Every time I make a purchase on the iTunes Music Store either through iTunes on my PC, iTunes on my Mac, or iTunes on my iPod Touch, it seems – every single time – that Apple has changed the Terms of Service. So I click Buy on the song or app I want, I type in my password, then I’m presented with new terms of service and asked to agree to them, then told I need to try my purchase again.
I’m really getting tired of having to basically retry my purchase every damn time I buy something on that thing. You may as well have it crash every time – it’s just as time wasting.
Posted inGeneralon September 6th, 2010 by Craig Matthews
I’ve been silent on this issue for quite some time – mainly because of my belief that what I say on the Internet might be interpreted wrong and result in me not getting a job, friends getting pissed off or some other such nonsense. No longer.
Additionally, I am going to try and make an effort to point out this ridiculousness from now on publically, because the embarrassment to them is deserved. I’m simply tired of it.
I continue to become upset by the general inability of people to keep track of conversations they involve themselves in and who can’t seem to process simple logical constructs – skills that, as far as I know, are required to get out of high school.
Witness this conversation:
<Craig> I don’t think we have any free Wifi around where I live <prim8> no neighboors with unsecured networks? <Craig> I have plenty of those <Craig> those aren’t free <Craig> those are open
*Note: A distinction exists here. “Free Wifi” = Wifi offered for free use to the public. “Open Wifi” = Someone’s Wireless Access Point does not have a password. These are not the same thing. Saying they are the same thing is like saying an unlocked house with a sign saying “everyone come in” is the same as an unlocked house without such a sign. Additionally, anyone who involves themselves in a conversation about wifi should know the difference.
<prim8> no oil change/ coffee shops? <Craig> those aren’t free, you have to make purchases at Starbucks to use their Wifi, enforced by their Wifi authorization system. (*Note: Starbucks Wifi in this case is neither free nor open).
*Here’s where “NonMCSE” butts in:
<NonMCSE> They’re open, at no charge, and not illegal. How is that not free?
*Note: The only possible thing NonMCSE can be responding to here is the distinction I made between free WiFi and unsecured/open WiFi – he obviously thinks these things are the same. He must also think an unlocked car with a sign on it that says “free car” is the same as an unlocked car without that sign.
<Craig> NonMCSE: the law is stil unclear in my area regarding access to unsecured WAPs <Craig> the most recent case on the subject, at least in my area of the state/country, would seem to indicate that it would be considered against the law to use an unsecured WAP without permission.
*Note: It’s important to realize here that a business offering Free WiFi is giving permission and thus there is no possible way I can be referring to a business that is giving permission to use their WiFi. It’s right there in black and white.
<NonMCSE> The law is unclear on a lot of things. Again, WiFi provided by businesses who advertise "Free Wifi Access" are open, at no charge, and not illegal. How is that not free?
*Note: It is at this point where it should be obvious, even to a pre-school student, that NonMCSE is not actually reading the conversation he is involving himself with. NonMCSE actually thinks that I said that companies that offer Free Wifi are not offering Free Wifi!!
<Craig> At what point did I say that a business advertising "free wifi" wasn’t offering "free wifi" <Craig> I was asked about neighbors. <NonMCSE> Pedants R us called. They want their membership card back.
<NonMCSE> I don’t think we have any free Wifi around where I live <NonMCSE> Those are your words, not mine, jerkass. <Craig> that’s exactly what I said <Craig> I never said that a business offering free wifi wasn’t offering free wifi <Craig> you made that up * NonMCSE facepalms. <NonMCSE> Honest to fucking god… I do NOT have the patience for this today. <Craig> :shrug: if you can’t understand the conversation you involved yourself with, I apologize. <Craig> I get asked about neighbors unsecured wifi, and I answer that question and then you brought up businesses. <NonMCSE> And -your- presumption was I was talking about your neighbor’s wifi. How about trying to keep up?
*Note: NonMCSE’s last statement is of particular importance. I was asked a question specifically about neighbor’s unsecured WiFi. NonMCSE responded in rebuttal to that statement about neighbor’s unsecured WiFi. So yes, I assumed (foolishly, apparently), that he was actually responding to … what he was responding to.
<Craig> I was asked by prim8 about neighbors unsecured WiFi. I remarked about the law regarding unsecured wifi access to neighbor’s WAPs. You butted in and claimed I was making a statement about businesses offering free wifi <Craig> Is that not how it went down? <NonMCSE> Excuse me for offering a public comment on a public channel. What the fuck was I thinking?
