Posts by Kimo

COVID-19 cases surge as do sales of fake vaccination cards – around $100 for something you could get free

Re: A long way still to go

Italy. Spain. New York. India. Florida.

People had immune systems and those outbreaks got ugly as healthcare systems became overwhelmed and people who could survive given adequate resources died.

Re: A long way still to go

A significant number of survivors have long-term health problems including breathing and neurological problems.

Re: A long way still to go

This happened to a degree. my wife, who does in-home elder care, was able to get vaccinated before it was widely available. her employer was given a web portal to register appointments.

Elementary OS 6 Odin released on a 'pay what you want' basis

This. New users expect at a minimum to have a web browser, email, and an office suite when they first boot (or a shortcut to install office software at the least).

Oh hello. Haven't heard much from you lately: Linux veteran Slackware rides again with a beta of version 15

Re: Super Stable

I bought a new tower shortly after Windows XP came out, and the original version was buggy as hell, especially with WiFi on USB. So I paid for a CD set of Slack (on dial-up at the time) and ran it happily until well after XP SP3 made it a stable OS.

Texas blacks out, freezes, and even stops sending juice to semiconductor plants. During a global silicon shortage

Connecting to the TVA and hydro power to the east and Arkansas' nuke plant to the north, as well as the solar and wind in New Mexico and Oklahoma might help.

Re: Wind farms

Which wouldn't be as much of a problem if the Texas grid could draw power from the Great Lakes or the Southwest. Texas is a big state with several weather zones, so they seldom have a state-wide problem of this magnitude. They intentionally bet on that when the grid was designed. Once in a while they lose.

Re: Probably insignificant when offset against the days they are working optimally

Out in West Texas, it can get damn cold for weeks at a time. I have seen few things sadder than ducks in Lubbock standing around on a pond waiting for it to thaw.

File format conversion crisis delayed attempt to challenge US presidential election result

Re: Oh FFS give it up already.

While Trump expects personal loyalty (and has dismissed people who followed the law against his wishes), the bulk of judicial appointments in McConnel's work, and he has pick people for their originalist legal philosophy and conservative views.

Re: Don't suck the joy out of everything

There is, however, a Federal budget item for Air Force One. It can be both a designation for the plane the President is currently in and a specific conversion of a 747 200B.

Re: Don't suck the joy out of everything

Yes and no. There are two planes that rotate the Air Force One designation (both 747-200Bs). There are a number of aircraft used by cabinet members and the first family that are nearly as secure as AF1, including the 757 that is usually used for Vice President Penis or the First Lady. The landing notice mentions a 757.

If the President were on board your Cessna, it would be AF1. But it would have to be fitted with enough security and communication gear that it would be rendered inoperable. Any airplane carrying the President is AF1, but the President does not fly on just any airplane.

Re: Don't suck the joy out of everything

The information points to a smaller plane than Air Force One. Could be Melania making her break.

Canadian uni blamed users after Workday HR switch, but some teaching assistants say they're still waiting to be paid

Ohio State just made the switch to Workday. Can’t wait to see what fun ensues.

One does not simply shove elephants on a ballet shoe point and call it an acceptable measure of pressure

While the Reg prefers to measure in skateboarding rhinoceri, it is worth pointing out that there are 5 species of that particular group still turning tricks upon the Earth, with a considerable range between the Black Rhinoceros (adult males ranging from 850-1600kg) and the Sumatran variety (about 700kg).

Bill Gates lays out a three-point plan to rid the world of COVID-19 – and anti-vaxxer cranks aren't gonna like it

Re: If Bill Gates has the technology to implant chips to control people's behavior

Reality as a Service.

Brexit travel permits designed to avoid 7,000-lorry jams come January depend on software that won't be finished till April

Re: "7,000 vehicles (about 60 miles/96km, end-to-end)"

1,056 American football fields.

Re: effective and simple to use

They can store the QR codes in the cloud using blockchain for maximum buzzword density.

Apple to Epic: Sue me? No, sue you, pal!

Re: Microsoft Has anyone else noticed...

What does that have to do with limiting app store purchases?

