Posts by LenG

IBM moves scientists out of Almaden Research Center

Re: Just move

Fortunately Hursley House is a Grade II listed building and has a lot of other history associated with it (such as the development of the Spitfire) so it is safe from any sort of development involving significant changes to the house/grounds. Whether IBM stays there is a different question but given that their offices in nearby Basingstoke have been shut down they might have problems finding an alternative site anywhere nearby and moving a long way would probably entail a lot of staff leakage.

China orders trial of aged care robots that can cook, clean, and provide emotional support

Re: Hopefully by then…

This sounds good to me. I have no current death wish but when I do want to go I really want to do it quietly and peacefully without a roomful of busybodies trying to talk me out of it

Linus Torvalds goes back to a mechanical keyboard after making too many typos

If you want a mechanical keyboard for typing, I would recommend "Das Keyboard" products. Solid, heavy and very few extra buttons except sleep and a volume control knob and one or two others I've never used.

I had one ages ago and then wandered into the wasteland of gaming keyboards. I returned to the true path a while ago. The other real advantage is that it requires no software support so you can use it with almost any OS/software.

Microsoft moved the goalposts once. Will Windows 12 bring another shift?

Re: I still hate Micro$oft

So do I, but currently I am too tied up with other things to move to linux ATM. I know it is not particularly difficult but some eye problems limit my screen time so non-essential maintenance is on hold.

As for the TPM restriction on Win 11, I think it is a wonderful idea. I disabled it on my system so that M$ can't sneakily upgrade me to Win11

I'm lazy

And this is the only reason I still use win 10, as I am quite certain that there is nothing I do nowadays which cannot be done on linux. If/when maintaining a safe win 10 becomes problematic I will make the move.

Microsoft updates the Windows 11 Start Menu

I find it useful

I know my way around a PC using a keyboard/trackball (or mouse) - most things are automatic/no think.

I am however a complete clutz with a mobile phone, partly due to poor eyesight. I use it basically for phone calls and occasionally for maps. And photos. I wish it had been on the Win 10 menu 'cause then I might have found it ages (as opposed to months) ago.

America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

Re: "What have I missed?"

Actually the Black Death had a number of profound beneficial social effects as the shortage of workers after the event left a major shortage of labour and heralded the beginning of the end of the old Feudal "tied to the soil" state.

Microsoft to mark five decades of Ctrl-Alt-Deleting the competition

Re: Purchasing Nokia was not the mistake.

To be honest, Win 10 is not bad. It is stable, reasonably quick and doesn't require too much CPU power. The UI sucks but that can be cured with Classic Shell or something similar. I'm working towards a final switch to Linux at some stage, probably when Win 10 goes out of support, but Win 10 is adequate for my current home-use needs.

Now Windows Longhorn is long gone, witness reflects on Microsoft's OS belly-flop

Re: Deeper problems

"- Windows 10 and the incessant moving around and fiddling with the UI in between updates"

Can't say I've noticed that - probably because the first thing I do is install Classic Start Menu or similar. TBH I have reached the stage where on the (very rare) occasions I need to use native Windoze functionality I have to use google to find out how to do it.

My only real issue with Win 10 is that for my needs my customized version just about good enough to make the final move to linux more trouble than it is worth.

Windows 11 roadmap great for knowing what's coming next week. Not so good for next year

Stay on win 10.

I'm still using Win 10 and I've disabled the TPM so that win 11 cannot sneak onto my system. Meanwhile I am working on the final switch to linux and the and of M$ in this household.

I won't miss it.

Tesla sales crash in Europe, UK. We can only wonder why

Roman salute

There is no evidence that the one-armed gesture favoured by Musk was ever used in classical Rome.

German post war recovery

Actually the huge boom in German industrial capacity post war was mainly due to the Marshall plan which was intended amongst other things to bolster Europe as a buffer to the Eastern block.

Microsoft admits January's Windows Update broke USB Digital to Audio Convertor

New M$ strategy - bork things in Win10 and Win11 then only fix them in Win11.

I think I'll block M$ updates completely for a while.

Astronomers red-faced after mistaking Musk's Tesla Roadster for asteroid

Deadly litter

Forseen in Deadly Litter by James White (1964)

Linux rolls out the welcome mat for Microsoft's Copilot key

It is for sale on amazon

I can't find the ad either but it is for sale here at £440

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Surface-Keyboard-Alcantara%C2%AE-Windows/dp/B0D22SQNC1

Microsoft makes keyboards?

