Units?

How about an "Orange", being the amount of information he actually downloaded.

So Mr. Mazkouri downloaded an orange of data.

To make things clearer, maybe define an "orange" as 1Tbyte, then he downloaded 1.6 oranges of data (units should be nice round numbers).

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Choosy mothers chose JIF

Sorry, its an American ad for peanut butter, and the brand is 'JIF'.

Me? hard G for me!

Sentators would rathar have

35% of nothing than 10% of a bunch of money.

Fools all!

Why don't they call it a PC and be done with it

Then load Windows 8. All one needs to do is add a keyboard and a mouse (or take in some hand gestures) and you got a reasonable piece of kit.

Sure there is $$$ to be made doing games (more that the Movie industry I'm told) but I really don't want to be holed up in some dark living room watching stuff wander on my screen.

If I wanted a game, I'd get my old "Pong" game that I built on a circuit board (only a couple of chips) and entertain myself. It was OK then, and it is OK now. For more advanced stuff, a nice spacewar (on a pdp-11) like I saw at the Stanford coffee house in the early 70's. Otherwise, why bother. Sure there are lots of nice graphics, but Cinema is much more entertaining to me.

As for the name. Why is it called "One"? didn't they already have the first "Xbox" a long time ago. Seems that going from "360" to "One" is backwards to me. Maybe they should call it "Xbox Vista" or some such.

If it will help...

...get rid of the stupid "computer noise" that is injected while it "looks up" things, it might be helpful. I do know that SQL querys are a fact of life, but silly beep-boop-bleep sounds while you are doing it is terrible.

All of this gives new meaning to the quote "Watson come here, I need to see you", uttered over 125+ years ago.

On a personal note: Calling it by that name isn't the best thing in the world.

But...

I like a nice tasty steak, with a nice baked potato. Heavy on the chives, bacon, and sour cream on the potato.

Vegetables? Not if I can help it (my wife has other ideas though (*SIGH*)).

If this was "ideal" restaurants would be out of business. What do you do for that nice "conversation over dinner"?

Another thought...

Maybe these guys are developing a version of their OS that WILL work on Nokia phones. They already know the hardware, so it won't be that difficult.

They could offer an "UPDATE" to the silly WP8 Nokia thing that Microsoft likes to have battles in weddings about.

Maybe this IS Nokia's "Plan B". You never know.

Technology progress.

Less than 50 years ago, the first Martian "probe" was a "flyby" mission that took pictures to a tape recorder (for storage) and then sending the (monochrome, with two filters) results back here to Earth. That was the "state of the art" at the time (around 1965 or so). We really have come a long way since then.

Think of the technology changes in your lifetime. They are quite "fascinating" (as Spock would say).

Rules, laws and more rules.

Look, Apple and other companies didn't write the rules that were enacted by the various governments (much as they would like to). Instead they FOLLOWED the rules as they stand. Sure the matrix of rules was analyzed to find the lowest tax rates available, but that is what a company is supposed to do. To do anything else would be irresponsible.

If a government wants to generate tax revenue, it needs to look at the matrix and find out that (surprise) they get more money by taxing big bux at lower rates than by taxing less at higher rates. Here in the USA, we have this terrible tax rate (30%+) for corporations. If they reduced it to a more amenable rate they would get more money to the treasury, simple as that.

This was shown to be true when they reduced the tax rate on capital gains here in the USA. The lower rate for more $$$ to the treasury. Unfortunately our Big Hefe who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. thought that lowering taxes to increase revenue was "unfair".

"Socialism works fine until you run out of other peoples money" (ob British quote)

To tie this all in, why not...

Just use BitCoin for all the "profits" and let them land in whatever country you want.

Taxes? Go to BitCoin and take it from them!

Of course that may be what Google has in mind already, but you heard it here first!

Fine until...

The skimmer is internal to the machine reading the card, and attaches itself to the logic circuity.

Why not just build a circuit board that takes the output of the magnetics and intercepts it before passing it along. Man in the middle style. The bad guys seem to have access to the innards of machines these days (there was a news story about a gas (petrol) station here that was compromised on its inside.

Still, a nice idea!

You mean they don't have an exit gate?

Here in the US of A the "self service" parking usually entails getting a ticket when you go into the parking facility, and then when you are about to leave, going up to a vending machine, and submitting said ticket and plying the machine with folding green paper with pictures of presidents and other elder statesmen, or a credit card. The machine dutifly records said payment on the ticket and the time, and you slip said (now validated) ticket in the slot at the exit gate and your car is now out of jail, and you are free to go.

Now if you don't pay, you don't get out of the garage/car-park, being trapped until you can find some attendant or just give up and ram the gate (they are usually pretty flimsy) and bust out of "car jail".

