Posts by 45RPM

The memory crisis is getting so bad that even retro RAM prices are going to the Moon

For a moment I had a little panic, worrying that the price of 8bit, 16bit and 32bit SIMMs was going to skyrocket!

AI is code – and can't be prompted into being smarter

Agentic code has its place - but the need for principled development practice is more important, not less important. Some of these will be the old practices that we’re all familiar with (SOLID, DRY all that good stuff), others will be new and maybe still being worked out.

Foremost amongst the techniques though a) make sure that you have guardrails in place, b) make sure that you write a detailed specification for the requirement and c) get the AI to write the proposed prompts for the change to be made. In this way, a developer can review and understand the changes that will be made before any harm is done. If you don’t follow these simple steps, you either don’t value your work enough to want to understand what changes are being made, or you don’t care about the outcome anyway.

Qualcomm picks bad time to pitch a $300 laptop platform

Somewhere around $25 per PC for a volume license for a big player. I think it’s closer to $50 for a small manufacturer who doesn’t have the negotiating heft for a better deal. I could be wrong - I can’t remember where I read it (possibly here!)

That’s certainly less than you or I would pay through official channels - but it’s around 10% of the cost of the entire product, a product where margins are already razor thin.

If you have a use-case that needs Windows (gaming, most likely) then you’ll be buying a chunkier PC. If you’re in the market for a cheap device then Windows is no longer your best option. Linux. Chrome. And now, shock horror, macos. But not Windows.

The age of Neo is here - and the $500 shovelware laptop is now dead. I’m not sure that a cheaper laptop can be made, certainly not with Windows. Microsoft wants too much in licensing. And it wouldn’t be a happy or useful laptop - especially once the bloat of Windows is taken into account. It might be viable with Linux - certainly, the cost could be achieved. But Linux users tend to be power users - and hardware connoisseurs - so I don’t imagine too many would be happy with a craptop. Time will tell.

Hands off my trademark! Notepad++ dev threatens legal action against macOS port

Yes. Me. And I use the best tool for each platform. I celebrate the strengths of each OS - and remembering what each can do doesn’t present a problem.

I use Notepad++ on Windows - on Windows it’s the best in the business. But…

Even if this port was an official port and not a low quality AI translation…

The Mac has BBEdit. And, at least for my use case and tastes, BBEdit is the best text editor on any platform. It’s just a shame that it’s only available on Macintosh.

GoDaddy customer claims registrar transferred 27-year-old domain without any security checks

My top tip to anyone thinking of registering a domain or setting up a website - avoid GoDaddy like the plague. At least nowadays the plague has a cure.

Don't pay Vect a ransom – your data's likely already wiped out

Re: Want to stop ransomware? Ban paying ransom.

Is a sammich the same as a samblitch?

Re: There's 2 types of people

Make backups to a server, automatically, and for the love of everything you hold dear make sure that your server is running a different OS to the one that you’re backing up.

Then make sure that the server is backed up regularly to dumb media.

Ideally, make sure that some of your backups are offsite.

Worst case then you might lose something but you won’t lose everything.

I’m not paranoid. I’m just careful.

Magnificent irony as Meta staff unhappy about running surveillance software on work PCs

But would I have to wear them?

I’m glad I don’t work at Meta. Then again, I don’t think Meta would employ me. I may work in IT, but my thinking is still very analogue. My preferred, and most used, notebook still has pages - and needs to be replaced when it gets full. Capture the keystrokes on that ya buggers!

World's blandest man steps down from CEO job to spend more time in tastefully appointed home

Every time? Every single time? Do you live in the past when smart watches were still so rare as to be worth passing comment on?

That seems a little unfair on the Apple Watch. It would be easy to make an argument that it’s an unnecessary gizmo - and I have, not least here, on many occasions. But. Ahem. I own one now (it’s nine years old and not receiving any new updates) and it’s certainly a useful if not essential tool for adventure sports. But…

It feels like it’s damn near got the market penetration of the iPhone. Every wrist that I see, particularly at sporting events, seems to sport an Apple Watch. It’s displaced the previously ubiquitous Garmin.

Palantir trial plugs into UK financial watchdog's data trove

Allowing Palantir any kind of access to national infrastructure and governmental organisations, particularly given how embedded they are with the current administration in the Whitehouse, is nothing short of treasonous. It might be accidental treason, borne of incompetence, but it’s treason none the less - and the people responsible for this idiocy should be looking forward to a stay at his majesty’s pleasure. It won’t happen of course - the rot goes to the top.

