* Posts by Robot

77 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Aug 2010

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Ex-Equifax exec charged with insider trading after bagging 1 MEEELLION dollars in stock sale

Robot

I wonder why ...

Jun Ying was charged but the other four were exonerated for the same type of crime: John Gamble, Joseph Loughran, Rodolfo Ploder, and Douglas Brandberg. Does it have anything to do with their names? Just asking.

Microsoft sparks new war with Google with, er, $999+ lappies for kids

Robot

The real issue ...

I think the real issue is what Windows S may mean for the future of Windows, say, five years down the road. Will Microsoft eventually lock Windows to the app store programs? Today I read a few brief comments that Mac OS X is moving in that direction, with some new features that force people to the app store. But since I have never owned a MacBook (even though my wife and I have bought four iPads between us), can someone enlighten me about what it means for OS X? This may give us some clues about the Windows of the future. Thanks. Ben

A gold MacBook with just ONE USB port? Apple, you're DRUNK

Robot

Possible reason for only one USB port

My guess: This is a fanless superthin laptop, and it may overheat if you connect two portable hard disk drives to two USB ports. I do this all the time with my current laptop, to transfer files between two external HDDs. Hence only one USB port.

Microsoft brings Azure back online

Robot

Act 1, Scene 1

[face in hands]

[throws a chair against the wall]

[does a bear scream]

[throws a chair against the wall]

[wrings an imaginary neck]

[throws a Surface Pro against the wall]

IDC: Android, iOS now own 91.1% of global smartphone sales

Robot

Re: IDC is not as ignorant as you think

MIKEL, your comment is a non sequitur, and does not change the _FACT_ that the IDC report did make that important distinction. A fact is a fact, even if IDC has had a spotty history of prognostication.

Robot

IDC is not as ignorant as you think

Have you read their report or a summary of it? It makes a clear distinction between Android and Linux outside Android.

Microsoft to end Windows 8 discounts on January 31

Robot

Re: Two questions

Thanks, Fuzz and keithpeter, for your feedback. In fact, for safety I cloned (with True Image 2011) my Windows 7 system hard disk that is in my Samsung notebook, and that second hard disk is confirmed to be bootable after a hard disk swap. I am mainly concerned whether Microsoft might disable the Windows 7 system after revoking my Windows 7 license to which I apply the Windows 8 upgrade. I am afraid that putting the cloned Windows 7 hard disk back into computer might not work.

Robot

Two questions

Question 1. Can I buy the Windows 8 upgrade at the sale price before Jan 31st, and then apply the upgrade say one year later?

Question 2. If I upgrade my Windows 7 to Windows 8, and if I don't like Windows 8, can I go back to Windows 7 using the same Windows 7 license? When I say "go back" I mean in terms of license, not in terms of the technical work to reinstall Windows 7 (I can simply restore my image of Windows 7). Will the activation of Windows 8 on top of Windows 7 invalidate my Windows 7?

Thanks in advance for any answer.

Google Maps becomes Apple's most popular app

Robot

Shoplifting and armed bank robbery are not morally equivalent

No maps app is perfect, but you write as if Google Maps are as unreliable as Apple Maps. Bear in mind, the outcry over Apple Maps is unprecedented, not just in technical magazines, but in mainstream media such as New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, The Guardian, and Globe and Mail.

Did Tim Cook apologize for nothing? Were two VPs fired for nothing? Did Google Maps overnight became the top free app for nothing (among Apple devotees, no less)? By the way, I own an iPad 3, and my wife owns an iPad mini. Great devices. (I don't own a smartphone, but am eyeing the Nexus 4.)

What can save the Xmas PC market? Not Windows 8, say analysts

Robot

You mean I have a choice?

If only 58% of new computers had Windows 8, how did the others get Windows 7? In Canada, almost all notebooks in retail stores have Windows 8 (apart from old inventory). So how does one get a system with Windows 7?

Inside the iPad mini: Pray you never have to open one

Robot

Nice try with the Chinese but ...

My wife tells me that your Chinese translation of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" is okay for the first part, but the second part has the rough sense of "I am not going to pick up this item or take up this thing anymore". Ha ha, lost in translation. Glad that Google maps are more reliable.

Samsung posts record profits as Galaxy sales crush Apple

Robot

You're right, it's the TREND that counts!!!!!

Let's say in the next quarter, RIM leaps from 4 million to 25 million smartphones. That is still lower than Apple's 27 million smartphones. So who is winning? Obviously RIM, because what counts is the trend. RIM is now the guy to watch out for, even if it sold less than Apple in absolute numbers (25 million versus 27 million).

