Posts by Nick 6

Shrunken Intel process boosts SSD performance

Can we have figures after a suitably long soak test, i.e. not fresh-from-the-box ?

Why I'd pay Apple more to give iPad factory workers a break

They can do it as soon they want

With their profit margins, they can start being 'nice' to people as soon as they want. Its a matter of will and determination versus greed and shareholder value. They don't need another $10 extra from the shiny-shiny brigade.

Acorn King Moir: BBC Micros, Ataris and 'BS' marketing

Early Xara FTW

I remember using the early x86 ports of Xara: jaw-droppingly fast, small, and better quality compared to my experience of CorelDraw.

Wordwise, meh, not interesting to me as a 10 year old kid but the sideways expansion board and disc doctor are still happy memories.

Vauxhall prices up Ampera e-car for Blighty

Missing some detail...

Range ? Charge time ? Effective MPG ?

Range of colours ?

Crack GCHQ's code and become the next James Bond

Meh

Do I really have to write my own VM in javascript ?

Ten... colour laser printers

Draw me a graph !

What would be really useful would be an indication of total cost versus pages printed. e.g. Assume you keep the device for 5 years, it comes with an X page cartridge included, and additional cartridges cost Y and Z (colour/B&W). What is the most economical assuming 10,100,500,1000 pages per month ?

yours lazily....

How Apple beat IBM in Steve Jobs' first retail war

Demo disk, big whoop

Interesting article and well written and original. But one gripe...

Yet again the 'Apple did this' line gets mismorphed into "Apple invented this and all credit to Steve Jobs' genius'.

Actually any mass-market computer worth its salt in those days had a demo disk, and one which the sales people used. The fact IBM didn't is merely a marker of how little they understood of how retail customers bought machine, not that Apple had the unique insight and mastery which is somehow projected 25 years hence to their retail outlets (which *are* pretty good but who couldn't support those storefronts on *those* profit margins?).

IBM reveals secrets of Watson’s Jeopardy triumph

Its bizarreness is the challenge

Toronto isn't the correct solution.

And yes the Jeopardy format means some of the 'questions' which the contestants have to get end up being very clunky. I'm not a fan of the show at all.

But when you watch Jeopardy you can understand why its a very difficult challenge to meet with a computer compared to the ease which humans can do it. There are some youtube videos which explain this well and make you realise how impressive the whole thing is.

Fasthosts downed by dicky Dell switch

dicky dell switch ?

didn't he present "world of sport" in the 70s and 80s ?

Memo to kid coders: Enterprise software exists

Sharepoint - a running joke

Around here there is a running joke answer to someone asking you where the document/whatever you created is: on Sharepoint. Much hilarity, because the metadata is rubbish, and the search slow and inflexible.

Mind you, it was worse when there was no search index available.

Yeah, yeah, it can do everything under the sun and its just the crap way we've implemented it, but still....

Apple Store down for Lion tweakage

Yep certainly shifting product

No doubt they are doing well and creating and shifting products a plenty - good luck to them if they can get people to pay the premium prices...

I suspect your view on the publicity angle is spot-on though, I wouldn't expect anything different.

Be Back Soon ?

Amazing that such a big cap company doesn't provide continuous availability through their online sales channel...

Don't tell me, its to build the excitement etc etc, but to me it just looks like even their web site is consumer grade....

Cabinet Office talks to Facebook & co about new ID system

argh

Incompetence, meet Evil.

3D printer produces working house keys

Only key cutting ?

If you can't also repair shoes with this device, it'll never catch on...

Schmidt: 'Elites' not 'common men' fret over net privacy

No Eric....

You are part of the elites, and you are screwing us, the common people.

e-Borders snares 2,800 possible crims, 5 tons of baccy

I'm sure you could...

I'm sure you could care less about that, but I wonder if you could *not *care less about bootlegging ?

Pedantic minds want to know.

Protect online retail, says eBay

mee tytle

A+++++++++ lobbying, would use again. Cash arrived well packed.

EMC blows benchmark away - again

Silly configuration

Silly: Not a like for like on comparison, and no real world equivalent.

Facebook to share home addresses, phone numbers

Soylent Green

In Facebook, you are not the customer, you are the product. You are milked for data which are sold to the refiners and buyers.

The benefits the cow obtains from the farmer are marginal.

Assange relishes US banks 'squirming' over 'megaleak'

Release the documents already

He needs to get on with publishing these (starting to at least, understand there is a lot to go through). Otherwise it seems more and more like self-enrichment and self-promotion rather than the mythical free information campaign he's on. Or perhaps he's waiting for the pay-off from our financial overlords.

Apple plotting point-of-sale putsch?

So much wrong with this

iPad - stupid size to take out shopping with you. Except I guess there'll be a mini sized one for the morons who have got an iPhone and a fondle slab but who still have money to be parted with.

