* Posts by JEDIDIAH

2525 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Jan 2009

FileMaker Pro squeezes onto an iPhone

JEDIDIAH
Linux

The 80s is calling.

Steve wants to send computing back to the 80s and now we have another 80s style application rising from the grave like some sort of zombie.

Even if you do have a toy database platform, it still makes more sense to make the user facing frontend a web browser. That allows for a wide range of sophistication levels in your frontend app coding spanning the range from little more than shell scripts to serious secure enterprise computing. Code your interfaces right and you can even move freely between backend platforms.

One would have thought that all of the little PIM apps in the app store would make an application of this sort pretty redundant anyways.

Cloud music: Apple set to clean up

JEDIDIAH
Linux

10x the storage

> Why not just sync them with your device?

>

> I suppose it might become a question of what costs more

> /is available at the moment: storage or bandwidth.

>

> Unless you meant rent (like Netflix or some such).

An Archos is very handy for this option. They go up to 500G.

The problem with network based solutions is that you can go off

the grid or be on some really unreliable part of it. Your network

provider could also decide to cut off the unlimited internet or you

just may end up in a place where networking is just plain expensive.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

You bought it, you own it.

> I have AirVideo and it's a great app, but ripping video is a PITA, and that's notwithstanding

> the fact that the sellouts running my country are constantly trying to make ripping illegal.

> I'd really much rather directly buy the right to enjoy a digital file as either a download or a

> stream. I know

...except you have no real ownership interest with a "file". This is especially true if this "file" is encumbered with DRM. Your rights to use that file can suddenly disappear. Your ability to use that file in the device of your choosing is extraordinarily limited. You don't have any good way to prove that you have any rights to that file.

Ripping is far less troublesome than dealing with DRM imposed limits.

A better device also allows for a broader selection of videos. You can do some very interesting things with portable video players if you don't see Apple as the entire world.

Yes. We know that you "know what you want". It's something with a fruit on it.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Like I said: last century.

> Er, no. The music is DRM-free. End of. There's no "if". No "but". The "FairPlay"

> DRM is now only applied to video media.

...and books, and audio books.

IOW, everything but 1998's poster child for multi-media.

The big picture certainly looks a lot different than the carefully selected bits of propaganda.

Of course the DRM is never Apple's fault. It's never Apple's fault for profiting from the lock-in or this inherently abusive way of treating paying customers.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Ditch the DRM.

>

> Audio files are small and easy to move around (relatively speaking).

>

> I want cloud video. Let me buy seasons of TV shows and stream them to my phone, please.

>

Let them be portable to the device of my choosing.

You can do something like this already with AirVideo.

Buy it. Rip it. Stream it.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Renting vs. Buying

Renting is a lot different than buying here.

When you're renting, you don't care so much if the bits go poof in the night because some DRM server went offline. If you can see your rented bits on a wider range of devices that's also a nice plus. I know it's shocking but some people are actually willing to pay and they don't feel the need to pirate the stuff they are renting.

Also, iTunes is only DRM free if you are stuck in the last century. For all of Apple's modern and relevant content, there is still DRM to get in the way of your sense of ownership.

Apple iPhone forums gripped by deleted thread paranoia

JEDIDIAH
Linux

The Godwin Conspiracy.

> godwins law in action...

It's all just a fanboy plot to cut the discussion short!

Apple quietly extends first-gen Time Capsule warranty

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Legato Ultra-Light

If you are fixating on the drive size then you are kind of missing the whole point of "server grade" to begin with. No one locks "server grade" drives into un-maintainable enclosures. This is nice for consumer ease of use but it's by no means robust enough for anything serious.

"server grade" drives are expected to fail.

Google: 'We did not follow Apple into phone market'

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Can't take the heat? Go home.

> Google invented the internet too! seriously....no really, I mean it

...not at all. Google was just one of many (search engines). Even now it's pretty trivial to replace.

If Apple thinks it can do search better, it should get into that market. There's no reason for it to avoid that market out of some sort of Sugar Trust style "gentleman's agreement" or any other similar nonsense.

It's undignified for Apple or Jobs to whine about Google "being on their turf". It's quite unbecoming.

Fanbois love sex toys: Official

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Secret Diaries and such...

>> Apple users might spend more than Windows users

>> because they’re sexually more confident and are more

>> adventurous in the bedroom.

>

> Or cause they're used to getting shafted ????

>

...or they're just really used to "paying for it".

For sale: Dr No's Scottish bunker complex

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

Lasers, Meh!

Big dogs don't need no steenking lasers.

Piles for Windows - a pain in the arse?

JEDIDIAH
Linux

2 go in, only 1 comes out.

...yes. Would have not realized that they might be referencing the "Preparation H" sort of stuff with that name. Thanks Google.

Once again proving: Two nations can be separated by a common language.

PC prices rise in Q2 as iPad fuels tablet consumption

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

The King is dead, Long Live the King!

Yeah, but St. Steve has declared that the PC era is coming to an end and that "no one will want trucks in the city" anymore. Thus I don't recommend that n00bs buy Macs anymore. Who knows how long that platform has left with an owner that's belligerent to it.

Acer Aspire 1825PT 11.6in touchscreen notebook

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Why bother with a DVD drive?

Ripping isn't exactly rocket surgery, certainly no more than ripping CDs.

A PC netbook is likely to have a very large harddrive (much larger than what comes on that other table). So you can put quite a bit of content on a netbook. You can be well set for distraction even when you are completely off the grid.

A keyboard is still king for stuff like "filling in forms".

Actually, Apple has made the gap between it's tablet and a netbook a lot wider than it needs to be.

OpenSUSE 11.3 delivers spit, polish and niggles

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

The naysayers are clueless

> Codec installation can't be one click (though by the

> sound of it it could be two or three clicks: do you want

> to add a community repo, please enter the root password,

> maybe).

Sure it can. It already is, despite what naysayers like to say.

A series of confirmations is not rocket surgery. It's certainly MUCH MUCH

easier than trying to sort out the same crap with Windows 7 MCE or dealing

with the inherent NIH limitations of Quicktime. When compared to the other

options, an automated process sprinkled with a few dialog boxes and perhaps

a privelege escalation (no, letting things run amok by themselves is not a good

idea) is positively sublime.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

It would be better still...

...if tech "journalists" didn't try to tell us that things don't exist in Linux in general when they certainly exist in Ubuntu. Not being a Suse user myself, I can't tell the "journalist" that he's full of it when it comes to Suse. I'll gladly do that for Ubuntu though.

It looks like Suse has taken a page from Ubuntu's playbook.

That's a good thing. That's the whole "chaos and diversity" thing working it's magic.

Microsoft patches Freetard-by-design bug

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Andrew says freetard in his sleep....

> So sharing my WMP library over MY network to other computers

> I own makes me a freetard ?

>

> I think you need a new buzz word sir ......

I would like to second that motion!

Freetard indeed.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Nope. Same planet.

> you are obviously on another planet

Nope. Just the planet where asking Windows or Mac users to futz with anything at all is probably a losing proposition.

A player that completely automates the ugly details or comes fully equipped to begin with is far more useful and usable.

Apple iPad run rate hits 2m units a month

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Not all things to all people.

iPad users are probably a lot richer. If you don't think anything of blowing $800 on an iPad then spending some extra money on an Archos or a Netbook probably doesn't bother you either. Consumers may still those devices for what they enable. While it's certainly possible that Apple could knock off those two types of use cases completely, they don't seem very interested in persuing them.

iPads will continue to be very good at doing a few highly focused things while ignoring some things entirely.

A netbook is nearly disposable when compared to an iPad.

Hack forces Flash onto iPad

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Apple is still a failure at general purpose computing.

>... that his tiny company makes no money at all and he

> himself is virtually a pauper. Oh, no, wait

His last attempt at a walled garden ensured that the original inventor of the consumer computer was left on he sidelines and marginalized for the next 25+ years of computing history.

Apple is doing great now as a company that succeeds at souped up Walkmans.

He's great at being a media monopolist too.

Apple TV revamp rumours resurface

JEDIDIAH
Jobs Horns

Apple will probably destroy a good thing.

The AppleTV was a great little product that didn't really go anywhere and had a somewhat misleading name. It was so cool because you didn't have to buy into Apple's vision in order to like the device. It was useful just because of what it was and plenty of people happily hacked them (myself included).

"apps" are cool, but the fact that the device is powerful enough to play content that is not blessed by Apple is even cooler. An ION style update for the AppleTV could be really cool. However, all of the rumours point to the new AppleTV being another PhoneOS device.

"apps" could be emulated or recompiled. Hardware capable of doing good video decoding is something that can't be adequately addressed with technological sleight of hand.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

The field is hip deep with competition.

> I can think of dozens of devices that will play AVI and DivX movies, and movies ripped from

> copy protected DVDs, but I can't think of many devices that will play legally rented or purchased

> downloadable movies.

Are you mad? Is is really that rough over on the other side of the pond?

Devices that do LEGAL video streaming are a dime a dozen. Every sub $200 BluRay player these days seems to handle multiple variations of video streaming. Plus you have dedicated devices that do this.

Then there's what you can do with a $200 PC and a copy of MCE or MythTV.

Your average modern shiny metal disk player will play legally rented and downloadable movies.

Apple iPad 3G 32GB

JEDIDIAH
Linux

It gets even worse...

Nevermind the netbook. The more expensive iPads are nearly as expensive as a Mac laptop. If you've got that kind of money to waste on a tech toy, you might as well go all the way.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Portability vs. 3G support.

On the one hand, 3G doesn't seem robust enough or well supported enough now to make it worth paying extra for those features on an iPad. On the other hand, once they do get sorted out and become generally useful, you might find they are useful on a device that is much more mobile (namely an iPhone).

