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EVERY STORY HAS A NAME

FiftyThree’s story began with Paper. What began with three guys building an app out of a New York City apartment has gone on to become one of the most celebrated applications on iOS, defining mobile creativity and winning Apple’s 2012 iPad App of the Year. Paper embodied our belief that technology should support the human need to create. It’s a beautifully simple app that lets anyone capture their ideas and share them over the web. For millions of creators around the world, Paper is where they call home for their ideas—100 million, in fact, over the last two years. Paper has come to represent endless creative potential, and we couldn’t have asked for a better beginning to our story.

Stories have twists.

So it came as a surprise when we learned on January 30th with everyone else that Facebook was announcing an app with the same name—Paper. Not only were we confused but so were our customers (twitter) and press (1,2,3,4). Was this the same Paper? Nope. Had FiftyThree been acquired? Definitely not. Then, what’s going on?

We reached out to Facebook about the confusion their app was creating, and they apologized for not contacting us sooner. But an earnest apology should come with a remedy.

Stories reveal character.

There’s a simple fix here. We think Facebook can apply the same degree of thought they put into the app into building a brand name of their own. An app about stories shouldn’t start with someone else’s story. Facebook should stop using our brand name.

On a personal level we have many ties to Facebook. Many friends, former students and colleagues are doing good work at Facebook. One of Facebook’s board members is an investor in FiftyThree. We’re a Facebook developer, and Paper supports sharing to Facebook where close to 500,000 original pages have been shared. Connections run deep.

What will Facebook’s story be? Will they be the corporate giant who bullies their developers? Or be agile, recognize a mistake, and fix it? Is it “Move fast and break things” or “Move fast and make things”?

We’re all storytellers. And we show care for each other by caring for our stories. Thanks for supporting us.

Georg Petschnigg Co-Founder and CEO FiftyThree

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Google: The monster you should avoid

A firm knows everything about you. Everything such as where do you live, what do you like, what you know & what you want to know, the places you visit, also the things which I forgot to mention here. The same firm has the largest internet cable network in the world & recently they also setup the largest artificial intelligence research lab. Well, if this was not enough to scare you then I should mention that now they have acquired the ‘Robotics firm’ which used to manufacture robots for military purpose. Oh yes if you guessed Google then you are totally right; Google the not so evil company with all the evil tactics. I mention evil tactics because a decade ago we saw the movie Terminator where machines took control of the world to destroy the human race. Looking at the facts I just mentioned, Google is becoming nothing less than a kind of monster.

I mean, just imagine if those machines develop some bug, & launch an attack, then where would you go? I don’t think you know a place that Google doesn’t know, your contacts that may be unfamiliar to that tech giant. In short you won’t be having many options. Ok. Blame me for fantasizing too much or being a hypocrite who loves the other side (I am for sure a MSFT fan) but what about the possibility that this firm won’t mind taking the control in their hands?

Ok, let’s talk in simpler terms. They do spy on us, collect our data whenever we use any of their services or any of their products (yes Android & Chrome top that list) then sell it to other firms to make money or write some algorithm using it to sell us products which we hardly need. Well, till this point they might not sound evil, because if they would not sell this data then how they will earn their bread & butter(their 97% revenues are based on that) but can someone really explain buying a firm that produces military size robots(we are talking about Boston Dynamics here). Someone told me they are a software firm & even I believed people till I saw their malicious browser Chrome making people fool & collecting their data. Well, not only data but also their activities. Then I read news that they are making a driverless car! Yes folks the driverless car that is running on roads since last five years, searching for the very purpose for building it. Well what kind of software firm does that? In any case they don’t buy firms which build robots that can make human race a history. I know, few uninformed supporters of Google will come up debating the usefulness of those robots, but how can they be useful to Google? I’m not thinking the possibility of making people use Google products & get killed but I should mention that those robots are quite capable of doing that.

Thus far, we were talking about something we know, but what about that Google barge that is still a mystery? So people please wake up! Stop feeding that monster. I’m not against using free services they offer but what about the costs that you pay by letting them intrude into your personal stuff? Even you know that they are not here for charity, that they will offer you a browser, mail, Smartphone OS, a search engine & a plethora of services without charging a single penny, they must be making money somehow, & if you have doubts then have a look at their stocks. Just realize what is in the making & don’t get Scroogled, & if you have even a bit of doubt then just explain how Google ads in your mail box know so every single bit about you ?

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The kitKat Gone Sour

Oh yes, i was a fan of Kitkat & really loved it's taste like few other billion people but the announcement from Google about it's new version of Android that will be called as Kitkat has really turned the taste tables for me. I know i will sound a bit stereotype to even hate their name but when you are touted as the innovation Firm then there is something more expected from you unlike giving name to your OS's on behalf of the desserts.

