Posts by h4rm0ny

Microsoft drags 9 resellers to court in fresh piracy blitz

So you're saying that people pirate it because it's crap? And by implication, they don't pirate things when they're not crap? I'm unconvinced of this logic.

Can neighbours grab your sensitive package, asks Post Office

Let you tick the box when you order it.

Most parcels that arrive are because you yourself ordered it. Just have an option for Leave With Neighbour and / or a special instructions box for you to fill in. That's what should be done. Lacking that instruction for the remaining small proportion of parcels that you didn't order yourself (birthday presents, bombs, etc.), the delivery person can just use their local judgement but they shouldn't contradict it.

Microsoft to lob out Windows Server 2012 by September

Re: Is there a start button?

Actually, by default, you'd probably just see the SQL Management program on the Metro page. No need to go through a hierarchy at all. There's space for over twenty applications even on my laptop screen. On my Desktop monitor, it can easily be forty without feeling crowded or hard to find stuff.

Re: "Talk the talk"

"But hey, let's take your words literally! I like it a lot - because then you must be considering a lot of us to be superheros, people like me who can set up *both* server including clustering w/ enterprise storage backend, redundant networking setup (w/ switches, VLANs etc), offloading etc..."

They wrote "a windows only person" and "a UNIX/Linux only person". They didn't say there can never be people who are gurus on both. But it is true that most people lean toward one or the other - it takes a lot of time to become and to stay an expert sysadmin on either system and you mostly end up working with just one or the other so it makes sense to prioritize. And regardless of the merits of Linux vs. Windows (I think they're both good these days), I would rather have a Windows system maintained by a Windows expert, or a Linux system maintained by a Linux expert, than either system without respect to who maintains it. That's what the poster is getting at - in contrast to the OP who just made some blanket (and faintly ridiculous) comment that it just had to be *NIX and that people would be an idiot if they used Windows.

Ballmer plays down sales impact of Surface

Re: So when....

The thing is, the loudest are not always the moistest. If you read the Win8 developer blog there are always some muppets typing all in caps or repetitively about how they hate Metro and they obviously think their opinion is more important than everyone else's. But that does not mean that they are a wave of criticism. And nor is emotive writing particularly an argument against usability by them either. I can actually demonstrate that on average, using Metro to launch programs is actually faster for me than using the hierarchical start menu. I am a power user as well. As all the old software still works and the Desktop is mostly the same (bar some improvements for multi-monitor and different screen resolutions), then I think it's a plus. For the common user it's going to be even more so. Basically, whilst there are people who are extremely vocal about what they dislike in Win8, the volume of these people does not necessarily translate into numbers and even to the extent it does, it doesn't mean their position is more than things not looking how they're used to. I personally think that MS are onto a winner with Win8. I think by most users it will be fairly well received. And yes, I'm using it now on my laptop. It really doesn't hold me up in the slightest, I think it's faster.

Re: As far as I know

"Yes, but to test on a tablet you need a tablet, as x86 based ones are not that common and would cost you a load of cash then my point stands"

I don't agree at all that developers will have trouble because "x86 tablets are not that common". If you need one, open up Amazon and get one. You do not need to hope to find one lying around. Nor do I agree that they will cost you "a load of cash" if you are a professional developer. You posted that the only way a developer for to test this was "not via MS". That's far from correct.

"Oh and as a developer on Android I'd like to point out that most apps are are not in the cubset of "i.e. it's just a regular thing, not a photo-viewing application or similar)" If you want even your "regular" app to be usable then you had better set it for touch as well or release it as a program not an app "

You said earlier that "if you were a developer" so I hope you'll accept that you may not know how this works on Windows 8. You don't need to have a touch device on Win8 to develop a Metro App that will work on a touch device. There are some very effective APIs that keep things comfortably abstract, handle the navigation, zoom, etc. and they will work well on both touch and non-touch enabled devices. It's certainly not the case that you can only test things on non-MS systems (which was what you said), but even addressing the shift in your argument, it's perfectly possible to write Metro apps on a regular Desktop or laptop. If you want to create a photo App, then you should be testing it on a similar platform than that which you plan to release on - that's always been the case. But I can develop a Metro app right here and now on my normal old laptop I'm typing this on and can be very confident it will work well on a touch-enabled devices.

