Posts by jonfr

Dear humans, We thought it was time we looked through YOUR source code. We found a mystery ancestor. Signed, the computers

Re: Projection much?

Science doesn't care about your feelings. The data strongly suggest that we got more flaws than benefits with inter-species mixing with the Neanderthals. The human race already has plenty of leftovers from the evolution process on its own. I don't know about Denisovans ancestry because that isn't mentioned or hasn't been studied yet. I didn't find any data on it. Best I was able to find was this map (this website might be paywalled for you).

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160328133514.htm

Re: Projection much?

Based on genetic research into this it seems that all that humans got from Neanderthals was wast amount of problems and flaws. Those issues might suggests a wider problem (not yet discovered?) and might be the reason for their extinction. The human race got few good genetics from this mixing. I am not sure if it is something that would have happened on its own with time and evolution.

Science article, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140129134956.htm (2014)

News article, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-studies-show-neanderthals-gave-us-some-good-genes-and-nasty-diseases-180960870/ (2016)

Excuse me, sir. You can't store your things there. Those 7 gigabytes are reserved for Windows 10

Windows 10 size

Since I have Windows 10 Professional and this is an upgrade from Windows 10 Home. I have it on 365 GB partition that today only has 130GB free. Since I don't trust the Windows part of the hard drive for anything important its mostly just Windows 10 Pro on it. It still seems that Windows 10 Professional takes up all this space. Windows 10 already has 450MB allocated for a recovery partition on the C drive. I don't know what Windows 10 is using all this space for.

Attention all British .eu owners: Buy dotcom domains and prepare to sue, says UK govt

Re: Don't worry, it's only money

European Union costs the taxpayer 187€ a year.

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/myths/myths_en.cfm

I don't know what Brexit is going to cost taxpayers in UK. But its a lot more than just 187€ a year.

YouTube fight gets dirty: Kids urged to pester parents over Article 13

The legal text

Here is the legal text. Since I don't see it cited anywhere.

" Article 13

Use of protected content by information society service providers storing and giving access to large amounts of works and other subject-matter uploaded by their users

1. Information society service providers that store and provide to the public access to large amounts of works or other subject-matter uploaded by their users shall, in cooperation with rightholders, take measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rightholders for the use of their works or other subject-matter or to prevent the availability on their services of works or other subject-matter identified by rightholders through the cooperation with the service providers. Those measures, such as the use of effective content recognition technologies, shall be appropriate and proportionate. The service providers shall provide rightholders with adequate information on the functioning and the deployment of the measures, as well as, when relevant, adequate reporting on the recognition and use of the works and other subject-matter.

2.Member States shall ensure that the service providers referred to in paragraph 1 put in place complaints and redress mechanisms that are available to users in case of disputes over the application of the measures referred to in paragraph 1.

3.Member States shall facilitate, where appropriate, the cooperation between the information society service providers and rightholders through stakeholder dialogues to define best practices, such as appropriate and proportionate content recognition technologies, taking into account, among others, the nature of the services, the availability of the technologies and their effectiveness in light of technological developments. "

Then there is article 14/15 that speaks about compensating artist in far way for their work and other such details. Full legal text, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593

Here are adopted Amendments to this new EU law. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2018-0337+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN - I think this is the correct link.

Analogue radio is the tech that just won't die

Matter of frequency and transmission power

Poor DAB coverage is down to two things. Frequency used (VHF-III/Band III) and transmitter power. According to this website the transmission power used for DAB is tiny. Its so little that it's considerable good if people get anything on their radios. There is also information about FM transmitters on this website, they broadcast at much higher power.

https://www.ukwtv.de/cms/grossbritannien-dab/london-dab.html

On the third day of Windows Microsoft gave to me: A file-munching run of DELTREE

Re: Not a good look here.

I did learn this lesson years ago. I keep everything on a different hard drive for security reasons.

UKIP flogs latex love gloves: Because Brexit means Brexit

UKIP are criminals

Based on what I am seeing it clear that UKIP is a group of criminals pretending to be political party. Once UK rejoins the EU in few years (2025 - 2030) UKIP and political parties that are like them are going to in the dustbin of history.

