Rant: Thoughts about design and tech geeks

Okay, this is going to come off as petty to some, but it really irks me when people—especially in the tech media—think that something should change after a certain amount of time. This is even more true for things like operating systems.

I've already given my opinion on the tech media elsewhere. I think that, for the most part, they're idiots with an axe to grind, so they can get views and stir up their personal hornet nests to gather even larger audiences. I also believe they tend to be completely oblivious to anything outside of Silicon Valley and the tech elite, or that they just don't give a shit.

Now, with that out of the way, let me get to the point. I see so many geeks and tech media take the piss out of Apple, Microsoft, Google, and many others, just because they don't do major updates to something as often as they want.

This was especially true with Windows XP and OS X. I've seen complaints that the Luna design (Windows XP) was dated and a Fisher Price™ OS , and that OS X's skeuomorphic design was out of touch with what people wanted. Even Windows Vista and 7 got hate from some people for having the Aero Glass designs.

Yet, the return of Aero Glass was one of the most-requested features for Windows 10, before Microsoft's massive "fuck you" to fans as the UserVoice service was shut down. This was from mostly normal people, who aren't as tech savvy as the people who frequent sites like Windows Central and Thurrott.com .

For OS X, the skeuomorphic designs were seen as comforting for non-techies. The look of the faux leather and legal pad background for iOS and OS X's Notes app was a welcome sight, as was the design language of many other apps, such as the popped buttons of the window controls.

The problem is that, in the tech industry, geeks and tech media will always be the loudest when they don't get their way. Many of them have no qualms with stamping out the voices of non-geeks, so long as they see themselves as right on the internet.

Honestly, we need more tools to help non-geeks voice what they like about the applications and programs they're using, especially in a world where geeks would gladly cause a panic about anonymous telemetry just to keep such voices in the dark.

But hey, that's just my opinion on the matter.

Rant: Spam, APIs, and Openness

Spam... Spam pisses me off. It pisses everyone off. And the sites where I see it strike the hardest are those with open APIs. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and others are simply too open for their own good, so to speak.

One of my favourite social networks, Hatena Haiku, had to shut down their US service because of all of the Russian language spam that flooded the community. Almost all of it was phishing attacks in the form of unregulated soccer streams, with a few spear phishing attacks peppered throughout.

I see similar spam comments on YouTube, often imitating the very channel that owns the video they're posting the spam on. Channels like Markiplier and Game Theory will see giveaway spam posted in video comments, using their own names and avatars.

Then there's the Twitter spam. It's on a completely different level, using keyword searches to tag both users and tweets alike for replies and follows. Most of these spam accounts look like real accounts, except that they do nothing but throw out generated content. In most cases, the link in their profile leads to a phishing attack meant to hijack the user's account through OAuth.

The problem is the whole "public API access" issue. I hate to say it, but the only way to severely reduce the spam is to close the unrestricted access to those APIs. Put up more barriers to get tokens that allow for that sort of access. Even a mobile number doesn't seem to be enough.

And yes, it's completely possible for a person—or group of people—to be employed for this purpose. I'm fairly certain that's what happens on YouTube, Yahoo Groups, and many PHPbb forums. That's what moderators are for, though.

And with that, I'm done ranting.

My "Never Play" list of games

This is a portion of the list of games I've decided that I'll never play, for one reason or another.

• Mainline Pokémon games (I have no interest in competitive games, and that's all Pokémon has become these days).
• Pokken Tournament (I have no interest in fighting games due to the community)
• Super Smash Bros DS/WiiU (No interest in the game, as it's almost all hardcore competitive players)
• Undertale (I've seen the playthroughs, but I'm a completionist, and don't play games if I feel I can't complete them. Plus, the community...)
• Starcraft & Starcraft II (Blame the community)
• The Warcraft series (Again, blame the community)
• Fez (The creator. Enough said.)
• The Street Fighter series (Too competitive)
• Marvel Vs Capcom (Too competitive)
• Mass Effect Andromeda (Don't care anymore)
• Dragon Age (Because choice means nothing in a game about choices. You're an asshole no matter what)
• Defense of the Ancients (The community...Just the community)
• League of Legends (I still like the lore, but the community is still as toxic as DOTA)

Other games include a majority of fighting games, first-person shooters, MOBAs...Competitive games in general tend to go on my "Never Play" list simply because I find the communities become far to toxic and "pro" for me to enjoy them.

This isn't the full list, as I don't think my hand would survive writing that out. However, you can get the gist of my preferences here.