The alternatives are as I saw this last weekend, having a fixed price to pay upon entering a parking facility (it was up to $30/vehicle at the Rock Concert in Napa!), and the time was "unlimited". Of course if the car stayed overnight or was abandoned, a nice friendly towing company would take possession and cost MUCH MORE to get it out of "maximum security car jail" (aka impound lot).

Now where was that nice portable jet pack when you needed it!

Now we might have a comparison

Between an Android version and a "Surface" version. Hopefully the former won't have a paid up Microsoft License, and then we will know the "Real Microsoft Tax" value for such an item.

Why not use the Knuth scheme

Where he used increasing accuracy of Pi to generate versions.

First: 3

Next: 3.1

Next: 3.14

Next: 3.141

Next: 3.1415

Next: 3.14159

You get the picture, and I don't need to rack my brain for the next digit(s).

Another hole, another patch...

Life goes on.

Same story next month. We all gripe about it, and yes in a perfect world software would be "right", but the standards of production of software (and bugs) has been set and we all obey.

Till next time...

Wrong introduction!

Spy1: I've got the YoYo.

Spy2: I've got the string.

It goes on from there. It was the 60's. Or as the saying goes: "If you remember the 60's you weren't there!"

Microsoft ought to take warning!

These "ChromeBooks" are like dogs nibbling at their heels. Ignored at first but later VERY annoying. The ChromeBook described is a perfect "Wife's computer" for someone that just needs to browse a bunch and send out a few emails. Connectivity via WiFi is perfectly nice and the few extra features are available for the "tech of the family" (Me) to help out.

One of these is going to be MUCH better than a silly "Dance Card" (Surface) designed by the increasing insignificant company in Redmond, which costs more than twice than this model!

Good job HP (I seem to say this more in the past 6 months :-)

Outsourcing?

So Mr. Jobs outsourced his job. Looks like he learned business pretty early in his life.

Of course, it would be interesting to see a schematic of the 40+ chip solution to ponder just how it works.

Yes, I do like to program in "solder". I find it amazing how few people understand any facet of the language!

Why not call the update...

Windows 7 and call it a day.

Just remember...

The lower the frequency, the less bandwidth us usually available. So, all this new 700 MHz stuff that is appearing from the old UHF TV channels won't have lots of capacity. They demonstrated 1GHz bit rate at 11 GHz, which is just about right. Assuming 8 bits per signaling element (good luck with that!) you still need 125 MHz of bandwidth to get stuff through. Finding that much RF real estate is VERY difficult at low frequencies as the pie is quite subdivided for all the users.

So, you have high frequencies, and there the path loss starts climbing in and you end up heating the air you pass the waves through. This indicates a higher power in BOTH directions which gets difficult in something hand held.

Bottom line: Good luck, you WILL need it!

As the saying goes...

Nobody got fired for buying Microsoft products.

Sadly this is quite true in the "business" world. It really doesn't matter what the costs are, a big company like Microsoft is considered infallible. They keep adding features to products and convince suckers (aka customers) that the product is necessary, even if they really don't need the latest upgrade. This cycle persists with every new release of Office/Windows.

One of these days, LibreOffice will have a NEW valuable feature that will catch the attention of an IT CTO or something "C" similar, and then they will latch onto it as being cool necessary to do their business functions. Microsoft will, of course, implement it in an incompatible way, but if there is enough delay between the "open" implementation and the Microsoft (closed) implementation that the "business world" takes notice, it might turn the tide. Until then all I can do is call the BSA hotline and complain that my software (Linux/LibreOffice) doesn't have a license key, and it is copied all over the place, just to see what they do.

Life goes on (*SIGH*).

Repeat after me:

Nothing to see here, please go away.

Another oxymoron: "Microsoft Comparability". Doesn't apply here, never will.

Being critical of Microsoft...

Is SO easy. That's why we do it, and will continue to do it.

We know that Microsoft doesn't care, and never will, so we will be critical for quite a long time.

Get over it. We know Microsoft products are just an effort to maintain your monopoly, and due to all your tie-ins and non published "standards", we're stuck. Hell yes we are critical!

And yes, I use Linux as much as I can, even at work where they foistered a laptop on me (it had W7, and the first thing I did was load Fedora 17 on it).

But...

I want my airplane time to be "Quiet Time" where NOBODY will disturb me. I can get one of those head covering pillows (I just saw it on TV) and get some (medically induced, or otherwise) shut-eye.

The difference between doing it "in-flight" or on the ground is of little consequence to me. If people need my input, they know I'm on the plane, and they can WAIT! Besides, most of the time I'm on a plane I'm on VACATION!

Of course, this begs the question...

Is ElReg mentioned in the document as a "good source" of information?

