Posts by James 51

Liz Warren, Trump admin agree on something: Army should have right to repair

So you're going to volunteer to go to places like Ukraine to fix broken equipment I take it. Broken parts need to be replaced quickly, easily and affordably. The commercial interests of suppliers has to take a back seat in this situation.

You sound so much like a russian or chinese keyboard warrior trying to stir up stuff it is depressing.

Tesla sales crash in Europe, UK. We can only wonder why

Any chance the board will think twice about that record breaking contract?

Atlassian's Bitbucket Cloud went down 'hard' today

Everything is for the best, in the best of all possible clouds.

I am sure glad that we were forced off on site hosting and have to rely on someone else's computer always being up and available. Well, at least it wasn't something really essential like JIRA.

Amazon worker – struck and shot in New Orleans terror attack – initially denied time off

Not sure about this exact cirumstance but in France, unemployment benefit is based on what you earned before becoming unemployed.

Fining Big Tech isn't working. Make them give away illegally trained LLMs as public domain

Re: Small thinking

So, what are the odds this 'responce' was written using an LLM?

Chinese boffins find way to use diamonds as super-dense and durable storage medium

When I worked in an outsoircing office foe a US firm I was told we had floppy disks of every programme released (this was back in the 90s). I asked about reading them. Was told it was a legal thing, we had to have the disks, we didn't have to habe the hardware to read them.

iPhone 16 dubbed Apple's most repairable model in years

Batteries generally need replacing every two years and that port lasted for almost five years with daily use. When I had similar issues with my S6 then S9 I had to get a new phone as repairing it wasn't an option without equipment and experience I don't have. In contrast I've been able to do what ever needed doing to my Fairphone. Replacing the battery takes seconds, replacing the USB port took minutes. I could even upgrade the camera if I really wanted to. Instead hoping to keep this going until the Fairphone 6 comes out in a year or two and realistically I can keep it going for that long.

<quote>We can imagine the team from Fairphone, for example, taking a look at Apple's improvements and saying: "Oh, they've changed the battery glue. That's cute," before switching out the power unit in their device in a matter of seconds.</quote>

Indeed, Fairphone have a promotion were you get a free battery with your phone going at the moment. My Fairphone 3 is on it's third battery and second USB port at the moment.

LibreOffice 24.8: Handy even if you're happy with Microsoft

Re: If only there was a replacement for outlook...

Proton does everything you're asking for, though you might have to pay a reasonably small fee to get the best out of it.

Kindle sputters out: Amazon's e-readers couldn't download content for a short time

That's why I try to get my ebooks drm free and use calibre. I learned my lesson when waterstones closed their ebook store and I lost all those ebooks.

Nintendo sues alleged Switch pirate pair for serious coin

I have a switch lite and last year the thumb sticks started to have dead zones. I would love to have a legal way to play my games on my steam deck. As it is, making do with an 8bitdo ultimate and a stand. Won't be buying a switch two unless they've got hall effect controllers. Nintendo's response to their chronic hardware problems has been pathetic.

Meta faces multiple complaints in Europe over plans to train AI on user data

Re: Opt Out Now!

I had the same process. Live in the UK but was able to opt out too.

iFixit divorces Samsung over lack of real commitment to DIY repair program

I've had it for four years and counting. It's not unreasonable for the port to wear out after daily use after that much time. As for water proofing, that is improved upon in the Fairphone 4 and 5, I just haven't had the need to buy a new phone yet.

This is why I am sticking with my Fairphone Three. On the third battery and second USB port but still going strong. Going to try to make it last still the Fairphone 6 is out but I reckon that will be at least another three years.

Apple Vision Pro has densest display iFixit's ever seen, and almost-OK repairability

Tesla have already issued a warning for people to not wear them when driving their cars. Wonder if this is premptive or not.

China's great CPU hope – Loongson – may be only four years behind Intel

Seriously, a 5600GE would suit you well. AM4 is a mature platform with all the stuff you want and it's cheap.

The ryzen 5600GE fits your bill.

Another redesign on the cards for iPhone as EU rules call for removable batteries

Fairphone are well ahead of the game then. It's a change that needs to be made.

Raspberry Pi production rate rising to a million a month

Re: Bonds

I think the person above had it right. If they can't meet demand for existing models, creating even more demand they couldn't meet with a new model would only make things worse. Better to wait a little longer, clear the backlog and secure their supply chain before handing out a fresh slice of pi.

