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So how do you pick this back? I would imagine that after such a far trip up (edge of space is 62 miles, lets say this is way less though) it would get blown to the other side of the continent. Do they have some transponder or something and take a flight? Seems like a dumb question, but I am really interested in how they collect it.

about 10 hours ago on Watch Anamanaguchi send a slice of pizza into space in 'Endless Fantasy' 1 reply

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I am not a developer so I may be oversimplifying the process completely.

I am not a developer either and actually that seems like a very simple way of handling it. I can not think of a reason that wouldn’t work.

As I ponder this (and how things look in the Apple world), I wonder what happens if you iMessage a phone number, and a tablet is back at home is associated with that phone number, but the phone is out of data range or not logged in, but still has signal for SMS. I assume it fails to fallback on SMS. I feel bad for the engineers tasked with solving this.

about 14 hours ago on Speculation on lack of SMS support in Hangouts

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This trips me up literally every time. I can’t get it into my muscle memory that I have to swipe down and then right.

about 15 hours ago on Potential Gmail for Android redesign with new navigation bar revealed in Google I/O slide 1 recommend

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Neutral was great. I particularly enjoyed the in depth discussion of EU delivery BMW m5 and going to the Nurburgring, as that has been a dream of mine since I can remember. From the suburbs to the city, from two cars to none, my dream has never seemed further away. I actually went through somewhat of a crisis of self following that as “once in a lifetime” played through my head.

about 16 hours ago on Verge Favorites: Carl Franzen 1 recommend

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I am beginning to think SMS fallback is a tougher problem to solve than I give it credit for.

Apple’s iMessage solution is particularly elegant, since Apple keeps a database of phone numbers tied with iMessage. You can also register your email address and then log in with that, though I find that most people aren’t exactly aware that you can do that. While composing an SMS, it does a lookup with Apple’s servers.

Hangouts must have a different implementation, because you are using your Google address, which isn’t specifically tied to your phone number. Therefore, when your Hangout fails, it doesn’t know which number to send it to. It would be possible theoretically to look up your phone number from your phone app, but then the added complexity of dual sim phones.

Now let’s not forget a huge annoyance with iMessage BEFORE IOS6. I have an iPad, which means that I want my iMessages to go to both my phone and my iPad. This means that people who iMessage me should address the messages with my email account and not my phone number. But if we have an SMS thread, I have now occupy two messaging threads on their phone. One will go to all devices, one will only hit my tablet. This was addressed in iOS6, but let me not go into the pain in the ass when I got an Android phone (I still have an iPad) and the nightmares of iMessages disappearing into the ether as I had to go through a huge ordeal to deregister my now gone iPhone 4s. It wasn’t even enough that I wiped it, it had to be manually deregistered from my account.

So, in short, messaging is fucking difficult, and unified messaging makes messaging seem simple.

about 16 hours ago on Speculation on lack of SMS support in Hangouts 1 reply 1 recommend

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I just wish they unified access to the drawer. In some apps (hangout) you can swipe right anywhere. In some apps (Play Music) you have to swipe in from the edge. In Chrome, swiping from the edge switches tabs.

about 17 hours ago on Potential Gmail for Android redesign with new navigation bar revealed in Google I/O slide 5 replies

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Just got back from SF for the APA. Mystery of the pink mustache solved.

1 day ago on Ride-sharing app Lyft raises a $60 million war chest to fight regulators and creep factor

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Well..uhh..then…try to build a space ship and then we’ll talk! I can move these goalposts all day long :)

1 day ago on Mailbox launches an iPad app, but Gmail poses a greater threat than ever

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If I understand it correctly, it’s a kite, so it is tied down by a long wire and floats in the sky

1 day ago on Google X 'moonshots lab' buys flying wind turbine company Makani Power 1 reply

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MX Player, uTorrent, NZB360, Yaaic

1 day ago on What are your favorite Android-exclusive apps? (non-root) 1 reply

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Good effort but not the assignment. Story of my life.

1 day ago on What are your favorite Android-exclusive apps? (non-root) 2 recommends

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very nice!

2 days ago on Microsoft recruits Siri to bad-mouth the iPad in new Windows 8 tablet ad

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What is this sorcery?

2 days ago on Microsoft recruits Siri to bad-mouth the iPad in new Windows 8 tablet ad 1 reply 1 recommend

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Because diversity in energy supply. Lets not bet the house on just one thing..

2 days ago on Google X 'moonshots lab' buys flying wind turbine company Makani Power 4 recommends

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I usually transfer files via AirDroid. I can’t offer a suggestion to fixing the current issue, but if you can’t figure it out, I would use AirDroid as an imperfect solution.

3 days ago on Nexus 4 files not showing up in Windows Explorer.

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I don’t see that as some excuse to not fix the do-nothing and bloated agencies as well as cutting unnecessary war efforts and trimming the requisite social programs into efficient machines

SRPuffinstuff for president. Well said.

3 days ago on Oxfam claims $18.47 trillion held in 'tax havens' as EU leaders meet to discuss solutions 1 reply

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This is my reader of choice, has basically none of the features you are looking for though.

FBreader

3 days ago on Is there such a thing as a truly great epub reader for Android?