Re: As far as I know

As you aren't a developer, you can be forgiven for not knowing this, but it's perfectly possible to test Metro apps on Win8 on many of the existing tablets. Or if touch isn't the focus of your application (i.e. it's just a regular thing, not a photo-viewing application or similar), you can test it easily on the Release Preview on any regular laptop or Desktop. Certainly it's incorrect to say that the only way to test Win8 apps is via an iPad or Android device.

Google plants rainbow flag in anti-gay countries

Re: All very well...

"They risk making things worse for LGBT people in places where being any of them can lead to your state sanctioned death."

How is campaigning for better rights making things worse for LGBT people? And as to making things better, it is a very comforting thing sometimes if you are of a sexual minority in a hostile country to see that others out there are like you and maybe trying to make the world a friendlier place for you.

Microsoft sets October date for Windows 8 release

Re: Will have to buy a copy.

"Alas Metro sucks arse for desktops, so I'm just going to wait until there's a start button. I don't think microsoft actually cares it's shit for desktops, they just want to bring out something that will force Apple to drop prices."

I think you'll have a long wait for a Start button on Windows 8. You certainly wont get one from Microsoft, though a passably reasonable kludge will probably appear from someone. But I've been trying it out on my Desktop and I actually prefer it by this point. It's better for multiple-monitors than Win7 and Metro is quicker in practice than the Start menu for most of my tasks. I'd consider myself a power user - use twenty-plus programs regularly and that number fits easily on the main Metro page. Though to launch something I typically just hit the Windows key and type the first couple of letters of what I want. I can get something launched with Metro this way in around the time it would take to reach for the mouse and move the cursor to the bottom left. No hyperbole - I actually do.

British Gas bets you'll pay £150 for heating remote control

Re: Fire sale

Haven't seen Die Hard 4 and don't know what you're referring to, but if a hacker one day could turn heating on full blast at unexpected times and parts of the UK, it could have a pretty awful effect on the National Grid.

Shuttleworth: Why Windows 8 made us ditch GPL Linux loader

Re: I'm beginning to actively hate Ubuntu

"Give me a system that keeps my OS AND software up to date over the Windows model any day."

Like the Metro apps in the MS Marketplace on Win8?

Watch out for the GIGANTIC ALIEN JELLYFISH, warns space boffin

Re: yellow submarine?

Well it wouldn't necessarily need to change its boyancy. Not as long as the gradient in atmospheric density is gradual enough to be irrelevant. Birds are able to go up and down without having to change their density. They just need motive force in the appropriate direction. As birds are heavier than air, they need to provide it themselves to go up (and they just use gravity to go down). But a creature that had near-neutral boyancy in the atmosphere would just need to squirt some air upwards or downwards to descend or ascend. I mean sharks don't need to change their density to rise or fall in water, do they? And from the sounds of this, we're talking pretty dense atmospheres.

Re: Why would anyone trust a British satellite expert?

Some people know a lot about things that they aren't professionally involved in. I don't think she's asking (or anyone else is asking on her behalf) that you should consider her argments based on her position. Nowhere does she say: "I'm right about aliens because I work with satellites." She's just putting forward some arguments that can be considered on their own merits. And in an interview where she was asked to do so as far as I can see. Is there anything wrong with what she's saying?

Bill Gates: iPad is OK, but what Apple really needs is a SURFACE

Re: He's dead wrong...

"Anyway, Surface will not be out for 2 or 3 quarters, other companies will not sit on their hands waiting for MS to take [some of] the market."

Sounds like it will be out sooner than that and as far as MS are concerned, if the Surface causes other manufacturers to up their game as you say and produce better Win8 products, then that's still a win for both MS and for the public.

Re: VapourWare working

"Obviously MS announced Surface to take the heat from iPad3, iPad7.8 and Google's tablet. It is failing."

Isn't the title of your post "VapourWare working" and a response to someone saying they were holding off until the Surface became available? And I am too, incidentally. They said available this autumn with the Pro version three months after the RT version. It's been in development for three years, They've demo'd working prototypes. What evidence do you have that this isn't going to appear? I am willing to bet that when it comes out you will move seamlessly from saying it never will to saying why it will fail without the slightest acknowlegement that you were ever wrong.

