Posts by Peter Kay 647 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Feb 2007
Pip could have been worse; it had a lot more functionality than copy, but the fact it wasn't built into the command processor was a tad annoying. Not to mention the lack of directories in the file system.. The destination, source syntax didn't help either.
I'm not sure that it really mattered that CP/M lost out. Perhaps DOS was better architected in some ways, but early releases of DOS were fairly basic too. I suspect in the end architecture mattered more than OS.
Take google maps, for instance. I'll grant that sites like ebay possibly don't need to be quite so javascript infested. Flash is probably overused but for the most part it's javascript that's the essential tool. Friendly AJAXified websites are probably a net gain to progress even if they rule out some older kit.
I'm not sure what the tipping point is, as it's highly architecture/OS/compiler dependent, but it's clearly somewhat lower than the computer salespeople would like to admit. I reckon by the time 500MHz of G4 (especially dual) is reached it'd be more than sufficient, if perhaps not sparkling. 300MHz of pentium I/II clone and 200Mhz MIPS R5000 are not especially different : both are grindingly slow regardless of OS.
Of course there's a difference between usable and speedy. On a day to day basis I prefer to use rather more modern machines.
I wonder if anyone has done some sort of ongoing web benchmark with popular websites to determine the lowest genuinely usable configuration.
10.5 works on some PPC systems, but not all as it needs 867Mhz of processor or better. Yes, it is possible to hack the installer to install anyway..
If you're running a G3 then it's probably too slow to view modern websites, but that doesn't apply to a half decent G4. You've got a system that's fully capable of running a modern web browser, but Apple deigns it insufficiently powerful to run 10.5.
It comes down to security fixes. Apple appears to have stopped fixing 10.4 (there's no actual statement that I can see, as opposed to MS' crystal clear lifecycle policies) so perhaps Mozilla feel as if they shouldn't bother either. The real question is not necessarily the next browser - clearly 3.7 is a nice to have, but Windows 2000 (still a supported product) is still stuck on an (up to date, security patched) IE 6..
I personally think Mac users should petition Apple for dropping support for a product that's only five years old, as opposed to the 10 and 13 year support of Vista and XP respectively. If OS X is supposed to be comparable to Windows, it should be held to similar support standards. Ditto commercial Unix. Once that's achieved (good luck) Mozilla should be given some gentle encouragement too..
I suppose I should double check Mozilla's security fix roadmap, but for the moment that's left as an exercise for the reader.
You do realise the comparison of XP (released in 2001) and Tiger/10.4 (released in 2005) is a little unequal?
It's entirely true that any machine forced to run OS X 10.4 due to hardware restrictions is at least 9 years old, but nevertheless 10.4 remains supported for security fixes by Apple and thus should continue to be supported by major open source products too.. Ditto Windows (Mozilla should continue to support Windows 2000, at least for the next few months).
Hardware limited to 10.4 is PPC based, so they can't run XP. The other reason to stick with 10.4 is if you've got a requirement for Classic, but I suspect that's an edge case - you could always dual boot. Various Unixes are also an option, but seriously that's not exactly the target market of a mac user, is it?
I feel a bit sorry for Mac users here because if they're not running a really creaky old G3, some of the kit is likely to be fast enough to run modern websites; it's not as if they're running a pentium (1) era machine where web browsing is now an exercise in pain.
I believe that was the reason for recommending Guinness/stout.
It's entirely true that until relatively recently beer was drunk in cases where water would now be substituted. The difference is that it was considerably weaker than the average 4% for a pint of decent beer now.
Some of us already have a 3D display and don't have to resort to anaglyph glasses.
It looks neat - hopefully it will take off and the price will come down. It's not that excessively priced for the first offering of a mass market product, but it won't find widespread acceptance until the price comes down. I don't think I could justify one at the moment..
I agree almost entirely with the article, except for the part about suspending development. How many drugs is the writer currently on?
It may be true that Silverlight is hardly beating Flash at the moment, but the last thing Adobe (or in fact anyone sensible) will do is give away a lead to a competitor.
