* Posts by Davidoff

255 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Aug 2010

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It's not you, it's EE ... again! Mobe network hit by 'PDP authentication failure' snafu

Davidoff

Re: Not that bad

"where data is unlimited"

Not any more it's not - try getting a new (or updated) contract with that and computer says no."

Really? Seems to me there are plenty of unlimited plans:

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones

No tiles, no NAP – next Windows for data centre looks promising

Davidoff
Holmes

Defender is not AV

It is. You (and the author) made the mistake of confusing the modern variant of Defender with what was available on Windows 7 and earlier where Defender was merely a simple anti-malware tool.

Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft has combined the original Defender (Anti-Malware) and Security Essentials (AV) and named it - Defender!

Considering that Security Essentials is pretty good it's a nice proposition that the new Defender is now also available on Windows Server.

Huawei ditches new Windows Phone mobe plans, blames poor sales

Davidoff
WTF?

And yet my SYMBIAN phone (N8) got M$ cruft

"And yet my SYMBIAN phone (N8) got M$ cruft (Office something, cloud/sky something? ) installed as soon as they bought Nokia - and you can't remove it unless you root the phone."

Your N8 got MS software because YOU INSTALLED IT! It doesn't come onto your phone by itself! So if you have software you don't want the you only have zourself to blame!

And no, uninstalling it doesn't require "rooting" your phone (which is something you do with Android devices).

And btw, these MS programs were already available long before MS bough Nokia's phone division (MS did *not* buy Nokia). Have you just awaken from a long coma by any chance?

Windows 7, XP and even Vista GAIN market share again

Davidoff
FAIL

Re: Windows just gets slower over time

That's pure nonsense, like the rest of you post which talks about Windows, ActiveX and NET (the myth of Windows getting slower has been debunked a long time ago, and saying that a growing Registry is slower just shows your lack of understanding of how the Registry actually works).

The main reason your Windows PC gets slower is because of what you said in your last point:.nowadays almost every progam comes with its own quick start launcher and update assistant, and of course most software developers believe that all this crap has to be loaded at boot time as of course their application is the epithome of importance.

Install the same crapware onto any Mac or Linux computer (although admittedly, it's more difficult to find such crap on these platforms) and you'll see the same 'slowdown' you see on your Windows PC.

As to virus scanners: they can consume quite a lot of ressources, but this has nothing to do with (as you claim) the increasing (through updates) number of viruses they have to look for (first, the scanner doesn't scan their whole database anytime they scan a file as there are more intelligent ways of doing a database search, and second, there aren't many new viruses coming out, and that has been the case for more than a decade now, because main attack patterns have shifted).

Security guru: You can't blame EDWARD SNOWDEN for making US clouds LOOK leaky

Davidoff
Holmes

Re: no operating system available which wouldn't be controlled by an American company

Not true. For a start, Linux isn't controlled by an American company.

And then there is this: http://www.soos-project.eu/

Davidoff
FAIL

Re: Nokia is owned by Microsoft, so that doesn't help!

No, Nokia is *NOT* owned by Microsoft. Nokia has only sold their cell phone division to them. Nokia is still alive and does other things (i.e. network equipment, HERE maps).

US judge: Our digital search warrants apply ANYWHERE

Davidoff

Re: If the "unnamed individual" is US citizen then the data should indeed be handed over

So by your logic if, say, a Pakistani man is caught stealing in the UK we should chop off his hands or give him 100 lashes as per Pakistani law? How about, say, a Pakistani woman living in the UK who owns a cell phone? Should we stone her to death? After all it's Pakistani law, right?

Aside from some parts that regulate immigration afairs, laws and punishments are generally independent of the nationality of the perpetrator, which is a good thing. It really does not matter if MS is an Irish or American company, or if the data owner is Irish or American. The only relevant fact should be the location of the data. And as this happens to be Ireland then the only law that is relevant is Irish law.

IBM PCjr STRIPPED BARE: We tear down the machine Big Blue would rather you forgot

Davidoff
Holmes

I long for my old Sanyo MBC-550

Another former Sanyo MBC-550 owner here (mine came with DOS 2.11 and the original cubic Sanyo color CRT), but my main workhose at that time was a Sanyo MBC-1250, a dual Z80 PC with integrated monochrome (green) CRT running CP/M. It was also where I first met WordStar.