Apple’s MacBook Neo turns out to be its most repairable lappy in 14 years

Really, I have a PowerBook 100 (you know, the 16MHz 68000 powered laptop). I can assure you that batteries are not available for it. But, if they were, and if they used modern chemistry, I reckon that (considering how big they could be, and how little power the 100 uses) it might set records for longevity.

It looks like a very nice laptop. It should sell like hotcakes. With regard to repairability, it’s great news that it’s more repairable - this is something that should be encouraged. That said…

My 2011 MacBook Air was easy to replace the battery on. That’s the only repair it’s needed.

My 2020 M1 MacBook Air has needed no repairs at all. It only has 8GB RAM too - and it still feels as snappy as it did when new. The Neo should be even quicker. For most users (not gamers, not video editors) this is all the laptop that they’ll need - and, if I was a gambling man, will probably remain all that most people need for eight years or more.

Campaigners claim NHS Palantir system could be accessed by police and immigration

Is it an embarrassment and it betrays a severe and worrying lack of moral fibre in Whitehall that Palantir were even allowed to bid - let alone win - to provide services to the NHS.

That our current government doesn’t shut the door on them right now shows that they are little better than the government that they replaced.

Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns

Impeach him too. Trump isn’t the only criminal in the current administration.

AI has made the Command Line Interface more important and powerful than ever before

Years ago (the Spindler or Amelio years) there was a joke printed in MacUser. It feels like its time might have come again.

Q. What’s the difference between Apple and the Boy Scouts?

A. The Boy Scouts have adult supervision.

This is exactly the wrong time to be hamstringing macOS by removing AppleScript.

I’m not sure that it’s just about the command line. The value of tools like AppleScript in an AI world shouldn’t be underestimated. AppleScript enables just about everything on a Mac to be automated - although Apple does seem to have been deprecating in recent years in favour of friendlier (but less powerful) alternatives like Automator.

Hopefully Apple will wake up and realise that, inadvertently, 35 years ago they gave the Mac one of the most powerful AI enablers, a secret weapon in the macOS arsenal. If they show AppleScript some love then a future AI macOS will be able to achieve just about anything (within the limitations of the computer itself)

On the Windows side, and to a lesser extent (because it doesn’t work everywhere), there’s VBA. Perhaps Microsoft could extend VBA to be as comprehensive as AppleScript? And application automation is one of the few areas where Linux has some catching up to do - although doubtless someone here will tell me that I’m wrong and, if so, I look forward to seeing their suggestions for Linux tools that can provide full scripting of any GUI application.

Governments across Asia order work from home, thanks to Iran war

A lot of cock has been spouted by certain commentards regarding the reliability of renewable sources like solar and wind power, and how they aren’t worth the investment. From where I’m sitting, they’re looking like a valuable part of the energy mix right now. They aren’t the whole answer, but they should probably be the majority of it.

Trump orders purge of 'woke' Anthropic from government

Re: Kathy Burke said it best...

Everyone should read your post. It’s a masterclass in whataboutery and not understanding what words mean. You said a lot without actually saying anything at all. It’s an impressive argument, maybe even a winning argument, when pontificating with like minded individuals in the pub. But as points to sway a crowd of critical thinkers? I think you lost your argument and the audience.

Re: Kathy Burke said it best...

No, I disagree. Political Correctness is about ensuring your language doesn’t cause offence without first checking to see if it does cause a problem. It’s about fixing a problem that might not exist. Wokeness is about being aware of and responsive to what is actually causing a problem.

I suspect that there’s a global awareness, universal across the political divide, about what is moral and what isn’t. It may be subconscious, but the language is there and it is real. The liberal left gets accused of being…

Woke (being awake is good. Try achieving anything when asleep)

Do-Gooders (is being bad preferable)

Snowflakes (which is good if we’re talking about appreciation of their beauty and uniqueness and bad if we’re talking about their fragility and tendency to melt (hmm. Odd how the far right is always the most upset about a perceived slight!))

The point is, when the far right accuses the liberal left of these things they are implicitly recognising that they’re on the wrong side of history.

Re: Kathy Burke said it best...

