Posts by John Robson

Eggheads have crunched the numbers and the results are in: It's not just your dignity you lose with e-scooters, life and limb are in peril, too

Now try getting about on a wheelchair... those front wheels are hell on bad surfaces.

EA boots Linux gamers out of multiplayer Battlefield V, Penguinistas respond by demanding crippling boycott

I suspect he’s pointing out that aSOCCiation football isn’t the only sport to be called football...

And most soccer that is widely followed isn’t sport any more either.

Linux is already mainstream - it's just also hidden.

Das Reboot: Uni forces 38,000 students, staff to queue, show their papers for password reset following 'cyber attack'

“ As the malware spreads over the network, you have to disconnect the machine from the network, until it is clean, therefore any remote management tools are useless.”

Or you push all ports to a “dirty” vlan, isolated from the world - log in and clean, then move the port back... you are running managed switches aren’t you?

The IoT wars are over, maybe? Amazon, Apple, Google give up on smart-home domination dreams, agree to develop common standards

Surely...

For someone like lightwave it only needs them to release a new hub (or preferably a firmware update for the existing hubs)

Poor, poor mobile networks. UK's comms watchdog plans to stop 'em selling locked-down handsets

Re: See the light

Just wish my phone had that option built in... “charge to 90% and stop”. If I need longer life, I have a power pack.

Re: Vodaphone

Yep - I cancelled a contract and about six month later started getting unnamed (sender) letters through the door which I ignored.

Eventually started getting phone calls from some company I’d never heard of - which I hung up on.

Finally managed to get one of them to tell me what they were calling about *before* doing any security check.

Vodafone still think the contract is active and are pissed that I cancelled the DD.

And four months on, they still haven’t contacted me about it themselves.

FUSE for macOS: Why a popular open source library became closed source and commercially licensed

Re: Seems fair

Often by selling support...

It pays my wages at any rate.

Re: Bus factor

Only if you can trust companies...

Re: Bus factor

The point is that the new code can't be... It would need to be redeveloped from scratch.

He's forked at the point where he has added a rather useful feature set (and presumably put quite a bit of work into it). The whole point is that the organisations profiting from his work don't want to spend the money doing the development or provide any remuneration for that work.

So it's gone closed, and therefore the new feature set cannot be picked up by anyone else.

Yes - it does depend on whether the code has been placed in escrow... If I were a large organisation I might well insist on that as part of the license.

Re: Bus factor

Except with the source being closed noone *can* pick it up now...

At least with the open model someone *could* have done.

I fully support his decision though - meals need to get paid for.

Happy Artemis Day everybody! NASA preps its monster rocket for testing

Unfortunately it represents (I think) the not unreasonable decision to leave '100%' at the first specification. Subsequent design revisions allowed for additional power, hence the rather odd 'throttling to 104%' call outs.

In tribute to Galaxy Note 7, BBC iPlayer support goes up in flames for some Samsung TVs

Re: Sorry but...

Yes but the 'external box' doesn't have to be expensive... a fire TV box, or a small media computer, heck - even a cheap tablet with an HDMI output...

That's relatively easy to replace.

BBC tells Conservative Party to remove edited Facebook ad featuring its reporters

"his party won the last UK nationwide election"

No they didn't... They might have managed to get more seats than any other individual party, but they didn't "win" anything.

The company should not be given the time of day on the BC, let alone the excessive coverage he has.

Pedantry approved of...

I should have said - Who *have had* MPs - quite a few in fact...

So why do they repeatedly invite farage onto shows when he isn't standing for parliament, the party he purports to represent isn't running in nearly half the seats, and he has no MPs - and yet haven't found time for any of the 'minor' parties who *do* have MPs.

They keep making "mistakes" which must take a serious amount of work (dragging up three year old footage of events rather than the content shot in a given week for example).

Register Lecture: Can portable atomic clocks end UK dependence on GNSS?

Re: first lecture of the decade

Technically the 1900's is a different time period to the 20th century... but with the recent demise of the apostrophe protection society I suspect we're just going to have to accept that idiocracy was a documentary.

