Posts by Doctor Syntax

Openreach tests 50 Gbps broadband – don’t expect it anytime soon

Re: How does the back end support this?

Subscribers? That word was verboten even back in the 90s. Customers!

Why users still couldn't care less about Windows 11

Re: what a fucking waste of resources

"I can't see anybody wanting to upgrade to linux, they're all small companies using Microsoft 365 mostly"

If by that you mean they're doing everything online then they'd scarcely notice what the client OS is. Why not suggest a trial?

Re: A brief pause, please

"Many years ago, it was fashionable to hate IBM. Big Blue, and all that."

It turned out to be more wisdom than fashion, didn't it?

Re: The only reason to update to Windows 11 is to satisfy Nadella's cost cutting.

The prime requirements of a UI is that it works and that it works today the same way as it did yesterday. Elsewhere in these comments someone has quoted something to the effect that they wanted familiar ways to do unfamiliar things, not unfamiliar ways to do familiar things

Re: overkill

"They have been written down on the books by now, so the upgrade isn't a big deal,"

It's still money that could have been used for something else.

Re: overkill

"So the outlay of some pennies above to moderate to incremental upgrades vs the cost of a new machine to run W11. MS have missed the target."

What target do you think they missed?

How much do they make from a free upgrade?

Now try again: what target do you think they missed?

Before W95 arrived a lot of us were using things like CDE which had pop-up menus from gadgets which were by default at the bottom of the screens and also put icons for minimised applications at the bottom of the screen. Following that precedent was a sensible thing to do. They could, however, have put the shutdown option anywhere in the list or even given you the option of where to locate it.

Oddly enough I've never found having the power sub-menu there to be a problem. I suppose it's because I instinctively whizz the cursor half way up the list because the most useful options on my menu are there. The real issue I have with the W95 GUI design was moving the close application function from the system menu - the icon at the left of the title bar to the right hand end. That's partly an issue because the system menu was common to Windows & CDE but also because it was - and still is - easy to hit by accident in place of the minimise and maximise buttons which mattered because most applications assumed you wouldn't hade closed down unless you meant it and didn't offer a chance to save work.

Sweet summer child with reading comprehension issues…

"whatever you’d like to imagine about Microsoft’s benevolent customer-first approach simply ain’t true"

I have no imagination whatsoever about the existence of Microsoft's customer care let alone its benevolence.

It's simply that Microsoft have worked out a means of making more money vs making money:

You're OK with renewing H/W - fine, we (get the H/W vendor to) sell you a licence for W11 which brings in the price of an OEM.

Or

You're not OK with that? Here's a deal whereby you don't have to. You just pay us more each year for ongoing support. We'll keep the price less than you'd spend on the H/W upgrades. We make more than we would have made by indirectly selling you a new licence at OEM rates.

Re: This is why Windows 11 will eventually succeed

Repeat until you get bored and just let the Windows update runfail.

FTFY

I suppose the big difference with Linux is that the choices are available in parallel and the user makes them whereas with Windows they're sequential and Microsoft's marketroids make them.

Re: Barrel

If you just rely on written versions you'll have missed half of it which was in the spoken delivery. The very mention of it takes me back to childhood, sitting round the Sunday dinner table listening to Family Favourites on the radio wireless.

"Indeed I am. Most of my documents are portrait with occasional landscape pages. On my 27" widescreen monitor I find vertical real estate more valuable than horizontal."

Very often I find myself working with a document I'm writing on one side and some source document on the other so the width is valuable for that. But then I realised that LibreOffice writer can be set to two-up, e.g. two successive pages side by side which is great for laying out double-page spreads*. I don't know if Word does that as I don't use it. When reading comments like this it struck me that it would be a really good way to build a code editor as you'd effectively have a double-height monitor.

* It actually has a book layout option so the first page of the document is displayed recto. It even has an option on print-preview to do that. But I still haven't found a way to get it to create proof PDFs that way - it just resorts to plain 2-up.

"the artificial hardware requirements are just that"

But necessary to prevent free upgrades when they want everyone to buy a new box just so they also pay for a W11 licence but also allow the more recent purchases to upgrade so they can avoid the class actions they'd be hit with otherwise.

