General archive
Why Facebook might want to avoid volunteer translations
2008-08-13 12:30
I am not to be found on Facebook (in fact, I spent three days of mailing back and forth with them, before they wanted to accept that, yes, I really want to completely nuke my account). But via ITavisen I found out something curious about their Terms of Use
Facebook are now providing users with localized ToS, like this Norwegian translation. And they are apparently relying on volunteers to do this work. Which, if you are a soulless Web 2.0 company with a ToS that reads like lawyer porn, probably is a very bad idea.
The Google translation back into English will miss some nuances of what’s wrong with it, but it should be good enough. Skim the headings of that translation.
Did you find it? No, not the runs of untranslated text, but the big fat heading saying “Press if you’re a jerk”.
Yes, really. It really does say “Trykk hvis du er en dust”, which translates into “Click if you’re a jerk”. And it’s not the only brainfart here. The entire section on indemnity has been replaced with the following run of text:
Du lover å være snill og grei å følge alle regler for bruk av facebook
The wording is something you would typically find in children’s books, and translates to:
You promise to be a good boy or girl, and promise to follow every rule for use of Facebook
I could comment further, but I’ll let the one occurence of “Lalaala” accompany my giggle. Morale of the story is: Hire translators, and actually do some QA.
Why did you switch?
2008-06-19 23:33
In 2004, I asked my readers why they switched from IE
This question is worth repeating, but in a new context: Between 20 and 30% of my non-robot visitors are using an operating system other than Windows when visiting this site, and over the last 12 months, the Windows family of operating systems has seen a decline of over 2% of the visitor share to this site. I assume that many of these users once were Windows users, so I’d like to repeat the short set of questions:
- When did you switch?
- Which version of Windows did you switch from?
- Which OS did you switch to?
- Why did you switch to your current OS?
If you haven’t switched yet, but you’ve given it some thought, feel free to respond as well.
Dreamhost invitations
2008-06-09 21:39
I just received five Dreamhost invitations. What are they? Quite possibly the best deal possible if you are looking for shared web hosting:
- Dreamhost hosting is green, Carbon Neutral
- Invitation signups get four times the regular disk space for signups. That’s 2TB of disk space.
- Invitation signups also have four times monthly transfer. That’s 20TB. Which is, frankly, more than you’re going to be needing
- You’ll also be getting a $150 discount if you sign up for five years, bringing five years of hosting to $267. That’s less than what I initially paid ($382 for two years of hosting, back when I signed up a few years ago. Mind you, my net payment for Dreamhost is negative — the promo codes and signups have covered my hosting costs for a number of years now.
- Invitation signups for ten years of hosting enjoy a $200 discount, bringing it to $514. That’s about four nights of partying in Oslo.
- Dreamhost are also offering Google apps for your domain for free. In other words, use GMail for all of your mail, with your own domain.
As said in the beginning of the mail, I have fivefour invitations. The first five people who reply here with legitimate e-mail addresses receive a valid Dreamhost promo code that can be used during sign up. When all invitations are taken, my $79 discount promo code is still valid.
Nintendo: Marketing or gaming geniuses?
2008-05-28 15:25
Kotaku asks Wii Fit: Innovation in Gaming or Marketing?.
What I really don’t get is, is this an either/or question? I grew up in the eight- and sixteen-bit era, with games on the ZX81, Spectrum, C64 and Amiga. After the Amiga died, I grew up, and reluctantly had to get a PC, so did my enthusiasm for games.
Sure, I’ve occasionally played games on the PC. I loved Myst, Red Alert, Age of Mythology and liked the occasional FPS. But my interest in regular gaming has steadily declined over the years. Since I now have an actual life outside of computers and games, I simply don’t have the time or energy to sit down with games that takes days or weeks to master. I have an hour or two every now and then. I can’t sit awake and play Age of Conan until long after the cows have come home and are about to get milked and be sent off to the fields for the morning.
Not that I would have wanted to. Quoting trustygamer: I miss color. Note, this is about more than the actual color scheme. With many of the games I’ve seen over the last years, the mood the game creates is not one I want to be in. Gaming is, as noted above, casual entertainment. Which means I play when I want to put myself in a cheery, upbeat mode. I don’t play to become depressed.