"Karl Popper said it best with his Paradox of Tolerance. "Woke" people haven't read or understood that, so then call anyone who disagrees with their world view 'ignorant f'ng twats', 'fascists', 'Nazis' etc etc. 'Woke' people and pseudo-liberals can be remarkably intolerant."

I think I'm going to have to give you a thumbs up here. The liberal left really haven't understood Poppers Paradox. This was painfully apparent during Biden's administration when the government was bending over backwards to be (or, at least, appear to be) 'fair'. Twitter, a major platform, was sold to one oligarch, the Washington Post to another oligarch, Trumps prosecution was deferred time and again, and the far right rabble rousing grew ever louder and more emboldened. To the extent that it was able to come out wearing its heart on its sleeve - and everyone laughed. The warnings of Karl Popper should have been heeded. The Biden Administration should have redressed the balance in the Supreme Court so that there was equal representation on both sides - and then shut down any discussions or platforms that fomented intolerance and intolerant views. It didn't, and we're now in this horrible mess.

Of course, in an ideal world, everyone would have the capacity to think critically, and understand the mess that intolerance and hatred gets us into (as Master Yoda warned us). In such a world, Poppers Paradox would be an amusing little hypothetical. But we aren't in that world. And yes, it isn't very nice when words like 'ignorant f'ng twats', 'fascists', 'Nazis' get bandied about. But compared to the actions of ICE and the Trump regime, these are just words - and perhaps the best way to avoid being called 'ignorant f'ng twat', 'fascist', 'Nazi' etc is not to act like one.

And yes, I know this isn't what you meant. But it is what you said, and you were right. So you get a thumbs up.

I like being woke. I like being considerate of other people. I like being able to recognise when I’m just being nasty and mean spirited (and therefore able to apologise for it). I like having the intellectual wherewithal to recognise that the place that other peoples prejudices come from might not be evil - it might just be misguided and manipulated by people who genuinely are beyond redemption. I like wanting to make the world a better place for everyone, and not just for myself. And I hope that Anthropic doesn’t lose its moral fibre*, as so many others (like Apple for example) have done.

*insofar as any big businesses have moral fibre, which ain’t usually a whole lot, but in this case and so far Anthropic seems to be doing better than most.

Anthropic wants comp-sci students to vibe code their way through college

This is the sort of thing that would have left me incensed once upon a time. But I’ve seen too many changes and learned that this is just the nature of progress. Software engineers are becoming prompt engineers.

When I started, I started on teletypes and I learned about assembly language before progressing to C. We had to understand the architecture and be sympathetic to it. Java came along and suddenly developers didn’t have to know or care about the underlying hardware. Nor be careful in their use of memory. The world was brave and new and I didn’t like it. Isn’t this just more of the same? And I’m sure that my skills would have been considered soft by the greybeards who came before me with their punch cards and their toggle switches.

The world turns. We move with it - or we get a job doing something so menial that it isn’t worth giving to a robot.

I just wish that the AIs could be more power efficient and less memory hungry. And I’m just glad that the bulk of my career is behind me. I don’t think I’d want to be a prompt engineer.

Summoning the spirit of the BBC Micro with a Pi 500+ and a can of spray paint

That looks great! Much better than the standard version! But…

I have a Beeb. And I don’t think I need another one!

Lego shrinks NASA's biggest rocket – accuracy sold separately

I had rubber band powered model aeroplanes that I flew until they could take it no more (eventually they wouldn't fly straight anymore), whereupon I hung them from my bedroom ceiling. But the fun didn't stop there - because I also had a BB gun (which made an excellent anti-aircraft cannon). Sitting on the floor, back against the radiator, taking pot-shots. Honestly, I'm quite glad that my son isn't me!

And surely playability is what Lego is all about? It isn’t a slur to call Lego a toy - toys are wonderful. I’m close to retirement and I still love to play with toys - especially tactile, physical ones. For me, and I appreciate that there are different opinions out there equally valuable to mine, a completed Lego model that sits on the shelf and never gets played with it just something else that needs to be dusted.

Capgemini to sell the biz that works for US government amid criticism of ICE contract

Ahh. So that’s where the nuanced and thoughtful opinions are kept. They were tidied away into the Androgynous Cupboard.

That is the risk associated with accountability. But if you’re doing the right thing, if you abide by the law, if you really only go after people who are committing criminal acts or in the country illegally, provided you don’t act in a morally bankrupt manner, then you won’t have anything to worry about, will you?

