Posts by joed

Microsoft suggests businesses buy fewer PCs. No, really

And how do these users will connect to MS' cloud pc? From a PC they'd likely not be required to have otherwise (quite common for folks working aforementioned jobs). So the employers offload their equipment cost onto their labor and MS pockets all the imaginary savings (no way it was cheaper once everything is accounted for) and can make all the greeneashing claims (I bet it'll also ask for some green tax credit taxpayers are complied to hand over to cash strapped corpos and equally handicapped shareholders).

Win win/s

Rivian wants out of Amazon electric van lock-in

I guess Amazon's commitment reflects business sense (or lack of if) for fancy EVs of any kind. To be honest I'm surprised to see these slow rolling blackout that far north in winter. Having said that, these are still better than luxury personal rides subsidized with taxpayers money (and parasitizing grid beyond what's reasonable to move ~200# human from A to B).

Microsoft makes Outlook Mac native email app a freebie

I do not know in what way the Outlook for macOS could be considered a native app. Another Teams like electron thing - sure. The looks of Outlook web access is the 1st giveaway, another are similar limitations not present in Outlook for Windows (like no option to update DL membership etc). No idea whiy MS is trying to misstate facts, though it lines up with bs like x/do not upgrade doing the opposite during w10 push.

What goes up must come down: Logitech sales tumble amid PC slump

Re: Forced market dump

Untill you stumbled onto a non-unify set. All i needed was fairly cheap replacement keyboard. Picked one on sale but little did I know, logitech decided to ship something totally incompatible, not a warning on the box (preferably in big red letters). Now I'm stuck with this crap and i do not really feel like switching 2 receivers between work and personal device. And pricing of their other reasonable kit (mouse with forward/back buttons) seems to have gotten out of hands. It's not like everyone was some hipster keyboard connoisseur. If I have to replace the whole set, i may get some competitively priced but still half decent generic.

Fat EVs may cause 'more death on our roads' – watchdog

Re: Weight is relative...

I do not know that cars, especially heavy one cause little damage to roads and surroundinds (in the event of a crash). Bikes, sure (but not dirt bikes on dirt roads)

Re: American cars are too heavy - solution blame electric cars

Id argue that such limits should be placed on both ice a electric vehicles. And get rid of stupid cafe loopholes for trucks. Only this would force maximizing efficiency. Simple a penalty for each # over total mass/average vehicle occupancy in eccess of standards set and updated periodically would take care of some of the problem. And no shifting co2 credits between gaz guzzler manufacturers and efficient or electric ones. And cars should be sold based on its own merit/value and no tax breaks mudding the water and benefitting those who could already afford theam at the cost to the rest of tax payers.

Re: More mass = more energy, right?

It does not really matter how that electricity is generated. Claiming the use of clean energy only means that others have to do with dirty sources. And all that extra power generation capacity (regardles of the type) has to be built (with signifficant release of co2 and often destruction of natural lands). This fact somehow escapes greenwashing PR).

Re: More mass = more energy, right?

Not to rain on that 1000km parade but most of travelers - at least in US - would skip any but a "pit stop" breaks for such a trip. Not to mention that they'd be done within 10 hours with absolutely no speeding (obviously assuming no gridlock on the way).

And with such a low average speed i could almost make it on just one tank (obviously i drive a euro car with mass nowhere near behemot SUVs, electrics or even worse - electric SUVs).

Parental control apps prove easy to beat by kids and crims

nature will find the way

what did they expect?

Where are EU going with that Teams antitrust probe? Microsoft wants a word

Re: not surprised it's shit

The funniest thing is that it's most s...t at MS' own platform.

But definitely, their market position is such that effectively blocks any competing product once a business used any of MS Office products (it amazed me rhat anyone considered zoom an investment at the beginning of covid with Teams creeping onto corporate desktop). And now that Teams is bundled for 'free' with the rest of o365, no sane IT would bother with anything else. Also you get free Bing search bundle that nobody would pay for otherwise, hooray.

Rivian abandons electric van partnership with Mercedes-Benz

Arguably the biggest issue is calling these monster trucks a reasonable replacemt for efficient cars (of any tupe). One would hope that switch to electric vehicles would give opportunity to fix US' personal vehicle market insanity (perpetuated by cafe loophole) that seems to be spreading worldwide, but nope, the bigger, the 'premierer'. Just what's doctor prescribed. A rolling blackout. The perfect way to delude masses about fighting global warming.

