* Posts by ted frater

114 publicly visible posts • joined 13 May 2008

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I see you're writing a résumé?!.. LinkedIn parked in MS Word

ted frater

God? knows how my 5yr out of date email address got on the LI list.

Reading this article and all the comments make me realise how lucky I am to be the hirer instead of the hired.

Not once has it been mentioned not all folks work for someone else.Bless you if its got you a better job.

Its more blessed tho not not to have to answer to some middle manger on self promotional medication.

Wether you survive or fall , depends on your own efforts.

Google blows $800k on bots to flood the UK with 30,000 'articles' a month

ted frater

News 2U

Re the above, im so glad someone has written this article as the above is absolutely awful on Utube, where there are many news items that look as tho they are worth reading..

The female monotoned voice over is americanised slurred machine speak thats completely unlike normal human speech. Its so bad I just cant listen to it.

Its trying to be clever and fails.

I wrote a comment to them and theres not been any change.

Now, if you want to enjoy someone speaking, try listening to Rob Cowan on radio 3 most mornings.

Or the later speeches of M Thatcher and even Nigel Farage. on his hour on LBC most evenings.

So , what do others think about this rotten news presentation?

I cant be alone?

Ted.

French general accused of nicking fast jet for weekend trips to the Sun

ted frater

Re: Long tradition in the RAF

I was blessed with a NS Flight engineers training back in 1952/4 and can offer the following,

1. On posting from Calshot to Kinloss 3 of us instead of railway warrants we did the math to show it was cheaper to pay our fuel to take my Singer 9 van to Kinloss so got the funding for that!.

2. On completion of our OCU at Kinloss on Shackletons MK 2';s we were posted some 3 of us to RAF Balleykelly in NI.

so it was my suggestion that we had the CO run a Nav ex to take us there!.

all organised.

3 .I was running an Austin 7 chummy at that posting and it was my job to drain the fuel tanks of condensate.

Needless to say it would have been a waste just to pour it away. It ran my car v well to Londonderry vwell to Saturday dances.

4. In our billett we had the RAF regiment NCO and it was a perk to go to the range on Wednesdays to do small arms practice, needless to say it wasnt part of our duties, .

5. On escape and evasion exercises, we had been dropped many milesfrom base and it was pouring with rain that night.

there was an empty house nearby so we forced open a window to get in. needless to say in the morning we checked and found the front door was unlocked!.

6. On competion of my statutory duty i drove back from Balleykelly via Stranraer back to Poole!.The chummy went v well..

so it IS standard practice for aircrew to exercise initiative.

7. Could never afford to fly privately, but when hang gliding came to the UK, well it was for me. Had a great 10 yrs and finished up representing the BHGA at the CAA on air traffic management. Met some great ex RAF types.

Finally, one of the best reads is Fate is the hunter, by Ernest Gahn. Many of you know it?

Ted In Dorset still exercising initiative!!.

Shooting org demands answers from Met Police over gun owner blab

ted frater

Guns and kids

Would I qualify for a gun licence?

I must have been 10 or so at the time, interested in guns, my dad was in the home guard and he kept his sten gun and ammo on the living room mantle piece.

so I made my own, a piece of Renolds 531 drawn seamless steel ex bike tubing the same int dia as the standard C cell batteries ext dia. Plugged the end with some broom handle fixed with 4 wood screws, a couple of handles and a supply of standard bangers from guy Faukes night.

Off to the beach to try it out. Light the banger drop in plus one battery, and wait! at must have gone a mile, didnt see it !!.

so another test. There was a dereleict house near buy with some big windows. A perfect target. And it really worked!

The tube started to bulge after as bit so got a stern warning from Dad who took it away.

Cant get those bangers any more.

As ad boycott picks up pace, Google knows it doesn't have to worry

ted frater

There is, , its the offer to Google as follows, I want my ads as follows. in T and C's. that are mine!. Otherwise no ads. I/e he who pays the piper calls the tune.

As someone else said, their motto do no evil, died a long time ago.

'Grey technology' should be the new black

ted frater

Theres always someone worse off than yourself

29.1.1934 was the day my mum saidI came into this world, so it was this Sunday I was blessed with my 83rd b/day!

And it was good to read this article as im now spending more time at my laptop generally upsetting folk with a geriatric's complaints about the world in general.

so as per my heading, im so lucky to be still able to type as i learned some 62 yrs ago on a underwood mech typewriter preparing duty rosters for my squadron, when not actively doing my trade as a flight eng. Re mobile phones, and the lack of proper keyboards like they used to be! nokia 9210 communicator is was my favorite for texting and phone calls.

We of this older generation do have the resources to buy what suit us but the makers of handsets just follow fasion as opposed to function.

Its the spacing between the keys thats important.

Ive been a contributor to the Reg for rather a long time and constantly beef about the lack of function over form. Gess im spoiled coming from the world of aviation.

So lets keep up the pressure on makers to meet our needs. Just maybe they too will be like us somewhat impared in so many ways.

thanks for reading.

Ted

in Dorset

UK.

PS, it takes me as long to correct the typos as typing it up in the first

place!!

Why Theresa May’s hard Brexit might be softer than you think

ted frater

Re: Remember *Carnets?

I remember carnets? Yes, a over burocratic pile of paper that no one actually read, BUT it was the only way I was able to go to Europe before anyone else in my line of work, take on the Germans, dutch etc and come back making a profit.

I tried all sorts of ways to get across the channel without it costing me a stupid fortune, with no success till I talked to a young new customs officer out of customs school who pointed me in the right direction.

