* Posts by andy gibson

963 publicly visible posts • joined 24 May 2007

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Microsoft drags Windows Subsystem for Android into the trash

andy gibson

Re: Any particular Android apps?

I sideloaded TV and movie apps like Cinema HD and Cyberflix. Much faster and more stable and reliable than websites which offer the same

Uncle Sam explores satellites that can create propellant out of thin air

andy gibson
Joke

Just put 4 windmill-type sails on them like they did with Skylab - then do a quick dip down into the atmosphere for them to spin around and charge the battery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab

China breakthrough promises optical discs that store hundreds of terabytes

andy gibson

Re: I thought we learned...

CD+R and CD-R wars!

NHS in Wales bets big on Microsoft with deal worth nearly half a billion

andy gibson

Re: How does anyone not see this as being an obscene amount of money?

because millions to them are like pennies to us.

Like this £122 million just lost, with no clear outcome on where it went

Betsi Cadwaladr health board: £122m fraud probe launched

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64068921

And concluded, but with no explanation:

https://forums.theregister.com/post/reply/4810265

Windows 10 users report app gremlins after Microsoft update

andy gibson

Windows 10 photo error from 2018

There's been a Windows photo error - file system error (-2147219196) - around for some years

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/wouldnt-open-photos-file-system-error-2147219196/ab8d1194-fc3e-46d4-a28a-fd5d04d91e57

'I’m sorry for everything...' Facebook's Zuck apologizes to families at Senate hearing

andy gibson

bizarre standards

I find it amazing how they can do so little to protect users, but give me a 3 day ban for "breaching community standards" (no warning to edit or remove) when I remarked on someone getting a bargain on a retro sales site with "That's an amazing price, I'd have snapped their hand off for that".

Apparently this age-old UK expression is a threat of violence to them.

Techie resurrects teletext on a vintage BBC Master

andy gibson

There's a nice library of BBC Micro teletext utils here:

https://mdfs.net/System/Teletext/

Eben Upton on Sinclair, Acorn, and the Raspberry Pi

andy gibson

Re: Backwards

Just picking two:

Hardware and software

Define the terms hardware and software and understand the relationship between them.

Boolean logic

Construct truth tables for the following logic gates:

NOT

AND

OR

XOR.

They were doing that in GCSE IT back in 1989

Atari 400 makes a comeback in miniature form

andy gibson

Towards the end of its life, MAKRO sold Atari 2600 games for 99p. Space Shuttle and Pitfall 2 were my best computer purchases ever.

The New ROM Antics – building the ZX Spectrum 128

andy gibson

See the Sinclair (and partly Amstrad) PC200 - a flop

https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/3404/Sinclair-PC200/

UK PM promises faster justice for Post Office Horizon victims

andy gibson

Re: Not one person has been interested in any of the reports.

'I told police who my burglar was - but they did nothing'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67861416

What's the golden age of online services? Well, now doesn't suck

andy gibson

PRESTEL

No mention of Prestel, Micronet or Compunet?

Microsoft issues deadline for end of Windows 10 support – it's pay to play for security

andy gibson

Re: Need the EU to step up…

RE: "significant performance penalty

I've found a hacked version of Windows 11 starts and runs much faster than 10 on my "ancient" Core i5-4570 with 8Gb RAM and an SSD. It uses under 2Gb at idle after startup, compared to over 3Gb for 10.

and if "memory security controls" are such an issue - why isn't the Linux installer being picky about my hardware?

Tiny11 shrinks Windows 11 23H2 down to pocket size

andy gibson

I can't speak for everyone but the ten+ year old Core i5's I have here with an SSD and 8Gb RAM boots up quicker and runs Windows 11 faster and smoother on far less RAM than 10.

Firefox slow to load YouTube? Just another front in Google's war on ad blockers

andy gibson

I find it ironic that a company which claims to improve your spelling and grammar uses a word which isn't even real!

Another month, another bunch of fixes for Microsoft security bugs exploited in the wild

andy gibson

Re: Ah, Patch Tuesday...

Re: Ah, Patch Tuesday...

Always followed by "Smug Linux owner comments Wednesday"

UK govt finds £225M for Isambard-AI supercomputer powered by Nvidia

andy gibson

Re: So many FLOPS

"can we co-exist and trade and travel seamlessly with Europe?"

ERROR - COMPUTER SAYS NO

Boeing acknowledges cyberattack on parts and distribution biz

andy gibson

If it's Boeing......

Then the data is flowing

Take Windows 11... please. Leaks confirm low numbers for Microsoft's latest OS

andy gibson

"no clear advantages over W10"

I manage a lot of old hardware (by "old" I mean core i5s and i7s with 8gb of RAM dating back from around 2016 that I'm not replacing because it works fine) and I've found that at start-up Windows 11 uses 1Gb less RAM than 10.

