Khakionion.com

Mattt Thompson's always-entertaining NSHipster covers the new MKLocalSearch, pointing out one of the great benefits to selecting it for POI search:

MKLocalSearch is a relatively straight-forward API (albeit perhaps worse off for eschewing a simpler single-class interface)... so what's the big deal?

API limits. Or rather, the lack of them.

However, he fails to point out a couple of huge issues with this API. Apple likes to say that it exactly replicates the search field in iOS Maps, but the real restrictions are:

• Results are limited to only ten POIs per search, and
• Empty queries are disallowed.

"All POIs around me?" Nope, sorry. "Nightclubs in San Francisco?" Can't be more than ten, for sure!

It's a useful API, no doubt, but creativity is required to present the user with any reasonable semblance of the actual world around them at any given point in time.

Tech journalism, and particularly any writing about Apple, is in a really bad state. All too often, the writers in this field completely misunderstand the very things they're writing about, and it causes a terrible effect of teaching falsehoods to the public.

Other times, it's clear that they're saying something outlandish just to get a rise out of people:

Jobs saying "subscriptions are the wrong path" for music a decade ago will perhaps be the ultimate Apple flip-flop. theverge.com/2013/4/26/4265...

— nilay patel (@reckless) April 26, 2013

A flip-flop is a reversal. You were doing one thing, and now you're doing the opposite. When John Kerry celebrates at a rally by shooting a gun that he voted to ban, that's a flip-flop. Mitt Romney crusading to repeal a healthcare law that he implemented in Massachusetts is a flip-flop.

So, let's give Nilay the page view he's trolling for and see Apple's big upcoming flip-flop.

While download sales are growing modestly, subscription music is finally making a dent and seeing white-hot growth -- companies like Spotify and Rdio are doing subscriptions right after the mistakes of their predecessors. These services, which the labels call "access models," have grown in a very short time to make up 15 percent of the industry's total revenue.

So it seems like that statement was prescient: ten years later, subscription services have only now clawed their way up to 15 percent of industry revenue. (not profit!)

Apple may now let users load songs from the cloud and access them via the internet, but the iTunes business model has remained largely unchanged. It may be a proven strategy, but Apple appears to have no interest in finding a way to communicate with those who don't care about "owning" music.

Okay, so Apple launched a middle-of-the-road subscription option that still involves owning your music. And did so after Jobs' death, and long after Jobs had stepped down from actively playing the CEO role.

...iTunes -- when it comes to music -- appears to be standing still. That said, Apple is still keeping pace with its main competition, and neither Amazon nor Google have launched music subscription services yet.

So no flip-flop has happened yet, and the only possible thing that might happen is that Apple may introduce a subscription service alongside their current, industry-dominating model. That's not a flip-flop, that's lazy trolling on Nilay Patel's part.

This is a translation of an article posted on Itai News. The original title is ロッテリア、エヴァ「Ｑ」とのコラボで９段バーガー発売　ロンギヌスの槍つき. Also, a note: the Japanese word for "nine" sounds like the letter Q.

Fast food chain Lotteria will be selling a "Q Cheeseburger," consisting of nine layers of meat and cheese, from April 24th until the end of May. The burger commemorates the DVD release of the popular animé movie "Evangelion: Q."

Customers ordering the burger will receive a "Longinus Lance Perfect Original Fork." The sandwich will cost 1280 yen after tax.

Continuing with my recent trend of news article translation, I thought I'd translate Arkansas State Representative Nate Bell's recent apologetic statement about a rather insensitive tweet he made. It seems to be deleted, but the content is still available at Boston.com, among other sites.

I would like to apologize to the people of Boston & Massachusetts for the poor timing of my tweet earlier this morning.

My hateful comment has caused enough blowback that I have to make a statement (not an apology) about it.

As a staunch and unwavering supporter of the individual right to self defense,

I do not actually understand the Second Amendment, but I'll use weasel words to continue pushing my agenda.

