Posts by The Real SteveP

US Department of Justice claims Google bought its way to web search dominance

Re: The rest use Google

Well, I use StartPage or DuckDuckGo - NEVER Google directly...

And I know a lot of others who use similar search front-ends...

Thames Water to datacenters: Cut water use or we will

Re: Usual rip off

Could it be that Ofwat wouldn't let them because they wanted to pass the cost on to the consumer instead of paying for it out of their exorbitant profits?

Google: Turn off Wi-Fi calling, VoLTE to protect your Android from Samsung hijack bugs

Re: Apple

"While Apple might have fewer security issues than Android, they're patching speed is really poor. They just sit on the reports until after releasing the update. Where they do excel is getting people to install the latest versions, even if this means buying new versions of their apps."

Or even if it means buying new hardware because your current device can't install/run the update.

Sage accused of strong-arming customers into subscriptions

Re: Strong arming doesn't work

I moved from Line 50 lifetime license to Xero, when Sage wanted me to move to their Cloud but couldn't move my data - they said it was impossible to move historical data to their platform.

Xero made it possible - and very easy. They offered me a free online data-conversion from a Sage backup, and it worked flawlessly.

And it turns out Xero is a much more integrated affair, much less clunky to use, with integrated payroll and expenses, and cheaper than the Sage Cloud offering. Xero = win win. Sage = lose lose.

Microsoft backtracks on lack of easy Windows browser choice

Re: There are *many* other, and better OS options

... and yet you still feel an obligation to comment, anyway!

IBM US staff must be fully vaccinated by December – or go back to bed without pay

Re: Hmmm

"Tolerating the so called "right" to not vaccinate is in itself a decision to take away free choice from others (in this case the majority)."

First, I'll begin by stating that I have had A-Z one and two. Second, how does exercising the choice NOT to be vaccinated take away free choices from those that have been?

Surely if 'the majority' have had their vaccines then you not having yours doesn't affect their rights and free choices? Obviously if the majority have had their shots (having exercised their free rights) then the worst that can happen is that a member of 'the majority' infects an unvaccinated person who then dies as a result. After all, we're told over and over that the vaccine prevents hospitalisation and death in the vast majority of cases, so those that have exercised their free rights to be vaccinated then are awarded another free right - to perhaps kill someone who hasn't been by infecting them!

Just playing Devil's Advocate, but the free choices argument works both way you know...

Windows 11 in detail: Incremental upgrade spoilt by onerous system requirements and usability mis-steps

Mine has both? I just hit the Windows button, and type 'notepad' or 'paint', and either one will open...

Netflix sued by South Korean ISP after Squid Game fans swell traffic to '1.2Tbps'

Re: Looks like the ISP wants 2 bites of the cherry

In effect, at least in the UK, yes you do. The sender pays a fee to the carrier (Netfix) which varies according to the size and weight of the letter/package/parcel (bandwidth). Often the sender will transfer that cost to the recipient, but that is a contract between the sender and the recipient which does not involve the carrier (ISP).

Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos fraud trial begins: Defense claims all she did was fail – and that's not a crime

Re: No honor among thieves

What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?

I think I would rather have a judge-only trial; judgement being decided by a jury of my peers who start listening on the basis of 'You are guilty until I see evidence to the contrary' would be detrimental to my health.

As Uncle Sam continues to clamp down on Big Tech, Apple pelted with more and more complaints from third-party App Store devs

Re: You don't enter into a relationship with Apple...

The Romans gave us made roads, cement, plumbing, some of which is still working today in Bath in the UK, underfloor heating, etc.

Is it Patch Blues-day for Outlook? Microsoft's email client breaks worldwide, leaves everyone stumped

Re: Outlook 2010

Me too - I have Office 2019, updated both Windows 10 and Office automatically yesterday, had no real issues. Before the update, Outlook started telling me that I needed a password for each of the three 365 mailboxes on different domains that I use, but clicking on each mailbox opened them normally with no need to re-enter passwords.

I also use Zorin, which I like, but don't find the Linux email clients anything like as useful as Outlook.

HPE's orders to expert accountant in Autonomy trial revealed

Re: Extradition. Lynch:0 Sacoolas:1

If she really HAD diplomatic immunity, you would be right. BUT she didn't - she didn't qualify and neither did her husband. It was just a lie given to justify an American citizen being allowed to escape proper and correct justice. A bit like Trump's impeachment escape...

You're not Boeing to believe this: Yet another show-stopping software bug found in ill-fated 737 Max airplanes

Re: Those moneychangers...

"It's exactly what went wrong with the British car industry. German car companies were run by engineers who cared about cars and who wanted to make them better. UK companies were run by bean counters who knew nothing about cars and made decisions looking at pricelists of components and financial predictions."

