Re: We're not all the same!
> or sometimes (oft-time) to the lowest cost.
Bell Motorcycle Helmets used to have an excellent slogan:
"If you have a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet"
It's applicable in so many circumstances...
Vic.
Posts by Vic
5860 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Dec 2007
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Users rage as Fasthosts virtual servers go titsup... again
Google's Schmidt calls climate-change deniers 'liars'
NSA PRISM-gate: Relax, GCHQ spooks 'keep us safe', says Cameron
Wednesday 12th June 2013 18:53 GMT
Re: Breaking EU law?
> EU law prohibits this and admitting it would most likely see them hauled up
I'd like to see this situation cause the "Safe Harbor" (sic) provisions to be cancelled. The US very clearly does not have the same standard of data protection required by the DPA (and equivalents), so it seems a bit odd just to pretend it does...
Vic.
CIA-funded upstart: The truth about Prism and NSA's web snooping
How Microsoft shattered Gnome's unity with Windows 95
Wednesday 12th June 2013 08:08 GMT
Re: Windows 95
> Is being able to type into 'beneath' windows that useful?
Yes. Massively so.
It allows you to control machines without having to dedicate much screen real estate to the control window (which, at that point, you're not that interested in, so long as you can get a command to it). That leaves your screen displaying other bits of the system that you *do* need to monitor closely.
> it's easy to see what window will get my keystrokes - it's the one on top
If that's the way you want to work, then that's just fine. Choice is good. Imposing decisions on other people is bad...
Vic.
Wednesday 5th June 2013 20:51 GMT
Re: Usability
> You clearly haven't had the pleasure to support a totally computer-illiterate user
I have. Quite a number of them.
> Either way, you would be doomed to fail as soon as you utter your first sentence
...Which is why you wouldn't use that sort of approach with them. You'd give them a system and say "have a play - you're not going to break anything".
IME, those who are told something is going to be scary will find it so[1]. Those who are told they have the ability to do something will generally be able to.
Vic.
[1] I've taught a number of people to dive over the years; the exact same thing applies. If the instructor believes something is difficult, the students will find it so.
NSA Prism: Why I'm boycotting US cloud tech - and you should too
Top tools for junior Linux admins
Smart TVs riddled with DUMB security holes
Saturday 8th June 2013 21:31 GMT
Re: Isn't this by design?
> CRT TVs still have the BEST contract ratio of any display technology!
My main TV is a CRT. I got an LCD to replace it a few weeks back.
I put the pair of them side-by-side. The difference was stunning.
The LCD is now powered off. I'm mighty glad I didn't pay for it...
Vic.
Saturday 8th June 2013 21:24 GMT
Re: main issue with smart TVs
> At the very least, the a smart TV should have a slot-in "Smart Unit"
All it actually needs is a USB slave port that implements a HID model. You can then plug in any PC-type kit you like, and it sees the telly (with remote control etc.) as a keyboard. Not massively integrated, but good enough for rock and roll...
Vic.
Saturday 8th June 2013 21:20 GMT
Re: @Joseph Lord
All the video and audio decoding will be in hardware but processing all the DVB tables, setting tuning parameters, controlling the demux is all done in software
*Partly* done in software.
Typically, the demux will all happen in hardware, with various fragments pushed out to the CPU to deal with in software - so, for example, PCR recovery is a software task. but none of that really taxes the processor.
There are inherent ptoblems with rapid-retuning of digital TV; primarily, the various SI and PSI tables are only transmitted periodically, so you need to wait for that to come around. It should be possible to retune within a TS fairly rapidly - but that doesn't get you very far, as that typically will only give you a handful of channels at most (and often only one).
As soon as you start trying to cache all the info across all streams in the mutiplex, your workload goes up significantly, and almost certainly needs new hardware. And you've still only got a handful of transport streams in a single multiplex.
As soon as you start wanting to fast-tune between multiplexes, you're SOL. You need a physically separate tuner for each one. That simply doesn't scale...
And all of the above is before you get near the tendency of dev teams to write application code in nice easy, abstracted high-level languages without worrying about the run-time impact of their decisions...
Vic.
Hitchhikers' Guide was WRONG, Earth is not in a galactic backwater
iPHONES and 'Pads BANNED in US for violating Samsung patent
Friday 7th June 2013 18:59 GMT
Re: Er..umm
> Apple is entitled to a FRAND license deal
Apple *was* entitled to a FRAND license deal.
