CNN.com updated their site today. I can’t run their videos on any of my browsers under XP (IE, Firefox, Safari), except Opera, which is the only one that seems to work. Anyone else with the same problem? IE 7 asked me to install an ActiveX control (was that really needed?), I did, but still no cake (even after modifying the security zone for IE).

I like it. I think that it’s a really nice device and when (and if) the unlocked 3G versions starts to rolling on, it will be even more successful than it already is. I plan to buy an (if/when) unlocked one, when v2.0 comes out that might support third party apps.

Of course, there are things to be added in the next major revision of the OS, like a file picker, cut/copy/paste support, send files via bluetooth, A2DP/AVRCP/PAN/LAP (no need to have modem support for laptops, the PAN solution is cleaner), Flash, speed dial (?), UPnP, internet radio, iChat AV, sound recorder, video recording, Tasks and maybe T6 support like this one.

Funnily, there are no games included in the iPhone, not a single simple finger-friendly game. IMO, they should ship with one or two. Java games on other cellphones are very popular, which shows that people would indeed like to play games when they have nothing better to do or when they are awaiting for a bus/train. I don’t believe that Apple should port J2ME on the iPhone, because 99% of these Java games are not only not designed for touchscreens, but they won’t operate on a non-buttoned environment. I have touchscreen phones myself (from many different companies), and the vast majority of the games don’t work, and the situation would be even worse in the iPhone that has even fewer control buttons and higher resolution screen. New kinds of games will have to be designed for the iPhone — in addition to a hardware accessory that plugs on the bottom and adds the necessary buttons.

Regarding the hardware, a better headphone jack placement, removable battery, GPS, video-call camera, flashlight for the back camera, and maybe a move to a standard mini-USB connector and an FM radio would be nice too.

Regarding MMS, I don’t think that Apple will ever add the feature. You see, email is a better solution, and MMS was always seen like “mobile email”. Thing is, Apple does not want to do anything “mobile”, which would mean “crippled”. Apple will try to kill MMS — and that’s a good thing. Not only because the MMS implementations suck throughout carriers, but by eliminating it, you eliminate one more thing that a carrier can drag you down with.

Overall, I am impressed so far with the iPhone, for a v1.0 product. I will have my bar higher for v2.0 though.

Here is a very nicely done short movie. Apparently, they were accused of plagiarism, because an older Twilight Zone episode had a similar plot. I wrote in the past how difficult it is to create “new” things anymore. And it’s going to be even more difficult as time goes by.

This is getting worse. I am pretty sure that this is not what the forefathers of this land had in mind when they wrote down the constitution. While a “virtual” world is not THIS world, by using this “tool”, I feel MANIPULATED, because the results of this “tool” can and will be used against me. I want governments to do what’s right for the people, not how to engineer ways on how to police every little thing in the world.

What’s next? “Your next shit dump must happen at 7:36 AM precisely?”

Gnothi seauton. Truth is, I don’t fit in with most people, and I don’t agree with most of them either. In fact, I can clearly see myself as a 70-year old woman in the future whom the neighbors would perceive as an “old, crazy witch”.

Here is just one of the reasons why I don’t quite like humans. Because if they own something, if they made a commitment to something, they force themselves to think that it was the right choice. They make themselves believe that what they have works well, even if it doesn’t. They find comfort in a LIE, because they can’t live with themselves of doing a “mistake” for purchasing a not-that-perfect product.

Maybe I am a perfectionist. Maybe my bar is too high. Or, maybe I am just not a fucking drone. Whatever the reason, I can’t stand how most people would defend their software/hardware. It makes me sick. It’s the main reason why older OSNews readers couldn’t stand my review articles: because I would find lots of (obvious) flaws on their beloved software and they wouldn’t want their perfect little Utopian world to come to pieces.

Yes, my bar is always high. I accept nothing less than a near-perfect product. iMovie and the iPod do come close to perfection although I wouldn’t give my life to protect their name and integrity like others do. Yes, Outlook Express is close too in fact, despite its anti-hype. But the Sony Vegas Movie Studio 7a Platinum SUCKS. Version 8 is much better.

It’s things like this that really piss me off here in USA. There are laws for daily things that make me feel USA is a “policed nation”. In Greece, if you want to take a picture, you just take a picture. If you want to shoot an amateur movie, you just go and shoot your movie. If you want to put a tripod on the ground, you just do so.

I like USA, but there are some things that really irritate me, like such small freedoms that elsewhere are taken for granted but don’t exist anymore here. I am pretty sure that Greece will be the same in 50-60 years from now, but the question is once again: where the world is coming to? Why complicate the world for no good reason?

How more stupidity can exist in the world? Here you have a person robbing another person THINKING that he got an iphone (he didn’t), another guy snagging an iphone in front of a live TV camera, and the MAYOR of a big city waiting in line for hours to get a bloody iPhone — like he didn’t have anything better to do.

Where the hell is the world coming in to?

Dear Santa Claus,
for Christmas I would like my own drone. I can give up my 15 cellphones as an exchange if necessary.

Love,
Eugenia

A Sony Ericsson P990i arrived today, expect a review on OSNews soon. It runs UIQ 3.0 but it will be tested with a firmware version released just a few days ago.

I also got a pair of Logitech A2DP Bluetooth stereo headphones and a 2 GB Mstick Micro M2. Only to find out that the P990i actually only accepts Mstick Duo Pro.

Update: What do you know… The M2 comes with a DuoPro adapter…

Our discussion about web-based TV series went well over at DVXUser. Recently YouTube announced some more sharing-revenue deals while I did a bit more research on Revver, which has been paying directors since last October for 40-20-40 on the videos that include their commercials. That’s 40% for the director, 40% for Revver and 20% for any sharer who links to the video.

Eventually, most of the biggest video sharing sites will pay for content, but there is a new problem arising. For example, if you are having an exclusive deal with Revver, or if you only personally manage the top-5 video sharing sites, there are always the people who will rip your video and post it elsewhere without the appropriate code. For example, if a user rips your Revver video and posts it on YouTube (even if it might already exist on YouTube or not), neither you or Revver will get the ads revenue. Eventually, because revenue sharing will be a big thing in the next few years, individuals will be hunted down not by the MPAA or the RIAA, but from other, fellow internet users and maybe the video sharing sites themselves.

The only way to go around the problem is to stay on top of your game for the top-10 video sharing sites and sell DVDs and higher-res versions of your videos on your own site (although Torrent will have a toll too on your newfound business if you are successful). It’s gonna hurt, and for the first time kids will feel how the MPAA feels right now. Nevertheless, you will need about 9 million views (on several different video sharing sites) to make about $50,000, and that’s not an easy feat.