* Posts by moylan

117 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Aug 2006

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NexDock 2 revisited: Could it be more than a handy Pi hole?

moylan
Alien

missing something

it needs space inside the case for the pi probably with some sort of replaceable 3d printed lid so you can cut holes to some of the ports you want available outside the laptop. right now i'm thinking of getting an old psion and connecting it to a pi with a powerbank in a case via serial

Apple again late to another market others pioneered. Or is it?

moylan

Re: The all-new Apple iCar!

at least you'll be able to hear it approaching from the sound of smugness it generates :-P

Nokia taps former Rovio man Rantala to market relaunch

moylan
Alien

holding a candle, waiting for nokia

today dublin bus tweeted a pic of 10 phones passengers left behind. half were dumbphones and most were ancient nokias. they last forever and are near indestructible. i use one myself. i see them still in use by people who also carry smartphones.

so if and when nokia put out a new phone i'll probably be there waiting to buy one. no smartphone other than symbian for me: 1) lasted more than a day on battery. 2) could be depended to bounce off the ground unbroken 99 times out of a 100. 3) had a brilliant comfortable keyboard instead of virtual crappy ones. ymmv.

Google+ subtracts live videoconf service 'Hangouts On Air'

moylan
Alien

Re: G+ has quite a few benefits as a social network

so either it remains a backwater or a social network and google kills it for lack of caring

or

it takes off and it becomes like every other crappy social network with trolls and idiots...

Pro who killed Apple's Power Mac found... masquerading as a coffee table

moylan
Alien

using a hard drive as a door stop

in my old job we used an old retired 5mb full height hard drive from a cpm computer as a door stop. till a customer had a failure and we could source no other drive. worked fine for a few years till the system was retired.

You can't dust-proof a PC with kitchen-grade plastic food wrap

moylan
Alien

Re: I once heard a tale...

i installed pcs pentiums ii and iii's into pizza shops. the flour covered the motherboards and smelled like bread. as long as they were left on the fans kept spinning. the shops were warm and dry so it never congealed onto fans and jammed them.

also had a 386 in a machine shop office above work floor in early 90s. they kept blowing due to fine metal dust from work shop that found it's way up to high office and into power supply. we eventually put the base unit in a pair of tights with a hole cut into leg which hung over the floppy drive. never gave trouble after that. wouldn't work with an air cooled pc though... looked silly but it worked.

Raspberry Pi celebrates fourth birthday with fruity version 3

moylan
Alien

Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

the netbook was running xubuntu, also tried lubuntu but stayed ultimately on xubuntu in the end.

browsers eat memory. their biggest weakness. run a browser for 3-4 weeks on a system that is up 24x7 and see how that memory lasts. on the netbook i needed to restart the browser to free memory 4+ times a day as it started to slow down. using midori sorted that mostly but for wacky reasons theregister site makes it crash hard. the new 64bit arm would probably be beefier than the ancient atom but i don't see it solving the memory problem with the browsers.

don't get me wrong, i'll be buying one but if there was one feature i wanted to see upgraded it was memory more than anything else. with 2gb i could easily see me replacing current wonky laptop at home as main system.

moylan
Alien

Re: highest-selling single computer model of all time

debateable, but to me programmable means i can use itself to program it. the ios platform needs a real computer to write the programs. a real omission to my mind as it is powerful enough to have some level of programming built in.

but then i was spoiled by having a psion organiser in 90s which allowed me to write apps in opl on the device.

moylan
Alien

Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

1gb of ram isn't enough. i used till last year an ancient netbook with 1gb as my main system. web browsers need more. 2gb would be better but i suspect 3gb would be needed before it stops hammering virtual memory. you can use lite browsers. midori, qupzilla, but those have sites they won't work properly on or just crash when loading.

i'll still buy one when i can find a shop in dublin selling them. the added bt and wifi is most welcome as it frees up usb ports and reduces space it needs without those been occupied.

Samsung to launch a Snapdragon 808-based clamshell smartphone

moylan
Alien

Re: The FlipPhone

i use a nokia asha 302. a nokia feature phone with qwerty keyboard. runs java apps so albite for ereader and midpssh for ssh, jmirc for irc. opera mini handles web, rss and email for me. it has wifi so saves a bit on data when around the house. tough as a brick and fantastic battery life. even found a java app for google maps but it doesn't have a gps but gives access to maps.

