Now pointlessly enhanced with AI
Yet another round of spam purporting from “App Store Support” or “App Store Team”, complete with graphics directly linked from Apple’s own server.
Based on a few reports, this type of spam started making the round on Thursday, October 8, 2015. Anecdotally, all the reports come from users with mac.com emails.
Should you be getting this type of spam in your iCloud email, please forward the email as attachment to spam@icloud.com
Apple is set to release iOS 9 on Wednesday, September 16, 2015. One of iOS 9 features that gained a lot of attention is what many calls as “Ad-Blocking”.
Apple calls it Content Blocking Safari Extensions.
Content Blocking gives your extensions a fast and efficient way to block cookies, images, resources, pop-ups, and other content.
This would be the beginning of “Ad-Pocalypse”. Publishers should have realized that there are ways to display ads without alienating the readers. Irrelevant and annoying ads would only drive readers away. Extended page-loading time paired with clickbait-ads are disservice to the readers. Promise of of targeted-advertising are nothing but privacy-invading tracking system. One would wonder why a site would have the need for 16 different trackers and analytics.
Take a look at one of The Macalope’s columns at Macworld. There’s the “Promoted Links by Taboola” which is one of the most irrelevant ad-networks on the Internet. Then there’s a “Dell Latitude 11 3000 Series Laptop” ad. A Dell advertisement on an Apple/Mac-oriented site! Don’t forget the Amazon Affiliate link on the top of the screenshot. Three different monetization scheme in 2048-pixel span. There are a lot more in the post. Shame on you, Macworld!
Daring Fireball and The Loop are much smaller operations compared to others. What these two sites have done are good examples in presenting ads the right way. Remember that readers could easily walk away whenever they find sites being unfriendly.
Content-Blocking/Ad-Blocking will be the new gold rush in the Apple App Store. Watch for apps such as Crystal and Purify on the App Store,
The Ad-pocalypse is coming, at least to the iOS platform.
It is Wednesday, September 9, 2015. Apple is set to hold the “Hey Siri, give us a hint.” special event at 10:00 a.m. from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
I spoke to firstnameatappledotcom on Labor Day for about an hour. Not a single thing that I could repeat without spoiling the surprise. On the other hand, Major Obvious says:
- NO U2!
In keeping with the “9” theme (iOS 9, September 9), I was expecting some performance from a band with 9 members on the stage. Unfortunately they are not an-Apple-Special-Event-kind-of musical-guess.
Apple will be providing its own coverage of the event in the form of live stream and some kind of live blogging.
As usual, there will be sites covering the event live from the venue.
Live Coverage links:
Mark your calendar for Apple special event “Hey Siri, give us a hint.” on September 9, 2015. Apple will be providing live stream of the event.
Requirements: Live streaming uses Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology. HLS requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with Safari on iOS 7.0 or later, a Mac with Safari 6.0.5 or later on OS X v10.8.5 or later, or a PC with Edge on Windows 10. Streaming via Apple TV requires a second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 6.2 or later.
Edge on Windows 10, that’s interesting.
The event will take place at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco at 10:00 am.
The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is a 7000 capacity arena, as such it has several elevated tiers of seating around an open plan hall.
Now, who would be the musical guest for the event?
Alongside the new models of iPhone, Apple would be introducing expanded Siri functionality across multiple devices; at least that’s what firstnameatappledotcom hinted at.
Acorn 5 is out now and on sale for a limited time for $24.95.
Available through Flying Meat Store and Mac App Store.
I’ve been using Acorn and Pixelmator in lieu of Adobe Photoshop for cropping, touch-up and quick edit. One thing that I find pleasant about Acorn is that it has similar shortcut keys with Adobe Photoshop.
Acorn 5 requires OS X Yosemite (10.10) or later.
Acorn 5 would be the third time I purchased Acorn.
“People who work for ad-analytic-tracker infested websites shouldn’t complain about the browser.” First and foremost, this post would include fairly sizable graphics; but the total size is a lot less than any articles on The Verge. Take a look at The Verge article “The mobile web sucks”; one with ad-blocker and one without. 
There are a lot of Javascript loaded for just one page. 
I unapologetically have been using Ad-Blocker and Host File to prevent the Ads, Analytics and Trackers from being loaded.
