ZDNet:

In 2010, 84% of Mozilla’s $123 million in revenue came directly from Google. That’s roughly $100 million in funds that will vanish or be drastically cut if the deal is either not renewed or is renegotiated on terms that are less favorable to Mozilla.

I think it would be a huge pity if Mozilla was forced to scale back dramatically. Firefox has become a bloated shadow of its former svelte self, but the organisation has driven plenty of innovation on the web (even if it has a somewhat extremist stance on support—or the lack thereof—for some patented tech, such as video formats, while happily ignoring long-time support for formats like JPEG).

But if Mozilla is heavily reliant on Google for funding when Google itself is being squeezed by the likes of iOS apps circumventing a lot of browser use, leading to Google pushing rather harder for Chrome marketshare than it otherwise would be, that’s not a good sign. And it’s another warning that any organisation shouldn’t rely too heavily on another for its income, especially when that other is a direct rival.

The Next Web says Tesco is rolling out a free Wi-Fi service in its UK Tesco Extra stores, powered by O2. The chain offered a statement:

So far, customers have been using it to read product reviews and compare prices while they shop.

This being the same Tesco which argued with a Guardian journalist writing down prices in September:

You’re not allowed to do that. It’s illegal. […] It’s illegal to write things down and you can’t take any photographs, either. If you want to check the prices, take the item to the till and pay for it there. The price will be on the receipt.

A manager clarified the latter point:

Look, it’s company policy, you’re not allowed to do it

So: left hand/right hand, change of heart, Tesco Extra only, or Tesco oddly saying “well, you can use an iPhone to check prices, obviously, but if you write anything down, we’ll kick your face off?

ZDNet‘s Mary-Jo Foley:

Back in September, there was controversy as to whether Microsoft planned to allow “Desktop” (non-Metro) apps to run on Windows 8 ARM-based tablets. But I was told they would, and, indeed, the Softies and partners showed off the Desktop app on ARM tablets at the Build conference.

This was, by some parties, considered a very bad idea, given that Windows apps would run like crap on a tablet, but anyway.

However, if my Windows Weekly co-host Paul Thurrott is right, Microsoft has rethought that plan and is leaning toward cutting the Desktop from Windows 8 ARM tablets. That would mean only Metro-style apps would be supported on that platform.

This is a big ‘if’, given Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s massive hard-on for all things Windows.

If Microsoft does do away with the Desktop App on ARM, it also would mean — unless Microsoft also changes its strategy for x86/x64-based Windows 8 tablets — that Windows 8 will be different on different hardware.

It would also mean that it would be bloody stupid to call it Windows 8, in the same way it wouldn’t make a great deal of sense to call iOS ‘Mac OS X’. But, you know, Ballmer.

In January (Wired):

Whatever device you use, now or in the future, Windows will be there

And last month (Business Insider):

We are in the Windows era — we were, we are, and we always will be.

Foley, again:

I don’t hate the idea that Microsoft might pull the plug on the Desktop App on Windows 8 ARM tablets. In fact, I think it’s the right thing to do if Microsoft and its partners want to position ARM-based Windows tablets as more of a true iPad competitor.

It’s precisely the right thing to do, not least because the Metro interface is pretty good and, crucially, not a half-baked iOS rip-off. It offers something different. But, as stated earlier:

Windows 8 will be different on different hardware

On tablets, it won’t have Windows. It won’t really be Windows. And a great deal of people who use Windows don’t even like Windows—the name is roughly synonymous with “ARGH! YOU PIECE OF JUNK! WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT? ARGH! I’M GOING TO THROW YOU OUT OF THE WINDOW! NO! HANG ON! I’M GOING TO CHOP YOU UP AND FEED YOU TO WOLVES!”

To that end, Microsoft, why not cut the cord entirely, and present your next-generation tablet system as something truly new, rather than a system shackled to the past?

A chunk of the internet growled at Apple yesterday over its Siri feature being ‘anti-abortion’, and I suggested it was probably not intentional. Sure enough, Apple has now responded, and it’s confirmed that this issue is a “glitch”:

Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn’t always find what you want. These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone. It simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better, and we will in the coming weeks.

I can’t say I’m surprised by this, but I will happily admit I’m glad.

Articles on MobileBeat and Amadi Talks have sparked an online row that Siri—and by extension Apple—is anti-abortion. This is on the basis that Siri does not respond successfully to questions about abortion clinics or abortion itself. If this really is the case, then Apple’s position here is at odds with its relatively liberal stance. Apple employees took part in pro-LGBT It Gets Better, for example, and it’s to participate in World Aids Day (The Loop); a blanket ban on pornography through the App Store is the only outright ‘moral’ clampdown I can think of.

There are also some things to bear in mind before attempting to rip Apple’s board a new arsehole over this issue (or, if you’re anti-abortion yourself, congratulating the company):

1. Siri is still in beta. The software is full of holes. If you’re outside of the USA, you cannot even search for any businesses. Even in the USA, it’s full of bugs and often misinterprets input.
2. Siri isn’t intelligent. Arguments about Siri being anti-abortion and misogynistic appear to have some credence when you’re mindful that it can reportedly infer someone’s demands to go to a strip club, and yet it ignores abortion terms. But Siri’s about one step up from a 1985 Infocom text adventure. The lack of understanding about abortion could easily be a hole in the feature’s ‘understanding’, or something that hasn’t been added, or something that a male-oriented team didn’t realise was important enough to correctly or fully define.
3. Siri often uses generic answers. One comment I’ve seen is that Siri answers “I just am” if you ask: Why are you anti-abortion? This isn’t confirmation about anything, given that Siri offers the same answer if you say: Why are you a penguin?
4. You can send Apple feedback. If you believe Apple’s in the wrong and doubt any of the possible reasoning I’ve offered (or simply want to ensure Siri is updated accordingly), visit the Apple website and offer some constructive feedback.

If Siri comes out of beta and it’s clear Siri’s still treating the term ‘abortion’ as a business (as it currently does when you ask “What is abortion?”, although “Define abortion” brings up a short description via Wolfram Alpha) and essentially blocking results to centres and institutions that Google and Bing offer, fair enough: there’s clearly something very wrong at Cupertino. For now, though, I’d argue Amadi Talks offers a perfectly sensible perspective on the issue:

Is this the most terrible programming failure ever? No. Is this worth a boycott of Apple? I don’t think so. What it is, however, is a demonstration of a problem. Especially when certain topics seem to be behind a black wall where information that’s readily available online is not being “found” or presented. This is something that Apple and/or Wolfram Alpha need to address and rectify.

In other words, don’t go crazy just yet, but this is something Apple needs to address.