September 2007 Archives

O2 will carry the iPhone in the UK, with unlimited data plans and access to the wifi hotspots of The Cloud. Clever, except... they're not present in France, ah!

Methink that within six months of presence in Europe, Apple will have to go away with those exclusive deals, and adapt to the diverse network operators. It's both too complicated for them in a fragmented market and completely unappealing for consumers. Reminder: it's against the law in France to lock a device to an operator for more than six months.

Somehow my resistance to the urge of buying one when it comes in France is slowly building up into considering the iPod touch and waiting for the 3G version of the iPhone.

There’s a whole class of recent switchers who define “Apple fanboy” as “anyone who’s been an enthusiastic Mac user since before I switched to the Mac”.

John Gruber, making fun of new switcher Mark Cuban.

ROTFL :-))

Fascinating stuff to read if you're in the business of handling login credentials on a server:

• Never store passwords in a database!
• You're Probably Storing Passwords Incorrectly
• Enough With The Rainbow Tables: What You Need To Know About Secure Password Schemes

Quick thoughts:

• Don't use the same password everywhere, at the very minimum use a unique one for your online bank account!
• The exploding trend in social software of asking people for their credentials to check if they've got "friends" around is not just leading to social spam, it's helping phishing as well. Plus having credentials floating in the clear on the cloud from servers to servers doesn't inspire security, does it? Well, when you know it takes only a chocolate bar, what can you do anyway?
• If a web service you're using is capable of emailing your forgotten password back in the clear (in the clear!), you can only assume that its security is plain crap. The right way should be to reset your password (and only after you've clicked on a link sent to your legitimate email address, or at least some challenge question, so that no one can lock you out by just knowing your login name.)

Last week, I received a social spam from Quechup sent to... a private mailing-list! An obvious sign that Quechup was blindly spamming someone's entire webmail address book. A couple days later, I saw bloggers complaining about Quechup social spamming. And today I received this by email from an acquaintance who's a new victim of Quechup social spam bot:

Dear friends,

I'm really sorry about the Quechup spamming invitation.
They asked me to connect to my Gmail account to check which of my contacts were already on Quechup.
I never gave them the permission to send invitations for me, I never do and will never do it massively, I know how we are already so much spammed.
I received an invite to test this service from someone I trust but I'm not using it anymore, this site is totally useless.
Again I'm really sorry
Best regards

Worst word of mouth you can get. I hope Quechup and other stupid social spammers get the point. Doing this will only harm your own business.

P.S. two days and counting, Quechup bashing continues to increase on the web. Read/Write Web recommends to stay away from Quechup. For Boing Boing Quechup is rotten. Spammers can use scams to fool punters because they can take the money and run, changing domains at anytime. When you're trying to establish yourself as a social network, you can't ruin your name and reputation like that. Judging from the buzz they're getting (and deservedly so), it's clear that what Quechup has done is business suicide.

I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon.

Steve Jobs in an open letter to all iPhone owners, offering them $100 after cutting down the price of the 8 GB iPhone from $599 to $399 (-33%) just two months after introducing it.

I believe this makes room in the product roadmap for a 3G version, just in time for its European launch. Some analysts think so too. It would allow Apple to sell both versions everywhere, thus indifferenciating US and Europe models, as they do with iPods (in terms of hardware, firmware vary to accommodate local regulations and commercial agreements).

The iPod touch is exciting. I've got a chance to play with an iPhone and the UI is simply amazing. With the spread of free WiFi networks all over cities, the idea of having a usable internet device blended with the iPod in my pocket is appealing (much much more than the iTunes WiFi feature, I haven't bought anything on iTunes ever). Except for one obvious and frustrating thing: it's missing email! Considering how hackers reacted with the iPhone, you can bet the iPod touch will open a hacking fiesta that will eventually force Apple to open that platform to developers. How long before someone imports the mobile Mail client that's on the iPhone onto the iPod touch? Without the excuse of bogging some mobile operator network down, this is a damn good question.

Also, with an Apple internet device now starting at $299, expect the multiplication of "iPhone/iPod touch optimized" web sites (is your web site ready for the future?).

P.S. Ah ah: New iPod touch could do iPhone apps.

My two blogs simultaneously crossed a symbolic milestone today, with just 1000 entries each! It was not planned, I just saw the count on the MT menu and realized the coincidence. In December, my first blog in English will turn 5 years old. The French one turned 4 last month. Both gathered exactly 7600 comments as of today, which gives me the warm feeling that this blog discussion thing worked out quite well (though the French are really more vocal, up to their reputation :D).

Thanks for your attention :-)