Beatmania IIDX Heroic Verse First Play

The objective of attempting the remaining songs from IIDX Sinobuz and Cannon Ballers isn't over yet and I already attempted various Hardstyle, Hardcore and Trance related songs from those folders even before IIDX Heroic Verse came out. The menu where you select Single Play/Double Play was taken out as you can toggle between them in Music Select screen. Another good thing is the inclusion of language selection in Entry screen, similar to how Bishi Bashi Channel has when you start the game. As I was suggested to explore other music genres, I sort of did the same for Beatmania IIDX when browsing the song list. Needless to say, the weaknesses I have when it comes to Beatmania IIDX are still with me like I ended up failing various Level 8/9 songs.

Facebook app uploads system data from users' devices to servers without permission

According to the app researcher from Hong Kong, only the Android version seems to be doing the data collection of system libraries from users' devices to the servers without their consent. From the app, it has the component known as Global Library Collector and there doesn't seem to be a way to opt-out. The guilty pleasure may be the same as the Chromium Embedded Framework that powered various services like Steam and Epic Games Store which have some components that collected users' data although the company that manages Facebook was in hot water before over privacy violation and yet, the app on Android itself does the data collection even deeper.
Obviously, closing the Facebook account over privacy violation is bound to tear things apart. You still have current friends to keep track of as well as the Groups you're in and the Pages you've liked. There are even those who manage their Pages as well like they're public figures.
Who knows what Facebook will do to the data they've collected through the Android app? Plus, the lawsuits were already thrown to tech companies like Apple and Microsoft over privacy violation and to Microsoft and Facebook, it may seem that the backlashes and lawsuits have not been enough like the on-going famous privacy breach through Windows 10 as well as the extended privacy violation concerns over other products like the Xbox One Kinect, Cortana, Skype Translator and even Office 365. Microsoft had a reason regarding data collection for AI stuff but I don't know if Facebook has the proper reason for collecting data through their Android app.
It's a later news than the one about Microsoft's recent actions through the Xbox One Kinect, Cortana and Skype Translator and I don't know if Facebook will learn from their mistakes and put a stop to this illegal data collection. Also, the app on Android is a battery drainer through data collection and removing things that collect data may save you the bandwidth, disk space, and even battery life.

Iphone Airdrop related cases in Japan

In Japan, there have been cases of modesty outrage taking place in trains and things have been taking for the worst with one of the indecent words in Japanese language being added to foreign language dictionaries as one of the controversial additions. The netizens were not pleased with that word being added but I won't mention the exact word here so, the source link will be available at the end of this blog post to see that word there. Another problem is the usage of Airdrop for whatever malicious intents such as sending whatever obscene picture to any user which will appear in that user's phone as a thumbnail for instance.
Speaking of malicious intents through Airdrop, there may be multiple malicious ways and different kinds of malicious contents anyone can send to the victims. And the worse thing is, the photos may contain metadata such as your location and other private information which should be kept private. The bigger probem is, even if you disagree with whatever indecent photo that is sent to the victims, that photo may be in their phones that such damage cannot be undone.
To send and receive stuffs through Airdrop will require that you're in range of another user but what stinks about it is that even unknown users you don't know of may end up something bad to your phone. I don't know if they may send you something on your phones like it's part of a scam, threat or even trolling which is nearly impossible in person.
How can Apple prevent such cyber-criminal acts through the use of Airdrop on Iphones from happening? What if Android has the similar feature? Plus, there have been arrests made in various parts of Japan that are related to this crime that is an on-going problem. Lastly, when it comes to business use, I bet that Airdrop isn't quite recommended for the sake of privacy.

Source Article: https://soranews24.com/2019/08/24/japanese-man-changed-name-of-his-iphone-to-please-send-cat-pictures-and-it-worked/

Microsoft-hired contractors listening in through Xbox One Kinect, Cortana and Skype Translator

It appears that Microsoft isn't the only one involved in the recent privacy violation incident through the personal assistant service, like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, etc. Who knows the motive and reason behind this? Plus, you're going to disable Siri/Google Assistant on your mobile device over this situation, though?
To train the AI through data collection through various products like Cortana, Kinect and even Skype Translator engine seems to be a dangerous excuse or a lousy one. So, it looks like Microsoft might have lied or something that the Xbox One Kinect wouldn't collect data when the console was revealed at the time that the data collection thingy through Kinect resumed sometime later. I don't know if this may seem accurate or not but then again, who the hell uses Cortana on their computers and Xbox One anyway?
To disable Cortana completely from Windows 10 will be no easy feat even when there were feature changes in Windows 10 1903 update which separates Cortana and Search feature as well as the fact that Cortana will be on the Microsoft Store in the future. It may seem like an acceptable change but don't go asking us that don't we even use Cortana at all or something. The worse thing is, there's still lack of support for other unlisted countries but it shouldn't be difficult asking Cortana something in the same vein you ask Siri or Google Assistant which is obviously more popular.

