Those APIs that will be shut down include the Blog Search API, Books Data API, Books Javascript API, Image Search API, News Search API, Patent Search API, Safe Browsing API (v1 only), Translate API, Transliterate API, Video Search API, and Virtual Keyboard API.
It’s a shame that there’s no way for developers who were depending on these APIs to pay to continue using them.
When I wrote about SourceTree, I mentioned that I wanted a Git client that could search the content of the changed source lines. Gitbox can do this. It integrates with various diff-viewing tools, but unfortunately it relies on them. You cannot even see a quick preview of the changes (or, in this case, search matches) within the application. It also uses a faux-iOS scrollbar thumb that was difficult for me to drag.
At the moment, the Amazon Mac Downloads Store isn’t nearly as impressive as the Mac App Store, but Amazon has a great deal of retailing experience and has shown the patience necessary to build up a market. In a year or so, the Mac Downloads Store could be a credible way to find and purchase a wide variety of Mac software.
As a user, I like that it’s fully accessible from a Web browser. I can open tabs, copy and paste, find within the page, etc. Similarly, it’s much more pleasant to shop for Kindle books and Amazon Instant Video than to use Apple’s restrictive iBooks and iTunes Store interfaces.
Online crime falls mostly into four categories: self-spreading malware (like viruses); malware that attacks vulnerable Web browsers when you visit a site (drive-by attacks); malware that tricks you into installing it (like Mac Defender); and online scams and Web attacks that don’t hack your computer (eBay scams, phishing, search-result poisoning, and so on). Macs are still unlikely to see the first or fully-automated versions of the second. Mac users have always faced the fourth. But as our numbers grow, it’s only natural we will see more of the third.
I think most longtime Mac users have experienced that installing anti-virus software causes far more problems it solves, so it’s ironic that in this case it still seems to be true. Not worrying about malware would have protected you from Mac Defender.
Dave Cahill (via Hacker News):
The recent Carbonite IPO filing, and related S1 documentation, has opened the kimono on the economics of online backup. Until now opportunities to get a real handle on the business model of the online storage/file sharing business have been limited. Vendors, both new and old, are happy to provide customer adoption metrics and the number of objects/files stored as an indicator of uptake. But extrapolating more precise details about the business model has been nothing more than “fun with numbers”. Fortunately for us, Carbonite’s S1 filing (shown here) is chock full of data points and financial metrics that enable a much deeper glimpse into the economics (or lack thereof) of this business. The data seems to reveal a stark contrast between the traditional online backup model and that of the newer generation of “freemium” file protection/sharing services like Dropbox.
