Posts by Herby

Israeli activists tell Hawking to yank his Intel chips over Palestine

Maybe he should boycott...

Those states which don't recognize Israel's right to exist (in any form), of which there are many!

We recognize your right to exist, so why not others?

Ban Samsung sales in the US? Sorry, Apple: Tech titans say 'No'

The only people getting any "reward" are...

...the lawyers that are chewing up $$$ at a billable rate of around $500/hour (maybe more). Maybe if they made the "loser pay" it could get settled quite quickly. We can only hope.

Of course, the better solution is to get rid of "software patents" all together. Maybe one could patent "software patents" and get the really big bux!! What a plan!

San Francisco caves over mobile radiation warnings

Only in San Francisco!

Maybe they got some sense pounded into them. Unfortunately it was probably the costs that drove home the argument.

Now if they get rid of the plastic bag ordinance which bans them, I'll be a much happier camper!

Coke? Windows 8 is Microsoft's 'Vista moment'. Again

Regarding touch screens for desktops...

I am reminded about an earlier time before mice were everywhere. In those days the "pointer" was a light pen (remember those). I saw a screen based workstation that had one "new fancy" (for the time) lightpens. The people in the hospital (where it was used) had gotten used to it to select things and edit fields (it might have been character entry based, I don't recall). One thing that I did notice was that they had a hand rest for the monitor. This obviously was due to user complaints for having to reach and point on the screen (as touch screens do now). At the time I believe (this might have been over 20 years ago) I commented about the arm rest, and asked "why". The response was that they couldn't use the tab key to switch from field to field on the entry form, so they HAD to use the light pen and it was very tiring after a shift (pre-cursor to carpal tunnel syndrome?).

Now if the people at Microsoft had been FORCED to use their new interface to generate those reports in Word, or Excel, there might have been a different choice. As it stands now, Touch for a desktop machine, isn't going to happen. EVER! OSHA might even have a say in this!

Google's Schmidt calls for 'DELETE from INTERWEBS' button

Expiration date?

What a concept?

Maybe what people "collect" (like search engines do) should put an expiration date on everything they collect. If it is there the next time around, the date gets renewed. If not, the data must "die". Of course there might be exceptions (the Wayback machine is quite useful at times), but personal data should have a "destroy" date.

Of course, I'm dreaming, but that is what I do sometimes.

Watchdog: Y'know what Bitcoin really needs? A REGULATOR!

Any good currency...

Has an army behind it. When I see a "bitcoin army" I might believe it has some value. Until then, "Do not pass go, do not collect $200".

Report: Icahn spoiling for a proxy fight with Dell over buyout deal

Why doesn't Icahn go play...

Monopoly somewhere "else". Maybe he can get his board out and play with the paper money they produce. When he doesn't like the outcome, he throws the board in the air and starts silly things like "Proxy Fights", giving vultures a bad name!

Redmond probes new IE 8 vulnerability

Shocked, I say, shocked!!

Microsoft software has an exploited vulnerability? Shocked, I say.

So, are we taking wagers on when the next one appears and has already taken advantage of?

Let's see, when is "Patch Tuesday"?

Movie review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Nothing beats...

The original series, watched as it premiered on TV in the late 60's. I was in high school then (4th to 6th form) and it was THE thing to talk about at lunch time Friday (the series ran on Thursday nights 10-11pm, on NBC).

Being a bit older now, I kinda dismiss it as being from a time long ago. Sure the six movies were OK (the evens better than the odds), but I'm getting older now, and have other things to do (having a wife does that to you).

Oh, well, maybe I'll take it in, or wait for the eventual DVD, and pop my own popcorn.

37,000-machine study finds most reliable Windows PC is a Mac

Reliable? Interesting adverts on TV

Yes we get a bunch of these. They are magic potions that make your PC "run faster" "crash less" and other such diatribe. So, somebody must be making $$$ on these as I keep seeing the adverts where clueless person 1 says to clueless person 2 "just use (insert magic potion program here)" and it will all be good.

So, why doesn't the operating system come with such things? Are they THAT stupid?

We live in trying times!

Plans for fully 3D-printed gun go online next week

Be careful for what you ask for, you might get it!