The next question: Has ElReg been approached by spooks to plant a story, as they DO have a schedule of costs for this sort of thing (I know it exists, but I don't have a link ready).

One thing you forget here!

While this "concept" won't actually be a viable weapon, there is one thing you forget. As far as regulators are concerned, the "receiver" IS the gun. Barrels aren't considered as a "gun", and need not have serial numbers attached to them (they have other characteristics that are unique though). It is the receiver that is 3D printed and as far as regulators (ATF people) are concerned that is the heart of the gun.

Anyone (with money) can obtain a barrel quite easily. This has ALWAYS been the case. Couple this with a 3-D printed "rest of the gun" and you have a very workable device. Oh, by the way, VERY untraceable as well. The sales of gun barrels are not recorded, nor are they restricted in any way, so the net result is a nice multishot device that anyone can make.

This is like back in prohibition times when a kit of yeast, and condensed fruit juice was sold with a big warning "if you put these together and let it sit for a while, you could make an illegal substance". They sold lots of said kits. No alcohol, but easily made!

Maybe he should boycott...

Those states which don't recognize Israel's right to exist (in any form), of which there are many!

We recognize your right to exist, so why not others?

The only people getting any "reward" are...

...the lawyers that are chewing up $$$ at a billable rate of around $500/hour (maybe more). Maybe if they made the "loser pay" it could get settled quite quickly. We can only hope.

Of course, the better solution is to get rid of "software patents" all together. Maybe one could patent "software patents" and get the really big bux!! What a plan!

Only in San Francisco!

Maybe they got some sense pounded into them. Unfortunately it was probably the costs that drove home the argument.

Now if they get rid of the plastic bag ordinance which bans them, I'll be a much happier camper!

Regarding touch screens for desktops...

I am reminded about an earlier time before mice were everywhere. In those days the "pointer" was a light pen (remember those). I saw a screen based workstation that had one "new fancy" (for the time) lightpens. The people in the hospital (where it was used) had gotten used to it to select things and edit fields (it might have been character entry based, I don't recall). One thing that I did notice was that they had a hand rest for the monitor. This obviously was due to user complaints for having to reach and point on the screen (as touch screens do now). At the time I believe (this might have been over 20 years ago) I commented about the arm rest, and asked "why". The response was that they couldn't use the tab key to switch from field to field on the entry form, so they HAD to use the light pen and it was very tiring after a shift (pre-cursor to carpal tunnel syndrome?).

Now if the people at Microsoft had been FORCED to use their new interface to generate those reports in Word, or Excel, there might have been a different choice. As it stands now, Touch for a desktop machine, isn't going to happen. EVER! OSHA might even have a say in this!

Expiration date?

What a concept?

Maybe what people "collect" (like search engines do) should put an expiration date on everything they collect. If it is there the next time around, the date gets renewed. If not, the data must "die". Of course there might be exceptions (the Wayback machine is quite useful at times), but personal data should have a "destroy" date.

Of course, I'm dreaming, but that is what I do sometimes.

Any good currency...

Has an army behind it. When I see a "bitcoin army" I might believe it has some value. Until then, "Do not pass go, do not collect $200".

Why doesn't Icahn go play...

Monopoly somewhere "else". Maybe he can get his board out and play with the paper money they produce. When he doesn't like the outcome, he throws the board in the air and starts silly things like "Proxy Fights", giving vultures a bad name!

Shocked, I say, shocked!!

Microsoft software has an exploited vulnerability? Shocked, I say.

So, are we taking wagers on when the next one appears and has already taken advantage of?

Let's see, when is "Patch Tuesday"?

Nothing beats...

The original series, watched as it premiered on TV in the late 60's. I was in high school then (4th to 6th form) and it was THE thing to talk about at lunch time Friday (the series ran on Thursday nights 10-11pm, on NBC).

Being a bit older now, I kinda dismiss it as being from a time long ago. Sure the six movies were OK (the evens better than the odds), but I'm getting older now, and have other things to do (having a wife does that to you).

Oh, well, maybe I'll take it in, or wait for the eventual DVD, and pop my own popcorn.

Reliable? Interesting adverts on TV

Yes we get a bunch of these. They are magic potions that make your PC "run faster" "crash less" and other such diatribe. So, somebody must be making $$$ on these as I keep seeing the adverts where clueless person 1 says to clueless person 2 "just use (insert magic potion program here)" and it will all be good.

So, why doesn't the operating system come with such things? Are they THAT stupid?

We live in trying times!

Be careful for what you ask for, you might get it!

This fits right into this category. The "plans" are protected as free speech, and anyone can download them.

Think back to audio and mp3's. If one makes things easy to make instead of obtaining through rightful channels, people WILL build them.