Having said, there are occasional console games that I’ve found tempting, namely racing games like Forza Motorsport, or the upcoming Gran Turismo. But not nearly tempting enough. I haven’t walked out of a store carrying either an XBOX or PS3.
I have however walked out of a store with a DS. And a Wii. Well, actually, we have two DSes at home, and two Wiis.
Those two devices have changed my gaming habits from “Not playing games at all, except perhaps an occasional game on the web”, to “play whenever I have the time, and feel like it”.
Sure, Brain Age might not have the type of appeal that makes me sit for hours on end with the console. Games like Super Mario Galaxy or Wii Sports may not have the most photorealistic graphics, or a long-winded storyline. And that’s the point: These games have an instant-on, instant-off appeal. I can devote as much, or as little time as I want, and still enjoy playing. I don’t have to work on a controller-induced RSI to enjoy gaming on the Wii or DS.
Yesterday, I bought Wii Fit, set it up, and played it for something like fifteen minutes, before I went back to another activity. My girlfriend did not fall asleep on the couch watching me play. When she wanted to watch House instead, I could just shut down. I was not in the middle of a raid, I didn’t have a level to finish, and I didn’t feel deprived of anything because I stopped playing when someone needed me to stop playing. That’s the appeal: When you’ve turned thirty, gotten yourself a life, obligations and more important things in your life, different rules apply. Nintendo have managed to create a gaming experience that allows these gamers to play. That is both innovation in gaming. At the same time, the graphical expression, and the mood of the games is also highly retro: The color schemes are bright and cheery. This is where the “marketing” bit, or rather, the viral bit come in. The games look quirky, fun and simple to the casual gamer. It leaves the gamer with a feeling of “fun”, and they feel they can master, play and enjoy the game.
I’m going home soon, and I’ll quite probably play Wii Fit. And I’ll enjoy it, regardless of what some snot-nosed hardcore gamer may think.
Gone, baby, gone
2008-04-26 11:23
I just removed banner advertising from this site
(There is the odd static page with ads I still have to hunt down and hand-edit, but I will remove every ad here, and elsewhere I control)
Elsewhere
2008-04-04 13:24 – Leave a comment
If I'm not writing here, you can find me both over on Reddit and Twitter
Which of these is a superior product?
2008-04-03 11:22 – Three comments
... or: Which of these will get you laid?
How U.S. Customs and Border Protection are wasting American taxpayers' money
2008-02-07 19:36 – Six comments
There is a piece in Washington Post on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, detailing how U.S. agents are copying contents of electronic devices brought in to the U.S in the name of "homeland security". The problem, as always with this is that it does not improve security. At all.
Norway mandates open formats
2007-12-19 15:59 – 21 comments
Norway has now mandated the use of HTML, PDF and ODF for all public-facing public services from January 1st, 2009.
A User Javascript for improving Reddit
2007-10-16 15:37 – Three comments
A user Javascript to make some improvements to reddit
Radiohead: In Rainbows
2007-10-11 12:03 – Leave a comment
I'm not a big fan of Radiohead, but I bought their album, regardless.
Piracy - the less insulting choice
2007-09-17 17:18 – Two comments
Words fail me. The media industry is now trying to equate piracy with terrorism.
Opera Mini 4 beta out
2007-06-19 10:16 – Seven comments
The beta of Opera Mini 4 is out. I highly suggest you check it out, because it'll turn your world upside down. Or add another dimension to it.
Facespam
2007-06-01 11:18 – Leave a comment
Facespam:The act of trying to befriend strangers on "Facebook":http://www.facebook.com/ for the purpose of pursuing sales or other business "opportunities"
The Mac mirror
2007-05-09 08:52 – Three comments
Some rather ... innovative use of a laptop.
Feed consolidation
2007-03-21 11:39 – One comment
As a first step toward a major revamp of the site, I have started consolidating feeds.
Just gimme a good editor, dammit
2007-03-05 16:32 – 15 comments
I'm on the lookout for a new (Linux/Gnome) editor, for mainly working with editing angle brackets, JavaScript and Python. Can you help me?
Soliciting public feedback from me
2007-02-09 16:38 – Two comments
A bit about what you can expect if you solicit public feedback on Web 2.0 or .mobi based businesses from me.