From doodles to designs – sketch it out with a stylish stylus

moylan
Alien

wake me up when

wake me up when they're as precise and as cheap to replace as stylus were on palm and psions. i could quickly draw note or diagram with those. the ones i've seen so far for ipad and android are horrible. i'm sure the expensive ones are better but not worth the money.

Voda UK CEO says one thing about not-spots, Minister of Fun says another

moylan
Alien

difficult

one's a politican and ones speaking for vodafone.

i don't know which one to disbelieve more... :-)

TCL confirms plans to 'bring back' Palm – provided you tell it how

moylan

wishlist

different ways it could go

* make the same hardware like the original palms but with updated ports for newer usb connectors, memory cards.

* i would still love a b&w lcd version over a colour version. even an alkaline battery option.

* don't want a camera and mic on it.

* would need bluetooth option for some connectivity but could live without wifi myself.

* an ir port with enough range to control tvs/dvd/etc., what was the app that allowed you to copy tv remotes to buttons you drew on screen?

* a proper docking option. one thing i miss with all my mobile devices since is a good dock. press a button and it synced a tonne of useful information back and forth.

* new software that works with windows mac AND linux

* don't want to store info in cloud

just my 2c

Microsoft to enter the STRUGGLE of the HUMAN WRIST

moylan

Re: Strap on time...ahem

or the number of service packs remaining to be installed.

Go on, corporate drone, log in... We'd recognise your VEINS anywhere – Barclays

moylan

'extremely difficult to spoof or replicate'

'extremely difficult to spoof or replicate'

until they've become a big enough target for the hacking community to take an interest in?

WHOMP! There it is: IBM demos 154TB tape

moylan
Alien

just imagine

just imagine this in sinclairs microdrive format :-)

WOW! Google invents the DIGITAL WATCH: What a time to be alive

moylan

power

i don't see this as been useful, to me. others may find it useful. but having another device to plug in at night would be enough to put me off. should be so easy to put the wireless recharging hardware into the strap so you can take it off plonk it on charging mat at night and be done.

Seagate's LaCie touts a 25TB (not a typo) box o' disks for your DESK

moylan

what i really really want

what i really really want is them to bring back bigfoot drives. slow but huge compared to other drives of their day.

Mosquitoes, Comets and Vampires: The de Havilland Museum

moylan
Alien

Re: If you have an hour to spare

a very british documentary with no silly cgi or info pages beloved of american documentaries. and oodles of footage from attacks on targets. plus a demo of the rare mossie fitted with the automatic anti tank weapon designed to hunt down uboats. nice one.

File-NUKING Cryptolocker PC malware MENACES 'TENS of MILLIONS' in UK

moylan

Re: The Ransom?

it would explain the rise in the value of bitcoins

WD unveils new MyBook line: External drives now bigger... and CHEAP

moylan

what i'd love to see...

what i'd love to see is a rebirth of the big foot drives. 5.25inch drives or bigger. more and more people are using external drives for capacity and ssds are starting to be more useful for booting off from. don't need super fast just massive capacity. my 2c.

Shopping list for Tesco: Eggs, milk, bread, tablets (the £60 7in Android kind)

moylan

Re: cheap cheerful

my bad. had searched the article and many others today looking for 'card'. my ancient samsung 7" may be replaced so.

moylan
Alien

cheap cheerful

good enough for most.

but does it have a memory card slot? 16gb is grand but it's nice to stick in a 32gb card with a tonne of media.

E-book him! Entire Judge Dredd back catalogue gets iDevice treatment

moylan

Re: Drokk!

ditto strontium dog, sam slade robo hunter, halo jones, slaine, and many many others.

Apple quietly revives iPhone charging and syncing docks

moylan
Alien

miss docks

when i had a palm pda the dock was such a useful addon for syncing and charging the later models. it's odd that with the terrible battery lifes of modern smart phones that they are shunned so much. plus with all the weather/stock/slide show apps it can be a constant stream of info beside your main computer.

me i'll stick to my crappy new nokia feature phone that needs charging once a week. :-)

Microsoft Surface sales numbers revealed as SHOCKINGLY HIDEOUS

moylan

there is hope...

you can't polish a turd. mind you if it were possible to install linux i'd buy one at the discounted price.

add surface to wince, pocketpc, winmobile, kin, winphone list of ms mobile attempts.