Oh, right, so how did 'dieselgate' happen then? -And it wasn't just VW involved in that...

Talk about unintended consequences: GDPR is an identity thief's dream ticket to Europeans' data

Just for your information, the current UK legislation is the Data Protection Act 2018 and it incorporates the whole of the GDPR. Just saying...

Game over for Google: Fortnite snubs Play Store, keeps its 30%, sparks security fears

You do know we're discussing Google here and not Apple, right?

On Android, US antitrust can go where nervous EU fears to tread

There IS competition - Apple - who like Google have a semi-monopoly and initially force their users to use THEIR browser etc. So why aren't Apple being castigated in the same way, either by the EU or the USA? In terms of control and forcing users down their path, Apple is just as bad as Google, and I hate both of them.

Exposed: Lazy Android mobe makers couldn't care less about security

Re: Any chance?

Mu just-over 2 year old Galaxy S7 has received two updates in the past two weeks (I'm on O2).

I agree with the naming and shaming comment...

Reminder: iPhones commit suicide if you repair them on the cheap

Re: Increase profits?

"Android OEMs don't have to worry about that because they wash their hands of you five minutes after they have your money. If you have problems most phones probably can't/won't be repaired by the OEM - third party is your only choice."

More iFanboy drivel... The retailer is responsible for after-sales service whether you have an i-meme device or Android or Windows. I've only once in many years had an issue with a faulty Android device and the retailer lent me a replacement and had mine repaired properly, and at no cost.

Apple bricking your device intentionally IS illegal - and criminal, - and no amount of made-up 'justifications' can alter that - it is corporate theft by stealing your use of your device permanently, and it is certainly contrary to the misuse of computers act, at least in the UK.

As others have said, if security really IS Apple's intention (and I don't believe it is) then as soon as the device is turned on after the non-Apple repair then it should be locked, not bricked, until proof of ownership is given.

I certainly would never contemplate buying a car from them!

Upset Microsoft stashes hard drive encryption keys in OneDrive cloud?

"Most people don't keep data on their devices that needs to be encrypted."

WOW! That's a pretty sweeping statement; and one that I believe is totally the reverse of reality!

Most people don't realise that all the personal data that they DO keep on their devises SHOULD be encrypted but isn't, or that they should always protect their data from the bad guys!

Legal eagles accuse Labour of data law breach over party purge

Re: Utter nonsense

Even if they are storing the trawled information, because it's publicly available it isn't personal and therefore isn't covered by the data protection act. It's only private sensitive information that is covered.

The privacy laws work on the "you can't put the genie back in the bottle" principle, quite correctly.

Great idea; they can charge £10 per request for supplying the data and increase their revenue by doing so!

"The fact it was originally public information (probably) becomes irrelevant as soon as they start to process it for other purposes."

No it doesn't. Once public, always public...

Microsoft vacates moral high ground for the data slurpers' cesspit

Re: Mediocrity and poor secutiy are Windows middle names

"Fortunately companies like Valve with their Steam game engine have moved to porting more than 1300 "games" to Linux environment as of July, 2015. Others are apparently following suit."

And of course, EVERYONE knows how safe and secure Steam is, don't they?

Wheely, wheely mad: Petrolheads fume over buggy Formula One app

Re: Techno-wannabees

Actually I think your prejudices are the ones showing -

WilliamsF1 developed their own flywheel-based KERS system but decided not to use it in their F1 cars due to packaging issues (size and weight of the system), and have instead developed their own electrical KERS system. However, they set up Williams Hybrid Power to sell their developments. In 2012 it was announced that the Audi Le Mans R18 hybrid cars would use Williams Hybrid Power. In 2014 Williams Hybrid Power was sold to GKN, and Williams said that the decision to sell the company then was that Williams was not able to produce the technology for the mass market - Williams is an R&D company, not a mass-production one.

What that means is that Audi were using it for two to three years whilst Williams still owned it (and the reason Audi used it was because it already worked), and GKN bought it to take it to mass production, which they have done.

Like a Dell factory but what comes out is a LOT more fun: We visit Aston Martin

Simon, it's McLaren, NOT MacLaren! Detail is important, just like in the games industry... ;)

iPhone 6: The final straw for Android makers eaten alive by the data parasite?

Re: Stop wasting money on 'user experiences' that nobody wants then!

"Also, if you could stop trying to rob me blind for accessories that cost a couple of quid to make I might actually buy some. I might even buy more than one!"

Sorry for a moment I thought you were talking about Android, and then afetr the above I knew you MUST be talking about Apple!

Israeli spies rebel over mass-snooping on innocent Palestinians

Re: A joke, or some form of Israeli PR right? @h4rm0ny

You missed out London, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester and others from your list.