GDPR forgive us, it's been one month since you were enforced…

What works and what doesn't

From Iceland (country, EEA, GDPR law apply) this works.

* Los Angeles Times

* New York Daily News

What doesn't.

* Chicago Tribune

I guess some people in the U.S don't know how complicated Europe really is. I don't blame them.

EE seeks guinea pig millennial hipsters for 5G experiments

You got your basic wrong. In digital system the strongest transmitter is always used. The rest of them can be used to locate your mobile phone if needed since it also reports to them.

What is most likely the problem is too small cell sites in terms of transmission power being used. Normal transmitter is at the power of 25W (in towns) but can be much smaller or larger depending on location and area were it is located.

TDMA systems are slow compared to OFDMA. There not a technical possibility that you where getting today's speed in the 1980's.

Internet engineers tear into United Nations' plan to move us all to IPv6

The reason for lack of IPv6 adopton

There is a reason for lack of IPv6 adoption. The ISP of the world don't bother with setting up IPv6 service because they claim there is no need for it. This is utter and total bullshit. This also goes for many ISP in Europe. I complained about lack of IPv6 with my ISP in Denmark (Stofa) and they told me that there was no need for it. Even if it is clear that IPv6 is a lot better in dealing with fast internet connection that they are selling (above 50Mbps speeds).

When I have used IPv6 it is clear that websites like YouTube are considerably faster to load videos than when I use IPv4 only (that is 99% of all time so far). There is also a speed element in this that nobody doesn't seems to be consider.

Leaked pics: Motorola to add 'unpatriotic' 5G to 4G phones with magnets

Re: I dont really understand why i need 5g at all

In LTE like 3G speed is based on the distance from transmitter and how many users are between you and the transmitter.

That is also the reason why communication companies want to keep LTE on the higher bands (1800/2600/3500/3700Mhz). It allows for faster speed and more users at the cost of coverage. While 700/800/900Mhz allows for better coverage it doesn't do so well in the speed department due to lack of bandwidth (limited number of 10/15/20Mhz channels can be used).

Based on what I've seen it seems to be that 5G is going to be mostly (at least first time around) at high frequency (2,6/3,5/3,7/6,0/24,5 - 27,5Ghz) in order to allow for higher bandwidth. Since at higher frequency having 100Mhz channel is not a big issue (at least above 6Ghz).

The frequency planning ideas have been published here.

https://gsacom.com/5g-spectrum-bands/

Waiting for 100 Mbps NBN on wireless? Errr, umm, sorry about that

They got 100Mbps wireless in Iceland (country)

In Iceland (since I don't have other information) they got 100Mbps to users on both 5Ghz and 3,5Ghz using both 802.11ac and LTE (3,5Ghz). In Denmark, Norway, Sweden and I think Finland they are using LTE on 450Mhz for speeds that are close to reaching 100Mbps (along with other frequency bands if available and that's not always the case). What is limiting factor on 450Mhz is lack of Mhz (frequency bandwidth).

For that reason I don't understand why this is a problem in Australia.

GDPR for everyone, cries Microsoft: We'll extend Europe's privacy rights worldwide

Re: Wow

The only reason I can no longer remove U.S English keyboard from Windows 10 is because Cortana depends on it. Microsoft Support did not answer my question on how to remove it. I did also politely tell them that Cortana can burn for all I care. I want that software removed since I don't require it or use it.

About to install the Windows 10 April 2018 Update? You might want to wait a little bit longer

Re: Steve

Here you go.

https://pinta-project.com/pintaproject/pinta/

US Congress mulls expanding copyright yet again – to 144 years

Copyright extensions need to stop

This needs to stop. Once the creator is dead, he is dead and won't be needing the revenue any more. The family of that artists can get whatever is in the inheritance (or what this is called in English. I don't know the word for it). The general rule needs and should be that once the copyright holder is dead all of his work should be public domain from the next year after (paperwork takes time).

A example. Creator of work created in 2021 dies in early in the year 2080. After the paperwork is done (or not done) all of his work go into public domain from the start of the year 2081. Giving his work a 70 to 90 year copyright protection after his death is ridiculous and stupid and that law needs to be abolished.