Chat with Håkon Wium Lie
2007-02-06 09:59 – Leave a comment
Join an IRC chat session with Håkon Wium Lie
World's worst songs
2007-02-05 15:17 – One comment
Nine songs I truly and deeply hate
Fuel cells and airport security
2006-12-28 16:44 – One comment
How compatible is fuel cell technology with airport security
The species license
2006-12-08 10:39 – Leave a comment
Ok, this one's a bit over a year old, but did you know that the Daleks have an Opera species license
The sad state of media players, part II
2006-11-28 19:39 – Nine comments
A review of media players first suggested to me in "The sad state of media players, part I" - the state is not all sad. Here is the roundup of the good, the bad and the ugly.
The sad state of media players, part I
2006-11-26 09:39 – Ten comments
I've been looking for a media player/manager for Linux for some time. And during that time, I've become increasingly frustrated. Isn't there one such application that doesn't suck fiercly? In this first part of a two-part blog entry, I'll cover the requirements for a media player/manager.
Event Streaming in Web Browsers
2006-09-01 17:29 – Eight comments
One cool feature we added to Opera 9 is Server-Sent Events from the WHATWG Web Applications 1.0 specification. Using SSE you can push DOM events continously from your web server to the visitor's browser. This creates a lot of exciting opportunities for web application authors.
SimAquarium - Tranquility in a widget
2006-08-23 20:45 – Three comments
SimAquarium: Virtual fishbowl for your office.
The Digg effect is overrated
2006-07-03 12:55 – 14 comments
One of my old stories got dugg. Here are some numbers and thoughts: How many visits do you really get from being dugg? Which browsers do diggers use? Does Alexa rankings have any root in reality?
Opera 9
2006-06-20 10:26 – Seven comments
Opera 9 is out. Go get it: Widgets, BitTorrent, improved standards support
Doctor Who (Spoiler warning)
2006-05-21 10:56 – Two comments
If you are a Doctor Who fan, and don't watch the series on BBC, you might just want to stop reading now. Unless you like having part of your TV experience spoiled that is.
Why no DRM?
2006-05-18 18:20 – Five comments
After my last posting about Rockbox — Chris and other people have asked me what they should do with the...
Rockbox
2006-05-15 20:16 – Four comments
About Rockbox, a brilliant firmware replacement for the iPod and other music players
Microsoft censoring MSN Messenger conversations
2006-02-17 14:52 – One comment
Microsoft is monitoring the content of your MSN Messenger messages, and censoring certain of your messages, with so called "suspicous" content.
Conspiracy theorists, unite
2006-01-16 14:29 – Six comments
A bit about the Opera splash page discovered by Asa.
Why would anyone want a word processor?
2005-11-13 08:52 – Three comments
Tim Bray asks: "So, I understand why we still need spreadsheets and presentation packages, but assuming you had a Web editor with a good change tracker, why would anyone want a word processor any more?" I'm also wondering
Opera stand-up night
2005-09-02 09:00 – Two comments
Having to make your own parchment, ink, and quill, and then persuade elves to hide and retrieve your documents from their secret cave in the enchanted forest would be a major improvement to using vi to edit files on any computer system.
Rorschach
2005-08-29 15:48 – Four comments
Recently, I travelled long-distance by bus, and during a visit to the toilet I noticed a rather peculiar sign.
An "about" page
2005-08-23 13:57 – Two comments
I've added a (short) about page to the weblog.
Free, at last: Ubuntu Linux
2005-07-29 11:52 – Three comments
After having spent the better part of an evening sorting out problems with Windows Update, I decided enough was enough: I installed Ubuntu - and I'm happy with it.
Hey, Florence!
2005-07-27 21:13 – Three comments
Woman sues Take-Two Interactive over pixel humping.
R.I.P. RSS
2005-06-03 23:44 – Six comments
Rest in peace, RSS. Every feed on this site is now in the Atom format.
Apple and copyright violations
2005-04-06 11:53 – 50 comments
How Apple infringed on my copyright by including one of my copyrighted works into the source Darwin distribution, and carefully avoided even discussing having a license granted, so they could continue using it, rather than having to remove it.
Who owns the User Agent?
2005-03-20 01:50 – Three comments
A slight rant directed at the anti-autolink, anti-Greasemonkey, anti-user-control crowd. The web is a user space, not an author-space.