This fits right into this category. The "plans" are protected as free speech, and anyone can download them.

Think back to audio and mp3's. If one makes things easy to make instead of obtaining through rightful channels, people WILL build them.

Of course, these are not the assault rifles, and probably won't last more than a couple of firings, but they WILL work to some degree and eventually will be used. The next thing the government will want to do is ban the 3D printers.

Sorry, too late!

App gap flap: New York's e-cabbies FOILED AGAIN

Underclass of cell phone lacking people...

Not hardly. The phone people hawk more phones to those people that you would imagine. They make lots of $$$ on the process.

Thousands rally behind teen girl cuffed, expelled in harmless 'explosion'

Look it could be worse...

In my "youth" many years ago, I did the usual baking soda in vinegar experiment. I used a ketchup bottle which was glass. I inserted the baking soda into the liquid (I wrapped it in tissue to delay the reaction), and capped the bottle. I had thought that nothing had happened, and desired to remove the bottle cap. Unfortunately the pressure built up had locked the cap in place, so I did the smart thing and tapped it on the pavement (I was outside). One tap, nothing, sedond tap, nothing, the third tap, and the bottle disappeared from my hand. The cap had come off, and the force of stuff in the bottle exited with great velocity, sending the bottle between my legs and across the street. It was pretty scary, after I realized what I had done. Thankfully no body parts were in the way of this "rocket" (people like my wife appreciate this), and I am none the worse for wear.

Yes, experiments CAN be fun. Explosions are even better fun, the bigger the better! Just live to tell about them, and don't tell your parents till way later!

Surprise! Republican bill adds politics to science funding

As one who at one time did benefit from NSF funding...

This is a terrible idea. There are enough politics in research as it stands now, and adding in Congress would make it worse!

Opera sues designer for leaking trade secrets to Mozilla

All your browser belong to us.

Well, somebody needed to say it...

Serial killer hack threat to gas pipes, traffic lights, power plants

Ah... Serial ports

Therein lies the problem. You see serial ports (RS/EIA 232, 25 pin and 9 pin) have been around for at least 50 years (and in other forms probably more than that!). There is no escaping them. Try as we might, they are a VERY simple interface to add on to an embedded device, and with the help of a converter, to the internet encrypted with little access controls (passwords/accounts/user names).

In one instance I know of a product that has a nice serial port that users want to really have made to an usb port somehow. The pain involved in designing it, and getting the proper vendor/product ids (among others) just aren't worth it for a product that might ship 10k (or less) of a single product. Even if they DO provide an interface (TCP/IP, or USB, etc..) the "easy way out" is to just emulate a serial port (no passwords, etc.) and the problem happens again and again.

So, serial ports (DB-25s and DE9s) are here to stay, and not much we can do about it. The security needs to be built into the devices that have the serial ports, not some silly add-on.

Personal note: I was guilty of having serial ports hung on modems that allowed full control of the system they were connected to. Fortunately back in the day (1982 or so) there was a cost to "war dialing" and it wasn't done much (he says knocking on wood!). Then again one should revisit the movie "War Games".

Ten ancestors of the netbook

Yes, the Tandy (Radio Shack) M100

When it was introduced back in the day (1983 the Wikipedia article says) it was pretty advanced for its day. They were gobbled up by many a journalist simply because they had built in word processing software that allowed field journalists to write stories and (with the built in 300 baud modem) send them back to the home office.

In those days you didn't need much more than that to be a field journalist, so that is what you used. Sure you could write small basic programs, but it was the connectivity, built-ins, and portability that made it work.

Trivia: This was the last project that Bill Gates himself actually worked on.

Personal trivia: I still have one of these controlling my pool motors at my house. Amazing what you can do with a little bit of software.

Ubuntu without the 'U': Booting the Big Four remixes

But I don't like Ubuntu stuff.

Flame on:

I just like the Fedora releases. They are nice as well, and can be customized in every which way just as easily. Fedora seems to manage easier, but that's my opinion.

Before you get out the torch, remember this is an "each to his own" choice. Choose ubuntu (or a variety of it) and continue down that path. Good luck to all.

Remember: It isn't Windows 8, which all who read this type of article will agree is "better".