Julian Assange said to have racked up $5m security bill for Ecuador

Julian Assange and Russia link

There was also some reports that Wikileaks and Julian Assange having forwarded information about Ecuador to Russia. After he hacked into the embassy computer systems read all their emails and other private and sensitive information. I think this was in the same The Guardian news that is being quoted here (or at least resulted in those news reports).

LLVM contributor hits breakpoint, quits citing inclusivity intolerance

Draconian code of conduct

It is at no surprise to me that draconian code of conduct doesn't work. FreeBSD has adopted even more draconian rules on the project. I don't know about other open source projects. What I do know is that this set of rules do not work. Both in the long term or the short term.

The reason being that bad people are bad and good people are good. The rest is a grey bits of mixture with all colours and problems in it. What happens does happen and dam that code of conduct in the process.

Newsworthy Brit bank TSB is looking for a head of infrastructure

Re: Dear TSB

That's like 2GB of data (database format). At most no more than 20GB of data.

Who will fix our Internal Banking Mess? TSB hires IBM amid online banking woes

Always have two banks

I read in a article few years ago that the smart idea is to have two or more banks. In the case one of them (your main) messes something up, goes bankrupt or just burns to the ground for some reason. At least that way you have access to active bank service. I think anyone that is having issues at the moment needs to move to a new bank already and forget TSB for the moment.

It is also clear that IT at TSB did not use the process of duplicating the data first and then switch on the new system. Having the old system as a backup just in case something didn't work as planned or not work at all.

BT pushes ahead with plans to switch off telephone network

Everything goes offline one day

One day, one quiet day everything is going to go offline. The reason for this sudden offline is going to be a solar flare or solar flares. The human race isn't going to be lucky all the time in this regard. While devices like mobile phones and such are going to work if they get power (solar panels if people have them) are going to continue to work (if they didn't burn out), it is clear that large scale power networks are not going to do so.

This means that VoIP fixed connections are also going to go down. Because the power grid fluctuations are going to burn everything down. The situation is going to get worse when it comes to large power stations that supply cities and countries with power.

Last one large solar outbreak was in 2012, the human race got lucky that time around, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_2012

That was not the case in 1859, but the age of technology had barley started at that time, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

The POTS angle on this that under this type of situation is that all the copper phone lines are going to catch fire once this large type of solar storm hits the Earth (due to magnetic currents creating electric current in the phone line copper).

Warning is going to be issued allowing for some protection of infrastructure (government, military, health care, police), but on large scale this is going to mean that cities are going to be out of power for weeks and even months and that might even apply to some countries in the world. How bad this is going to hit depends on factors and magnitude of the solar system in question.

People can forget flying anything or anywhere once this happens. Going on a ship might be a possibly (maybe).

The internet? That is going to take months to restore since all the hard drives are going to be fried and have to replaced and everything has to be rebuilt from scratch. Most backups won't survive this type of event.

Re: Next thing you know...

That is going to happen in the end. Norway has shut down most of its fm broadcasting system already in favour of DAB+ broadcasting.

BBC seems to be against turning off fm transmitter network.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43458695

The thing about DAB+ is that they use VHF (175 - 233Mhz) and that needs stronger transmitters to give good coverage. FM is at 87,5 - 108.0Mhz.

Facebook previews GDPR privacy tools and, yep, it's the same old BS

Fines on the way for facebook

I guess there is going to be a lot of fines on the way for facebook in near future.

Windows 10 Spring Creators Update team explains the hold-up: You little BSOD!

Re: If anyone knows of any other solutions, please reply.

You can also go NetBSD or FreeBSD (if you are in for a technical know how and odd problems).

Britain's 4G is slower than Armenia's

SpeedTest Global Index

On Speed Test Global Index UK is number 45 for February 2018. Just behind it is the U.S. Germany is number 49 on this list. Spain is number 31 on this list.

http://www.speedtest.net/global-index

Norway is number 1 and Iceland is number 2.

1.5 BEEELLION sensitive files found exposed online dwarf Panama Papers leak

How many hard drives?

