Tag: Tech

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iOS 9: Ad-pocalypse Now

iOS 9 is coming

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!

Macworld Ad-infested

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.

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Hey Siri, give us a hint already!

Hey Siri, give us a hint. Apple Event 20150909

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:

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iOS 9 on the 9th of 9, 2015.

Hey Siri, give us a hint. Apple Event 20150909

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.

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Acorn 5

Acorn 1920x1080

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.

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The Verge, With and Without Ad-Blocker.

“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. The-Verge-with-and-without-ad-blocker There are a lot of Javascript loaded for just one page. The-Verge-Trackers-Analyticals-Ads-Javascript I unapologetically have been using Ad-Blocker and Host File to prevent the Ads, Analytics and Trackers from being loaded.

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Mobile Web and Glass Houses

Nilay Patel is wrong on the “The mobile web sucks” article he posted on the Verge.

Let’s take a look at the article itself.

In portrait mode, the site logo is on the top of the screen followed by a large ad. The title of the article is in the bottom half of the screen.

The Verge Mobile Web Sucks (Portrait)

In Landscape mode without the navigation bar, only part of the article title showed up on the screen.

The Verge Mobile Web Sucks (Landscape)

Let’s see how it looks with mobile Safari navigation bar. The title of the article doesn’t even show up on the screen.

The Verge Mobile Web Sucks (Landscape with navigation bar)

The fact is that The Verge is one bloated site, littered with ads and analytics. I generally avoid The Verge like a plague because of that.

Patel adds:

Now, I happen to work at a media company, and I happen to run a website that can be bloated and slow. Some of this is our fault: The Verge is ultra-complicated, we have huge images, and we serve ads from our own direct sales and a variety of programmatic networks. Our video player is annoying. (I swear a better one is coming, for real this time.) We could do a lot of things to make our site load faster, and we’re doing them.

Patel knows what the actual source of the problem, but he is trying to shift the blame to the web-browsers. If the square peg doesn’t fit the round hole, you should stop giving the peg paint jobs.

I unapologetically use ad-blocker and host-file to make my web-browsing experience better.