Posts by Weeble 52 posts • joined 24 Jun 2009
>> As a replacement (Sort of) for the Microsoft trackball, that is no longer supported in Windows
Which versions of Trackball on which versions of Windows?
Any links to write-ups?
A very worried Trackball Explorer addicts needs to know!
"I like the BBC but at the current moment in time with regards to their news I don't care if they stop getting the licence fee and move to a commercial model because I won't be paying for it."
But you will be paying, just as you are paying for everything put out on the commercial channels you don't watch either. That advertising budget comes out of higher prices for [all] the goods and services sold by the purchasers of that advertising space. And advertising space on the BBC is likely to be expensive.
In short, by not watching TV at all you can opt out of the licence fee, but you can't realistically opt out of funding the ITV.
"People will buy a product that's "50% faster than last generation!" but let's face it, "50% more secure than last generation!" isn't going to pull in the crowds."
Perhaps that's because "50% faster than last generation!" can be a genuine improvement,
while "50% more secure than last generation!" means it's still shot through with vulnerabilities and still leaks like a sieve.
Because, quite literally, the CPUs were too fast for the software.
I recall one program, I think it may have been dBASE II, which used timestamps with one second resolution for temporary file names - and these new fangled CPUs were so fast they could create two files a second.
I'm sure it wasn't an isolated instance.
I just think they're following Asimov's lead:
A formerly all-powerful empire that is no longer able to maintain, let alone develop, it's advanced weapons technology - but which remains a threat due to the strength of its remaining "old" weapons - versus a bunch up upstarts that haven't got the resources to build their own mega-weapons but do get hold of a few from the Empire by economically defeating small parts of it at a time.
"Removing Flash and Java also has a hugely positive effect on many sites, but leaves others completely non-functional: surely a breach of accessibility law?"
I too would be interested to know the answer to that.
What classes of sites have to be "accessible", and do the rules require that accessibility to be achieveable from a snoop-free browser with images, flash and scripting turned off, all known privacy measures & ad-blockers enabled, and running under Free-BSD (or a similarly paranoid OS)?
1) Actively stamping on fraudulent sellers (where "in UK" arrives airmail from HongKong, 3 or more "fronts" to a single trader, etc.)
2) A meaninful feedback system (why do I have to say "marvellous, fabulous, amazing", just to avoid being seen as "negative").
3) World Peace
Actually, (3) is most likely.
Seriously, are continuous backups any defence against this kind of attack.
Surely, by the time you've received the ransom notice you've already backed-up the encrypted versions.
Aside from large outfits, who can back up to a fresh tape every hour with a month-long (or even year-long) rotation policy, what can a mere mortal do?
And how does one stop those backups from being directly encrypted - if it's on the network it's surely at risk.
" ... but if there is a known creator then by definition all assets must be passed on as inheritance ..."
Thank you for that observation.
Most of what I've read about orphans claims that "if you couldn't find the author (or estate) with reasonable diligence - you could help yourself", which implies the author is already known - but, based on the MOA, nothing with a name on it can ever be an "orphan" while it's less than a couple of lifetimes old (and at current rates of extension will never become available).
I have similar, those less highly developed, concerns to your own (the archiving and making available of material of historical interest) so I can sympathise with your position and am more than a little disturbed by the conclusions.
Perhaps the archivists perennial problem of digital archive longevity will become irrelevant once there is nothing to put in them.
Yes. Some truth at least.
The discs pressed by PDO in the UK, for a certain period, all had a habit of turning bronze and becoming unreliable/unplayable. I still have a couple left that won't rip, though I haven't tried playing them in a normal player recently.
At the time (and I think I'm talking about 10-15 years ago now), PDO did the decent thing and offered to swap-out the affected discs. An offer I accepted... I can't imagine the industry, as it is today, being quite so honourable.
Perhaps that needs to be a feature of the databases people keep talking about. Somewhere where you can post a list of all your "old" identities and contact details (as used in copyright/metadata) along with a mapping to your current details.
A search of that database should be a mandatory part of the "reasonable" attempts to trace the originator.
PS: How about another rule which says that an image with NO metatdata shall be considered "mutilated" rather than "orphaned" since it must have been willfully stripped.
Whilst Apple remain so dominantly "flavour of the month", any protocol/interface they offer to the audio/video industry will be eagerly embraced by all and sundry (even if it means buying a licence) simply because of the fear of getting left behind.
I suppose it's a form of feedback. Manufacturers have to support apple protocols because apple devices are so popular, apple devices become more popular because they're so widely supported.
Any alternative offering will have a very hard time of it trying to establish an ecosystem (even if they pay audio/video manufacturers to include it).
> Bollox. I don't think there's ever been a universally accepted definition within the telecoms industry.
In the good-old-days of analogue modems (been there, done that, 300 Baud acoustically-coupled), broadband began at 2 Meg, because that was the point where you got your own bit of CoAx cable at the exchange. Typically a hideously expensive leased line. Anything less was just multiples of 64kb/s speech circuits on twisted pairs.