I was able to take my work usually 4 times a year to the continent, and I enjoyed it very much.

I had a 7 ton commercial vehicle taxed showman HGV pulling a caravan. All self sufficient.

Good days!!.

Ted, bronzesmith and minter

In Dorset

UK.

Higher tech prices ARE here to stay. It's Mr Farage's new Britain

ted frater

Taking back control was as much about the unelected b/crats in Brussels dictating to us the Brits what they want us to do as about limiting immigration and removing our right to self determination.

Im an independent sod, have always survived or fallen by my own efforts and thought to my self what price am I prepared to pay to keep my country's democratic freedoms?

especially since there were many hundreds of thousands of our kinfolk who paid the ultimate price so that we could choose our own future!!

to think otherwise is a betrayal of their memory.

so what price am I prepared to pay?

Id be happy to take a fall in my pension to keep my freedom.

I also have faith in our innate ability to make good out of adversity.

If we have a hard brexit and fall back on the WT customs rates well still be better off than staying in the EU.

Information on smart meters? Yep. They're great. That works, right? – UK.gov

ted frater

I still cant have any meter!

Others have a PV array in addition to the wires that connect them to the grid. We also have a PV array we built ourselves last year. a 3.5KV costing us some £1800, along with an "Outback power systems" inverter. we have this coupled to an alkaline "Alcad" battery bank which came ex BR signalling safety setup. In addition to our 6kva Lister SR2 gen set.It works very well and only the past 2 weeks has the gen come on a couple of times. Rest of the year were on all solar.

In addition i need occasionally lots of power, so also have a 25kva gen set.

needless to say i came to this isolated off grid homestead some 43yrs ago and got then a price for grid leccy. They quoted £1000 for 800 yds of 11,000V overhead to a 5kva s/p tformer.

didnt have that money so bought a 6/1 startamatic for £100, and ran that for some 7 yrs. Moved on from then to other gen sets.

got a price 3 yrs ago for leccy 10 kva 3p same run, £45,000!

Buy a lot of solar panels for that! so even if we wanted a smart meter we cant have one.

Perhaps I should ask to have one fitted see what they say!

its nice being outside the system tho the down side im responsible for it all.

Ted in rural

Dorset.

Grand App Auto: Tesla smartphone hack can track, locate, unlock, and start cars

ted frater

Re: Going stone-age

Ive had a super idea! why not a physical key like one has for ones home or safe?

You push it into a small hole near the door handle turn and it opens! then use the same key into a slot ,turn to make an electrical sw. and your on your way! Oh!! havent this been done before!

anyone who can afford a Tesla can afford to have it stolen.

User needed 40-minute lesson in turning it off and turning it on again

ted frater

Switches as opposed to buttins

I was fortunate to have my engineering degree in aviation , and last night had this moment of insight!!

look at any cockpit and all the switches are like electrical switches used to be.

a lever that would be either up or down with a light on the lever end to show when its energised!!

so a button is cheaper thats why its used whereas on the flight deck it would be a disaster despite having a green light to say its on. i was always glad to see 3 green lights on approach to RAF Ballykelly after 12 hrs over the noggin looking for USSR subs, to show the under cart was locked down

!!

A positive clunk click cant be beat. And its much more positive for safety reasons.

a proper lever sw on the front of all comp kit? for our blessed female user?

A real selling point.

But im just a luddite for safety.

Ted.

ted frater

A gender thing?

Im active on a jewellery silver/goldsmithing forum( my occupation) and most of the simplest tech queries come from the female of our species.

Im convinced that its an upbringing thing, boys tend to go out and help their dad's whereas girls seem to help their mum's more. so its not surprising that after a childhood focussing on tasks outher than technical, they find it difficult to comperhend what to us seem obvious.

for example i was blessed with a son after 3 daughters at age 50, and chose to let him into the factory as soon as he could walk. ?/////didnt get much work done ! but he has had 14 yrs under my feet and has gone on to uni to do comp science. He has it in his head as well as in his hands. a rare combination. what he' lacks like a lot of young folks is not much patience.

I wish Id have the chance to do the same with a daughter, replicate what Hugh had and see what the outcome is. Regrets it wont happen. In 18 yrs ill be 100.

Anyone a 2yr old daughter to try it out?

Ted

in Dorset

Refactoring Brexit: The Great Digital Repeal

ted frater

Fortunately, theres more of us so called nuckle dragging Jordies north of your M25 homeland than your so called techie types. so if push comes to shove you might just consider adding to your safety net a one way ticket to your European dream of surfdom to Brussel's unellected masters.

We wont hesitate in cutting all you digital connections if you push your luck too far.

god help you in the long run.

.

Good luck squeezing saturated market, Euro mobe firms, say Orange, Telefonica

ted frater

How right you are, but price isnt no 1, its what it does then how it does it.

Ive been beefing on for yrs here on El Reg, that form has to follow functon. NOT fashion, theres also no choice today, bit like H Ford said you can have any colour so long as its black.

How about O2? running a survey of all their customers? what do you want from your hand set? then go to Samsung and tel them give me a price to make say 100,00 of these for us?

There millions of folk world wide who dont want nor can use a so called smart phone. I want a phone thats smarter than a smart phone,

In fact if I had one given me id give it back.

If I was a millionaire id put my money where my mouth is and buck the trend make and market it direct..

heres the spec,

1. a folder size 5,3/8 by 3 3/8 in same format as the Seiko er9000

2 a med size screen one side

3.a proper well spaced keys querty keyboard other side

4. a battery of at least 5000mah's

5. Suitable to take either android, or any other os or even Symbian

6. A text MENU option as well as of icons.

7. metal case and water resistant.