Well there is no doubt that i have always hated Google & its Lagdroid OS & always loved my favorite Chocolate Kitkat to the core but from now on i won't be able to do the same. Just like when a lover gets the idea of being cheated by his counterpart then it trenches & echoes to the very soul of that person sending vibes of heart shattering that's what i felt when Kitkat was announced as the name for their new lagdroid OS. 

I know by now folks will be wondering why i hate goggle & its lagdroid or as they call it Android OS maybe its because that im a loyal MSFT user or fan to be precise. but that's not enough, there is more to it & that thing is when Dumb folks come to you with even dumber Phone in their hands & call themselves smartphone users. Agreed that you have a number of apps & users too but can someone really give me the figure that how many apps from them are worth using or doesn't send your phone crashing or lagging as it's name suggest the lagdroid. People might call it jealousy but i will be fair in saying that there is nothing to cheer about the Android OS & it's Kitkat version except the number of users that too having a majority of dumb people who doesn't even know what does a OS mean but won't miss an occasion of touting & shouting about their Lagdroid. Well the fury reaches it's Limit when some of them even dares to ask a windows phone users as "So don't you have an Android Phone ?" Like if it's a luxury to have, maybe for them but to me it appears a sign of being part of Chutzpah that every one follows but none knows why.

Coming to the conclusion i would like to say this announcement has really left me in shock as being a techie & loyal Lumia user i will never ever have a kitkat as even they have joined the bandwagon of that chutzpah that i hate to the core.

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6tag, One more reson to fall in love with your lumia

So after a hefty wait the official unofficial client for Instagrm on windows phone 8 is out as 6tag that too having a beautiful & better interface as compared to the official app on android & ios providing the features like semantic zoom. So now lame users or fans of lagdroid wont be complaining about not having a instgram client on windows phone as their reason to switch to this ultra modern Mobile OS. I know i might sound a bit controversial here but it's the truth that it's hard to like people who use lagdroid & still behave like smart folks as if they are using one niche product developed by a company that always cry out in folly of having an open ecosystem but still end up being a succumb in its own game.

Coming to the point & complains of people about not having a official client the reason to now switch to Lumia i would love to say that now they will come with all guns blazing to grab a windows phone devices leaving behind the legacy of having used a not so smart smartphone OS named a android or as i call it lagdroid. But will they really do like that? I doubt & i not only doubt but can place a bet on that as i know people like those just use the facebook & messanger on the name of having a smartphone without realizing  the potential of a smartphone or if somehow they managed to they will surely switch.

I think it's enough about the lagdroid & now is the time to praise the man behind the beautiful 6tag application named Rudy Huyn who worked day & night to bring us an ultimate experience of instagram. IMHO i would say that this is a app that can even make the developers of instagram envy & might prove to be another twitter deck, i hope it do otherwise  another beautiful product will be killed.

Will surely publish a detailed review of this app till then enjoy your photography & do try to give windows a shot as with lagdroid even you will start lagging.

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Nature at its best

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Falling in love with my favourite enemy

Well since my inception of being a developer i hated Google inc, I hated them to the very core of it, their every move as i knew that the only reason of their rapid growth(though i never had a doubt on their searching bot ) is their advertising that also drive growth for their other project's. Though their search results were manipulated but people loved them even i did as they were still serving the purpose but i hated Google, actually i still do maybe because their not so smart smartphone OS is gaining market share that it doesn't deserve at all that too of not so tech enthusiast people who claim themselves as gamers by playing Angry Birds & Temple run(They are beautiful games) without knowing that even a school kid can do that, well there is a long list of things like this so i should move to the topic.

As i was talking that i used to hate Google inc & i also mentioned that i still do but then Google have started few projects that i can't ignore despite the fact that their email service(Gmail) spies on me for every act of mine. Well coming to the project i should mention the "Project Loon" started by the Google for providing the internet to the areas that were always kept deprived of internet due to nature or men will(well we know about it's capability) but now Google has took up the task to provide them the internet by launching the Balloons in the stratosphere which broadcast the internet & then the same is received by the receivers having the algorithms to use that well that was really a project worth calling a project & must have needed balls to think like in a way that it can also make their enemies envy of it(the ones like me).

Concluding the article i should mention that its about just a project as no one is a saint & Google might be having some intention behind it but for the time being im Loving(Project Loon) it.

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The art of Innovation by Copying

It's the story of just few months back when twitter launched a platform where you could upload a six second video to the net using their native app named Vine for iOS & Android. Well before that i should tell you that it wasn't a native twitter product as they acquired it from Vine Inc in october 2012 only to make it a full fledged app for uploading video's as images, it was having a nice time in iOS app store & considering that success Twitter launched it's android app in this June only.

