Communicating with the e-book mothership. If the latest must-read on Kindle is dotted with typos or has a few pages missing, there’s a good chance Amazon offers a patch to correct the error. It’s a handy Internet-enabled functionality, although one can imagine at the extreme authors continuing to update their work ad infinitum, making it impossible for a reader to say he or she has read an e-book since content is always subject to change. Information flows in the other direction on the Kindle superhighway too, as Amazon apparently keeps track of what readers are highlighting. There’s some creep factor in Amazon knowing what ideas Kindle readers think are important, even if the most highlighted passages are in works as deep as The Lost Symbol. But the information is also so interesting.

The remote control. In April, Sony quietly revised the End User License Agreement that came with the latest PS3 firmware update to allow the company to change how an owner’s console operates in whatever way it wants, no notice or permission required. Now the FCC, at the request of the MPAA, has given cable and satellite providers the right to remotely disable output connections on consumers’ set-top boxes, leading consumers to ask “What did I buy?”

Curated Computing is the new name in town for the experience provided by the tablet non-PC. This particular term is meant to accentuate the “less choice, more relevance” aspects of that experience. It rolls off the tongue more smoothly than “contingently generative” and sounds less regressive than an “appliance,” but it connotes somewhat life aboard the Axiom. However, its proponents suggest that curated computing devices are meant to exist alongside and supplement traditional PCs. Let’s call that a worthy goal and the best of both worlds.

iPhone pillow talk with Steve Jobs. A ValleyWag reporter last week exchanged late-night emails with a defiant Steve Jobs on the iPhone’s ability to give people “freedom from” data theft, battery hogs, and porn. The emails speak for themselves, giving a little insight into Jobs’ perspective on the benefits and aims of the iPhone. He gets a little snarky at the end, but then again it’s 2am when he’s responding, and he never has a chance to clarify his comments, unlike the Gawker reporter.

Android outsells iPhone. During the first quarter of 2010, phones with the Android OS grabbed 28% of the U.S. market share, surpassing iPhone’s 21% (RIM’s Blackberry is still at the top with 36%).  Although Android benefited from Verizon’s buy-one-phone-get-one-free promotion and iPhone continues to lead worldwide, it appears Google is getting closer in Apple’s rearview mirror.

McAfee prevents computers from booting up in new virus-protection strategy. Centralizing security software in a few big providers concentrates expertise to solve problems, while also meaning that there are only a few–albeit strong–security systems the bad guys need to breach in order to wreak widespread havoc.  But in a previously under-appreciated risk, a flawed update of widely-used antivirus software can cut out the middleman and accomplish the same havoc directly.  A McAfee software update mistakenly identified a critical file as a virus and quarantined it, causing computers around the world, many of which automatically install updates, to repeatedly attempt to boot up.  One source estimated that 800,000 PCs were affected.

Taking [re-]generativity seriously. A Connecticut mayor donated her kidney to a Facebook friend last month after seeing his desperate status update.  The patient’s doctor had suggested that he try publicizing his need through social media, using an online connection to a forge a real-world bond.

Android Market Badly Needs A Web Presence to Compete with the App Store. Jason Kincaid argues that, while there are fewer Android apps than iPhone apps, a better web system for browsing and choosing apps could really help Android. I think he’s right that Google could think creatively about how to push the Market past (or at least toward) the App Store, but he admits that the big caveat is that 90% of apps are bought over-the-air, not via the web.

Apple Approves “Tits & Boobies” and “Pussy Lovers” Apps. Apple’s app reviewers try to figure out what to do with a “tits & boobies” app that shows pictures of the birds of that name. “One thing is clear to me: Nobody is ever going to be happy with this process, which I’m afraid will remain imperfect forever.”

Inside India’s CAPTCHA-solving economy. One huge aspect of ubiquitous human computing is sending menial computing tasks abroad; the social and economic implications of that, obviously, are potentially enormous. This piece is a good description of the market for CAPTCHA-solving work in India, where the going rate for 1000 captchas is $2.