I later upgraded the MBC-550 to a MBC-16 (8088 8MHz XT compatible), and subsequently to the MBC-17 (80286) and MBC-18 (80386DX/16).

Later when I needed a laptop I got a Sanyo MBC-17LT (80286), and then a MBC-18NB (80386SX notebook).

Sanyo made really great PCs in those days, and apparently sold a lot of them. It's a bit surprising that they seem to be mostly forgotten.

Microsoft's SQL Server 2014 early code: First look

Davidoff
WTF?

The recommendation for hardware is two sockets to avoid issues with NUMA

"The other is that “the recommendation for hardware is two sockets” to avoid issues with NUMA (Non Uniform Memory Access) that affect performance."

That doesn't make much sense. Every modern two socket system is NUMA. AMD is NUMA since the very first Opterons (2xx) from close to a decade ago, intel since the Nehalem (XEON 5500 Series) which came out in 2009.

If they wanted to avoid NUMA issues they should have recommended single socket systems.

Who loves office space? Dell does: Virtualization to banish workstations from under desks

Davidoff

Re: Look! It's the 1980s all over again!

The difference is that back then the graphics hardware was actually in the X-terminal (you could not use graphics hardware on the host) which is not the same as what Dell (and others) are doing here and where the idea is that all computing power (CPU + GPU) is in the host server in the data center and where the client is really primitive.

Back in the days I had to work on a Tektronix X-terminal for which the graphics hardware had the size of a deskside drawer and which was as noisy as a server.

Davidoff
Holmes

So Dell finally catching up to HP then

HP offers a solution for that (RGS aka Remote Graphics, with either rack mounted workstations or ProLiant sservers with GPUs in the data center) for many years now (I remember first seeing it when the xw8400 workstations were still current which was around 2006). And according to a client who's using it it works pretty well.

It seems the receiver license is free, and if you own a HP workstation so is the sender license.

Dell thuds down low-cost lap workstation for cheap frugal creatives or engineers

Davidoff
Holmes

Re: Isn't the HP220 a desktop, not a laptop?

Actually there is no 'HP220'. There's a HP z220, though.

Years of AWOL Windows Phone features finally show up in video leaks

Davidoff

Glacial update speed

Yes, it's pretty poor how slow MS puts in updates to WP8.

Even BB10 has seen more updates in 6 months than WP8 had since it came out.

Apple Mac Pro: It's a death star, not a nappy bin, OK?

Davidoff

Re: Apple doesn't have any recent history of putting on sale products nobody wants

What about the iPhone 5c?

HP 'clarifies' firmware/support contract rules

Davidoff
Holmes

Re: @Hapkido

"Today must be wannabe internet lawyer day...

It's shocking news that second hand goods may require further expenditure/upkeep after purchase."

Are you a troll or just really thick?

Had you read more carefully then you'd noticed that I didn't say the servers we bought were 2nd hand. We bought them brand new, but at the time we purchased them access to BIOS updates was free, and there was no reason to assume that this should change. And yes, these things do have legal implications, at least here in Europe, and yes, even for B2B.

Davidoff
Holmes

@Hapkido

You really don't seem to get it. FYI: it's not about hardware defects, and no-one has claimed that HP should stink up for defective parts forever. This is about firmware/BIOS updates. And what you're ignoring is that HP's 'firmware' updates primarily made to address bugs and problems that should not have been in the server in the first place. And these problems can be wide ranging from occasional crashes to the silent data corruption. And fixing these bugs is the main reason new firmware comes out, the addition of new features is quite rare (some updates contain support for newer processors).

And now HP wants to charge for that. Providing BIOS fixes for commodity servers and PCs is pretty standard practice in the industry for more than 2 decades, with the exception of Oracle (and their hardware sales have been declining for a while now). I can buy the cheapest, crappiest mainboard on the planet, and still am able to get free BIOS updates. I can buy whitebox servers which are much cheaper than a ProLiant and also get firmware updates for free. But when I pay for a ProLiant I pay a premium and now am also supposed to pay for BIOS updates? Certainly not.

"It really is simple, and not illegal at all."

Really? We bought some ProLiant servers that are approaching the end of their warranty, however when we bought them we weren't aware that we had to pay for access to BIOS updates after the warranty runs out. This is a major cost that has now been placed upon us, and probably does have some legal implications as well.

At the end of the day charging for BIOS updates is a stupid thing to do, and we won't even buy HP workstations any more because our confidence in the company has been damaged.