Newsfeed statistics
2005-03-09 23:56 – Leave a comment
Statistics on personal newsreader software used to access the newsfeeds on virtuelvis.com for the period March 1st to March 9th, 2005.
Commodore 64 DTV
2005-03-07 18:56 – Eight comments
The Commodore 64 DTV is the C64 recreated in the form of a Kempston joystick. Must have. I can't wait until the PAL version is ready.
All style and no substance
2005-02-17 15:42 – Seven comments
Bloggers block prevents me from writing anything sensible. Which means I'm going to let my bloggers block do it's work, and refrain from posting filler content. Read why.
Asbestos blogging and plain stupidity
2005-02-15 14:47 – Three comments
Michael Buffington pulled of the most successful troll in recorded Internet History with his Asbestos News blog, and you all bit.
Disturbing searches
2005-02-14 17:20 – One comment
A number of slightly disturbing, or weird searches coming from search engines
My experience with DreamHost
2005-02-14 14:31 – Two comments
In answer to a comment, I'm sharing my experiences with DreamHost so far.
Feed advertisements
2005-02-11 10:53 – Leave a comment
I am currently testing advertisements in the full-text newsfeeds on this site. The ads are all one-paragraph (or actually one-line) signature text ads at the bottom of selected entries.
Google Maps find Weapons of Mass Destruction
2005-02-08 21:20 – 15 comments
Google Maps find weapons of mass destruction, and more
Badly malformed
2005-02-06 15:43 – Six comments
A rare, personal report from one of my very rare nightclub visits. Drunk people, the stench of urine, sweat, perfume and alcohol. And even HTML.
Watching digital paint dry
2005-02-05 01:45 – Three comments
I have watched half an hour of "tail -f" output, in an effort to see just how bad the referer spam attempts were, and discovered interesting stuff about other people than the usual suspects.
Dear Tafjord Mimer customer at dsl206-45.adsl.no/213.184.206.45
2005-01-22 11:02 – Four comments
Dear Tafjord Mimer customer at dsl206-45.adsl.no/213.184.206.45. I need you to change your newsreader settings. It feels like stalking when you fetch my feed once every minute.
More international Apple pricing
2005-01-18 12:41 – Three comments
Comparing Apple "base prices" in the US, UK and Norway. The prices are before tax, but corrected for Apple's higher foreign margins, and any taxes added as a consequence of these margins.
Feeds moved
2005-01-15 19:00 – Four comments
I have moved the feeds around again, getting rid of file extensions. Readers are encouraged to change their subscription addresses - but doing so is not strictly required, as most aggregators will handle the redirection.
If you can read this ...
2005-01-14 13:43 – Four comments
I have just switched from a Norwegian hosting company to DreamHost, with their Code Monster plan with 7680MB disk space, and 192GB transfer per month, and these are my experiences with switching.
Changing my hosting?
2004-12-15 15:04 – Ten comments
Which hosting solution should I go with? DreamHost looks like they have the best plan, but are there others?
Quotations: Typographical conventions around the world
2004-12-02 00:20 – One comment
Wikipedia has an excellent roundup of typographical conventions for quotations around the world
MT won't empty my activity log
2004-02-26 20:41 – Leave a comment
On how Movable Type refuses to empty the activity log
If the world could decide
2004-02-10 02:18 – 30 comments
If it was up to the rest of the world, who would the next American president be?
Why you should read Terms of Services and Privacy Policies
2004-01-30 01:38 – 18 comments
Services such as Orkut want you to register extensive personal data. If you are going to sign up for such a service, reading the Terms of Service prior to doing so, might be a good idea
Nikken opposed to free speech
2004-01-27 17:49 – Four comments
Jarle Dahl Bergersen receives Cease & Decist for content on his weblog.
Why Linux has failed, and why Linux will fail again
2004-01-21 05:38 – 20 comments
I am writing this on a Linux box. Running RedHat-something. I personally may like Linux, but on the desktop, Linux has failed, and it will continue to fail. Here's why.
2003 site summary
2004-01-02 17:56 – One comment
2003 viewed from an access log perspective
2004 predicitions
2004-01-01 15:48 – Two comments
I’m making a list of 2004 predictions. On January 1. 2005, I would like nothing more than to look at...