Google Rests Its Defense of Executives in Italian Privacy Case. Some of you may have been following this case—Google executives in Italy are being prosecuted for allowing a video of students bullying an autistic teenager to remain on Youtube. The video stayed online for two months, but was removed almost immediately when Google employees were alerted to its presence. Google rested its case a few days ago; a verdict is expected in January or February. None of the executives faces jail time, because they don’t have criminal records. But if they’re convicted, it will be interesting to see what Google decides to do with its future Italian operations.

Cellphone Encryption Code Is Divulged. A German engineer claims to have broken the code used to encrypt GSM phone calls, or 80% of the world’s mobile calls. There are steps between breaking the code and actually intercepting and deciphering calls, but this is the big step. He says he’s only “trying to push operators to adopt better security measures for mobile phone calls”—measures which exist, but haven’t been implemented.

—By Elisabeth Oppenheimer

The Google Phone, Unlocked. Google is introducing a branded smartphone running the Android OS. Interestingly, it’s an unlocked phone, although because it’s GSM, it can only run on T-Mobile and AT&T in the US. I wonder if it will be subsidized by the carriers; if not, it could be a first step in helping break the carrier-subsidy model—discussed in this slightly out-of-date paper. Of course, even the iPhone couldn’t make it unsubsidized.

This Dumb Decade: The 87 Lamest Moments in Tech, 2000-2009. Not so much the future of the internet, but the recent past. Many of the recent lame moments have been covered in this blog (Danger Sidekick phones lose users’ data for weeks; Apple rejects Google Voice; Amazon removes 1984 from the Kindle). The old stuff is fun. I didn’t know that Facebook donated $9.5 million to a privacy-education foundation after the Beacon fiasco.

Obama to Name Howard Schmidt as Cybersecurity Coordinator, President Obama appoints Howard Schmidt, who also worked for President Bush, as his cybersecurity coordinator. Good to see that the administration is taking cybersecurity seriously, although they’re really looking at a different problem than the book discusses—threats to military and commercial infrastructure, rather than users’ endpoints and experiences.

Taxi Hack. A website allows users to criticize or praise service from specific taxi drivers, identified by medallion or license number. This has echoes of a future imagined in Chapter 9 of the book—you see a taxi, you punch in the number, and you have the driver’s digital reputation before you step into the cab (or choose not to).  (Hat tip: Emily Brill.)

Piqqem. A website crowd-sources stock picks. Of course, crowd-sourcing is all over the internet, but it seems it would be particularly treacherous if this website were subverted—say, by a company ordering its employees to vote its stock up.

—By Elisabeth Oppenheimer and JZ

The Month of Apple Bugs. For one month, researchers released information every day on different bugs that infect Apple products (OS X, Safari, apps for Macs, etc.). They say they’ve found public release gets quicker results than “responsible disclosure” (i.e., just telling the vendor). That’s one model for cybersecurity…

There’s lots of coverage out there about the Supernova conference, “a forum to examine all of the opportunities and challenges created in the Network Age.” Here’s JZ’s talk (starting around minute 29) and a good text summary, along with some reactions:

Pondering a Rogue Cloud wonders what government and industry pressures cloud computing providers will face.

Beware the Rise of Closed Platforms “But further, Vogels [Amazon CTO] said that users should feel comfortable trusting Amazon because the company’s mission is to be a ‘customer-centric company.’ Which seemed to be exactly Zittrain’s point.”

Cloud Computing an Option for Disaster Recovery Vogels discusses one of the big upsides of cloud computing—your data might be safer. We’ve discussed this topic here.

And bonus JZ links: a talk at Singularity University on Civic Technologies and the Internet, and an interview with Amanda Congdon on cloud computing (with spooky music).

—By Elisabeth Oppenheimer

Generative Irrelevancy. Tim Sturgill considers Google’s video touting Chrome OS. He worries that it may be the “final nail…in the generative coffin,” but he also sees the virtue of moving beyond traditional OSes. See also JZ’s take on Chrome OS.

iDroid App Rejcted by Apple. Well, duh. Apple rejects an app that essentially just displays an ad for the Droid smartphone. “I kinda have to side with Apple on this one, although I think it would have been smarter for them to let the app through.”

iPhone or Droid. xkcd on the debate between the iPhone and the Droid.

iPhone upgrades – A One-way Control-Freak If you don’t like an update to the iPhone OS and want to revert to an earlier version, it’s going to be tricky. “We’re being told that such control is for our own good … [B]ut there are many of us who would prefer the freedom to take our own chances.”

