Re: These jokers make the best case for nationalisation.
Good enough.
159 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jun 2008
Well, YMMV but when I tried it it left yellow spell-check highlighting in a sent mail and TOTALLY borked the formatting on a mail that was composed bit by bit on a couple of different computers (This borking was not visible in the sent items, only the recipients reply). Both these embarrassingly crapped up emails were to important clients where making a good impression was important. I have never has any similar problems with the classic compose. So I really hope it is fixed before we are forced to use it.
The fact that SP2 ironed out most of the worst bugs of Vista was not enough to save it from oblivion, and I doubt these little changes will not be enough to save Windows 8 from the dustbin of history either. Word is out amoungst the public that 8 is a lemon, and that won't be changed easily. Which is almost a shame because if it wasn't for Microsoft's stubbon pig headededness over such trivial issues it could easily have been a sucess. Although it is not as fast and stable as 7 is is *nowhere near* as buggy and unfinished as Vista SP0 was. Personally I quite like the ribbonised explorer. I find the (mostly minor) performance and application compatibility issues more annoying than the lack of a start menu. The absolute BEST thing about 7 is the combo search/run box and it is a shame that the win 8 equivalent is nowhere near as tidy.
I dislike much or perhaps even most of what government and police do and stand for. But hate it or loathe it, it is an undisputable fact that if you defy them they will go out of their way to ***k you up, and they have the full resources of the state behind them to do that with. That is a realpolitik fact which people and organizations have no choice but to deal with. Given that context, it seems to me reassuring that the VAST MAJORITY of requests for users data etc are rejected. Does anyone really expect microsoft to give the man the finger like the pirate party, lulz sec or anonymous might do ? So clearly they have to strike a balance. And the fact that the balance is vastly in favour of their users is , to my mind, a good thing. I am certain that in china the scales would be tipped far over the other way.
So 87% to 99% of data requests from law enforcement agencies are DENIED. I cant decide if it reassuring to know they try so hard to protect their users, or alarming that they give so little help to the plods. Or is it conceivable that they might actually be getting the balance right ? nah, thought not.........
It is easier for me to imagine a world where copyright is harshly enforced by content cartels bristling with lawyers etc but your privacy is non existent and everything you do is snooped on by advertisers, governemnt censors and software spooks. The content cartels are doing their best to cozy up with government anyway so they can push their agenda with the powers of the state (AND at taxpayers expense).Seems to me the 2 issues are the same side of the same coin, and it is heads down in the mud getting the boot on the tail.
Nah, that doesnt quite work as ME was *not* NT based. ME was a kind of Win 98 third edition, the last dying gasp of the DOS based Old Technology. XP was an enhancement (if you will) from win 2000 and the older NT-based systems.
As I see it, In the Old Technology lineup
3.11: Fair for its time. I suppose.
95: Remarkably good considering how revolutionaty and bleeding edge it was.
98 1st edition: Bloody Awful. Second worst windows ever.
98: 2nd edition: Fair, tending towards pretty good but not *quite* getting there.
ME: Fair, tending towards poor.
No DOS based OS was ever that good (Including DOS itself) so i can't quite call even 98SE good. And yup, I never actually *hated* ME like I hated 981E and Vista SP0.
So in the New Technology Lineup
NT3: Never even seen it.
NT4: Never actually used it in earnest.
Win 2K Very Good (I dont recall the granular differences between the SP versions).
XP SP0 Good
XP SP1 Good
XP SP2 Good
XP SP3 Very Good
Vista SP0 Appaling beyong measure.
Vista SP1 Poor
Vista SP2 Fair (barely)
Windows 7 SP1 Excellent
Windows 7 SP2 Excellent
Windows 8 Consumer Preview (on a tablet) Good
Windows 8 Consumer Preview (on a desktop) LOL, wut ?
I hate WPS for another reason. Half my users think their operating system is Microsoft 2007. To give them a fine distinction between a 'WPS pin' and a 'WPA password' to deal with (and a whole different lot of associated dialogue boxes to navigate) is just asking for trouble. Aren't they confused enough (and aren't I busy enough) already ?
I picked up a core2 duo desktop pc and a bit of extra ram from 'bay for my mum to run windows 7 on for about £60. That is hardly a deal breaker, is it ? But if I did not have a spare 7 licence from work to use then the cost of a retail Win 7 probably *would* have been a deal breaker.
Is an ancient, wierd and wonderful hippy artist chap who reckons a bottle of wine over an evening counts as a night off the serious boozing. His bus-pass means he can discreetly sell dope to selected clients with zero transport costs and he has no aversion to the occasional nasal application of white powders when the opportunity presents. He is a damn sight more cheerful than most other 65 year olds I meet.
*Outside* the rule of law perhaps this kind of situation would usually be handled by an extraordinary rendition or an unfortunate 'accident' of some kind, but because Assange is a high profile white guy that option may be closed.
But *under* the rule of law this grand jury and whatnot is just silly because it kind of implies that any government has jurestiction anywhere in the world for any supposed crime comitted anywhere in the world. That would set a precident which should worry the hell out of Bush, Cheyney, Union Carbide, Halliburton, Blackwater, BAE Systems and a hundred thousand other individuals and corporations all over the world. Maybe they think they can strongarm the Swedes and the Brits to play along this once but it seems equally likely this grand jury are just huffing and puffing and making a lot of noise and hot air for their own satisfaction.