Re: Computer MOT
Haha. Genuinely had me laughing.
Posts by Portent
70 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Jan 2009
Last rites for the UK's Online Safety Bill, an idea too stupid to notice it's dead
Google launches $99 a night Hotel Mountain View for hybrid workers
Another redesign on the cards for iPhone as EU rules call for removable batteries
Wednesday 21st June 2023 06:03 GMT
Samsung Galaxy Tab Active series
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab Active8, an 8" rugged tablet. Admittedly it isn't the prettiest tablet in the country. But it still manages to be dust and waterproof even with a removable battery, external SIM and sdcard tray, and a headphone jack.
I'm sure Apple will work out a way.
Can noise-cancelling buds beat headphones? We spent 20 hours flying to find out
Tuesday 13th June 2023 07:44 GMT
Jabra Elite 75t Actives are where it's at
I've yet to find anything that works better for me that the Jabra Elite 75t Active's. I've had mine a while and originally got them on a deal, although they are now quite cheap as they have been replaced with newer models. The case is small in the pocket, it won't break the bank if I lose them, they sound fantastic with a lot of base, clear but not overly bright high's, all the software bugs have were ironed out years ago, they have great battery life, have good multipoint connection, they had noise cancellation added in software, even after newer models came out, and the Active version is IP57 so waterproof. The only two downsides are the lack of wireless charging and that they run in a master/slave configuration so you can't have only the left earbud in. I think those two issues were resolved with the Jabra Elite 7 Pro's so I might try those when they come down in price, although I have heard that the sound quality isn't quite as good for some reason.
Why make games for Linux if they don't sell? Because the nerds are just grateful to get something that works
Cats: Not a fan favourite when the critters are draped around an office packed with tech
The GIMP turns 25 and promises to carry on being the FOSS not-Photoshop
Apple's T2 custom secure boot chip is not only insecure, it cannot be fixed without replacing the silicon
BoJo looks to jumpstart UK economy with £6k taxpayer-funded incentive for Brits to buy electric cars – report
India allows half of IT services workers back to the office next week
Open-source, cross-platform and people seem to like it: PowerShell 7 has landed
Thursday 5th March 2020 15:35 GMT
Re: What's the point of it on *nix?
I'm not sure I agree, One of the main Unix ethos is to "do one thing and do it well". The use of multiple small utilities, each feeding data to the next, is a deliberate design choice so that each utility is small, concise, reliable and works with each other. Personally I think I like that design choice.
EA boots Linux gamers out of multiplayer Battlefield V, Penguinistas respond by demanding crippling boycott
Having trouble finding a job in your 40s? Study shows some bosses like job applicants... up until they see dates of birth
Tuesday 7th January 2020 18:40 GMT
Re: I gave up 10 years ago at 38!
I'm 50 now and worked in IT since I left school. I didn't go to university and have luckily never found it held me back (it was a different world back then). Like you I learned on home computers in the 1980's and 1990's (VIC 20, C64, Amiga). The difference with people who learned during that era was that we did it because we LOVED it and not because of the money (the money definitely came later and was definitely good). I'm probably in the minority nowadays but when interviewing people I don't care about their level of education. I look for that genuine passion for the subject. I look for the person who is self taught because they want to be in IT. Sadly most people nowadays seem to get into IT because it's a well paid job. But I look for the real enthusiast who still teaches themselves new stuff as a hobby.
Hell hath GNOME fury: Linux desktop org swings ax at patent troll's infringement claim
Apple will wring out $18bn by upselling NAND to fanbois – analyst
Grav-wave eggheads come closer to nailing down Hubble's Constant – the universe's speedy rate of expansion
Friday 12th July 2019 09:34 GMT 
What if the universe expands at different rates over time?