And the apple one probably won't let you buy anything unless its approved by the Jobsian puppet machine. Oranges ? No sir, I'm afraid you can't buy those. Just lemons.

Coalition failing on UK economy

You what ?

"action-oriented growth champion" ?

Guards, take him to the dungeons !

IBM gorges on cheap debt for share buybacks, acquisitions

Already paid....

Far be it from me to apologies for the self-destruction of the once-great company and its reverse take over by the vacuous powerpointers of the consultant profession. But IBM has already paid its employees for their work. Whether or not its doing the right thing for its long term shareholders is another thing, but then we've learned just how little respect Big Blue has for the idea of pensions.

Its all good though, as long as Fat Sam keeps pumping the EPS and shareprice, ready for the big pop when he announces his departure.

Marathon adds suspenders to virty server belts

What about patching

As far as I know, this solution still doesn't address the database patching issue when using SQL Server. You have to shift the database to another member in the cluster so it can be rebooted after Patch Tuesday....this takes between 30-300 seconds where there is no service.

Other RDBMSes are available, I know, but assuming your application forces you to do it...

Patching less frequently, yes, an option, if you can get your IS people to agree....

IBM hits $24bn target thanks to big iron

Watch for the 4th quarter...

Matt ? Is that you ?

Met chief fears Brit cybercrime gangs

Fear it, fear it.

Another mouthpiece trying to raise the profile of what ever keep them employed, just around the time of the cuts. We're under attack, criminals on the rise, fear them fear them.

Similar to the woman from higher education I heard early claiming that fees would go up to 5 or 6 times their current level if the government won't give them some more money.....

Wikileaks publishes secret CIA memo

Domestic spying loophole

Part of Menwith's purpose is to allow spying on British subjects under the auspices of it being a foreign intelligence post. We have reciprocal arrangements with other governments - surveillance of their 'problem' people and passing the results back to their own governments.

Another purpose is listening in up satellite comms from the middle east in order help US aero and weapons firms beat their European competitors.

And also....oh, hang on there's someone at the door....

Corrupt repair engineer jailed for bank fraud attempt

Bicycle repair engineer

This falls well short of the expected behaviours of a professional Engineer. What does the Engineering Council say about this ?

What ? Computer repair bloke ? I thought you said he was a repair engineer....

Opening UK cyber-security challenge cracked

All I can say is

uggcf plore

and <sigh> I've got to do some work.

Apple ad-addled OS scheme resurfaces

Exactly

They may just be choking off a revenue stream for competitors.

One thing would be worse than advertising, it would be endless smug Apple adverts.

Ellison loses bid for US basketball franchise

Ballmer tard?

That icon isn't Ballmer, its the world's top purveyor of shiney bricks to the terminally credulous, one Steve "the Jobby" Jobs.

Plus everyone knows Ballmer is just Gates in a Total Recall-style zip-up fat suit. So have a different icon.

UK's secret surveillance regime 'does not breach human rights'

but surely...

if she's got nothing to hide, she's got nothing to fear.

every failed dwarven fascistic politico knows that.

Drifting zombiesat could disrupt TV programming

Disaster

Slowly the knowledge that only Murdoch's stations survived begins to dawn on the doomed inhabitants below...

Terror in the Outback: Attack of the Giant Space Balloon

No point in trying to leave the village.

Rover got him

Be seeing you.

British Gas signs Voda so meters can snitch direct

Two way traffic

The objective is to install remotely controllable meters, not just data collection. Its sold on cheaper gas, monitor yourself, be green etc. But really its a means to remotely control your usage, and update the billing parameters in real time, based on demand.

The data collection angle is false - many people are reading it themselves for most of the year, with occasional data collection via sneakernet by their own meter readers.

Back at HQ, they'll have a big friendly button marked "Optimise Profit". And your meter will simply obey. Look out for those revised terms and conditions....

IBM: Mainframe emulator part of a conspiracy

Mainframe professionals prefer Z

I guess some people view Itanium as a failed experiment or a technological cul-de-sac, especially in the light of x64 development of much more capable chips. On the otherhand z has a long and proven pedigree with continued investment.

But I'd be suprised to see any unbundling of software+hardware because just as they are greater than the sum of their parts, their sales price reflects that fact.

Pig lips

"If Microsoft wanted to really cause some trouble, it would blackbox a version of z/OS that runs on a Windows kernel, slap a DB2 emulation layer on top of SQL Server, put natively compiled z/OS code atop the Hercules emulator inside Hyper-V partitions, and be done with it. "

Yes, but a pig wearing lipstick is still a pig.

Avon & Somerset cop computers titsup?

As many as 30 Indians, you say?

30's not that many, and given the work permits take at least 3-4 weeks to arrive, it can't be entirely an unplanned knee-jerk response. And of course they are temporary...visas aren't permanent and the staff will get sent back every 9 months or whatever to ensure they don't become 'permanent' in anyone's eyes.