What about the REAL world? In the past 1.5 years, Apple went from 15 million to 27 million, and Samsung went from 8 million to 57 million. Do you see what is happening? Capiche?

Of the 57 million Samsung phones, perhaps 40% are quality smartphones, or about 23 million. That would still be short of Apple's 27 million, but again it's the trend that counts.

Samsung ships two smartphones for every one Apple sells

Robot

It's the TREND that counts!

Let's say in the next quarter, RIM leaps from 4 million to 25 million smartphones. That is still lower than Apple's 27 million smartphones. So who is winning? Obviously RIM, because what counts is the trend. RIM is now the guy to watch out for, even if it sold less than Apple in absolute numbers (25 million versus 27 million).

What about the REAL world? In the past 1.5 years, Apple went from 15 million to 27 million, and Samsung went from 8 million to 57 million. Do you see what is happening? Capiche?

Of the 57 million Samsung phones, perhaps about one-third are quality smartphones, or about 20 million. So even if that falls short of Apple's 27 million, it's still the trend that counts.

Samsung, not Nokia, fans' most favoured WinPho brand

Robot

Re: Oddness

There is a difference in meaning between

"4300-odd North Americans"

and

"4300 odd North Americans".

Fuming fanbois flood 'flimsy iPhone 5 Wi-Fi' forum

Robot

Re: Hahaha! Don't laugh too hard ...

or you may choke on your popcorn.

Robot

If your post is meant to laugh at those who have WiFi problems...

they won't be able to read it anyway.

Apple scrambled to hire iOS 6 maps engineers DAYS before launch

Robot

Collecting map data is a messy job...

... that does not fit Apple's culture of clean product development in a controlled campus environment. Google literally drove around on city streets.

Google's stats show few Android tablets in use

Robot

Re: This is for several reasons

Sorry, what is USP?

Global strategic maple syrup reserves hit in Canadian mega-heist

Robot

Didn't know our maple syrup will get Reg comments from the whole English-speaking world

Makes me feel kind of proud of being, eh, a Canuck. And a Quebecois to boot. All your syrup are belong to us.

Rivals routed by Apple, Google smartphone onslaught

Robot

In the first pie chart, Android looks like Pacman chomping all others ...

... including iOS.

Outlook.com launch a gold rush for jokers, spammers

Robot

Re: Does Outlook.com support POP3?

Thanks, Raphael!

Robot

Does Outlook.com support POP3?

Sorry for going slightly off topic, but this question is meaningful to a lot of people, not just me.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 'a harmful drug', says Apple in ban bid fail

Robot

Re: Judge of Korean descent siding with Samsung

"You mean like the white judges in Germany were generous towards Apple?"

Oh wait, Steve Jobs is Arab, not white. My bad.

Robot

Re: Judge of Korean descent siding with Samsung

You mean like the white judges in Germany were generous towards Apple?

Samsung Galaxy S III

Robot

Re: Yawn

If "nobody" for the S3 means 9 million, then "somebody" for WP7 must mean the entire world population.

Google's 7in tablet stalled for last-minute tweaks

Robot

I think you confused Acer with Asus

Asus consistently ranks high in reliability rankings, Acer sometimes ranks low. I think you got them mixed up (their names sound almost alike). In the past year I bought a lot of Acer items (notebook, monitor, S200 phone) mainly because of the low price (and they are still good so far). Asus, on the other hand, is not a low-cost manufacturer, though not high-cost either.

Android spanking iOS in world's BIGGEST mobile market

Robot

A lot of these posts are condescending to the Chinese

Some of the posts here assume that Chinese consumers are cheapskate and gullible (i.e. they are more stupid and tech-ignorant than Americans). That is absolutely false. I am a Canadian who has lived in China on and off for five years (2+1+1+1). Middle-class Chinese consumers are actually very careful buyers who do weeks of research (e.g. in Baidu) before buying a phone. For most middle class people, a low price is rarely the main consideration. The combination of features+price is number one, and it is widely perceived that Android smartphones are by far the best by that criterion. There is also a perception, especially in the past year, that both iOS and Android are like Coke and Pepsi when it comes to features, with perhaps a slight margin in favour of iOS (which is correctly or incorrectly perceived as a fashion gadget with no real advantage over Android in features). Fanboism exists in China but less so than in America; pragmatism is the dominant attitude (as also in China's national economic policy, which is more intelligent than America's). The meteoric rise of Android in China is not an accident of market storm and tempest, but a reflection of intelligent consumer behaviour.