Halfords invents radio signals that don't travel at the speed of light

Re: Speed of light

The second is defined in relation to a specifix caesium emission isn't it. Then the metre is defined as a number of wavelengths of one of the sodium lines?

So the speed (in a vacuum) is absolutely fixed, because the speed defines the metre.

And radio waves travel at that speed, not near as dammit - actually at.

Of course that speed is modified by the transmission medium.

Bad news: 'Unblockable' web trackers emerge. Good news: Firefox with uBlock Origin can stop it. Chrome, not so much

Re: screw Google for deliberately helping advertisers

Subdomains aren't an issue - cnames aren't an issue - unless they point offsite.

There is a slight issue with CDNs, which tend to use cnames for the main domain, but that shouldn't be insurmountable.

Brexit bad boy Arron Banks' Twitter account hacked: Private messages put online

Re: Patience...

No - I'm talking about not waiting months for an investigation to get suppressed in the bowels of our judicial system.

Patience...

Not really that much time to *be* patient.

For someone already convicted of illegal electoral behaviour - there is a current electoral campaign he will want to screw up as well.

Uncle Sam prepping order to extradite ex-Autonomy boss Mike Lynch from the UK

Re: Consistency Is The Hobgoblin Of Small Minds

Why would be embarrassing?

After all they are the "higher" court in any matter...

Bloodhound gang hits 1,010kph, retreats to lab to work on smashing the land speed record

Current rocket...

Is still in the lab - it's currently a jet...

Can't you hear me knocking? But I installed a smart knocker

Re: The joys of automation...

As a wheelchair user I find proximity keys an absolute godsend, particularly in inclement weather.

The ability to wheel up to a car and open the door rather then wheel up, put brakes on, dig around in a bag for a key, unlock, open door, put key back in bag, load wheelchair, stagger round car, dig around for key again (how is it already at the bottom the bag?)...

last time I had a proximity key it was a gimmick - not any more.

Boffins blow hot and cold over li-ion battery that can cut leccy car recharging to '10 mins'

Re: "we can't just ignore major blockers to uptake."

Longevity - probably most of them

Price - when the second hand market is saturated, but look at the ‘new’ cost of your station wagon - that’s is after all what you are looking at for the EV.

Load carrying - actually EVs should be better than liquid fuels cars - batteries pack really nicely.

Re: "we can't just ignore major blockers to uptake."

Based on the fact that you start every day with a full 'tank', and never have to go somewhere special to refuel.

Average milage in the UK is under 30 miles a day

The Leaf (first one I looked up) gets 4m/kWh - so you need ~7.5kWh a day.

That's easily supplied with a 13A socket whilst you sleep - no need for fancy high power anything.

Of course that assumes that you only charge whilst you sleep, which is probably unlikely, unless you run on an economy7 style tariff. In reality you'll have many more hours than that available.

It's also the level of charging that should be targeted for office car parks etc (no need for high power charging in a car park when those parking will do so for several hours anyway)

Many of the people who can't charge overnight could then charge at work instead.

Just to point out that you need grid power for your liquid fuel pumps as well...

Re: "we can't just ignore major blockers to uptake."

"We have extremely long distances to deal with and very limited non car transportation available...."

You choose to do long distances, and not to push for any kind of reasonable transport alternatives.

When I visit the states I walk to the restaurant across the road, it must take me all of five minutes, but the looks I get for walking that far...

Also - most of this discussion was around urban areas, particularly London, which last time I checked wasn't in the US. End to end the UK mainland is under 850 miles...

But actually - long distances or not... if you aren't taking breaks on your journey then you should be, and if you are then it doesn't actually matter if you plug in whilst you stretch your legs, rest your eyes and brain and refresh yourself.

When petrol engines first arrived they were inconvenient - far easier to take a horse.

Re: "we can't just ignore major blockers to uptake."

If you are driving for 10 hours straight at motorway speed then there are other issues with your journey planning. Mixed mode journeys would save you alot of effort.

