* Posts by Ole Juul

2726 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2007

Music Biz: The Man is still The Man, man

Ole Juul

Re: Fundamentally accept the argument one minor point to add

. . . the importance of trickles from mechanical and performance royalties - this side of the artist's bank account is rarely heard.

I wonder why that is. Almost everyone gets mechanical and performance royalties so it's not like it's unusual. Perhaps younger musicians don't do studio work as much as in the old days. Still, there are many possibilities for revenue streams. I realize that times change but we used to all teach several days a week, and that provides enough to make up a large part of living expenses.

Lard-busting specs trick snack-happy Japanese

Ole Juul

Re: Just think...

This could help people cut down on their drinking too. No?

Seriously, I can eat a dozen cookies with my eyes closed.

Firefox 13 now available for download

Ole Juul

Re: Question for Firefox users

Debian are still patching 3.5

Good on them - because that version works perfectly well. I just hope version 13 will still render HTML.

SETI experiment succeeds: fails to find aliens

Ole Juul

Re: Even if they were transmitting, we wouldn't likely hear them

60 dB would be a 1000 times increase in the antenna - or 100km wide, not 10km.

Thanks for the correction. :)

Nevertheless, I was only half kidding. Perhaps some yet to be developed technology could allow us to build such a huge surface in space and keep the shape within tolerance. /dreaming

Ole Juul

Re: Even if they were transmitting, we wouldn't likely hear them

I guess they'd have to build a 10km wide antenna so they can make up the needed 60 dB.

Chinese diplomat accused of spying on Japanese military

Ole Juul

Details?

Li is suspected to have snooped on confidential documents belonging to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ministry

I wouldn't be surprised if he pilfered some key sushi recipes.

'Super-powerful' Flame worm actually boring bloatware

Ole Juul

Re: 20MB???

That's only 15 floppies. Of course they could put it on a CD and mail it out too. Some customers might appreciate having a backup.

White AMERICANS will have become MEKON brain-men by 3000AD

Ole Juul

A matter of balance

As butt sizes increase the head size will have to follow.

1930s photos show Greenland glaciers retreating faster than today

Ole Juul

Science and humans

@Pascal Monet: Your view of science is excellent, or at least in line with mine. :) However, to say that "the world is the most complex dynamic system we can possibly hope to comprehend" is not consistent with that. Humans cannot hope to comprehend such a complex and dynamic system. Unless, of course, you have some private meaning for the word "comprehend".

US reiterates resistance to ITU-Internet land grab

Ole Juul

No to ITU

Indeed the US hasn't done such a bad job so far. Nevertheless, the ITU being an international organization as opposed to a national one would be a good argument to my way of thinking. It's just too bad the ITU has shown itself to be such a failure at the very things that we've come to expect from the internet.

PayPal whips out barcode app for high-street glad rags

Ole Juul

Cheaper

Am I missing something? What's the advantage over paying via debit/credit card?

I don't know about debit cards but around here a merchant account for Visa can charge up to 15% transaction fee. Larger or older vendors usually pay considerably less, but Paypal is still the best deal around.

People-powered Olympic shopping mall: A sign of utter tech illiteracy

Ole Juul
Coat

Now I know

From the bootnote:

Joules are very small people

Microsoft launches its own 'so.cl' network

Ole Juul

Re: Already had a social network

If Usenet is a Social Network, then my bicycle is a Ferrari.

Well . . . is it?

Anonymous turns its DDoS cannons on India

Ole Juul

democratic oversight

I agree that they don't have morality on their side. Nevertheless, they'll do whatever they can get away with - which in general is not unlike their targets.

One in two punters don't mind cookie-spewing stalking ads

Ole Juul

Drain on society

Advertisers only know what they're doing within their own frame of reference. Outside of that they are utterly incapable of providing a useful service. Targeted ads are just another example of something that doesn't work, but the advertisers are not cognizant of that.

75,000 Raspberry Pi baked before August

Ole Juul
Coat

One more

At the event, your correspondent nestled a Pi into his iPhone 3G case. We've dubbed the result the PiPhone

Now stick that in a guitar and you'll have an Epiphone.

Stuxnet ≠ cyberwar, says US Army Cyber Command officer

Ole Juul

Policy-makers

if policy-makers are only informed by the catchphrase and not the definition, they will make bad policy.

I suspect policy-makers don't feel any need for a definition.

US Supremes hammer final nail into Psystar coffin

Ole Juul
Paris Hilton

Tabloids

I think of PsyStar as a content producer. Quite successful really.

'IT is no place for the little ladies', says Dell mouthpiece

Ole Juul

Re: Shirley not

Where the hell do you meet these women?

First you have to ask for a day pass.

Indian government to buy in tech for social good

Ole Juul

Government supporting agriculture

I wonder if the Indian government will make this technology available to the rest of the world. We could certainly use a bit of help here in Canada where government investment in agriculture is coming to an end.

Google's self-driving car snags first-ever license in Nevada

Ole Juul

Cliff vs Deer and logical loops

That last part implies a computer driver would be safer, because it would not drive off the cliff.