Yes, fix the security problems, but also move the software forward at the same time.
The BSD license is good, precisely because it doesn't push people into a constrained model of software distribution and development (which both closed source and the GPL do). I have no problem with commercial/closed source organisations taking BSD code, doing something useful with it and hopefully furthering its visibility even if nothing is contributed back. Sometimes companies do contribute back to BSD code anyway, which is is always useful.
Taking away someone's freedom in order to push your own viewpoint is an extremely dubious definition of 'free' - this is precisely what the GPL does, because it is limited in ways the BSD license is not. I'll grant that there is perhaps a limit to how far proponents of the GPL are morally obliged to contribute back to the original BSD source, but I would suggest that the limit is considerably above zero.
In other words, many of the aims of BSD and GPL fans are identical, so expecting programmers to enhance and contribute to your code whilst refusing to do precisely the same to the original BSD source could be considered both hypocritical and abusive.
Action films aren't exactly known for wonderful plots, although Avatar barely manages to reach even that standard.
The real pity is that JC has written and directed Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator and (to a slightly lesser extent) Terminator 2, all of which were decent films. Some people are unkind enough to say that he's caught the George Lucas disease, but his standard of output is far in excess of George's.
I'd happily agree it could win for visual effects, art direction and possibily for cinematography. The remainder? You're avin a larf, aintcha?
As a 3D spectacle it's magnificent, but as an action film entirely predictable and extremely average. The music was so forgettable I can barely remember it. Last of the Mohicans will be remembered for many years beyond Avatar if there's any justice in the world.
Whilst I'm not in favour of prematurely sexualising those who aren't sexually mature and think some of the issues underlying the 'barely legal' class of porn could well be a bit dodgy I'm not sure banning it is the answer.
Like a prior commentator, I'd rather have someone crack one off over a young looking porn model than try and find someone underage in real life. Neither do I appreciate someone giving women yet another reason to judge their attractiveness by the size of their breasts. I do tend to prefer bustier women, but their breasts are never a deciding factor in whether I want to be friends or date them..
I shudder to think what they'd think of people into age play, especially when both participants are clearly mature adults. Sexuality is somewhat nuanced and complex, and if one type of attraction is outlawed the affected group will merely try and find a different way of satisfying their desires.
Don't put your cat's waterbowl in the same room as your bed then, FFS. You've got cats and should know what they're like already - that was entirely predictable.
For the same reason, my glasses are kept in a hard glasses case overnight..
If you said it didn't cope with operation in high humidy environments I'd have more sympathy.
If you google for 'pckeyboards' you'll reach the homepage of Unicomp, who took over manufacturing of IBM's keyboards including the Model M ('the clicky one'). They'll do you a custom PS/2 keyboard hard wired to whichever keyboard layout you specify for a very reasonable price (shipping is a bit painful, though, due to weight and duty).
The only issue is that I presume the PS3 takes a USB input. PS/2 to USB converters tend to be a bit picky with older IBM keyboards, but some do work.
This message typed on a hardwired UK Dvorak keyboard, although Windows thinks it's a UK keyboard.
A console. A mostly fixed function, locked down device predominently for playing games and a few films. DRM has been mandatory on pretty much every console, ever, precisely because games were copied (The pricing argument can be had elsewhere). The other reason was to control the games market(Nintendo, Atari, others), which is not necessarily a bad idea if done well.
I really don't see the problem provided the protection is only on the disk itself, and not tied to either a specific PS3 or requiring online activation - the two evils of the PC world. It's not going to make your spreadsheet crash or otherwise interfere with other programs. It's not a general purpose system, and it is not designed to let the user modify it.
I have a Dreamcast - a system that permitted easy pirating, which was one reason it failed. It also has quite a good homebrew and emulation scene - and I appreciate this somewhat. The reason I bought it though was the games - any extras are merely a nice to have and can generally also be run on my general purpose computers.
Only a small minority are interested in anything other than copying games.
What can't the PS3 currently do, anyway? It can already play Blu-ray and DVD, iPlayer, youtube and other flash based content. I don't have one but it looks like it can also stream some Internet radio, and there's a load of Linux options.