<Craig> Obviously, I’m not discussing your ability to make a comment. You, for some reason, are angry because I answered your statement about business wifi, in response to my statement about neighbor’s wifi, by telling you that I wasn’t talking about businesses
Now, here’s a serious problem: I would not be surprised if at least 3/4ths of the people reading this are unable to parse the last statement I wrote just above, which is a concise explanation about exactly what happened during that conversation. It has too many commas and clauses. NonMCSE’s inability to correctly keep track of a conversation he involved himself with is not an isolated case.
Essentially, this conversation boiled down to something like this:
<prim8> So, there are no red Firetrucks in your area of Florida? <Craig> No, there are not. <NonMCSE> Bullshit, there are plenty of yellow fire trucks there. <Craig> I was asked about red firetrucks. <NonMCSE> Semantics!!!! And How DARE you assume I was responding to your statement about firetrucks!!! I was just making a random comment!
This is exactly the analog of the above conversation.
So – my question is – am I the only one that was required to know how to use my fucking brain to get out of high school? I’m not asking for rocket science. I’m not asking for the Grand Unified Theory. I’m not asking someone to solve the problem of putting more transistors on a smaller CPU.
I’m asking people to be literate. What the fuck is the problem?
Posted inGeneralon May 18th, 2010 by Craig Matthews
After my plea for a single-ear A2DP compatible Bluetooth Headset (other than the Jabra BT8040), within just a few hours, I received a call from my friend Shannon who runs the Making Android Mine site, who told me she had the perfect headset.
It’s the Motorola H17txt with MotoSpeak™. Not only does it fulfill both of my requirements (lightly lays on the ear and is A2DP compliant), but it also supports the free MotoSpeak application available for both Android and Blackberry phones, which will read your incoming text messages to you. I’ve been using it for a few days and it’s been rock solid. Also, it was very, very easy to pair with my Motorola Droid – all I had to do was turn it on.
I want to thank Shannon for both finding this for me and getting me a really good deal at the Verizon store from packaging it up with a couple of plastic phone covers.
Posted inGeneralon May 12th, 2010 by Craig Matthews
Here’s the situation:
I have an Android phone. It has Bluetooth. I have two applications on my phone: one that streams Shoutcast audio, and one called IHeartRadio. I use both of them to listen to talk radio. I also have a podcasting client. I obviously use that to listen to podcasts.
I don’t need stereo audio. I’m not listening to a symphony. I’m not listening to heavy metal. I’m not listening to techno. I’m listening to people talking.
So for reasons no one has adequately been able to explain to me, somehow transmitting the audio of a telephone call to a Bluetooth device is fundamentally technically different in some way from transmitting the audio of a monophonic podcast to a Bluetooth device. Don’t ask me why.
So, to listen to podcasts and talk radio, I need what’s called an A2DP compliant Bluetooth headset. Unfortunately, after searching all day, the only single ear A2DP compliant devices I’ve been able to find are a Plantronics model which is discontinued, and the Jabra BT8040 earpiece. I presently have the Jabra BT8040 earpiece and I don’t like it because it doesn’t lay in my ear like earbuds, but gets stuffed into my ear, held in place by the walls of my ear canal. This is painful after an hour or so.
Every other A2DP compliant device I’ve been able to find is a full on set of stereo headphones.
Does anyone out there know of a single-ear A2DP compliant headset so that I can listen to podcasts and talk radio?
CVV is a new authentication procedure established by credit card companies to further efforts towards reducing fraud for internet transactions. It consists of requiring a card holder to enter the CVV number in at transaction time to verify that the card is on hand.The CVV code is a security feature for "card not present" transactions (e.g., Internet transactions), and now appears on most (but not all) major credit and debit cards. This new feature is a three- or four-digit code which provides a cryptographic check of the information embossed on the card. Therefore, the CVV code is not part of the card number itself.
The CVV code helps ascertain that the customer placing the order actually possesses the credit/debit card and that the card account is legitimate. Each credit card company has its own name for the CVV code, but it functions the same for all major card types. (VISA refers to the code as CVV2, MasterCard calls it CVC2, and American Express calls it CID.)
Question:
Do credit card thieves have an inborn genetic predisposition to not stealing the CVV number when they steal the rest of your card information? Unless they do, I don’t see how this helps.
![[Bloglines]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Slashdot]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/slashdot.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://www.craigjmatthews.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)