Category: Linkblog

Tim Bray on the Deadness of OAuth 2:

[..] when­ever I get into a con­ver­sa­tion with some­one on the En­ter­prise side, even when I think I un­der­stand the prob­lem do­main, I lose the plot, and fast. The re­quire­ments these peo­ple claim to have around both au­then­ti­ca­tion and au­tho­riza­tion are so ar­cane and sub­tle and legacy-laden that you have to be a full-time pro­fes­sional to even un­der­stand them.
Also, some of them seem to exist to serve goals that seem to me like a good rea­son to short the stock of any com­pany want­ing that shit.
Maybe it’s just that I don’t un­der­stand, which usu­ally seems to be the case when I get into this ter­ri­tory. On the other hand, maybe they’re Doing It Wrong.

And this isn’t only the case for things like OAuth.

BBC News — Norway prepares for killings anniversary:

There have been no changes to the law to increase the powers of the police and security services, terrorism legislation remains the same and there have been no special provisions made for the trial of suspected terrorists.

On the streets of Oslo, CCTV cameras are still a comparatively rare sight and the police can only carry weapons after getting special permission.

Even the gate leading to the parliament building in the heart of Oslo remains open and unguarded.

"It is still easy to get access to parliament and we hope it will stay that way, " said Lise Christoffersen, a Labour party MP.

She is convinced people do not want laws passed which would curtail their basic rights and impinge on their privacy despite the relative ease with which Breivik was able to plan and carry out his attacks.

Compare that to your experience when trying to get on a plane.

Antone Gonsalves on Apple's Brilliant Boondoggle: MacBook Pro Retina Display:

Only Apple could get away with charging a $400 premium for a feature that no one needs, few people will notice, doesn’t work with most apps, and was not on anyone’s wish list until the company announced it last month.

Apple’s ultra high-resolution Retina display may be a valuable innovation on the iPhone and iPad – but it’s a solution in search of a problem on the MacBook Pro. Until Apple unveiled the new machine at its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, no one thought the resolution on current MacBook Pros was insufficient.

I’m sure it’s an honest mistake and he just forgot to embed this video.

Update: And now, there’s even more.

Language Switcher for OS X:

Have you ever wondered what your favourite apps look like in another language? Normally the only way to do this is to change the entire system’s language. But now, with Language Switcher, you can open any of your applications in any of its localisations – at least 15 for most Apple software – without changing anything else.

Matt Brian and Matthew Panzarino for The Next Web:

Earlier today a method came to light that allows Apple device users to ‘purchase’ any kind of in-app content for free. The content can be obtained without “hacking” the device and cannot be prevented by developers using Apple’s recommended receipt signing procedures, as has been widely suggested.

All you need to know about the issue. Don’t give your data to some russian hacker.

Dave Caolo’s Minimized – My favorite apps at their smallest:

I use Apple’s 11” MacBook Air, so screen real estate is precious to me. When I saw Ged Maheux tweet this image from Gavin Nelson, comparing the relative size of three minimized Twitter clients, I wondered about other apps. With that in mind, I’ve minimized the main window of the apps I use most often. I also took a screenshot to represent how they look on MacBook Air’s small screen. Let’s get started.

Nice collection of how apps look on the rather small screen of a 11″ MacBook Air.