8. Decent speakers.

All the big makers can make anything they want. And they know it.

money is there!! comon O2 get with it!

Ted

The bigger they get, the harder we fall: Thinking our way out of cloud crash

ted frater

Just the article ive been waiting for.

A big Co i do engineering for, cant mention the name refused to accept an email from me just 10 days ago, the refusal came from a Mcsft cloud server.

so i called in by phone to ask , have you put your email server into MS cloud?

Yes was to reply.

I delivered some work today, and the staff member said they had no emails in all yesterday.

Again MS cloud has let them down.

I commented that I hope they have suitable penalty clauses in their contract. for failure to deliver what was supposed to be a cheaper and safer service than their previous email server.

Apart from the confidentiality risks. MS could sell contents of purchase orders to my Co's competitors apart from other confidential business transactions.

Their IT isnt my problem but my other work is. I will be taking it up with them in due course

about going down the encryption route.

Linux letting go: 32-bit builds on the way out

ted frater

I could use some help here, ive just aquired a lovely HP core duo, not core 2 duo and my tech friend has put a 32 bit version of mint in it a couple of months ago. Hes not around right now so the question is, can i put the 64 bit version on this laptop HP/compaq nx9420 with 3gigs of ram? It does everything i need inc Utube and cd videos without any delays. Im told its some 9/10 yrs old, but like new. 1920 by 1200 screen mat not shiny.

thanks

Ted.

TalkTalk scam-scammers still scam-scamming

ted frater

Well, from all thats been written above on the bad side of TT, its time I came in here and related my experience.

My experience has been 1st class, perhaps ive been lucky,

We were with Virgin since they started some11 yrs ago. Then they doubled their prices and we decided to try BT. This was sort of ok, till we needed to make some change a couple of yrs later. We had 2 copper pairs into our house to 2 seperate phones. both to the same exchange. Corfe Castle. some 5.9 km away. The average line speed was 3.5mbs on the BB line.

Then we needed to drop this line no longer needed and asked BT to do this, and change the BBand to the remaining line. so qwe could keep our old no.They quoted us 1mbs!! down the same wires to the same exchange!! Also they wouldnt change the no over that I had for 40 yrs here to the remainimg line.

Despite escalating it to the chairmans office in their HO london they were so institutionalised they were just as bad at dealing with India.

We finally told them they were unfit for purpose and as we have a proper IT gurru in house, not me I may add, we chose TT. Well would you believe it!! They changed the no to a new one once we got a crime reference no, and the line speed went up to 5.6mbs!! So theres no question, BT deliberately throttle their BB ADSL unless you pay for infinity.

This has now been in service for 2 yrs and no spam calls, , just a god steady connection.

As a afterthought, the line speed from here to the exchange is 6mbs, as the signal to noise ratio is very good. Copper all the way, so my friendly BT engineers tells us.

He suggested that he could just change over the wires in the exchange, but then it was too late.

Its who you know some times. BT lost a 40 yr customer. Never to go near them again.

I still have problems remembering our new no!!

The Windows Phone story: From hope to dusty abandonware

ted frater

Re: Pocket PC

Ahhh! the Pion 5!! with a modern screen and say windows mobile 6 , yes MS's best ever basic phone os.

You see, a M phone to me has primarily do 2 things ,

1. As a communication device

2. as texting device.

Now modern smart phones arnt designed to meet these 2 primary functions for the simple reason the carriers wont make money out of these. They want you to use your mp to transmit and recieve picture data, anything that maximises the expensive data you can send and recieve on your mp.

Now as I posted earlier, in this thread, no maker meets my needs. I currently use the HTC 4700 with its separate k-board , its the nearest I can get to my ideal phone.

The other interesting look alike flip hand set is the Seiko ER9000 the perfect mp form factor. This isnt a MP its a dictionary and Tr

hesarius.

Make a fantastic m phone.!!

ted frater

Re: Senseless remininscing?

We,, Ive just read Andrew's article for a second time , as I enjoyed it so much. Andrew? one of your best and most creative works so far!! Anything but sensless.

Now, im passionate about mobile phones , anyone who googles for all the comments Ive made over the years here on the Reg, will understand where im coming from.

Its so sad that MS with all there money and expertise havent been able to put together a lasting product that folk actually WANT to buy.

My interest is in the mature market end of handsets.

Any of the makers can now make anything they want, BUT there either following like sheep the fashion leader, or repeating the same mistakes over and over.There are millions of us older folk who grew up with 386sx, and early nokia and before that learned our 3 r's out of books! black type on white paper.

Now when we look at what has become the norm, ie the smart phone format, where do we start? itslike nothing weve experienced before. So what do we do? we put it back on the shelf at CPWhouse or wherever and continue using out dum phone.

Weve brought up our kids paid off our mortgages , have the funds to buy mostly anything we want, but are now careful with our funds. If it doesnt do what we want then the seller can keep it and the money stays in out pockets.

For me. FORM has to follow FUNCTION, dont MS or Samsung or all the other makers get that?

A handset has to do what I WANT the way I want it to.

All the components I want are all out there. Hasnt any maker got the guts to put them together?

Theres a lot of money to be made asking the buyer what he wants.

