proposition offered by Google has been greater.

Part of me wonders if Facebook intentionally did not make the videos better. People have become a lot more leery of the information they’ve provided to Facebook.  For me, Facebook knows when I started my job, when I got married, when my daughter was born.  Maybe if they included more specific details, it would have the reverse viral effect and people would have the hell freaked out of them.  Perhaps they didn’t want to tip their hand on the data they’ve been storing.

I’m not some Google+ apologist. The truth is that their social network doesn’t really have any scale, thus they don’t offer much to me. The thing that bothers me the most however is that people on Facebook are acting like Facebook has delivered a great original idea, when they don’t realize that they’re getting a sub-par copy of another’s innovation. This is just the latest idea that Facebook has stolen from someone else and have used their scale to make this appear like some great breakthrough – just like they did with hash-tags, @-mentions, and trending topics.

Facebook, if you’re going to steal, do a better job.

Feedly vs. Craigslist, Round 2: Everybody Loses

Jeromey Balderrama

Well, it looks like Craigslist is at it again, this time fighting with Feedly, the popular RSS reader that has assumed Google Reader’s mantle. Feely is my go-to source for keeping up on RSS feeds, of which include several Craigslist feeds for keeping up on musician happenings (including my search for a new project).

Last fall, Feedly stopped getting updates from Craigslist, and neither side really talked about it too much. Feedly alluded to their poller being blocked by Craigslist, and when users asked, they referred us to Craigslist. Miraculously, about a month later, Feedly was getting updates and balance was once again restored..  until now.

Last weekend Craigslist feeds stopped updating again, and I suspect the same issue has come back to rear its ugly head.  Of course, there is no communication about this from either Feedly or Craigslist.  A few people have commented on GetSatisfaction, but I have yet to see any official statement from Feedly on what happened. Of course it’s virtually impossible to get any kind of support from Craigslist – so here we are in the same boat again: two companies in another cold war while their customers lose out.

Why am I quick to blame Craigslist – because they’ve done this before.  Craigslist, in their never-ending desire to look backwards on technology, has a history of hating RSS.  About a year ago, they changed all of their feeds from full-text to only providing summaries, forcing users to click through.  It’s a dick move, but one that’s tolerable.  Now they’re all-out blocking a useful tool like Feely from delivering their content to users.  At its core, all Feedly does is poll the feed, display the updates and then show the user where they last left off.  This isn’t different from any other news reader, except for the fact that Feedly stores this data in the cloud so different devices know when you last left off.

Craigslist, for being in the Alexa’s Top 15 for US web traffic, is a pretty terrible site. It’s bad enough that their design is still stuck in the 1990’s, but the fact that the battle aggregate technologies like RSS, then just block them without any reason or explanation.  The first time around I Tweeted their founder Craig Newmark (who doesn’t play any significant role in the company besides end-user support), and to his credit he did ask me to email him details and said he’d share this with the team – but I never got another response.  If their own founder is unable to get answers, then what hope do us lowly users have?  I love behind their peace sign logo and try to appear altruistic, but in reality they sacrifice the user experience to protect to collection of other people’s content.

Regardless at who’s at fault, whether this is malicious or accidental: would it kill either company to communicate to their users?

Update: Feedly responded on their blog, I react.

Friday Tech Roundup: Windows 8.1, Vine’s Crash & Burn, Creative Cloud Fail

Jeromey Balderrama

So Microsoft released a preview of Windows 8.1 on Wednesday, and of course my bleeding edge heart was quick to install it on two of my computers.  I made the mistake of and ignored the warning against installing it on my work computer. I learned the hard way that Enterprise Edition requires the CD to upgrade (as I think it takes you to Professional Edition), and I ended up having to reinstall all of my software, but at least it was a good opportunity to have a clean slate.  My regular edition of Windows 8 upgraded just fine, with everything in tact.

I don’t know how, but Microsoft managed to make the Start Screen worse. When they announced it was a button, I realized that they were not bringing the menu back, but it still seems like the interface was hacked together. at the last minute. When I set up my desktop, I like to put my taskbar on the top of the screen, yet there’s no way to configure the start menu to come in from anywhere but the bottom.  Now I have start buttons in two corners of the screen, basically eliminating the quick-switch on the upper left hand corner.  However, in re-sorting all of my programs, so that my desktop that was previously out of the left hand side, it’s all the way to the right.  It just seems pretty half-baked.  At least you can boot directly to the desktop now, and the people at StarDock have already released a beta version of Start8 that restores the functionality I’ve enjoyed.  Start8 was still the best $5 I’ve ever spent. I’m looking forward to playing with 8.1 some more to see what else they’ve (hopefully) improved.

 

I took my first Instagram video this evening, and the interface was awesome.  Pretty much the only feature that I’m missing from Vine is the ability to embed videos in other web pages (like my blog), but that should only be a matter of time.  You can tell Vine is in a panic mode, even before this story about Vine shares plummeting since InstaVine showed up last week.  They’re backed into a corner, and are swinging in every direction, pushing out 2 updates in the same week after not pushing out for three weeks they were released their Android version.  I’m not sure what Vine can do to save themselves at this point, except for making their app experience more compelling than Instagram.  Maybe they can be the first ones to introduce the novel concept of allowing people to mute videos on playback. I still believe that Vine’s demise is the result of a repressed desire to have a quality video app on Android.