Gay marriage foes outraged at Mozilla CEO flap, call for boycott

Re: Freedom of speech goes both ways here

@skelband said "As far as I'm concerned all things should be possible to all people, unless that action impinges on the exercise of the freedoms of other people. That's the very definition of a free country. This man thinks that some freedoms enjoyed by one section of the community should be off limits to another and that that restriction should be embodied in law. Fair enough so far...it's a free country with freedom of speech. However, he didn't leave it at that. He performed a positive act to further those aims to enforce his "belief" on others. We've had other people in the past who sought to impose their "beliefs" on others:"

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Oh The irony of the above gay-fascist's opinion! Eich has just had the ultra-bigoted opinions of a minority group thrown at him and lost his job in the process, all in the name of 'right'. Yet those same cretins have abused HIS rights but that's OK - because it's only THEIR opinions that matter, isn't it?

Apple execs: 'Consumers want what we don't have'

Re: Fixated on Apple

@DougS "But Apple's threat was/is limited, as they only play in the high end of the market."

Some Apple patrons may like to kid themselves that their i-Devices only exist in the 'high end' market, but reality says otherwise. Most of those chavs on benefits street in the UK seem to have the latest i-Phones as well as other supposedly high end products.

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

Re: The ethics of the IT industry

First I have to say that I am not a fan of Microsoft - and even less a fan of Apple.

The first part of point 2 is absolutely spot on. The second part though is a complete load of rubbish. Current versions of Office allow almost ANY file data formats including the internationally accepted standards. Any ancient MS Office-saved file can be opened in any version of Office, and all accepted standard formats too.

As for point 3, I rather think that Apple leads the world in encouraging the digital throwaway society - they were among if not the first to install non-replaceable batteries for example.

Point 4 (the first sentence) is a rather concise description of Apple's ethics..

You... (Sigh). You store our financials in a 'Clowds4U' account?

Re: IT can be a pain in the arse too

Your last sentence says it all - EXACTLY why she shouldn't be using G Mail to transmit her data, or encouraging other staff to do so. She is probably already in breach of the company's security policies. USB drives can be encrypted you know - and they should be if they contain anything confidential or proprietary, but it sounds like she wouldn't like the hassle of having to type in a password... But hey, let's blame it all on lazy IT eh?

Your backup argument is a lame duck. She uses the files on her USB or Macbook Pro, assuming she's not too lazy to copy them there in the first place, then after revising them copies them all back on her next visit to the office. Only problem? It takes just a teeny bit of effort from your friend, who like most Apple iDevice users believe sincerely that the whole planet should in fact revolve around them!

IF her company has a remote working policy, then she needs to adhere to it. IF they allow VPN access and make server folders available over that, as long as she doesn't mind waiting for her files to download and upload there is no reason why she can't work as easily as the Windows PC users you complain about.

Re: IT can be a pain in the arse too

Your housemate (and presumably yourself) haven't heard of usb pen drives then? Certainly quicker than email - and if she has the Macbook Pro with her at work, why doesn't she just load up the files she needs before she leaves the office? It's what PC users tend to do (but only if company policy allows).

Is Citrix the remote client required by her company to be used for PC remote workers? If so, she is being treated no differently or 'lazily' by IT. Has the company's management implemented remote working policies that dictate what the IT department is allowed to provide (that is usually the case)? If so how is that translated into 'laziness from IT departments'? If MS Remote Desktop Client is the company's required remote access client, it is also available (FREE) for Macs, so why isn't she using that?

A Mac is just a pretty PC using a closed form of UNIX/LINUX as an OS. I don't believe that a professional IT department knows nothing about them. Macs are no different to any other PCs in function (only in the minds of the self-appointed 'elite' that use them) and there is nothing that can be done on them which can't be done on any other form of PC just as effectively and usually cheaper.

The budgets available to IT departments are usually inadequate for the tasks and results that senior management expect, and more often than not, spending of any budget must be approved by a non-IT literate senior manager - usually the CFO. It is never as black and white as you paint it.

From an HR perspective, why hasn't anyone questioned why she wants to work in her 'holidays, etc'? Such times are given for resting and taking time out free from work, and are necessary to one's well-being.

Blame Silicon Valley for the NSA's data slurp... and what to do about it

Re: "Optional" sounds just right.

Actually I think you'll find that the majority of people who have caused the problems - those that started Google, Facebook, etc, and run marketing companies - are in fact post 'baby boomers' who only understand the fact that what they want, they should get (whatever the cost to others), and have lost their moral compass.

It is in fact the post baby boomer generation that is smug, self-righteous and self-indulgent and working for GCHQ and the NAS, Google, etc... My generation's (so-called 'baby boomers') mistake was to allow principles and respect for others to be thrown out with the baby's bathwater and replaced with a set of 'human rights' so vast that each impinges on those same rights of others. Individual rights are now more strong than those of majorities, so killers and thieves (including corporates and religions) have no fear of reprisal and society in general is the worse for it.