Would you let cops give your phone a textalyzer scan after a road crash?

ted frater

Re: Simple

Since finding dash cam russia, for educational reasons as well as a good laugh, ive had a dash cam running when ever im driving. 2 reasons,

1. to cover my ass if someone does something stupid and causes an accident,

2' it also more importantly makes me drive with more care as it also records any mistakes I make.

Definately advise everyone to fit on in their own interests. Lidl do them for 45 gbp.

Also with regard to using a mp when im driving, its in my pocket so cant get it out to answer. Always find somewhere to pull in and stop. By then every caller has rung off!!

Ted.

Man, its smartphones are SQUARE. But will BlackBerry make a comeback with them?

ted frater

Im going to support the post of Testman, who said another grid of icons, yawn?

In so far as might there just be a choice? of a text list instead on icons?

I dont like icons, and use a MP that has its menu in text. OK its win mobile version 6,

but it does what I want, not what the MP maker thinks I want.

theres no choice for this in most Android MP's.

Now at tomorrows Passport launch, can i please ask the author of this article if he goes to it, to ask some high up Blackberry droid if he can have a text menu instead of icons? Id love to know.

Tech city types developing 'Google Glass for the blind' app

ted frater

Could I be his eyes?

Ive read this article and the comments, and wondered why no one has mentioned the following.

Why couldnt another person with a pc screen help say someone with a google glass or simpler a simple head digital camera linked via bluetooth to his mp that then sends the pictures to my pc?

Id then talk him say from his home to the bus stop then to his place of work. Id be happy to do this say on a daily basis as I would get to know him /her his route for say to half hour it took. Also Id do it for free here in the UK.

Seems a simpler way than buying a google glass and paying someone in the p to do it..

any comments?

So if all those needing help had a regular helper it would be a step forward for the blind.

Learn about Microsoft Cloud OS platform

ted frater

A solution looking for a problem.

I suppose its reasonable of the Reg to publish this article as a contrast to others recently, telling the truth about the cloud.

As anyone in It will know, and im just a poor amateur at IT, that Msoft, IBM Amazonn Google HP and all the other Mercan cloud providers are subject tthe patriot act. Whats dishonest of them all is they dont mention it!!. So they cant guarantee your security even it they wanted to.

So if there not telling the truth over this what else are they not telling?

Also for a saving in cost? whats your confidentiual data worth. To most companies its a hell of a lot more that cloud savings/\. also trust your link to copper of a fibre line? gets dug up when you need it most? no.

The cloud is a sales gimmick Its would have been more than my directorship's worth to advise the board to succumb to the cluod salesman's spiel.

BlackBerry's Passport will be the WEIRDEST mobe of 2014

ted frater

Its another keyboard desaster

Im late to this comments page, but, want to expand on my title.

Its been a long time sine the mobile phone designers looked closely at how people actually use a keyboard. We all use them to write text and given the size of the keys on a standard k/board. theres no problem, but scaling that down to a mp size is trying to get a quart out of a pint pot.

Smaller keys are fine, even for big hands "IF" the spacing between the keys is suitably designed.

Its all been done before over 100 yrs ago. Ive a Lachenal concertina the keys of which are just over an 1/8in dia. a 1/4 in high and spaced some 3/8in apart. Easy to use even for my size 10 hands.The last time a properly designed k/b was made was by Nokia on their communicator range prior to th 9300. Then the rot set in.

There is a constant fight for the front of a mp. either its all screen or a small screen and a keyboard.

The only way to get a quart out of a pintpot is to go back to the folding mp.

One side is the screen and the other the kb.

When folded its the right size for a normal pocket , when in use, USEABLE!!

As Ive written here many times before, FORM should follow FUNCTION.

Top hinged flip mp is better than a side opening. Actual size? when closed?

3 in wide by 4in deep. Battery? at least 3000mah. A decent speaker, to cover machinery noise. Back illuminated keys. and waterproof.The money is here to buy one,

As for the this bb? keyboard a desaster. Even if it was completly free I coiuldnt use it.

so wouldnt hve it.

Gimme a high S5: Samsung Galaxy S5 puts substance over style

ted frater

Re: Back to basics?

If anyone has bothered to click on my name to see what ive written here in the past, will know that ive been banging on about or ranting for a couple of yrs about getting back to basics.

The last but one para in the post im replying to, makes me answer as follows.

The mp makers can make any phone they want, all the elements have been there for yrs,

take battery life,

theres is no choice in battery size for a given smart mp, tho its the simplest thing to make a back with a deeper side flange to accomodate a battery that could for example be instead of 3/4 mm thick be 7/8mm, to give you double the battey life but they dont.

Now the question is why?

My take on this q, is that they put short term sales and profit BEFORE the customers needs.

There is hope tho , if anyone has come across the ARA project, funded by Google, will note that the customers needs are being addressed. Unfortunately its likely to fail on the grounds of production costs. So wether google will foot this bill well have to wait and see.

Ive been working for a couple of yrs on the concept of a mp that meets my needs,

tho in principle, this approach would apply to anyone elses ,

the most important conclusions so far ive come to are, that,

1. the buying public HAS to be given a choice

2.. form HAS to be driven by function not fashion.

3 people will pay for a mp that really meets their needs which have the features they want.

from interest, Im primarily a business user, so my needs are very different to way the the urban consume uses his mp, add to that my hardware requirements, the nearest I can get to my ideal is the Nokia communicator range.

Ive had all their models and still go back to the 9500 as the least irritating compromise available.

Gr8, it's the new M8! Ideal for that celebrity funeral selfie

ted frater

Re: Wheres the proper keyboard?

