Posts by Kimo

It's only Contempt of Court if it comes from the Contempt region of California. Otherwise it is Sparkling Disobeying the Spirit if not the Letter of a Court Order.

After last year, Zoom is high on the list of real-time applications.

Re: A long way still to go

A significant number of survivors have long-term health problems including breathing and neurological problems.

Re: A long way still to go

This happened to a degree. my wife, who does in-home elder care, was able to get vaccinated before it was widely available. her employer was given a web portal to register appointments.

Re: Wind farms

Which wouldn't be as much of a problem if the Texas grid could draw power from the Great Lakes or the Southwest. Texas is a big state with several weather zones, so they seldom have a state-wide problem of this magnitude. They intentionally bet on that when the grid was designed. Once in a while they lose.

Re: Probably insignificant when offset against the days they are working optimally

Out in West Texas, it can get damn cold for weeks at a time. I have seen few things sadder than ducks in Lubbock standing around on a pond waiting for it to thaw.

Re: Don't suck the joy out of everything

There is, however, a Federal budget item for Air Force One. It can be both a designation for the plane the President is currently in and a specific conversion of a 747 200B.

Re: Don't suck the joy out of everything

Yes and no. There are two planes that rotate the Air Force One designation (both 747-200Bs). There are a number of aircraft used by cabinet members and the first family that are nearly as secure as AF1, including the 757 that is usually used for Vice President Penis or the First Lady. The landing notice mentions a 757.

If the President were on board your Cessna, it would be AF1. But it would have to be fitted with enough security and communication gear that it would be rendered inoperable. Any airplane carrying the President is AF1, but the President does not fly on just any airplane.

Re: Don't suck the joy out of everything

The information points to a smaller plane than Air Force One. Could be Melania making her break.

Re: Anti-Trust

If you play Fortnite on Playstation or XBox, you can buy in app currency anywhere and spend it in the game. If you play on iOS, you can only get in game currency from Apple. PC and console games do not perpetually tie in game purchases to their store.

Re: Monopolistic behaviour

The inability to negotiate can be used as evidence that Apple has a monopoly and is abusing it. If there were competition, Apple would have to bargain to keep apps on their store.

I honestly think Epic’s proposed remedy will include opening up third party app stores on iOS (and that is why they took the more difficult route of suing Apple and Google separately). They already have a working app store on PC with a payment system that undercuts Steam and they can offer devs using Unreal a simple route to publishing and payment.

Re: Hot tip for gamblers

While I hope Epic prevails, it is only because smaller devs would benefit from a more reasonable fee structure and potentially other ways to get their content out.

Re: The “Apple take 30%” thing is a lie

In an earlier ruling, the judge did indicate that while 30% sounds high, 0% is clearly too low. I expect a lot of discovery will focus on the true cost of running the big 2 app stores and the actual value to developers. There is a serious chance that common sense will prevail. And be overturned on appeal.

Re: Microsoft Has anyone else noticed...

Apple does have a monopoly on iOS devices, a market that is worth more than the Android market (I recall Epic saying 60%of their mobile revenue is through Apple). The critical battle of this suit will be defining the market, and Epic will point to Apple restrictions on transferring in app purchases between platforms as creating a distinct market.

Re: A few pertinent questions....

Epic already has a working PC store with secure payments.

Re: I hope Epic have the balls to stay the course

Their lead attorney was the head of antitrust under the Obama administration. They are paying top dollar for lawyers, and they have enough in cash reserves to pursue this case.

But the iOS store makes twice as much in revenue as the Google Play store. Determining if it is a monopoly will be a tricky legal question, and probably will make or break this case.

Re: Only 30% ?

Epic has their own store on PC. I am certain that their acceptable remedies will include allowing Epic to offer their store on iOS.

Re: And they're right

You are not bound if the contract terms are onerous. Epic has a better suit against Apple then Google, as there is no way to get an app on an iOS device for a typical user except through the app store.

I have never personally burned down a building to resolve a support ticket, but well done, sir, well done.