A whopping one in four Apple fanbois uses OBSOLETE TECH

Re: @DougS

Actually my last S2 was sold back to my provider for £170 - that's about US$300 - in the UK resale on most high end phones is strong and all of our service providers buy back at normally good prices, refurb and resell. Most androids are repairable too. My wife is currently using a 3 year old S2 running 4.4 and is very happy with it. And it doesn't drop calls if it's not held in the designer grip! ;)

Are you saying that none of Apple's claimed is installs are new phones?

Re: Android fragmentation

So are you claiming that iPhone users don't upgrade their hardware every 18 months to 2 years, just like Android and W-Phone users? And that a proportion of i-PC users don't follow the fashion upgrades on hardware just like a similar proportion of the other 95% of the PC market?

Mac fans: You don't need Windows to get ripped off in tech support scams

I've used TeamViewer for years, and can confirm that it DOES indeed appear in All Applications/All programs or Add/Remove programs, and is EASILY removable, not that you need to remove it as it is indeed a bona fide support program. Unwittingly inviting a nasty third party onto your PC is NOT a hack, it's the result of 'social engineering' and is nothing to do with the legitimate software provider TeamViewer.com...

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

Re: Real story

There are plenty of scientists who argue against the accepted claims of 'global warming' (now called 'climate change' - such as the world-famous botanist David Bellamy, who has been ostracised by the vested-interest establishment including the BBC for arguing that the money-making sales pitch called 'climate change' is not man-made but a natural phenomenon that has been going on for ever. Those scientists that don't agree with the establishment view are ridiculed and ignored by the world's media - whose owners all have interests in the climate-tax business.

Note that scientists such as Bellamy do support the careful use of the world's resources and also replenishment of them, and recycling; they just logically disagree with the money-grabbing snake-oil salesmen of the 'warming' brigade like Al Gore.

Microsoft: Surface is DEAD. Long live the Surface 2!

Re: They still don't get it.

If what you say is true then Apple would have ceased to exist long ago. They produce nice-looking gadgets containing 3 to 5 year old technology and charge ultra-premium prices because their customers are only interested in the badge.

And to the person who raised the issue of Microsoft's 'illegal' monopoly - well they never had one illegally. They beat the competition fair and square using the same methods that their competition did. And if you were referring to the Fourth Reich's (EU's) huge fine for not providing a choice of browser, why haven't Apple been fined the same amount for the same reason?

Master Beats: Why doesn't audio quality matter these days?

Re: Beats vs. BeyerDynamic

For the morons that buy them, it makes no difference - they are the idiots who allow the record companies to distribute music tracks as low quality mp3's while conning the public that their quality is as good as CD or vinyl. Mp3's = limited audio spectrum for for people who know no better. So those people would rather spend hundreds on a Jamborie Bag toy with a designer badge than buy quality. They buy Apple and BMW for the same reason.

BlackBerry CEO: iPhone past its prime

Re: It's like the bike

Really? Try explaining to an iPhone user that wants to use Swype for text input that they have to create their text in the Swype App, then copy and paste (a relatively new innovation in iOS!!!) their text into whichever App they really wanted to enter it into in the first place! Apple have locked the keyboard and their stupid arrogant intransigence means that the user MUST do it the Apple way or the highway, however inconvenient that is. On an Android, the user can set keyboard for all Apps in one go to Swype, then open Apps and use it. On iPhone (and other Apple devices) - IT JUST WORKS (NOT).

For non-technical users, they still need to be able to properly use the Apps they download from the store, and no Apple Corp bullshit will help them understand why they have to jump through hoops to get text into an App the way they choose to, or why the App (Swype) doesn't work the way it does on all their friends' non-Apple devices.

Great HR mistakes of our time - Aviva fires 1300 by email

HR people don't 'sign up to help people' at all...

There is a vast difference between 'HR' and 'Personnel'.

The former are people who treat staff purely as a commodity or resourse, to be used or disposed of like an old machine with no humanity, and as the article states with the minimum cost or legal liability to the company. The latter, on the other hand, are people who are there for the mutual benefit of the company and its staff, and who try to do the best for all concerned and what is morally correct. The former don't take morality into account because they don't possess or understand moral virtue, a bit like bankers, lawyers and estate agents.

Elite coder readies £15 programming gadget for schools

Rollercoaster Tycoon was nothing to do with David Braben

http://www.reghardware.com/Design/graphics/icons/comment/wtf_32.pngRollercoaster Tycoon was written by Chris Sawyer, who it happens also coded the 16bit Elite-Plus for Microprose. He also wrote Transport Tycoon, out of which Roller Coaster Tycoon was developed.