Re: Anti-Trust

If you play Fortnite on Playstation or XBox, you can buy in app currency anywhere and spend it in the game. If you play on iOS, you can only get in game currency from Apple. PC and console games do not perpetually tie in game purchases to their store.

Re: Monopolistic behaviour

The inability to negotiate can be used as evidence that Apple has a monopoly and is abusing it. If there were competition, Apple would have to bargain to keep apps on their store.

I honestly think Epic’s proposed remedy will include opening up third party app stores on iOS (and that is why they took the more difficult route of suing Apple and Google separately). They already have a working app store on PC with a payment system that undercuts Steam and they can offer devs using Unreal a simple route to publishing and payment.

Re: Hot tip for gamblers

While I hope Epic prevails, it is only because smaller devs would benefit from a more reasonable fee structure and potentially other ways to get their content out.

Predictable legal maneuvering

Epic contends that Apple’s contract is onerous and legally unenforceable. Apple most likely does not expect a dismal at this point, but by countersuing they can request legal fees from Epic if they prevail and Epic can not unilaterally drop the suit if they see themselves losing. This is just foreplay for the legal teams.

Re: The “Apple take 30%” thing is a lie

In an earlier ruling, the judge did indicate that while 30% sounds high, 0% is clearly too low. I expect a lot of discovery will focus on the true cost of running the big 2 app stores and the actual value to developers. There is a serious chance that common sense will prevail. And be overturned on appeal.

Re: Microsoft Has anyone else noticed...

Apple does have a monopoly on iOS devices, a market that is worth more than the Android market (I recall Epic saying 60%of their mobile revenue is through Apple). The critical battle of this suit will be defining the market, and Epic will point to Apple restrictions on transferring in app purchases between platforms as creating a distinct market.

Epic move: Judge says Apple can't revoke Unreal Engine dev tools, asks 'Where does the 30 per cent come from?'

Re: There's a big flaw in Epic's argument

That depends on what they determine at trial to be the appropriate definition of the market. All gaming devices is too broad. All mobile and desktop devices is also probably too broad. I expect the fight will come down to mobile devices, with the option down to is iOS a market, or is iOS+Android the correct market? Apple will go for the wider definition, while Epic will cite the impossibility of moving paid content between devices as creating two separate markets.

Just because Epic can and does sell in other markets does not mean that Apple can use a monopoly to take advantage of their market.

Apple hits back at Epic, says Fortnite crew wants a 'free ride' on fees: Let the app store death match commence

No clean hands here.

Apple and Google have featured "free" games since the inception of their stores since most of the public won't pay $.99 to put an app on their $800 phones (which they don't often see the real price of thanks to no-interest phone sales by carriers). So game developers found ways to add addictive behavior to their games to sell in-app purchases. With the base game "free" the app stores need in-app purchase revenue to make any money of a lot of popular titles. Game devs have worked hand-in-hand with app stores to milk money out of users, and that created the environment where we are now. With no up-front cost, games companies would get a free ride from the app stores. But a 30% cut of every transaction in perpetuity is steep. There has to be a fair middle ground, But with no cut to Apple or Google, then Epic, EA, Nexon, Bethesda, and other devs would be taking advantage of Apple, in the system that Apple built on purpose. The companies built this system together to milk the most money out of consumers, to the point where a fair number of people will drop more money into a "free" game then it cost to by a triple-A PC/Console game.

Re: A few pertinent questions....

Epic already has a working PC store with secure payments.

Re: I hope Epic have the balls to stay the course

Their lead attorney was the head of antitrust under the Obama administration. They are paying top dollar for lawyers, and they have enough in cash reserves to pursue this case.

But the iOS store makes twice as much in revenue as the Google Play store. Determining if it is a monopoly will be a tricky legal question, and probably will make or break this case.

Re: Only 30% ?

Epic has their own store on PC. I am certain that their acceptable remedies will include allowing Epic to offer their store on iOS.

Re: And they're right

You are not bound if the contract terms are onerous. Epic has a better suit against Apple then Google, as there is no way to get an app on an iOS device for a typical user except through the app store.

Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced techie is indistinguishable from magic

Girl Genius reference

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081205#.XzhjtOhKiUk

I have never personally burned down a building to resolve a support ticket, but well done, sir, well done.

