Posts by JPL

Google to snatch control of Android updates from mobe makers – analyst

Make sure you keep your computer fully patched

A smartphone is a computer. I wouldn't dream of buying a computer that could not get software updates (security patches and new features). The sooner Google takes control of Android updates for all Android devices from all manufacturers the better - it would be nice to be able to choose any phone rather than being restricted to the Nexus range as at present.

The Great Barrier Relief – Inside London's heavy metal and concrete defence act

Re: The only computers were a VAX running PDP 11

It was a VAX 11/750 running ordinary VMS code for data collection, modelling & analysis. It did not actually control the gates.

Auntie remains MYSTIFIED by that weekend BBC iPlayer and website outage

Cricket Live Scores not fixed yet - same problem?

The live score page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/live-scores) currently shows the close of play score for the first day of the second test match between Sr Lanka and South Africa. That's OK.

But it also shows the in play score for day 4 of the first test, which ended with a SA victory on day 5 (20 July). Not quite what I would call a live score.

Redmond promises IE8 patch is in the pipeline

The really helpful thing for MS to do would be to change the latest version of IE so that it is not prevented from running on XP. Mozilla can do it in Firefox, Google can do it in Chrome, but MS has made the decision not to - a misguided and pointless commercial decision rather than a technical one.

Why won't you DIE? IBM's S/360 and its legacy at 50

The Naming of Parts

I believe the S/360 was named after the number of operators required to keep it running.

DEC: The best of systems, the worst of systems

Which was better, the PDP-11 or the [Data General] Nova?

Neither. The Prime was best.

For the big Fortran programs I worked on all those years ago the PDP-11 was a dead loss owing to the limitations of its 16-bit addressing. The VAX was good, but not as good to use as the Prime.

DAB lobby launches radio scrappage scheme

Car Radios & RDS/Traffic Info

The time to switch off FM is 15 years after car manufacturers stop installing FM radios in cars.