The fact that they refused the deal probably[1] means that they no longer have such an entitlement.
Vic.
[1] I'm not sure this has been thrashed out in court, but any other reading means that there is no downside to refusing to pay for FRAND patent licences, and I can't see that flying in court...
Doctor Who? 12th incarnation sought after Matt Smith quits
UN to call for 'pre-emptive' ban on soulless robot bomber assassins
Australia's de-facto net filter has ZERO regulation
May threatens ban on 'hate-inciting' radicals, even if they don't promote violence
Thursday 30th May 2013 18:44 GMT
> you're NOT ALLOWED to protest there without a Police/Government permit
The permits aren't too tricky to come by[1] as long as you do a bit of preparation.
Mark Thomas has an excellent story about having a Police escort through another demonstration so that he could have his own demos[2], just because he had all his permits.
Vic.
[1] No, of course they shouldn't be necessary. But they are.
[2] He held many demonstrations that day - got a Guinness World Record for it. I'm not sure if he still holds that one or not...
The Tomorrow People jaunt back to the airwaves
BBC suspends CTO after £100m is wasted on doomed IT system
Paul Allen buys lovingly restored vintage V-2 Nazi ballistic missile
Tuesday 28th May 2013 22:51 GMT
Re: Google and Apple must be worried
> They would not sell one fueled up, with a functioning warhead
It would be simple enough to make up the fuel - it's a water/ethanol mix, and the proportions are well-known.
As for a warhead - well, if you can afford to buy one of the last remaining V2s, I can't see that being a major problem...
Vic.
Woolwich beheading sparks call to REVIVE UK Snoopers' Charter
James Bond inspires US bill to require smart guns for all
Friday 24th May 2013 11:48 GMT
Re: gets my goat
> home invasions are on the rise.
[Citation needed]
> you reach for your phone and call a cop.
Nope. I'll reach for one of the many weapons that are to hand within my home. Weapons are trivially easy to come by or even fashion - they're just not firearms.
> I'll reach for my gun...
I'll be very much happier knowing that there is a *vanishingly* small probability that an intruder is anywhere near as well-armed as I...
Vic.
Prankster 'Superhero' takes on robot traffic warden AND WINS
Acorn founder: SIXTH WAVE of tech will wash away Apple, Intel
Monday 20th May 2013 16:46 GMT
Re: Inevitable
> There is great advantages to both mips and ppc over ARM
All you need do is get packaged parts out for 50c or less, and you stand a good chance of taking back the market ARM has.
Architecturally, ARM might be "interesting", but it is pretty good, very cheap, and performs well at low power. And that's pretty much a recipe for domination of the mobile consumer kit market...
Vic.
Murdoch hate sparks mass bitchin', rapid evacuation from O2, BE
Ubuntu dev proposes new package format for mobile apps
Friday 10th May 2013 17:32 GMT
Re: I don't get it...
> a small extension to the dpkg/apt system allowing non-root installs.
Fedora et al. use a policy to control installations; I often set up customer boxes to permit non-root installations of software from trusted erpositories if the user is at the console. That's a config file of half a dozen lines...
What Canonical is punting is nothnig new, just done differently to everyone else in the multiverse. Now who'da thunk it?
Vic.
Smug Red Hat buoyed by UK gov's open-source three-line-whip
Bogus gov online test tells people on dole they're just SO employable
Monday 29th April 2013 18:44 GMT
Re: Flawed approach to a layered one
> Many work "on the side" because they couldn't afford to lose the benefits
This is the core of the problem, IMHO.
In an effort to reduce the overall benefits bill, assorted governments have made it very easy to come off benefits, but very hard to get back on if it all falls through.
I'd like to see a phased return; you keep your benefits in return for ~60% tax rate at your job.
Vic.
Bill Gates offends Koreans after sticking hand down trousers
Yelling at mobes while driving just as bad as texting
Peak Apple: First 'profit slip' in a decade - and, boy, it's gonna be BIG
BadNews, fandroids: MILLIONS of Google Play downloads riddled with malware
It's official! Register hack is an alcohol-flushed cave dweller
The gloves are on: Nokia emits super-sensitive £99 Windows Phone
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