It seems that this is to have ProLiant customers pay for the incompetence of the HP board when they sunk all the money into Authonomy.

Friends don't do tech support for friends running Windows XP

Davidoff

Re: Please stop saying its 13 years old

"If clearly one reader has already stated it was still on sale 4 years ago ergo its quite a different animal than the 13 year old version in much the same sense as the difference between 8 and 8.1."

It doesn't matter how long it was up for sale, the fact is that Windows XP is on the market for now almost 13 years with very little change under the hood (the updates were mostly bug fixes and security patches, with few feature updates). Even with all the updates and Service Packs it still represents 2001 technology.

Davidoff

Re: I am the only person working in IT who doesn't do tech support for their friends?

No, you're not. I try to generally avoid getting involved into tech support for consumers, no matter if it's for friends or not (the exception being my close family of course). Giving some advice is fine, but the time lost on 'support tasks' and the headaches involved are just not worth it.

Davidoff

Few people who are still running XP are running a machine that would be happy with Win 8.1

"Very few people I come across who are still running XP are running a machine that would be happy with Win 8.1 (we're talking single core - maybe with HT - with 1 or 2gb RAM"

Maybe those that bought their systems in XP's early years, but the 13 years of XP cover a much wider hardware selection than those crappy Pentium4's. For example, most Core 2 Duo PCs probably came with XP, and they will generally run Windows 7 and even Windows 8.1 just fine.

Davidoff

I think most people would rate two of those as "failureors" rather than "successors".

Maybe, but most people don't have a f*****g clue about computers so this point is moot.

And wasn't Windows 7 recently lifted into "Best Windows Ever" status by punters when Windows 8 came along? Apparently it's not really considered of a failure then, is it?

Davidoff

...they can be persuaded to switch to a Mac

So people that complain that their OS is no longer supported after 13 years should switch to a walled garden platform with probably the shortest OS support cycles in the industry?

As all alternative browers are also available for Windows I'm not sure why you conclude Windows is 'limited' in this regard.

You also seem to believe that operating systems are a purpose in itself, but for most users it's the application that counts and which dictates which OS to run. If your apps are available for other platforms (or you can find good enough or better alternatives there) then fine, otherwise you're f****d. And there is no point in moving to Linux or Mac when you still Windows for some non-replaceable application, in which case you may as well save the hassle and stay Windows only.

BTW: OpenOffice is great but it barely can hold up with ancient Microsoft Office 2003, let alone 2007 or newer. LibreOffice is even worse, as it's essentially a features whore (why finally getting these annoying bugs fixed when we can have skins!). It's perfectly fine for simpler tasks, but if you do more than writing the occasional letter or doing a simple spreadsheet then there is nothing else than MS Office.

Davidoff

Re: But a big trusted partner like Microsoft....

Microsoft has supported their operating systems and most of their technologies much longer than other vendors (i.e. Apple, or even many Linux distros). Windows XP is now 13 years old and has seen at least three generations of successors (Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1), all of which are much better and much more secure.

And quite frankly, if in 13 years you haven't managed to upgrade your infrastructure even though XP's retirement date was well known you simply should not work in IT, period.

Expecting that products will be supported forever is stupid, especially in a fast moving sector like IT.

Lenovo chops up biz groups after gobbling IBM x86 servers

Davidoff

Re: Lenovo could distinguish itself from HP and Dell...

"...by partnering "fully" with RedHat or Ubuntu Linux vendors, as examples, to provide superior - more reliable, powerful/scalable and secure - solutions and services, but with greater profit margins than comparable Microsoft Windows based kit."

Not sure what you're on about as HP already does that (their Linux support for their ProLiant servers is as good as it is for Windows, and they already partner with RedHat).

And I'd take a ProLiant server over a Dell, IBM or Lenovo server any day.

I want to play with VMs

Davidoff

XenServer (also has a free version)

XenServer *is* free (Citrix has made it open source recently):

www.xenserver.org

(Although I had better luck running various Linux distros on Hyper-V Server 2012 than on XenServer)

BlackBerry to be throttled by own supply chain

Davidoff
Holmes

Whereas MB make their own engines, gearboxes etc

"The likes of Apple don't make their own phones and they don't make the components that go into them. Whereas MB make their own engines, gearboxes etc... as well as the main body of the cars. Sure, they have a supply chain, but I suspect they are less dependent on buying a few common components available to all their competitors."

