Posts by KroSha

Apple's Mountain Lion to offer automatic security updates

Re: Next week in the register: Apple to support colour monitors!

+1 to that, Software Update will run automatically check for updates daily, weekly or monthly. It'll also pre-download them and then ask for permission to install. I doubt that'll change much, as most big software updates require an admin password.

Additionally, OSX Server already has the option to act as a Software update hub, where the Server downloads updates and clients can then pull them locally instead of from Apple. The Server also lets you choose which updates get advertised locally. So, e.g. Camera RAW updates could be ignored.

Once again, Sophos shows that it knows f**k-all about the current situation on the Mac OS

Sysadmins: Your best tale of woe wins a PRIZE

There's a big data centre in Wapping, with about 100 racks per floor. As it should be, this is access controlled to prevent the cleaning lady from wandering in with her polish. However, no one thought to tell the new security guard that you need to swipe your card to get out again. He just saw the big (red) button and thought that was the unlock button. He'd never seen an emergency power shutoff switch before.

1000(ish) servers down in less than 2 seconds.

Re: One off the top of my head....

Option-3 gives #. Keyboard viewer is your friend!

Sony outs Google TV set-top box

I've love to see what happens when the dog gets hold of it! My Dad's dogs have already destroyed at least one remote.

Samsung refreshes ChromeOS hardware with first desktop system

I look at this and I see the possibilities for an ultra-simple business desktop. Always connected to a network, only really needs a browser and Google Docs. Make it so it can sign in to an LDAP domain and local servers, and you're good to go. Cue loads of sales of £150 boxes to the non-intensive parts of business; accounts, HR, sales, logistics, or places that only really use Office.

And Samsung might want to watch that haiku; NeXTSTEP was bought by Apple :)

Publishing barons: Free speech a 'cloak for tawdry theft'

"He added there needs to be recognition that creators have fundamental rights to their property."

Yes, absolutely. Everyone deserves to get paid for the work that they do. No one dispute this. The problem at the moment is that publishers / promoters / middlemen have all the rights, not the creator.

Quick solution; artistic copyright is only assignable to actual people, not corporations, who have to be able to demonstrate original effort in the creation.

And the copyright period needs to be cut. 20 years is more than enough time for Cliff Richard to wring a profit from "Living Doll".

Ten... eight-bit classic games

Elite was incredible. I lost months of my childhood to that game. I still play the updated Oolite today.

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

Re: Mind numbingly simple

Which only highlights a flaw in the lawyer feeding system in the US. Have capital crimes tried by the highest authority in the region and carry out the sentence within 1 month. Problem solved.

Ebook price-fix trial showdown? Bring it on, say Apple and pals

"The agency model is the one that offers publishers the prospect of an on-going and lucrative market for shafting authors and the public, whilst justifying their existence."

Fixed that for you!

Apple screws UK disties, punts just 13,000 iPads to channel

Re: It's kinda odd

Most people prefer to shop ANYWHERE rather than Dixons/Currys/PCWorld if given the choice!

Apple plugs Java hole after Flashback Trojan intrusion

Re: Don't care

If only...

But Adobe Creative Suite demands it too. Personally I have no use for it, but the other half uses it for work. Thus we have to have Java installed.

Analogue switch-off hits London today

Did mine already, there was no BBC1 this morning when I wanted the travel news...

iPad app that lets mute kids speak menaced by patent lawsuit

Re: @DavCrav

or, as TP notes, you'll get private "Thermal Management" companies doing house calls making comments like "Oooh, very flammable looking place, this. I bet it'd go up with one carelessly dropped match, y'know what I mean?" Paying firemen based on how many fires they put out is *a bad thing*.

CD: The indestructible music format that REFUSES TO DIE

As long as I can fit a claymore instead of an airbag...

IT pros lack recent skills

No training here

There's been a training freeze at my place for over a year. They're not even training people for the work they're expected to do now!