Facial Recognition Technology at new Funan mall

Not counting Sim Lim Square, where else can I buy the replacement computer accessories by then? Plus, I shouldn't have delayed any further until the time the new Funan mall opened as I discovered the fact that of the implementation of facial recognition technology at the mall. It is said to be performing query searches on a customer in which various categories will be stored in the query results depending on their preference. So, if you want to buy computer stuffs for instance, mostly computer shops will be part of that query.
It's a shame that they had implemented that and supposedly, there are some stores that will provide replacement laptop power adapters at Sim Lim Square but I don't know which one has that and there's no guarantee that my previous computer will work correctly in the future with the replacement. There was a past time where I went to Funan Digitalife Mall to buy the laptop power adapter but it seemed that things have changed with the new Funan mall.
The implementation of facial recognition technology elsewhere was unspeakably controversial and people were demanding that idea to be scrapped as they were concerned of privacy violation, false accusation based on false database search and other technical errors that may occur due to inaccurate implementation. The technology implemented at the new Funan mall, I don't know. It's a shopping mall, I get it, but I don't know this may seem effective or not.

Ooblets Epic Game Store Controversy

Look, I cannot be mad or something over the fact that an indie game so good is released on the gaming platform that has been so controversial. Cuphead which is one of the indie games has extremely good presentation although it is an extremely hard game. The reason for mentioning it here is that it was first released on Xbox One as the console exclusive and the developers could plan to release it on other platforms if they wanted to. Fast forward to 2 years after Cuphead's release, there's the Switch version but that was obviously requested by Microsoft as a move to bring Xbox Live service to that console. Speaking of console exclusive, Ooblets was released to be released on Xbox One as the only console version. However, the big trouble began when it was announced to be Epic Games Store exclusive for PC.
To insult the consumers and gamers like the developers of Ooblets did was extremely offensive and they were already on Sidalpha's Dirty Developers list as a result. Not to mention that someone faked some evidence to frame the developers that caused various misunderstanding and even attracted their defenders and the defenders of the Epic Games Store platform. Calling gamers 'Entitled Babies/Children" or some other shit is what you'll attract more hate and it can ruin your reputation as a game developer whether you're professional or indie type. What makes the controversy worse? That is making political comparison and of course, thinking that consumers don't understand one particular thing or two or maybe thinking that consumers have bad attitude that they need to be "re-educated" or something. If there's an EVIL EDUCATION about Epic Games Store for consumers, I can imagine that the scummiest game developers may organize some lessons like that and if someone signs you up for some Attitude Reform style educational speech like the speaker there teaches you on how to LOVE such scummy gaming platforms, it's best to avoid attending that brainwashing bullshit or try to run away from the venue if backing out is available. Plus, what if some of THOSE CONSUMERS ARE PARENTS THEMSELVES, like they have their own children and the house owned by them, for instance?
I remember the time that PatTheNESPunk thought that the gamers were entitled to him over the Diablo Immortal announcement and he was thrown the amount of hate comments on that video about that. I also can remember the comments that say that "he is a shut-in dinosaur surrounded by toys" or something because of that video. WE HAVE CONCERNS about Free-To-Play mobile games that have Microtransactions and Loot Boxes as well as how controversial the Epic Games Store is! Plus, the harassment towards the developers of Ooblets has gone too far.
So, who are in the wrong in the end? Well, the game developers of Ooblets themselves for insulting consumers as a way to defend the announcement as well as those who have been harassing them. If you want to rant about something, do it with professional reasons. Don't just say that that particular product sucks or the other product is better than this one and that's it! That 's not criticism at all! And don't even try to make a useless troll comment to any game developers whose reputation is quite good either. I had seen those in the past and the backlash was caused as a result of them.

Tetris Effect on Epic Games Store - Controversial? (Updated)

We do have the on-going concerns regarding the on-going controversy of Epic Games Store and yet certain game developers have the guts to defend it like we have no proper manners, understanding or attitude or something. What if the shadiest of all want to come up with the Attitude Reform video about Epic Games Store or something? To me, that will be like brainwashing the hell out of people with that! Even if the name of the term is changed while the term does something evil to the gamers, we still won't be fooled for sure like Loot Box being renamed to Surprise Mechanics according to EA for instance. This is like denying the fact that there are gambling elements in video games or privacy violation in services or products like Epic Games Store and Windows 10 do with illegal data collection although the data collection thingy through Epic Games Store is due to some of the components from the Chromium-based browser or some sort which uses the Chromium Embedded Framework.
In case of Tetris Effect which came out first on Playstation 4 with VR support as one of the best VR games, the PC release via Epic Games Store had gotten the gamers angry or interested. However, Tetris Effect is not the only game made in Japan that will be released on Epic Games Store. Shenmue III has caused a bigger controversy than this when it comes to PC release. This is like an epic betrayal from YS.NET and Enhance Games or something that people may well go for the console version if that's the case. The console releases are not part of the controversy, however.