Microsoft carves out 'niche' in tablets, says numbers chap

New name for "Surface" thingys

Why not call them "Dance Cards" as that is what people want to do with them once they get them (or that is what the commercials on TV imply!).

Now they might improve market share if they show the dance steps on the screen, but that is a subject for another day.

Vietnamese madam cuffed after advertising girls on Facebook

Wonders!

This is an example of "The worlds oldest profession" meeting up with "The worlds most modern technology".

Will wonders never cease.

Now where is that 'xxx' top level domain?

Review: Nokia Lumia 720

Does anyone???

Use a phone for calling people any more?

Perhaps they should be called compact mobile workstations (CMWs). There, that's the ticket!

Not really a joke, but given how everyone thinks about them, it might be true. Of course, for me, I use a simple phone (an older StarTac if you must know).

Securing the Internet of Things - or how light bulbs can spy on you

privacy? Privacy? PRIVACY?

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

Evil in this case is the constant monitoring of all that we do. Yes, the Borg is us and we need to recognize it as such.

As for monitoring, watch the show "Person of Interest" (presently on US television, I don't know about elsewhere). Shows the penetration of the Borg! While I hope that it is a great work of fiction, on some level I believe it to be true!

US Senate vote to add internet sales tax this week

Long live...

NAFTA. Yes, shops will setup in Canada, and Mexico. The problem is that credit card companies will charge a "tax" on foreign currency transactions. Then the local governments will charge the taxes in Canada and Mexico.

Note that Widen is from a no sales tax state (Oregon). He doesn't want (or need) his companies charging sales tax. So, he is a politician that actually looks out for his constituency (a miracle!).

So, it is death & taxes forever!

The software industry: So efficient, we invented shelfware

Of course if you are the VENDOR...

Then 'shelfware' is a wonderful proposition. You get to sell something that is not used. No support costs, no nothing. Yes, it did take a bit of time to develop, but those 100's of copies that aren't used represent PURE PROFIT. It is a wonderful way to do business.

Of course, the buyers think that the 'bulk license' is a wonderful idea. Get a bunch at a wonderful discount. They never consider that while the price for a bunch is cheaper at the unit cost, the total cost if only a few copies are used is much more than buying a small number of copies (if any).

So, yes, the buyers are the ones out of touch, but when you deal with a purchasing department of a company anything can go wrong!

The flip side is when you specify a bunch of items (it doesn't need to be software) that are needed in the product you sell, and buy a bunch based on the total number of assembled units to ship over a lifetime. Said widgets are likely to be difficult as the lifetime of the selling unit goes on, so having inventory is useful. Then some purchasing guy notices "unused inventory" and attempts to recover the costs by selling the little used items. Then the next ship for your assemblies comes by and you need the items in inventory, only to discover that they have been surplused off and you need to buy more at 10x the original cost. If you don't think this happens, I had a friend that this exact thing happened to. Purchasing agents be damned!

Live & Learn.

Notebook makers turn to Android in face of Windows woes

Bundled software?

Yes, Surface has office applications "bundled", but Android can fight back:

Provide LibreOffice as "standard". Possible have an option to remove it (space?). Then when the fondle-tard gets his keyboard, he will be ready to go.

Seems logical to me. Cheap as well.

Google shakes up US utility with green power tariff

The next question...

What type of power does Greenpeace use? Is it green power??

So, where are Greenpeace's web servers located, and how much does the energy cost to supply them? Eh?

Malware and domain-squatters target Boston Marathon bombing

Domain Squatters must ..... D I E

Well we can hope. One of these days, a nice TLD registry will actually police these things and we will all benefit. Until then, we can only hope.

(*SIGH*)

White House threatens to veto redrafted Cyber Intelligence act

Just about the only intellegent thing...

...our silly president has (threatened) to do.

Will wonders never cease.

Move over, Mythbusters: Was Archimedes an ancient STEVE JOBS?

Fortran 77??

Sorry. All purists use Fortran 66.

We need both 'H' format specifications, and One time DO loops!

US Justice Department pushes for fairer spectrum auctions

Government fighting government

This ought to be good as a spectator sport.

