Adobe Flash Must Die, Apple Suffers From Staingate, & More… [Tech News Digest]

Facebook bashes Flash, Apple scrubs those stains, Walmart launches Black Friday 2, Nintendo suffers a loss, Spotify maps the world, and R5-D4 ends it all.

Facebook Fires Flash In the Pan

It is time for Adobe to announce the end-of-life date for Flash and to ask the browsers to set killbits on the same day.

— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) July 12, 2015

Everybody hates Adobe Flash, and Adobe Flash must die. That is the obvious conclusion to be drawn from the latest nail hammered into the coffin of Adobe Flash, with Facebook wielding the hammer on this particular occasion.

Previously slated by Steve Jobs and Apple, Flash is now getting hate from Alex Stamos, Facebook’s new Chief Security Officer. Stamos is such a fan of the proprietary multimedia platform that he’s asking for it to be executed without mercy.

As can be seen in the tweet embedded above, Stamos wants Adobe to announce an “end-of-life date for Flash” and for all browsers to kill it on that day. Which seems unlikely, despite the number of people openly declaring their hatred for Flash.

Adobe Flash has always been vulnerable to attacks, and two new vulnerabilitieshave emerged over the past week. We don’t often find ourselves agreeing with Facebook, but it really is time for Adobe Flash to be put out to pasture. HTML5’s time to shineis way overdue.

Apple Strains Under Staingate

After Bendgate, Apple is facing a new barrage of complaints from customers, with this one nicknamed Staingate by those who feel the need to add “Gate” to every drama. It’s called Staingate because owners of Macbooks are discovering stains spreading across the retina screens of their pricey computers.

The stains, which according to BBC Newstake the form of spots or patches appearing on the screen, are believed to be as a result of the “anti-reflective coating” peeling off. Unfortunately, this problem has affected some customers within months of them buying their machines.

A website set up to track the problemhas more than 1,700 members, suggesting this is an uncommon problem given how many computers Apple sells each year. However, this hasn’t prevented affected users from demanding Tim Cook and co. take immediate action to remedy the situation. Because petitions always work.

Welcome to Black Friday Part II

If you love Black Friday then you’re in for a treat, as Black Friday II is almost upon us. Except it’s on a Wednesday rather than a Friday, and there’s nothing particularly black about it. Still, it looks as though July 15th is going to be a day of bargains at two gigantic retailers.

Amazon previously announced July 15th is Prime Day, when Amazon Prime members will be offered countless discounts on products across the site. Now, Walmart wants in on the action, and is offering thousands of “rollbacks,” or discounts, to its customers on the same day. Even better, you don’t have to be a member of anything to qualify for the offers.

Satoru Iwata Tragically Dies Aged 55

Satoru Iwata, the CEO and President of Japanese gaming giant Nintendo, has passed away at the tender age of just 55. The much-loved chief executive died after a battle with cancer which saw him take part of 2014 off work to undergo surgery.

Iwata had been the figurehead of Nintendo since he joined the company in the year 2000. He is cited as one of the main reasons for Nintendo’s recent resurgence, with the DS and Wii consoles, both released under his leadership, taking the company to new heights.

He will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by everyone in the industry.

Spotify Maps the World, Musically

Spotify has musically mapped the entire world, revealing the most distinctive music listened to in hundreds of cities around the globe. This Musical Mapisn’t made up of the most popular songs in each city, but rather what residents listen to as opposed to people living in other cities.

Some of the music is popular in particular cities because the artists are from those cities. Others because there’s a particular connection. Others still appear to be popular entirely at random. And it’s no surprise to find the UK has fine taste in music. But then I might be biased.

Conan Loves R5-D4

And finally, who needs R2-D2 when you have R5-D4? Unfortunately, the lesser-known droid from Star Wars is no more, as he jumped out of the window of Conan O’Brien’s studio over the weekend. He just couldn’t take the unfair comparisons to his famous counterpart any longer.

Still, while he was alive (!?) R5-D4 was blessed with a malfunctioning motivator. Which is similar to the condition I suffer when faced with starting work at 7am on a Monday morning. Copious amounts of coffee works for me, but alas, R5-D4 never found the vice he needed to cope with life. Shame. [H/T CNET]

Your Views on Today’s Tech News

Do you agree that Flash must die? Has your Macbook succumbed to screen damage? Is one Black Friday more than enough? How should Nintendo honor Satoru Iwata? What’s your favorite city in terms of the music it has produced?

Let us know your thoughts on the Tech News of the dayby posting to the comments section below. Because a healthy discussion is always welcome.

Image Credits: Kiewicvia Flickr

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