Re: Disaster waiting to happen.

"Microsoft are shooting themselves in the foot by allowing their cretinous users"

Oh wonderful. Now MS users are "cretinous." I sense a No True Scotsman lurking in the depths of your argument.

Re: He's dead wrong...

"Or it is neither, depending on your point of view."

Not really a matter of point of view. It looks like it has a superset of the functionality of both tablets and ultrabooks (at least the Pro version fully does, the ARM is a bit more of a mix) without corresponding losses. That's the point of why the minivan analogy was such a poor one. You don't give up any tablet functionality by having a detachable keyboard - detach it and it is a tablet, for example. Even the stated weight is comfortably within range for tablet usage.

"Can I plug it into my 28 inch monitor"

Unless your monitor is old and lacks modern interfaces, then presumably yes. The RT version has built in HDMI and the Pro version has Display Port if I recall correctly. In the event that your monitor is legacy hardware only, you can get adaptors between these interfaces.

" and firewire audio interface so I can run Logic Audio on it in my studio?"

This argument would be germaine if Firewire were a standard thing on laptops. But it isn't. Aside from most laptop users probably not wanting or needing to run Logic Audio on it in their studio, the Surface does come with USB 3.0, so with an adaptor (typically a few quid from Amazon), yes, you can.

"Poking at shiny things with my stubby fingers is of no interest to me."

But your stubby fingers are a constant whether discussing laptops, tablets or hybrids. Therefore we can remove this as a factor from consideration.

Re: He's dead wrong...

You: "So you've been using a MS Surface then? Otherwise saying it does both well without having actually used it would be pretty stupid."

Me: "This is a device that appears to do both very well"

I've watched the demonstration. It seems to be a near complete product awaiting only mass production (which presumably is in process now as they're talking about release dates before the end of the year for the ARM version). So yes, I stand by my comment. From what I've seen and what I can conclude, it looks like it will do both very well. Also, you might look up 'inductive reasoning' at some point.

Re: Mmmm...

"Umm, ever since we lived in the real world. Yes we're engineers but non-engineer people (and also engineer people) who live in this real world select the products they buy using criteria other than a series of technical 'top trumps' scores."

Yes, but that does not mean that when people debate these devices, they should debate them on the merits or not of the marketing techniques. We should debate them on their actual merits and faults. To read these forums these days, you'd think that clever marketing was the highest virtue of a company, rather than the art of manipulating people's opinions which is what two thirds of it is.

Re: He's dead wrong...

"Extending that metaphor, Bill Gates just told us that we won't need cars and trucks, Windows minivans for everyone is the future."

Argument by metaphor is only good for rhetoric and explaining things who can't understand the facts. Tablets have a use. Laptops have a use. This is a device that appears to do both very well. Your metaphor breaks down in that minivans have disadvantages relative to those things you propose they replace. There appears to be no disadvantage that the Surface has over a laptop or over a tablet - it is both. The only question is cost. And as the WindowsRT version is to be priced competitively with the iPad apparently, and the Pro version to be priced competitively with Ultrabooks, both tablets and ultrathin laptops are likely to be at a competitive disadvantage to this product. Avoid argument by analogy - it is too often inadequate and just used to try and convince people of what you want them to think by substituting elements that better suit ones conclusion.

Re: Mmmm...

"Anyway tally-ho, I'm just off to the shops in my 'Carriage-like-device'."

Doesn't much matter if it were called a 'carriage-like-device', an 'automobile' or a 'car', they still sell just fine. Since when did marketing become more important than the product? Or are we no longer engineers?

Facebook: Our phone app DID seize your email

Re: @h4rm0ny

"Nobody uses the WP7 facebook app anyway. There's simply no need to since the OS handles all that nonsense."

Sorry - that's what I was talking about. I had actually forgotten there was a Facebook App for WP7 for exactly the reason you gave - anyone using Facebook on WP7 just uses the provided integration in the People Hub. I don't see why anyone would need to use the App either.

Re: yeah yeah, it was a bug...

"And WP7."