It might still hit the deer, but it should be better at braking and steering accurately than an average driver so is more likely to avoid an obstacle as long as it can detect it.

Probably not Stig quality, but most drivers are not that good.

That's a good point. In this case it is indeed the human aspect which fails. But now you've got me worried about animal rights activists lobbying for "improved" software. :) Seriously, it is the differentiation between deer and people that has me worried. Hence my conclusion that this system will be generally an improvement in city driving, but we're still going to have human intervention - if nothing else to prevent logical loops hanging you up on your way.

Ole Juul

@Filippo

Accidents rate are just numbers.

You are correct and the question is indeed a practical one. However, I don't want to be one of those numbers. It's not that I don't trust computers, it's that I don't trust the motor vehicle authorities with them.

As an example I would point out that in several Provinces in Canada, we have many deaths from collisions with wildlife on the road. Around here we see groups of deer along the highways. As you approach them, one or two will usually wait until you get right up to them, then they will panic, and run right in front of the car. No problem, a human sees a deer and slows down or stops until it is clear that none of them are going to run. Perhaps a computer can visually tell the difference between a deer or moose and people, but it will probably be difficult and the driverless car would logically not be applied to this area. In reality what is likely to happen is that we would get more auto related deaths in this area than in cities and that it would be averaged out. So, we end up with more deaths here and lots less in the cities. Such are the ways of bureaucracy where "accident rates are just numbers".

BTW: Just so you can visualize the reality of wildlife problems. Many deaths caused by deer are from people swerving to avoid hitting the animal. This does not work when there is a 200 foot drop beside you.

Ole Juul

Interventions

Also where was the car driven? I can't really see a computer driven car interpreting UK roads built around the 60s. Hell I can't even believe it will manage a busy roundabout.

I suspect these are city cars for local use only. Around here, and many places outside of cities, you would have to trust that the car knows when to cross the yellow line because of rocks in slide areas. It would also need to make decisions based on how steep the cliff beside the road is and how close you can reasonably get. I'm not saying a computer can't learn to second guess wide load logging trucks travelling at high speed and taking up the whole road, but the driver/steering-wheel combination probably isn't going to disappear any time soon.

The Pirate Bay cries foul over Pirate Bay copycats

Ole Juul

When is a victim not a victim?

TPB have become a victim of their own ideology. The article is merely highlighting the irony.

Neither TPB nor their ideology is suffering, so they are not a victim - and hence there is no irony.

Microsoft, Motorola legal bickering sparks judicial disgust

Ole Juul

Re: Partly, it's the patent sytem.

I don't know what I'd replace it with, though. Ideas, anyone?

Work.

'ACTA is dead,' says Europe's digital doyenne

Ole Juul

Re: There will be new treaties

You lazy old trolls really should come up with a new insult.

Why? They're still collecting royalties on the old one.

Pirate island attracts more than 100 startup tenants

Ole Juul

Re: The thing is.

The US is mainly concerned about drug smuggling, diseases, and people coming here and using the public services without the ability to pay the costs involved.

I suspect that the IP and security industries disagree with that and will be lobbying the government to consider their issues to be more important. My guess is that we'll see problems once the first little bit of friction develops with big media.

Chair-tossing Steve flings surfer Steve onto Microsoft board

Ole Juul

Aw come on

Can't we get at least one really insightful or perhaps hilariously funny comment on this one? Or is it just too hard to think of something in this case?

Google Street View Wi-Fi data slurper named

Ole Juul

Re: would somebody please explain why this is bad?

So why can't google drive around listening to broadcasts that make it out into the public street?

Because these broadcasts are invisible and the people that are doing the broadcasting are not aware that they are doing it. Much of modern technology is basically invisible to many people. They're not stupid. They probably have expertise that you and I don't have. In fact many of them could probably take advantage of me in some area where I didn't have any expertise or awareness. I wouldn't like that though.

Google KNEW Street View cars were slurping Wi-Fi

Ole Juul

Idiots?

> The issue is just contentious because idiots like to leave their wifi networks unencrypted.

These are average users who don't know what you're talking about. You many be on top of this, but they shouldn't have to be. In fact they're probably your customers. Have a little respect.

Google to FCC: Protecting Street View coder didn't derail probe

Ole Juul

Re: $25,000 fine?

In any case, calling it a "slap on the wrist" is over exaggeration.

Gigantic lava spirals wreck Mars ice valley theory

Ole Juul
Coat

Mars bars?

On such a dry planet I imagine any kind of drinking establishment would do a brisk business.

Report: Microsoft tried and FAILED to offload Bing on Facebook

Ole Juul

Re: If they really want better search results...

@h4rm0ny: I think you missed the joke. The point is that Google does not index Facebook. Bing doesn't have anything to do with that. :)

Can Windows 8 bag Microsoft 20 more years at the top?

