* Posts by Chands

30 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Oct 2014

Windows 10 May 2019 Update thwarted by obscure tech known as 'external storage'

Chands

Are you sure the HDD isn't marked as hot swappable in BIOS ?

Google readies Pixel for the masses, but are the masses ready for Pixel?

Chands

I started with the Nexus 4, loved it. Nexus 5, loved it. Nexus 6 .. a little too fat. Nexus 6P ah, that's better. Pixel, shit thats expensive. Nice phone. Look at all the monkies whinging. gosh. I didn't have any of those problems. I must be special. Pixel 2, ouch, expensive. Gosh, everyones moaning again about using the phone at 45 degrees and my GOD .. the screen is slightly blue. Phew, luckily I use my phone at 90'. I must be special. Pixel 3, gosh, ouch expensive. More whingers ..

It's always the same, the people who have problems are vocal on the internet and of course that's the complete data set of users, ergo, the phone has that fault for everyone, ergo its crap.

The internet does not have anyone saying, err actually i dont have that problem (i doing it now to prove a point). If you canvassed every single user for any phone, the problems wouldn't looks so bad.

And no, i'm not a google fan boi, like most techies i'm agnostic to tech mfgrs, if it works well, Apple, Samsung, Google, LG, i'll use it. Apple I love the design and they look great, but it's too constricted for me. Samsung, okay the bloaty UI has reduced over the years, but I prefer vanilla droid and front of the queue for updates etc.

Google should stop getting into hardware ? right so if every company that started off producing hardware (which they don't really, 3rd party) stopped because the first few iterations were shite we wouldn't have anything. Goes for any design cycle. Nexus line improved hugely. So did the apparently Awful Android OS. Looking how far it's come since inception. Android was always behind the curve with the UI. They've caught up and now diverting all their energy into AI/ML which is EXACTLY where they should be going, computational power is their forte. Apple in the meantime have stalled for the last few years and really need to start innovating again.

Microsoft takes a pruning axe to Skype's forest of features

Chands

Skype has been trashed. It's official.

Pre-Microsoft, I set up my Dad with a little hardware box that combined skype/landline and it was cheap as chips. He could use his landline phone and and hit *9 I think ? and it would route his call through skype. It was great. That's gone.

He has a lot of his contacts in speed dial. that's gone.

Adding people to a video call is now difficult as it fails to do anything sometimes, and just adds them to the group but you can't redial them.

The UX is horrid and leaves you wondering how the hell to do simple things.

I regularly skype with my Dad and Brother and all we do mostly on calls (after finally setting up) is just moan about how bad Skype is.

However, at least i can send one of 5 or 6 emoticons to the callers, now that's SOOOOOO useful.

Skype will be dead soon. All they will have left is Skype for Business.

We're all sick of Fortnite, but the flaw found in its downloader is the latest way to attack Android

Chands

Re: re: Bypass the Play Store and this is what can happen.

Yup. industry standard. Epic pay Apple 30%.

Point being what ?

Sur-Pies! Google shocks world with sudden Android 9 Pixel push

Chands

Re: I don't see it

mine updated this morning :E

However, it was only a 47MB update, which only took about 10 mins, since was on the beta and have had P beta for a while.

Chands

Re: "We’ve built Android 9 to learn from you—

Spying implies illicit use. I find it laudible that people want a better personal service but are unwilling to tell google what your preferences are.

Waiter : "ready to order"

Dumbass: "yep"

Waiter : "what would you like"

Dumbass : "lol, I ain't telling you, that's private !!!!"

Chands

Re: Survey...

I do .. and they can change en-route. I have about 4 viable routes to work, roughly equidistant. It would be nice to have options on Google Maps Sat Nav, to have priorities not only on Time, but Fuel and Distance.

Game over for Google: Fortnite snubs Play Store, keeps its 30%, sparks security fears

Chands

30% is not a joke it's the industry standard for a distributor and was in fact higher many years ago, probably higher because it wasn't digital.

Apple is 30%. Epic lowered theirs recently from 30% to 12% to justify being able to call google's 30% too high.

Chands

did you read the bit about it was the son that put his brother's CC on the app store.

do you now want parents to put parental control on teenage, young adults ?

Instead of putting safety tape and bandaids on a razor blade, how about don't give the kids the razor blade in the first place ?

Chands

Re: I can't blame Epic for doing this...

Yes you can.

Epic states their reason as '30% is too damn high'.

Yet they until recently also charged 30%.

They talked about reducing it to 12% four years ago.

Fortnite comes along, $100m + potential.

Change their percentage to 12%.

Cry google charges too much @ 30% and *that's* why they aren't going via play store. yeah right.

Teehe .. they now keep 100% and don't have to give google $30m +

Epic Douche.

AS people have pointed out 30% doesn't seem that high compared to legacy distributor cuts. In line with Apple's 30% for example.

The last thing you want is trusting kids with download apks. it's going to be a disaster and could very will punch Epic back in the face.