Never really occurred to me that they did that, but then I avoid M$ products more or less instinctively although I do have Win10 on the machine I am currently using. Looked up their range and discovered that the surface keyboard with copilot key is on offer for £400+.

I'll stick to my DAS KEYBOARD - standard QUERTY layout with sound knob and sleep button as the only non-traditional controls. I had one an age ago and then disappeared down the path of gaming keyboards etc. Unfortunately that is the road to madness when you are trying to drive several PCs with different OS's from one another. The Das Keyboard is solid German engineering and I'm sure could be used to beat a burglar to death if called upon to do so. Which is comforting.

Tired of begging, Microsoft now trying to trick users into thinking Bing is Google

Moving on

I really need to get my finger out and complete my switch to linux.

Having said which, I don't think I've ever used bing. It could be the best thing since sliced bread, which isn't saying much (I dislike sliced bread)

With 10 months of support remaining, Windows 10 still dominates

No must have features

There is absolutely nothing in Win11 which I want,

What I do not want is to have to spend an age getting used to win 11, particularly as my Win 10 system is heavily customised so that it works the way I want it to and not the way M$ says I should use it. It might be possible with a lot of work to restore Win11 to something like my current Win10 setup but at the end of that process I would have gained nothing.

Microsoft adds another problem to the Windows 11 24H2 naughty list

Smug

When I read this sort of thing I get a warm feeling of satisfaction with my Win 10 system which will never be upgraded to 11. It soldiers on with occasional strange hiccups but nothing fatal. As for the M$ account, I don't have one. I did for a bit but it never seemed to serve a useful purpose so I nuked it.

Unfortunately, there have been a few odd glitches recently which are pushing me on towards the final full transfer to Linux.

Wubuntu: The lovechild of Windows and Linux nobody asked for

Win 11?

I'd be less uninterested if it looked like Win 10.

Microsoft confirms there will be no U-turn on Windows 11 hardware requirements

I think it is an excellent requirement

I've disbaled it on my Win 10 system to ensure win 11 can never be installed inadvertently or by M$ sneakiness

Microsoft flashes Win10 users with more full-screen ads for Windows 11

Full screen ads for Win11?

I must be doing something right as they have not appeared on my system.

Arecibo telescope might have failed because of weak sockets

Zinc Creep - never

This is clearly sabotage by advanced units of the approaching Vogon constructor fleet so that we won't see them coming.

Linus Torvalds: 90% of AI marketing is hype

It seems to be good for generating porn

Not seen much else come out of it.

UK sleep experts say it's time to kill daylight saving for good

Re: I disagree

You don't need to change the clocks twice a year to get that but the change itself is bad for health and I suspect the longer double change would be even worse

Leave the clocks alone

There are the same number of hours of daylight whatever you set the clocks to. The change however is disruptive and most studies from reputable sources indicate adverse health effects.

Vivaldi gives its browser a buffing, adds a dashboard

Stop changing things

Every time some idiot makes significant changes to the interface of something useful I have to spend time relearning how it works. I'd be quite happy to never upgrade most of my software except when genuinely new functionality was added.

At 70 plus it becomes increasingly more difficult to adapt to the constant flow of changes into stuff which really doesn't need to change.

One-year countdown to 'biggest Ctrl-Alt-Delete in history' as Windows 10 approaches end of support

Upgrading my linuxhardware

I suspect that a lot of hardware will come onto the market when people are conned into replacing it to run Windoze 11. Should be some good upgrade for my linux boxes mixed in there.

Windows 11 24H2 hoards 8.63 GB of junk you can't delete

Yet more reasons not to upgrade.

Not a day goes by without M$ offering new reasons to not upgrade to Win 11

Tesla Cybertruck recalled again. This time, a software fix for backup camera glitch

Re: Why does anybody buy these things?

I ride a motorcycle

Why does anybody buy these things?

The title says it all.

SpaceX blasts being stuck in bureaucratic orbit as Starship approval slips

Re: November

Guy Fawkes failed.

Many people regard this as a bad thing.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch could be gone in ten years – for chump change

Re: Same old problem

Actually, there are just far too many people out there.

