Posts by Richard 23 59 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Jul 2009
Alister, in my experience both you and Tim are correct.
There was a lot of time and money spent on Y2K. Much of this was necessary, and had it not been spent then there would have been real problems.
There was also a lot of hype, wastage and bandwaggon-jumping. Also upgrades or expenditure that was difficult to make a business case for if stand-alone was rolled in to the Y2K "gold card" / FUD factor.
I was a programme manager on Y2K - hence the grey hair!
I think you have hit the nail on the head - the pressure is from the "guvm'nt" to free up the bands so they can be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Expect to see the update and coverage stats fudged even further to try and achieve this.
"Pirates" icon - robbery, that's what the "guvm'nt" is trying to do!
It seems to take about 20 to 30 seconds to extract the image data from the passport chip, authenticate, decrypt, do any database searches and render the image and results on the operator's screen. That's way too slow when dealing with an arrival queue.
Anyone with inside info on what the original performance SLA was?
Streetmap uses OS maps which to my mind are far better than anything Google provides. But the interface is terrible and there is little functionality apart from the maps.
Google has horrible maps but a superb interface and excellent functionality.
Your choice!
So to enforce a total gagging order which also includes a clause forbidding mention that the gagging order even exists (of the kind which has been rumoured to have been granted recently to certain high-profile persons) the gagging order itself must be publicised?
Does not compute!
In developing countries mobility of labour is high, with the breadwinner often having to relocate just to get a survival wage, so an economical means of sending money home is vital. The amounts involved are only a few pounds per month, but they are essential for the family. Many of these people will have no access to any sort of banking facilities, and could not afford the transfer fees charged even if they had access.
A couple of years ago it was reported that in some parts of Africa mobile phone top-up vouchers were being used as currency - because the activation number could be sent as a txt message.
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