How many hard drives are required to store 12PB?

Danish Navy expert finds no trace of exhaust gas in private submarine

Re: Has he ever come up with a story ...

It is 16 years in the jail or an infinite detention a maximum security mental institution if the crime is really bad. I guess this goes into the second category. But its up to the judges. It has already been established that Peter Madsen is a sick man and a murder.

Any social media accounts to declare? US wants travelers to tell

No need for going to the U.S

There is no need for most people to go the U.S. Better option is go to Canada and go to the border where it at river and watch U.S at distance (safe distance).

At least I am not going to the U.S for the next 20 years.

10Mbps for world+dog, hoots UK.gov, and here is how we're doing it

Re: Who needs fiber?

You can get today 4G speeds of 1Gbps (down) but you have to be close to the transmitter to get those speeds.

Re: Spain Internet speeds and Iceland internet speeds

It was paid from Landsbankinn (old) bankrupt state.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/13/britain-has-been-fully-reimbursed-for-icesave-bank-collapse-iceland-says

It didn't help your internet speeds.

Spain Internet speeds and Iceland internet speeds

In Iceland (country) internet speeds today are minimum of 50Mbps. You can get in Reykjavík speed to up 1Gbps both direction. Rural areas in Iceland get at minimum of 50Mbps with fibre connection. Areas currently out of fibre connection can get speed of 100Mbps with 4G internet (but speed can change due to weather or many users using the same transmitter). Slowest internet speed I know if is at 1,2Mbps with a ADSL connection. Its just slow due to bad copper phone line, that area is going to get 50Mbps fibre connection in 2018 and 2019.

In Spain (limited knowledge, I might not be fully correct) speeds are at minimum 50Mbps with fibre and at maximum 300Mbps (some other providers might offer higher speeds). ADSL speeds in Spain seem to be limited to 20Mbps (at least with Movistar).

I do wonder if the people making the decisions on speeds for internet connection in the UK have internet at home. Because 10Mbps today is not really useful for anything on the internet today. By the time the year 2020 comes around 10Mbps speed is going to too slow for anything useful.

Cambridge Analytica 'privatised colonising operation', not a 'legitimate business', says whistleblower

Re: Really?

The fact is that people from UK are going to need visa and all types of permit after UK leaves the EU. How much the gdp drops depends on how well UK economy is managed after UK leaves the EU.

On this map UK is going to turn into one of the grey countries after it leaves the EU.

https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy/schengen_visa_en

Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, off you go: Snout of UK space forcibly removed from EU satellite trough

Re: The Swiss are in it

UK created EFTA because they wanted to create something equal to EEC at one point in history. Then UK left EFTA for EEC and now is UK leaving EU for nothing to replace it.

BOOM! Cambridge Analytica explodes following extraordinary TV expose

Collapse of Facebook

I think this might mean the collapse of Facebook in the style of Enron (2000's electric company). This is going to be interesting to watch.

Facebook suspends account of Cambridge Analytica whistleblower

Re: Facebook and Brexit

That's why the anti-brexit movement is not going anywhere. In the social media world the impact is none. Its nice to talk about but the real world effect is none and anything that thinks social media is going to change things is mistaken and has been lied to by the social media companies.

This is why Donald Trump won, all his opponents where complaining on Facebook and not doing anything out in the real world to have an effect of what was happening.

Windows 10 to force you to use Edge, even if it isn't default browser

Windows 10 is only for games

After using Windows 10 (Home*) for 1 year now I've come to the conclusion that Windows 10 is only good for games. For normal desktop usage its no good with its update problems and other issues.

This is not improving that bug ratio. Soon as I can afford a new PC I am moving my desktop activity back to Gentoo Linux.

*Home isn't useful for games. I have to get Windows 10 Professional to have a useable operating system for games that are for Windows 10.

Fermi famously asked: 'Where is everybody?' Probably dead, says renewed Drake equation

The drake equation is useless

The drake equation is useless. It is also worth pointing out that alien signals have been detected (but not that detection has not been approved by anyone with a power to do so) but the signal has been completely ignored so far. It was blamed on few satellites in the viewing area of Ross 128 red dwarf star but ignored the fact that no satellite at that location used that frequency (as it is allocated to ground base military and U.S government communication). Anyone interested in this search for Ross 128 Weird signal.