TikTok could be banned from America, thanks to proposed bipartisan bill

another distaction

from urgent needs. A proof that elected officials are hard at work. If everyone keeps looking the other way nobody will notice sore reality (and spice will flow into worthy pockets)

Voice assistants failed because they serve their makers more than they help users

Just ask Alexa how much loss she made to Amazon and you'll find out learn irrelevant details about rain forest. Hard coded answers, no wonder that people got borred with gimmicks

Apple preps for 'third-party iOS app stores' in Europe

we'll see if it matters

If the rules and entry costs are similar to that of Apple's self repair kits or 3rd party payments it'll just a veiled farce.

btw. Apple will still keep the platform key and will be able to revoke access from non-compliant store so all that security talk is missing the point. And likely they'll provide option to lock 3rd party store access for worried parents (not like internet was not full of s...t their kids could play with all day).

Mozilla will begin signing Mv3 extensions for Firefox next week

Re: How about letting Android users choose the plugins they wish for Firefox

And dns over https controls (outside beta and nightly). But at least NoScript and uBlock Origin work as God intended.

US Justice Department requests more info from Adobe on $20b Figma buy

Re: Surely not !!!

"There are fears among some users that Adobe will combine the two and raise subscription costs, something that Figma co-founder Dylan Field said isn't happening, and that the platform will remain free for education users." - hook them while they're young.

US Supreme Court asked if cops can plant spy cams around homes

Unrestricted the use by government is/should be limited by existing wiretaps laws. Obviously government agents are notorious for testing the limits of the law and supreme court is here to intervene. Being preoccupied but by other controversial matters likely won't help here.

If you think 5G is overhyped, wait till you meet 5.5G

Re: A problem...

I bet the the "solution" would help consumers discover the problem with paltry data caps (if one was to use 5G as it's advertised). Maybe a stadium full of mobile phone users would be plausible use case but why any sane person would willingly pay for something he/she is not likely to ever need.

Re: RE: 2G

Tmobile nagged me earlier this year, yet my emergency use flip-phone (15+ years old, not the the bendable fancy type) keeps working on their network. I bet that 3G network will remain in use for water/gas meters etc (and few consumer holdouts won't make much difference).

Letter to FCC: Why are US carriers locking handsets to networks?

Re: Buy cheap

Absolutely, 6s was peak iPhone (functionality-wise). The idea of paying 800$ for base model is ridiculous (not to mention missing features like more convenient fingerprint reader, audio jack and proper home button instead haptic fakery). Apple has great PR with regard to respecting privacy but some of this is plain bs (why else personalized ads are opt out) and being locked into walled garden gets old over time. Esim seems like another lock-in vector (judging by the ease of switch from physical to esim but not the other way).

Re: Buy from the Mfr

Arguably, taking credit on anything means purchasing what one can't afford and maybe should reconsider buying. The only thing it helps is bank's bottom line and inflation. Paying twice for anything makes sense, not.

Re: Got screwed by Xfinity Mobile

Are you sure of this? I have a work phone and personal one. iPhones, the same model. ATT. The work one is sim locked, the personal one I've got off ebay, brand new, unlocked and it's remained so despite "sim-swapping" the card from work one into it. No harm done (and I'd be unhappy if your statement was true as I may eventually place the prepaid tmobile card into it, when I cut it down in size to fit once tmobile for real cuts off my emergency flip phone from their 3g net, surprisingly this thing still works).

Chromium's WebRTC zero-day fix arrives in Microsoft Edge

Re: Are they really trying to jam Edge down peoples throats?

If you're not certain that M$ jams Edge down peoples throats just try using Windows. Sooner or later you'll end up in Edge, peddling Bing search results and with some nags to change default browser (if not already reset "for you"), import your browser settings and sing in to MS account. And that crappy new tab page (and news and interest adware on taskbar to spare some change for poor MS).

Inspur hot on liquid-cooled servers as part of quest for carbon neutrality

green-washing

"liquid-cooled servers as part of quest for carbon neutrality" or an indication of out of control power requirements of current gen chips that forces complex solutions just to deal with waste heat.

Apple's new MacBook Air: Is the jump to M2 silicon worth another $200?

That 1.2k M2 model with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is not doing particularly well. Actually, it's even under-performing compared to the last gen 14 inch M1 base model (serious SSD bandwidth bottleneck and thermal throttling). Considering the price of effectively required RAM and SSD upgrade (still no fix thermal issues), I'd call it a dud. Not that I've ever found their M1 models performance particularly exciting in normal use. Whole lot of hype.

Microsoft teases Outlook Lite for Android

what about the browser?

The lite option is already there and does not require cluttering phone with MS cruft or - worse - mobile management.