When Twitter & Vine were enjoying their golden period(Though it was a bit short) of launching a niche platform of having an original idea there came the Coalition of Facebook & it's much hyped Instagram with their copy of vine as Instagram video's providing the advantage of uploading a 15 seconds video that too by applying filters for a maximum of three seconds. Talking about the filters we all know that Instagram is ruling the web with it's images & image's edited by using instagram filter's & now they have launched their vine competitor that by giving the feature of applying filter's to videos(well i still dnt got the how & why of it) but still it's 15 seconds thing is amazing & exciting considering the fact that it already have the 100 million registered user's so that will surely going to hurt the twitter in every way. Now talking about the spat between twitter & fb of what we all know that what they have done to each other over the past one year, first twitter blocked the instagram photo sharing link over it's twitter timeline giving space to the launch of it's own image filters though it got a few users for it. Then in reply to it's move fb copied it's verified profile feature(the one which you must have observed a blue tick sign against some pages) & the most niche feature of twitter i.e hash tags. Coming to the conclusion facebook won the copying war as it copied the feature made twitter so popular & now twitter will surely have to work hard to tell the next generation that actually twitter created the hash tags. Though Instagram may see some dissatisfied users (like me) who thought it just for images & image stories but that can't deny the possibility for Instagram that in the near future it will surely enjoy the success riding on the bandwagon of it's 100 million user's. Now the only wave of shock twitter can create is by launching images for Vine, well maybe it's on the papers by now. We should just sit back & enjoy till then Happy Copying. 

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The perfact app

Since the inception of Facebook for mobile it has always lived it's life haunted by the speed, network & other issue's. Everything was about to come in control after few tweaks in the code of mobile apps but then came the storm of  Google plus, well that didn't do much for itself as everyone knows here but did set some standards about the standards of mobile apps. well then Facebook drop the HTML5 version saying it was lacking the speed & concurrency but that still didn't made me a fan of the Facebook mobile app as im using a touch phone & i will for sure expect it to behave it in that way.

But as someone said tough times do last & even i experienced that recently when i updated to the newer version of the app, oh my god what they did with it as i was totally surprised by it's speed, looks & the ultra smooth touch interface. well no doubt it is craved into a perfection by the engineer's at facebook as images load faster as compared to the previous version's. well to sum up in total i would like to say that after using it you wont settle for any other version of it considering the fact that facebook doesn't come out with a better version of it. Till then im enjoying it to the fullest.

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On our way to sar pass

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The trip i always had in my mind

I always thought of visiting new places every year but life was so complex actually still it is but i took a break a much needed break or maybe start of another chapter . I know it might be just a practice for what i have always planned but i will gonna enjoy it to the fullest though my college friends are not wid me but still i will do it for them as they will surely ask for my experience i know they are mad . So next 11 days are all about kasol in himachal pradesh the place that got the best weed scene but unfortunately im not here for doing that what im here for adventure, actually some breath taking adventure that will surely last for some time & i think it's high time i should start it so folks bye for now but will surely get back soon .

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End of another chapter

It was final day of the college when every single moment spent with friends in the college started to roll in front of the eye's & it just started looking like that i came here yesterday only but then a moment struck that it's time to leave, it's time to leave my friends, my place & the legacy we were carrying to from the time our seniors left us to become the professionals.

As we all know that everything that has beginning will surely end & as the trend it also ended leaving the trails that will never end & will surely come to remind me about the most beautiful moments i have spent of my life where friends were the partner's in every crime we use to commit.

Though i can write a book on it & will surely some day but know it's time to move on & work as now im a professional & should remind myself that now i got time limit for everything & above that my lovely friends are not around to help me out from trouble though they are just a text away but still i should learn to survive without them.

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Getting rid of Hangouts

Well it's the story of just a few days ago when everyone(including me) was excited of new app from Google i.e Hangouts .

Even i updated to it knowing the consequences that i wont be able to stay invisible after updating & automatic removal of Gtalk but that wasn't enough as it left a trail that even after uninstalling it it's trail wont end.

Google didn't even gave options to stay with it as it's just a simple messaging app without getting the acknowledgement, You can't stay invisible that's fine but it should at least show who is  online(mobile app).

All i can say for now is Google you are doing it wrong.

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This is how i usually end my day :)

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The First Post

Though being a techie at heart i love reading the Forbes & there i read about the story of tumblr though i knew about it from it's incubator days but i thought it's just another blogging platform but Forbes surprised me & i was even surprised more when i logged into it & now only thing i can hope for is that it should stay as i would love to post about my tech jargon, designing, web development, app development & not to forget my hands on the camera.

Happy Blogging