Firefox OS: Go away fanbois, fandroids - you wouldn't understand

moylan
Alien

Re: dumb question

on the iphone 3g i can use ibooks, which is a crap ereader. too slow and unresponsive. not worth getting a new iphone for the increasingly restricted walled garden. pity amazon killed stanza as that worked ok, share file on desktop and download over wifi.

i have all my books on android but am getting tired of google's increasing efforts to shove g+ down my throat. it's ereaders operate the way i want. copy files to a sd card and go. as has been mentioned by one kind person firefoxos can also work this way. that's enough for me to jump to the platform.

moylan

Re: dumb question

i've read many books on on palm iiix or a nokia n70. small screens are comfortable for reading bare text. at least for me.

moylan
Alien

dumb question

if i want to use it as an ereader can i just copy a ton of files onto the memory card or does it need to uploaded into the cloud and thus be a pain in the arse when away from data?

tired of iphone and android and if it worked offline as an ereader would be very interested in getting one.

Nokia: OK, Q1 has been weak, but there's 'underlying' profit

moylan
Alien

Re: a massive operations fuck-up caused by a shortage of components

the only ones i have seen are those which the mobile providers are providing for free as upgrades to people on contract. and a civil servant whose department had all their blackberries replaced by winphone devices.

i've set up one of these and it was a horrible horrible device. the user has since smashed it with a hammer he hated it so much.

Facebook Home gets SMACKDOWN from irate users

moylan

Re: I wonder...

aren't the only people who can vote and comment on apps in the google play store g+ users? slightly biased perhaps?

Lotus 1-2-3 rebooted: My trip back to the old (named) range

moylan
Alien

Re: Copy protection

at a government paid for course i was taught spreadsheets on vp planner which was a clone of lotus 123 which copied all the keystrokes required to do exactly what lotus did.

everyone had a copy of eventually sued out of existence vp planner instead of legit lotus.

Nokia: No Belle download for Apple users

moylan
Alien

half assed policy

i used to have to build a windows system every few months just to run nokias software updater. a real pain in the ass. people who are using expensive phones are more likely to be using operating systems other than microsofts. i didn't want windows on my then mac systems or now linux systems. it was one of the things that drove me away from symbian.

of course android is not perfect either with both my samsung wanting windows kies software to update the firmware and my sony xperia wanting similar windows crap to do the same. is it so hard to understand that people who use android might not be fans of ms?

Apple land-grabs fuel cells for mobiles

moylan
Alien

fun fun fun

these will be fun when it comes to getting on an airplane. no?

Motorola Pro+ Qwerty Android smartphone

moylan
Alien

where did it go wrong?

the e71 is where nokia went wrong. for me anyway.

on paper it seemed ideal. better than the e61i it was replacing;

* support for more than 2gb of memory cards and more memory

* fm radio

* camera flash

* standard 3.5mm head phone socket

* longer battery life.

* faster cpu

and then i used one for a while;

* global search was painfully slow if the phone had lots of information. around a minute to start as it preloaded all the data to 'speed' up searches.

* headphone socket mounted on the side so that it damaged the headphones i was using when i put the phone in my pocket crazy person that i am.

* fragile, i dropped mine within a week of getting it and the keyboard popped out. it went back in ok and never happened again but after the sheer indestrucibleness of the e61s...

* shutting down all running apps and rescanning my memory card for media everytime i ejected it to copy stuff on and off. and no way to turn that off. annoying.

* and adding a not required by irish law camera click in firmware update made me give it away and promise to never buy nokia again.

these days i use a samsung galaxy pro. nice!

Sony creates paper battery

moylan
Alien

insufficient suffering!

and hopefully they'll have the company of mozart and a banjo. :-)

Swiss-based Balesio takes the knife to PDF files

moylan
Alien

smaller or smaller.

i don't have a problem with the kb used by a file but i often have a problem reading pdfs on ereaders. sure you can zoom in and scroll but that can be annoying and time consuming. a java app called briss does the job of trimming of excess margins. just my 2c.

it as a by product trims off a few kb.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs is dead at 56

moylan
Alien

love him or hate him

love him or hate him he changed the industry.

