beeper bob's infectious buffalo
Hello. Let's start with a story!
Have you been following the Beeper Mini drama this week?! An app came out on Tuesday that let Android devices communicate over iMessage: Introducing Beeper Mini - get blue bubbles on Android 💙. I installed it and was super impressed by the onboarding experience. It worked easily, immediately, and seamlessly.
I don't want to write too much about how awful Apple's walled garden is. I also don't want to talk about how it's even more awful that some iMessage users see "green texts" as a status symbol. Luckily, most of my friends don't care much about that. I was just happy that I could improve our messaging experience while sticking it to Apple at the same time.
But that changed when Apple figured out a way to cut off access. That led to Beeper removing the iMessage connection & telling users to be on the lookout for a fix soon. Then Apple released a statement about it saying they care about their user's security. Beeper responded (in the same article) by saying that if they cared about security, they'd help their users stop using SMS, which is inherently insecure, by allowing the Beeper Mini service to continue. And Senator Elizabeth Warren agrees with that argument.
It was fun while it lasted. I hope that Beeper Mini works again soon. And if not, hopefully Apple's upcoming RCS changes will make the Android interoperability a bit less excruciating.
I have no idea how I should format these emails. Does anyone have any suggestions? Here's your typical bulleted content:
- I got COVID for the first time this week! I'm already feeling mostly better (thanks to vaccines). Check out how much more solid my third-day-of-symptoms test was compared to my first day:
- Did you know "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically correct sentence?
- I can't help it; I love video essays. Here's a 4 hour video that exposes the overwhelming plagiarism of some major YouTube channels: Plagiarism and You(Tube).
- I still don't know how semicolons work. Did I use it right in the last bullet?
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Here's some more
weirdgreat YouTube content:- Reviews On Hi-Fi and Tech, Based Purely On Knob Feel: youtube.com/@KnobFeel
- 4 Hours on a Norwegian Train: 4k CAB VIEW: Train Plows Through Winter Blizzard Like A Boss
- I can feel myself slowly growing more interested in niche retro gaming handhelds. Have you seen the Analogue Pocket or the ANBERNIC RG35XX Plus? Of course you haven't. You probably like normal things like golf and chicken broth. These devices are tickling the same itch that synthesizers have historically satisfied for me. I fear it may be too late to prevent total infection. I... I just want to experience Pokemon again. Please. I just want to watch Sandshrew evolve in a limited color palette one more time.
- What the hell happened to Thesaurus.com? I noticed a UX revamp while looking up synonyms of "satisfied" for the last bullet. It's much worse now. Does anyone have a connection with the folks over there? I have feedback.
OK. Bye.