Posts by bep

Apple's ONE LESS THING: the iPod Classic disappears

Re: So, for people like me that still get good use out of theirs

The first sign of that was the original Walkman, which came out how long ago? Unlike the early iPods, it also had a radio.

Limits to Growth is a pile of steaming doggy-doo based on total cobblers

Re: Doing More With Less

But it depends on what you call civilization, doesn't it? At the moment we are building lots of stuff while simultaneously significantly polluting the planet and driving hundreds of plant and animal species to extinction. Does doing what you've always been doing constitute civilization, or should that term imply a continuous increase in knowledge and good outcomes for the whole planet?

Privacy law reboot needed says Oz Law Reform Commission

Accessible?

The law should be accessible, full stop. Once you have laws structured as proposed, with various exceptions available, each breach has to be decided on a case by case basis which means barristers, solicitors, and money. So 'privacy' will be 'accessible' for rich celebrities, politicians and businessmen, but not for Joe Bloggs (did I just miss the Clapham Omnibus?).

Boeing CEO says no more 'moonshots' after 787 Dreamliner ordeal

From an end user's perspective

It doesn't make a lot of difference to me. The current generation of passenger jets is pretty similar to the previous generation in that I get where I'm going at much the same time feeling just as lousy. A Mach 2 airliner that worked with reasonable economy would be a 'moonshot'. The current jets, not so much.

Google updates Maps app for iOS, Android, adds Uber support

Ummm...

"You've been able to save maps for offline use for a while, but it's never been the easiest function to use. The upgrade adds a saved maps icon on the screen, and maps can now be saved under specific names to make finding them easier and can be accessed on multiple devices."

Am I missing something here? How do you use maps you've cached on one device on 'multiple devices.'?

Apple to flush '£37bn' down the bog if it doesn't flog cheapo slabtops

Maybe ask Asus instead

I believe the Transformers are selling OK. Alright I'm biased because I have one, but the lesson is that if it's properly designed and priced right it might sell. i'm no big fan of analysts myself but he might be suggesting that many people have an iPad and a Windows PC. If so then a hybrid device won't cannibalise sales so much. Getting the design and software right is everything.

Curiosity finds not-very-Australian-shaped rock on Mars

Pedant alert

It's 'Mary Celeste' folks. Just so you know next time.

Nokia: ALL our Windows Phone 8 Lumias will get a cool 8.1 boost

Re: $599

Indeed, and where you are now in the Android space is not much of an indicator of where you will be in 12 months time. Witness how the Moto G seems to have revitalised Motorola's fortunes after they seemed to be heading nowhere. If you bring out the right handset at the right price then Android users will take their apps and run. HTC might therefore be going OK - a quality flagship phone can give a halo effect for your cheaper offerings, even if no one actually buys the expensive model.

NSW to expand e-voting

Re: Democracy is too important

I'm pretty much with you on this one, and as a NSW voter I have personal interest in this one, but unfortunately the electoral commission's loss of a small number of paper ballots from the last Senate election has only strengthened the arm of those pushing for electronic ballots. That loss has had an impact far out of proportion to the number of ballot papers lost, since they will have to run the whole election again. That's the price of democracy, I guess, but a lot of people can't be bothered to pay it and would much rather use their i-device of choice to pick their least-disliked pollie.

Planes fail to find 'credible' candidate for flight MH370 wreckage

Re: @p_0

One possibility I haven't seen mentioned is a sudden emergency (fire, rapid decompression) that knocked out or disoriented one of the pilots but not the other. The remaining pilot would then have a lot on his plate and communicating might have not been a priority, especially if the other pilot was still awake but behaving erratically. In this scenario they could have violently disagreed on what action to take and both started doing things that hampered the other.

MH370 airliner MYSTERY: The El Reg Pub/Dinner-party Guide

Re: "The satellite would thus know to keep one of its receiving assemblies aligned..."

I agree the communication has been very poor but it highlights a continuing problem. If I were a media rep with sufficient funds I'd hire the best translator I could and go to the press conferences given in the languages these officials speak at home - Bahasa Malaysia. I'd then get the replies translated. Plenty of people in Asia speak good international English but that isn't necessarily good enough to deal with highly technical issues in a highly emotional environment with an international press corps, many of whom aren't native English speaker either. I have Malaysian relatives and have been there plenty of times so I have some idea what I'm talking about. I'm quite sure some of these communication breakdowns are things that have been lost in translation. The assumption that 'everyone speaks English' is unfortunate for all involved.

