Your karma check for today...
2006-02-20 16:08:26.408023+01 by ebwolf 0 comments
I once wrote serialization code for a program Dan and I both worked on. Instead of a single point of failure, I made the routine allow different levels of functionality based on how well the serial code was cracked and spread the test code throughout the program. So, with an almost good serial (which was encoded with information printed on every report), you could start the software and go through the main menus. But you'd get a message when you tried to actually edit anything. With a slightly better serial, you'd be able to edit in some screens and not in others and get other odd messages - maybe even printed on reports.
It appears that Apple has done something similar with Mac OS-X for Intel. This is actually a great way for Apple to know if their software is being copied. Hide cute poems inside the OS that get displayed as you get deeper into hacking the system. Apple knows the hackers would start telling their friends and the meme would grow. I'm sure Steve Jobs is loving it!
On another front, I downloaded the desktop version of Goowy. It looks cool but still has a way to go. I get OS-X/Vista style user functionality on any desktop that can run Flash. What's missing are some basic UI things like window resizing. And a disk icon I can drop stuff into would be way cool. I suspect they'll be snatched up by Google any moment now...^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H...make that Microsoft... They are using ASP as the server backend.