Apple slams hard-up Proview for conning the courts

Robot

What does the financial health of Proview ...

... have to do with the merits of the court case?

Metro breakdown! Windows 8 UI is little gain for lots of pain

Robot

How long will Windows 7 remain available?

Thanks to the author for the excellent article, and to the posters for some flashes of insight.

My question is: How long will Windows 7 remain available, not just as a boxed edition, but as an OEM-installed system? I will grab a high-end Windows 7 laptop just before Windows 7 gets phased out (by then it will be Windows 7 SP2, nice and stable).

And can you "downgrade" to Windows 7 after the phaseout?

iPad maker to replace 1 million staff with robots

Robot

Robots will build other robots

Re: "conservatively each robot will take at least 1 person month to design, build, install commission and handover"

No, these robots will be built by other robots.

Next 15in, 17in MacBook Pros to be MacBook Air skinny

Robot

I forgot one word

I forgot to type the word "Windows" when I said [Windows] notebooks are more expensive in Hong Kong than in USA.

Robot

Apple products are not cheaper in HK

I have lived in Hong Kong for a total of four years, including two recent years. Some things are cheaper here, and some things are more expensive, than in USA:

- Notebooks are more expensive in Hong Kong due to localization (e.g. user's guides are converted to traditional Chinese, and a service center has to be set up in a small market like Hong Kong)

- Peripherals that don't need localization are cheaper in HK (e.g. mice, keyboards, blank CDs)

- Apple products in HK cost the same as their American counterparts, to within 2% after currency conversion.

But I suppose you are right too, if you are comparing HK versus UK prices.

US court test for rights not to hand over crypto keys

Robot

Cracking TrueCrypt

"And, finally, you think TC can't be cracked without the original key? Really, really?"

Can you give a link to that information? I refer to cracking TrueCrypt analytically or exploiting an inherent cryptographical weakness, rather than through social engineering or finding shreds of sector data that contain the original key. I mean cracking TrueCrypt "without" the original key, as you said.

Samsung RF711 17.3in Core i7 laptop

Robot

How gummy are stickers in your experience?

Any tips about removing gum?

Robot

I just looked it up...

8.4lbs/3.81kgs

Yes, that's hefty alright.

Robot

What I meant was....

You're perfectly right, opening the lid should normally wake up the computer. That's the way I use computers too.

However, Samsung forces you into that power configuration by locking the power options for the lid. You cannot configure closing the lid to go to hibernation or shutdown, only sleep. I actually prefer hibernation, but I am not given a choice. In fact, some other power options are also disabled (greyed out). I want to choose for myself.

Robot

The keyboard has no backlight

Sorry to disappoint you.

Robot

I don't understand the whining about width and weight

If you are getting a 17.3 inch laptop, you have certain expectations about its weight and width. Just like if you are buying a limo, it will be harder to park than a subcompact.

You cannot have a 17.3 inch laptop that is going to be narrow enough for the meal tray of an airplane. It is an inherent and innate characteristic of a laptop with a large screen, unless Samsung designs a foldable screen (and even then, when you unfold it on a meal tray, it becomes big again).

Am I stating something that is not obvious?

By the way, 2.9 kgs is below average for a 17.3 inch laptop.

Robot

My experience with the RF711 - Part 3

Concerning the keyboard:

- I like the feel of the keyboard. I type very fast on it.

- The keys feel solid, but slightly less so than those of the MacBook Pro.

- I wish there was a wider separation between the main keyboard and the keypad.

- I wish the four cursor keys could stand out more.

- The width of the main keyboard area (i.e. minus the keypad) is exactly the same as that of my expensive Razer Black Widow gaming keyboard.

Robot

My experience with the RF711 - Part 2

Some more observations about the RF711:

- The keyboard feels good for typing but is not quite as solid as the MacBook keyboard.

- The audio is clear even at high volume. Good for watching movies, especially with the display's wide-angle-view.

- The lid invites fingerprints but the keyboard wrist area has no visible fingerprints.

- The four metal keys near the power switch are: mute, volume+, volume-, wifi on/off.

- The Samsung disk imaging software is as easy as it can get. Without leaving Windows, it creates an image of drive C in drive D (or another drive of your choice). The ease encourages me to do several images, each with a progressively increasing installation of programs.

- For those who dislike stickers: there are five stickers on the wrist area of the keyboard.

- The computer is almost totally silent during operation.

- The USB3 ports are tight for USB cables (some force required).

- Pulling out an SD card takes some fidgeting.

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