It also comes on and closes down much faster than 10.

Raspberry Pi 5: Hot takes and cooler mistakes

andy gibson

Re: Got to be an improvement on my company Lenovo

They certainly blow up plenty of dust!

Nvidia boss tells Israeli staff Mellanox founder's daughter was killed in festival massacre

andy gibson

Re: Why would you go to a music festival on the border right when things are clearly escalating?

"Israeli state media said Thursday its military did receive intel about a Hamas attack - three days before a rocket barrage and roving squads of gunmen killed over a thousand people - but opted not to take action."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/12/israel-hamas-war-egypt-warned-foreign-affairs-gaza

Why Chromebooks are the new immortals of tech

andy gibson

I work in education and have a lot of time for the older HP Elitebook 820 G3 - small, light, runs Windows 10 and 11 perfectly fine, and only cost us £120+VAT, and that's with a 256Gb SSD and 8Gb RAM.

Lawsuit claims Google Maps led dad of two over collapsed bridge to his death

andy gibson

Re: Were there no signs indicating that the Bridge was out?

I wonder if the action is based on your rep with Google.

I upload a lot of pics and do reviews so I have a good score. Whenever I report a business had changed location, or their hours, or even shut down, the results get actioned within an hour.

Last rites for the UK's Online Safety Bill, an idea too stupid to notice it's dead

andy gibson

Re: The simple solution which surely only fools cannot recognise or realise

A nice idea in principle, but until we have a "none of the above" option what choice do we have?

Labour - who slate the Tories then decide they'll probably continue to do what the Tories are doing, or

Lib Dems - who seem more concerned with providing tampons to men who identify as women.

Greens - see Lib Dems.

Larry Ellison a major contributor to Blair Institute vaccine database plan

andy gibson

Blair and vaccines

Blair has history when it comes to vaccine donors:

"A businessman who benefited from a lucrative contract with the government for vaccines - and was later ennobled by Tony Blair - has donated half a million pounds to Labour"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/aug/24/partyfunding.uk

Social media is too much for most of us to handle

andy gibson

You get out what you put in

Its wrong to lump all social media as bad. I use Facebook to keep in touch with distant friends and family and just use groups where there's little or no infighting or other battles going on - owners groups for my particular car, some old TV shows I like, mine exploring, and a few humorous ones like "Angry People in Local Newspapers" and "Crap Signs".

Stay away from the obvious local curtain twitching sites and other places the uneducated tend to congregate and you'll have a positive experience.

The ZX81 finally gets the keyboard it deserves

andy gibson

Nothing new

Plenty of add on keyboards around BITD

https://www.timexsinclair.com/blog/keyboards-and-keyboard-accessories-for-the-zx81-and-ts1000/

NASA to tear the wings off plane in the name of sustainability

andy gibson

Simpsons predicts the future again:

https://frinkiac.com/meme/S06E19/376809.jpg?b64lines=SSBMT1ZFIFRIRVNFIE5FVyBQTEFORVMu

Microsoft finally gets around to supporting rar, gz and tar files in Windows

andy gibson

I'll still use 7ZIP

Just like I use VLC or Media Player Classic rather than anything bundled by Microsoft.

UK's GDPR replacement could wipe out oversight of live facial recognition

andy gibson

It was used a couple of days ago in Wales. I think the whole point after the Manchester Arena bombing was that they WERE thinking of the children.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/17/police-to-use-facial-recognition-technology-in-cardiff-during-beyonce-concert

First-known interstellar Solar System visitor 'Oumuamua a comet in disguise – research

andy gibson

Re: "led some folks to believe it was alien spaceship"

If it was good enough for Arthur C Clarke (Rendezvous with Rama) then its good enough for me.

Microsoft begs you not to ditch Edge on Google's own Chrome download page

andy gibson

Same with IE

Edge hijacks any usage of IE as well.

I had to recently manually log into some factory reset old Ruckus access points where the web interface would only work with IE, not Chrome, edge or Firefox.

But every time I entered the 192.168.0.1 address, Edge would close IE and put the URL in its browser - which of course didn't work.

I can understand the need to want IE retired, but it was incredidbly frustrating to have the application closed without my say so.

andy gibson

Re: You install Chrome?

"You do know that Edge is Chrome sans Google tracking"

so why is it slower to start?

I can double click Edge, then double click Chrome, put what I want in the search box and get a result before Edge has appeared

James Webb Space Telescope suffers another hitch: Instrument down

andy gibson

The only thing derogatory was Webb himself, at least according to Scientific American:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-needs-to-rename-the-james-webb-space-telescope/

This is the end, Windows 7 and 8 friends: Microsoft drops support this week

andy gibson

Re: Windows 10 is not a problem

I found that 11 used less RAM at startup than 10. (2Gb as opposed to 3Gb)

andy gibson

Re: Micro$oft update$

My 9 year old machine (core i5 with 8Gb of RAM still on Windows 7) booted up quicker and used less RAM the last time I tried Windows 10 on it.

