Re: There is no precedent .... other than the making up of things on the fly
Shhhh. Don't shout that too loudly or the men in black might come calling around dawn and give you a one way ticket to an envlave on a large Island in the Carribean.
7142 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Jun 2009
Remember that US law already rules everywhere on the planet. It make little different what the [redacted] in Westminster say or do. so gripping their coat tails is (to them ) logical and makes our laws apply everywhere except the US.
Sadly 'les Frogs' will just say 'Non' to this like they do to everything else imposed on them from outside France. This will, I am sure be repeated in all sane nations.
Quote
"Paranoid I may be, but I doubt the months of digital video held in NSA vaults of me picking my nose are going to get me rendered on a top-secret Ryanair flight from Stansted to a five-year waterboarding holiday at Guantanamo."
Are you really, really, really sure about that? wisest not to temp fate methinks.
Time to pop me coat on and head out into my Spy Camera Free area and down the Pub for a quick one. No cameras there either. Plus, if I know the landlord, any idiot daft enough to poke their head round the door wearing a 'google Glass' type device will be quickly dispatched into the adjacent Duck Pond complete with glass device. do the locals have anything to hide? Shhhh better not to ask, Nudge-Nudge, wink-wink.
around like a fish out of water (well that's how it seems to me).
They are trying to be all things to everyone and sadly faiing at most of them.
I doubt that Mr Nadella can change the direction of the MS Microsoft before it hits an iceberg thus paving the way from Bill to come riding over the hill and save the day for what is left of his once great baby.
The sad thing that MS seems unable to understand (other once great tech companies suffered from this as well) that their key markets are changing and changing rapidly.
It is no use dropping support for Operating Systems in an attempt to force users onto their latest POS, users will either move to something else or just say, 'meh, it works so why should I change?'.
Pissing users off by moving to a subscription model is also IMHO a dead duck. Yeah, the idea of that monthy income stream gives your FD wet dreams but.... for the average man/women in the street it is something they can do without in their already stressful lives.
etc
etc
etc
Metro? Lets hope the people who persuaded Mr Balmer that this was a good idea for all systems get their Pink slips ASAP.
In conclusion, MS are approcahing a tipping point. The wrong decision made in the next few months could see the company implode. (queue much cheering from the Anti MS Brigade)
This would hit business all over the world very hard so lets hope that his changes can bring about a soft landing and not a Nokia style pileup.
There are still a few things worth watching at the time they were first broadcast.
Watching Germany stuff Brazil was well worth it.
Pretty well everything else gets recorded by my PVR and if there are adverts then the 'skip' function soon gets past them.
Do I hear the Advertisers gnashing their teeth????
Well, I (and probably a good percentage of El-Reg readers) are simply not your target markets.
Us Grumpy old geezers are not the demographics you guys target (mostly) so I wouldn't get all hot and bothered over it.
IMHO, you should allocate more than a weekend to testing Linux especially, if you choose something like Ubuntu. If it is a rapid release distro such as Ubuntu, Fedora then you need to cover the period over a new release. If you choose something more stable like Debian, RHEL/CentOS then a month or two should do it.
Things that you take for granted just aren't there in Linux or if they are, they either have to be installed and confiured and may be considerably less polished/easier to use than what you are used to with OSX.
If you aren't a Linux sort of person, you will soon find that many of the features that works almost OOTB on OSX takes considerably more time and effort to get working on Linux. Something like Time Machine would IMHO be a great example.
As I have to use both Windows and Linux/Unix in my day job, I find OSX perfect for my use at home. I have to say, it just works for me. YMMV
The Beeb reported this morning that Samsung were being squeezed at the bottom end of the market by the rise of the Chinese makers like Huawei etc. At the top end, even the soon to be replaced iPhone 5s is holding its market share pretty well against the newly released S5. Now google seem to want to take control of Android back thus limiting the opportunities for Samsung to make their offering different from the rest.
The Analysists in places like Singapore were concerned that Samsung were relying far too much on their Mobile business for its profits.
Things might not be so rosy in the Samsung Garden. Perhaps they have some whizzo products up their sleeve that will shock the market and make them a lot of dosh?
There are a lot of people around the world waiting with interest for Samsung to do something dramatic.
firstly, the Security Services making sure there are huge gaping back doors through which they can improve their spying on you 24/7.
then there are the malware people. If you think that the STUXNET malware attack was bad, then just think what fun they will have with all sorts of kit around your home all nicely wired up to the internet?