I used to wonder if the human race could survive its own greed and stupidity - now I'm pretty sure that it won't.

Age discrimination layoff case against X granted class-action status

Do you want to be the richest man in the world?

The secret is not to pay the bills.

Elon Musk’s Starlink won't block Elon Musk’s X in Brazil, as required by court order

Colossus

I just wonder if has has ever read the book. The original Colossus there was not an unmitigated success.

Survey finds that four in five enterprise endpoints could run Windows 11

Not gonna happen

I currently run win 10 and although I don't like it I can tolerate most of its foibles and stupidities with the use of various add-ons. However I'm in the process of migrating most of what I do to linux and hope to leave Winoze completely within 6 months.

Every new bit of news I see about Win 11 makes it sound more unappealing.

Japan's digital minister declares victory against floppy disks

Fax machines

When you have 3 or 4 alphabets, at least one of which has symbols which are in common usage but not part of the official "alphabet", fax machines seem to me to be a perfectly reasonable (if not essential) piece of kit.

Privacy features lose their way in latest Firefox update

Damning with faint praise

I stick with firefox because everything else is worse and I can configure it more or less the way I want it.

Microsoft admits to problems upgrading Windows 11 Pro to Enterprise

Cannot upgrade windows

Some people might regarrd this as a desirable feature, not a bug.

US standards agency reports back on just how good age verification software is

Error higher in females than males.

This suprises me not at all, give the higher use of cosmetics among females.

UK Surface owners can now take misbehaving laptops to Currys

Bad experiences

Once upon a time there was an electronics/computer store called Dixons. I remember telling a friend who was looking for a computer that I wouldn't even buy a pocket calculator from Dixons. He went ahead with his purchase and regretted it.

Currys absorbed Dixons and I haven't been able to bring myself to shop there since.

Good news week

A product I have no intention of purchasing can now be serviced in a store I never use.

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

The end of the PC

Seems to me that the "PC" as such is not what windows are aimed at. The AI PC is a device for a corporate environment or for people working from home in need of high powered computing. The "Home PC" - used for various more domestic purposes - is dieing at the hands of tablets and smartphones. Old fogies like me who want a good sized screen and a propter keyboard to run the apps we chose the way we want will moving to linux as the effort to tame the beast of Redmont becomes more effort than it is worth.

Blue screen of death or Eurovision's Windows95man performance – what's less annoying?

Fortunately

I missed it.

Apple crushes creativity and its reputation in new iPad ad

A long and steady decline ...

When I first became involved with home tech I was very pleased with my Apple IIe, complete with a mass of 3rd party plug ins and some howebrewed mods. My respect for the company took a beating with the launch of the Apple III and has been in decline ever since. The only thing I would use an IPad for is scraping mud off my boot as, unlike a piece of card, it would not get soggy.

Transport watchdog's patience wears thin as Tesla Autopilot remedies may not be enough

Re: Me? A cynic?

I live near one of these aberrations, They are "safe" due to the well known effect that if you make something sufficiently and obviously dangerous people actually take more care.

Tesla devotee tests Cybertruck safety with his own finger – and fails

Re: "The frunk is powered and shouldn't be closed manually"

So what do you do if the battery is flat? Leave it open in the rain??

Stupidity is without limit.

Did it never occur to him to try it first with a carrot??

Has Windows 11 really lost marketshare to Windows 10?

Re: Win 11 unusable on ultra widescreen monitor

Actualy I want the start button in the top left corner and the task bar to the left, which is the setup I have used for years. I understand this is not possible on Win11 without third party software and TBH I am sufficiently satisfied with my customized Win 10 to stay with it until I make the inevitable final jump to a full linux household.

Win 11 unusable on ultra widescreen monitor

I recently purchased a small form factor computer which I intended to load with linux. For some incomprehensible reason it came with Win11 preloaded so for the sake of curiousity I allowed it to complete the installation. At this point I should mention my monitor is 5120x1440, a legacy of my gaming days. With the start button in the middle of the screen and other controls in all 4 corners this is effectively unusable without third party software akin to Classic Start Menu (which I use even under Win 10).

The system is now chortling away happily with Linux Mint. I am hoping other manufacturers of low end kit will not preinstall Win 11 because it is a pointless exercise.