Intel CEO: 'Ultrabooks' will be 'holistic' success

moylan
Alien

handles?

one of the reasons i love my olpc so much is the handle. the first laptops i used had handles but somewhere along the way they were eliminated.

these mobile devices are going to me moved around a lot. a handle wouldn't go amiss on some of these. even just a generic connection slot for people to add one might win a few sales.

Vintage Psion prototype: Yours for £85,000

moylan
Alien

agree

i'd even be happy with a lower powered version that eliminated wifi and colour screen. let it have blue tooth and use that to connect to a phone in a pocket that can share it's wifi and 3g. a bit of software could do that on most modern phones.

the psions i had back in the 90s and early 2000s were the 3a, 3c, 5, 5mx and could last a week on 2 aa batteries. averaged about 40 hours a week on the series 3s and 20-25 hours on the 5s.

it's tragic that 17 years after my psion 3a that modern phones struggle to have the capabilities of it's software.

as for keyboards. i liked the psion 5 but prefered the case and shell of the psion 3 series. the battery case hinge allowed you to grip it with forefinger and middle finger while using the thumb on the keyboard. and with your other hand i could get nearly 30wpm while walking around warehouse typing serial numbers and notes into it.

it's never going to be a major player but a small percentage of the market with loyal customers can be very profitable as apple has shown. most of the accountants and architects i meet who had psions would be rushing to get one as nothing has compared to their design excellence. the fact he sold all 2000 of the variants he made should show that.

HTC Flyer 7in Android tablet

moylan
Alien

1470 hours?

1470 hours? i don't think so. :-)

looks nice. like the idea of a stylus.

looking for a 7" tablet at the mo

if they didn't pay a licence fee to ms i'd buy one.

Entire London 2012 Olympics' cultural events database held on Excel

moylan
Alien

as nyelvmark said no powerpoint?

as nyelvmark said no powerpoint?

90% of management emails would be unviewable!!

Microsoft fails to turn punters on to WinPho 7

moylan
Alien

yet i can't watch

yet i can't watch tv shows like bones or castle with seeing how super fabulous the crappy winpho7 is? this weeks castle episode had the lead take a picture and email it with beautiful close ups of him sending via outlook. wtf?! i was sending pics via email from my nokia n70 6 years ago. could have done it on my 3650 before that but the images were crap and data too expensive.

how much are they spending to advertise this crap again?

and as for nokia helping their sales numbers? nokia hasn't been able to write good software for 3-4 years. people aren't going to hand in their current symbian devices and replace it with winpho7 in any great number. most people i knew with symbian had gone symbian because they didn't want a winmobile device.

Tribunal rules Digifone paid bung for Irish GSM licence

moylan
Alien

time for another tshirt

do you know if they still make the old

ben there

dunne that

bought the taoiseach

tshirts? haven't seen one in years.

Apple security update leaves iPhone 3G users unprotected

moylan
Alien

thank goodness

that i only use/used opera on my symbian, android and iphone devices? it's an acquired taste but i like having the same browser on all devices.

iPlayer Global iPad app price announced

moylan
Alien

wait for the android version

i've said it a million times but i'd rather pay for a bbc tv licence than the irish version. at least the bbc puts out dozens of tv shows that i am interested in.

but i have zero interest in apple devices. hate itunes!

will be interesting to see if how much money this brings into the bbc. they're not perfect but have a lot of fans around the world.

Google Apps boss says cloud computing is your destiny

moylan
Alien

no!

i'm a big fan of google generally but i have no faith in cloud technologies. the biggest obstacle is what happened in egypt. it doesn't matter if you live in a more stable country you are at the end of the day depending on your government not to shut you out from internet services. now add intermittent internet services (how many hours or days was your internet down last year?) and i have no trust in remote services.

i can get work done as long as i have my data to work on. put the data in the cloud and deny me access to the cloud and i can do nothing. so no cloud for me. i'll use cloud but make sure i have a local backup.

It's official: Nokia bets on Microsoft for smartphones

moylan
Alien

it's not often...

it's not often that you see rats jumping on a sinking ship!

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