Recently Apple has been closing a lot of Radars with the response of:
We are closing this bug since our engineers are aware of the issue and will continue to track it.
This baffles me for a couple of reasons:
Isn’t the point of Radar (a bug database) to track issues that you’re aware of? If not in Radar, how are Apple engineers tracking them? Storing them in /dev/null?
Of course your engineers are aware of the issue, I freakin’ told them about it.
So I’m not sure what Apple means by this response. Word on the street (by which I mean Twitter, since we engineers certainly don’t go outside, much less into the street), is that it’s supposed to be a “polite” way of saying “we’re not going to fix it.” But I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just say “it works as intended”, which is what they used to say, or simply “it will not be fixed.” Have engineers gotten more sensitive over the years and Apple is afraid of rejecting them, fearing Foxconn style suicides? (Note to Apple: if I sign an affidavit stating my office is only one story high, will you tell me the real reason why the bug is being closed?)
Regardless, Apple is already so opaque when giving feedback about bugs, that a lot of engineers have given up filing bugs in the first place. Apple doesn’t seem to grasp that we’re doing them a favor by telling them where their bugs are. Radars seem to be treated more as an annoyance, than as valuable feedback.
But my main problem with “our engineers are aware of the issue” response is it’s very unclear what Apple’s trying to say. Even if they rejected the bug report in the past, even if it was for a lame reason, you knew where it stood and could do a minimal amount of tracking of it via the Radar. But now there’s not even that.
So to get to the bottom of this issue, and to increase the chances of irony, I’ve filed a Radar (Bug # 10777677, non-Apple people see OpenRadar). I’ll let you know if Apple engineers are aware of the problem and if they’ll continue to track it.
I’ve been hard at work on Fortunate Bear’s next product, but I wanted to lift my head long enough to give a quick preview of what I’m working on. Keep in mind, it’s very early in development and maybe 20% (if that) of the features are done. But without further ado:
(Video is HTML 5, so you’ll need a recent browser.)
As a bonus you get to see my fantastical art skills. The codename for the project is Vectorspring, and I hope to be showing off more as it progresses.
I’ve officially launched my new website Hearts & Tactics today. Ever since I started work on Black Maria, I’ve been wanting a website where I could talk about hearts, and pick up tips on how to play better. As a rule, the better I can play a game, the more I enjoy it.
Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot out there when it comes to places to talk and learn about hearts. Don’t get me wrong: there are tons of places to play hearts. There were two dozen iPhone apps last I counted. It’s hearts strategy and tactics information that’s lacking. There is information out there, but it’s scattered and hard to find. I lost count of how many broken links I ran into when doing research.
Anyway, Hearts & Tactics addresses all that. It has a comprehensive strategy section covering everything from passing, playing, and shooting the moon. It’s not just for advanced players either: it contains strategies for beginners too. It has place where you can talk with other hearts players about strategy, your favorite variations, or where you like to play. It even has a brief bit about the history of hearts, if you’re into that sort of thing.
The goal of Hearts & Tactics is to get more people playing and enjoying hearts. I think teaching some basic strategies and providing a place for those interested to congregate and help each other out will do a lot. So go check it out.
I officially released Black Maria today. If you like card games — especially if you like ones that require strategy — and you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you should give it a try. If you don’t know how to play hearts, no problem, the game will teach you how. It’s also free, so there’s no reason not to go try it right now.
Update: I’m no longer able to take any more people into the beta program at this time. Thanks for your interest!
I’ve never been much for twitch-based computer games, instead preferring ones that require a little more thought and strategy. In fact, I tend to prefer real world card and board games to the computer kind. One of my favorites is the hearts card game, which requires dodging hearts (penalty cards) while trying to force other players to take them.
The only problem is I don’t always have pocket space to carry around a deck of cards, nor do I really want to. And don’t get me started on finding three people who know how to play hearts, and finding the pocket space for them too. Apparently these people have standards, and sometimes restraining orders.
Anyway, Black Maria is how I like to play hearts. It uses the rules I prefer (although they’re configurable through expansion packs) and fits nicely in my pocket. Even better, it comes with three witty opponents who — as far as I know — don’t know any lawyers. The difficulty, rules, and even opponents and backgrounds can be changed through expansion packs.
If any of this sounds remotely interesting to you, I encourage you to try out the Black Maria beta, and leave me some feedback about what you think about Black Maria. Despite the price tags listed in the app, the expansion packs are actually free for the beta, so be sure to give them a whirl too.