Google freezes Android P: Get your shoes on, tire-kicking devs

Chands

Re: How rapid will it get into use?

Yes, the do care about adoption, which is why they spent such a monumental effort on Treble which first appeared in Oreo.

Meet the Frenchman masterminding a Google-free Android

Chands

"I'm not happy because Google has become too big and is tracking us by catching a lot of information about what we do. They want to know us as much as possible to sell advertising,"

I have always comfortably sit in the camp of, fine take my data, make use of it, and I do reap benefits. I have nothing to hide.

Intelligent, learning systems require data, what Duval and a lot of others want is privacy; No keep away from data, I don't want to know what I'm doing. Fine .. go ahead a live in a black hole. OMG whats this wizardy of paper !! Ink is the devils bloods. I shall continue to use my Chisel and Stone !!

Err, yeah, so that's like Google's business model ? Google makes money from advertising. That's not new, i think they've been doing that for quite some time i think.

Apple makes money from hardware (over priced to most minds).

Maybe Google should stop mining data for ads and give Google Android for free. Because they could always grow the money on trees.

Maybe Apple should be lambasted for making money from hardware. We should open source free hardware !!

Everyone wants everything for free these days :/

Maybe Duval could ask the army of Google Android developers to work for free ?

User spent 20 minutes trying to move mouse cursor, without success

Chands

Re: Speaking of which,

yes, pulling off the crud in one long strip was most satisfying until you thought about what it was made of and you gag slightly.

My cleaning implement of choice was a pair of tweezers (even though I only used one).

Keep Calm and Carillion: Outsourcers seek image rebrand after UK construction firm crash

Chands

Outsourcing outfits across the land should seize on the opportunity to "stand up and be counted, to celebrate our successes, and to demonstrate the almost incalculable value that we deliver every day."

Err .. they haven't seized the opportunity because there aren't any successes. Outsourcer celebration is when millions are billed on projects that don't deliver and are mothballed. Money with no strings attached.

Wearables are now a two-horse race and Google lost very badly

Chands

I still have my Android Wear Asus ZenWatch 1 ( ~ £160?) I would still rather have it than a normal watch. I bought it as a 'want' but I find it really useful and people often go 'oh that's useful' when i check my msgs or ignore calls via my watch in a restaurant or a pub, not having to dig out my phone.

I like that I can get bored with a watch face and change it. if i'm walking using google maps i don't have to walk around holding the phone up .. i can take cursory looks at my watch that shows my directions.

Handy compass, don't need, but ultra handy when I need it .. cos what's the chance i'll have or want to carry around a real compass !!

Send quick texts via voice, usually in the car, so I only look stupid, not sound stupid as well.

I'd miss it if it wasn't there and products like that are what google are about, filling gaps you never knew you had.

It's just 'acceptability' that's causing people to not adopt.

I still feel a fool talking to a blue tooth headset because you look like you're talking to no one .. so again, look silly, but it's so useful being hands free not holding the damn phone to your head.

All this new technology, when it's habit changing naturally gets a lot of resistance until it's common place.

Shame Android Wear is not being adopted widely.

Farewell, Android Pay. We hardly tapped you

Chands

Its called progress. Who writes cheques these days ? Soon it will be, who carries cash around ? followed by who carries cards around ?

There will always be criminals, ergo there will always be someone after your money whatever mechanism you use. Soon you will be wearing under skin implants and bringing them in close proximity to someone else's to transfer money (yes, i've been reading Iain M Banks (rip) culture book, but find the future tech he describes very plausible).

New technologies will always attract criminals, but that's inevitable. I find all this tech adversity very Victorian.

Death notice: Moore's Law. 19 April 1965 – 2 January 2018

Chands

Re: Two words...

It sometimes uncertain :)

Google's home tat falls flat as a soufflé – but look out Android makers

Chands

They have dumped Nexus users. Nexus users will just get another Android. This doesn't extend Google's reach. They want iPhone users and this is their attempt. They want to expand their users. If i wasn't mistaken they've put some extra work into their data transfer utility that even copies over iMessages ?

Tell me they aren't trying to hook iPhone users (I'm not saying they will or won't succeed, just implying this is their intent).

Chands

Because of course the SD card is going to be as quick as internal flash. NOT. I've used a class 10 SD card on my phone and notice the apps working noticeably slower on SD rather than internal. This was Kindle and Messenger. I had to take them off in the end.

WHY would you allow people to slow it down.

A year living with the Nexus 5X – the good, the bad, and the Nougat

Chands

Re: Hmmm...

Jeez .. the more I see this whole anti-keepawayfrommydata thing really narks.

IMHO it's like going into a clothes shop and asking for help with Jeans and refusing to tell them what size you are. Why do you want to know that eh ? what are you going to do with that information .. sell it you will ! Soon I'll be inundated with flyers and leaflets offering me garments in EXACTLY MY SIZE.

No way ! (storm out of shop).