I'm pretty sure it didn't occur on WP7 devices. Due to the way WP7 integrates and manages contacts and Facebook integration, I'm about 70% sure that FB couldn't ovewrwrite your contacts in this way.

Review: Samsung Chromebox

Re: Hmmmm

""It was full screen before, but Google changed it in a later version. My guess is they needed to for drag&drop."

Huh. I never even thought of that. How *do* you drag and drop files in ChromeOS?

"Linux may be great for this, but not when exclusively locked to Chrome. That's why Google has Android."

I'd probably whack KDE on there but I doubt it would be suitable for something like this. Really this is designed to be just a browsing and media device isn't it? That just screams for a cut down, more focused environment. I'm not sure Chrome OS is it from what I've seen, but I don't think full Linux + KDE / Gnome would be either. The original Apple Mac Mini interface (the last time I used one was the first one, so I don't know what it's like now) or the upcoming WindowsRT are probably better suited. But then you're moving up into more expensive set ups anyway. Someone should make a really focused Linux DE - browsing and media and apps only. Hmmm. So why doesn't this run Android again?

Hmmmm

I think there is market space for a device like this - self-contained, application focused. And Linux is perfect for this: you want something easily customized to the application space you want, robust and low-cost. And Linux runs on hardware both great and small. So this looks like it's in the right direction.

But I have a few reservations. It's a wee bit expensive. Okay, the Mac Mini is a couple of hundred more, but it's massively preferable to this if you're the sort of person who has the money available. If you're not the sort of person who has such money, then a mini-PC is a bit of a luxury anyway. You'd be better off just buying a cheap PC in the first place as pretty much everyone is familiar with such an environment.

Also, whilst I'm not really very familiar with Chrome OS, just looking at that Desktop seems weird. If the entire environment is accessed through the browser, then why on Earth make the browser a normal window floating on a Desktop? Why not make it a permanent full-screen affair and have tabs implemented in a way more similar to switching between applications like on Windows, KDE or Gnome? Why even have those icons in the bottom left? Just have a web-interface to the system settings and have a standard means of taking you back to that page when needed. It seems like a lot more thought could go into usability for this.

As regards the review, I'd be interested to know if the reviewer actually ever solved their problems. That helps us know if the situation was just them making a trivial mistake (which we all do, but shouldn't be held against something in a review) or if it is really deep-routed bad design or bugs.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll see better iterations of this, and probably cheaper versions in the future too.

China trains its cannons on digital pirates

Re: The Capitalist Party

"it is Capitalist, in the rawest sense"

Hardly - government interference in business and the market in China is collossal. A Chinese businessman earlier this year was sentenced to jail merely for purchasing information on his business rivals (publically available information that another had collated to sell). Even the land-registry has become a closed book making it hard to find out who owns what property unless you happen to have the right connections in the government. How is that "Capitalist", unless you are one of these people who consider Capitalism a synonym for Corruption.

Ten... alien invasions

Re: What about Chocky?

The Kraken Wakes is one of the best alien invasion stories ever written. Not purely for the well-thought out attack or for the acknowledgement that the aliens may actually have different environmental needs than us, but for humanity's inability to operate on the time-scales necessary to counter the alien threat. There's a conversation in it where the viewpoint characters who are journalists, interview a scientist (Professor Brock?) who completely fails to understand how the general public aren't alarmed by the same things he is alarmed by. Quite chilling and far too believable.

Re: What about Chocky?

Chocky wasn't terrifying. What istruly terrifying is if you watch it today and realize how paced, intelligent and thoughtful it was compared to children's television today. The little boy in Chocky was clever and showed excellent logic skills, integrity and forethought. I can only imagine that a child of the same age as that character in today's media would be deemed far too unrealistic.

The Man Who Fell To Earth

It's not quite an alien invasion movie, but for one slight twist in the alien's plan it very nearly could have been. And it's one of the most effective plans in the history of sci-fi. A lone alien arrives, disguised as a human being. He takes out some revolutionary patents based on processes unknown to humanity at the time and using its superior intelligence and the odd bit of judiciously applied knowledge about how tech will develop (given it influences discoveries), commences to build a business empire that would make Rockefeller blush. The only thing that stops the alien from more or less just taking over the Earth by simply exploiting the way our society works, is that its intent isn't actually to take over but to achieve something else. Of course the something else is so mind-numblingly stupid it makes the cleverness of the rest of the plot meaningless, but it's still an outstanding idea for how an alien could gain control on Earth using just a smattering of superior knowledge.