OK, so perhaps everything isn't always available simultaneously, but I'm not seeing a huge lack of features.
Step one : Set up a number of fake accounts
Step two : Buy black balaclava and toy/foam crowbar
Step three : Run on to premises of firm monitored by cheapo CCTV that does not have police, attack dogs, guns of any type or sharks with fricking lasers on their snouts. Run away.
Step four : Friend submits 'crime footage' until 1,000 quid is gained.
Step five : Wait till next month. Go to step one.
Of course you still run the risk of trespass or possibly some form of deception (not precisely fraud, though, as the camera is being watched even if the events are fake)
It's still lacking in functionality, buggy and not terribly integrated into whichever OS you use.
I did use it to write a few pages for business a while back and it coped with that. However, over the summer I used it for the /highly/ technical task of printing single page A4 sheets using large fonts.
It crashed. Repeatedly. When a product is asked to perform a very simple task at the one time I need it doing in a comparative hurry and it fails, it's not worth using.
It's impressive that it exists at all, but until they've got at least the next release out and fixed a load of bugs.. It should be more solid than this at v3.
Not fun, that.
Of course, to play the stereotypes and subvert the bar it might be fun to bus a load of women from certain countries into the bar.
I suspect women with a D cup or above are relatively infrequent in China, but they're certainly not in the UK. It'd still temporarily be degrading women, but completely emptying the bar of bottles of vodka (and then leaving) would be amusing.
Eddie wasn't a loser - he was simply the lowest ranked ski-jumping athlete at the Olympics. That didn't stop him being the best ski jumper in the UK and according to wikipedia the world number 9 amateur speed skiier.
There's sometimes a large difference between the highest and lowest ranked Olympic athlete, but the gulf between the lowest ranked Olympic athlete and a reasonably qualified amateur is huge.
Similarly with Woz, even if his subsequent efforts have been a little sub par that doesn't take away from what he achieved.
You don't stop being bi just because you're in a monogamous relationship..
Not all of us lust after threesomes, incidentally.
I'm still trying to calculate exactly how much a 'fuckstack' of money is - is it more or less than a shedload?
I feel slightly sorry for Lindsay, but she is very much in the public eye. Sometimes you just have to face the hard things and suck it up. An alternative is diversification into the publishing or fashion worlds - which would be better : book, khaki? ;)
What Runcible Spoon said, basically. Beyond the relatively short term it only needs to be supported by a government either directly or covertly to render China's strategy useless - or at least to limit the effects to a very long payback period.
That's one subtle strategy - the less subtle, cheaper and more widely used one, is to apply export/import duties that hurt China or its suppliers. China is a large country with many resources, but along with most other countries it clearly has its limits - witness its trawl round various parts of Africa and elsewhere for natural resource.
Of course this is entirely pragmatic - Britain has recently completed a Nordic gas pipeline in part to enhance supply, but almost certainly also so that we can't be held to ransom by the Russians..
Yes, AMD got 64 bit chips and the integrated memory controller out first. Pity that AMD failed to capitalise on it then, isn't it? Over five years of memory controller lead and AMD threw it all away.
Multi core is completely irrelevant. In theory the AMD solution should have won - in practice Intel's performance was far better. The same pattern repeated itself for years - what appeared to be a technically superior solution had a subpar implementation.
It doesn't matter if your competitor's solution is technically inferior if their actual functionality is greater. The only exception is when your competitor paints themselves into a corner and needs to completely re-architect. Intel did that with P4 - AMD failed to respond. Nvidia now appear to be failing with endless rebrands and AMD (ATI) is for once reaping the benefits of a superior architecture.
I've had a Zalman Trimon monitor for the last few months. It's a fairly cheap line interlaced stereoscopic TFT (this means the resolution is effectively halved when running in stereoscopic mode and your eyes must be kept level. The more expensive options of the IZ3D monitor or Nvidia shutter glasses are not affected by these limitations (they have different issues..)).