Even if you do manage to persuade someone that you have a skill gap and need to do some training, the response is usually "You buy the materials and do the training in your own time. We can't give you any time out of your day to do it. Once you've passed the exam, we'll consider reimbursing you."

I really do despair of the stupid, stupid attitude that seems prevalent in so many companies. IT is the one area which needs almost constant training. Not doing that is a sure-fire strategy for the systems to fail.

iPad 3 ship times slip back

The UK preorders sold out on Friday, and it's been "2-3 weeks" since then.

And there were 2 slavering idiots / ifans camped outside the Regent St store when I went past yesterday.

Apple wants ebook price class action suit thrown out

Re: Never mind eBooks

Not strictly true.

Music: You are quite at liberty to purchase CDs and import them in to iTunes. This was its primary function (remember the "Rip, Mix, Burn" adverts?) and it's how I sync most of my music.

Video: OK, a little harder, but you can still rip DVDs to disk, or you can buy the films with a digital copy included. I use Any Video Converter to then transcode them for iPad, PS3 and iPod. Works very well. There are also streaming options from Lovefilm and Netflix for iOS.

eBooks: Calibre. Database, converter and transporter, all in one. I'm hoping he's going to add iBook support too, as well as ePub.

There are ways around iTunes. For me, it's a jukebox and the transport mechanism to load stuff on my iDevices, not a shopping portal.

The big problem is that, along with music and movies, the middlemen have got too big. Publishers hold all the power, rather than the authors. What I'd like to see would be that publishers get the rights for the dead-tree editions (maybe with no royalties) and the author gets the worldwide distribution on the ebook. Then the author gets to set the price for the ebook and the publisher still does all the promotion and marketing.

Quite why publishers decided to go to Amazon in the first place, rather than setting up their own sites for selling ebooks, I don't understand. Did they think that e-publishing didn't have a future and wasn't worth investing in? Baen has been doing it, quite successfully, for years.

Re: Pots and Kettles

HMRC have specifically said they have to impose VAT on ebooks, as it's covered by European legislation. To get an exemption, it has to go through the EU first and then be enacted in the UK. Chances that they are going to spend that kind of money in order to lower revenues?

1,600 pubs and bars to get free Wi-Fi

Free Wifi as in totally free, or Free for 15 Mins, after which you'll need to subscribe?

'Regrouping' Android tablet makers extend Apple reign

For the 9"+ size, it's fairly obvious that the iPad is the most popular, leading Samsung's Galaxy and Asus's offerings by a wide margin. (A YouGov poll this week found 70% of prospects wanted an iPad)

Sales of the ~7" are similarly dominated by Amazon, most likely due to the low cost of entry. (In the US anyway)

However, with Asus's MeMO and the newly announced partnership with Google, I'm curious to see if other brands will move towards the smaller form factor and lower price point associated with it. Could Android 7" tablets be the future for the category, or will they morph into tablet-phones instead?

Google, Asus co-brand tablet to take on Amazon Kindle Fire

"Asus was the most happy to punt a low-cost tablet, unworried that the entry level positioning would tarnish its brand."

Probably because they do entry-level stuff already in other areas and do it fairly well. Plus their existing 'droid tablet is probably the best of the bunch, so they've got a good Premium model on the market already. The other brands, named in the article or not, are trailing significantly, whether they admit it or not.

'The new iPad' selling out at AT&T

UK pre-orders all sold

The UK iPad page now states:

"Order now for delivery after 18 March. See cart for details. Available in Apple Retail Stores from 16 March."

And the actual order page for online lists delivery in "2-3 weeks".

'The new iPad' revealed: Full specs, rumor scorecard

Re: LTE is not 4G

No it won't. The frequencies used by both carriers in the USA are taken in the UK. Taken by Freeview TV, so I think you can guess on how easy that'll be for Apple to lobby for! The EU 4G default of 800MHZ is not supported and probably wouldn't be without a hardware change. So that won't happen in the near future either.

Ordered a Black 16GB 4G. No need for more storage as I can access my NAS remotely. I wonder how long it'll take the UK telcos to implement 4G? Oh well. 3G will have to do for now.