Btw, while MS is at it, could they take care of Teams? Why is taking 700MB+ on iPhone?

Rufus and ExplorerPatcher: Tools to remove Windows 11 TPM pain and more

Re: I wish it was retroactive.

The problem with MS account setup is that the time you're done, you had to provide them with your phone number (because mfa is essential for a junk account). All these foolish games are just example of MS' fomo.

Microsoft backtracks on lack of easy Windows browser choice

Re: Customer Enhancement Programme

3 incorrect assumptions. Neither majority of Windows users makes any changes to telemetry settings (sad but true) nor MS can be trusted to not siphon this data even when limited controls would appear to turn them off. 3rd - MS does not have good track record of responding to user feedback (e.g. they simply doubled down with BS features following W8 beta response). They tend to prefer damage control in face of failure (like following W8 with slightly less tabletty W10). It's not like their user-base had particular choice.

FTC sues Intuit for false advertising, says 'free' TurboTax isn't always free

Re: The real problem

Absolutely the crux of the problem. These scammers corruptedlobbied Congress to block possibility of direct electronic filing for US citizens. In effect everyone ends up paying to them either for "value added" service (fine if this was true choice), with personal financial data (if one qualified for the "free" filing) or with personal time (if one refused to deal with the middleman scumbags). And while my state does offer electronic filing for state taxes I've been forced to medieval ways for federal tax. True undisturbed "free market" solution they argued for.

Thailand bans use of crypto for payments

and good ridance

hopefully others will follow. Now, how do we put all this hot air and CO2 wasted in the process of reinventing the wheel.

Intel updates ATX PSU specs, eyes PCIe 5.0 horizon

Re: 600W for a GPU?

It's a dead end with efficiencies barely acceptable for a space heater in polar regions. Definitely the computing segment looking for a revolution and very similar to car market where almost all efficiency gains have been jeopardized due to never ending increase in mass of vehicles. Some governments (EU) are forcing impossible standards for some industries (with diminishing returns and failure prone solutions) while losing sight of growing powers hogs (data center etc). And no amount of greenwashing will help (all the talk of data centers using "renewable sources" means that other demand had to shift to dirty ones).

Intel boss presses Congress for manufacturing subsidies

Nah, wealth transferred is inherent element of free market. There has to be corporate outlet for taxpayers' money. Paying twice for your chips is the only way to go.

Intel eyes subscriptions to grow software sales from 2021's $100m

slippery slope

Soon cpu microcode updates will ensure that intel code outperforms competing solution on "their" platform. MS showed the way back in the day.

It's your Loki day: The Reg takes Elementary OS Jólnir for a quick test drive

Re: General question

? It may be just because I'm predominantly a Windows user and my macOS exposure is only on the support side (likely still more in depth than that of average Mac user) but I'd not call File Explorer trade for the Finder an upgrade. What a mess (other that proper file search that MS can't grasp and keeps trying to shove in Bing instead).

Nvidia says its SmartNICs sizzled to world record storage schlepping status

Well, not even 20 years ago the green team was offering chipset for the red team that implemented some form of network firewall. The execution was imperfect and they discontinued software support for this product before pulling out completely from the x86 chipset business. I'd like to know if any of that legacy has lived on.

Swiss lab's rooftop demo shows sunlight and air can make fuel

Re: Hmmmm

My thoughts exactly (I've learned about this process while listening to a podcast). The whole concept seems to be dubious idea/investment for so many reasons. The only viable option I could think of, was retrofitting few of large scale existing non-photovoltaic power plants (Morocco, Arizona etc) where sunk costs of past "investments" could be recovered (big) if the technology could really scale output faster than costs. Though water requirements, and neighbors not happy with harvesting water from air (likely at additional cost/efficiency impairment) will be a problem.

Microsoft touts Windows 11 SE: A locked-down OS to give Chromebooks a run for their money in schools

this should be as successful as their 10S attempt. Same privacy concerns as on Chromebook with uglier interface (though 11 brings some hint of color to soc-really flat landscape of W10).

Another 100 space tourists buy a ride from Virgin Galactic: $25k of that ticket deposit is 'non-refundable'

all the talk of impending climate doom

while the waste like this is glorified as yet another achievement of technology/human race. I guess different standards are applied to those with boatload of $ and those that can barely afford a beater car (and may soon be forced to walk everywhere once their PoS vehicle is considered outside of compliance with some arbitrarily stringent policies applicable only to unwashed masses).