Of course, these are not the assault rifles, and probably won't last more than a couple of firings, but they WILL work to some degree and eventually will be used. The next thing the government will want to do is ban the 3D printers.

Sorry, too late!

Underclass of cell phone lacking people...

Not hardly. The phone people hawk more phones to those people that you would imagine. They make lots of $$$ on the process.

Look it could be worse...

In my "youth" many years ago, I did the usual baking soda in vinegar experiment. I used a ketchup bottle which was glass. I inserted the baking soda into the liquid (I wrapped it in tissue to delay the reaction), and capped the bottle. I had thought that nothing had happened, and desired to remove the bottle cap. Unfortunately the pressure built up had locked the cap in place, so I did the smart thing and tapped it on the pavement (I was outside). One tap, nothing, sedond tap, nothing, the third tap, and the bottle disappeared from my hand. The cap had come off, and the force of stuff in the bottle exited with great velocity, sending the bottle between my legs and across the street. It was pretty scary, after I realized what I had done. Thankfully no body parts were in the way of this "rocket" (people like my wife appreciate this), and I am none the worse for wear.

Yes, experiments CAN be fun. Explosions are even better fun, the bigger the better! Just live to tell about them, and don't tell your parents till way later!

As one who at one time did benefit from NSF funding...

This is a terrible idea. There are enough politics in research as it stands now, and adding in Congress would make it worse!

Ah... Serial ports

Therein lies the problem. You see serial ports (RS/EIA 232, 25 pin and 9 pin) have been around for at least 50 years (and in other forms probably more than that!). There is no escaping them. Try as we might, they are a VERY simple interface to add on to an embedded device, and with the help of a converter, to the internet encrypted with little access controls (passwords/accounts/user names).

In one instance I know of a product that has a nice serial port that users want to really have made to an usb port somehow. The pain involved in designing it, and getting the proper vendor/product ids (among others) just aren't worth it for a product that might ship 10k (or less) of a single product. Even if they DO provide an interface (TCP/IP, or USB, etc..) the "easy way out" is to just emulate a serial port (no passwords, etc.) and the problem happens again and again.

So, serial ports (DB-25s and DE9s) are here to stay, and not much we can do about it. The security needs to be built into the devices that have the serial ports, not some silly add-on.

Personal note: I was guilty of having serial ports hung on modems that allowed full control of the system they were connected to. Fortunately back in the day (1982 or so) there was a cost to "war dialing" and it wasn't done much (he says knocking on wood!). Then again one should revisit the movie "War Games".

Yes, the Tandy (Radio Shack) M100

When it was introduced back in the day (1983 the Wikipedia article says) it was pretty advanced for its day. They were gobbled up by many a journalist simply because they had built in word processing software that allowed field journalists to write stories and (with the built in 300 baud modem) send them back to the home office.

In those days you didn't need much more than that to be a field journalist, so that is what you used. Sure you could write small basic programs, but it was the connectivity, built-ins, and portability that made it work.

Trivia: This was the last project that Bill Gates himself actually worked on.

Personal trivia: I still have one of these controlling my pool motors at my house. Amazing what you can do with a little bit of software.

But I don't like Ubuntu stuff.

Flame on:

I just like the Fedora releases. They are nice as well, and can be customized in every which way just as easily. Fedora seems to manage easier, but that's my opinion.

Before you get out the torch, remember this is an "each to his own" choice. Choose ubuntu (or a variety of it) and continue down that path. Good luck to all.

Remember: It isn't Windows 8, which all who read this type of article will agree is "better".

New name for "Surface" thingys

Why not call them "Dance Cards" as that is what people want to do with them once they get them (or that is what the commercials on TV imply!).

Now they might improve market share if they show the dance steps on the screen, but that is a subject for another day.

Wonders!

This is an example of "The worlds oldest profession" meeting up with "The worlds most modern technology".

Will wonders never cease.

Now where is that 'xxx' top level domain?

privacy? Privacy? PRIVACY?

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

Evil in this case is the constant monitoring of all that we do. Yes, the Borg is us and we need to recognize it as such.

As for monitoring, watch the show "Person of Interest" (presently on US television, I don't know about elsewhere). Shows the penetration of the Borg! While I hope that it is a great work of fiction, on some level I believe it to be true!

Long live...

NAFTA. Yes, shops will setup in Canada, and Mexico. The problem is that credit card companies will charge a "tax" on foreign currency transactions. Then the local governments will charge the taxes in Canada and Mexico.

Note that Widen is from a no sales tax state (Oregon). He doesn't want (or need) his companies charging sales tax. So, he is a politician that actually looks out for his constituency (a miracle!).

So, it is death & taxes forever!