Japan Anonymous aims to fight download law by picking up litter

Anti-nuclear?

They should know better than this. Japan certainly can't afford to stay a modern state subsiting on rising fossil fuel costs. Nuclear power has provided a basis for steady development in Japan for the last several decades. And they want to turn their back on it just when a double disaster of a collossal earthquake and tsunami doesn't cause a nuclear disaster, thus showing how safe it is? No Anonymous. Don't pick that battle. Anonymous can be many things but luddites is one of the last things I would have expected!

Will Android, HTML5 tempt tabloid tablet tyrant Rupert Murdoch?

Re: Apple BS

"Rich + Smart = Android

Rich + Dim = Apple"

More like:

Happy to have Google spy on them + doesn't care about image / marketing much + happy to spend longer faffing around = Android

Easily marketed to / wants to look cool + doesn't want to faff around + more security concious = Apple iPad

Wants to do actual work + Rich = Ultrabook / the really thin Mac and ignore the whole tablet thing until they get keyboards.

Mexican election loser and Anonymous say vote was 'fraudulent'

Re: Well...

"It's a good job that you can rely upon Internet vigilantes, who are prepared to hack election officials IT systems, to let you know if an election is safe or not..."

If an electoral IT system can be hacked, the election is not safe.

Stratfor settles class-action over Anon megahack with freebies

Re: $1.75m out of pocket

"I know a bit about the "value vs cost" of digital goods and how it's widely abused"

I don't think you do. Stratfor are selling intelligence analysis. I'm a customer of theirs. It doesn't really matter whether I receive their reports by paper letter or by email - though obviously receiving them by email is very much more convenient for me. I know the value I place on their analyses and it has no relationship to the medium being digital. That you even relate their service (strategic analysis) to "digital goods" which conventionally means a product such as an ebook, movie or music, shows how badly you are conflating different services.

"That is indeed correct"

That was indeed obvious. I am, as stated, a customer of Stratfor. But you seem determined to pronounce your greater understanding of the situation even after you've been shown incorrect on basic facts to do with this.

"That is entirely incorrect, ridiculous, frankly insulting, and, if I may, says more about you than it says about me."

It may be insulting, but it is not incorrect. You plainly did not know simple things about the situation, yet you made a polemnical post about it in a righteous way. If that is not posting because you want to sound good, rather than because you actually have facts or insight to bring to this, then I don't know what other conclusion you expect me to draw or why.

"Let's have a pint and forget about the whole thing."

No problem. (Icon ticked)

Re: @Harmony

Facts are more important than wanting to sound right on the Internet which is the motivation I see here.

If someone pronounces things confidently and polemnically and it is trivially easy to show that they don't actually know what they're talking about, then they deserve to be rewarded with sarcasm because they are actively misleading people for the sake of trying to sound righteous.

Your comment doesn't even make sense. There's no reference to "$1.75m of lost income". Stratfor are not suing anyone for loss of sales of their "digital goods and services." It's a compensation to customers for leaked data. You didn't apparently even read the article, Sir Kneejerk.

Re: $1.75m out of pocket

"It's pretty safe to assume that none (or few) of the claimants would have bought the e-book"

So you're suggesting that the book was written without expecting anyone to buy it? Or that it was commissioned just in case it needed to be used as part of a class-action settlement? It's silly to say that "none (or few)" of Stratfors paying customers would have paid for one of Stratfor's products. That's kind of the defining quality.

"It is also pretty safe to say that at least some of the claimant would not have subscribed to the month they are offered, and that doesn't cost them much "

Really shows how much you know. Stratfor subscriptions are typically purchased on a yearly basis so it's effectively a free month.

"Lastly, they would have had topay real cash if the had not proposed freebie. So a more correct formulation would have been "will save Stratfor an estimated $1m in cash".