What if the universe is indeed inside a black hole? As matter falls into that parent black hole the amount of matter inside it increases. As matter inside increases then it causes expansion of our universe. If this is the case then the rate of expansion will vary depending how much matter is falling into it. Clues that this is happening would be a very rapid rate of expansion at the start of our universe and then a difficulty over time to precisely measure the rate of expansion.
Metropolitan Police's facial recognition tech not only crap, but also of dubious legality – report
Friday 5th July 2019 09:49 GMT
Re: It's in its infancy, but it will improve
Yes you do have a tracking device in your pocket. Google has previously been found to track you based on mapping all the wifi routers in your area. Based on the strength of each signal it is able to position you surprisingly accurately. That's why, whenever you turn on GPS on an Android phone, it asks if it can track wifi to make it 'more accurate'.
Bill G on Microsoft's biggest blunder... Was it Bing, Internet Explorer, Vista, the antitrust row?
Monday 24th June 2019 14:32 GMT
Microsoft is an interesting company but not one that sees the future very often. It did predict the massive adoption of DOS, BASIC and Windows (all of which were licensed from other companies or the idea copied). But since the early days they seem to have failed to predict the next big trend.
Internet - Spent years trying to catch up
Games - Had to buy DirectX to compete with other API's such as Glide (3Dfx) and PowrerVR. Then had to throw money at XBox to make it successful.
Languages - Had to copy Java to create C# (after losing a battle for Visual J++)
Smart phones and tablets - Too little, too late
Irish data cops are shoving a probe right into Google's ads
Nvidia keeping mum on outlook for year as data centre slows, channel chokes on crypto crap
Wanted: Big iron geeks to help restore IBM 360 mainframe rescued from defunct German factory by other big iron geeks
How much open source is too much when it's in Microsoft's clutches? Eclipse Foundation boss sounds note of alarm
The Year Of Linux On The Desktop – at last! Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 brings the Linux kernel into Windows
Tuesday 7th May 2019 13:19 GMT
Re: It has to be said
Two major factors in this are:
1) MS has a lot of money it can throw at the problem. The WINE project is primarily a volunteer effort with some corporate support such as, more recently, Valve.
2) MS can look at open documentation and even look at the source code for Linux. But WINE developers have to blindly guess and try to reverse engineer Windows API's (which MS can and do change over time).
TalkTalk kept my email account active for 8 years after I left – now it's spamming my mates
Thursday 7th March 2019 13:04 GMT
I once had fun with Talk Talk...
A number of years ago my broadband provider was taken over by Talk Talk. I received a nice letter from them welcoming me. They then managed to completely forget I was a customer. I wasn't billed for two years but I was stuck on a really slow connection. I couldn't upgrade it to a faster line because Talk Talk said I wasn't their customer. I couldn't leave Talk Talk because whenever I tried the new ISP said there was a Talk Talk marker on my line and I would need the leaving code. Talk Talk wouldn't give me a leaving code because they said I wasn't their customer. I was stuck on 2mbit for years. While many would say it was great not being billed I needed the line for work and it would stop working randomly several times a week. Of course Talk Talk ignored me when I reported the problem because they said I wasn't a customer.
I only managed to get it sorted when I raised a complaint with OFCOM.
Lenovo kicks down door of MWC, dumps a stack of sexy new ThinkPads
How do you like them Apples? Tim Cook's iPhones sitting in the tree, feeling unloved by the Chinese
Congrats, Satya Nadella. In just five years, you've turned Microsoft from Neutral Evil to, er, merely True Neutral
Sorry, Samsung. Seems nobody is immune to peak smartphone
Wednesday 9th January 2019 14:20 GMT
Re: "All I really need now is a lot better battery life."
Phones are "good enough" now. The problem is that batteries degrade. So last year I bought one of the last premium phones with a battery (and headphone jack!) - an LG V20. I even bought that used so it was very cheap, and bought a couple of new batteries for it. I now don't plan to change my phone for two or three years unless I break it, it fails or 5G becomes available, cheap and desirable. I'm now out of the new phone market for a while and I suspect many people are.