Sorry but that's just not true. Of any modern mass-market car the majority of components come from external suppliers. Mercedes does design some(!) of their engines (not all of them, some are bought in from other mfgrs) but even there lots of parts like pistons, bearings and other stuff all are made by external suppliers.

And not all components made by these external suppliers are open market parts, quite often parts are custom made for a customer (i.e. MB or Volkswagen).

The reality is that the amount of stuff that is actually made by MB (or any other car manufacturer) is very very small. Car manufacturers nowadays merely assemble the externally produced components.

XBOX One SHOT DEAD by Redmond following delivery blunder

Davidoff

That's especially true if Microsoft is the company with the button.

"That's especially true if Microsoft is the company with the button. They've been known to break their own products to force people to update before after all."

For example?

Davidoff
Holmes

The EULA is in force

"The EULA is in force and accepted by you when you boot the device the first time, not when you purchase the device/software."

Yes, in the US of A, the country where consumers can be legally screwed by most companies with little to no protection.

But here in Europe the situation is quite different. First, if you buy an XBox console, then the contract is between you and the seller (i.e. the shop that sold you the console), and that's it. It does not include Microsoft so whatever they want simply doesn't matter at this point (of course you might enter into a separate contract with MS later, i.e. by buying XBox Live).

Second, for all contracts, all parties of the contract must be made aware(!) of all properties of this contract at the point when the contract is closed, period.

Displaying some legal gibberish and an 'ACCEPT' button does not automatically make for a valid contract, and most certainly it does not affect one that has been closed before (i.e. the purchase of the console), especially when MS isn't part of the contract parties.

Oh, and in Europe, when consumers buy a physical item (like a console, or a console game on DVD), they actually *buy* the item including the content (software), not just a license like in the US.

'Burning platform' Elop: I'd SLASH and BURN stuff at Microsoft, TOO

Davidoff

Re: As to ditching the XBOX Brand

"As some other minds have chimed in. The Day of the "Unique" Console seems to be over. The PS4 and the XBONE contain more or less the same Hardware in them. At least as far as the ATI APU goes. Given that pretty much anyone can buy these "Chips" from AMD, granted they are slightly different! It should make things like the Ouya or say Valves Steam Box more easier & affordable to build, and then compete with both MicroSoft, and S0NY on their level."

The hardware is irrelevant, what counts is the software. Just because you can buy the AMD chipset doesn't make you able to compete with MS and Sony who already have the necessary infrastructure which the large game publishers want and which makes their consoles attractive to the masses.

And Valve is a good example how irrelevant the hardware side is to be successful in this market.

Ouya is more or less a crappy toy, it's cheap to manufacture but simply doesn't have the software titles to make it attractive outside a small fan niche, and certainly won't ever have it at a level enough to compete in the console market, and certainly not on a same level as MS and Sony.

Davidoff

Re: What I don't understand is...

"Why doesn't Microsoft start their own Microsoft+ Service you can use your Microsoft account to log-into the what would only be the BIGGEST Social Network of all time by simply installing Windows."

Probably because it already didn't work so well for Google who quite literally has to drag users by their feet to use Google+. Most people just hate G+.

Davidoff

Re: Is it just me.....

I like Bing, too. I really like the Bing picture of the day, and more and more often I find that Bing actually delivers better results than Google (which more and more seems to focus on finding me shops to buy something and not necessarily what I'm looking for).

Would be a shame if it dies.

Davidoff
Holmes

Microsoft will have Nokia maps to fall back on for mapping

Only if they pay. Nokia's map section is excluded from the deal, as it is Nokia's remaining major cash cow. Once MS owns the cell phone part then they probably have to pay for Nokia Here, as they probably already do for Bing (Bing Maps is powered by Nokia map data).

On the positive side, this means we might see Nokia's navigation software on non-WP devices like Android, iOS and BB10.

Fed up with Windows? Linux too easy? Get weird, go ALTERNATIVE

Davidoff
Holmes

The only weird thing is this article.

The headline is misleading. When talking about alternatives to Windows and Linux I would have expected to find something a bit more contemporary, for example Solaris 11.1 or the various Illumos derivates. Or even the various *BSD variants. Not a trip down memory lane to operating systems from yesteryear and more or less dead clones of them.