The big problem is that us peons are probably going to be the losers!

Kinda in the category of something like "Global thermonuclear war" (how about a nice game of chess).

Linux in 2013: 'Freakishly awesome' – and who needs a fork?

Interesting thought...

A few years ago (2009) I went to a nice beach resort in Hawaii. They had a couple of machines available for customers to connect to the internet (plane reservations and checkin were one "application"). One of the machines was running Ubuntu and had a nice icon ready to click for Firefox. Nobody really cared. They clicked on the icon and there was the browser. I was one of the few people who actually noticed that there was Linux on the machine. It worked perfectly well, and it had little problems.

It was in the category of "nothing to see here, please move along". And that what everyone did!

So, yes, Linux is cool!

At LAST, scientists tackle the problems faced by alcoholic rats

Opening Tommorow...

Acme spare human parts. Big selection. Custom orders OK.

Deliveries to Wile E. Coyote available.....

Beep Beep....

CISPA cybersecurity legislation vote due in next 48 hours

Looks like...

Scott McNealy was right. Unfortunately!

Ten Windows tablets

How does work with "necessities"?

For the tablet to work successfully, it needs a couple of applications:

1) Solitaire.

2) (well, there really isn't any other application!).

The biggest problem is that another pair of vendors (Apple's iOS, Google's Android) have significant market share. Windows on a fondleslab is a late arrival, and wants to make a big splash (look at the adverts Microsoft is running!). To penetrate the market, they need to be lower cost. With lower cost, comes lower margins, which discourages vendors. The problem is that to make use of W8 in a way people are accustomed to, requires a fancy keyboard, which also adds cost. If you are going to spend that much and use the applications on the platform, a small laptop is probably a better choice. This leads to the conclusion "why bother".

In the end, a fondleslab is a different platform with different applications to be used (not Word/Excel/Outlook). Trying to make it work like a desktop appears to be an exercise in futility.

Sure you can move furniture in the family car, but a truck works better on a day to day basis.

Four Apple execs among US top five best-paid in 2012

Salary...

It is how we keep score.

'Charge memory' boffins: Hungover Li-Ion batts tell fat whoppers

People compared to

Older chemistries. Back in the day, when NiCd batteries were in full bloom, everybody talked about the "memory effect", which works out to a similar process. Lithium batteries were the "solution" to the problem. Now it turns out that the problem exists in Li based batteries as well.

So, back to the drawing board. Or, can you build me a better battery charge management solution (most likely microprocessor based).

Cellular architectures not great for TV: study

Belongs in the catagory...

Duh!

You only need ONE broadcast channel for a widely distributed program (say, Royal Wedding), and if you distribute it on cellular data channels, you have zillions of channels with the same content. Not very efficient!

To repeat: Duh!

Cutting CO2 too difficult? Try these 4 simple tricks instead

Cost...

Yes, there are some things that can be done for "low cost". The problem is that Governments WANT high cost items to justify their existence (laws, regulations, etc.). Government rarely does anything "on the cheap". It needs a big bureaucracy to feed off of and further its existence to get votes.

If things were good ideas and cheap on their own, people would already do them. They would make economic sense to do them. We would have switched LONG ago to nice compact fluorescent lights if they made sense, but they really don't so why bother. No, a big government needs to enact laws because it "knows better" to demand their use. Now we have all sorts of disposal problems with the mercury they contain, and government will need to emit dictates for them as well, continuing the cycle.

Some of this falls into the category: "be careful for what you ask for, you may just get it!".

Bitcoins: A GIANT BUBBLE? Maybe, but currency could still be worthwhile

One thing wrong with BitCoin...

It doesn't have an army behind it. All the other arguments get a little bit silly when you consider this one. Think of "currencies" that have been created out of thin air, and none have succeeded because they can't convert on a whim to something physical (you can hold in your hand) or have an Army behind them. To be "physical" someone needs to fight for their value, thus the Army (or other fighting force). Until then, the value will be up and down like a yo-yo, and just a bunch of promises (hollow ones for sure).

So, sorry it really won't work.

You fight for precious metals because you "possess" them in your own way.

WTF is... H.265 aka HEVC?