Re: Here's more sensible analysis...

This seems fairly plausible to me. Penang airport is not far from Langkawi either, and there is still a military airport at Butterworth I think, all pretty close together. I note that recent reports have changed the status of the reporting systems from 'deliberately turned off' to 'ceased transmitting', which is a significant clarification in this context.

20 Freescale staff on vanished Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

Well, you think you do

but you probably don't, if you are like the vast majority of drivers, as plenty of studies have shown. The more you drive, the more likely you are to become complacent. And you really can't do much about the person who has just had a heart attack in the car coming towards you.

Global Warming is real, argues sceptic mathematician - it just isn't Thermageddon

Insurance

Follow the money. There is healthy scientifice debate and plenty of public skepticism about global warming but the insurance industry is in little doubt and that is reflected in premiums. Funnily enough, most of the people involved in the insurance industry are pretty good at this statistical stuff. They aren't betting against global warming and I'd suggest that you don't either. Local effects are another matter and individuals are notoriously unreliable in knowing whether it's got hotter or colder or wetter or dryer in their locality over the years. What do the insurance companies covering your area think is going to happen?

X-rated Android antics: Motorola's Moto X puts boot in chunky brother

I was a little surprised by this statement:

"The big difference between the X and the G is in the screen tech. The X uses a RGB-matrix AMOLED panel to the G’s IPS LCD. This means it is more vivid, shows blacker blacks and is easier to read in direct sunlight."

Were the two phones actually compared by the reviewer in direct sunlight? My experience with a Samsung Galaxy 3 is precisely the opposite; the Galaxy's amoled screen is virtually impossible to read in direct sunlight (in Australia anyway).

Massive new AIRSHIP to enter commercial service at British dirigible base

Re: They almost laughed him out of the boardroom...

I second this motion. Given the number of people happy to cruise down the Rhine on an enlarged barge, shirley there would be punters happy to fly slowly down the Rhine at 50 knots or so? Paris to Venice by airship? I should cocoa! Apparently the airship travel experience is incomparable, why not give people the chance to enjoy it?

Qantas' biggest problems are … Apple, Samsung and Google?

Re: Anyone else notice?

This is standard operating procedure for airlines everywhere. For example, compare fares from the USA to South America and vice versa. There is no logic whatever to airfares, and if there is it is that the fares will be whatever the locals can afford to pay. Try flying to Brazil for the World Cup, for example, and you will even find situations where flying the second leg of a two-leg flight costs MORE than the full trip. Crazy stuff.

On the other hand

I recently booked some long-haul flights and I deliberately paid a (admittedly small) premium to go on the national carrier of a small Asian island state rather than a middle-eastern carrier that is a Qantas partner. This was owing to a nightmare experience on said carrier, which is somehow very highly rated, and first-hand experience that the stop-over airport did not match the publicity shots. The entertainment system helps, but it doesn't make any difference to flight delays or other shambles.

The UNTOLD SUCCESS of Microsoft: Yes, it's Windows 7

Re: What the hell did they expect?

I quite often use a full-featured PC to browse the internet. Meanwhile my partner did a work assignment yesterday on her iPad (with bluetooth keyboard and cover/stand). There is no single use case for a particular kind of device. That's where Microsoft has gone wrong. The software needs to be able to detect if it's connected to a touch screen, ditto a keyboard, and deliver a suitable experience for that hardware setup.They need to stop trying to guess how people might choose to use their devices.

Ganymede map helps reveal satellite's secrets

Dynamical?

Is that a word, and if so why is it a better word than 'dynamic'?

Sony to close North American ebook store, punt customers to Kobo

Another one bites the dust

Another company that made good hardware but never got its Windows software sorted. I'm another who has a Sony eReader, I've been buying books from Kobo for ages since the Sony store never worked in Australia.

The Sony software works kind-of, as long as you have Adobe Digital Editions running as well. With that combo you can usually load the Kobo books onto the device OK, and in my experience it's the only way to ensure you get the book covers and so on looking as they should in the library. But the software has always been buggy and it's more of a faff than it should be.

