Posts by John Hoar

Report on AI in UK public sector: Some transparency on how government uses it to govern us would be nice

Let's simplify that first paragraph

A new report from the Committee for Standards in Public life has criticised the UK government and called for ethics.

Java EE renamed 'Jakarta EE' after Big Red brand spat

The Jakarta name has a loooong association with Java

Being home to some successful Apache Foundation Java projects such as Xerces and Xalan, some promising but ultimate failures such as Batik and many many things that were simply a bad idea; a lot of Java/XML crossovers. Very mid-2000s.

'Why don't you buy from foreign sites?' asks Commish, snapping on the gloves

I am no longer infected.

PARIS looking 50/50 for Saturday launch

For those of us in the Iberian peninsula

Where are you going to be? Any chance of watching the big event?

EU Parliament calls for pan-EU copyright law

Tough luck

"There is a huge Digital Single Market for audiovisual material. The problem is that it's illegal, and it's not monetized," she said. "We have effectively allowed illegal file-sharing to set up a single market where our usual policy channels have failed."

And that is completely the fault of the copyright holders for not manning up to the challenge of providing an attractive consumer proposition in any way shape or form.

The horse has bolted and is far over the horizon. The sweet sweet tears of the copyright cartels and their shills in the EC are immensely pleasing.

Unity – iPhone code swap approved by Jobs (for now)

Stop fretting and release 3.0 already

pleeeeeeaaasseeee

NASA, Microsoft offer new 3D Mars maps

Microsoft hate is so last decade

Get with plan guys - Apple and Google are the villains; MS have just collapsed in a huge pile of incompetence and indecision.

Apple app police anoint un-Flash code translation

3.0??

@StooMonster:

So are you one of the beta testers then? 3.0 isn't out for general release yet and I'm curious to know what the changes are like.

Microsoft dubs Windows Phone 7 'ad serving machine'

Dumb dumb dumb

Microsoft surely must know by now that you cannot say anything in a public forum without the press reporting on it. And they've just given WinPhone7 the kiss of death.

Stupid.

Apple get a free ride for iAds from the press as the press generally have a huge crush on Apple. Microsoft is damaged goods.

Apple lifts iPhone code ban (for chosen few)

For Unity, etc

Unity uses Javascript for game logic; since iPhones and iPads are a key target for Unity devs this is great.

So this is serving the interests of Apple in promoting their mobile devices as a gaming platform.

Apple: open when it makes them money.

Mozilla dons grass skirt with near-ready Thunderbird 3.1 release

Can't be worse than 3.0

I hope that it has an expert option for creating account setups; we were using HTTPS for our IMAP server and 3.0 simply would not do let me set that up easily - it kept driving me into the wizard-for-dummies which was utterly utterly inadequate.

Also; stop trying to index my 17Gb mailbox every 2 minutes you cretinous program.

Murdoch's paywall: The end of the suicide era?

Another gambit in the war against the BBC

In two years time Murdoch can turn around and say "the BBC News and Sport sites are destroying the profitability of our business; please turn them off kthxbye."

(Conveniently forgetting that they never were profitable)

And the rest of the publishing world will leap for joy and dive behind a paywall

Jobsian drones shackle gamer with 'lifetime' iPad ban

Although...

... he didn't appear to stick this through his free-association text-mangler. This story must have really got to him.

Gov demand for Governator to terminate PunterNet

Unlikely

The woman has clear lost touch with reality in a major way.

First; I've heard that LA produces a substantial percentage of all pron produced. I obviously wouldn't know too much about that, but sure if he had interest in that sort of agenda, he'd b looking closer to home.

Second; I'm pretty sure that he'd run into some major 1st amendment problems. Unless they were *really* bad reviews I guess.

Microsoft ultra-thins to 'out cool' netbooks, Apple

Missing the point

I think a lot of people are missing the point. There was a report that Apple are taking an enormous share of the $1000+ computer market - and this is the market that the OEMs are desperate to cut into. Microsoft, the OEMs and Intel all need to sell their big ticket items; the race to the bottom is fine in a recession, but they need to have some hope of recovering the high-end market share from Apple in the future.

Shamelessly copying Apple is their tactic, first Vista now 'Ultra-thin'. It is clear they cannot innovate their way out of a paper bag.

Would you leave your child alone with a cabinet minister?

Yes, Minister?

Honestly, this lot make Jim Hacker look like a absolute genius. Are they awake in there? Are they thinking for more than 5 seconds on any policy decision? Are the thinking at all?

What an utter bunch of fools.

Sadly, the other bunch don't seem any better.

Sun succumbs to Apple envy with Java Store push

Feedback?

Send the man a copy of the Parrot Sketch.

Google and the Great Wikipedia Feedback Loop

If Britannica were really concerned with the truth

Self-serving twaddle. Most people have heard of Wp by now and use Google as better WP search engine.

In EB where interested in the truth, they'd pay their 'experts' to correct Wikipedia entries. But they're not interested, they want to preserve:

- their status as the in-practice primary reference source (already lost)

- their business model (disappearing rapidly - WP is 90% good enough in an overwhelming number of cases, so why pay EB? Why pay for knowledge at all?)

- their jobs (gone in 10 years)

Stuff 'em

Shuttle X27D

But Intel does not want this at all

But surely Intel does not want to encourage this sort of things at all, I suspect, and loves to find ways to keep Atom in its place. SCCs sell well as toys or gimmicks, but Intel would much rather see the people buying into its mid range processors. Seeing Atom processors cannabalise its midrange market gotta sting a little.

US law makers seek ban on in-flight calls

Clapping on planes

I think there was just one time when I thought it was marginally justified.

The plane was coming into in a big storm at Gatwick yawing nastily; the captain knew it, the cabin crew knew it and the passengers with windows seats on the left hand side watching the ground disappearing underneath the plane sure as hell knew it.

Big cheers all round it was.

"Mr Boeing makes exceptionally good planes."

T5 opening turns into Airplane 3.0

Same in Madrid

Pretty much the same thing happened at the new terminal here in Madrid when in opened not too long ago - queues, baggage lost, flights missed.

Was pretty embarrasing, since the spanish winter olympics team flew out of the terminal not long after it opened and plenty of equipment got lost in the baggage handling system; cue scenes of skiers without skis etc etc.