The ear is more fickle than the eye

You can get away with LOTS of stuff when encoding video. The eye's bandwidth isn't that great compared to what can be put on a picture. The ear on the other hand, needs 16 bits at 44.1 ("CD Quality") to get things right. The only thing that you might be able to get away with in the audio realm is cutting off the high end as one gets older.

The mind is very good at interpolating video, and those applications they use on the CSI shows that zoom in so far are even better. Too bad the eyes can't take it. Fleeting moving pictures are perceived by the mind it truly amazing ways. In the days of analog TV, an uncompressed picture could be rendered with 80Mbits/sec (or so). Compression of a HD picture to less than 1/2 of that shows what you can get away with when you "process" it and throw away that which is considered by the process to be redundant, or not needed. When looking at a many moving picture (football) at high speed, some of the codecs do fall apart. Oh, well.

Nearly a quarter of all books sold in US in 2012 were ebooks

But I like real books!

I can use it in a variety of ways, fold over pages, make notes, pass it to somebody else, and NEVER need to worry about silly DRM crud (see tirade about Microsoft's "always connected" things).

Besides, it doesn't require electrons (and the power cord they need) to read. Yes, even re-chargeables need power sometime. I like to read without needing a power outlet nearby.

But that is just me!

Then again, there is ElReg!

Intel demos inexpensive 100Gb/sec silicon photonics chip

Tight bits!

They will only be (on average) a little less than 3 mm apart. That's pretty close.

Big problem is the packets "in transit". You go a bit of distance and a while packet is in the pipe. It gets complicated to handle it. Lots of buffers to be sure.

So it boils down to "Got Memory?"

Hey Intel, Microsoft: Share those profits with your PC pals, eh? - analyst

What is needed...

is a simple "remove Windows (whatever version) and send me the license fee" button. Then have the units ship with both Linux and that other mess and let users choose.

Of course, I'm dreaming, but what else is new.

NASA-backed fusion engine could cut Mars trip down to 30 days

Magnetic confinement...

Dick Tracy and his buddy Diet Smith would be proud.

Using magnetic stuff is what it is all about!

Researcher hacks aircraft controls with Android smartphone

Feedback?

"The hacked aircraft could even be controlled using a smartphone's accelerometer to vary its course and speed by moving the handset about."

Feedback loop, It'll only end one way.

Of course, this is why LOT airlines only fills part of the plane. Everyone knows that you can't have poles in the right half of the plane, as it leads to instability of the control system.

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

Google tool lets you share data from BEYOND the GRAVE

Does this have anything...

...to do with Margaret Thatcher's demise?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Of course, we shall see in a few months.

Attack of the CYBER NORKS! Pyongyang in frontal assault online

There is one hope though...

Maybe the missile is a dud, and the warhead blows up on the pad, with its atomic devastation. Maybe there is hope after all.

Now how do I make the missile land on Pyongyang......tap tappy tap... (BOFH at work...)

ACLU documents shows free access to emails for IRS tax police

Scott McNealy's wise words...

"You have no privacy anyway, get over it."

Words to the wise, echoed back in 1999.

Now where is my tin-foil hat?

Maggie Thatcher: The Iron Lady who saved us from drab Post Office mobes

The UK had Thatcher

We here in the USA had Reagan.

Both worked out pretty good, but their later successors have not done well.

Life goes on. Politicians buy votes (usually Liberal ones) with "other peoples money". Then claim their policies work. Unfortunately "other peoples money" ALWAYS runs out, as we here in the USA are figuring out all to sadly.

But life goes on. Politicians will come and go, and we will always complain about their policies, be it good or bad. (*SIGH*)

Tax man to take a bite of tech employees' free meals?

Next thing you know...

The IRS will state the value of the meal at $1000 a day (after all it is a gourmet meal!) and given that you will probably work Google for about 250 days a year, that puts your income at $250k that you will need to pay additional taxes for. All of a sudden you are "rich" and your tax rate is huge, and you will need all your "normal" income to pay for it. Then you won't have nay money left over for housing (Google might provide that as well), and then you will have no disposable income to buy things like clothes and Motorola Mobility phones.

So you will end up being a slave to Google just to pay the taxes.

What a country!