I am also seeing clues (just based on the time scale in question) that humans are among the first races to reach intelligent* level in our galaxy. That means in the future a radio signal might be detected. It is possible that the WoW! signal was such attempt. One signal beamed into space for one time, the human race has been doing that for some time now. That also means the Seti search parameter is flawed up to the point it is useless.

How long a species (if it ever shows a interest in this technology) stays on the radio broadcasting level is also unknown. It is also worth pointing out that most transmitters on Earth are quite small. The largest ones are just few hundred kW in power and that won't even reach Alpha Centauri at any detectable levels, not even at the lowest of frequencies that can leave the atmosphere.

*Intelligent level is questionable assumption in parts of the population.

Millionaire-backed science fiction church to launch Scientology TV network

Re: I know where it won't be seen.

Yes and Germany is continuing to search for ways to sue them out of Germany and preferably all of Europe. This cult also appears to be big in Sweden and in Denmark.

UK data watchdog's inaugural tech strategy was written with... *drumroll* Word 2010

Re: Office 2010 is sometimes preferred over the later versions

Software running slower in faster hardware is not a issue that is only limited to Windows or Microsoft software. This is also a issue in the Linux world. The problem is the same, complexity is increasing at the software level and the bug level is expanding in accordance with how complicated the software is starting to be.

What Linux does better than Windows that the memory management is considerably better and the result is that you don't have to reboot the operating system after few days of continuous running.

I am going to move my Desktop (email, web browsing, etc) back to Gentoo Linux and keep Windows 10 for specialized usage (backup, games, other things).

Europe plans special tax for Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon

Re: Why?

Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein (Swiss has its own 120 agreements with the EU) all have customs on imported items. This is a major problem if I want to buy an electronic device from Amazon to Iceland because its not shipped there but it does ship inside the EU just not to EEA country.

UK is going to feel that soon after it leaves the EU.

Norway, Iceland have to deal with import quotas from the EU on their exports (fish, sheep meat and items). This has a been a major complain in Iceland for many years because they wan to import more to EU without import quota, yet at the same time don't want to join the EU that would get rid of those import quotas. The fact is that they can't have it both ways in Iceland or Norway and soon in the UK.

4G found on Moon

Re: And if there are any problems just call our hotline

@ Mike Flugennock

The Moon is 1 light second distance away from Earth. Making it a 2 second lag on all communication between Earth and the Moon in a two way communication.

Re: No risk of interference from Earth

That was the maximum range when it was used for GSM technology. It might even be shorter with LTE due to modulation differences. Unless they are using a modulation that can go longer distances than 25 km. As I understand it a QPSK modulation might work well on the Moon and elsewhere to get a good distance coverage (I don't know if it works with LTE). But there is a good chance that OFDM is just going to be used as the standard says.

No risk of interference from Earth

There is no risk of interference from Earth since the distance is on average 350.000 km and the frequencies in use are already in use in Europe (but not in US). With all 4G transmitters being too small to reach the Moon (normal is 1W to 30W).

I do wonder how much coverage this going to get on the Moon. Since on Earth the best 1800Mhz can give is 25 km. Weather is not a issue on the Moon but radiation levels are.

Time to pay, Paypal pal Venmo! Oh no, haha, put away that wallet – just promise to be nice

Lack of ethics in U.S companies

I am not sure why this is. But there appears to be serious lack of ethics in U.S companies. This is not all of them but this is a major issue in my view.

Mueller bombshell: 13 Russian 'troll factory' staffers charged with allegedly meddling in US presidential election

Re: Wonderful timing!

Putin public rating is rigged. It can be seen in the data numbers. This is done by a variation of this logical fallacy. Nobody ever has this high approval rating for anything. It just doesn't happen.