No - I wouldn’t bring a gun either. But if it’s allowed to carry a gun, and if the rights of Trump supporters to carry weapons to a protest are upheld (as they are) then the rights of anyone to be armed at any protest should also be upheld.

And whilst you are right that you should follow the instructions of a cop (whose face will be visible, who will have identification (and hence be accountable)), it would be foolish in the extreme to follow the instructions of someone who isn’t a cop and who doesn’t have ID, and who hides their face. They could be a thief. They could be a murderer. And, as we have seen, if they’re ICE then they may very well be.

Aww. Sweet. You either believe that or you’re a bot.

If ICE were accountable then they’d show identification. If ICE were accountable then they wouldn’t cover their faces. In this respect they’re actually less accountable than the Gestapo.

As for being accountable to the elected leaders, I don’t think that it’s by any means certain that there will be another election. We’ll see if the mid terms happen, and we’ll see whether or not the elections (if they do happen) will be free and fair and honoured.

Better late than never. There is no excuse for capitulating to nazis.

Nudify app proliferation shows naked ambition of Apple and Google

I’m a shareholder. Perhaps I should have said investor. Just not in these businesses. Fun fact - you are legally allowed to invest in more than one business. Some people even build up what’s called a “portfolio”.

As a shareholder, they can both F right off. I’d happily take a drop in share price as long as the reason for the drop (sound ethics) are valid. If I had shares in these two I’d be dumping them.

It’s not rocket science. It’s evidently wrong. Apple and Google should remove these apps and disable them immediately. The would be the right thing to do. But, and I hate to say this, given their support for the current regime in America, I think that Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are seriously lacking in moral fibre. Let’s hope that they’re soon replaced by leaders who know right from wrong.

Anthropic writes 23,000-word 'constitution' for Claude, suggests it may have feelings

Re: "I treat the AI as if it’s intelligent and sentient, even if it isn’t"

Agreed. And I say please and thank you to my dog. Doesn’t everyone?

If they responded to my speech then, yes, I would. The same way that, in the old days, I used to say thank you to the petrol pump attendant at non-self-serve petrol stations.

Whether or not an AI is genuinely intelligent (I think not), whether or not an AI is sentient (again, no), I think we need to be laying ground rules for AI development now. Asimovs rules seem like a good starting point to me - which would, of course, rule out AI use by the military (no bad thing - if I’m going to be killed I’d prefer to be killed by and entity with a conscience* who’s conscience will torture them for the rest of their lives for their action)

I also think it’s a good idea for us to remember our manners. So I always say please, and I say thank you, and I don’t insult the AI. My prompts are clear, and I check to ensure whether or not there’s anything that I can do to help the AI. I also ask for citations, and I check the sources and the output. I treat the AI as if it’s intelligent and sentient, even if it isn’t, because a) one day it might be and b) I believe that good manners and decency are a defining characteristic of a civilised human.

* of course, this is why extremist groups ‘other’ people - why they think of races, sexualities, religions, genders etc other than their own as subhuman - so they don’t have to bother their consciences. Ever had a moment of realisation that your argument has bus sized holes in it?

Cop cops it after Copilot cops out: West Midlands Police chief quits over AI hallucination

Whenever you use AI, get it to cite its sources. Then check that those sources exist and are relevant. When I played with Copilot I discovered that it often couldn’t accurately remember the prompt let alone provide evidence for its suppositions. Copilot is the AI equivalent of Donald Trump. Not very clever, not evidenced, useless - and inexplicably popular.

Engineer used welding shop air hose to 'clean' PCs – hilarity did not ensue

Re: BS

Also, never clean a fan with air - either sucking or blowing - without making sure that it can’t rotate first. You may very well break it. Speaking as that idiot that did do such damage!

Tories vow to boot under-16s off social media and ban phones in schools

Well I could stand to pay a fair bit more for a start. But there are ways of enforcing taxation - if you have property or investments then you must pay. For forfeit the property. If you want to vote or hold a position of power, if you want to own a newspaper or any media company then you have to be resident. It can even be made to work for social media companies - whilst the whole shebang needn’t be owned by a resident - Zuckerberg and Musk don’t need to move here - they need to have a UK branch, with a UK board and a UK CEO who will be be legally held to account (up to and including prison time) for any transgressions. That alone will warrant a large salary - which will need to be taxed. The thing is, a lot of cock is talked about how the super rich will take their business elsewhere. I doubt it. They like suckling on the wealth of this country too much, even if they won’t get to keep so much of it. And if they do decide to pack up and go elsewhere, businesses and all, then good riddance. They weren’t contributing anyway.