QNX is great if you develop for embedded systems (i.e. in-flight entertainment systems) but its not and never has been an alternative to (non-embedded) Windows and Linux.

And ZevenOS, really? 'Get weird' with just another Ubuntu remix (as if there weren't enough already)?

Z30: The classiest BlackBerry mobe ever ... and possibly the last

Davidoff
Holmes

and all they need to do to sell boat loads is produce an Android version

Right, because that works so well for HTC, does it?

I'm not sure that the world needs another 'me too' Android vendor.

And considering the abysmal state of affairs regarding security in Android, it's probably not a platform that BB wants to sell to it's (mostly security conscious( customers.

No plans for Friday night? There's a pile o' Windows Server ISOs feeling lonely

Davidoff
Alert

There are 2 reasons why people still install Windows servers:

You forgot the most important one:

3. People need something to get the job done and understand that an OS is just the tool to get there and not a purpose in itself. So they choose the application that does the job and then the OS that best supports that application. They may also require proper IHV/ISV support which further limits the OS choice.

Telling people that they can do everything on Linux no matter what only shows utter ignorance for the most basic principle in IT - that the problem (the task) dictates the platform, not the other way around. Sometimes this means Linux is the better choice, sometimes not.

"Those people may even ask questions like "How do I install Acrobat Reader on Linux?"."

Right, and after they were told to "RTFM" they will conclude that while Linux may be great (which it definitely is), a large part of the community is very unpleasant and unhelpful, and they will quickly return to the "just works" solution where people are less likely to project their uber-ego into an operating system.

Davidoff
FAIL

Re: 2012 R2 - over-powered by FreeBSD and Linux

"There is absolutely nothing, except a few gimmicky add-ons that Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 and Windows InTune can do that cannot be done with greater scalability, performance reliability and security than a professionally configured and tuned FreeBSD 9.2 Server setup or RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.4x - and at "a fraction of the cost", aggravation, down-time and patching process one will experience in the new Windows systems. , even for small implementations like those with which I work."

Well, it's pretty clear you have no idea about large systems, as otherwise you wouldn't spill such nonsense. The thing is that while Linux and FreeBSD are great, operating systems are not a purpose in itself. And if you try to mimic the backoffice of a large organization on Linux then quite quickly it gets very painful (just ask the various Linux vanity projects like Munich). And it's even worse with FreeBSD and its lacklustre hardware support.

BTW, it may be news for you out there in the sticks but the myth that Windows is generally less secure than Linux has been debunked by security experts for a long time. And I could tell you quite a few stories about lost nights because of shitty Linux patches and the aggravation that FreeBSD caused with standard server hardware, so it's not all roses there, too.

"he IBM Watson Super Computer that won the Jeopardy Game Show Challenge against the best previous winners, and is now used in designing traffic control systems for some of the largest cities in the world - as only one example - runs Linux. Windows Server was never able to handle the super computing operations required and therefore was never a consideration."

Utter BS. The reason Linux is the major OS in the HPC arena is simply because its sources are open and it can be easily modified for specialist tasks - this is the same reason why Linux is in most routers, TVs and other gear. Windows isn't really a contender as MS isn't even interested in HPC any more, because even when such projects give geeks a boner the reality is that it's not profitable for MS to cater for this market (which MS found out the hard way with Windows HPC). In addition, what's required for HPC is utterly irrelevant for what businesses around the globe need to run their business. A market which btw is still predominantly Windows.

Oh, and as for your other examples of companies invest in Linux infrastructure, for every one that does that there are probably four or five companies extending their investment in Windows, but since this is common for businesses it doesn't make the headlines. Even more so, if you have a closer look you will find that the backoffice of many of those 'investors in Linux' run on Windows and Exchange, and that Linux is often employed in a niche where its flexibility makes it the best choice.

Windows 8.1: A bit square, sure, but WAIT! It has a Start button

Davidoff
FAIL

Windows has been essentially based on a VMS core

No, WindowsNT is not based on VMS, that's utter nonsense. NT inherited a few design properties which are similar to VMS but that's about it.

Hey banks: Use Win XP after deadline? You'll PAY if card data's snaffled

Davidoff
FAIL

Of course Linux-based systems support in-place updates and upgrades.

"Ofcourse Linux-based systems support in-place updates and upgrades. And they usually do so much better than Windows, since the default on Linux isn't that a single file-lock can cripple the rest of the OS."