Is SAP being used for frontline policing and intelligence? Or is it payroll and HR stuff? Think I can probably guess, given what SAP does.

Also - big SAP project takes longer than anticipated....what's the news angle here? Or is the pro-Iraq-war, anti-smoking-ban* MP trying to boost his local profile before the election? May be he should justify his £166,109 expenses bill from last year before offering opinions about value for money.

*according to theyworkforyou

MPs slam IBM pension moves

@joeuro

Tabant? Toxication? Guess you are still working on that MBA - but make sure you use the spell check before submitting it.

Its the run away extremist Capitalism which will destroy our economy in the end. The problem is not with shareholders (or even well-paid execs) - IBM had those throughout history and they got their dividends, stock price growth, etc. But at the same time they paid the high quality employees who were creating that worth and gave them respect.

Unfortunately the deluded greedy pigs of Wall Street and their various corporate whores in the C--suites around the world seem to think that they are the ones 'making it happen'. They aren't. And by forcing down the financial and personal worth given to employees, they're killing morale and productivity.

The 'everything for me - nothing for you' approach ends up bankrupting society and concentrating wealth in so few people that it can't benefit many people - the trickle is too slow to reach many people.

HP probes 'racist' webcams

It confirms my views

that auto-face tracking web cams are horrible to use and make you feel sick watching them as they swing back and forth, zoom in and out....just don't do it to me.

It would be fairly amusing if they'd overlooked the large portion of the world's population who aren't caucasian.

EDS mainframe goes titsup, crashes RBS cheque system

Hope they've got enough capacity....

...to catch up on the back-log. If the box has been stuffed and has little spare capacity, there may not be enough left to catch-up and carry on - either with RBS or the other users of the tin.

I guess there's more to this than meets the eye? Or is it literally "nobody in EDS knows how to apply patches to the machines?"

SF's rogue admin finally gets day in court

New jury please

If the jury are unable to comprehend the arguments or facts of the case, due to being ignorant, stupid or lazy, they ought to be replaced. Rolling your eyes up to the ceiling because you can't handle the details is not on - your duty is to sit and listen so that justice can be done.

Microsoft China accused of pilfering webcode

Yep!

You don't get to be the world superpower economy just by hard work and creativity.

Pitchfork-wielding mobs encircle smart meters

Concumer surplus

Its the reason that corporations are embracing green behaviours by consumers: you reduce what they consume but still charge them the same total price. Result? More profit. Smart meters are a more insidious version of this in that the company can track their profit and adjust prices accordingly on a continuous basis. The idea they would encourage you to use less of their product is nonsensical unless they are charging more per unit.

In addition you can drive people into using your product when it suits you rather than when it suits them.

You only have to look at the mothballing of power plant in the 1990s purely to restrict supply and push up prices...they have no other motive than profit, and green does not come into it.

The idea that consumers will benefit from smart metering is laughable.

Microsoft smothers Sage and Intuit challenger

Some self assembly required

@JS19 - I think the comparison with SAP will be apt when Microsoft start selling Visual Studio 2008 and a SQL Server driver as "all in one off the shelf business wonder suite".

You just need to do a leeetle coding and customisation to shape it to your business' needs.

Perhaps MS realised that accountants don't shell out money when they don't need to, even if they are taken out for lunch and offered $$$ of discounts.

IBM board gives Big Sam another $5bn

In these difficult economic times.....

....we have to prop up Fat Sam's share options. And screw the defined benefits pensioners who built this empire.

Much ado about IBM's mainframe monopoly

@Kebabbert

Yes and my security truck is rubbish cos it only goes 50mph and only does 10mpg.

Whereas your MX5 can do 90mph (downhill only, it struggles a bit going up again) and sips a mere 30mpg.

Oh, could you move these gold bars to my palace please?.

Man posed as teen lesbian to snare girl's nude photos

Think of the children

Hmmmm your post is more like "think of the paedos"

Your argument seem to be

1. She was too young to be using this technology - her parents should have been monitoring her all the time

2. Flabby middle aged men can't find satisfaction in any other way.

3. This is all "pathetic" rather than a criminal exploitation by a predator.

From the story, it sounds like he conducted a very sneaky campaign to get the pictures, followed by blackmail. To me this isn't a "world gone mad, prudish, disproportionate sentence" story...

Top NASA scientist busted for leaking satellite intel

No Israeli interest? Riiiiight.....

So the fact he had been working as a "consultant" to an Israeli defense company for 7 years, and reacted to the offer of a load of cash and an Israeli passport by stealing secrets and passing them to an agent doesn't suggest he was already doing it?

Oh of course, the FBI picked Mr Randomer and acted like a Mossad agent towards him, and it was the first time he had ever thought about helping Israel? Maybe he hadn't had a Mossad handler looking after him before, he was somehow freelance at giving away US secrets to Israel....

(assuming it was him, he was guilty of all of this etc etc)