Posts by clochard

A cheap Chinese PC with odd components. What could go wrong?

$200-$400 isn't that cheap

I've been using a £140 Trigkey Green Mini PC for over a year now and it's been great. I removed the 256GB m.2 Windows 10 drive and installed a Kingston SSD with Linux Mint. The 8GB RAM is sufficient for my needs. For some reason Americans have to pay more for everything except iPhones.

Havana Syndrome definitely (maybe) not caused by brain-scrambling energy weapons

Omega-6 health effects

Possibly the effects of excessive consumption of nuts, seeds, and foods prepared with "vegetable" aka seed oils. Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio too damn high.

IBM: Co-Op Insurance talking direct to coding subcontractor helped collapse of £55m IT revamp project

History repeats itself

IBM has always sold hardware and services to clients who don't have the skills to manage software projects. In fact very few companies have the ability to implement any large software projects. Outsourcing a project can work only when the specs are complete and the success or failure lies in the hands of the software company in charge of delivery. Only when this wall of liability is present can the cards be played honestly.

Birds are pecking apart Australia's national broadband network

Not just Cockatoos

Here in Blighty the crows have pulled out the wiring outside my house exposing it to the weather. The resulting static on the line caused my ADSL service to fail. It took over two weeks of texting (!) with Sky, and after receiving a new router on a new 12 month contract, to reach the stage where a crew was sent out to check and fix the wiring. Before, they "tested" the line many times ignoring my complaint of static and mention of recent bad weather. My conclusion is the next time this happens I will cancel my service and switch to mobile broadband because landline companies and the script monkeys who do tech support will be unwilling / unable to diagnose and fix a wiring issue faster than a month. Mobile broadband is getting faster (especially 4 and 5g) and cheaper, and any problem with the network would be instantly apparent to even the dumbest engineer.

OK, we admit it. Under the hood, the iPhone X is a feat of engineering

Re: "Why do you think Linux users do not spend money?"

I use Linux because it has less complexity, problems, and bloatware than Windows (I have never used a Mac) and runs Chrome, Firefox, and many other great programs. Being free is just a bonus. Any problem that I've had was solved with a google search. Linux Mint has been my choice for over a decade.