You've already shown your ignorance about both Stratfor's business model, but you're keen to pronounce on the internal costings of things you know nothing about. Tell me exactly where you got that figure of $1million. Calculated how exactly? Or was it ex anus? When you have goods with a worth of $1.7m given free to a customer base that are demonstrably repeat purchasers of said goods, it's just downright stupid to say that it has saved them "$1million in cash". Admit it, you don't know much about this, you're not nor ever have been a Stratfor customer but you saw a chance to pronounce some entirely made up numbers to the world because you like sounding like you know what you're talking about in the hope someone will be tricked into modding you up. Correct?

Microsoft sets the price for a Windows 8 upgrade at $40

Re: I upgraded from Win 7 to openSUSE...

"And how do you think your games will run on Widows8RT? The answer is of course, THEY WON'T, not unless you buy them again from Microsoft."

Why (or how?) would you be installing WindowsRT on a desktop or normal laptop? Are you telling me your main games machine has an ARM processor?

Though that said, Metro games will be able to run on any Win8 device - tablet, PC, Phone 8. So the answer isn't "they wont" for a lot of lighter games that will come out, actually.

Re: What about he secure boot?

"I really want to go to Windows 7, but MS wants a £200 upgrade fee from me to do it. I can stomach $40 a bit more."

That's nonsense. Even if you wanted Win7 Ultimate (and Pro ought to be fine for most users), it costs £155 on Amazon for the full boxed, non-OEM retail version. How on earth did you get to £200? Or did you omit to say you're talking about multiple machines. But then the $40 part wouldn't make sense.

Re: For all those customers who can’t wait to enjoy Windows 8’s Metro UI....

".they need to be rounded up and shot dead."

I didn't know Jeremy Clarkson worked for Google.

Re: @dogged

"I don't want to have to use a mouse to clumsily shift around an interface that would quite probably be great if I had a touch interface"

With respect, if you're using the Mouse, you're already not a power user on the Desktop. When I want something, I typically hit the Windows key and type the first letter or two of the program I want to start. Faster than a mouse.For that reason alone, Metro has a greater appeal to me as on Win8, that key-type search brings up the result faster than the Start menu does (same hardware, I dual-boot). Also with respect, there's only so much you can pin onto the Start menu (about ten programs) with the rest having to be reached via sub-folders. On a Desktop, my Metro page has about twenty applications on the first page (and I can drag anything from the extended page on the first page very easily if I want it on there). In usage, I actually find using the Mouse with Metro faster too. There's enough other good stuff in Win8 that even if Metro was a minus to me, it's such a small one that it wouldn't stop me. Anyway, just my take on it. Downvoters will disagree. ;)

"Serious question, as I haven't used Windows 8. Why don't people like it?"

At the risk of sounding facetious, because they haven't tried it either. Software that works on Win8 should overwhelmingly work on WIn8. Multi-monitor support is actually improved on the Win8 desktop. The only thing that is really *missing* is the Start menu. For some people that appears to be reason for cries of anguish. Having been using it for a bit, it's no big deal imo. I counted up the programs I use regularly - came to 20. And I reckon that's significantly more than the average user. Even on my laptop twenty icons sit comfortably on my Metro screen. On a Desktop, they take up about half the screen (and that's with double-sized icons included). Compared to a hierarchical Start menu it is actually demonstrably quicker to use Metro to launch most things. Some people don't like it much and that's their privilege, but it's hardly a big annoyance unless you allow yourself to build up some towering resentment at change. On the other hand, some people seem to actively want MS products to have problems and thus it has become a rallying cry to celebrate. I don't know why. Operating Systems are not football teams.

Microsoft silently kills silent, automatic Skype install via Updates

Re: Test the updates ?

Well true, anyone with responsibilities at that level is expected to check updates before corporate-wide distribution. And I expect the Skype install would have stood out like a sore thumb. But still, MS had no business putting something like this in an update. At all. It's ridiculous.

And until Skype can manage the basic functionality of setting different statuses to some groups and visible to others, it isn't a good fit for business anyway.

Gah! EU data protection will STIFLE business, moans gov.UK

Tough.

So complying with the law and people's rights conflicts in small ways with how you would like your business. Not my problem.