Re: Same story, different year

First post, I see. You joined up just to praise W11?

Re: The only reason to update to Windows 11 is to satisfy Nadella's cost cutting.

"Until Linux offers a unified desktop UI API, backwards compatibility, and ends its ideological hate for commercial software, it won't be able to replace Windows regardless how much Nadella cripples it."

You should give it a try. What is this unified desktop API you're looking for that doesn't exist. What would it let me do that my disktop doesn't currently do? Who are what is this Linux that holds opinions such as idealogical hatred? It's only people who have idealogical hatreds - and it comes steaming out of that sentence I quoted.

Re: Windows 12?

I suspect they're on a permanent downward trend now. There's nobody there with any idea of what an OS should do and what it shouldn't do. That may not be strictly correct but it's obviously the case in marketing and they're calling all the shots.

As to the last, we'll just have to take your word on that.

Re: Elderly like Mint

"They revert back to widows and then, because I appear to be an expert, call me up when they can't do something "

If they revert there's no support. That's the rule. Stick to it.

OTOH my CiL's 50 something Windows-using children find they can use her Zorin if they need to so it's not all youngsters who are stuck.

"saving precious vertical monitor space"

Can't the Windows task bar autohide?

Re: Tune Win11

"if I were travelling to some country like Israel where they routinely scan visitors' computers without permission"

Something like a Chromebook would be the solution to that. Not an actual Chromebook because you'd want to connect to your own server. You could then give one set of credentials to security and use something completely different for work.

Re: Bought a cheap (off amazon) micro pc

To clarify that - just in case you want to send it back. Alternatively set up dual boot. Then occasionally you can boot up the Windows partition so you can point and laugh.

It's work knowing you can update those cheapos. SWMO's own laptop has a dodgy M/B and the W2K era one she's using now is really slow. But I was worrying that something really cheaped out might not have access to a boot menu.

Nope, it's all grist to the mill. Do you really think the Windows division doesn't have sales targets?

Eggheads crack the code for the perfect soft boil

Launching any eggs, pre-boiled or otherwise, on an unsuspecting world sounds a bit messy.

Uber CEO warns robotaxis can't find a fast route to commercial viability

Re: Autonomous vehicles

One particular stretch or road locally has signs up saying so many casualties in 3 years (which 3 years not stated). What is the correct question to ask about that?

1. None (apparently the local authority's)

2. Who are the anomalously large population of selfish pricks?

3. What's the matter with the road?

In answer to 3 it could be 5 out of 7 junctions having bad sight-lines, 2 being virtually blind in one direction another which really needs to be a roundabout, probably double and was far from being improved by being improved a few decades ago and yet another being quite deceptive at night in that a badly placed reflective speed limit sign makes the main road appear to go on straight on while it actually bends to the near side.

The reason for these, by the way, are that in the age of the horse and cart and stage coach it didn't matter if the turnpike cut at odd angles across the old roads used by pedestrians and pack ponies.

But it's OK, if we just put up signs warning drivers that this road may be dangerous in unspecified places for unspecified reasons all will be well.

Just for added joy, a few miles away there's a left bend sign just at the point where the road bends to the right.

AV's really aren't going to fix issues like those.

Re: Choosing between running a highly underutilized network...

That peak demand problem the reason why people will continue buying their own vehicles. Nobody else is prepared to make the necessary investment on their behalf.

Democrats demand to know WTF is up with that DOGE server on OPM's network

Re: Fishy

Your post reminds me of the great library of Alexandria. That too was burnt by barbarians.

Re: Fishy

"That's why I was in the meeting - as an outside expert."

In your position I'd have required my invoice to have been paid upfront.

Re: centralised power!!

Surely sates creating their own laws makes it more difficult for a country consisting of states to create laws.

Re: Fishy

"Shirley even you, bob, can understand"

Optimistic. AFAICS a large proportion of the US runs on belief, not understanding.

Re: Aren't Government employees neutral.