Going 'off grid' seems make more and more sense every day.
We are also f**ked ...
If your data is held on a Server owned by a company that has a US presence of any kind then YOUR data is subject to the Patriot Act.
I'd even go so far as to say that even if you OWN your own servers but have them hosted by a company with an American presence the Feds are not going to let a little thing like Server ownership matter for even 1 nano second.
They really don't like just about anyone in the rest of the world. There are more than a few Amerikans who'd like to see the middle east (apart from Israel), North Africa and a good deal of Europe laid to waste so they they could say 'Job Done'.
What about Bird Strikes?
I've seen one take down a Jet. At Dunsfold in Nov 1975 a Hawker P125 took off at dusk and ran into a flock. Both engines flames out and the plane bellyflopped over the peri-fence, over the A281 and ended up in the field beyond.
http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/history-from-police-archives/RB1/Pt3/pt3HS125crash75.html
A UAV being sucked into an engine just as the plane rotates is not something I'd want to happen.
I'd just finished a long (3hrs) remote session removing a whole load of 'lets try this, it might fix the problem' changes to a Windows Server setup in India when the phone rang.
"This is The Computer Support department of Microsoft" said an Indian Voice.
My rant down the phone that lasted more than a minute made me feel a lot better.
The sad thing was that the caller was still on line. As soon as I'd finished, the poor man said,
"We have identified a problem on your windows computer"
Early beer o'clock for me today.
IE is bound tightly to the underlying OS. Some of the DLL's it uses are also used by other key utilities such as Windows Explorer.
IMHO the real truth is that MS really don't have a clue when it comes to patching.
If you update Office for Mac, it complains if Firefox, Sudoku, Photoshop and other non Apple supplied Apps are running. WTF has Firefox or Sudoku being open got to do with an Office Update?
None so that really just don't have a clue.
don't even try to get me started on the seemingly endless update/reboot cycle you have to go through for .Net (when applied to a non WSUS System). My last could was 11 reboots for .Net 3.5 and 4.
Well Jimmy, I hope you can play the phone shopping biz as well as your namesake.
What happens when you are given a P-45? Or the company decide to charge you more per month for their phone than the £10 deal from GifGaf that Mrs Page is on? This happened to me in a previous job. I returned the phone saying that as I would no longer be paying for their phone, I would no longer be 'on-Call' at any time. The went bust a few months after I left.
Company phones are IMHO for company biz FULL STOP. I have an iPhone. It goes into Airplane mode (or switched) off as soon as I leave work. It goes on again when I get to work. No one at work has my personal mobile number.
Get a life, turn off that company phone and don't answer Emails at weekends unless you get paid for it.
Now off down the pub. Phone is off? Yep.
It is the often very lewd comments that go alongside it.
all sorts of claims like 'they suck in Bed', 'her t**s are false', 'his p***s is tiny' etc are made in order to embarrass the person in the picture.
Added together this is not nice at all especially if you happen to be on the receiving end.
The sad thing is that any court case will give the whole episode a lot more publicity that the original posting would have gotten. The Streisand Effect at work here.
I'd like for the subject of the posting to be able to remain anonymous like the victims in Rape cases.
As for pictures of boobs on a topless beach then that is in effect a public place and there can be no expectation of privacy whereas pictures of the ex in her dominatrix outfit might be very detrimental to their career esp if they were a teacher of under 16's.
Context is all important.
Are those a pair of chinook's I hear approaching?
but if you are referring to the manufacture of Apple Products using slave labor, then I have to ask where all your 'electronic kit' is made? Perhaps it is made by the same companies that Apple use? Do you know for sure that your supplier is not paying less in wages to get their 'stuff' made?
Well, because of the Patent madness in the USA who knows for sure that Google have not infringed on a patent that has been granted to Apple, IBM, Microsoft or any one of a thousand other companies?
We (as laymen/women) don't and simply can't know.
Patents aside, there are more than a few devices hitting the market in anticipation of what (if anything) Apple might start selling. Some are clearly rushed out simply to say, 'We were first'. That might be the case but I suspect that as has been proven before, if apple release a wearable device then they will probably implement it in a better way than the competition.
Then the Lawyers of the competition will be busy filing lawsuits against Apple.
Nothing is clearcut in the Tech World these days. There is always a huge amount of FUD and Lies and underhand dealings.
