Kevin C. @kcoram@librem.one

https://makezine.com/2020/03/20/your-sewing-skills-are-needed-in-the-fight-against-covid-19/

#COVID19 #maker #doityourself #sewing

I still think it is pretty inexcusable. A core bit of OS functionality should not be at the mercy of whether or not some backend service is up and running. The online piece(s) of it might go down, but the local search functionality should still work! There is no excuse for the whole search window to render as nothing more than a solid black rectangle.

According to a Slashdot article that I just read, the problems with Windows Search have been resolved, with no need for everyone to edit their registries.

The problem was, in fact, Bing. For reasons only known to Microsoft, the Windows Search functionality apparently uses the Bing backend – even for doing local searches. There was a service outage today, which caused the frustrating black screen to appear.

https://kevin.thecorams.net/posts/2020/02/windows-search-down-update/

Windows Search down for many

TL;DR: The issue is reportedly related to Bing, and the “fix” being suggested involves using RegEdit to disable Bing integration. Not for the faint of heart!

It's also pretty inexcusable . . .

https://kevin.thecorams.net/posts/2020/02/windows-search-down/

#Windows

I really shouldn't laugh so much at someone else's misfortune or frustration. Still, as a 20+ year software developer, I have to wonder why anyone would have expected the plan to use a brand new “app” to count votes for the Iowa caucus to actually work out. It is never a good idea to make the first real-world use of a new application be something important and so publicly visible.

https://kevin.thecorams.net/posts/2020/02/iowa-caucus-app/

#IACaucus

The cost is there, however. It is paid in privacy, in attention, in the bits and bytes of our data caps being nibbled away, in electricity, in time . . . .

It is time to start looking for better ways.

On the flip side, people have finite amounts of time and money. People want information, entertainment, etc. People are reluctant to pay for access to websites, especially since most people are paying for their Internet access in the first place.

Advertising fills in the gap, providing money to run the websites, pay for the content and the software . . . and apparently at little to no cost to relucant people unable or unwilling to pay monetarily.

https://kevin.thecorams.net/posts/2020/01/therein-lies-the-rub/

The tagline of https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/browser_security_enigma/ reads:

Brave, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla gather together to talk web privacy… and why we all shouldn't get too much of it
Browser makers keep coming back to the need to please advertisers

And therein lies the rub.

Websites cost money to run. Content costs money to create. Software, such as web browsers, cost time and frequently money to create and maintain.

As the saying goes, “there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.”

My webmention link: https://kevin.thecorams.net/posts/2020/01/developer_skills/

Great article on software projects in the real world: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-hero-developer-who-knew-how-to-build-lego-bricks/

#software #development