Posts by Bloodbeastterror 608 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Oct 2013
Make your product so invasive and unpleasant that you drive people away to custom ROMs where no Google influence is essential?
The irony is that people who have the knowledge to sideload (as already mentioned, "install") apps are likely to have the tech knowledge to avoid problems.
This is just Google overreach, all too common in today's corporate world. "Don't be evil" is long since dead.
"You may have to download and run the installer on it from the command line."
Exactly the point I was trying to make. I'm perfectly happy with Android Fastboot/ADB, so I'm not averse to the command line as such, but since Linux is hailed as the obvious alternative to Windows (I wouldn't touch Apple with a bargepole) my point is that to install a Linux program I shouldn't need to poke around under the hood downloading repositories and running six commands when a single click on a Windows .exe does it for me.
Maybe I'm lazy, but if Linux really does want to become more consumer mainstream then it will have to look harder at what new users want. Experienced propellorheads may find it a breeze, but even as an experienced computer user I struggled with the frustration to the point where I just gave up. Until Linux cracks this it's doomed never to have more than a small share of the consumer market.
Please don't flame me - it's just a comment for discussion.
After swearing I'd never touch Linux again, I downloaded Zorin 17.1 just last night in the hope that it will be easier than Mint in terms of usability. Absolutely no disrespect to Mint, which looks great and performs very well - I suspect that my difficulty is not with any distro but with Linux itself. Specifically, the installation of programs. Packages where I can click and install are great, but I grew increasingly frustrated by the regular prompts to use the console with half a dozen "get this/get that" commands. Yes, I'm soft after so may years on Windows where a click on a .exe does the work, but I don't understand why Linux, knowing what it needs to install, demands that I spend time typing abstruse commands to get the job done.
I'm not sure what can of worms I'm opening here. It's just my opinion for comment and advice.
Well, as I said, my parents brought me up to respect integrity and decency. It's a real genuine shame, and somewhat of a shock, to see so many Reg readers falling on the wrong side of the line. I expect better from a crowd who I always imagined to be more intelligent than the norm. Sad.
Please do continue to flame me. I remain convinced that it's wrong to laugh at this man's death.
I have thought it through. As I said, dark humour is funny. But this isn't a suitable subject. Tell me how it is. What next? Laughing about a child buried under rubble in Gaza?
And I'm not offended. As I initially said, I'm cursed with a sense of decency. Unfortunate innocent deaths aren't suitable subjects for laughter.
Alas, not so simple. I tried this just a couple of weeks ago with my ageing but still 100% Nexus 6, and it really didn't go well. I expected the paid apps not to work, of course, since without Google there's no proof that I paid for them. However, even some free ones were also glitchy, and my final straw came when What3words (admittedly not a crucial app for me) simply repeatedly force-closed every time I tried to start it. Add to that the loss of contacts, Gmail, Keep, etc. (all of which have workarounds, but nothing approaching the seamless Google experience) and I decided that it just wasn't worth the effort. I'm sticking with my firewall & VPN as my best effort for privacy.
"who is allowed on a 50-mile jollie"
A jolly, actually.
I knew that my comment would draw responses like this - "What about the money?" No doubt you'd like to make the same argument about coal...?
We pay politicians to make these sorts of decisions, people who should(!) be taking advice from scientists and experts to make the best choices. The bottom line, however, is that plane travel is, in many/most cases, unnecessary, avoidable and vastly polluting. You appear to be boasting about your contribution to destroying my children's planet. Shameful.
Amusing article. Brave lad.
At the risk of being branded Off-Topic Eco-Warrior, I think it's disgraceful that governments are not taking this opportunity to thin the herd of planes. Instead they're squandering (our) billions on bailing out these polluting planet-killing monstrosities. We should retain only minimal flights; no 50-mile jollies for lazy CEOs, no unnecessary business world crossings just to use up the corporate travel budget. I worked for a large American financial corporation and occasionally took part in 5000-mile video conferences on triple HD screens with HD audio, and it was like having the other people in the room. There's 100 tonnes of CO2 saved right there.
This is an opportunity that shouldn't be squandered.
Once again the government is proclaiming that I.T. is the magic bullet that can cure all ills. It really isn't. The cure is the simple personal one originally trumpeted and now discarded - stay away from other people apart from those you live with. Instead, now we have "It's all fine, go about your business", which will inevitably cause another spike with or without a so-called T&T app. What a shambles.
For those who missed it (and correct my maths if I'm wrong) the UK has, on the government's own figures, 40,000 Covid-related deaths; worldwide we have over 400,000. The UK has a population of 67 million; the world has 7.8 billion. The UK has 1% of the world's population but 10% of Covid deaths.
Competent...?
Well, if I need a changelog to see the differences, then the differences aren't in any way significant to my usage of the device, no? And as I stated, even after use of a new OS I've always thought "Meh! What changes?" The A/B partitions are a great idea but of minimal impact to day-to-day user experience, Dalvik-to-ART may have had a tiny (imperceptible) effect on app installation, black mode systemwide is nice. But overall, new version, same old same old.
The important thing is shouting "new, shiny" and selling more phones.
"Superb, new icons"
I agree. Each time I've upgraded an Android version (my Nexus 6 was originally on L, I think, and is now on Q) I've thought "What difference is there exactly...?"
When you have a working system, all you can do is tinker round the edges. If icons are the stand-out improvement, then I think we've arrived at the end of the line. Still, gotta sell those phones...
@cornetman
Yes, entirely correct. I thought that GWB was an appalling dunderhead and rejoiced when America overcame its inherent racism to elect Obama, a man of culture, elegance and thoughtfulness. Then Trump... Nuff said.
Then I saw an interview with GWB a couple of years ago and he had become the statesman I wish he'd been able to be during his presidency. Not of Obama's standard, but a whole lot better than the pressures of the presidency allowed (I'm trying to be generous here).
@NerryTutkins
"I think you'll find that unlike the terrorist bogeymen, this virus is 100% real"
I don't think you've grasped the meaning of "the shock doctrine". It doesn't imply that the events upon which power-hungry manipulators seize are imaginary - they are genuine events which the manipulators use in order to twist the knife a bit more into our freedom. "Terrorists and murders are at your gates. We're here to help. We just need you to follow these rules." And the populace, frightened by the hysteria whipped up by a docile press, say "Yes, ok then."
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
I've commented here before - if you read this and your blood doesn't boil, you haven't read it properly.
And here we go again - the next opportunity to diminish our freedoms still further.
"We're doing this temporarily to increase your safety."
Time and the virus pass...
"Yes, I know we originally said it was temporary, but things have changed."
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