Re: The viPad

They lost that a long time ago; OSX 10.2 "jag-wire".

Hands on with the Apple iPad 3

Based on the keynote, the CPU is a dual core A5, but with a quad core GPU, hence the name A5X(treme). The graphic performance is listed as being twice that of the A5 chip in the iPad2 and 4x that of the Nvidea Tegra3. http://www.neowin.net/images/uploaded/applemarch7grahd.jpg

Death to Office or to Windows - choose wisely, Microsoft

Re: Re: " . Office is a kingmaker in the enterprise, and the iPad is already king there."

"Is there an easier way to run CAD off Windows?"

ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, PowerCADD or VectorWorks on a Mac?

Security biz scoffs at Apple's anti-Trojan Gatekeeper

Re: Real *nix experts I see

"All software requires raised privileges to install and will cause a prompt for an admin account and password."

Not true. It depends on the type of installation. If the software is a .pkg and requires the installer, then the developer controls where it gets installed. If this is the main /Applications folder, then all is fine.

BUT, if the installer allows for the choice of a single user install (like for a Pref Pane) or if the software is a plain drag n' drop install (like VLC), then there is *nothing* to stop a user installing it in their home folder if they wish. OK, so the software could only run with user privileges, but there still a fair amount of havoc that can still be caused.

I'm in favour of a whitelisted model, as long as Apple are still happy to hand out certs to developers for a nominal fee, as in the $99 one currently. It'd be a real shame to have the excellent software choice for Mac, and there's some really great small devs doing excellent work, just because Apple doesn't want it to get like Windows.

Apple's secret outsource: 'Even more software to be made in India'

"A phone call to Apple's Bangalore office resulted in a no comment on Apple's current investment in India or on any planned future investment. However, the press officer did confirm that he too had seen the Times of India article."

It's probably the first he'd heard of it too!

Fondle my slab, baby: Inside the tactile world of Apple-fan iDating

or even bore dated housewives....

Apple won't rule out all singing, all dancing iBooks on Kindle

"It's a fancy interactive format, so that might be tricky.... I was wondering how much of the functionality is lost by exporting to PDF actually."

Most of it. The iBooks format is EPUB3 with some HTML5 trickery. PDF just can't handle the embedded files to provide the UI Apple is pushing for. If it's a plain text & pics affair, then you're fine, but only the .ibook format provides the video, slideshows and 3d interactive stuff possible with the Author software. I tried.

Michael Dell: PC profits plunge not down to tablets

Given that the vast majority of PC / laptops in the business space, and the consumer one at that, are massively overpowered for what they are actually used for, I'm not surprised that sales are taking a dive.

I still see Optiplex GX60s and GX750s at the various offices I visit. They still work and are doing the job that's needed. So why is a business going to replace them just because the calendar says so?

So if some budget is being shifted to the post-PC device, I wouldn't be surprised to see the refresh cycle lengthen.

2011's Best... Hi-Fi and AV Kit

Indeed

My forst reaction on reaching the end was "wot, no Onkyo?"

Prada and LG peg up third fashion phone

My gf still has her original 1st gen Prada LG. It still works well, if it is looking quite tired by now. Maybe this'll persuade her to upgrade.

UK is biggest nation of web shopaholics - Euro poll

"It's when you game online or own a PS3 and suddenly find you've got to download 100s of MBs worth of patches that you need a faster connection"

Or the 14GB, yes GB, for the recently Free-to-Play DC Universe Online. Thank goodness Be really does do "unlimited" downloads.

Not surprising. Who wants to pay £40pm for a "super-fast" service that, after taking out cab-to-house noise, contention, throttling and "peak time traffic management" isn't actually that much faster than before? If you haven't hit your download limit this month, that is.

Brits turned off by Smart TVs

I have a previous-gen Sony Bravia. It is connected to my network, but I never use the net features because the DNLA doesn't work with 99% of my files on the NAS, and the firmware has been pretty much abandoned. Only current-gen gets iPlayer and new features.