Opera community revamped
2003-12-12 13:38 – Leave a comment
See the new and incredibly fresh Opera Community site
Aggregators and HTTP redirects
2003-11-15 22:14 – Leave a comment
I am in the process of reorganizing parts of this site. One of the things I would like to do...
Goodbye Bigpond-customers
2003-10-03 14:55 – Three comments
Certain customers of the Australian ISP bigpond are blocked from accessing this site, because the ISP does not respond to abuse complaints when their customers do mass refererrer spamming.
A month of silence
2003-09-30 16:32 – Leave a comment
Explaining a month of silence
Norwegian mosquitos
2003-08-14 19:45 – One comment
In Norway, mosquitos are the size of small aircraft, and drivers are cautioned not to collide with them.
MP3 and DivX
2003-07-23 17:02 – Seven comments
Would you buy more physical CD's and DVD's if they came bundled with high-quality MP3 and DivX versions?
New help files
2003-07-21 23:53 – Leave a comment
Description of the new help files at this site.
How personal is too personal?
2003-06-03 20:45 – Six comments
When should an author limit what he/she writes about in a blog?
404 and 410
2003-06-01 09:10 – One comment
Web sites should differentiate between HTTP errors 404 and 410. This site does.
ExtremeGeek
2003-05-30 22:30 – Leave a comment
Comment on an extremely sexist keyboard review at ExtremeTech.
MSN revisited… or not
2003-05-16 01:11 – One comment
Opera users are receiving HTTP/500 Server too busy at msn.com while users of other browsers can get in just fine.
Microsoft core fonts
2003-05-11 16:58 – One comment
The Microsoft Core Fonts are available for download on SourceForge, so that Linux users can view websites mostly as they were intended by the authors. The fonts are: Arial Unicode MS, Andale Mono, Courier, Comic Sans MS, Impact, Times New Roman, Trebuchet, Verdana and WebDings.
Comments
2003-04-15 15:46 – Two comments
HTML in comments is now permitted.
Does this being my thirtieth birthday mean that I have to write a token post, exclaiming my happiness over having lived for a relatively round number of years, or can I just ignore it and let the world go on in the same fashion it always has?
2003-04-08 13:35 – One comment
On turning 30.
MS on Linux
2003-04-01 08:27 – Eight comments
Microsoft have at least one employee using both Linux and Opera, as evidenced by my access log.
The rumours are true
2003-03-27 10:10 – One comment
About my (ex) girlfriend. She's still a terrific writer.
Uncle Sam wants to bomb you
2003-03-26 12:25 – Leave a comment
Norwegian musician Dan Hagen releases "Uncle Sam wants to bomb you" as a protest against the war in Iraq.
Changes
2003-03-10 20:12 – Leave a comment
About page added to virtuelvis.com
Google adwords on Slashdot?
2003-03-05 20:24 – Four comments
Slashdot has started running Google's AdSense advertisements.
Born-again phone
2003-03-01 18:22 – Leave a comment
The Ericsson phone that unexpectedly rose from the dead
Tonedeaf
2003-02-28 06:30 – Leave a comment
Wildtones allow users to create their personalized ringtones by singing to their phone.
Fuel for hatred
2003-02-20 12:38 – One comment
Usually, I'm not too eager on giving my opinions on political issues. Not because I don't have any, but because I usually prefer to keep political opinions to myself, until I can discuss it face to face with someone. Yet, I'm going to publicly announce my standing on the Iraq crisis.
Re: Design
2003-02-18 17:00 – Two comments
Summary of the latest virtuelvis.com redesign.
Redesigning
2003-02-13 11:35 – Leave a comment
The rationale behind redesigning virtuelvis.com.
Zealots
2003-02-10 08:00 – Two comments
Browser zealots scare people away from alternative browsers
Content theft
2003-02-04 01:59 – Three comments
How to deal with content theft when mod_rewrite is not available.
New New Deal
2003-02-01 00:46 – Leave a comment
Some highlights from New Deals TV advertising portfolio
Silently singing a song of accessibility
2003-01-31 23:36 – Leave a comment
Deaf man silently singing a song of accessibility
Hilarious
2003-01-30 16:29 – Two comments
New Deal does webpages that are so 1995 as marketing
A sort of welcome
2003-01-20 02:35 – Two comments
The mandatory "Welcome to my weblog" post and mission statement