There is a good chance you'd be better off catching a train and hiring a car at the far end if you need one there at all.

EVs are easier, and more versatile than liquid fueled cars - there are a very small number of journeys for which they extend the duration slightly.

Re: "simple but elegant"

The UK have *very* few pedestrianised residential areas.

In your case a 5 mile commute becomes a 25 minute cycle (and that's really gentle)

It's really not that hard - particularly not if you get an electric assist on the bike - you'll easily average 15+mph, so that's now under 20 minutes for the commute.

One thing that all these people without access to anywhere to park have in common is that they (by definition) live in high density areas, so many journeys are short enough not to need a car, and public transport *tends* to be better.

When I lived in central London I wouldn't have considered owning a car, it's just not needed.

When I lived in flats on the outskirts I did own a car, but used it relatively rarely.

10+ years ago my wife and I sold our second car, in that time we've hired a car twice to cover times when we both "needed" one - for a total of four days.

Re: "simple but elegant"

So if you walk to the loo rather than running...

A 15-20 minute break on a long journey is good for concentration.

If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is: Nobody can decrypt the Dharma ransomware

Re: Can someone explain.....

Your backups were online and got encrypted as well...

Most people don't have tape libraries which can keep backups offline and automatically load the tape when needed - so we have to rely on online backups, or infrequent ones...

"Negotiating with the ransomware author"

AKA: Is a nice alias for the ransomware author...

Robotics mastermind admits: I pushed over my 1-year-old daughter to understand balance

Re: There are a lot of considerations, but...

For finding a gunman I’ll agree - fires tend to cause all sorts of problems for flying machines - the convection currents are pretty wild.

NSA to Congress: Our spy programs don’t work, aren’t used, or have gone wrong – now can you permanently reauthorize them?

Re: Why

I found a use for something in the garage this week... Not sure that quite justifies the amount of stuff there, but hey...

Bloodhound rocket car target of 550mph put on ice after engine overheat

No the wheels don’t have to be driven - that’s a different record (503mph a quick google suggests)

UK Home Office: We will register thousands of deactivated firearms with no database

Re: "no requirement of 'registration' for deactivated firearms"

Probably because 'deactivated' is potentially reversible.

Socket to the energy bill: 5-bed home with stupid number of power outlets leaves us asking... why?

Re: Forget the risk of fire spreading through the holes in the wall

Not in the UK - we use bricks

Not just adhesive, but alcohol-resistant adhesive: Well done, Apple. Airpods Pro repairability is a zero

Re: That vendor's track record for reparability is miserable

"product life is unacceptably short for me"

So don't buy them - easy.

Comparing them with pure headphones is also a bit pointless... They aren't just headphones, they also have an array of microphones, accelerometers, and optical sensors on each as well - adding to the jobs they can do.

I'm sure your IEMs sound great, but 90% of the time that doesn't actually matter - and the lack of a microphone is going to be more inconvenient than the increase in sound quality of on hold music.

They also lack the ability to control your phone/other device in your pocket (or bag, or on the desk on the other side of the room).

The cables to tangle in your pocket (because they do) is also a disadvantage of IEMs, and the case you keep them in to stop that being an issue is almost certainly larger than the airpod case.

Yes, the limited battery life is a disadvantage of any wireless audio device, but the compromise between robustness and repairability has to be drawn somewhere. I suspect it could have been drawn elsewhere - but the factors that went into that decision aren't exactly public knowledge.

Re: That vendor's track record for reparability is miserable

So you're offering nothing, as opposed to a decent set of audio interfaces for various devices?

I'm not playing any card - but your concept of value is clearly worlds apart from many. The cost of a device over it's lifetime does depend on the length of time you use a device.

There is no way any wired headphones are as portable as airpods - even in their case they are smaller than either driver on your 70's cans. The airpods, and their case, are designed to be easily pocketable, show me your cans in a pocket.

To suggest that you have a pair of microphones is just pointless to an extend all speakers can be used as microphones - can they be used to make a call - can they be both headphones and microphone at the same time? No.