Naked Scarlett Johansson pic snatch 'is worth 6 years' porridge'

Re: she reads "Acting Weekly"

"haven't heard of that one, but I have heard of the tabloid press and I have heard dozens, if not hundreds, of stories about pics on mobile phone making it into the magazines that are sold to the mass market at supermarket checkouts."

I bet you have. In the last couple of years. Her photos were stolen three years ago though. And besides, the OP's point stands. She had intimate photos actively stolen. Not everyone can know everything about securing their systems. And we certainly can't only associate with people who do. Are you sure that everyone you share information with is safe from hacking? It get's really tiresome how some people love to blame the victim. Were naked pictures of you, or your partner, or your daughter were taken from their account and sent about online, exactly how happy would you be to blame the victim?

Microsoft: Don't overclock Windows 8 unless you like our new BSOD

Re: Bad science?

"This implies cause, doesn't it? Unless the first crash can be artificially engineered somehow for a control group, I don't know how you can support this."

It's just a slightly ambiguous translation from the maths. What they should properly say if they want to be clear is that for a bunch of the same machine, with a chance of crashing in a given time span of X, if one of those machines is known to have crashed previously, the chance of that machine crashing in the given time span is actually 100X. The the probability of recording a crash later has gone up by a factor of a hundred for that machine.

I.e. they are not to say that a previous crash makes it more likely that the machine will crash, but that the probability of a machine that has previously done so crashing, is higher than that of a machine that has not previously done so.

Re: So, to summarise...

"Errm, so they're saying don't use Windows?"

Yes. Well done. That is exactly the message you should take from this. Because when my CPU overheats or my RAM can't keep up with the memory timings I have set for it, it doesn't phase my Linux box in the slightest. Non-MS operating systems don't actually need reliable hardware to run. In fact, the processor is really only there for looks with them.

Android Jelly Bean won't get Flash Player

Re: Because...

"Add DRM and you will get all the stuff you don't like."

What - like being able to rent movies online? Because that's actually something I do like. Like being able to sell or rent web-based games as a business model making it worth my while to write them. Like being able to buy stuff with actual money rather than by being subjected to 5 second advertising interrupts every ten minutes? Like being able to offer some content online without my customers just being able to click 'Save As...'

"It will be cracked in 5 seconds. They will keep changing in a hopeless attempt to keep ahead"

It has obviously escaped your notice, but some of the modern DRM is actually bloody hard to crack. All those ripped movies you see online... they come from DVDs, not Zune movie rentals. As to the "hopeless attempt to keep ahead", *shrug* technology moves forward and industries adapt. If you expect one system to have been produced that will never need updating, you are naive. It's not a weakness that old methods are replaced by newer and more secure ones.

"It will only be available on some platforms"

You obviously chose to skip over that the entire point of my post expressing the hope that a standards body would create a standards compliant version that all could implement. As it is, there doesn't seem to be much willingness to fill this need by the Web Standards bodies, which means they will (yet again) be bypassed by Industry doing it itself. This has already started to happen.

Re: Not surprising

"I thought Metro was written in Flash..?"

Not sure if you're serious, but no, it isn't. Metro the interface is presumably written in C and C++, all precompiled anyway. Applications for it can be written in HTML5 + Javascript, C#, C++ or (who does this?) VB. Definitely not FLASH.

FLASH does run in IE10 for those that want it. And there are a lot of sites out there that still use it.

Re: Because...

FLASH may be shit in a number of ways, but it still does a few things that HTML5 will not. HTML5 video needs to support DRM and streaming. Until it does that, a lot of people are going to be using alternatives. Which is a shame because it would be great to use something more standardised, less changing all the time and more easily distributable (no headaches wondering what version someone has or whether they'll be able to install it with their company policy).

Do you work in IT at RBS? Or at the next place to get hit ...?

Fundamental misconception.

The author of this article does not seem to understand that people who are good engineers are usually so because they enjoy doing things right and take a viewpoint that is based around what is optimum for the system, not just their little nugget of it. We have become engineers because we find greater satisfaction in actually being good people who move things forward, than we do playing internal politics and bickering over our share of an increasingly small pie.

Ultimately, companies that foster this sort of attitude lose all the really good people.