alexhaefner

I don't think so. But this stuff is always in flux. I see irony as constructive - it intends to produce something. In the case of the author, writing from an ironic perspective was the best way to describe a feeling and emotion that would have been hard, if impossible, to capture otherwise.

Sarcasm is entirely destructive. It isn't comedy, and it isn't irony. I'm pigeonholing it into a very tight definition, but when sarcasm is used, it tends to be used as a way to put the person using it on a higher pedestal than whomever the sarcasm is directed at. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but think of times when someone acts in a sarcastic manner. It usually isn't funny, and it doesn't communicate a feeling, it's just meant to make a witty or kitschy point that is meant to bring the subject of the sarcasm down and elevate the person who is using sarcasm, his or her feeling of self worth.

Thanks again for writing this. You're writing about a feeling that I've experienced and can relate to, and I thought the piece was excellent. Great job.

Maybe I misunderstood this because of what books I have been reading lately, but I really enjoyed reading this piece as a piece of irony. Apparently the word irony, pre-14th century had more to do with an author writing an opinion he or she did not hold, as if he or she did hold it.

When I read this as if the author doesn't believe that life is wasting his time, but is being ironic, because the inherent flaw resides within himself, and not within life, then I find the piece to be a really, really interesting and an exposing and humble read.

I was really thinking about mobile in terms of hw acceleration and risks/benefits. See comments below.

Don't disagree that WebGL is faster at times, and more useful, just still a bit immature. And I started working on it about 2 years ago so I know WebGL has matured greatly in a short period of time, but until it reaches a mobile browser I still see it as a bit too early.

Then again you could take those same shaders from a WebGL program and port the game/logic to iOS and so that may be an inherent benefit I am missing out on.

I do understand it's a bit of a mixed bag :)

Yeah sorry I was actually replying with a mobile centric view in mind. If you want to build something that "just works", it's better to strip down the geometry as much as possible and target canvas2d. The iOS implementation of canvas is hw accelerated, for example. However, you would not be able to target iOS for WebGL as of right now. So if you're looking to make something that is accessible, I would advice against WebGL. Do you disagree?

If you just want to draw images into a canvas I don't see any benefits to using WebGL. You just lose cross browser compatibility. Most browsers have hardware accelerated rendering of 2d canvases. If you want to create unique shader effects, like blurs or masks or whatever, then there is definitely an argument to be made about the use of webgl.

Is there anywhere you detail your methods? I'm currently finishing up an appearance based hand detection method for a class and would be interested to read about your methods.

They also see that their product is an app store, and it is going to get eaten up in the next few years as desktop and mobile OSes converge around security models that will not let unsigned apps from outside the app store onto user devices. This is the same reason they are building out their platform on linux. It may be the largest change they will have to make as a company, to try and convert their entire business away from it's traditional roots as an app (game) store for windows, as windows 8 and further generations introduce tighter security and stricter requirements around app distribution.

The same goes for mac. I'm sure they realized the mac app store was going to kill their business on mac. In a few OS generations, unsigned apps will be unallowed except for the most power users.

Well, I'll try to keep my point simple. Our constant need to complain is corrosive. Visionary thinkers shaped our society for the next generation.

I didn't enjoy reading this since it was a large complain fest, and that is the corrosive thing that has made our government do nothing. If you imagine a future in which you have a government that is effective, that "does" things, somehow you are able to accomplish that goal. You need visionary thinkers, not complainers. And you have to offer up some idea of where you see the future of government, instead of complaining about how it does not do anything. The people who shaped our societies future knew the kind of society they wanted to live in. We rarely talk about what we want our society to look like, what we value as a society. Start talking about these things.

I agree with your assertions, and I'd like to bring a bit of rationale to this discussion rather than the "How can Apple be allowed to do this?" and other flamboyant language.

This is on Dropbox to fix, not Apple.

Imagine you provide a marketplace, and you curate that marketplace. And you say to customers who come to that marketplace "Don't worry, we're going to do everything we can to protect you from bad purchases". Then you say to sellers, "No deals behind closed doors. You want access to the marketplace? Sell out in public." Every time you use the iOS in app purchase API, Apple has a way to track the payment. Lets say the customer pays for a service inside of an app that never gets rendered. The customer can then contact Apple who can verify if the payment was processed, and can go about returning the customer's money while policing the marketplace. But if the purchase for a service rendered inside the app happens outside the app, then customers will have a much more difficult time getting recourse for making payments to a service provider (app maker) whose app doesn't work properly or doesn't provide the services that the user payed for.

Having said all that, Dropbox provided this API to developers. They should have built it to work inside these rules. They could let users create Dropbox accounts, they just would not be allowed to charge users from outside of an app for services that would then be rendered inside the app. It sucks, I know, but it's an important part of ensuring the quality of Apple's marketplace.

This is common, it's somewhat frustrating, but I've found that my way to deal with it has been to let others pad their credentials. It's a waste of time for me to worry about, it would be like worrying about the weather day-to-day when the issue is really climate change. i.e. this is a cultural problem that cannot be solved on a micro level.

We really want to build and sell stuff that our team has built, it's not about my ego, it's not about the self, we just want to build cool things that people want to use. I have had some very deep conversations with the person I work with and we relate in the sense that we don't care for this incessant ego-building that goes on in the world and especially around college. It doesn't serve you well in a lot of cases to have a large ego. Of course that's an over simplification, but the egos are rampant at college and I don't want anything to do with it.

Let them pad their credentials, while you go build something great and don't give a shit about that.

Can someone explain to me what this is (or was since it is no longer listed)?