Smartphone recovery that's always around the corner is around the corner

Re: Looking back (nothing to look forward to)

The fairphone 3 has all of that. The fairphone 4 is missing the earphone socket (unless you use a dongle).

Microsoft stumps loyal fans by making OneDrive handle Outlook attachments

I do pay for me email but I'd rather pay Proton than MS. Even get a VPN and cloud storage too. Oh and a calendar as well.

How the Internet Archive faces potential destruction at the hands of Big Four publishers

Sometimes the IA is literally the only way to access certain books. I've been trying to find ebook versions of the Belgariad and the Malloreon for years but they cannot be bought in the UK (between space to store books and old eyes, ereaders are just better now than normal books). They are available on Amazon US but as soon as it detects you're in the UK (usually when I try to pay as I don't have an address or a bank account or credit card in the countries where they can be bough), it stops you from buying them (Barnes and Noble did this too). The IA was the only place I could access them. The publishers are preventing certain works from being available and they want to collect rent on customers when they are available. IA is just trying to solve a problem the publishers themselves have created. I just hope the US judge sees sense and having the physical copy is enough to protect IA from these attacks.

Ex-GE engineer gets two years in prison after stealing turbine tech for China

Re: ridiculious sentence

A longer sentence is justifiable but murdering him isn't going to delete the data from where it has ended up.

More pre-Musk Twitter 1.0 execs leave the building

Re: And yet...

When a company that is suppose to have deep pockets backed by the (former?) richest man in the world is being evicted from offices for a $200,000 dollar debt, the writing is not only on the wall, the grave stone is being chiselled as we speak.

TSMC triples spending on Arizona advanced chip site with extra 3nm fab

You'll probably find a lot of the equipment from the most advanced nodes will be shipped for reuse in the US. Seems like a sensible stragety to increase ROI and there's probably still going to be a big market for N-1 chips if they are a resonable fraction of the cost of N. There's the whole supply chain to think about though. How independant will these factories really be?

Lenovo marks 30 years of ThinkSystem with slew of new kit

I'd settle for a thinkpad that had a good ryzen chip that wasn't throttled, has a poor heat distribution system, artifically cripped in some other way (lower spec RAM, screen etc) everything wasn't soldered.

Scientists pull hydrogen from thin air in promising clean energy move

You do occasionally get trolls or people farming downvotes or perhaps they're simply a victim of Poe's law (there's no act of satire so extreme it will not be mistaken for a genuine statement) but I doubt it’s the last one.

AMD refreshes desktop CPUs with 5nm Ryzen 7000s that can reach 5.7GHz with 16 cores

Just got at 5600g, for the price to drop £30 the day after it arrived. Good APU, certainly a big step up in number crunching than my 2400g and a nice if not mind blowing increase in the graphics too. The higher power draw of the new generation ensures it will be a few more years yet before I think about upgrading again.

Apple forgoes cooling systems in M2 MacBook Air

Re: Sticky Stuff

Seven or eight would probably be a better score but we won't have long to wait I'm sure.

Re: Sticky Stuff

Apple has a long history of keeping users out of the products they've 'bought'. I assume they're saying Apple is making it unnecessarily difficult for users and 3rd party repair services to get into the product.

Taiwan prosecutors claim Chinese biz swiped IP and R&D team from Apple supplier

There's usually a clause in such contracts that the IP you develop belongs to the company so patent or not, you couldn't use the same processes or designs at your new employer. You might find that the second company is making the product at the same cost or even more expensive but they don't have R&D costs to mitigate so can charge less.

The App Gap and supply chains: Purism CEO on what's ahead for the Librem 5 USA

Anyone give them fairpone's number?

Combine the modular construction and sustainability of fairphone with the privacy protections of this phone and you'd have one hell (of an expensive) phone.

End-of-life smartphone? Penguins at postmarketOS aim to revive it

Re: Yay!

I would agree with everything you've said except it being unbreakable. It was very strudy but by reputation the usb port was prone to coming loose and the space bar key on mine broke in two. Still have it in a drawer though.

Palantir summons specter of nuclear conflict as share price collapses

I always misread Peter Thiel as Peter Thief. Given the active harm this company has done, it can't go bust soon enough. Just when you think they can't go any lower, they throw in we're actually all more likeily to be nuked that you know, now give us some money.