What is this thing about voters "registering" for a party. Is this obligatory? I suppose it would be a Good Thing if it was a means of singling out a government employee for closer scrutiny if they were overtly a member of a political party to avert partisan activity but the opposite seems to be the case.

Agent P waxes lyrical about 14 years of systemd

Re: Not a Hater

"Let's hear it for the positive aspects of systemd"

Tumbleweed.

Re: Reading this makes me cry

Not on here we're not.

Sent from my Devuan-powered laptop.

Re: "(Almost) all in C"

Or an old one. APL.

"It's still maintained! But it's old,"

So am I. And wiser.

Mixing Rust and C in Linux likened to cancer by kernel maintainer

Microsoft engineers have contributed to the kernel for years. It's Microsoft engineers in init that are the problem.

Copilot+ PCs? Customers just aren't buying it – yet

There may be another consideration apart from price and functionality. What does all that extra processing do to battery life?

Robot dogs learn bomb disposal tricks in trials

If it manages to work out how dangerous it is it might refuse to do and just hide behind your legs whimpering.

Why UK Online Safety Act may not be safe for bloggers

Re: Exactly as we all predicted

I think it's more a case of Politician's Syllogism: Something must be done; this is something therefore it must be done.

Re: Bet

The quickest response will be when OT comments start being posted to MPs' particularly Labour MPs' blogs, ministers' personal blogs or government sites.

Workday erases 8.5% of workforce because of ... AI

I'd guess those who could get out will have taken the hint and are now long gone.

Remember it'll cost ya to keep the lights on for Windows 10

Re: If you decide to purchase the program in Year Two, you'll have to pay for Year One too

They know they can get away with pretty well any level of customer abuse by now. Perhaps other countries should take a twist on Trump's Fentanyl policy, impose tariffs on the US until they stop shipping Microsoft products.

Re: If you decide to purchase the program in Year Two, you'll have to pay for Year One too

"Presumably if Windows 12 is the first OS you buy, you'll have to pay for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, NT (all versions), 3, 2, and 1 too."

Shush. You'll give them ideas.

Re: Still peanuts.

Doing nothing is not the only alternative. There's also the alternative of replacing not-at-all-broken H/W simply to upgrade to W11. On that basis it's going to be cheaper. MS make their money - even more than the sales of the OEM licences they're missing.

2 officers bailed as anti-corruption unit probes data payouts to N Irish cops

"Come on man - if you don't know what you're talking about, don't weigh in."

Perhaps I know a bit more than you. I'd certainly follow the precautionary principle.

Early mornings, late evenings, weekends. Useless users always demand support

Bill the department whose member of staff raised the call. Double rate at least, minimum 4 hours. There's no point in warning that you'll do this because morons like that will ignore the warning.

I used to refuse on-call rotas on the basis that if you call I'll respond if at all possible but I won't undertake to sit by a phone all weekend or whatever - this in the days long before mobile phones. OTOH if I was called it would have been serious, usually nothing short of a murder enquiry.

There was one exception when my local police station contacted me directly. They wanted an independent witness to the behaviour of a drunk in the cells. He'd already damaged one cell door - double layer of thick wood with a steel plate between the layers - by head butting it.

US datacenters in for shock as Canada mulls cutting the juice over Trump tariffs

It might say something different tomorrow. Probably will once they notice.

Re: Yikes

"But that isn't how Trump operates."

Yes, so don't play his game. What was that saying about the only way to win is not to play.?

Re: I wonder...

The real problem here is that head of state and head of government are, AFAICS, combined.

Re: How about...

I wonder how that plays with international conventions. However when you decide to tear up international conventions you can't call on them to protect you.

Re: Short term pain for long term gain.

Taking action just provides him with something onto which he can divert blame for the inflation he'll cause. It probably takes more courage, however. I suppose, of course, they could just tell him outright why they're quite happy to let him burn his house down and they're not going to lift a finger to help him nor to hide the fact that he's the arsonist. But I suppose it's beyond a politician anywhere to not be seen to react.

Re: Short term pain for long term gain.

Covid was a gift for the Brexiteers. It confused the issue and even 5 years on they're blaming all our woes on it. The pandemic has gone, Brexit is still here.