Posts by smartroad 29 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Feb 2016
The fact is there are plenty of mechanisms out there to prevent kids seeing stuff online they are too young to fully understand. But those are reliant on the parents taking responsibility and it feels that more and more responsibility for raising kids has been passed onto the state and others rather than the parents.
Considering I rarely ever see decent 4G download speeds on 3 and really poor coverage in a major town (both at home AND in the town center!) 3 are just terrible liars at this point, at least as far as I am concerned.
I doubt 5G will have any better coverage and will be throttled to hell and back by them.
I also used to run heavily on shape, and to a lesser extent colour. I hate that Android is insisting all the icons be the same shape as I now can't find them as easy.
When everything is the same "cohesive" shape and design, nothing is truly unique. These days icons are so bland that they could be almost anything, where before they actually tried to describe what you were clicking on.
Let's be honest, it is much less of an issue, batteries wearing out, IF COMPANIES FECKING ALLOWED US TO CHANGE THE BATTERIES EASIER! And maybe sold replacements at a reasonable price. I am having a nightmare trying to get Dell to sell me a new battery for my laptop. My last phone was replaced because the battery was only holding about a third of its charge (that and just before I was going to have it replaced I dropped and smashed the screen, butter fingers that I am).
If we could buy and easily replace the batteries it wouldnt really matter, but the quest for pleasing reviewers with thinner and thinner phones, phones that don't creak when twisted in unrealistic ways, screens with resolutions the eye can't possibly see (but drain the battery more for the privilege), bezels that are so impossibly thin that you can't hold the phone comfortably without accidently touching the edge of the screen etc etc. I mean reviewers complain about the notch, but it is there because they have been making people think they need a phone with no bezels at all, and now we have mechanical solutions that will probably go wrong or "under screen" cameras that see 40% less light because it is coming through the screen.
Damn that was more of a rant then I planned LOL
TLDR: make phones slightly thicker and have removable/replaceable batteries!
I was thinking the same thing. It is a shame that the media can't just show a woman as having done something amazing and leave it at that to inspire. They have to also get in the "now for more women in XYZ field". It takes away from the actual accomplishment and turns it into an adgenda.
I truly hope it inspires girls and women to take up science and technology, but they shouldn't be brow beaten into doing it. Let the work be the message, you don't have to also explain it on top.
I got the Nokia 8 and love it. I have been able to customise it to my liking without having to run overheads of manufacturer "improvements".
Feels as fresh today as it did when I got it. It was a very reasonable price and had a flagship spec.
The one thing I don't like is how they appear to have sullied the 8 with the 8.1 and its decidedly mid-teir specs. While the high end is now the Nokia 9. Why they just didn't get rid of the 8.x entirely and just have the 9 replace it.
@taxythingy don't forget there are many types of 'drone' not just quad/hex-copters. They could use a model airplane, that would have a much larger run time and cover a larger distance. These can be fitted with an autopilot with a grid to fly in and volia instant map.
My biggest thought with the idea of using a drone is that it would not be sampling where the phones are used, but 100yards in the air. Not exactly where I often am lol
I barely get mobile signal at home. I am not even in a rural area, but a pretty large town. I depend on WiFi at home because, at best, I'll get 2G speeds on my mobile data.
Before worrying about WiFi, OFCOM should be getting mobile providers to actually get universal coverage, indoors and outdoors, of 4G.
Personally I would love to see EPOC back. It is what made the 5 a joy to use. A simple but elegant OS for the low powered system. Using anything else would be just shoehorning an OS in.
At the very least it should be a heavily customised version of Linux with lightweight office solutions and a simple programming language al'a OPL.
I have said the same. I used to work for Maplin back in the early 00's. I remember the store being filled with electronic components and other rare and exotic items. Not trash plastic toys that can be brought literally anywhere else for less.