"Star Power (also Testimonial, Questionable Authority, Faulty Use of Authority, Falacia ad Vericundiam; Eminence-based Practice): In academia and medicine, a corrupt argument from ethos in which arguments, standpoints and themes of professional discourse are granted fame and validity or condemned to obscurity solely by whoever may be the reigning "stars" or "premier journals" of the profession or discipline at the moment. E.g., "Foster's take on Network Theory has been thoroughly criticized and is so last-week!.This week everyone's into Safe Spaces and Pierce's Theory of Microaggressions. Get with the program." (See also, the Bandwagon.) Also applies to an obsession with journal Impact Factors. At the popular level this fallacy also refers to a corrupt argument from ethos in which public support for a standpoint or product is established by a well-known or respected figure (i.e.,. a star athlete or entertainer) who is not an expert and who may have been well paid to make the endorsement (e.g., “Olympic gold-medal pole-vaulter Fulano de Tal uses Quick Flush Internet--Shouldn’t you?" Or, "My favorite rock star warns that vaccinations spread cooties, so I'm not vaccinating my kids!" ). Includes other false, meaningless or paid means of associating oneself or one’s product or standpoint with the ethos of a famous person or event (e.g., “Try Salsa Cabria, the official taco sauce of the Winter Olympics!”). This fallacy also covers Faulty use of Quotes (also, The Devil Quotes Scripture), including quoting out of context or against the clear intent of the original speaker or author. E.g., racists quoting and twisting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s statements in favor of racial equality against contemporary activists and movements for racial equality. "

Source: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/ENGL1311/fallacies.htm

Home fibre in the UK sucks so much it doesn't even rank in Euro study

Re: False advertising!

@ Phil O'Sophical, You can get fibre LAN card in the computer. But those are expensive (up to $599) and that would require a different modems than are in use today. Normal Ethernet works today at the speed of 1Gbps or more (depending on hardware and cables in use) even if it is a copper connection.

Most of my LAN is at 1Gbps and I have 100Mbps fibre connection in Denmark (until I move to Iceland, then I'll be switching to VDSL connection).

Iceland speeds

Many people in Iceland get a minimum of 50Mbps over VDSL or VDSL2 connection. Most of the capital area now has fibre connection or is going to be connected soon. Remote areas (farms) are being connected to a fibre in the summer since it is cheaper and better than using the old copper lines for VDSL connection. The plan in Iceland is that minimum speed is going to be at least 100Mbps by 2020 or 2022 (not sure what year is the official guideline).

What did we say about Tesla's self-driving tech? SpaceX Roadster skips Mars, steers to asteroids

Might hit Mars in 200 million years

I haven't found any maps for this yet. But I was doing a calculations in my head and the car might hit Mars in 200 million years, at that point it has the greatest chance of doing so. If that does not happen the car is going to get booted out of the solar system by Jupiter and Saturn gravity.

Your day's going crap? Let's rap. Snapchat self-splat chat app chaps zap $350m, Wall St saps clap

Re: Last update of SnapChat is crap

Snapchat and Facebook are not the same. Facebook is loosing users today* but there are so many users the loss of 200 million users doesn't appear that big when the total user base is around 1,4 billion.

Snapchat has smaller user base. I don't know the exact number but I've heard around 300 to 400 million user snapchat. The effects on smaller user base are larger when large group of people start to leave.

Facebook it self is also getting less usable since they keep adding features that few people want and use. Same goes for snapchat and the latest update has 83% dislike from the people that use the platform. Many people keep using the platform they are on since it is often difficult to connect to everyone on a new platform (people not using it and so on). But there are breaking points and I think facebook and snapchat are reaching them soon. Snapchat might even already be there in due to their latest update being really bad.

*Many of them don't come back. Because they die from the platform. It's turning into a large graveyard of people that once where among the living. Many of them have no-one to delete their account once they are gone for various reasons.

See here, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160313-the-unstoppable-rise-of-the-facebook-dead

Last update of SnapChat is crap

The last update of snapchat is terrible and I don't like it and nobody that I know about and has gotten the update likes it.

Far as I have read on the internet about the new app it seem that 83% of people using it dislike the upgrade. When that happens it normally means that people start to phase out their usage of the app for something better once it is found.

That means in the long run that snapchat might finished and going bankrupt soon.