When it does work in stereoscopic mode (head in correct position, decent source material, not dependent on high resolution) it's very good indeed. However, for the last month I haven't bothered using it in stereoscopic mode at all.
Partly this is due to the setup - I need to correct the monitor positioning so that the configuration Just Works in my seated position without moving my head much. Leaving that aside, I reckon it's really only useful for a determined and extended gaming/film session - if switching between a game and the desktop it becomes a cycle of switch app, take glasses off, perform operation, switch back, put glasses on..
I'm sure once I sort the positioning I'll use it more, but I simply cannot see it becoming a permanent fixture. It's good, but not so revolutionary to make me want to use it all the time. At least these devices also work in non stereoscopic mode.
Prescription glasses wearers also face complications - the cheap polarised clip-ons do not always fit neatly on to glasses. The end result is balancing another pair of glasses beyond your own, affecting head positioning again. Few people are dedicated enough to buy prescription polarised lenses..
CRT technology is not bright compared to LCD/DLP/LCOS, but it does offer a much wider dynamic range, multiple resolution support and true blacks.
I'd be interested to see how large it is - they appear to be using low power small laser diodes, so it's not a projection device. It must still be subject to phosphor degradation - of course this probably still means a lifespan of 10,000 hours-ish before brightness is reduced by half.
I also suspect increasingly larger sizes will be vastly expensive and face competition from front and rear projection. Prysm's technology works with a phosphor coated screen, so at some point the economics of a source device that projects onto a screen from the front or rear, vs increasingly larger coated displays will be rather interesting.
The holy grail is still, as far as I'm aware, a front projected laser system. Resolution, convergence and response to die for - but won't be cheap.
A TH/DH2GO splits one DVI signal into two or three. Therefore you only need one card, assuming it has the horsepower to drive all the monitors. Additionally the Matrox box is severely constrained on resolutions.
Photo work does not require overkill most of the time. Video/rendering will eat as much power as you throw at it. High end gaming? Only for the real high end, using very high resolution monitors (not driveable by a TH2GO) on a very restricted set of games.
The Eyefinity6 is only suitable for a terribly restricted set of uses due to the displayport requirement (can't use passive Displayport converters, either). I suggest other people would be better served with one 5850/5870/5890 and another, slower, ATI card.
Perhaps a $600 dollar PC isn't quite overkill, but by the time $800-$900 dollars is reached quad core, lots of memory and a fast graphics card is easily obtainable. That'll do everything you list, provided you don't insist on the leading edge.
Memory prices do seem to have gone up; to balance that the price/performance ratio is still extremely favourable.
It used to be true that a decent system cost around a grand. Now, for five hundred quid very little is being skimped on other than a slightly cheaper case, a less than high end (but still very fast) graphics card and possibly a PSU without detachable cables.
The first film wasn't /too/ bad, assuming you ignored major plot holes, assumed everyone was a moron and mentally overdubbed Simon Pegg's accent and acting with something more scottish (so, almost the same criteria to enjoy Star Wars III, then. 1-2 are beyond redemption).
Something just as fun, but with smaller plot holes next time I hope. At least Spider-Man 4 has died temporarily, and here's hoping they don't bother with X-Men 4 after the pathetic third outing.
XP was no different and was hated on release. It was short of drivers, quite buggy and only really began to be accepted a year on when SP1 came out.
There was still a mass of Windows 98 users who objected to a properly written operating system stopping their shitty programs that tried to do dodgy things to memory from working. Gaming was faster in 98 for some time after the release of XP. There was also a shortage of drivers, and increased security - a proper NTFS filesystem, multiuser, SMP etc.
Does this sound at all familiar?
Since 2001 there are radically more threats on the Internet, dodgy programs, botnets etc. Like the Internet originally, there are parts of Windows (and Unix incidentally) that were designed for speed or ease of use over security and were more forgiving of programming errors.