Maplin dropped back more and more on the component/electronics side until you have shops with token gestures. It is a shame as they could have led the maker community as hacker spaces with the chance to buy the stuff you need to make it with. Offered 3D printing services, laser cutting and CNC milling.
They fell victim to the "Woolworths Syndrome" where they lost sight of their core market, tried to do everything and got to the point where people didn't know why they would go to the stores.
I wish they would make a Pi without the USB and Ethernet sockets. Just leave them in the box and I'll attach them if I need them. Without those (which are still and forever more in an aweful place) the pi would be much thinner and allow easy re-routing of the ports to a more sensible position on my cases ;)
Part of the reason I won't go into a Dixon Stores Group store is because I don't what to deal with sales people pushing stuff I don't want.
I am very polite and find it hard to be forceful and get stressed when I have to be. So I just don't go.
How much money is DSG loosing because people like me refuse to go as they make a stressful shopping environment?
Maplin started because hobbyists couldn't buy from RS etc without being a business or in massive qty. Want a couple of 1k resistors, buy 1000 of them. Maplin would buy from RS type companies and then sell low qty to the customer.
Now that RS and Farnell etc sell direct to hobbyists and in low qty Maplin's original purpose has moved on.
I think also they lost focus. They done what Woolworths done, tried to do everything but ended up becoming a place where you didn't really know why you would go there.
Maplin could have been in a great position to embrace the Maker community. Parts of stores could have been dedicated to offering tools for people to use to make projects, as well as selling the tools as well. Have a bank of 3D printers so people could being in designs have have them made there and then. Small CNC routers for the same purpose. Offering, as they do, kits for arduino or raspberry pi but having the facility to actually build things in store.
Instead they have become a glorified tech shop that doesn't know if it wants to sell toys, dj equipment, smart devices, gimmick trash, batteries, electronic components, computer parts, TV parts or home security systems. They just don't do anything well anymore, it is a hodgepodge of products and categories with nothing that decent being sold or at a price that would make you want to buy it.
"This is all part of our commitment to increase your trust and confidence in our products and services."
So let us turn it off completely then. You'd gain a large increase in trust then. Otherwise all you are doing is showing us what info you are stealing and spying on without any idea where that data is going and how it is being stored and identified.
This is just one big "muhahahahaha look at what we are doing that you can't stop muahahahaha"
I wish Linux would make some strides into becoming a better platform for gaming. It's the only thing that keeps me on Windows. I have tried using Linux and while it is great for my productivity side (mostly) I have to dual boot windows for games. I end up just going into windows as it saves a reboot.
I got the LG G Watch R and I love it. Unlike all the pundits out there I had no illusions about a "smart" watch. All I wanted was something that could quickly and easily show me notifications from my phone so I wouldn't have to extract it (the phone) from my pocket just to find out that it was a junk email.
I can get 2 days use out of it, if I turn it off at night. Plus it charges in about an hour. The screen is always on so can glance to tell the time without having to press a button or move my wrist.
A few other functions get used, the timer is a main one. That said since Wear 2.0 I can't use maps as it doesn't seem to show anything and Google Now is really hit and miss with it often saying it can't do that right now.
Other than that I love it. I can change the face of it to suit my needs at any time. Chunky digital for work or elegant analogue for an evening out.
What happened to 'porches' you know, having two doors separated by a couple of feet?
They were great as firstly you could get wet clothes off without going into the main building. But as the second door could also be locked that way the delivery driver only has access to the first door. They can just drop off the parcel in there and voila no security worries.
Shame lots of buildings don't have them anymore.
The thing that made the Psion's great was not only the hardware but also the amazingly simple, yet powerful complete suite of software they came with. Not to mention the OS that was brilliantly designed for the small screen and keyboard/pen interface.
I worry that Android will end up the mess it always is when someone tries to use like a 'normal' desktop. And Debian will just be Linux on a small screen (IE unusable).
I hope I am horribly wrong and they pull off a new wave of PDA's but I can't rid myself of these nagging doubts.
