Beyond The Obvious

Some years ago every new device came with its own charger - a unique one. Even different devices from the same manufacturer.

Now it seems that manufacturers have eventually agreed that it is possible to get away with just one charger - the one supplying USB voltage. Yeah, sometimes you need more than usual, sometimes can't figure whether it is upside down or downside up, the struggle (or a lag) between Mini and Micro is not yet over.

But still, every bleeping device comes with its own charger - now a USB charger. I have more USB chargers now than a small African country needs, and they keep coming, and coming, and coming.

I wonder when is this going to stop.

Android Market Trend: Greed

There was abundance of good Android applications on Android Market from the very beginning, when it was free. Then, paid applications showed up, and "Pro" and "Donate" apps started appearing.

Then, developers realized that the fact that there's been 250k downloads for the free app doesn't necessarily mean that there will be at least 10k downloads for the paid app, you're lucky if you get 10 - sometimes it's the user's greed, sometimes it's just the fact that the app is good enough as free, but doesn't withstand any criticism as paid, and paying for it is mostly a honor of recognition thing.

Then, the developers got greedy and started silently removing features from free applications and offering them only with paid versions thereof. Take into account the fact that you can't downgrade the application on Android (and I suspect that you can't even hold upgrading, Market does it for you automatically if you keep ignoring the notification long enough).

My prediction is that it's going to backfire, this way or that.

Yes, I know that it sucks that people are willing to take your work for free, but don't want to pay (I am a software engineer as well, remember?).

However, whereas more expensive objects' acquisition is decided upon the price and the merits, the price here is so low, it's immaterial in comparison with impression. And if you're pulling features out of your free stuff - not only you're not allowing new Android Market users to see the benefits of it, you're also creating the impression of racket. You're betraying my trust into you, and taking away what you already gave me.

You are not irreplaceable. Even if I was considering making a donation worth a few minutes of my time (longer to process the transaction than to earn it), I'm not considering it anymore. There will be others that will fill the gap created by you, and they will do it better than you and possibly cheaper than you, for they'll learn on your mistakes.

Play nice, will ya?

Ban Them Already

The rumors are, Arizona Considers Ditching Speed Cameras.

Well, long overdue.

The Valley Of The Sun is a funny place.

Within a week of arrival back in 2000, I had to negotiate a kneehole desk that materialized in the middle of I-10 as I was driving down. Within another week, I saw a TV news report about a massive pileup on I-17 which was caused by a truck that lost a love seat. Countless times, I saw pool guys sending plastic buckets, usually filled with the tools of the trade, flying over the interstate, understandably, into windshields of cars following them. Once I saw a bucketful of groceries spilled at the intersection of 7th St & Thunderbird Rd. I've lost three windshields to rocks, two of them on two new cars within a month from the moment they were bought. People get injured by garden tools flying off gardeners' trucks. A woman died few years ago, impaled on a steel pipe that catapulted from the eighteen wheeler in front of her car.

At the same time, I had to deal with the attitude of drivers, which, while being totally cool in comparison, to, say, drivers elsewhere, is not quite, should I say, respectful, or, should I say, thoughtful - and to add insult to injury, cellphones seem to be surgically implanted into their hands and skulls.

So, what do I find now that the Valley is full of cameras, in addition to all the drivers?

Same crappy drivers.
Driving down same crappy roads.
Having same crappy driving etiquette, and attention span of a one year old.

Only this time, not only I have to watch for them, and the obstacles they create, but I have to also watch the cameras - because the design speed of the Valley roads is somewhere north of 80, and the speed limits, you know, were conveniently lowered from 65 to 55.

I don't know where those people got the idea that if you make crappy drivers drive slower, they will be driving safer. No, they still drive crappy. Just slower. Taking away the irreplaceable time of my life, one mile per hour at a time.

In other parts of the world there is a superstition - those whose deeds are criticized. hiccup every time it happens. I believe that had that been true, the people responsible for speed camera installation would have died of respiratory failure by now.

UPDATE: corrected the link.

UPDATE 2: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 5-2 to recommend approval of House Bill 2106, which would force the removal of the cameras now installed on Interstate 10, Loop 101 and other highways. DO NOT RUSH YET, though, because it has to be voted by full House first. Update will follow promptly.