App Rejections iPhone app developer starts a blog chronicling reasons for app rejections or slow acceptances, with the reasons for the decisions, in the hopes of helping people figure out “what you can (and can’t!) get away with.”

—By Elisabeth Oppenheimer

Apple:

Apple says a staff member tests every submission for technical issues like bugs and unauthorized protocols. More holistically, they look for signs that an app might “degrade the core experience of the iPhone” (as they worried Google Voice might?)—a sort of unquantifiable factor. The FCC also asked Apple for a list of rejected apps and the reasons for the rejections. Apple listed several, none of which I’d ever heard of, which were all bounced for unimpeachable reasons—crashed during loading, displayed sexual content without a 17+ rating, etc.

The approval staff consists of around 40-full time reviewers, two of whom review each app. Given the 8500 new or updated apps Apple claims to receive each week, that means each app gets about 5.5 minutes of attention (40 hours in a week, divided by 8500 apps split between 40 people, divided by two since each is looked at twice). No wonder it’s hard to get everything done perfectly. I just continue to wonder how this system will scale. 40FT employees is nothing to scoff at, but those employees are overwhelmed now and the number of apps is just going to keep increasing.

Google:

Google doesn’t have staff reviewing Android apps when they’re submitted; instead, they perform a “limited automated analysis” to identify technical issues with loading and running the program. Once an application is in the Market, users have the ability to red-flag it. Some unspecified number of flags triggers review by a live person. The app can be taken down if it violates anything in the developer agreement; Google says it’s taken down about 1% of apps posted, mostly for adult content and copyright violations. That number is much higher than I would have thought—I’ve heard almost nothing about apps being removed from the Market.

I’m curious whether Apple’s in-person testing for bugs catches significantly more than Google’s automated screen.

As a bonus, some info on Symbian’s process. Symbian doesn’t get as much attention from the blog world—much of its market is international, and it’s not associated with a high-profile phone like the iPhone—but it’s installed on almost half of the world’s mobile phones and so is a big player. According to a Symbian spokesperson, apps are tested automatically for viruses, then “random samples” are tested by an employee before going live. This came up recently because a Chinese firm developed an SMS worm that infected phones running the Symbian OS. Users were sent a message inviting them to click a link within the text; that downloaded the worm, and sent similar messages to every contact in the user’s phone, racking up fees for all those texts. (It’s not clear to me whether this was totally malicious or if the firm had some way of making money off the scheme. I haven’t seen anything to suggest they had any kind of deal with the carrier.)

The Symbian story points out why it’ll be crucial for Apple and Google to get this process right. People are going to start writing viruses for phones—that happens whenever there’s a market to exploit. The question will be if those companies can keep malware off the phones, and how consumers will respond if they can’t.

—By Elisabeth Oppenheimer

The Android Developer TOS specifically provided that

“Google enters into distribution agreements with device manufacturers and Authorized Carriers to place the Market software client application for the Market on Devices. These distribution agreements may require the involuntary removal of Products in violation of the Device manufacturer’s or Authorized Carrier’s terms of service.”

and T-Mobile’s terms of service forbid tethering, so Google pulled the app per the TOS. (What will happen, though, if carrier that doesn’t forbid tethering comes out with an Android-based phone? Why shouldn’t those people be able to access the phone in the Market?) You might remember that Apple also quickly yanked a tethering app, NetShare, that upset AT&T.

The big difference between Android phones and iPhones, of course, is that Android users can go to third-party developers’ websites and download the app directly. Maybe users sophisticated enough to use tethering apps are also sophisticated enough to move beyond the Market, or maybe other big aggregator sites will pop up. Or maybe people will actually be motivated to seek out these apps by the uproar when they’re pulled. Or maybe apps not in the Market will wither away.

As I read the TOS, Google could use its kill switch to yank back even those apps downloaded from third-party websites, but I haven’t heard of that happening yet.

So it looks like what we’re seeing from Google is a relatively heavy hand in the Market and a light hand outside of it. The question is what users will do with that.

—By Elisabeth Oppenheimer