Whilst Vista did have a number of unacceptable bugs, a large part of the public's dislike for it was due to a) a lack of drivers - people like Nvidia and Creative Labs did not pull their finger out for months after release, which is clearly unforgiveable b) Microsoft's usual trick of specifying inadequate hardware requirements - Vista will run quite well in 1GB, but don't try running large games or apps on it.. c) the beginings of proper security enforcement and user/admin separation and d) enforcing requirements on app writers that had been recommendations for years.
Users just want Things To Work. Unfortunately they're also unrealistic and expect stable, secure apps at the same time. This is not going to happen. The apps which don't work well under Vista/7 (including ones from Microsoft : bad form, there) are ones that didn't follow the guidelines anyway. Excessive numbers of prompts from UAC are also there because apps are poorly written - other prompts that previously weren't there are now included as they should be there (admin level changes).
Vista was actually stricter than 7 in some areas. 7 has been dumbed down, and if anyone has any sense they'll be running as a standard user with the UAC on high (enter password for all admin level changes).
For the idiots who go off into 'Ubuntu is lovely' lala land, note that Unix is still shit, just in different areas. X really needs a bit of an overhaul - it's not stunningly secure, just like windowing in Windows. When OpenBSD did the opposite to Microsoft's fault tolerant heap and enforced a strict heap, many apps fell over, including some quite old ones. OpenBSD is a good OS, but Theo et al have a lot more freedom to change it than Windows (Can you imagine the outcry if Microsoft did the strict heap change, or indeed the wholesale pf syntax change?)
Unix has many features that are designed well, but don't pretend it's a panacea.
After SP1 and adequate drivers from Nvidia and Creative Labs, Vista x64 has been utterly solid. I even tried it on a 1GB laptop and it wasn't, to my surprise, grindingly slow (now upgraded to 4GB though..).
The UAC isn't a problem for well written apps. The only criticism I'd level at it is that sometimes it isn't clear what's being authorised.
I actually had less problems than with XP, which had ground to a halt after a year of usage - Vista didn't.
The problem is that Vista was initially buggy, driver support was sporadic and mediocre and application compatibility with poorly written apps was variable. It never recovered from its initial bad press.
There are other areas where it'd be nice to see improvement in Vista, but I'd hesitate to call it bad.
A service pack is a collection of fixes plus additional tweaks and features. As such, after the feature and bug fixes of the generally available product/product with servicepack is set except for utterly critical fixes, any subsequent bug fixes will be assigned to the next product which is not yet set.
Windows 7 is now past release to manufacture, so any fixes will be assigned as SP1. Once SP1 has gone into beta, fixes will be named as SP2.
The only real criticism I'd level at Windows 7 so far is that some of the bundled drivers are of poor quality, although at least it did better in that department than Vista, and the problem was quickly solved with the latest manufacturer drivers.
Compared to some of the women's profiles on dating sites, the above is practically Shakespeare.
It's acceptable for some people to use text speak, apparently..
I do wonder how many of the 'single women' on sites like gumtree are actually escorts. Last time I briefly looked it seemed pretty high. Better to use a proper dating site - there's plenty of decent free ones.
There's a difference between 'beautiful' and 'pretty enough'.
It's true that wanting someone for an aspect of their intelligence is not necessarily any better than expecting a partner over 6 feet tall, but it's more usual to select based on appearance than require your date to have a pHD (yes, I know of someone who does insist on that, and they're unnecessarily restricting their options too).
Once someone achieves 'pretty enough' status, other factors take precedence. Adding extra beauty onto that doesn't achieve much.
I also object to the idea that someone else can identify who fits my idea of beauty. Whilst some notions of beauty are fairly objective, others are not necessarily so.
Look at the numbers - 300K applicants, 27% admissions if you're lucky. It's a worldwide dating site, though, so local numbers are much lower. Fortunately they have a nicely unrestricted guest search function. Whole UK search returns 204 pages of 50 people a page=10,200 people.
10,200 initially sounds like enough but more specific searches returns one set of results in Manchester, and five in London. It doesn't even have a postcode search.
As a comparison, some of the most popular UK sites supposedly have 500,000 to 1,000,000 members (not all active, of course). 10,200 or 500,000 - I know where I'd place my bets.
