Re: 2017: The year of Linux on the desktop
What, again?
GJC
Posts by Geoff Campbell
1879 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Jun 2008
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We tried using Windows 10 for real work and ... oh, the horror
Robo-taxis, what are they good for? Er, the environment and traffic
Wednesday 8th July 2015 06:53 GMT 
Re: questionable thinking
There's a steady stream of taxis along the M4 from Heathrow into London, to give just one example.
Your two second separation is mostly reaction time. Without the meatbag, there is no reaction time, it's pretty much instantaneous. Add intelligent signalling between vehicles, and the reaction time can be negative, with cars further back slowing before they are required to. There's no reason why such intelligent cars couldn't drive a few inches apart, ignoring of course the rather boring requirement to maintain the sanity of the passengers.
GJC
Han Solo to get solo prequel flick in 2018, helmed by LEGO men
Microsoft to HIKE Azure prices as exchange rates shift
Kobo Glo HD vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: Which one's best?
Will rising CO2 damage the world's oceans? Not so much
Looking forward to getting Windows 10 the day it ships? Yeah, about that...
Friday 3rd July 2015 07:27 GMT
In-place upgrades
Generally, I would agree with you. However, I ran the upgrade to Windows 10 beta release a couple of months back just for the hell of it, and my system has worked perfectly since. I would have to say, cautiously, that I think Microsoft have done a really good job this time.
GJC
North America down to its last ~130,000 IPv4 addresses
Microsoft rushes out latest Windows 10 build. 300 fixes? Pff, whatever
China's best phone yet: Huawei P8 5.2-inch money-saving Android smartie
Cupertino GIVES IN to Taylor Swift, will pay Apple Music royalties
The Martian: Matt Damon sciences the sh*t out of the red planet
Thursday 11th June 2015 14:33 GMT 
Optimism?
I think the thing that made the book for me was that he was, in fact, a complete realist. The book opens with him accepting that he is royally, utterly, and terminally fucked, and is probably going to die sooner rather than later. And then just getting on with it and seeing what he can do to delay that point.
I have to say that I am dubious about the film. Hollywood(tm) has a long and dishonourable history of taking this sort of "Joe Average doing their best to survive" book and completely missing the point, making the central character out to be some sort of superhuman hero.
However, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and go and see it anyway, because it could be bloody excellent :-)
GJC
Free Windows 10 upgrades from Microsoft will FLATTEN PC sales
Wednesday 10th June 2015 09:56 GMT
Re: MediaPortal
Well, I tried it, and it is perhaps slightly better thought out than most other FOSS offerings I've tried. But the UI is still full of nasty little gotchas that make it unusable on a family media centre PC, and the setup routine is frankly horrible - separate channels scans for each of four identical tuners? Seriously?
GJC
Friday 29th May 2015 10:16 GMT
Re: Would many people notice Media Center [sic] vanishing?
I bloody will, I've been using it for years. It's quick and easy to navigate, the family can manage it, and it works well as a PVR/DVR/whateverwe'recallingthemthesedays.
I have dabbled with a whole bunch of other alternatives, and none of them come close in usability terms. A lot of the supposed competition don't support tuners at all.
Mind you, perhaps it's time I ditched the tuners and stopped paying the licence fee, anyway.
GJC
Oh, shoppin’ HELL: I’m in the supermarket of the DAMNED
Hardcore creationist finds 60-million-year-old fossils in backyard ... 'No, it hasn’t changed my mind about the Bible'
Saturday 30th May 2015 09:19 GMT
Re: God might have dumbed it down into a metaphor
Alternatively, and much, much more simply, perhaps this whole "God" thing is a crock of shit, cooked up by some early politicians in order to control the population? That's certainly my interpretation, on the rare occasions when I bother to think about it at all.
GJC
Unmasking hidden Tor service users is too easy, say infosec bods
Android M's Now on Tap cyber-secretary is like Clippy on Class A drugs
Right Dabbsy my old son, you can cram this job right up your BLEEEARRGH
Saturday 16th May 2015 20:28 GMT
Re: Memory for names
Funny you should say that, my very first thought on reading this article was "Don't *ever* get a gig in the MoD".
Not only is the rank thing a real problem, but the whole organisation works on nicknames, with different social groups using different nicknames for the same person, and everyone in the whole world-wide setup knowing each and every one of these nicknames. Within a week I was a gibbering wreck, hiding under the desk whenever anyone came into the office.
Which, actually, worked out pretty well. Who knew?
GJC
The Apple Watch: Throbbing strap-on with a knurled knob
Monday 27th April 2015 12:31 GMT 
"objectively gorgeous"
That's an oxymoron. "Gorgeous" is always subjective.
Personally, I don't like the way it looks in photos, but I will reserve judgement until I've seen one in the flesh, as it were.
However, it's a matter of purely academic interest. I can see why some people would find smartwatches useful, but for me, I don't want anything that they do.
GJC
Volvo V60 Polestar: Speak softly, carry a big stick, dress like a Smurf
Streak life: Oz woman flashes boobs at Google Street View car
My self-driving cars may lead to human driver ban, says Tesla's Musk
UK spaceport, phase two: Now where do we PUT the bleeding thing?
FREAK show: Apple and Android SSL WIDE OPEN to snoopers
Phabba-dabba-do: Samsung hypes up Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge
Tesla S P85+: Smiling all the way to the next charging point
Monday 12th January 2015 07:39 GMT
Re: Prius
Yes, I know, I have one - 4 years and 100,000 miles on the clock, and still drives like new, uses no oil between (cheap) services, and has been excellent value for money.
I replaced it recently with an Auris hybrid, which has been equally good, and my wife has taken over the Prius. She says any suggestion of trading it in or otherwise removing it from her will be a divorcing offence.
GJC
Sunday 11th January 2015 12:02 GMT
Hmmmm.
I wonder what the overall lifespan of the vehicle is? Nice thing about electric cars is the lack of moving parts, so in theory their practical life should be measured in millions rather than hundreds of thousands of miles.
Which means that one of these could, potentially, go for four times as long as a £25,000 family hatchback like the Mondeo or the Prius.
Which might make it feasible even at a hundred grand, if financed right.
Hmmmm <wanders off, cogitating mildly>
GJC
Our EXCLUSIVE VID of MIRACLE TECH: Charge your phone in 16 SECONDS – WIRELESSLY
Sunday 11th January 2015 12:16 GMT
Re: Great vid...
Wireless charging, here. Qi wireless charging pads are about £6 each, so I have one in any location I'm likely to be spending any significant time, including the guts of one stuck to the underside of the mobile phone tray in my car.
So, whenever I put my phone down for any length of time, it's charging. I can't remember the last time that battery life was an issue for me.
GJC
Nvidia flops out teraflop X1 for self-aware cars
Nork-ribbing flick The Interview AXED: Sony caves under hack terror 'menace'
Friday 19th December 2014 09:16 GMT
Why?
Just to make a point that thugs and threats cannot win the day. It's a little thing, but if we all did little things from time to time, perhaps the world would be a better place.
I am not in any way claiming that this action will make the world a better place, mind you. Just a bit of passing whimsy on my part.
GJC
Biting the hand that feeds IT