Reason I didn't stick with it is that I just prefer the look and feel of 7, without having to use a third party program to make 10 or 11 look and operate like 7.

When I do finally migrate, I'll be buying no new PC or parts.

The Guardian ransomware attack hits week two as staff told to work from home

andy gibson

Glad its not affected output as I rely on them for quality articles like this

'Upward-thrusting buildings ejaculating into the sky' – do cities have to be so sexist?"

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jul/06/upward-thrusting-buildings-ejaculating-cities-sexist-leslie-kern-phallic-feminist-city-toxic-masculinity

Riding in Sidecar: How to get a Psion online in 2023

andy gibson

Re: Very interesting

Ask this on the FB group "Spectrum for everyone", there'll be someone there happy to help.

I don't have any physical hardware anymore, but before I sold it all I copied all my 3" disks to 3.5" and then used the emulator REALSPEC to convert them to IMG files to run on an emulator.

Epson zaps lasers into oblivion, in the name of the environment

andy gibson

Epson: "We're going to stop making laser printers"

HP, Konica, Lexmark: "You made laser printers?"

I'm happy paying Twitter eight bucks a month because price isn't the same as value

andy gibson

I wondered where the "i hate twitter 'cos its a cesspool and don't need it" post would be.

Like all social media, its as good as YOU make it - you get back what you put in. If you're coming away from it angry and riled up, then maybe you're not using it right?

I use Twitter to keep up to date with more highbrow celebs and a few parody accounts (RAF Luton for one) and use Facebook to keep in touch with far away relatives and subscribe to a few special interest hobby groups where the trolling and abuse is virtually non existent.

If you're going to engage in the more toxic parts - well, the old saying applies - "lie with dogs and you'll get fleas". Or that boring twit in your local pub - you're not forced to sit at his table and listen or argue with him.

Sizewell C nuclear plant up for review as UK faces financial black hole

andy gibson

Re: Daft

"Lab did a lot of good (schools, health, police & courts)"

Sadly they also did a lot of "bad" for schools. I remember BSF and the consultants, and all these modern school designs.

Replacing traditional brick built school designs for modern ones of glass looked stunning, but they cost a fortune to heat in winter, cool in summer, and when a huge pane of glass was smashed it costs far more than a regular piece of glass and often required professional services and cherry pickers.

Or the bank level Cisco switches they specced for the internal networks. We could get several HP ProCurves for just one of their Cisco ones - from their "preferred supplier" of course.

The worst one was a Dell PC. Cost to us from Dell was £299. Once we bought it from our managed service provider, who bought from a company who then bought it from Dell it was £450.

All of the norths are about to align over Britain

andy gibson

Nick Crane

As good excuse as any to mention Nick Crane's excellent "Two Degrees West"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364

UK comms regulator rings death knell for fax machines

andy gibson

Re: "the services necessary to send viruses and malware"

I'm missing it too. The only thing our works fax used to get was loads of business spam - especially for car leasing.

Russia says Starlink satellites could become military targets

andy gibson

Re: History tells us yes, those are legitimate targets.

"Not interested in a small country half a world away."

Yet interested enough to comment at least twice.

Japan space agency blows up eight satellites aboard Epsilon rocket

andy gibson

toothpaste

Just take up one of these dispensers you see at motorway services

https://i.redd.it/1210umrcr6i31.jpg

Fake vibrating teeth could make great hearing aids

andy gibson

From the 80s movie "Real Genius"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyZ4gGCCqss

Document Foundation starts charging €8.99 for 'free' LibreOffice

andy gibson

Re: re : Lack of cloudy tie-ins...

How many of those "horrific patch tuesday articles" are to do with Office?

AI detects 20,000 hidden taxable swimming pools in France, netting €10m

andy gibson

Re: Pool or pond

Like Ed Sheeran and his "wildlife pond"

https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/21/ed-sheeran-upsets-locals-places-hay-bales-shield-controversial-pond-10435851/

Businesses should dump Windows for the Linux desktop

andy gibson

"another problem with Windows' single-user ancestry is that the default Windows user all too often must run as the all-powerful PC administrator"

I've been managing Windows networks in education since 1999 and I've never come across anything that's needed admin access to run.

And there's no greater hacker out there looking to exploit the system than a bored schoolboy.

UK chemicals multinational to build hydrogen 'gigafactory'

andy gibson

I realise that we're all going to have to change our ways and adapt to fit around EVs.

But I thought the whole point of personal transport was to make it convenient and effortless.

We seem to be doing the opposite to suit the EV.

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