Posts by DavidAtEeyore

Thought you didn't need to show ID in the UK? Wrong

Re: Passport?

Here in Oz, some of the states do this, my youngest, who doesn't drive, has a proof-of-identity card issued through the same process as the local Driving Licence. You rock up to an authorized Photo Point (often larger Post Offices) they image your face, and certify the ID documents that you bring with the form you have filled out and had witnessed by a 'suitable person' from a list, Birth Certificate/Passport and bank account statements. You then pay money, and several weeks later, your new shiny POID/POA card arrives in the post.

MS Word deserves DEATH says Brit SciFi author Charles Stross

Re: even my kids with learning disabilities can manage that

Did you read his blog post? His major objection to Word is that his publishing houses insist on work being submitted in a proprietary format - MS Word .doc/.docx files.

MS Word is simply overkill for many users who would be just as happy with WordPad (if they have to have MS product) or an alternative such as Atlantis (just checked - still around: up to V 1.6.5) And don't get me started on that ~%%@!#*+ Ribbon!

500 MEELLION PCs still run Windows XP. How did we get here?

Why not XP2?

If Microsoft were serious about keeping the millions of XP users with older, working PC's inside the MS tent, they should consider devoting a crack team of OS developers to reengineering XP to overcome the security issues that will arise without a constant stream of obscure patches to "fix" bugs.

it (I suggest XP2) could borrow from Win 7 (not Win 8) some of the newer features if they could be implemented without breaking the XP model. MS could then offer XP2 as a say, $25 upgrade with a time-limited voucher to buy a discounted Win 7/8 OS licence.

There's an awful lot of Win32 business software developed on XP for deployment on XP; smaller businesses are not going to shell out for new stuff just on a Microsoft whim.

If MS insist on their present approach, the gradually increasing bleed to Linux, Android and (gasp..) the fruity ones will become an avalanche.

NBN rollout to reach 1.3m new premises by late 2016

The Phantom NBN

I looked up my address on the NBN site (Melbourne NW of CBD abt 5km) not even on their map yet, no estimate of when either.. Interestingly, we live on a main road, where on the other side, a hell of a lot of fibre has been dragged and every week, folk are in the big pit, joining fibre.

On our side of the street [1km from Telstra exchange bldg.], the nearest pit is cracked , waterlogged and contains plastic-sheathed 100 pair Cu cable...I am not holding my breath waiting for the NBN rollout of any flavour!.

ANSTO confirms synchrotron rescue

Vic state doofi

Bah, humbug! When are these brain-dead Vic pollies going to stop this insane obsession with "everything should be privatised and make a profit" notion? [getting rid of the idiot premier would be a start]

The Synchrotron is primarily a research facility, which we are desperately short of in the wide, brown land. It was not designed to make a profit.

No wonder the clever locals are spirited away overseas...

Dick Smith faces tricky times

DSE are just another Box flogger now

A great pity, DSE have closed one of the stores in Maribyrnong which had some parts, the staff said they would be moved to their other store in the Highpoint shopping centre; now that shop has been "remodelled" and the parts are all gone along with the kits and the tools.

With the rise of the Maker/Arduino culture, you would think that there would be an opportunity for the original Dick Smith to get back into that business.