Posts by davebarnes

Time to make C the COBOL of this century

COBOL rules

Time to make COBOL the COBOL of this century.

You kids and your trendy languages can just go away.

Guide for the perplexed – Google is no longer the best search engine

Ads on Google?

I never see ads on Google.

31.5M invoices, contracts, patient consent forms, and more exposed to the internet

Spilling error

HIPAA

Persistent memory to replace DRAM, but it could take a decade

Just bring back core memory

NASA and Boeing try to chase the contrail clouds away

I remember when 90% of the multi-engine vapor trails were from B-52 bombers. Always exciting.

Forget the climate: Steep prices the biggest reason EV sales aren't higher

ignored price

We solved the price shock problem by only looking a BEV prices.

We were replacing our 2007 Audi A3 so we had no idea about current car prices and features.

For us, VW ID.4 Pro S AWD seemed to priced normally.

IBM to book $5.9b non-cash charge to transfer its pension liabilities

Same for HPE

My DEC pension (which became an HP pension and then an HPE pension) went to Fidelity for administration. Worked well. Now, it is at and owned by Prudential. So far, so good.

But, it is only $405/mo (no COLA) for the next 30 years (spousal survival).

Thankfully, not critical to our retirement.

Another US president, time for another big Intel factory promise by another CEO

Workers?

Where will they find thousands of nimble-fingered Chinese to staff the factory in Ohio?

Fired credit union employee admits: I wiped 21GB of files from company's shared drive in retaliation

What is the name of the credit union?

Lenovo says it’s crammed a workstation into a litre of space – less than three cans of beer

3 cans > 1 L

A "can" of beer is 12 US liquid oz.

3 cans are more than a litre.

LibreOffice 7.1 Community released with user-interface picker, other bits and bytes

I donated

I donated. As an individual. They have a 501(3)(c) which is good for us old farts doing QCDs from our tIRAs.

LibreOffice 7.1 beta boasts impressive range of features let down by a lack of polish and poor mobile efforts

I donated

I donated money to the 501(3)(c) organization that supports Libre.

Mate, it's the '90s. You don't need to be reachable every minute of every hour. Your operating system can't cope

I miss Eudora

I really miss Eudora for email.

It had some features that I used all the time that have never appeared in the mainstream email apps.

This PDP-11/70 was due to predict an election outcome – but no one could predict it falling over

Probably not a VT-100 as they were not available until mid-1978.

The original list price was $1900 USD and we sold zillions at that low price.

ALGOL 60 at 60: The greatest computer language you've never used and grandaddy of the programming family tree

Re: .. never used .. ?

Let us not forget the APL keyboard.

Nervous, Adobe? It took 16 years, but open-source vector graphics editor Inkscape now works properly on macOS

Another option

Affinity Designer seems to be a good Illustrator alternative.

The price is reasonable.

Infosys fires employee who Facebooked 'let's hold hands and share coronavirus'

Jeebus will protect you

As long as they are Trump voters and/or evangelicals, holding hands sounds like a great idea. MAGA

Beer necessities: US chap registers bevvy as emotional support animal so he can booze on public transport

No beer on the train?

I have drunk wine with my lunch/snack on trains in Portugal, España, France, Italia, Slovenija, and Österreich.

Why is beer different?

Or, are you saying that I can't drink wine with my lunch on a train in the UK?

The Curse of macOS Catalina strikes again as AccountEdge stays 32-bit

This is not Apple's fault.

This is the fault of a developer who found an excuse to shift customers to a subscription model.

The old price of AccountEdge was $300. So, about $100/yr for tiny/small businesses.

The subscription is $480/y for my one-person business.

My tiny business will use TinyBooks for accounting going forward. Not sophisticated, but will do the job.

Forgive me, father, for I have used an ad-blocker on news websites...

Ads?

Websites have ads?

How come I never see any?

Winston Churchill glowers from Blighty's plastic fiver

For most of us

$1.44 USD

Could NetApp buy SolidFire? It would be outside its comfort zone

Afterburner?

The F-86 Sabre which is depicted did not have an afterburner.

The Steve Jobs of supercomputers: We remember Seymour Cray

Apple did have a Cray.

I saw it close up in the early 90s.

Seymour Cray was a god.

I loved the CDC 6600 that I got to use. The PPs were a brilliant idea.

Intel's 6th gen processors rock – but won't revive PC markets

For most people.

WIndows "whatever" is good enough.

Their current PC is good enough.

Even for me, the nerd, most stuff is good enough.

In the late-90s and early 00s, I bought a new computer every time Intel doubled the CPU speed. Every 18-20 months.

In the 2005, I switched to Macs and upgraded every 2.3 years (sold them before AppleCare expiry).

Now, my new iMac just replaced a 5-year old iMac (which was good enough, but I wanted a new machine and can write it off for business.)

Good enough does not augur well for the industry.

PC market: ABANDON HOPE all ye who enter here

"None of the players are strong or making money in tablets"

What?!

Apple seems to be making money.

Microsoft's $7.1bn Nokia gobble: Why you should expect the unexpected

Erratum

HP bought EDS

Dell bought Perot Systems

37,000-machine study finds most reliable Windows PC is a Mac

Obvious

You want the $1200 Mac.

Because Tim told you and me to buy it.

And, yes, I am an Apple fanboy.

VeloBit beats big boys with SSD caching software – indie benchmarker

SanDisk has another acquisition

SanDisk bought Schooner Information Technology (SchoonerInfoTech.com)

Check out Membrain.