Once again, the tories dive in with an overly simplistic solution that will do nothing to help anyone.

If you want to reduce mental health issues you need to remove the stressors in society. You need to provide or ensure that the conditions exists for…

* good quality jobs

* good quality education (including schools, adult education, libraries, youth clubs etc)

* a good safety net in terms of income support, unemployment benefit and social housing

* good quality health care

* sports facilities (both for schools and municipal)

You need to stop, or outlaw, the othering of people for reasons of race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation etc

If these things can be done then, as a society, we will be happier and healthier (and more civilized) - and, as a bonus, crime rates will fall. There’s a problem though. It won’t come for free. We will need to…

* Tax corporations and clamp down on their tax dodging

* Tax the rich and clamp down on their tax dodging

* Hold organisations which promulgate division and antisocial behaviours to account

All these things are possible. It won’t be easy though. So sod it. Back to giving the rich a free pass, hating people who have nothing, and ensuring that the poorest people in society get beaten with the shitty end of the stick whilst offering up simple solutions which have little to no effect.

Grok told to cover up as UK weighs action over AI 'undressing'

Re: Poppers Paradox

It isn’t difficult to sort out the facts from the lies - there are entire organisations devoted to that effort. Snopes for one. And then there are news sources which have built a reputation for solid, reliable, reporting (the FT and the Guardian spring to mind), and those whose trustworthiness is laughable (The Sun, Express, Mail, GBNews etc). I think a case can be made to shut down regular transgressors, although I think perhaps that the level of evidence required should be akin to a criminal trial rather than by fiat. At the very least, when a lie is told then the apology for the lie should be front page, bold face, and fulsome - rather than buried in the back with the classified ads.

Re: "FaceBook which, whilst not overly fascist"

Thank you for the clarification. I don’t use social media, so I’m not aware of the depth of the rot - except in the broadest of strokes and from what I have read elsewhere.

If nothing else this should be a big flashing sign telling people to get off Facebook. It’ll do no good staying there!

Poppers Paradox

If we are to retain the freedoms that we currently enjoy then a serious effort needs to be made to silence or shut down organisations that promulgate lies, anti social behaviours, criminal activity or which support fascistic organisations.

Businesses like X (which overtly supports fascist and criminal positions) and FaceBook which, whilst not overly fascist, does nothing to censor misinformation or those who themselves support fascist organisations.

If we can do this then we don’t need to worry about Reform or EDL or any of these other wing nut “parties”. They appeal to the congenitally hard of thinking who lack the faculties to research the bullshit that they’re fed. So if we can turn off the shitpumps then they’ll stop receiving misinformation. They might stop voting altogether - but whatever happens, they’ll be happier and less angry for it.

Your smart TV is watching you and nobody's stopping it

Exactly this. Although I read it a little before the eponymous year. I remember thinking at the time that it would be impossible because there just wasn’t enough bandwidth to support such surveillance. But I have a famously stinky track record for predicting which technologies will succeed and which will fail. Other ‘hits’ include…

* what’s the point of the Mac - why would anyone buy a computer that isn’t IBM compatible (since then (in 1992), I stopped using a PC compatible as my main computer)

* why would anyone buy an iPod - it’s not as good as MiniDisc

* USB isn’t as useful as… you get the idea.

I do stand behind my argument that social media is a total waste of anyone’s time though.

Democracy prevents misbehaviour by states! Bwa ha ha ha ha!

I used to believe that too. Until Brexit. Until Trump. Seriously - have you seen what’s happening in the US right now!?

But yes. If you’re buying a TV make sure that it can work without a network connection. And then don’t connect it to the network. Similarly, don’t buy a smart speaker, or anything else that listens in to your private conversations.

Or, sod it, do those things and accept the risk. Seriously - have you read 1984?

Oranges and lemons say the bells of st Clements…

You don't need Linux to run free and open source software

I don’t like subscription model software. I like a nice, simple, perpetual license. But, just as I think that musicians, film makers and authors deserve to be paid for their efforts (I am one after all), I’m more than happy to pay for a license for the software that I use.

Unfortunately, a lot of FOSS is functional but not actually pleasant to use - and I’m not actually into wearing a hair shirt or eating my own peeling skin or fingernails.