Then, of course, there are the pictures. Whilst few people can of course aspire to be as amazing as myself even the most permissive might perhaps consider that some of the users don't match a fairly liberal definition of 'beautiful' except with certain beholding eyes and there are certain usernames including what I imagine is the deliberate 'Iareafatty'..
The site is dying on its arse and is desperate for new members. Remind me to laugh at the next 'beautiful' idiot who complains that the only people who contact them are ones they don't like, yet they still get plenty of interest..
It may at first glance be true that certain minority groups have been accepted only because they 'appeared to be normal' as the author says.
The truth is not that the group 'appears to be normal' but that they /are/ in most cases normal. Sometimes there may be certain cultural differences, especially from a vocal and visible minority, but a large majority of people simply want to get on with their lives. The fact some people make (for example) uncommon clothing and hairstyle choices does not stop them going to work, buying food from the supermarket and going for walks with their partner.
Sexual orientation, gender and sexual behaviour are topics that the general populace are simply unwilling to debate, currently.
It's worth bearing in mind that fully legalising certain sexual acts or relationships styles would shine a highly unfavourable spotlight on *both* non heteronormative and heteronormative relationships, or in other words : assuming that lifestyles such as BDSM or polyamoury are broken is based on the mistaken belief that vanilla heterosexual relationships are not deeply flawed. If it's ever properly addressed expect deeply unpleasant debates about consent, gender and sexual role stereotyping, ownership, responsibility and relationship definitions.
Also realise that one of the reasons for the diversity in the queer or BDSM community is that by and large its members have had to question their sexuality, which can then lead on to pondering other aspects of your life. Those that never have to question their own sexuality are generally blind to the flaws in their relationship style, although, granted many who practice alternative lifestyles are also remarkably reluctant to address certain topics.
You're not helping your cause by suggesting solutions that are not practical.
Wifi isn't better - it has more frequent dropouts and can be sniffed more easily if not using WPA2.
CAT 5 is the fastest and most reliable solution, but putting in cables is non trivial and in some cases not permitted.
It is also not cheaper by the time installation is factored in. Homeplug is relatively cheap, trivial to install and works without issues.
The key is understanding that they're for integrated and low power solutions. For that, they're ideal. The low end/older GPUs accelerate standard def video, the more recent ones accelerate high def.
There's enough acceleration to run Aero and basic 3D, the only thing the chipsets aren't designed for is games. Laptops and low power desktops should not be used as gaming machines..
A 'boi' can be either male, female or various points inbetween. HTH HAND.
So far as undocumented interfaces go, the important point is to ask : who profits?
If Apple could not potentially profit from their use of undocumented APIs, then it probably isn't an issue. As soon as it either provides a competitive advantage, or functionality that is solely available via a single commercial package, then the interface must be opened up.
I've rarely heard of anyone - commercial or otherwise, using JBoss for anything notable. I'll grant that MySQL is quite popular, although personally I prefer PostgreSQL as it was designed a proper database first and serving websites fast second..
It's entirely true that for the most part handhelds have been replaced by phones, but it's more accurate to say that the iPhone introduced something that's basically usable into a market that was fairly moribund. Palm have repeatedly failed, even when they had the market to themselves. Symbian have failed to capitalise on Psion's legacy and Microsoft have produced an uneven set of Windows Mobile releases.
Tthe iPhone is only the most disruptive device (in the mobile segment : not full stop) because there's little competition, and even then it's not exactly a fully functional phone, either.
It's also highly incorrect to say that recession was the much needed correction of the decade. The dotcom boom and subsequent bust largely fucked over companies that did not have a viable business model and was entirely predictable to anyone with a brain. The legacy of it was a reduction in ridiculous valuations (not an elimination, sadly, otherwise Facebook should have floated at a couple of million maximum).
This ongoing recession was perhaps also predictable to some, but had entirely different causes. It affects many more people than those related to dotcom enterprises and despite the major corrective actions and supposed safeguards put in place, there is every appearance that vested interests are being maintained and this will happen again at some future point..
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