Samsung reveals new smartphones, tablets... and yes. The S22 Ultra is undeniably good

Re: For 1K in cash I want

A fairphone 3 has everything on that list execpt physical buttons. Fairphone 4 doesn't have the headphone jack but has better waterproofing. Less than half the cost too.

EU directs €11bn toward European Chips Act to build homegrown semiconductor industry

The EU is saying this is strategic, that is something vital that needs to be exempt from usual market forces because of the impact on wider society if supply is interrupted. That’s normally the reason given for propping up unprofitable steel industries, in a time of war they would be needed and supplies could be cut off. If the chip industry is that important (and it is), then it should be given similar levels of support and that applies to the whole chain, not one link within it.

Re: You don’t understand?

What triggers me isn't criticism of the EU (there’s a lot that needs critiquing), it's stupidity. It's not holy and it's not an empire. Unless you’re going to invoke Poe’s law but remember you’re suppose to give some sort of nod or a wink to indicate that’s the case.

I don't understand why there isn't a push to get 28nm or 40nm production in the EU or even bigger transistors if that's still too expensive. There's a need for electronics that aren't cutting edge and affordable. Industries like cars could adapt if they knew they had a secure supply.

UK's new Brexit Freedom Bill promises already-slated GDPR reform, easier gene editing rules

Re: OK.

My whole point is that the processes that the chicken are farmed in is not safe. It is a breeding ground for disease and promotes the spread of anti-biotic resistance strains of diseases. These same conditions also lead to a miserable existance for these animals and we shouldn't turn a blind eye to that either.

Re: OK.

You keep bringing up FUD about the wash. The first time I heard that it was a goverment minister that started the whole what's the problem with chlorine wash angle, pretending the wash was the sole problem and managed to construct the strawman you're so busy whacking. I always understood when chlorine wash chicken was used in the media that meant, chicken produced in inhumane conditions with processes that are currently illegal in our country but that just isn't as snappy.

You still haven't mentioned why we should lower our animal welfare standards to allow the sale of this chicken which if it was produced in the same way in the UK day, would be demeed unfit for human consumption.

Re: OK.

These chickens would probably end up in frozen dinners and and other places clear labeling won't be required so those who bleat about choice, we won't have the option to know.

Re: OK.

I did make that post and I mentioned animal welfare twice and didn't mention wash once:

You do realise that by ignoring my point on animal welfare, you're reinforcing it?

The whole point is that it isn't deemed acceptable by the EU, that's why lowering our animal welfare standards to allow it's sale in the UK wasn't an issue before.

Re: OK.

And once again you're pretending it's all about the wash. If a farmer in the UK treated their animals the was US farms can, they would probably go to prison. The use of the wash is a symptom of an entire sector that seeks to drive down standards including allowing the clear neglect of animals and subjecting them to inhumane practices to drive up profits. I have never moved the goal posts, you're carrying over discussions you've had with other people into this one. And for what is hopefully the final time, if the standards were acceptable in the EU then they would being produced and sold here already. They are not and I hope they never will be.

Re: OK.

The US has to chlorine wash chicked because of the conditions the chickens are kept in. It's not the wash itself, that just became the short hand for the entire food proudction process and you keep pretending it's just about the wash at the end. It's really about all the steps preceeding it that require the wash to be used and the EU authorities do not think this meat is good enough to eat or it would have been in our supermarkets before brexit.

icon cause we'll see if you can get it on the third go.

Re: OK.

You do realise that by ignoring my point on animal welfare, you're reinforcing it?

The whole point is that it isn't deemed acceptable by the EU, that's why lowering our animal welfare standards to allow it's sale in the UK wasn't an issue before.

Re: OK.

That's because that's not what it's really about, the chlorine wash is the whataboutery argument that gets deployed in the hopes of distracting people from the real issue of animal welfare standards or lack their of.

Planning for power cuts? That's strictly for the birds

Not quite the same thing but once worked for a company and the air con in one of the server rooms failed at some point over the weekend and wasn't detected till everyone was in the office on Monday (we had several server rooms and we weren't allowed to know which server room held which servers so might have been developer or tester only stuff and thus not important enough to have real time monitoring). Do know everything in the room was fried and had to be replaced. Expensive lesson in cost saving/disaster planning.

Canon: Chip supplies are so bad that our ink cartridges will look as though they're fakes

Good ad for the likes of the eco-tank printers.