The airpods serve a specific purpose, and do so very well. They could be made in two sections, with the battery and drivers in the 'top' of the lollipop and have that section replaceable - that wouldn't be a bad move... But to be honest they are likely to be alot more fragile if you do split them in two.

Re: That vendor's track record for reparability is miserable

Jake - what are you offering me for $300/year?

I don't use airpods, but my listening devices cost an order of magnitude more than that, and an expected lifespan of five years. They did come with a qualified audiologist though.

The Koss cans aren't nearly as portable as airpods, nor do they have microphones, so they aren't actually comparable in many useful aspects.

Re: That vendor's track record for reparability is miserable

3 years - 1000 days

Even a coffee per day is a few grand.

Earbuds you might use for 4-5 hours a day - suddenly stops being quite so expensive.

Re: The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree

And from 'earables' it's only a short step to "hearables"

Re: Removable stem seems like a reasonable suggestion...

For those people whose ears they fit - they are actually pretty stable in place. They hook behind the 'tragus' (the flappy bit just in front of the ear canal entrance.

If your ears aren't 'apple approved' dimensions... then yes, they're going to fail.

Removable stem seems like a reasonable suggestion...

Although I still find it odd that 'hearing aid' style receivers aren't more common. They are perfect for all day wear, and with different ends can either be completely open, so you can hear the world as normal, or completely closed (though you obviously pay for the custom fit).

There is even a set of standard replaceable and rechargeable battery options available, and the slight additional physical volume would probably allow for both battery options...

Delayed, over-budget smart meters will be helpful – when Blighty enters 'Star Trek phase'

None of the mooted advantages need smart meters anyway

The whole 'devices can react to the grid' needs to be handled at the device level.. The obvious candidates are the high, and variable, load devices:

- Electric car charging

- Immersion heaters

- Storage heaters

- Batteries used as time shifting devices (rather than solar energy shifting)

There is no point in telling my cooker to turn off halfway through roasting a chicken...

There is no point telling my freezer to turn off

I have the lights on because I need them on

My smoke alarms don't get turned off either

There are a few things I could turn 'further off' than I do, but again, none of that is going to change with a smart meter.

The first list of devices can easily negotiate with the grid/supplier and have a 'I want to use this much energy in the next 8 hours - when do you want me to use it' discount applied to the bill based on their direct usage - you could even use an economy10 style meter system for those specific devices (and nowadays of course that can easily be done without changing all the wiring).

The concept of differential cost is excessively punitive to those who can't shift their power usage around (and for those where it represents a larger proportion of their weekly budget) - in the same way that pre pay meters are somehow more expensive than non pre pay meters...

Come on, you can't be serious: Now Australia mulls face-recog tech for p0rno site age checks

Re: Just another stupid thought bubble...

It’s adult material - that’s not a bad descriptor either.

Adolescents will, of course, want to get their hands on anything set apart for adults. That doesn’t mean I think it should fall to the site to prove anyone’s identity and age...

Parents/teachers need to be able to talk about porn, and specifically how completely ridiculous most of it is. In the same way that very few streets in London have only two family’s, but manage 14 affairs and three murders a month.

Parents/teachers should be able implement local network blocks - and frankly should be able to force phones to connect via a home VPN, so phones get filtered too....

Re: Just another stupid thought bubble...

Tor/VPN means you no longer appear to be in Australia, but The Netherlands, where they have a more [grown up|mature|liberal] approach to adult material.

Father of Unix Ken Thompson checkmated: Old eight-char password is finally cracked

Re: DES

Not incorrect, just incomplete.

UK culture sec hints at replacing TV licence fee, defends encryption ban proposals and her boss in Hacker House inquiry

Re: Hmm

Have one back for honesty ;)

We're going deeper Underground: Vulture clicks claws over London's hidden tracks

Re: 6 mph in Victorian London

Any driver might do either - but actual deaths and serious injuries are incredibly rare, and they are disproportionally HGVs, which have no place on our roads during common commuting hours.

Not cycling is generally more dangerous - although those risks tend not to be quite so immediately obvious.