Ok lads points taken, the thing is there isnt a choice. I use a keyboard on my Dell latitude laptop, and id like to type a lot on my handset. regrettably ive large hands so all the keyboards on handsets on offer over the past few yrs are too small for me to use.

Also, Id be happy to pay for a handset that meets my needs. along with lots of other folk who grew up with the written word, ie black type on white paper.

i have to document everything i quote for in my business so writing it up is just part of the job.

When out of the office i lkie to text on a proper k/board. So i concentrate on what i say not on how

I do it..

Ted

ted frater

Wheres the proper keyboard?

you know, all smart phones now follow fashion at the expense of function.

Also why does a phone try to be a camera? why cant

it just e a phone? and do what a phone does best

these are just 2 of the 3 disadvantages of current offerings.

now i want a proper keyboard, can i find one? no. eventho all the main makers can make anything they want.

its because its cheaper and thus more profitable to do everything in s/ware and to hell withhe real needs of people.

Im going to bang on about this till someone makes what Im prepared to pay for.

there, thats got that off my chest and a good start for the day.

It's EE vs Vodafone: 'How good is my signal' study descends into network bunfight

ted frater

Orange versus O2 in Dorset

Were in the Purbecks, All th family were with orange ,me for 12 yrs.

Signal gor poorer even on 2g.Son moved to O2 with a Q10 blackberry.4 bar signal off the local tower

We followed. Missus is on a Razr, im on a Opticon H21 D as I need a rugged hand set.

All on O2.

Bugger the jetpack, where's my 21st-century Psion?

ted frater

Where does one start with pda's, It has to be " what do you want to do with it?"

My needs, as Ive written here on the Reg, are to replicate what I do, in a simpler form on my pc.

To whit, as a business user, write emails and texts, apart from using it as a mobile phone.

Those of us who actually create documents letters, quotes order confirmations etc invariably use today, a pc, a white screen and black type to do so. This follows the age old way of reading , when all we has was the printed word in books.

So many hand set pda makers tried to follow this principle and some made some superb examples within the technical limitations of the hardware available at the time.

However, as we all know big business became dominated by bean counters, at the expense of the engineers, and the rot set in.

This is best described as form following fashion at the expense of function.

We all know the big makers , Samsung, Apple etc could make anything they want, including pda's and rugged handsets with big batteries, bright screens clear speakers good signal strength etc etc.

But they dont and wont, because they have gone fo fashion and profit at the expense of function.

Even M/soft with all their millions and their big business software products havnt asked these customers , "what would you like to see as a hand set?"

Its going ot be small maker who will buck this fashion trend and hopefully capture this business market for long enough to get a reputation , before the big makers swamp him.

As a an aside, ive been collecting pda's and have most of the ones meentioned in previous posts.

theres one I found recently, beautifully made , the right size, keyboard, form factor, .

It is made by Seiko as an oxford dictonary, called the ER 9000. Look it up,

all it would need are modern handset innards, a colour screen , a thicker back moulding with a proper say, 3000marh battery and it would be there. Id buy it.

But then, im an engineer and put function before fashion.

I cant be the odd one out?

DisARMed: Geeksphone's next high-end mobe to pack Intel x86 inside

ted frater

Re: Not another smart phone?

Hi Bazza,

I believe you.

I used to deal in Thinkpads, lovely kit. reliable superbly built easy to fix.

never had a problem.

IBM sold out to Lenovo , for the reasons you described.

now use a Dell D800.

Now there is a saving grace here in Dorset, The other thing I do is make stuff.

to my specs and design, controlling the whole operation to my terms of reference.

It works profitablly much sought after and beats the bigboys at there own game.

Tthe Opticon H21 1D by the way is good for me that is.

thanks for your insightful reply,

. Ted,.

ted frater

Re: Forget Touch Think Needs - Nothing SMART About Lack of Usability

Well id never have thought id get such a supportive response. Thanks so much lads..

now someone has mentioned data on the move. I spoke as a farmer, its on the move thats the problem. As Ive said thats too dangerous. However all the other folk who could use such a h/set might.

thats the s/ware bit. If its there ~I dont to need to use it just like the bar code scanner on the opticon.

Till the min of ag and fish want all cattle ear tags to have a bar code.

Then easy to read and send back to the base station via the GPRS datalink.

Its because its A universal device you use what ever you need.

Interestingly, lets look at the Samsung galaxy note 3 . For the market its aimed at, then the foot fits the shoe exactly.

also I dont run a sports car to go around the fields checking the sheep. i use a quad , or pulling a trailer a Land rover.

When I take the missus out for a break for a meal , we go in her Suzuki vitara. comfortabe, 4 w drive,( were up a 2 mile muddy track)_ It has to be horses for courses.

So IS a million customers a minority market? I dont think so.

A final thought, a good signal in a rural area? youd be lucky!!

ted frater

Re: Not another smart phone?

Hi Nick, THANKS for your support.

Yes im keen to get it right like you, and am prepared to take it further. OK, farming is just one of the interests I have. I also, yes it might seem odd,. but do engineering consultancy.

always solving problems for co's. They ask, I deliver.

And Id be happy to do a design contract for anyone to meet our specific needs.

All the components are there, except they have not been put together in one h/ set.

Form has to follow function. Not the other way round.

Its nor just for farmers, I could list all the types of workers who come in this category.

Ive also shown friends what Ive found, and asked, Why are you using your old candy bar nokia? because they say, I CANT get on with these new fangled glass screen h/sets. They just dont work for me.

So the matket is there for a modern hardware set to meet older 's user experiences.