You know, if you were a crim hiding stuff I would understand :o)

The next software evolution on the horizon is AI and AI NEEDS DATA, otherwise it can't do squat.

/rant.

Google may just have silently snuffed the tablet computer

Chands

The tablet shares a completely different life cycle to a phone. Tablets aren't necessary, but they are really *handy* to have around. So once we have one, we're not going to replace it as often as a phone because it's a want not a necessity.

I can carry it around the house with ease, look up recipes in the kitchen, google stuff on the couch, take it on holiday to keep connected, use it on long trips, for reading (kindle) or movies etc etc.

And generally everyone in the house has a phone each but probably one tablet that's shared.

I don't see tablets going away, I cannot see the benefit of a hybrid over a tablet with the above activities. When the activities on the tablet for example starting including work, then the hybrid starts making more sense.

Google's hardware reveal didn't show a tablet, however there has enough in the rumour mill to believe that they will produce a merge Chrome / Android (Andromeda) OS, which will appear on a laptop / tablet ? The Pixel C .. is a lovely piece of kit and they might produce another 7" in the meantime, but personally, I'm currently curious for the new Andromeda OS.

Google slaps Siri with Assistant and Amazon with Home device

Chands

Re: Well...

I personally enjoy all the benefits of Google mining my data.

The ONLY problem here is not Google having your data, assuming everything they do is for nefarious reasons. It's just trust.

Honestly, where you do think we will be in 100 years ? Still harbouring our own data, cuddling it with both arms shouting 'la la la la not listening'.

It's progress.

Ofcom wants you to thank it for resurrecting the spectre of BT's 1980s monopoly

Chands

Re: Mild understatement

When I joined Ericsson in 1992 I was appalled to find that to activate a phone line for a customer was a one line Operation & Maintenance command that a BT engineer had to enter into a console at the local exchange. I think BT charged £90 for that.

An Engineer would probably have a work order of activations and just enter them one by one, taking minutes to complete/verify each one.

Virtually no one is using Apple Music even though it is utterly free

Chands

Re: Google Play Music

It's funny how Google Play Music is never mentioned. I switched from Spotify to GPM when they offered it at launch for £7.99 for life.

The only thing missing would be a shared account for family. I still rate Spotify, but since I'm on Android all ready, makes sense for me.

I wonder how many GPM users there are ? Do I Care ? not really, It works for me.

Apple to devs: Watch out, don't make the Watch into a, well, a watch

Chands

Re: Add fuel to the flames !

I don't think anyone doubts the functionality of the iWatch, I'm sure it's pretty awesome. I think my Android watch is pretty awesome too.

I think the point is, the Android watch has 100s of watch faces thanks to user developed apps, giving the user "choice".

Apple will not let users do the same for their iWatch, which I think is it a bit pants to be honest.

Tidal music launch: Pop plutocrats pour FLAC on rival Spotify

Chands

So let's see, they're going to charge double for subscriptions and pay double the royalties. To me that sounds like the same % going to the Artist. Do they even math ?

A complete waste of time, much like other ventures of Music Technology and Artists, aka Beats.

White House taxes Silicon Valley to skill-up American workers

Chands

Re: Companies are already laying off Americans to replace them with H!-B visas.

This does seem bizarre. On one hand Tata/Infosys et al are abusing the H1-B visa system for replacing expensive American workers with cheap labour and now Obama wants to OPEN UP the H1-B visa system to help train up employees in IT ? This is just counter-intuitive, or technically speaking assbackwards.

Alien Earths are out there: Our home is not 'unique'

Chands

I'm sure I've seen a Brian Cox episode where they've essentially deduced that there are in fact billions of planets out there that can support life. However, we are still unique, because we are *so far* the only detectable planet that is actually inhabited with intelligent life forms.

Although, I'd argue looking at the human race and calling us intelligent.

Virgin 'spaceship' pilot 'unlocked tailbooms' going through sound barrier

Chands

Re: Why...

If you read the article, it says he 'unlocked' the feather system. he didn't deploy it. it's a two stage process.

Apple, Google take on Main Street in BONKING-FOR-CASH struggle

Chands

Re: The US is still in the stone age

In the UK I use C&P Credit Card for everything. This has zero liability on the consumer. Debit Cards do not have zero liability, however there is some protection against damaged or undelivered products/services.

I really cannot be bothered with Cash/Cheques any more. I find taking out a piece of plastic and typing in a 4 digit pin, or signing something extremely convenient.

There is now very little barriers to using a card, I can even buy a single pint in a pub with a card, there's no spending minimum these days.

I do remember remarking how when I was in the US in 1993 that people were paid still by cheques and further astonished (in a positive way this time) that these cheques could be cashed in a Supermarket (VONS).

Whereas in the UK money is deposited straight into your account via BACS. Cheque books in the US were not free either which I thought was odd.

The adoption of C&P over signature was a major boon. I don't think it has increased the amount of fraud, people before had to emulate your signature, but now had to get hold of your PIN. Just a different barrier, but more convenient for the end user at the end of the day.