Cubic

I just released a new project on GitHub: https://github.com/cubiclesoft/email_sms_mms_gateways If you aren't a developer, then you probably won't care.  Basically, I burned my weekend constructing a JSON array by hand that maps countries and carriers together that provide a free e-mail to SMS/MMS gateway.  Well, it is free for software developers.  Charges, of course, still apply to the recipient of the SMS/MMS messages. GitHub makes it really easy to keep that mess up-to-date.  Other people supply pull requests, I click a button to accept them.  Bam!  The list is updated.  Then everyone using the list pulls the latest list and...Bam!  Everyone's software is running with the absolute latest information.  It is a nice, clean system. I've got a use for this project but it is going to play a smaller role than I originally dreamed up. Carriers need to get their act together and form a consistent strategy that developers can rely upon....

I've read a number of articles out there about Google's new push to unify their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy documents.  Most of the articles are about "privacy experts" complaining about how great the old documents were.  I have a question:  Who gets to decide when someone is an expert?  Is it some specific minimum level of knowledge?  If so, I just ooze knowledge and therefore that makes me an expert on stuff. Anyway, I'm glad Google is unifying their 60 or so Terms of Services and Privacy Policies into just one AND being open about the change long in advance.  Nobody reads these things anyway and is just a way to cover a business' rear end from frivolous lawsuits.  After all, hot coffee is hot...well, duh!  It doesn't matter how the McDonald's vs. Hot Coffee Lady case actually went down because it is a symbol of today's messed up legal system. Back to topic, Terms of Service and Privacy Policy documents are usually a pain in the neck...