I use the PS3 for all my Smart viewing, for which it works very well (except no Demand5).

When it dies, I'll be looking for something simple; good screen, good sound and lots of ports. Smart? 3D? You can keep 'em. TVs are for viewing content; I've other boxes for storing and fetching it.

Ebooks must stay fat with VAT, blame the EU, MPs told

On most of the hideously expensive ebooks that Amazon sells there's a note that "This price was set by the Publisher." This is because the majority of ebooks are sold under an anti-competitive agency cartel pricing agreement, where retailers have no control over the final price. It'd be nice to see the EU rule against this, instead of continuing to pander to business.

I wonder how long it'll take for ebook piracy to escalate to the levels that'll make the publishers, their lobbyists and the pet politicos sit up and take notice?

Ofcom: ISPs can cripple the web as much as they please

That would be O2 / Be then?

Same thing, isn't it?

Fragged, fragged and thrice fragged! 20 years of id Software’s Doom

I still play this every so often. PS1 discs on the PS3 still look pretty good and only cost about a fiver on the tat bazaar.

Penguin pulls its e-books off library shelves

I'm about to be in your position.

I currently buy a lot of books, and it's got to stop because, quite frankly, I don't have the space any more. Being someone who likes big fantasy sagas, 3000 pages on a single story soon adds up to a lot of shelf space.

The only thing really holding me back is having to repurchase all my favourites as ebooks. I really want to go the whole hog and only have 2 series as paper copies; Wheel of Time and Discworld. But that means either spending a frakkin' enormous amount of money or P2P'ing a lot. And some of them aren't available (I've looked) for purchase.

The Publishing Industry really, really, needs to sort themselves out to deal with the new age of digital consumerism, just as the Music & Film Biz did 10 years ago. If they sort it out right the first time, they can save themselves a lot of pain.

I fully support paying authors for their work. I read a lot and I am friends with a couple of pro writers. But when ebooks are more expensive than print, then something is clearly wrong.

Example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Mist-Scarpetta-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005LN0DBW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322042777&sr=1-1

I know that it includes VAT; that's something that needs to be addressed separately. But even then, the ebook is only £1 cheaper than the hardback. Given that good chunk of the costs are involved with the production and distribution, there are clearly saving to be made.

The Publishers set the pricing, and they need to have a really hard think about how they want this market to mature. At the moment, they are just perpetuating the status quo; giving the distributors the leverage to sell the books. Publishers, and authors, should be punting the books themselves and allowing grass-roots to bring authors to prominence, rather than trying to pay for internet publicity. Interesting small piece on it from 10 years ago: http://www.baen.com/FAQS.asp#Lois%20McMaster%20Bujold%20on%20Book%20Distribution%202000

All ebook DRM has been cracked. They don't really update it anyway because that would require software updates. I know Adobe was cracked about 2 years ago.

Tablets mean tubby HDDs must get thinner - A*STAR

You've just described 90% of "think tanks", industry or otherwise.

Punters hate copyright, says Steelie Neelie

That pic is great! But it missed out the advert that tells us that piracy is wrong, immoral and no different than stealing a car. Even though we paid for the damn movie already.

Microsoft seeks patent on employee spy system

It isn't easy to find a good manager that groks you, and if you're lucky enough to have one, cherish them.

Great game! "I'm sorry, that information is not available at your security level". Bags the violet laser.

So much of this system is going to depend on the baseline and expectations of the controllers. I can easily imagine that *someone*, somewhere will hack it, a load of CEOs and Beancounters will suddenly find that they are at 3x treason points and the whole thing will be immediately canned.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

"...wait with the rest of us to see what real revelations Assassin’s Creed 3 might have in store. A future world setting? You know it makes sense."

Very unlikely, as the major plot point of the whole AC series is an impending disaster that will occur if the Templars manage to launch their satellite on 1 Dec 2012. I expect that AC3 will be majorly focused on Desmond using his Assassin skills to stop this from happening.