 

Well that was quick, Adobe’s vaunted new Creative Cloud  has already been pirated. I thought one of the benefits of their rental-only model was that it would curb piracy, but it doesn’t appear to be the case.  I despise Creative Cloud, and it’s not because I support piracy or fear the future – but rather that it takes away Adobe’s incentive to improve their software, no longer compelling you to buy the next version.  Subscription services like Creative Cloud (and Office 365 similarly) are to software what “Green” is to company revenues: it’s about making money while trying to appear forward-thinking.  Software manufactures are enticed by the constant revenue streams these rental models provide. As they project revenue, they can count on your $50 per month regardless of whether they put out good releases that month or not.  They can talk all they want about how this enables them to continue to push out constant updates, but in reality it’ll allow them to grow complacent and justify replacing innovative updates with incremental bolt-tightening updates.  The worst part about is is that you can spend $600 over a year and should you decide to cancel your account, you have nothing to show for it.  At least when you bought the software, you have an (albeit outdated) version that you own.

Friday Tech Roundup, June 21

Jeromey Balderrama

I’m going to try something new here, and do a little recap of tech news, developments and my take on various tech news stories for the week.

Facebook announces video for Instagram

Normally I detest Facebook’s propensity to blatantly copy features from their competitors, but in the case of of InstaVine and in the interests of having a good video sharing product on Android: good on them!   I may hold a lot of unfair hostility towards Vine, but I can’t get past the terrible first impression they made upon Android users. If you’re going to make users wait for months later than your iOS users, you better make a pretty good first impression – but between the very limited functionality (like not being able to search), the problems with capturing and playing video (audio out of synch) and the lack of worthwhile options (like muting your videos by default): all you did was give me all the more incentive to look forward to something else.

If Twitter seems unwilling or unable to quickly improve their app, I’m more than happy to spend time with an app that can.  Instagram is giving me most of what I’m looking for, with a bigger user base. I’m more than happy to put my video eggs in that basket.  That said, I hope this is a wake up call for Vine and Twitter, as great products come from competition.

 

Feedly updated with Cloud sync and app support ahead of Google Reader shutdown

When Google announced they were shuttering Reader, I remember freaking out as I drove home.  In terms of getting my information: Reader was where I got the majority of my news.  Given that I consume it on multiple computers, my phone and tablet, I was concerned about how I was going to be able to sync my feeds.  I began my quest looking for the replacement, and am happy to be living in the Feedly space.  They’ve really stepped up and have done a great job welcoming Google Reader refugees, and have been very open about their roadmap and where they want their product to go.  They don’t deliver the exact same functionality of Reader (yet), but they are a great alternative that will soon get there.  I previously thought I was going to be counting down the days until Reader was shutdown, but I’ve been so happy with Feedly that I’ve all but forgotten.

 

Falcon Pro removed from Google Play Store

I don’t use Falcon Pro (I’m more of a Twicca man), but this news is distressing nonetheless.  The way Twitter has turned the table against the developers – on whose backs they built their service on – irritates me to no end.  While Twitter’s app has greatly improved, it still lacks a ton of features that their advanced users – who also have used Twitter the longest – count on every day.  By relying on these apps early on, people like me learned how to use Twitter reading from oldest-to-newest, and have come to rely on Twicca for this continued experience.  This back & forth between developers and their apps need to stop. Just be satisfied that 80% of your mobile users are using your app, you don’t want to piss off the other 20% with stupid stuff like this.

The ridiculous new NFL bag policy

Jeromey Balderrama

Reacting to this story on ProFootballTalk: League alters bag policy for safety, convenience

What an absolutely stupid rule change.  It only becomes more obvious that the NFL doesn’t give a crap about the fan experience.  I love how their primary reason for this change is to reduce the wait times for fans entering the stadium.

I realize that NFL brass are used to going through their VIP entrances, so let me enlighten them on the typical fan experience: there are already express lines for fans who don’t bring bags to the games! The fans that do bring back already choose to sacrifice their time by standing in a longer line.

There are good reasons why fans choose to bring a bag:

  • Trying to gear up for a cold weather game. In Denver, there’s always at least 1 game that requires a multitude of blankets, layers and hand warmers.
  • You somehow have an aversion to paying $4 for a bottle of water, electing to bring in the same bottle that costs 1/10th as much – same is to be said for snacks.
  • You have young kids that require a diaper bag

The NFL can hide behind “safety” they want, but the reality of the situation is that bags cost the NFL money: be it in the form of additional security that screens them and lost revenue from outside food sales.  For them to claim safety being the issue is deplorable – they just want more Coin.  Let’s be honest: anyone who is looking to bring or do something terrible would already be causing plenty of damage outside of the stadium, or find another way in – just like how two random guys managed to wander their way into the Super Bowl.

I don’t blame the NFL for wanting to operate like the business they are, but I do take offense when they do it in the guise of safety, showing little regard for their customers.  I wonder if their “Fan Conduct Committee” actually includes any paying fans. It’s only a matter of time before the NFL’s customers grow tired of repeatedly being kicked in the ass.