Not the geriatric sets like Doro,

It has tobe that theres more profit in just a screen , pcb and software than all the intricacies of harware flip fones with proper button keyboards.

They are pushing profits before useability.

Ted. We dont give up!!.

ted frater

Not another smart phone?

When, oh when are the hand set makers going to ask EVERY sector of the market what we want and WILL pay for in a hand set? Because there are millions of us who have a need thats NOT met.

WE are actually WORKERS, who do stuff, and dont spend all day in a heated office in front of a computer with spreadsheets etc or urban types in cities. who want to know where the next coffee shop is.

Let me give you my example, Im a FARMER!! for christs sake, Im out ploughing a 50 acre fields , the last fucking thing I want is data on the move or tweets or that kind of crap. If the missus wants me its 3 rings then off then another and I know its her and will stop and take the call.

Or Bill the fertiliser rep, with a special offer , He knows if he calls when im checking the stock in the silage feed yard ill go else where.

Hell leave a text which ill check when Im finished . We compartmentalise our work.

NO calls when doing stuff, its too bloody dangerous.

We check1st thing in the morning midd day, then when were home with wellies and overalls off ,by the Rayburn with a nice cuppa and the dog and kids etc.

Then before tea, with all the family, half an hour in the office, infront of the computer dealing with all the emails letters orders etc.

It works and thats is the only way it does.

Now to the handset itself.

Ive gone on for a couple of yrs now here on the Reg and to most off the handset makers.

We can afford to pay for the right tool, we do it ALL the bloody time.

We need a:-

Solid flip type handset it its closed over the screen and the keyboard. 100 mm by 75 is ideal.

We use a keyboard on the PC? with ease, Hunt and pick of course , but fast enough .

So why cant we have a keyboard JUST the same but a bit smaller? the Psion 5, beautifully made, right size , but isnt a phone!! And a poor screen? and battey life. And too fragile

As to battery, we dont, and whont care if it 1 in thick when closed, weve pockets big enough!! A minimum of 4000mahr .and weighing say half a pound?

No problem, after al the stillsons in the pocket with the phone is 4 lbs!. Good feeling too!.

So it has to have a VERY loud ring so if im in low ratio pulling a silage trailer up hill I can hear the bloody thing.

Then a proper speaker by my ear. not on the back , stupid bloody place!!.

Then water proof , drop a smart phone in the shitty yard and its not fit for anything else. It wouldnt last a day.

So theres are rugged handsets. JCB, too bloody small to use with hands like shovels.

And the CAT range and others.

Just no bloody good at all.

We pay £100,000.00 for some farm kit so can afford up to say 6,700 quid for a PROPER tool in a handset.

AND no one makes what Ill pay for. SO, the money stays in my pocket till someone does.

The nearest handset that was good in its form factor in its time the Nokia communicator. decent screen decent keybpoard proper speaker clam shell design, and all nokia did was make it smaller all the time.

It replicated what we did in front of our pc's. A great hand set. Still available of course s.hand but could be vastly improved if someone took the trouble.

So what do i use inthe interim? Well, believe it or not I was at a car boot nosing around and there was a handset, built like a small brick.

Name Opticon, never heard of it. Go to GSM arena no write ups.What? why the hell not ?

Google for Opticon H21 1D. and there it is. An industrial bar code reader, BUT i dont need that. what else did it do, everything with the numerical keyboard. where all most there.

Waterproof, dropable 3000mahr batt loud speaker , good clear screen. lets say a bit queer os win mobile 6.5 but useable..Good brand new on Ebay around £270.00. And a great signal in a poor signal area.

Ive used it now for a month . and very pleased with it. So whay isnt it shouted from the roof tops?

Dont ask me Im a farmer!!.

I showed it my BT engineer. Hes been given a I phone it stays in the glove compartment. He uses can old nokia that he can drop in the wet dry out and use again. Hed love an Opticon.

It really doenst make any sense to me.

Stupid consumer emperor's new clothes is all that the carriers offer.

all unsuited to our needs. to hell with them.

Ted. In sunny Dorset.

Small software firm wins $28.4m after lobbing sueball at Lockheed Martin

ted frater

It happens here in the UK as well. Out of interest, when the National trust were coming up to their centenery, some yrs ago , I got in touch to quote to produce for them a range of products, based on my successful formula of production marketing and sales. Submitted detailed plans drawings and financial details.

Heard nothing for a few months, till a letter arrived on Xmas eve of all times! to say they had made other plans.

My subsequent enquiries showed they had cosied up with theRoyal mint at LLantrisant, and I had been PRECLUDED from the bidding process.

When I saw the medal they had bought, it had the royal mint coat of arms on one side and writing on the other.

It never sold and was a total disaster! They really didnt have a clue how to make something work design wise as well as financially..

Just because they royal mint are bigger doesnt mean they are better.

I dont mind losing a sale of a contract in fair competition, but to be precluded?

to hell with them.

Ballmer: Microsoft stronger without Bing and Xbox tinkering

ted frater

I cant speak for others here , but i can speak for myself.

I do have the qualifications to know what im talking about , and thats in the field of aviation.

And Boeing makes a lot of money delivering products that HAVE to be primarily fit for purpose.

Someone that has aviation terms of reference to follow can only be better than the current CEO.

Who may have a business degree from Harvard,but has failed to move this co forward.

M/S share price roseon Ballmer's announcement of retirement speaks for itself Anyone who has lived through the past 20 odd yrs or so in the IT business knows the bad s/ware put out by M/S.

win 98 1st edition, win milennium, vista up to and including win 8 today, which no ones wants.