Ole Juul

Re: It never was about the software

Finally somebody said it! I find it interesting that so many people continue to discuss the pros and cons when the reason the average Joe, Microsoft's largest market, uses Windows is that it was on the box when he bought it and he doesn't know what to do about that - or that he even could do something.

Can the lawyers bag Microsoft another 20 years of success? That is the question.

Tablets are the future of the PC, says researcher

Ole Juul

Convenient?

"Tablets aren’t the most powerful computing gadgets," says Gillett, "but they are the most convenient."

It seems to me that once a person gets to the age where they can sit still in one place and get some work done, then that "convenience" is no longer needed.

That global copyright crackdown: Three emails ... and carry on

Ole Juul
Thumb Down

What concept?

"Here's a proof of concept someone made to show how easy it is to tell what people downloaded: youhavedownloaded.com"

The trouble is that site is pure BS. I haven't used a torrent client in nearly two years and haven't downloaded any movies, yet they have a long list of titles that I've supposedly downloaded recently. They clearly just make it up. Of course, that might be a perfectly workable concept in their eyes.

Killers laugh in face of death penalty threat, say US experts

Ole Juul

Re: Just an opinion

"The absence of any compelling evidence of a deterent effect suggests that the prime motivation for capital punishment is either revenge or financial considerations."

This bears repeating. Also, on the surface I tend to think that revenge is the prime motivation. However the whole business is financially rewarding for so many people that one could guess that there are subtle forces keeping the whole thing going.

Court shuts down site that circumvents Pirate Bay blocks

Ole Juul

Re: Cat and mouse game

There's a lot of uses for a proxy, such as caching or controlling access policy in a large company. If it's as black and white as you suggest, then there is indeed a huge problem. However I'm not clear on whether there isn't some other stipulation in the ruling besides just "proxy site".

Election poll shot down by DDoS-ers

Ole Juul

Opportunity knocks

". . . there are more than one million clicks on our system every second."

A little pay per view ad could be a goldmine.

Dutch birdman admits flight was filmic fantasy

Ole Juul

Re: A marvelous way to fly?

Indeed, running and flapping 'til near exhaustion doesn't seem that marvellous. Perhaps I'm just getting too old for that sort of thing.

Fujitsu has phone fraudsters in its sights

Ole Juul
Coat

Re: Or...

In this case the keyword would be Microsoft.

New Forum Wishlist - but read roadmap first

Ole Juul

Yep, karma's a bummer.

Otherwise the list is indeed well prioritized. And yes please, definitely NO avatars.

Windows 8: Thrown into a multi-tasking mosh pit

Ole Juul

Re: Windows 8 will shape the future of Microsoft!

"Thus far thirteen people's sarcometers clearly need replacing. It's not even irony FFS."

It's up to 19 now. For some reason certain subjects seem to bring in more of the linguistically impaired.

Cyber snoopers target NATO commander in Facebook attack

Ole Juul

Re: Perhaps we can help the poor Admiral

"So, he'd need to do that for every 'social networking' site ?"

I'm suggesting he ignore it all together. There is a difference between the military danger posed by guns and that posed by gossip - but perhaps that's just me.

Ole Juul

Perhaps we can help the poor Admiral

127.0.1.1 www.facebook.com

Greenland melt threshold lower than thought

Ole Juul
Joke

eBay here I come

Maybe it's time to grab some chunks of Greenland ice as souvenirs. Here's your chance to own a piece of history.

Users: 'Personalized internet? Fuggedaboutit!'

Ole Juul
FAIL

This is bizarre

"Overall, people are happy with the accuracy of whichever search engine they choose."

How does the word "accurate" apply to search results? Lately I've been searching for circuit designs and ideas. How can the "accuracy" of Google results help me with that? I don't know, but what they could do is filter out anything that has to do with sales so as not to obscure the results I am lookin for. As for presenting something that I'm interested in buying right now, they always get it wrong anyway. In fact the harder they try, the worse they do.

The Facebook test: Why social Big Data is important

Ole Juul
Thumb Up

Works for me

1) Openness to experience

I like to experience the world, so I don't use Facebook.

2) Conscientiousness

I'm a conscientious user of the internet, so I don't use Facebook.

3) Extroversion

I like to interact with real people, so I don't use Facebook.

4) Agreeableness

I'm discriminating in what I agree to, so Idon't use Facebook.

5) Neuroticism

I'm not neurotic, because I don't use Facebook.

Apple to Google Maps: ‘Get lost’

Ole Juul
Facepalm

Google is special

In these parts, Google has renamed some streets and moved part of the main highway onto a small insignificant dirt road that is usually a dead end, depending on the time of year. Sometimes I look out my window and I see a shiny city car coming at great speed on the highway and continuing onto the dirt road without making the left turn that most locals would do. That's when I wonder if Google is their friend - since that would be the most likely explanation.

Oz says 41 hits a day turn bloggers into publishers

Ole Juul

What's a pageview?

Presumably the government has a way to verify all views individually. I see many times more pageviews than any reasonably likely number of human readers for my small-time offerings. Sometimes I doubt I would even need any text in a story.