I don't diasgree that 512 kb/s is vastly better than 28.8 kb/s, but just because it's better doesn't make it "Broad".
Half a Meg is NOT broadband, its just an always-on, slightly-faster, modem (unless you're with TalkTalk in which case it's not even always-on). I challenge you to watch even a low-res YouTube clip on just half a Meg - I never managed it.
Broadband BEGINS at 2 Meg (and it always has). At that point, a single user (only) can probably use iPlayer in real-time, or watch a video clip on the BBC web-site without it stuttering too badly.
So, what they're really saying is that Cardiff, and one or two Labour marginals, will be offered FTTP whilst most of the rest of the country might get FTTC. But no mention of the alluminised string used to connect the cabinet to the premesis over the final mile.
By the time they finish the roll-out (and with no competition from Fujitsu I doubt they'll worry about the 2015 deadline) I'm sure that FTTC will be as up-to-date as a bakelite telephone.
I also had an early Britannica CD-ROM (late 1990's I think), I seem to recall it was so bad that it made Encarta (RIP) look good.
It was also chronically unstable (did it use Internet Explorer as its rendering engine?)
Mind you, the OED on CD looks little better, and is just as unupgradable. Erudition, it would appear, does not confer an ability in UI design, s/w design, or customer focus
.
"Because nothing says long term business like a bricks and mortar electronics retailer?"
Depends whose success you're talking about.
I'm sure that there are many successful on-line retailers that depend on peoples' ability to inspect the goods in Comet/Currys prior to making an on-line purchase.
Or do you prefer to buy your TVs without ever seeing one (or a close equivalent)?
>> Brilliant marketing point there: Windows Phone - for the old and half-blind!
Agreed, the problem is how to dress it up such that people can buy your products without being seen to admit that they're old-n-grey. This is Doro's problem.
Ever since the 2-line-LCD display became old-fashioned, I've failed to find an affordable phone I can read - they all have such noisy graphics as backgrounds (with no mechanism to change them).
> I vote for GrumpyOS, as the new name.
Sorry, Disney's already got that one: Snow White and the dance of the seven mobile phones.
This is, of course, the power of the "Brand".
Once a consumer decides that Apple (or Sony, or whoever) is a "Good Brand", they will stick by that Brand no matter how far behind the curve their products might be, simply because it comes from a "Good Brand".
The "Brand" is however a double edged weapon. Just as it creates loyalty, it can also create hatred.
Consumers may decide that Apple (or Sony, or whoever) is an "Evil Brand". It may take just one act of perceived evil, or an entire company culture, to acquire the "Evil" label, but consumers have long memories and will never buy from "Evil Brand" - no matter how far ahead of the field the products may be - they are still "Evil".
For the sake of posterity, the exisiting OED2 and any future OED3 need to be available hand-scribed onto the finest vellum in stout leather bindings.
Available evidence show that hese will still be readable in 1000 years, whilst any electronic means will be lucky to last 1000 weeks.
By the sounds of things, they should be calling it CTI (Corporate Tools Indoctrination).
Schools are supposed to churn out future employees who already know how to use the tools required by their future employers. It's not about understanding what's inside the box. Besides, taking the lid off to see what's inside is probably a violation of HSE guidelines.
Though, saying that, I know of one school that said "here's a pile of bits, see if you can put them together" - it generated some genuine enthusiasm.
Last time I looked into Redcare (for burglar alarm monitoring) I was told you couldn't have it on an ADSL line. So perhaps to 10,000 users of which BT speak are those to whom they will never be offering a broadband service. The rest of us will no doubt be forced to do it some other way.
Personally I fear smart metering, as currently prososed for two reasons:
1) Richness of billling options as offered by mobile phone industry. i.e. You can never work out if you're on the best tariff.
2) Real time feedback. I don't want some lowlife in the control centre phoning his mates when the meter tells him there's no-one home. For that matter, would you want the 16Amp spike at 4pm alerting the aforementioned lowlife's paedo associate that you 14 year old daughter has just come home from scool and is now in the shower.
Conclusion: energy charges will rise, but you won't know why - and it's just another means of spying on you.
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Is it just me, or is anyone else noticing the disparity between the perceived value of IP vested in a printed book (the future of our culture and civilization) and the value vested in a 3 minute pop song.
e.g. Google scans 10 million books and the alleged copyright owners settle for $125 million ($12.50 per title) which Google has probably already recouped. Jammie Thomas uploads 24 tunes and is fined over $9000 per tune (and the law allows for double that).
Divide $125 million by the number of alleged illegal file sharers in the world (over half a billion by UK government estimates) the per-capita lifetime licence for all film/music ever produced comes in at about 20cents. Count me in.
The Register - Independent news and views for the tech community. Part of Situation Publishing
Biting the hand that feeds IT © 1998–2021