The days of the locked in s/ware monopoly are over. M/S will have to to deliver or else suffer the consequences.

ted frater

Looking at the possible 5 that are shortlisted, the only sheriff that should take on the bunch of cowboys currently running M/soft is Mullaly. He has the diciplines from his 37 yrs in the aviation industry to focus on delivering products that are fit for purpose. long needed at M/S. Elop is just another destroyer of businesses.

Jolla's Android-aping Sailfish OS smartphones to land in November

ted frater

Re: Won't matter...

Your second para last sentence, How true. Now ive found what suits me best, Waterproof to IP64, can be dropped from 1.5m onto concrete. 3060 mah battery. Doesnt look as if its off a building site.

An Opticon H21. Perfect for my life style.Also laser scans the bar codes on the ear tags on my cattle.

Came upon it just by chance.A write up ? or review? nowhere. OK a niche market, but why no publicity?

As you said, the UK operators are in it for the fast buck. A so called smart phone wouldnt last a day.

And, wouldnt have one if it was free. Widh Jolla well tho.

LG G Flex: A new cheeky curvy mobe with a 'SELF-HEALING' bottom

ted frater

Wow! 2thumbs up and 2 upvotes and 4 comments.

Thanks guys! when ive had it a week ill write up a review somwhere on the Reg.

ted frater

Amy handset bigger than say 4in long is going to be really impractical for folk who actually do stuff other than sit in front of a computer all day.

for example im a farmer, whose workday is and can be most of the time quite the opposite to a desk bound job.So why not take the bendy phone idea to the next level and make it foldable?

then you could protect the fragile bits like the screen and keyboard from harm, it would fit the average pocket better, and it could be flipped open when it rings to answer a call.

We could call it a flip phone!!

It would work like the book that folds shut or opens to read , or the pocket knife that folds shut or boxes with hinged lids or suitcases with hinged covers, its been done elsewhere!!

Damm its already been consigned to the out of date bin.

Well the money is there to buy such a phone but if it aint the money stays in my pocket.

However i found the other day a handset that matches almost all my needs.

its called an Opticon H21 1d.

It is waterproof, will stand a drop onto concrete from1.5mtrs, has a 3060 mah battery to last all week and will scan bar codes on my cattle ear tags.

so why havnt the register or anyone else for that matter, done a review of it? cos it aint a consumer product. Its an industrial business handset.

Arriving on Wednesday.

WET SPOT found on MARS: NASA rover says 'high percentage'

ted frater

I wonder if Curiosity has a small chamber where some of this soil can be put, add some water and a seed from earth here, and see what happens? It would need some martian atmosphere to stop the water evaporating like in a vacumn. Co2 to oxygen? as a byproduct?

Half way to terraforming.

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

ted frater

Now if they added a sim card slot and it made calls it would wipe the hand set market.

Just a thought

Jolla Sailfish OS to support Android hardware, apps

ted frater

Re: I, for one, will be looking at Jolla with interest

Me too, tho whats of more interest still is the return of proper keyboards onto smart phones.

look at the disaster M/soft have had with their on screen keyboards in their latest pc s/ware.

For real work, id bet that just about everyone uses keyboards for imput.

Nokia had at one time engineers who sat down and looked at pda's , of which many had good, properly sized and spaced keyboards and said, how can we put a phone into these?

The result was the communicator. A proper business communication device. I currently use the 9210i, tho have the earlier 9110 and later 9300. Both of these are deficient.in some way or another.

the best keyboard is/was on the Psion 5. If they used that form factor with a modern screen and jolla, Id buy it in a second.As Ive said many times before here on The Reg, the money is there when the product is, ill buy it. right now, it isnt, so the money stays burning a hole in my pocket. Nice feeling!!.

Headmaster calls cops, tries to dash pupil's uni dreams - over a BLOG

ted frater

With a name like that, Id be interested to know wether this head master was a member of the Stazi at some time in the past .His behavior is reminicent of cold war Eastern Europe.

100 million self-driving cars will be sold globally in 2035 – report

ted frater

Driving a chore?

I guess im not one of the" most people".I just love driving, wether its my car, or my truck or my tractor.

My interest is to try and get the highest milage from every gallon of fuel I buy., as well as operating whats in fact a transportation machine in the most accurate way from here to where ever im planning on going.

The truck is an interesting case.

I needed a small commercial vehicle back in 1985 to carrry a heavy weight.all 2.5 tons in fact.

So built it. Needed to get special vehicle classification for it. DVLA wer most helpful.

Used it all over europe in the 1990's.

So when I drive Im not beholden to any one else like a coach driver or train operator.

It just me and my decisions at play.

same I guess for pilots who fly for pleasure.

Tho im sure commercial pilots enjoy getting it right everytime as well.

Anyone else drive for pleasure? Cant be the only one?.

'BLING BLING, BLING BLING' 'Hello, yes, my iPhone is made of GOLD'

ted frater

A true 24ct gold colour?

Putting aside all the above personal views wether your in to the Iphone bling or not,

its going to be interesting to look at one of these if it comes about, as Ive been involved in anodising for a long time, paticularly the colour gold..

to get a true 24ct gold colour is quite difficult,

1. you need to use a very high grade purity of aluminium, which is not suitable for mas production machining, ie Iphone body.

2. the anodising is done in hot sulphuric acid to get any decent thickness of aluminium oxide, then ,

3.the metal needs to be polished to a high degree before any anodising is done,

4. then the most difficult bit, is dyeing it in the gold colour solution.

