Or...
... there might be some patents in there that could be used to clobber somebody.
251 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Aug 2007
In a Swiss Army Knife, the individual tools suck. There are much better tools for opening bottles, whittling wood, taking nails out of horses' hoves. Why is it surprising that maps apps are not as good as dedicated satnavs? Why are the built-in cameras not as good as real cameras at the same price as the phone? Having said that, I have iPhone/iPad apps that are considerably better than their real world counterparts. ClearTune guitar tuner, SkySafari (as an astronomical telescope guider) and I much prefer playing Scrabble on an iPad than with a real board.
...Dan Dare didn't have all these problems. The Anastasia could go anywhere with only the cockpit canopy of a Second World War fighter bomber. Going back even further, Buck Rogers fueled his 'rocket ship' with copper wire off a reel. Worked pretty well but the smoke always rose upwards and the sparks fell downwards. Wouldn't be allowed these days on Health and Safety grounds.
Home automation is a very small market. For the most part, a cheap mechanical timer will do the trick of turning on the microwave or kettle before you get home. I very much doubt if this is what the 'alleged' iWatch is all about. If it doesn't measure my blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and blood sugar level, I can't see a need for it.
iOS7 became available about 6:50 (not the 6:00 that was touted on some sites). I managed to grab the update for my iPad within half an hour but subsequently trying to update my iPhone, I hit the traffic jam.
I don't understand why updates like this can't be staggered across timezones or using some other method - but then that wouldn't get all the free publicity.
Haven't hit any 'gotchas' yet.
"As several other comments have said here, Microsoft should have made 2 different versions of the Win8 OS: business (Explorer UI) and consumer (touch UI). Microsoft may not like hearing that, but it's the truth."
It might be the sort of thing Microsoft would do but a better OS designer would simply ask if the user wanted touch capabilities and serve up the appropriate experience from the install disk.
Fact: there is no continuation of consciousness when you are teleported. The original is destroyed (duplication is not permitted by law). The clone IS an exact copy of the original with all the memories, warts and all but once you step into a transported, you die.
How long would it take a 3D printer to recreate the clone?
The Universe is just an atom in an even bigger Universe which is, itself, an atom etc, etc.
Seriously though, the human brain can not comprehend the nature of The Universe and what is 'inside' and 'outside' it much in the way that an earthworm knows little about simple shopkeeping. Much as we try to come up with an answer, including supernatural beings, science 'fiction' and science 'fact'. I really don't think we will ever crack this one. There is a lot of time, but not enough!
2001 is one of very few films with no sense of UP and DOWN.
Earth vs The Flying Saucers because they wouldn't let me into the cinema to see it!
The original War of the Worlds, an absolute classic
Superman and the Mole Men, scared me way back then.
The original Day of The Triffids was brilliant!
If you dress up as a policeman, and you are not a policeman, that is a crime. If you produce a national flag with horizontal red, white and blue stripes, you are passing yourself off as France. If you are a British soldier and dress up in a German uniform you will likely be shot as a spy. Identity is about creating a persona. It doesn't matter how simple that identity is. Red, white and blue horizontal strips, a red dot on an white background, a white + on a red background, a red + on a white background, the simpler the better. Samsung took what was essentially an identity created by Apple, not just the black rectangle with rounded corners but near identical packaging too. Never mind the rounded corners, even though there are countless different shapes that could have been used. Why choose black when there are countless other colours? Why have a grid of square icons, they could have been hexagons or circles and been more distinctive. No, Samsung chose to create a 'me-too' and then had the cheek to say that Apple is stifling innovation!!!
I was at the UK launch of Windows 95 way back then. It was gratifying to hear the Microsoft presented say how bad Windows 3.11 was and how much better '95 was. So, that is their sales strategy. Tell the punters what a load of c**p they are using and promise them something, err, different!
I installed EVI on my iPhone 4 and tried a few simple questions like 'where can I get a curry near here?'. EVI didn't have any knowledge of my small Dorset town whatsoever and suggested three online web sites which were equally useless. It was, however, able to tell me how many inches were in a metre from a spoken question – but I didn't really want to know that. If an app can't point you to a ruby, what good is it?
I suspect that Stallman has never used a Mac. I have used Macs almost exclusively since they came out in 1984. I have never felt restricted in any way. In all that time, I have had exactly two hardware failures - a power supply and a Powerbook LCD screen. I have been able to sell my older models for a decent price after four years. I have personally made at least a million pounds, probably more in that time using Macs and I put that down to the fact that I was benefiting from the productivity, reliability and resale value. I would much rather pay for Photoshop than suffer with GIMP. I have just had a brief flirtation with Open Office – and dumped it. Apart from Firefox, I don't use any 'open source' software as in almost every case, there is something better. Okay, I have to pay for it but that is just a business expense and tax deductible.