Not exactly the same...

But when my department started getting optical mice instead of rollers, I had a coworker complaining about random mouse movement. After checking drivers and connections, I noticed his mouse pad had a lenticular surface that was great traction for a physical mouse, but reflected the optical beam at random angles. One new mouse pad solved the problem.

Epic Games gets itself epically banned, launches epic Fortnite death match with Apple over App Store's epic 30% cut

Re: Did they not read the Terms and Conditions?

The did. And the speed at which they sued indicates they knew exactly what would happen. But they had to put their apps on the stores to have standing to challenge in court if those rules are onerous and therefore unenforceable. Only try this trick if you are prepared to dump a lot of money into your law firm.

Unless the end game is forcing Apple to allow an iOS Epic store.

CERN puts two new atom-smashers on its shopping list. One to make Higgs Bosons, then a next-gen model six times more energetic than the LHC

High-field superconducting magnets, high-temperature superconductors, plasma wakefield acceleration tech, bright muon beams? My local police probably already have all the bits and are using them for crowd control.

Microsoft Teams gets off to a wobbly start as the world and its cat starts working from home

Can't wait until next week to see how Ohio State's systems handle switching 50,000 students to online classes.

You, FCC, tell us again why cities are only allowed to charge rich telcos $270 to attach 5G tech to utility poles?

Which would look nice next to a modern 5G unit. It's all about showing the structure and services.

Cost per pole varies widely. The hourly rate to process depends on the local cost of living and prevailing wages. Des Moines can afford a much lower fee than San Francisco because you have to pay people enough to live in the Bay area.,

And despite their protests about aesthetic issues, there are real concerns especially in historic districts. Slapping a fuggly bit of kit in the French Quarter or Savannah's old city is different than putting it on the side of a brutalist office slab.

After just one phone, Essential Products ascends to the great venture capitalist in the sky

I like my Essential phone, but I picked it up at $250 instead of launch price. At that price the so-so camera isn't a deal breaker, and I did get the 360 camera attachment. They could have followed up with a second phone with a better camera and lower price, but they wanted to make SHINY-SQUIRREL instead. They changed focus more times than my cats. But they made a decent bare-bones Android phone.

Whoa, France. Take it easy. Wow. You're out of control. Fining Apple 55 minutes of revenue for secretly slowing down iPhones? Maniaques!

On the other hand

Sudden shutdowns would also cause people to buy new kit. Informing them and creating an option screen would have been a good move, but Apple could get hit on either side for this.

Google says its latest chatbot is the most human-like ever – trained on our species' best works: 341GB of social media

Skynet doesn't scare me. The YouTube comments section becoming sentient, that's my worst nightmare.

China tells America, with a straight face, it will absolutely crack down on hacking and copyright, tech blueprint theft

Check back in a year

This is just a fig leaf deal so Trump can declare victory before the election. If this deal has teeth, I will be incredibly surprised. And I can see China buying a large quantity of farm goods in 2020 to push up Trump support ahead of the election so they don't have to deal with a grownup in the White House, but in the long term the amounts they have sorta promised to buy are unsustainable.

When is an electrical engineer not an engineer? When Arizona's state regulators decide to play word games

Re: AKA Libertarians

At Ohio State, to graduate as a Computer or Software Engineer, you still need the into Engineering sequence. You can get a Computer and Information Science degree without any Engineering classes.

When the IT department speaks, users listen. Or face the consequences

Re: Storing in the wrong place?

I was once given the task of telling a list of users to clean out their inboxes before a major maintenance on an Outlook server. They estimated rebuilding the system after would take about 1 hour/gigabyte, with a handful of accounts nearing the 3GB storage limit. As I was not a senior position, most just told me "no" even knowing that we were looking at an extended email outage.

Academics with laptops are the worst offenders. Had a boss about that time get a nasty file-corrupting virus with over three years worth of work on an un-backed up laptop. I spent three days on it (OK, half a day finding a tool to dredge through the disc, 20 minutes to start it up, another day of actually salvaging files, and the rest of the time spent explaining back up resources that they were ignoring).