Now they may be able to monetize these as collectors' items by turning them into NFTs.

Start a startup and create your own job?

Okay, so how is this startup going to pay its founder before it is profitable?

Where are the founders getting this money, if they're unemployed?

How are the customers going to pay revenue if they're unemployed...

Awesome: this will be really useful for the Unity game devs I know.

In one sense, it's actually the opposite. In iOS 5 and earlier, they were at the mercy of their arch-rival.

Now, by doing their own map, "crippled" or not, they're independent. They're less at Google's mercy than they were before.

If the Apple Maps app someday becomes as good as (or better) than Google Maps, this move will be seen as genius.

They depended on craigslist too much. It worked really well when craigslist wasn't stopping them from using craigslist. craigslist is international. Does craigslist have listings for Cologne, DE, Berlin, or Tel Aviv, IL? If it does, they would have appeared on PadMapper. I've used PadMapper before. I didn't even know they had any other sources; I thought it was strictly a mapping of craigslist listings.

Okay, that explains why it's empty now, but then again it's a strong reason for craigslist to go after them, I guess. If the service is mostly a good search ui for their data..

Regarding listings in the cities I mentioned: I only know that Tel Aviv definitely uses craigslist. I never used it in Germany before, no idea if it is relevant at all in those places.

Craigslist isn't a thing in Israel - there are a few competing sites that share one important attribute which craigslist lacks - an interface in Hebrew

Depends on the app. I personally developed a dozen native mobile apps, and I wouldn't have done it any other way -- but that's because of the nature of the apps I created.

An organization that had goals similar to the BBB's would be very valuable for many consumers. What are some of the BBB's competitors? What's currently the best alternative?

For the consumers, there's the various state agencies. In Wisconsin, you don't contact the BBB, you contact the department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection. Those guys shut down a regional cellphone provider because of some complaints I and a few others filed about billing practices, etc. They responded to my web form submission with a half-hour very interested phone call.

I've heard similar stories in other states. I've always been told, as a consumer, to avoid the BBB and go through the state agencies.

what's the Free Software clone of a game?

This term means that a proprietary game has been rewritten completely from scratch as a Free Software project.

Usually, the game principle stays the same, but has its own codebase, and different graphics and music. Sometimes names are changed, too, if the original names were trademarked. After some time, the Free Software clones usually surpass the original game in almost every aspect.

This is a great way for a fan community to push forward their favorite game long after the producers lost their (commercial) interest in it.

This is also some kind of sustainability, as it ensures the game won't die with the hardware it was produced for.

No mention of Bitcoin? :)

pg is concerned with startups, and I am too. But I think a lot of the rest of the world is concerned about what's going on between, say, Apple and HTC.