UK picks Open Document Format for all government files

PDF

A locked PDF file is a lot harder to edit than a Word file. There is a clear need for government to have access to a format which allows them to say that this is the final, official version of this document. PDF is suitable for that purpose. This is a quite different need than a format to be used for collaboration or a format to be used for raw data that can be re-used in databases and applications.

Japanese quantum boffins 'may have the key to TELEPORTATION'

Re: I think I speak for most when I say...

I think I've discovered a quantum effect: articles discussing quantum mechanics make my brain hurt before I start reading them.

Re: How the hell do you squeeze a vacuum?

Well of course, that's easy for you to say.

Big tech firms holding wages down? Marx was right all along, I tell ya!

Re: Competition

Well yes it would, and in fact classical economics also shows markets tending to oligopoly in the long run if there are significant barriers to entry. Just about every major market you can think of that has been left to its own devices has descended into a cosy cartel of cigar-chomping millionaires dividing up the spoils amongst themselves. The only thing that stops it happening is that they tend to be super-egotists who hate each other, but it's rather unwise to rely on that. That's why laws against colusion and abuse of monopoly power are necessary and why they need to actually be enforced.

Almost everyone read the Verizon v FCC net neutrality verdict WRONG

Re: Stop humouring us, Net Neutrality doesn't exist, and probably never will again.

I think the net neutrality rules apply within the USA. The rest of the world can, and is, making its own arrangements.

Boeing bent over for new probe as 787 batteries vent fluid, start to MELT

Pardon?

If the batteries are in Boeing's planes then it is Boeing's problem.

Intel and Asus put the dual boot in, offer 2-in-1 lapslab WinDroid

Re: @Charlie Clark The mighty have fallen half way

I've got a Transformer as well and it works pretty well, but there are still some applications for which I'll power up the PC and some websites which work poorly on all the Android browsers but work OK on their Windows versions. So for those reasons I'd be tempted by one of these, although price is of course the critical factor. It looks like it will be well over a grand in Australian money, which is probably a bit rich for me.

Judge orders Yelp.com to unmask anonymous critics who tore into biz

Re: Be careful what you claim

Defamation law, as I understand it, is meant to protect the reputation of an individual person. The idea that you can defame a company is ludicrous and I'm astounded that no one else has mentioned this distinction.

Oracle: Our figures say hardware has flatlined, but we assure you it hasn't

No comments on the tortured headline?

'It's' is an abbreviation for 'it is'. I don't know what that headline is, but it aint' English, pardner.

IBM turns plastic bottles into life-saving 'ninja' MRSA, fungus fighters

Can you put this stuff on your toenails?

If so then the drug companies might actually produce it in large quantities.

World's OLDEST human DNA found in leg bone – but that's not the only boning going on...

Bill Bailey would have your guts for garters

I believe it was actually the other bloke who coined the term 'survival of the fittest'. Darwin preferred the term 'survival of the best adapted'.

Samsung hauls in chiefs for 'CRISIS awareness' confab – report

Re: Pulled upgrades...

I agree that the long-term Android experience can be rather poor. That doesn't encourage anyone to buy a new Android handset from the same manufacturer, regardless of the specs. That's why it's important for the manufacturers to make sure their upgrades on current handsets are bullet-proof. Most punters aren't interested in custom ROMs.

Samsung also have a fairly bewildering range of handsets at different price points. Some of the bigger phones are a lot cheaper that the S4. So I think they may be canabalising their own sales. Meanwhile Sony have a much simpler product line, although I don't think they are doing so great at the moment either.

Antidote for poisonous Aussie Red-Back Spider venom DOESN'T WORK

Re: A different experience..

My partner was bitten on the toe by a redback and she was given the anti-venom. The possibly limited effectiveness was well known to the nurses and the doctor and discussed with her (she is a nurse) but they recommended in her case she should have it and she agreed. She had the pain, swelling, localised sweating and reslessness for about 24 hours then the symptoms subsided. Plenty of locals apparently don't bother going to hospital when they get bit, which is maybe not too wise.

Google Earth SHOCK: ZERO point ZERO ZERO SIX of world forests disappear each year

e.g. Malaysia

For what used to be an interesting train trip, try the one from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Not much variety these days; palm oil plantation followed by palm oil plantation as far as the eye can see. Just because it looks green from a distance doesn't mean it is good. Some of the locals will tell you the palm oil plantations are just replacing the old rubber plantations, but I don't think that's the half of it.

