* Posts by Geoff (inMelbourne)

28 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Jun 2015

Stuff a Pi-hole in your router because your browser is about to betray you

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Why not use a cloud-based Pi Hole equivalent?

Because that's easier to do. No hardware or software to acquire or maintain. Less faffing about.

And it works when you're away from your home network, which is 'often' for mobile phone users, and laptop users.

Something like NextDNS, or similar?

I'm open to alternatives, but the general idea seems sound to me.

Qualcomm's Windows on Arm push would be great – if only it ran all your software

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Why do I feel like the author is a bit biased after reading the whole article?

Because it's a blatant Advertorial begging us to "stick with Intel just a little bit longer, while they work on their next big thing, which will be really really great, I promise".

US proposes ban on Chinese, Russian connected car tech over security fears

Geoff (inMelbourne)

It would be a simple matter, the administration reasoned, for a foreign company in a nation like China or Russia, where governments "compel companies subject to their jurisdiction … to cooperate with security and intelligence services," according to the proposed rule.

So that would be EXACTLY what the US government is doing right here.

Compelling all car companies 'subject to their jurisdiction ' to cooperate and choose only software that the US government likes.

Just like they compel telcos to not use Chinese network kit, or even sell Huawei handsets.

Pot, meet Kettle.

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Great first step...

"Now can we extend this to ANY connected car tech, not just Chinese or Russian? I don't need or want a car with the capability of reporting my location, music preferences, list of contacts from phone, etc., but seems like most of them do these days"

And, of course, any Russian, or Chinese, or <insert bogeyman of the day here> HACKERS won't care at all what the country of origin of the car software is. They'll happily hack into a Ford or Toyota or BMW or anything else. Banning just the *foreign* car makers who have a better-cheaper product isn't going to solve that problem.

Agile Manifesto co-author blasts failure rates report, talks up 'reimagining' project

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Agile misconceptions are rife

- It will use "agile" methodologies

- Budget is pre-defined

- Scope is pre-defined

- Deadlines are pre-defined

-----------------------------------------------

That, right there, is EVERY formal RFT process that has ever existed.

The customer has a specific job to do, gets a (fixed) budget allocation from 'higher up' to do it, and has several absolute requirements that define what 'done' looks like.

The customer gets some external companies in to quote, in the hope of choosing one that will actually result in a successful project.

The developers arrive, and waffle on about Agile, and Frameworks, and Methodologies.

The *clever* developers give a knowing wink to the actual techies in the room. They know it's all rubbish. They know that YOU know it's all nonsense. But right now there's a contract to be won, so they're playing the game.

Agile? It's a meaningless buzzword. Nothing more.

The real world has fixed budgets, solid due-dates, and very specific requirements.

If you're lucky, very very lucky, the 'internal resources' (ie: staff) will actually get enough 'spare time' from the daily grind to be of assistance.

Microsoft answered Congress' questions on security. Now the White House needs to act

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Why is the author repeating crap?

It does make me wonder: Why wasn't the customer using BYO Key?

Or worse, perhaps they were?

Will Windows drive a PC refresh? Everyone's talking about AI

Geoff (inMelbourne)

...Anyone remember 3D TVs? Segways,?....

Oh do try and keep up!

I used a virtual AppStore in the Metaverse to download an open source AI program over-the-air to my EV that allows me to 3D print my own autonomous 5G Blockchain.

For what purpose, you ask?

To do anything *I* want.

And if you can't see the possibilities in that, then get out of the way. The future is now, old man. The future is now.

Read AI about it... OpenAI does deal with News Corp

Geoff (inMelbourne)

A genuinely disturbing moment in AI

The Murdoch media should not be used to train AI, or even used as a source of facts.

The Murdoch media is a source of right-wing 'opinion pieces' for gullible looneys. Totally devoid of facts or balance.

Murdoch owns FOX News and Sky After Dark, for crying out loud!

The really disturbing question is: What is Sam Altman up to here? Why does he want to harness the angry-stupid masses of right-wing morons who believe what they read in The Australian, or the (Melbourne) Herald-SUN. What is he *really* up to? What's he going to do with that army?

What the F*&^ is he up to?

Research finds electric cars are silent but violent for pedestrians

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Common sense? Yeah, we've heard of it.

Perhaps it isn't necessary for EVs to make annoying noise pollution *all* of the time.