I need a New Laptop!!

MacBook

Is there any other choice other than Apple?

No, there is not.

Apple sues three more over power adapter 'knock-offs'

If it walks like a duck

This page

http://www.sunvalleytek.com/compatible-apple-macbook-60w-laptop-ac-adapter-magsafe-p-432.html

seems to me (IANAL) to prove Apple's point.

Apple does have a strong patent on the MagSafe connector.

Safari 5 off to Apple's traditional rough start

Everyone has their install disc

"the Install disc that came with it. If you can remember where you put it."

The install disc is in the box your Mac came in.

You did save the box? Of course you did as it increases the price you get when you sell your used Mac.

Only idiots don't save all the Mac packaging.

Can Windows Phone 7 gain momentum with all eyes on Apple?

Not to mention Android

So, "can Windows...?"

No.

Doomed.

Microsoft moves too slowly and SteveB is clueless.

ICANN delays decision on pornography domain

No premature ejaculation before its time

slowly, slowly

aah, that's better

Whatever happened to the email app?

MailForge holds some promise

Infinity Data Systems is developing MailForge as a direct (Windows and Mac OS) Eudora replacement. It is not there yet, but it does hold some promise.

I am willing to pay (in fact, have paid) for an email client. I hope Infinity succeeds.

Mozilla tries to silence add-on developers' scream

Huge mistake

I use Firefox for 2 reasons:

1. The ability to view my bookmarks in a left window pane.

2. Addons. While I only use 4, they are extremely important to me. Without them, what is the point of using Firefox? I might as well use Safari or Chrome or Opera.

Greenpeace: Apple ain't so brown anymore

Interesting that the 2nd greenest company

will be the first to go out of business.

Sony-Ericsson.

Mozilla to open - gasp! - Firefox add-on store

A great idea

I would happily pay $2.99 for AdBlock Plus.

I would pay $0.99 for Noia Extreme Theme.

Actually, for AdBlock Plus, I would be willing to pay $9.99

Mac OS X Snow Leopard First Look

Good review

Thanks Andrew.

Well written and organized.

Microsoft to encircle Google and Apple with Windows Mobile split

Nonsensical "strategy"

Very good analysis and reporting.

There is no strategy.

Someone who wants an iPhone (there's an app for that) is not going to buy a Windows Mobile phone no matter what the price.

Someone who wants a Crackberry is not going to buy a Windows Mobile phone no matter what the price.

In 10 years, 3/4 the phones in world will be smart phones.

Apple, RIM, Google, Palm, Nokia and Microsoft are the current players.

In 3 years, Microsoft will be gone along with one other.

In the dumb phone market you can have many players as there is no ecosystem to construct and support.

In the smart phone market, there will be fewer than 5. (There might be one just for China as the market is large enough.)

Microsoft's Windows 7 price gamble - and why it's flawed

Mac OS X pricing is even better

Snow Leopard is only $29 USD. This is not an upgrade price, but a complete copy of the OS.

Family Pack is $49. Only 5 legal installations, but there is not activation system.

In fact, you could buy the single version for $29 and install Mac OS 10.6 on every Mac in your house.

I will buying the Family Pack because $49 is so cheap for my 4 Macs anyway.

Apple's big week: the good, the bad, the ugly

Why is Intel-only Snow Leopard

"a marketing bonanza for Redmond" ?

Leopard is "good enough".

By the time people with PPC machines feel compelled to upgrade to Snow Leopard, their machines will be at least 4 years old. Time to buy a new one.

PowerMac G5 last sold in August 2006.

iBook G4 last sold in May 2006.

PowerBook G4 last sold in Aprill 2006.

Mac Mini G4 last sold in February 2006.

Site news: Unique commenter handles coming

progress is not always good

all very confusing

Apple raises retail stakes against Microsoft

I cannot get my head around a Microsoft store

What are they going to sell?

Zunes - they have one model (Apple has 4)

PCS - they have zero models (Apple has 5-8)

Mice and Keyboards - excellent selection (Apple sucks)

Monitors - they have zero models (Apple has 3)

X Boxes - great (Apple has zero)

Phones - oh no. No products.

Software - puleeze. No one goes to a store to fondle software. Just ask Egghead.

Tandberg Data taps out but doesn't go liquid

Exadata?

Exabyte

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exabyte_(company)

not Exadata

Apple shares MacBook break-in tips

Whatever.

90+% of customers NEVER upgrade.

Those of us who do can afford to take "our precious" to an authorized Mac shop to have it done--and still maintain warranty coverage.

Elevator music files for Chapter 11

The new Modus operandi for business is...

1. Borrow a lot of money.

2. Declare bankruptcy.

3. Fuck both your shareholders AND creditors.

4. Start the business anew with ZERO debt.

Prime example is: the newspaper biz

Prisoner star Patrick McGoohan dies at 80

Let us not forget this movie

Silverstreak.

Patrick was a great bad guy.

Without typo-squatters, how far would Google fall?

I am confused

The OP wrote: "Cartoon Network with three Os."

Of course there are 3 Os; toon and wor.

Seems correct to me.

What am I missing?

Oh, Oh. I know, the British spelling is Cartoun Netwourk.

Did the width move for you, darling?

I like it.

I prefer fixed width. 960px is OK with me.

Still don't see any adverts.

Doctors: Third babies are the same as patio heaters

Plague? Could be good...

Let's bring back the Black Death.

Only, we'll call it the Green Death as it would be so good for the country to have fewer people.