1) Deliver to unmanned rural station
2) Thieves smash their way into said lockers and make off with the items
OR
2) Thieves wait for the infrequent trains and for the odd passenger to get off and remove items from lockers. Then the relieve the unfortunate person of thei goods and diasppear into the night.
Fail, mega fail.
Nice idea but really.... Did anyone think this through?
I think not.
More like, flogging a dead horse.
Sure there will be people who will buy one of these but there are vastly better alternatives often a lot chaper to choose from. Why buy MS then? What is the compelling reason to say yes?
For the life of me, I cant think of one. Perhaps some MS fans can shed the light here?
The Patent lawyers decaying bodies (when consigned to the ocea) will have to sit on top of those of the 'Lawyers who become Politicians'. After all it is the Politicians who make the laws that are ironically only for the benefit of their Lawyer Bretheren.
If I were PM/President, I'd put a percentage cap on the number of Lawyers who could be elected to office. That way I'd hope that some semblance of common sence might return to law making. I'd also limit those who did things like Politics and Economics at Uni and then became a researcher for an MP before standing themselves. These people need to get a life and a job in the real world for a few years. Just as bad as the lawyers IMHO.
Yeah, I know this is the impossible dream but you have to dream a bit don't you?
Shouldn't that be....
A few self promoting analysists predict that Apple may ship as much as 50 million devices. any estimate like this has to be taken with a big pinch of salt and a close examination of the stock portfolio of those analysists just in case they are trying to 'embiggen' (crap word really) their holdings by hyping the stock.
It does not matter if you loathe or love Apple, you can't deny that they are very good at not releasing estimates on the numbers of devices they will sell. Apple do report the numbers of devices they have sold not shiped. A few other companies might like to do the same.
will find a 500% rise in Pirated copies flying around the internet.
Sorry Adobe, I'm not buying Photoshop anymore. You have lost my dosh forever on that product.
Lightroom does everything I need these days and is a lot cheaper.
If you go subscription for it then I'll ditch your software altogther
You might be milking it now but for how long then eh?
Any App on any device that I have that suddenly starts offering In-App purchases get removed straight away.
This especially applies to apps that I have actually paid for in the first place. Suddenly your 5.99 purchase become 15.99 or more.
May those App developers go and rot in hell.
If I ever let my Fridge/Larder be connected like this (as well as wear white sneakers+ Beige Trousers/Top, go on a holiday where I have to wear a nametag all-day everyday) then the first person to see me has my permission to kill me there and then because obviously my life isn't worth living any longer.
Anything that demands the use of NFC has No Frigging Chance with me either.
Yeah, I am already a Grumpy old Git but there is still some life in me yet.
There is the odd Russian Submarine, Chinese Factory ship passing by but....
Don't for get the spy overhead. The NSA will be watching closely in case he takes a pee that they can see. Then a big black submarine flying the Stars and Stripes will appear and remove him to Gitmo because he is clearly a danger to the civilised world.
IMHO most users don't care about 'walled gardens'. All they care about is, does the device work and easily plus as long as their 'must have' apps are available, then they are happy punters.
My kindle HD was ok as far as it went. IMHO even more walled off than the apple ecosystem but it did its primary job very well. I wish there have been a way to store the different ebooks by topic, but it worked and whilst not in the same league as a paperwhite in terms of battery life, it performed pretty well. Then some sod nicked it thinking it was an iPad.
I tried a Galaxy Note and a couple of other Android tablets. Whilst the walled garden wasn't really there I just didn't get on with them.
Now I have an iPad Mini. Sure it has some frustratons but after a couple of weeks they don't get in the way any longer and it does the job I wanted it for. Battery if ok as long as I don't play any games.
By OK, I mean capable of lasting through an 11hour flight plus the inevitable idle time waiting to get on a plane. Not every airline's cattle class seating has a USB connection yet.
So walled garden or not, the iPad works for me. I'm not sure what I'd get from jailbreaking it. Like my dumb Nokia (x2) phones that I now use instead of Samsung or HTC Android phones, they do the job I need of them. nowt more needed really.
Do I really care about the Apple Walled Garden? Not really because the device works for me. I know that I am not alone amongst mainstream smartphone/tablet users. They simply don't care one iota.
Exactly
Any company with a formal presence in the US has to comply with ALL US Laws no matter how stupid they are wherever on this PLANET it does any form of business. AND Those laws will supercede all local laws.
All that export compliance training eventually started to sink in.