Billion-dollar US broadband bonanza awaits Biden's blessing – what you need to know

another wealth transfer under the cover of good intensions

Somehow I can see IPSs and techbros/hipsters that want to settle countryside (but did not want to lose "civilization" link) as the greater beneficiaries of yet another government handout than the rest of society that stayed in remote places because they either wanted to be left alone or appreciates lower cost of living there (being undesirable by those who just have to have it all). As usual we'll all chip in to support "high society's" vision of enlightened lifestyle that everyone should aspire to.

Oregon city courting Google data centers fights to keep their water usage secret

simple math problem

while the issue demonstrates major issue America faces (corporatism), with elected (?) officials working against their own electorate, I think that instead of asking for "trade secret" info, someone should get total water production data and usage of all other customers. What's left will be Google's cloud dirty secrets (I bet all is powered by clean renewable energy diverted from other more essential purposes).

Let's see what the sweet, kind, new Microsoft that everyone loves is up to. Ah yes, forcing more Office home users into annual subscriptions

only fools pay

It's safe to assume that businesses participating in Home Use program have already assigned e3 license to employees. This entitles to bunch of installs across devices of users' choice. Let's call it sideloading (someone paid for it so freeloading it is not). Keep files locally and Office is Office. For honest folks or these that simply don't trust MS, there are open source options. And obviously old versions of MSO (regardless of their license status). Absolutely no reason for consumers to fill up MS coffers.

Here we go: Uncle Sam launches antitrust probe into *cough* Facebook, Google *cough* Amazon *splutter* Twitter...

has MS funded this antitrust probe?

or Uncle Sam somehow mixed up MS with Twitter. An innocent mistake obviously.

Hope to keep your H-1B visa? Don't become a QA analyst. Uncle Sam's not buying it: Techie's new job role rejected

Re: Not *entirely* unreasonable?

Really no need for racism to impact wait times for Indian nationals. You start will limited pool, split between regions/countries and, with huge number of people from India entering the line, you get 12 years wait time. For better or worse, US can't just let global population move in all at once (at least until "American dream" is all gone).

Wholesome: Waste heat from coal power station turned data centre to help grow veggies

dumping heat into the lake is not so great

once you consider environmental impact. They should rather reuse all the hot water within/nearby their facility.

Google digs deep behind back of multicoloured chaise longue, finds a spare $2.6bn to slurp analytics house Looker

inflation of "investments" money

2.6bn $ is a lot for a startup that's "burnedamassed $280.5m in funding".

Banhammer Republic: Trump declares national emergency, starts ball rolling to boot Huawei out of ALL US networks

Re: Huawei + China Vs Cisco Systems + United States of America

"Don't Cisco have a back door into their kit which will allow American authorities to access the infrastructure its placed into?" - Cisco likes to have it both ways. I don't think their contribution to Great Firewall is by accident. And with number of bugs their kit does not require any covert back doors.

Have you always wanted an algorithm that can search like Bing? Well, if you change your mind, one's on GitHub now

Re: I gave up on Bing when I tried search Microsoft's own website with it

Nobody should be subjected to Bing search algorithm. All of MS search "engines" (web, sharepoint, store, windows) may as well be replaced with dice. Results would not become any more random.

Free online tax filing? Yeah, that'll soon be illegal thanks to rare US Congressional unity

It's not just paying fee for something that should have already been covered by taxed we pay. It's sharing financial data with these greedy a..holes at tax prep behemoths that irks me. The reason I've been filling up paper forms for years as the problem is not new but has just extended into foreseeable future (and similarly to Micky mouse copyright "initiative" should be labelled with the name of major backers). I can only see time when they block states from providing the service (similarly to telcos blocking municipalities from providing basic Internet access).

If anyone needed another proof that our 2 party system is just a smokescreen, there it is.

Two Arkansas dipsticks nicked after allegedly taking turns to shoot each other while wearing bulletproof vests

do what was the brand and model of that quality vest

just asking;)

The HeirPod? Samsung Galaxy Buds teardown finds tiny wireless cans 'surprisingly repairable'

Re: Why bother?

"it seems nobody has quite nailed this form factor with the possible exception of Apple" - sure, if one like the looks of retro teen with cigarette over ear(s). The reason Apple's device performs so well (likely with exception to job #1 that is the sound quality) is its form factor (allowing for better antenna placement), separate BT radio per each earbud and increased power levels at which they operate. Unfortunately none of these is free - they are pricey, look stupid, are likely prone to falling (depending on activity user participated in) and built in battery life is only acceptable.

BTW, Samsung's design looks like a copy of original Jabra Elite Sport. These has proved great (as far as BT can deliver), especially for the refurbished price I've got them for.