Perhaps someone could invent some kind of 'loud warning noise-maker device', operated by the driver of the EV when required. and fit those devices to EVs.

They could be called, oh, I duuno, a 'car horn'.

Together with autonomous braking, that should save the lives of the headphones-in pedestrians. And the damage to the cars.

Intel, AMD take a back seat as Qualcomm takes center stage in Microsoft's AI PC push

Geoff (inMelbourne)

I wonder when we'll see other ARM licensees making Windows-on-ARM PCs.

Nvidia seems to me to be one obvious option.

Microsoft introduces Places to make flexible working less fraught

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Does it include a desk reservation system?

Or does it simply suggest that everyone turns up on the same day, and the last 20% to arrive have nowhere to sit?

Ten years ago Microsoft bought Nokia's phone unit – then killed it as a tax write-off

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Why not make a Windows Phone now?

Hmm. As a person who fondly remembers my Windows Phones (that UI!), this does get me thinking.

Every phone handset - iOS and Android - uses ARM processors.

Microsoft has a version of Windows 11 for ARM processors. It's good, it works, and it's been around for years with no significant issues (mostly on the Surface Pro X).

The actual phone functionality is simply an App - and Microsoft already has it from the Windows Phone days anyway.

The UI they had was the best available at the time, and frankly would still be that today. (Resizable tiles! Live tiles! Every App in a simple, scrollable alphabetical list on the second screen!)

Microsoft has an Android subsystem for Windows, so running Android Apps on a Windows Phone could be done for that one 'must have' App (a significant factor for Windows Phone back in the day). The emulation layer for ARM processors on x86 hardware would not be needed as much (or perhaps not at all), so it would be cleaner and lighter. Running Android Apps on a PC isn't very useful, but running Android Apps on a phone certainly is.

So, Microsoft: Why not make a Windows Phone now?

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Hm. From a user perspective (my family...)

I loved the Nokia Windows Phones. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat if that was possible.

Microsoft, Google do a victory lap around passkeys

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Create a new passkey on the new device.

Verify yourself using the Authenticator App, or whatever 2FA method(s) you nominated when you were setting up the first passkey.

Musk schmoozes Chinese premier as Tesla Full Self-Driving remains parked

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Apparently the Chinese made teslas are much higher quality than those made elsewhere.

(I'm not a tesla driver, so I admit I have no first-hand verification of this claim).

Geoff (inMelbourne)

"I really don't understand why companies do business in China. "

Because they want access to the technology available in China.

Tesla, for example, really needs those batteries (CATL and BYD). And the robot production lines. And the quality control.

Japan's space junk cleaner prototype closes in on its target

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: I miss my Huawei phone

Still hanging on to my excellent Mate 20 Pro.

I'll replace it when it so much as skips a beat, or when a better shinier thing grabs my attention, but that day doesn't seem to be approaching (not yet, anyway).

Sure there's the risk of (Google) stealing my data. But that same risk will be there on whatever I get next.

SK hynix says no Huawei its memory should be in Chinese wonder-phone

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: "the handset's existence may therefore spur further sanctions"

"I'm guessing the US is really trying to stimulate the Chinese chipset expertise here, because there's no other explanation for the blatantly obvious ban of Huwei because they were simply a lot better at 5G than anyone else, and the anti-Chinese efforts in general."

It's true that the US panicked when China demonstrated a significant lead in 5G, and decided to impose sanctions in an attempt to slow China down and give themselves a chance to catch up.

It's backfired for the US, as we're now seeing. The Chinese have developed a domestic chip industry, and it appears that they've done so faster than anyone anticipated.

But the real looser here, sadly, is Tiawan.

China was TSMC's largest customer. There was an uneasy truce between Tiawan and mainland China, and TSMC was the reason. China could never invade Tiawan because that would hurt the Chinese economy. As stated regularly in The Register, Tiawan didn't need a military defense. Just throw some dirt into the TSMC factories (which would destroy them) and China would suffer.

The Chinese can now make 'good enough' chips themselves, and presumably they'll continue improving. They don't rely on Tiawan for that anymore.

Tiawan: You're screwed.

That's not the outcome for Tiawan I wanted, but it was inevitable once the US forced China to develop it's own chip manufacturing capability. It just happened a decade or so faster than anyone expected.

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Can anyone tell if the Mate 60 Pro will work in Canada ?