5. Length of time in this tank and colour saturation are critical to get consistent results over a production run of thousands.

My guess is that there will be colour variation , apart from colour fading over time.

some colours are very fast, yellow is not one of them.

hope this forewarns potential purchasers, Look at it before you buy to make sure its what you expect.

Its a great finish if everything comes right.

6. Finally, sealing in sodium silicate solution helps it last longer.

For daily wear? not the best colour..

Boffins harvest TV, mobile signals for BATTERY-FREE comms

ted frater

Were off grid, tho have 2 sets of 33,000 3 phase overhead some 50 yds away overhead.

My son built a 10ft high darrius wind turbine for his A level cdt. Won the Siemens prize that year at Poole Grammar.

We thought to put 10 ft long copper by 50 turns on each blade and set it up near the power lines just to see if the cutting of the powerline field would give us a voltage across the coils when the wind was spinning the turbine. Never got round to it. We did think it was stealing power from the SEB.. Also considered wether the coils would draw power from the earths magnetic field. Never found out.

BlackBerry pie sliced up: Nuke-plant OS, BBM chat app, etc sale mulled

ted frater

Re: One size doesnt fit all

I type a lot every day in my own business on a Dell D800 keyboard.

I also have a Nokia communicator 9210i which i can type on almost as quickly.

Why? because its got properly spaced and sized keys.

The BB crams the same amount of keys into half the space.

So if youve small hands the BB is fine.

Ive big hands and they just not small enough to hit one key at a time.

Does that help you understand the problem?

In the same way you cant put big feet into small shoes.

Common sense really.

ted frater

One size doesnt fit all

I looked in at Car Phone warehouse last week, just to look around, in the dispairing hope there might just be a handset to meet my needs.

I saw on the Blackberry display the querty handset poster displayed around 6 in tall. I went to the desk and said I want that one please, The assistant got one out of its box, and I looked at it, dismayed to see it was a much smaller one than the poster.

Why cant I have that one? I said. The droid said this is the only one we can offer.how stupid is you boss I said.Your like a shoe shop which sells only one size shoes, or a car maker equiping every model from the smallest to the biggest with the same small wheels.

As Ive said before that BB is for childrens hands,

There are millions of folk who are bigger than kids, with big feet and hands. I know lots who CAN afford a new handset but wont buy one till theres one that fits their needs.

Any handset maker ignoring the real needs of customers will go to the wall. And it will serve them right.

The fanciest OS with the best security is useless if the BASICS arnt there.

The first priority in any technology is that FORM must define FUNCTION.

When is any journalist speciallising in the mobile phone industry going to have the courage to tell it like it really is? My guess they all put writing glowing reports about every handset to ensure the makers keep sending them handsets to write up.

A modern version of the emperors new clothes.

Virgin Media blames scruffy students for HUGE drop in cable subscribers

ted frater

Currently in the middle of discussions to resolve slowdown at peak times on national adsl

did lots of line checks with speedtest.net and speedtest.btwholesale.com

Average d/load is 4.5mbps. over a rural line of 6km from exch down to 1,5 evernings

So no fault in line. Sync to exch at 6mbps.

My guess is that

1. theres been a big increase in internet users over the past few yrs

2 theres been very little investment in the national backbone by BT till recently such as fibre to the cabinet.

3. VM wont pay for more bandwidth from BT.

BT business will give a better service but at a much increased cost.

Most of their customer service is now routed to india. etc. Nice girls by terrible english. Cant follow them at all.

Had to call their HO to request connection to their Swansea call centre.

Looking for another isp . however, We have 2 pairs of copper to the house, ie 2 seperate phones may get BT to the second pair and compare results at the same time.

Then dump the worst one.

So, who here LURVES Windows Phone? Put your hands up, Brits

ted frater

Despite the wide choice of handset makers and their various offerings,

I still havnt found a new phone to meet my needs, even tho I can afford just about any of them.

I just cant understand why the makers havnt analysed the many different types of usersand cater for the wildly different needs out there.

For example, on one side theres the office worker, whose enviroment is generally quiet, clean, and weather proof, On the other side theres the, lets say the blue collar worker, out in the wet,or noisy, dirty world for whom the office type handset would be quite unsuitable.

Anyone in the latter category, using say a digger or lathe or other machinery, has to concentrate on what he is doing, and doesnt want any of the smart phone features when hes at work.

What he does want is,

A good loud ring, a good loud speaker, a bright screen, a foldable design like clamshell or flip phone, so when in his overalls the screen and a PROPER full sized Querty keyboard is protected, a big batttery, , a solid tough case that will withstand a lot of dropping or misuse and waterproof.

Well, theres not one made . If there was Id have found it. And dont suggest the Blabkberry as the k/board is just for 5yr olds.

I ran a survey recently amongst a lot of people I know who use a dumb phone. I asked why havnt you upgraded to a big screen smart set?

The answer without exception was that it didnt do what their existing set would do, and they dont like the glass keyboards.

In addition there is an older age group who grew up without mobile phones or the internet, whos learning was done from the written work in books.

Those books had the format of black type on white paper, with an index at the beginning with a list of what in each chapter.

Now Nokia designed their 9210i communicator around this layout, for the business user. And it works a treat.

Can you get this layout with android? I dont think so , nor WinP 8 or on the Iphone.

I do dispair of the handset makers for their lack of innovation for the market differences.

Shame really, there missing out on a lot of customers.

As in so many other walks of life, one size doesnt fit all.

Frustrated in Dorset.

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