Yes, Linux supports upgrades, and for individual programs it usually works fine. However quite often upgrading a distro to the next version doesn't go smoothly and in the worst case results in an unbootable system. And don't start about upgrades 'jumping' over multiple versions. It's certainly not less painful than on Windows, where OS upgrades usually just result in a slower system. I've seen many OS installations that started their live as NT 4 and have been subsequently upgraded to W2k, XP, Vista and W7. On Linux, at least one of the upgrades does fail miserably.

"On Windows however, you are almost always forced to reboot the computer after applying updates because file-locks prevents the updates from being done in place. Have a few Adobe or VMWare updates and you will be cursing your computer for the reboot-fest it just became."

That's mostly nonsense (and I can't remember when was the last time that an Adobe update required a reboot, I guess that must have been back in the Windows98 days. And VMWare, oh well...). Windows supports inline updates (no reboot required) for a very long time, and since Vista many of the few cases where a reboot was previously still required have been made reboot free.

The simple reason why many installers ask you to reboot is because the developer of that piece of software for some reason believes that a reboot would be a good thing. In some cases this is justified, but in many cases it's just down to a poor understanding of how modern day Windows works.

Selling phones? Nonsense, BlackBerry is all about THE CLOUD

Davidoff

I have a co-worker who had a Z10...

"... and was extolling the virtues of the BB10 platform until he tried to side load Android apps."

Maybe he should have not given up so quickly on which at the end of the day is a very new platform. The original BBOS 10.0 was indeed riddled with of problems but most of them have been fixed in 10.1, and based on reports from people using the pre-release version of 10.2 (which is due to come out within the next 6 weeks or so) not only squashes more of the remaining few niggles but also bring lots of new stuff (i.e. USB OTG).

BB10 is really a very much underrated platform. It's a real shame that BB has effectively priced their phones out of the market.

BlackBerry Black Friday: $1bn loss as warehouses bulge with hated Z10s

Davidoff

Same here

Bought a Z10 after having several Android devices and two Nokia Lumias (one WP7.5, one WP8). Was feed up with Android's oddities and security issues. WP8 wasn't bad but the OS lacks several features that are important for me (like being able to download large files), and that aside, the time it takes MS to come out with updates is ridiculous. Didn't really expect to like it and it took a while to get used to the UI but the Z10 and BB10 has really blown me away. The Z10 is a great phone with a remarkably good display, decent camera, very good receiption (better than my Lumia 820), very good call quality, replaceable battery, HDMI out and support for 64GB mSD cards. BBOS 10.2 is fast and slick on hardware where Android still lags like hell, can run Android apps, comes with a very good browser (with Flash support), a full media server, can share storage via SMB over the network, and lots of other features. And BB10 has in a short while seen more work and much greater improvements than WP from 7.0 days to WP8 today.

It's really a shame it failed on the market. But neither the Z10 nor BB10 are the reason why BlackBerry is now in the situation it is in. The reason why the Z10 failed on the market is purely down to price and marketing. When it came out, the Z10 was (depending on the vendor) as expensive (or even more expensive) than an iPhone 5 or high end Android handsets like the Galaxy S3, which made sure that customer interest was killed in an instant. That BB's moronic management thought it might be a good idea to artificially delay their other BB10 handsets (Q10 and Q5) made the situation even worse.

There's still hope. Fairfax is not exactly known as the typical gut&sell shop so if they take over they may be able to turn the business around. Would be a shame if we get stuck with iOS, Android and WP only.

Fanbois taught to use Apple's new killer app: Microsoft Windows

Davidoff
WTF?

OSX is much more optimised for the GPUs Apple uses than Windows

Apple uses the exactly same GPUs from AMD, NVidia and intel as any other PC manufacturer out there, and it's a widely known fact that the OS X drivers are worlds behind in terms of performance and capabilities than their Windows and Linux counterparts.

Because Windows and Linux is where high end users are going.

People really liked our Xperia. Throw in a weak yen and KERCHING - Sony

Davidoff
Holmes

No mobile phone can really compete with a dedicated camera

Well, Nokia N8, 808 and 1020 can. The latter two can even compete with some SLRs.

My N8 still produces better pictures than most point and shoot cameras.

Microsoft extends Windows Phone 8 support through 2015

Davidoff
WTF?