My pre-trade-war Mate 20 Pro will need replacing one day, I guess. And a Mate 60 Pro would do very very nicely.

The more it's de-Googled, the better, but I doubt Google can ever be totally removed.

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: "the handset's existence may therefore spur further sanctions"

1. China is a huge emitter because it has a huge population. To say that its emissions are 'more than double the US', when it's population is more than TRIPPLE the US is a little unfair.

2. Rightly or wrongly, the world outsourced manufacturing to China. *Our* factories, making stuff for *us* to consume, happen to be located in China, causing emissions there. Those are our emissions, created by our lifestyles. We don't take responsibility for them, sure, but we shouldn't blame someone else.

Chromebook sales train derails as market reaches saturation

Geoff (inMelbourne)

I think a lot of parents, such as me, realised just how horrible a Chromebook was during the home-schooling days of 2020 and 2021.

This explains the surge in real PC sales since then.

Apple aptly calls its wireless over-the-ear headphones the AirPods Max – as in, maximum damage to your wallet

Geoff (inMelbourne)

I know I shouldn't. I know its wrong.

But when I see someone, perhaps in my office or on the train (so, err, not soon...) wearing these, I'm going to think:

What a moron. $900 for Bluetooth headphones.

This is exactly the opposite effect that the purchaser was aiming for.

China slams 'dirty' America's 'clean network' plan, reminds world of PRISM snoop-fest exposed by Ed Snowden

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Arrogant CCP Wants The World's IP For Free

Yeah! Damn right. The CCP steals the world's IP for free. And lately, they've been going even further.

They've been pre-emptively stealing 5G IP 2 ~5 years *before* the USA even invents it.

Those pesky swine.

Can't do it the US way? Then we'll do it Huawei – and roll our own mobile operating system

Geoff (inMelbourne)

"For phones I suspect that Huawei have simply taken the open source bits of Android and replaced the proprietary Google bits with their own or third party stuff. If they stick to maintaining close compatibility with Android then the app problem will be a lot more manageable."

YES PLEASE!

Android without the Google data harvesting, using the excellent Huawei hardware.

I'll even *consider* lining up to buy one of those.

Amazon can't or won't collect sales tax in Australia

Geoff (inMelbourne)

The main problem with geoblocking like this is that it stops me (in Australia) using Amazon (in the USA) to buy stuff to send to a recipient in the USA.

I have family in the USA (and also other not-Australia countries too), and every Christmas or birthday I buy some tat on Amazon and have it shipped directly to my niece(s) and/or or nephew(s). That's *much* faster than shipping from Australia. And it's *much* cheaper too.

I'm sure this is a very common scenario.

With geoblocking, they simply won't take my money, so I'm forced to use some other web site.

Amazon - you're shooting yourself in the foot with this.

OnePlus 6: Perfect porridge? One has to make a smartphone that's juuuust right

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: Qi Charging

It's very convenient in the car too. No need to fumble around with cables.

If you put you hone down, it's charging . . .

Brilliant!

Wowee, it's Samsung's next me-too AI gizmo: The Apple HomePod

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Mono?

why are all of these new speaker products mono? Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft. Even Sonos is a one-speaker solution (in the default configuration).

Has the world forgotten stereo? Why does Apple position this as a premium HiFi device and then make it mono?

Gates: Renewable energy can't do the job. Gov should switch green subsidies into R&D

Geoff (inMelbourne)

Re: very old news, deliberately ignored for too long

An excellent - very large scale, very efficient - energy storage technology is hydroelectricity.

Excess electricity is used to pump water uphill. That's right, pump water uphill into a dam.

The stored energy can be returned at any time by letting the water flow downhill through the hydoelectricity power station. The efficiency is superior (and the scale larger) than any battery.

This has been happening efficiently and reliably in Australia for many decades.

Look up Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme for details.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_Mountains_Scheme

The Jindabyne Pumping Station is the main 'uphill' water pump for off-peak energy storgae.

http://services.eng.uts.edu.au/cempe/subjects_JGZ/eet/snowy2.pdf

Australia has a huge amount of coal, and coal fired electricity generators tend to produce excess electricity during off-peak hours (ie: at night). That excess is used to pump water uphill, which can be reclaimed later as hydroelectricity.

The only point of dispute after all these decades is this:

Is the resultant hydroelectricity *green* ?

(It makes a difference for tax incentives, and also for the right to sell to consumers as 'green power'.)