Posts by Jes.e 153 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Feb 2013
"I don't wave my heterosexuality in your face, don't wave your homosexuality in mine."
Really? All I have to do is open a magazine, turn on a TV, play a computer game, or go to a movie to see heterosexuality being openingly waved in my face..
..Though happily things are finally starting to become slightly more balanced nowadays.
""I have practiced martial arts since the early '70s (apparently often in pyjamas)"
Take life a little less seriously."
An upvote for you kind gentlebeing.
A further clarification about the martial arts "pajamas".
According to my Akido instructor the "gi", the official costume of all modern martial arts costuming from Japan are actually underwear of the time.
Due to cloth shortages due to wartime, everyone practiced in their underwear as everyone had that by default and it was socially egalitarian as no one had to go out and purchase special cloths to join a Dojo.
In addition you really didn't have to change clothes as you do now. You just removed your street garments.
"Oh and didn't I read somewhere that many people who are homophobic are insecure about their own sexuality or is that as stupid as being homophobic / racist / genderist / ageist etc etc...."
Yes. Yes you did read that somewhere..
And more interesting than that, the straight homophobes have a greater arousal response to watching gay porn than the gay dudes did.
There's a Ted talk out there about that which I would kill to be able to find right now..
Voice recognition is mostly doable.
Optical object recognition seems another kettle of fish.
It may be able to do simple things but if I bring in a broken bit of plumbing to see a replacement a computer is going to be out of its depth.
Somewhere in India I suspect there will be human wetware backend fallback driving the interactions to keep the system from replying "I don't understand" or "I don't know what that is" too many times.
Of course these guys themselves will be running from menus so..
Anyway that's how I would design a system that runs with imperfect information.
A disguised bit of outsourcing perhaps?
Or is it an implied threat to labor unions?
"Surely this could just as easily be written as Apple backing up your work by default for you, for free. This is just how the Apple ecosystem is designed - if it's easier for the user, or if the user gets some benefit then it's on by default."
***
Very insightful!
The nudge theory (I hear Teller yelling in the background) tells us that if this was off-by-default there would be many unhappy users complaining that their iThing doesn't work properly and the interwebs would fill up with negative reviews.
It *still* should be opt-in though. The way to do it would be a notification to the user the first time they log into their new Yosmite account with "Here are some new privacy options <checkbox list> and the reasons you might want to enable them now but IF NOT you can always change your mind later in preferences <info> [LATER] [APPLY]"
...
This somewhat reminds me of the harrowing experience one day, when I found my Android phone suddenly started uploading every photo I had taken and storing them in "the cloud".
I had absolutely no indication that this was going on.
The behaviour was quite startling as I had just done the normal coffee shop app update marathon. I think I had long ago given up on reading all that info with most of it being bug fixes.
What tipped me off was that my data use was slightly high..
After I narrowed it down as to the "who" thanks to Androids very nice GUI interface for tracking data usage controls, I launched Dropbox.
When I launched the Dropbox app it did inform me of the new feature but it was too late, the Dropbox *update* had made the change.
I manually went to the settings and turned if off.
I thought that the Apple design documents had something called "The law of least surprise" back when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
The reason I bring this up is that I suspect this also occurred to Apple users in the past and is going to get more prevalent unless Apple drives a User Privacy Interface Standard that all Mac and iThing applications should (must?) adhere to.
"I have not signed into iCloud with my apple id, and guess what? I don't have any options under System Preferences>iCloud except to sign in ;-} Don't sign in and Apple don't get your info."
***
Thank you. With all the yelling in here,I was beginning to wonder if upgrading to Yosmite was going to force/auto register me with iCloud.
I've continually declined the nice prompts when occasionally offered, as I'm in an internet free home (by choice) and my laptop is my only iThing.
..and wasn't this behaviour of Handoff obvious? Start writing on your phone, finish it on your big screen.. without having to take any direct action?
Again thanks from us non-iCloud users for the clarification.
"Besides, if they're all women, there will be a huge reduction in the chance of them getting lost on the way to Mars, as they will have no aversion to stopping and asking for directions."