Australia's Electoral Commission won't release vote-counting code

Easycount

"Three million three hundred and fifty thousond three hundred and one; three million three hundred and fifty thousand three hundred and two, three million three hundred and fifty thousand three hundred and three."

"Cup ot tea George?"

"Lovely, white and one please!"

"Um, um...bugger! ....one, two, three..."

Mac OS X Mavericks 'upgrade' ruins iWorks

Proofreading

Is proofreading really forbidden? Given that it is axiomatic that you can't proof read your own copy I find that astoiunding. Of course there are people who think they can proof their own copy, but they are worng (see what I did there? Did I make any other non-deliberate mistakes - probably). Do lecturers enjoy reading essays with lots of typos?

Brit boffins trap light in Lego-like lumps

Re: This is why the UK Governments PV subsidy is stupid

Perhaps it would be better to use land that isn't being used for growing food at the moment.

Last living NEANDERTHALS discovered in JERSEY – boffins

Re: the most intresting question remains...

But if the DNA keeps getting re-introduced to the mix by, basically, shagging your relatives, which is likely in small populations, does this not complicate matters just a little?

Usefulness

I'm not sure your argument support the usefulness of the term 'race' either. It's now just sounds like an attempt to use a non-scientific term to replace a scientific term that is becoming increasingly hazy.

Whodathunkit? Media barons slit own throats in flawed piracy crackdowns

Re: She answered the question

Don't know how to edit my posts: that should read: "Are you the best source for your own content"?

She answered the question

but it wasn't the right question, which is "Are you the best source for your own contect"? If the answer is no, then people will pirate. If you are the best source, they will even pay for it.

Exciting MIT droplet discovery could turbocharge power plants, airships and more

Re: Nothing will make airships viable.

Funny, I thought the Graf Zeppelin was broken up for scrap after nearly ten years of safe operation.

Adobe hit by 'sophisticated' mega hack ransack

Good advice except that it's impossible

Every blinkin' website, including this one, requires you to register in order to comment, not to mention banks, software suppliers like Adobe etc etc. How are you supposed to remember all these passwords? OK, you put them in a password manager program. How do you secure that? Another password you have to remember. You're supposed to change that regularly of course, but it still has to be something that is a) hard to crack, but b)easy (or at least possible) to remember. If that gets cracked, they get everything. It's still better than nothing, but suggesting there is a security process that works reliably is highly misleading.

'Modern warming trend can't be found' in new climate study

Meanwhile...

Australia, meaning all of Australia, has just recorded the hotest September ever recorded. Last January was the hotest January ever recorded. Just two more data points to add to the whole, weather isn't climate etc. The new 'Liberal' government's first act was to abolish the Climate Commission. Remarkable considering some of them are farmers.

Windows Phone market share hits double digits in UK and France

Re: Here we go again

I actually saw a bloke on the train last night using a Windows phone. First time ever. This proves that Windows phones are now wildly popular. Or maybe it just proves that they are very colourful, or something.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 region-locking saga CLEAR AS MUD

Re: EU and US competition issues?

Consumer law also comes into it in Australia. For example, resale price maintenance of the kind described in Vietnam is illegal in Australia, don't know about other jurisdictions (having said that, Apple seems to have successfully prevented discounting on its products in a way that doesn't seem to have ever been adequately investigated). Any anti-competitive behaviour that affects consumers can attract the attention of the relevant authorities.

Intel touts 2-in-1s, the 'new' reincarnation of convertibles

Best at none

Actually, you're right. But most people don't need best, or else can't afford it, and settle for 'good enough', which is what my Transformer Pad is. I think Intel's problem here is that what they are trying to do is not possible in Windows; compact, light weight, long battery life, fully featured apps etc - at the moment, you have to choose a couple of those things. A lot of people are choosing to have Windows PC at home (and the office) and an Android or iPad device for everything else.

Turnbull floats e-vote, compulsory ID

Re: Ledswinger

It seems to me that a suitable solution would be require voters to number all the boxes above the line. That way people would at least have to read the name of the party they are preferencing and they might decide not to vote for the "Release more pigs in national parks" party etc after all.

Re: None of the above

Exactly, because voting is compulsory some people just take the ballot and make a deliberate informal vote. It's kind of surprising there isn't more fraud considering you don't have to show any ID, but the fact is fraud isn't a big issue in Australian elections and there is nothing to be said for fixing a problem that doesn't exist.