Web Excursions 2022-02-05
Apple Will Charge 27% Commission for Alternative Payment Systems in Netherlands | Hacker News
sircastor:
I’m willing to bet that when developers are able to sell directly without the 30% add on, that it’ll be a short time before they start selling at the same price and taking the 30% for themselves.
xuki:
Exactly. I didn’t see any indie developers drop their price when Apple reduced the commission to 15% for the first million.
ahiknsr:
[Commenting on the question “if consumers were sufficiently upset at the increased cost of apps on the Apple Store, wouldn't they change platforms?”]
Consumers are not aware of this problem. Apple doesn't allow apps to inform users about the 30% tax.
[According to The Verge,] "Apple blocked Facebook from informing users that Apple would collect 30 percent of in-app purchases made through a planned new feature, Facebook tells Reuters. Apple said the update violated an App Store rule that doesn’t let developers show “irrelevant” information to users."
Decommissioning 3G Networks: Impact on Consumer Devices
About every 10 years, a new generation of wireless technologies emerges
When providers migrate to next generation networks, they often decommission (i.e., shut off and dismantle) older, obsolete networks.
Around 2016, providers began planning to decommission their 3G networks and notify customers of decommissioning dates.
The dates varied by provider but generally ranged from February 2019 through early 2022.
consumers who have older (3G) devices have voiced concern to Members that once providers turn off 3G networks,
they will no longer be able to use their cell phones to access critical services, including 9-1-1.
In May 2021, the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) filed an emergency petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking it to direct AT&T to delay the discontinuance of its 3G data service until December 31, 2022.
Other industry and consumer groups filed comments in support of the petition
A challenge for Congress is deciding whether regulation of the decommissioning process or other actions are necessary to protect the ability of consumers to access critical communication services.
Stakeholder Views
AICC: “tens of millions” of Americans may be affected by loss of 3G services
School Bus Technologies
Connected Car Technologies
Court-Ordered Electronic Monitoring Devices
Rural Wireless Providers
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)
Manufacturers of Medical Alert Devices
Consumer Groups: According to Public Knowledge, research released in December 2019 “indicates that 15%-20% of wireless users are still primarily or entirely reliant on 3G for wireless service.”
Efforts to Transition Consumers and Devices
at the end of 2020, close to 6 million customers nationwide still needed upgrades
in 2022, industry officials report the number is closer to 1.5 million to 2 million customers.
FCC Authorities
Federal law (47 U.S.C §214) and the FCC’s implementing regulations (47 C.F.R. Part 63) prevent telephone companies from abruptly discontinuing, reducing, or impairing wireline telecommunications service without proper notice.
The FCC has forborne from applying Section 214 rules to wireless services.
AICC argued
the FCC has the authority to direct AT&T to delay its 3G network decommissioning,
since the action would promote safety of life and property, a key FCC function
the FCC has authority over AT&T as a “common carrier,”
subject to FCC regulations aimed at ensuring just and reasonable terms of services
(e.g., reasonable pricing rates, non-discriminatory practices).
AT&T asserts that
enterprise Internet of Things devices—home alarm systems, medical devices—are not common carrier services and
thus are exempt from FCC common carrier regulation.
‘Jeuje,’ ‘Zhoosh,’ ‘Zhuzh’: A Word of Many Spellings, and Meanings - The New York Times
“jeuje,” “zhoosh,” & “zhuzh”
However it’s spelled, the word is used to convey what is often hard to: the act of adding an extra something special, a little oomph, to a dish, hairdo, outfit or any number of things.
[e.g.,] When you fluff up pillows on your well-worn sofa, or turn your shirt sleeves up just-so, or sprinkle some spices over your morning eggs, you may be engaging in the art of the
[As for the origin,]
a few have placed their bets on Yiddish.
Others swear the term is Romani in origin, derived from the word “zhouzho,” meaning clean or neat.
And still others insist that it is an expressive formation, like “whoosh.”
The most interesting origin story is also the one with the most historical backing -- [that] the word can be traced to Polari,
“a secret form of language, used mostly by gay men, which flourished in the early 20th century” in the United Kingdom.
Some Polari terms are “back slang,” or existing words pronounced as if they were spelled backward
(“riah” for “hair,” for instance).
a 1977 article from the British newspaper Gay News: “We would zhoosh [‘fix’] our riahs [‘hair’], powder our eeks [‘faces’], climb into our bona [‘nice’] new drag [‘clothes’], don our batts [‘shoes’] and troll off [‘cruise’] to some bona bijou [‘nice, small’] bar.”
the word’s current resurgence can largely be attributed to that bastion of 21st-century gay culture,
“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” on which viewers delighted in Carson Kressley admonishing his hapless new subject to “jeuje” up an ensemble by popping a collar or rolling up a sleeve.
“It means to tweak it, making it better, giving it some personality, your own personal touch,”
In the 1950s it took an average of 35 years for a word, once coined, to qualify for entry in the Merriam Webster dictionary.
Today, it is just 11 — or less.
Ironically, when that day happens it might mark the end of the word’s appeal among the style-minded.