WP 7.8/8 and Alphabet Shortcuts

" do sort of like Windows Phone, although 7.8 and 8 have removed a couple of minor things I really liked (for example apps list was alphabetical with letters to start them off, tap a letter, get an alphabet, tap the letter you want and jump to it... neat if you have loads of apps and faster than the scrolling approach everyone else uses (and now WinPhone has joined in...)"

I'm not sure why you think this has gone as our Lumia 800 and 710 running WP 7.8 as well as my new Lumia 8.20 running WP8 still offer this functionality.

But as with WP7.5, this feature only becomes available if the number of installed apps exceeds a certain threshold.

Nokia, Microsoft put on brave face as Lumia 925s parachute into Blighty

Davidoff
FAIL

the answer is because it has the best camera in any Smartphone other than the newer 92x handsets...

If you think the Lumia 920 has the best smartphone camera then you obviously don't know the Nokia N8 or the Nokia Pureview 808.

Let's get graphical with Hyper-V

Davidoff
WTF?

Re: Yeah..sure..

"Microsoft only wants to destroy VMWare to estabilish a monopoly."

Ok, the stupid monopoly drivel, here it comes again! But obviously you haven't noticed that this time it's VMware who practices customer locking and charges large amount of money for every additional bit of functionality, and squeezes customers with ever increasing license costs. I guess you also have been in a coma when vSphere 5 was introduced and customers were angry because VMware had over tightened the price screw when they changed to charging for using your server RAM as well. On the other side, Hyper-V supports many features that cost an arm and a leg with VMware, while also supporting non-MS hypervisors with their management solution (SCVMM).

But don't let get reality in the way of a proper delusion.

"They can't accept VMWare to be a success just like they hate Apple."

The same could be said about Apple and Samsung, or in fact most other companies. It should be fairly obvious why companies rarely have sympathies towards their competitor, but I guess that's also different on whatever planet you're on.

Apple asked me for my BANK statements, says outraged reader

Davidoff
Holmes

the only way this sort of behavior doesn't manifest is for customers to go through the process

No, it isn't. And it's naive to think that Apple will consider all cancelled orders to have been fraudulent. It's even more naive to believe that sending them the requested documents and then cancelling will teach them a lesson that asking for these documents in unacceptable. If anything, it just confirms that most consumers are like kettle on the way to the slaughter house, ready to be taken out.

The *ONLY* way to address this is to tell Apple (or any merchant trying this nonsense) that this is unacceptable and that they should go through their payment provider who will gladly trigger a verification with the customer's CC provider or bank.

Davidoff
FAIL

this is arguably the only way they can make sure you are you and your card purchase is legit.

Nonsense. The proper way for Apple (and any retailer that acts professionally and not just like a bunch of morons) is to flag the transaction as 'suspicious' with their payment provider, which will trigger the customer's CC provider/bank to cross-check with their client to make sure the transaction is genuine. Simple, easy and secure. No need to ask for personal information from your customers.

When consumers are so naive to give out personal data without thinking first it's no surprise CC fraud levels are at an all-time high.

Review: HTC One

Davidoff
FAIL

The 808 isn't considered a smartphone.

Of course the Nokia PV 808 is a smartphone. Just because it's not running Android or iOS doesn't make it less of a smartphone.

Saying a 808 not a smartphone just shows off your ignorance.

Davidoff
WTF?

This is the best camera ever fitted to an HTC handset

This may be true, but considering that HTC camera modules have been utter crap this does not say nothing.

"...and one of the best ever fitted to a mobile phone."

That may be true if all you know is HTC cameras, but after I could play around with a HTC One yesterday I can honestly say that the camera poses no danger to HTC's reputation of having mediocre cameras. Low light sensitivity is good, although not extraordinary (worse than the Lumia 920 which has an 8.7MPx sensor), but the very low resolution does show. It's no match for a Lumia 920, and definitely no match for phones like the venerable Nokia N8 or the Nokia PV 808.

It seems the author is a bit too focused on HTC and too little on what else is out there.

FCC waves big fines at political robocallers

Davidoff
Holmes

Re: This is why US cells pay to receive phone calls.

No, it isn't. The sole reason why Americans pay for being called is because they are easy to pull a fast one from. Which, considering their unshattered belief in a 'free market' with as little regulation as possible, is something they are probably well familiar with from many other areas (i.e. health insurance).

There is simply no technical reason why the person being called has to pay, as demonstrated by most other countries.

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