Posts by Bloodbeastterror 589 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Oct 2013
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."
I remember quite a few years ago that the Lexus 430 sports car with Mark Levinson sound system was advertised as "A great sound system with a car attached" (or words to that effect).
This is just a ruse to clog the streets with more unwanted furniture, distraction and adverts. Nothing whatsoever to do with erecting a useful-to-the-public amenity. A moving billboard with a phone attached.
For that reason I have a fire safe which should withstand an hour's fire. If my house burns down I doubt that my photos will be my major concern.
I've just ordered a WD 12TB drive to back up my Seagate 1, 3, 5 and 8TB drives, each daisy-chained from my 500GB laptop SSD via Synchredible to the next. I reckon that so many copies constitute a reasonable backup strategy, no? And they're mine, all mine. No monthly payments, 60MB/s retrieval when I need it rather than a tenth of that rate on a good day. And I have no intention of cancelling my WD contract with myself, so my data will be available for as long as the drives work, not for as long as MS/Google/AWS decide that they think I'm a good enough (read "money") customer.
No-brainer, innit?
(Oh, and of course I have my "essential" files backed up for external access on Dropbox/Drive/Onedrive - but if they fold, so what...?)
Easier said than done. I could see no version info in my Lastpass vault; I had to check the version on the executable, and it was still a 4.1 version from August. Nor could I see an update function; eventually I had to uninstall the 4.1 version, then download and install 4.33. Not a big deal, but equally not very helpful.
I mistakenly bought a Denon soundbar for my new Samsung Series 7 TV. Denon are hifi specialists and I had high hopes. It was ok. The extra bass was nice, but the treble was sadly lacking.
It kept disconnecting. Richer Sounds were, as usual, excellent and refunded my money without a quibble.
The cruncher was that quite a few times over the couple of weeks when I had the soundbar I thought "Well, it sounds better, clearer today" only to discover that I was listening to the tinny TV speakers.
My new audiophile setup is a pair of 12"x4" MDF panels angled at 45 degrees placed under the down-firing speakers. They bounce the sound out into the room very nicely indeed, and at a couple of quid are more satisfying than the £300 Denon.
...for the work that our elected representatives on all sides are doing to protect us all from catastrophe. We elect politicians into a professional role precisely for this - to make judgments that amateurs are not qualified to make. We pay them a salary and give them resources to devote time to researching difficult subjects that the working person doesn't have time for. Part of this role is to prevent the usurping of democracy, especially by unelected backroom shadows like the weasel Cummings (and to an extent Campbell, though he at least had a smart master).
To say "We've had enough of experts" is to turn the clock back to the middle ages. If your child needs surgery, do you go to an experienced surgeon or to the wise woman down the road? (And yes, I'm perfectly aware that some of you would choose the latter). Parliament is doing what we elected and paid for it to do - to prevent all of us, man, woman and child, from losing ***on the government's own best-scenario estimate***, £600 a year every year. Rees-Mogg can afford that - most people can't.
More power to their elbow to block and ideally destroy that straw-haired and straw-headed buffoon who has clearly modelled himself on Trump.
...in search of a problem.
Does anyone genuinely want a folding phone? Every moving piece is another opportunity for failure, and when that moving piece is the entire purpose of the device, its screen, then it seems doomed right from the start. And also from the second start. It really smacks of desperation.
"...because you never buy a ticket."
"Lord, Lord, please let me win the lottery."
"Oh Lord, please please let me win the lottery."
"Please, Lord, please let me win the lottery."
"Jock, meet me half way - buy a ticket."
(Please don't flame me for national stereotyping - I'm just repeating the joke as I heard it... :-) )
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