I expressed my point of view without thinking of its effect on those still in time of crisis.

My point of view is disgusting, but even more so in this time of crisis.

In hindsight, given the ongoing tragedy that is still unfolding, I regret the poor choice of timing.

I do not regret the illogical, offensive content. Only the timing.

Please know that my thoughts and prayers were with the people of Boston overnight and will continue as they recover from this tragedy.

I am high as a kite.

An article on Famitsu details a new version of Puyo Puyo coming to Japanese arcades that is free-to-play.

The title, Puyo Puyo!! Quest Arcade, was present in three Sega arcades (in Ikebukuro, Akihabara and Yokohama) for location testing. The 20-year old game has been infused with RPG elements. Popping the little Puyos will now attack monsters and extend quest progress for your party.

Of course, what's noteworthy here is the free-to-play element, which is more or less a first for arcades. It's as one might expect; playing the game reduces the "energy" of your characters, and while this energy recharges slowly, you can recover it quickly by paying a fee.

The promotional video from Sega is embedded below.

This is a translation of an article originally posted on Square's official Kingdom Hearts blog. The original title is 【PCブラウザ】KINGDOM HEARTSχ[chi]　正式タイトル＆タイトルロゴ決定.

The series' first online game for PC web browsers has arrived. Players will take control of a hero, and adventure through various Disney worlds straight from their web browser.

In-game, players will happen upon cards that advance their battle strategies, and occasionally assist friends in facing enemies. We're introducing a new, unique system that hasn't been in the Kingdom Hearts series until now.

When you complete collections of the items you find during your adventure, you'll receive even more exciting items!

• Supported Platform: PC
• Genre: Web Browser Online Game
• Release Date: Not Set
• Price: Item Microtransactions (basic gameplay is free)
• Collaboration Company: Success, Inc.

More information to come!

In keeping with my desire to write posts that require Japanese translation, from time to time I'd like to chat about what trending topics are popular in the Japanese-language parts of Twitter. Japanese hashtags are typically a little longer, to the point of being full sentences. Take, for instance, this article's subject:

#アニメタイトルの一部をオバマにすると最強になる

or, what one might render in English as:

#AniméTitlesAreBestWithObamaInThem

Basically, the tweets are popular animé titles, but with one word replaced with "Obama." While I haven't done much research into why this particular trend has emerged, I'd wager it has to do with today's inauguration. Anyway, it has produced some pretty humorous animé ideas. I've put some below, along with links to the animé that is being "improved":

"Magical Girl Lyrical Obama StrikerS"

魔法少女リリカルオバマStrikerS #アニメタイトルの一部をオバマにすると最強になる ストライカーですから、アメリカ

— レイン/朱音@65回試験まで30d (@Rainy_Lain) January 22, 2013

"My Neighbor Obama"

となりのオバマ #アニメタイトルの一部をオバマにすると最強になる

— Kazura Shiroganeﾀﾞﾖｰ (@vinethesilver) January 21, 2013

"As Long As There's Love, It Doesn't Matter If He's Obama, Right?"

オバマだけど愛さえあれば関係ないよね！　＃アニメタイトルの一部をオバマにすると最強になる

— そらちゃんマジ天使♪ILOVE Sora (@Angel_3_Sisters) January 21, 2013

"My Obama Can't Possibly Be This Cute!"

俺のオバマがこんなに可愛いわけがない #アニメタイトルの一部をオバマにすると最強になる

— きゃりーえふゅえふゅ (@f_maccha) January 21, 2013

As for my contribution, recently I've been into "Sunshine Sketch," but "Sunshine Obama" just didn't sound great, so I went with the series filling up my News Feed, Sword Art Online:

"Obama Art Online"

オバマアート・オンライン #アニメタイトルの一部をオバマにすると最強になる

-- Khakionion (@Khakionion) January 21, 2013

Happy to buy a great soundtrack to a great game, but...uh: