Posts by eclairz

Re: Robot Wars

Robot sumo is basically robot wars without weapons but purely AI very funny to watch but ultra quick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot-sumo

Re: I've managed without Twitter this far

Isn't the comments section of this article a social media site in theory since you are socialising with others.

Re: Pushing the boulder up the hill

I think Labour tried to push ID cards also during the Blair era, but that also failed, I think generally both Labour and Conservatives weren't to be trusted.

Re: Modernise apps?

"Programmers and admins are luddites?"

I didn't mean to generalise, but I do think as a developer sometimes things were better in command line, but since I was brought up on Windows 3.11 I knew many people using GUIs who otherwise couldn't use computers. I generally feel that Microsoft made a mistake pandering to the tastes of old users when being able to train a newer set of users would be a big deal. I got used to Windows 8 fairly quickly and actually preferred it to Windows 10 and Windows 7, because it was easier to layout items in 2 dimensions than in folder layout, compared to Windows 7 and below where you could have unlimited folders, it felt like it wasn't organised.

"How are Windows 10 and 8.1 closer to how mobile phones work?"

Windows 10 is not closer to how mobile phones work, but Windows 8/8.1 is because it behave based on swipes for right side bar, menu bars will bring up a fresh screen of icons in full screen mode. Yes I know that people who have really short memories felt that they cannot do two things at once such as remember what was previously on screen whilst searching for something in "Start" on Windows 8 but I felt that was a good thing, since it meant I wasn't constantly being distracted and also meant I had to think like I would in command line and actually remember things. In iOS, Android, Blackberry, Palm, Nintendo DS/3DS/Wii/Wii U/Switch, Nokia Symbian/Maemo, Sony Playstation, Xbox, and Android you always see a full screen of icons. Only OSX, OS/2, Windows and Linux have non full screen use, I would hope people could learn to use many different systems, but in real life most people like to have consistency among their system. Makes it easier when I have to teach my mum how to use Windows when they are already used to how iOS/Windows/Android works. As I said previously if you really wanted a custom environment Linux is much better for this.

I know i'm in the minority but that minority can grow to a majority if Microsoft had the balls to see it through. I still like going into Linux/Dos command line as I can do file manipulation much easier and faster.

I agree having an inconsistent look to apps is bad, but do you think Android was able to force older apps to use the new design aesthetics, nope they just said if you can't get up to a certain version, you just can't use the app. Microsoft doesn't have the same luxury as they aren't hip like Apple and Android and also seeing how all the other OS like Nokia, Blackberry and Palm not being backwards compatible basically meant the older user base had no reason to upgrade to the next phone since all their existing apps weren't compatible, regardless of how much better the newer operating system was compared to other systems. I am a self confessed luddite, I still use a Blackberry and Windows. But I also had used iOS, OSX, Linux, Maemo, Symbian, Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox operating system, and there seems to be a trend towards have more simpler interfaces.

"that confused a lot of people who were adept with Windows 7 and their mobile phone"

You're just being elitist by keeping people who are adept with the old system. The less time I need to train other people because the operating system gets in the way the better it is to focus on the task at hand, which is why most games run full screen and remove all that OS chrome. Windows 8 was removing more and more chrome but I guess people are happy to keep the status quo. Whether you like it or not more and more computers will be touch based, even toddler know how to work their way around a tablet but would require lots more training to learn how to operate traditional desktop environment.

Try writing a program with Windows forms and another with XAML, XAML is far more easier to read and is more flexible.

Re: New internet law needed...

The reason the phone market has zero acceptance, is due to risk management. Since all companies are publicly owned they rely on funds from shareholders. If they take too many risks then shareholders will leave as many are risk adverse. The markets have created echo chambers where companies are seen to be better if you slowly trudge along, than risk going for first but ending up last. Generally all these companies are at fault for putting the same phone in front of the public.

Capitalist societies tend to duopolies for this reason, but the reason Hi-Fi companies still exist is because these companies are being run by families and partnerships and not by public shareholders who are willing to develop quality goods for discerning buyers, however when they sell them they have to sell it at a premium as they won't sell at the same quantities in order for them to re-invest for the next big research into the next project. Many people today though don't like paying over the odds because they love following the market leader because it's a safe choice which allows them to charge less than their competitors or similar to their competitors since they can win on revenue.

So as phone development becomes cheaper I presume there will be smaller companies ready to hold the flag for building new phones with more interesting features other than a touch screen. My main worry is that someone will buy all the patents and people will need to wait for those patents to run out before these companies can start to make these new phones. So we might need to wait another decade or two before these new companies are able to start building the next generation of phones from niche companies. I know my mum would love a high quality flip phone as she just wants a simple phone which won't create a hundred miscalls from her pocket, there are a few people selling them but not at the same quality.

Re: You listening

The only way they'll listen is if people stop buying Samsung and start buying BlackBerry, else they won't bat an eyelid.

The point of funding this, is so you can build it in on the point of manufacture, so now as well as all of the above said individuals will need to screen hardware or build it themselves.

Re: Bit worrying if its true

They did bring balance to the force but like the Jedi false reasoning, balance usually implies a equal amounts. And based on the films the Jedi outnumbered the Sith by a large margin so Darth Vader balanced it by killing all the Jedi, until there was an equal amount of Sith and Jedi. In terms the number of Windows devices to Non-Window devices are much more balanced so not sure why complain about balance. Balance != Justice and sometimes anarchy is just better than organisation, however Google have opted for the latter, but like Microsoft they started off as the former.

Re: My car gets maintained for a fee.

Maintenance is one thing but cars do become discontinued and unless there are lots of third party parts then the cost of maintenance tends to go up as the car ages. Same thing with operating systems, as the software gets older you need more legacy programmers to deal with the changes and as they become more and more rare they also increase in cost.

So if Windows was on a sliding scale of higher maintenance fees after the initial 10 year support, I'm not sure everyone would pay as we're now in a world where we expect everything to be free or set price per product. The other issue is trying to make everything backward compatible and the large amounts of fragmentation means developing applications becomes painful and sometimes impossible.

Because Apple make money off hardware they factor that into the cost of their higher priced machines, but software companies just can't do this. And Apple are far worse than Windows at discontinuing operating systems, but the majority of their users don't mind change even when they take features away.

Linux makes more sense for the car analogy as it is open source and different parts can be used, you can hire a third party to maintain it. However the problem is only companies will ask for maintenance, there aren't many normal users who will pay for maintenance, as most will be developers, tinkerers or just use it for the internet, so they will do it themselves or do nothing depending on their needs. But that means there is less help for the common man who wants help with something as most Linux users will assume the user who installed Linux knows how run console command lines or install apps from the web. I guess Ubuntu tries to keep things as simple as possible, but phone support is paid for or the user has to scour the forums which a normal user wouldn't do, whereas most people know how to use Windows (which also includes phone support) or can visit an Apple store for help.

End of story, learn what is ideal for your situation, don't expect technology to wait for you (Windows/Apple/Android) unless you are willing to put the work in to maintain your own system (Linux). Vintage cars are nice but there's a reason why there aren't many left today.

Re: What if

I wonder what would happen if AMD decided not to accept the settlement and see it until the end. I doubt it would happen as Intel own shares in AMD so wouldn't happen. I see so many settlements for obvious wins, the only time laws change is when they get seen through, settling just means Intel can do it again and settle again, rather than stopping them and making it criminal.

Re: I knew that had got expensive... but not THAT expensive!

That's just supply and demand, they probably already sold a ton of VGA cables to free up space, and kept a few for people using old monitors or projectors. You came in the store because you couldn't be asked to wait for delivery for said VGA cable = demand. Next time when stuff goes on clearance sale just buy some spares. To be honest they take too many risks selling so many different items which fail to get sold, which is why their margins are so high. If they sold only stuff that sold they could keep prices down but predicting demand is fairly difficult.

Re: Add another 3 Zero's!!!!!!!

I've never thought it was a good deal, and now that I know most of the money will go to the attorneys, it makes it even worse. I don't think they should even settle, even for another few zeroes as this needs to be put into the public eye and they will obviously lose.

Meaning the lawyers were probably in collusion with the companies, and the only way to stop this happening in the near future, is to follow it to the end. If the companies win(e.g. either win or get less money than settlement), then at least they know where they stand with the companies and will create their own start ups instead of waiting for promotion or change companies.

Re: I always wondered why...

Basically a Tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell series

Re: Apply this logic to cars

Are you willing to wait ~20 years to compete for every patent? and what do you do with kids who made stuff and have no clue about patent law, all these laws are just to benefit lawyers at the end of the day, doesn't really promote improvement and research, good competition is the best way to improve evolution of anything.

Win for gaming

AWSD only works with a full size keyboard, but with a small phone keyboard, where your controlling a game character, you might be mishitting the wrong key as you should be looking at the screen and not the keyboard. Keyboards just suck for simplifying the layout of a system in a hand held.

Nintendo discovered that less is more with their original gameboy systems, directional pad and 2 quality buttons. They could have had more lower quality buttons, but they didn't 2 buttons with high quality micro-switches beneath each key. Thus making it more responsive, i'll take a few more easily distinguished buttons than many indistinguishable keys for playing games.

But for typing i'd prefer a keyboard of course, ideally i'd wish there was a snap on system for different systems or raised buttons to clearly distinguish buttons from each other. I have a Nokia N900, and it has a decent keyboard maybe not good as the blackberry keyboards, but better than most. However playing action oriented games was a pain, I kept miss hitting the wrong key during games, even though i can text fairly competently.

Hopefully some operators can give this phone a low price to make it worth while

Re: Bundle it

If they included it then the EU would force them into another ballot box for internet security or charge them for something else.