Thanks for that!
I'm lying in bed with a bad case of flu, and your comment resulted in a laughing/choking spasm that I thought was going do do me in as the buzzing in my ears/dark spots in vision/tingling in limbs engulfed me.
Thanks!
The brain uses a very high percentage of one's energy expenditure.
Approximately 20%
http://io9.com/5920970/how-many-calories-does-thinking-burn
Couple this with the interesting fact that women are smaller than men on average, so are their brains.
They contain the same number of neurons, so women's brains are more efficient.
Plus an all women crew would have a much better time communicating and thus getting along with each other.
Just my two bits.
I'm almost over my head here, but Apple seems to have a nice system which they open sourced and Google did a summer of code on.
Here's the relevant bit from Wikipedia:
*****
A port to FreeBSD was done as part of Google Summer of Code Project in 2005 by R. Tyler Croy. However, it can not be run as PID 1 (only a session init), and it is not commonly used on that platform.[6]
The Ubuntu Linux distribution considered using launchd in 2006. However, launchd was rejected as an option because it was released under the Apple Public Source License – which at the time was described as an "inescapable licence problem".[7] Ubuntu instead developed and switched to Upstart, its own service management tool.
In August 2006, Apple relicensed launchd under the Apache License, Version 2.0 in an effort to make adoption by other open source developers easier.[8] However, most Linux distributions use systemd or Upstart, or continue with init, and the BSDs also continue with init.
In December 2013, R. Tyler Croy announced his intent to begin work on his port of launchd to FreeBSD once again, and his "openlaunchd" Github repo subsequently rose in activity.[9]
"..Unfortunately there's no checkbox for making the new UI look like it wasn't repeatedly hit with an ugly stick until it got bruised black and blue and then fell unconscious."
If you are referring to the transparency effects, you can return your windows to a reassuring solid white and black with a tickbox under the "Accessibility" options I hear.
..Save yourself some battery life too.
If you are referring to other things.. it could be worse..
Apple could still be using metal to simulate stereo appliances!
Come to think of it they finally lost all vestiges of their skeumorphism..
The cassette tape GUI in the sound recorder application on IOS was too precious for words!
"..Until I'd read to the end of the next page, I had a mental image of passengers on Easy Jet flights looking out of the window to see a fleet of small drone aircraft moving closer and then tightening nuts and lubing aileron actuators, as they flew along."
With William Shatner sitting there looking out of his window..
No one has mentioned that Android has had this for some time (as well as a blink option so it knows it isn't looking at a photo).
This breaks down the first time you use it in a not-daylight situation and you find it doesn't work as there is no front facing LED (they could use the screen.. hmmmm) and the front facing cameras are even worse than the back facing ones in dim lighting.
Cool idea about using IR to check for a pulse BTW.
Only *ONE* thumbs up?!?
Very nice rant! And succinct too.
Can I clip it to send to my friends and relatives?
I have exactly the same problem trying to explain to folks what they are doing wrong..
..starting with why you don't use the same password everywhere!
<facepalm>
There was a website called DigiCrime which demonstrated in a humorous way the problems out on the web.
It needs to be seriously updated..
About that six day creation thing..
Which version?
There are two creation myths in genesis and they are about two pages* apart..
..annnnnnd they disagree with each other ever so slightly.
Does god suffer from multiple personality disorder?
P.S- The Hindu creation myth shows the unformed universe as being a vast ocean which you can see visualized in the opening title sequence from the fascinating movie "Sita Sings the Blues";
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1QkYOqI3jSM
---
*Your metric may vary if you are reading from a scroll.
For all you folks giving funny retorts to this individuals need to google how to shut off windows.
I have a techie friend of my own with the same problem. Needed to make some changes in the BIOS.
Problem is Windows 8 doesn't actually shut down when you do the power thing.. it goes into a *quick shutdown* mode.
This is so it can start *up* faster..
"Obviously this calming effect wears off after a further few days, leading to irrational beliefs and murderous desires:"
How many days specifically?
It's been over 3150 days for me and I'm still waiting for my murdering cannibalistic spree to kick in..
I don't have forever you know!
Regarding the Guardian pictorial..
Aside from the "Is that a phone in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" horrifying fashion pics, it really doesn't look like *any* pocket (save the men's button jacket) is a good way of carrying the device.
How *is* one supposed to carry one about?
Is the man purse, sporran, or cod piece coming back into style for us guys?
...
My sister tucks her windows phone into her brassiere if anyone is interested.
Can't hear it ringing though..
Seconded!!
I live in the US..
I started to get a clue when I wanted to see parts of the Athens opening afterwards and was shocked when I got exerpts from the BBC version on YouTube. (The BBC announcer knew Greek literature and science and our USA counterpart just babbled.)
I watched the London live but then found a HiDef Australian version on a torrent site. I was horrified to find bits had been omitted.
I bought a clue by four and skipped watching the Russian opening entirely and just downloaded a BBC version when it became available.
Are you aware we have ad breaks over here in the US which increase exponentially as the show progresses? And when you get back parts of the opening (especially the march of nations) just gets dropped on the floor?
Yes. The ability to just go with the stadium feed would be wonderful!
Regarding that McDonald's hot coffee incident..
Perhaps you should go out and look at a photo of the resulting burn.
You cannot unsee that photo.
And the woman in question was NOT the driver which is always assumed.
McDonald's had many many many complaints regarding their coffee temperature over the years before this.
They simply decided it was more important for the coffee to be a good temperature after it had been carried off to work and consumed about 15 minutes later than the safety of individuals.
Oh. Here you go:
http://www.google.com/images?q=mcdonalds+coffee+burn+photos&hl=en-US&sa=X&oi=image_result_group
Please educate yourself. There's even a documentary on the subject.
Lawsuits are sometimes the only way if you are dealing with an ammoral publicly traded corporation.
Think of it as a gentle corrective force applied to the warm buttocks of the free market.
"But given that "economic growth" includes the second as well (and actually is rather more important too in terms of the quantitiy of each) and we can have an infinite amount of that thus, therefore, we can have infinite economic growth."
No, I really don't think we can..
A human being requires energy to come up with those delightful programs (and books and art).
If you don't think this is true, please consider IBM's Watson doing a medical diagnosis, or analysing Wikipedia to come up with answers to a random debate question:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ibm-supercomputer-watson-programmed-debate-moral-issues-1447413
Human work requires energy even if it is mental.
I would be very interested to hear what the economics experts on this forum think on the following little piece:
Do The Math- Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist
http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2012/04/economist-meets-physicist/
Oh yes.. the author on that site also has a rather remarkable piece on how long it would take humanity to use more energy than the entire galaxy at even very modest economic growth using nothing but the formula for exponential growth (if you're interested).
Though it's said that if you get 10 economists in a room, you will get 11 different theories- the one thing they will agree on is that growth is foundational to their "science".
The true problem with economics as a whole is that economists think the environment is a subset of the economy rather than the obverse.
>>They are on a serious power trip and believe nobody can stop them or if they do try it will trigger the final >Judgement Day, which is what they really want to do
>And I think some muslims are almost as bad - fortunately they don't have nukes or strategic bombers
HA! *Very* good point!!!
Except our news doesn't label them as terrorists over here when they also float bills to shut down women's health centers and to make "teaching of critical thinking" in schools illegal in a continual state by state basis.
We once went to the moon and brought back rocks older than 6000 years when I was a wee tot, can you believe it?!?
"The Apple community were also impressed by the new version of Mac OS X y+1. It's our most stable release yet said Apple CEO Tim Cook in his understated way.'"
I think you're confusing Apple events with Microsoft spectacles..
Apple emphasises new features and slimmer design.
Microsoft always talks about improved speed and reliability..
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WMzXjCx81A4
Speaking of Web site best practices..
When I first signed up for the forums here several years ago, I noticed that The Register was not using SSL in any part of the transaction and my password was being transmitted in the clear.
Is this still the case? (I'm on my phone right now..)
Well, the browser in BlackBerry 10 is so good that I wish I *could* run an ad blocker and Ghostery and automatic cookie disposal like I can run in Firefox and Chrome.
Fast and slick and beats everything but Chrome on the HTML5 test. (as of last week)
Lovely minimalist interface too but a bit of a shock.
In fact, the OS comes with Flash but I keep that disabled.
Lest this sound like an ad-
Plugins and extensions come with security risks:
Adblock Plus 1.8.3 on Chrome comes with "Access your data on all websites" and "Access your tabs and browsing history".
These two permissions are very common in Chrome world.
Do you trust your plug-in author?
And text only browsers such as Lynx aren't very useful on today's Web. They would be if Web designers coded for disabled folks using Web standards but they don't as evidenced by viewing pages on the obsolete Android browser or in Lynx.
...
Sorry I got away from the topic there but yes, the best "just browse" browser is on BlackBerry
You might want to see if you can still grab a copy of Opera Mini or iCab for your platform.
Opera Mini will strip out ads and compress your graphics to reduce your bandwidth.
iCab (for the Mac) came with a button informing you how compliant the HTML on the page is. [and that's another story]
"The Coriolis stuff doesn't fit my definition of hard sci-fi so much as it fits my definition of masturbatory self-aggrandisement."
I must respectfully disagree.
This is not a masturbatory exercise. It's a little extra for the savvy reader.
Much like all the computer technical stuff dropped like cookie crumbs in Charlie Stross Laundry Files universe. (I mention Charlie because it was from his blog I first heard about Peter Watts in the discussion forums.)
Most normal readers won't even realize that the history of computers are even there in his novels. They are reading fantasy as far as they are concerned.
Time was, back in the early years of Science Fiction, rockets had to be explained to the audience. In fact there was a general misapprehension (even among engineers) that rockets would not work in space, as space was a vacuum and the rocket engine had nothing to push against.
In fact there was even when this was overcome, there was the belief that a rocket could not travel faster than it's exhaust.
Sounds silly, but by the time of Clark and Heinlein this had mostly been rectified through education of the readers of the past and how rockets work no longer has to be explained in detail. Now the writers can focus on refinements like Hoffman orbits vs alternatives. e.g. Moving comets for water supply.. etc.
..Of course what DOES need to be explained is why (Hollywood) film makers create stuff so hopelessly ignorant as a rule; that for example, I was driven to walk^H^H^H^Hrun out of Armageddon early due to the massive brain damage I was incurring shown by sitting in the audience. And this was *with* NASA working in an advisory capacity to the directors during the films creation.
The film even premiered at NASA in Houston where Bruce Willas failed to appear as promised. (Maybe HE was insulted by it when he saw early versions.)
I wish I could have been there to film the expression on the really wonderful NASA folks as they watched this piece of.. (nevermind) and show that all over the world to demonstrate how brainless the media producers of Sci-Fi product of my homeland are.
Of course.. the movie scene has only gotten worse since then.
Sigh. I shouldn't complain.
The main goal of any Hollywood film is to get butts in seats.
...
We don't bother telling folks how rockets work now.
We shouldn't need to tell folks about the coriolis force unless it is germane to the story. Interested readers can trivially go to the Internet and research it for themselves.
In fact, if you go to the Wikipedia page for Blindsight, you will find that the author released it under Creative Commons and you can get it as a ebook for free if you wish.
The author even does what is common in hard SF. He provides a very long treatise at the end which describes where the ideas he used in his novel came from. Along with references and links!!
Very impressive!
Thanks for the heads up about his new novel Register.. I will be purchasing that immediately (along with Blindsight.)
I'm an Android and a Mac user.
Interesting little detail about the Apple credit card registration process (which WAS required for me to simply apply OS updates.)
Apple did not accept my disposable MasterCard credit card in its registration.
I was required to enter my actual bank VISA debt card tied into an actual bank account!
Scum!
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