Oz cops investigating screams of 'why don't you die?' find bloke in battle with spider
Ding dong merrily on high. In Berkeley, the bots are singeing: Self-driving college cooler droid goes up in flames
Who's watching you from an unmarked van while you shop in London? Cops with facial recog tech
Windows 10 can carry on slurping even when you're sure you yelled STOP!
Monday 17th December 2018 10:43 GMT
No trust
2018 was the year I finally lost trust in Windows and moved to Linux full time for everything except a few small Windows only games (and frankly I haven't used those in months). I'd dabbled in Linux for years but earlier this year I'd just had enough of not feeling like my PC was actually mine. I'm now happily running Kubuntu with Firefox and am looking to reduce my footprint on anything Google too. The only area I don't think I can replace Google from is youtube.
Supernovae may explain mass extinctions of marine animals 2.6 million years ago
Open the pod bay doors: Voice of HAL 9000 Douglas Rain dies at 90
Macs to Linux fans: Stop right there, Penguinista scum, that's not macOS. Go on, git outta here
Microsoft points to a golden future where you can make Windows 10 your own
The last phablet? 6.4in Samsung Galaxy Note 9 leaves you $1k lighter, needs 'water cooling'
Friday 10th August 2018 16:44 GMT
I'm out
Top end smartphones are just too expensive nowadays. I just buy a sim only deal and either a mid range phone (Lenovo P2 was my previous one for £199 with 5000mah battery) or a used previous generation top end phone (LG V20 for £160). The V20 is an interesting prospect. I can swap batteries for use days away from a charger, the DAC is amazing on headphones, a huge screen and it still has infra red for controlling my TV. Yet is was cheap enough that if it fails tomorrow, or if I drop it, lose it on a night out, or whatever, that I can just go and buy something else without worrying too much about it.
When I compare that to a £1000 iphone X or £1250 S9 it's just obvious to me that buying a new top end phone is for poor people. It even sends the message that you care what people think of your phone rather than how you can use money to improve your life. It's nuts.
Also no notch :)
ZX Spectrum Vega+ blows a FUSE: It runs open-source emulator
HTC U12+: You said we should wait and review the retail product. Hate to break it to you, but...
Happy birthday, you lumbering MS-DOS-based mess: Windows 98 turns 20 today
Microsoft says Windows 10 April update is fit for business rollout
Microsoft wants serious, non-gaming developers to make more money
Thursday 31st May 2018 12:57 GMT
If you're a a non-gaming application developer you seem to have choices:
1) Self host it. Charge what you like. Keep 100% but spend a little on advertising it.
3) Put it on the Windows Store. Pay MS a percentage. you'll still need to advertise it.
What's the advantage of having it in the Windows Store? What do you get for handing over a percentage, however small or large, to MS?
Folks are shocked – shocked – that CIA-backed Amazon is selling face-recog tech to US snoops, cops
There will be blood: BT to axe 13,000 employees
Thursday 10th May 2018 08:33 GMT
No people skills whatsovever
' Speaking of the latest job-shedding, chief exec Gavin Patterson, said: “I am really excited to be delivering the next stage of BT’s transformation and have put in place the team that will support me in achieving these objectives.” '
--- This shows a complete lack of people skills and empathy at the affect his decision will have on thousands of lives. It's a completely inappropriate comment. What a ******.
HP Ink to compensate punters for bricking third-party ink cartridges
Shock poll finds £999 X too expensive for happy iPhone owners
Tuesday 13th March 2018 12:12 GMT
I used to be an early adopter of technology. Nowadays most budget phones are good enough. I last upgrades when my phone finally died. I bought a £200 Lenovo P2 SIM free. It's never going to beat an S8/S9 or iPhone 8/X for most features. But it has a two to three day battery and is 80% as good for everything compared to them. I just don't see the point spending £800 to £1000 on a phone.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