I would rather have full netflix functionality or Hulu functionality on the device of convenience.

Why we love to hate Microsoft

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Microsoft lacks pride or any taste.

At least Apple has some taste and knows what to steal and how to dress it up.

First they stole the GUI. Then they stole Unix. They have great taste.

With Apple you have some hope of having a good product. Microsoft is just about the bottom line.

This is the same thing that separates American auto makers from the Germans and Japanese.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

You can ignore a market leader, but not a monopoly.

> You people should put less emotional involvement on what a software

> company does and more on things that matter.

So you don't give a d*mn about your data then? This is what it's ultimately about. How safe is your personal data and how well will you be able to use in future.

What software companies do also impacts a wide range of real world devices since non-computing devices increasingly have more computing and software components. A company like Microsoft out there impacts my car, the cash register at the store, the toll booth on the freeway, my paycheck, my day to day work environment, the ATM machine at the bank, the power grid and the air traffic control system.

Yes. Software matters quite a bit.

I would be less hostile to Microsoft (or Apple) if they did nothing to ensure that I am forced to deal with them against my will.

Brace yourself for 4TB drives next year

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Proper Backups

> Backup. The more you can store, the more you're risking.

> 500GB of family photos. Even if you backup to another hard disk,

> you've got to keep that hard disk safe, and perhaps even replace

> every few years.

You run Sun servers? So clearly you should know that a single backup is not reliable enough. In order to be sure that you've got a good backup you need to have a few successful attempts. Beyond strange untrapped errors during the backup itself, your tapes might be mauled by a gorilla while they're in the hands of Iron Mountain.

So take multiple backups.

Store some of them offsite.

Don't exceed the limits of the media (like don't reuse cheap tape).

It works for companies. It can work for you family photos too.

Size of the backup really doesn't change the issues.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Same old problems as 4GB drives...

> A 4Tb single drive seems to be an awful lot of eggs in one basket.

Then buy another basket.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Some stuff is just inherently big.

>

> Is it just me, or are we reaching a point where the average individual simply

> cannot keep up with the amount of data they are storing?

>

Actually, short of my video collection, most of my stuff is very small. I can back up all of my important stuff on the unused disk space on Revos and Mac Minis being used for Media

Center extenders.

Virtual machines can also get quite big too.

Dunno what everyone else keeps on their multi-terabyte drives.

US $250m superbomber 'almost as good' as $8m robot

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

Some things never change.

The US is not the first and won't be the last mighty military machine to have it's *ss handed to it by a bunch of beards in the mountains of Afghanistan. You could write the military history of the planet by detailing everyone that's had trouble with that terrain.

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

Right tool for the job.

Nonsense.

Heavy Bombers are great for destroying enemy armies that happen to be lined up nice and neat out in the dessert for you like they were trying to do a Civil War or World War I recreation.

Every tool has it's place.

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

Ignoring the tech on a tech site.

These probably aren't your grandpa's bombs. Even back then they were experimenting with guided bombs so that they could actually hit what they wanted to. Clobbering the whole rest of the city isn't just barbaric but it's also very wasteful.

People have no appreciation for history.

A 1000 bomber raid is what isn't surgical.

JEDIDIAH
Grenade

Fighters versus heavy bombers

Ultimately you've got remote fighters being pitted against manned bombers. Of course the bomber is going to look expensive. It's expensive even when compared a manned fighter. Any smaller aircraft is going to be cheaper and more "surgical" than a strategic bomber that has it's roots in planes that destroyed entire cities with conventional ordinance.

The Linux Chronicles, Part 1

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Save SUSE for the server room.

Suse is great if you need a server to run Oracle on. As a desktop system, it is nowhere near "low hassle" enough when compared to Ubuntu or even Debian. It's basically not what Linux office partisans are going to be giving to co-workers (that's how I first got Ubuntu BTW) for their desktop machines.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

The easy option is stability over time.

> No wonder ubuntu failed to get on non-nerds' desktops!

How do you do that on Windows exactly?

While the gconf version sounds kind of registry-like, it's using remarkably more human readable keys.

It would be nice if Windows had as much consistency through time as either Linux or MacOS does. This issue is ultimately about rolling back annoying Microsoft style UI changes. It's stark and shocking because that sort of crap usually doesn't happen on Linux to begin with.

The "easy way" is just to use the Appearance section in the control panel.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

The GUI isn't that hard.

> "This is true of the window controls shifting to the left,

> Mac-style, in Ubuntu 10. You have to know, or

> Google it, or download an Ubuntu "PowerTools" app to

> put them back over to the right. A simple clear setting would help."

I dunno. Mebbe you should use all of that experience using other operating systems and the inherent discoverability of the GUI concept to sort things out yourself. Sure, the bit with the window controls is a terribly annoying sort of apparently gratuitious UI change. However, finding the Ubuntu Theme manager is not rocket surgery.

It's simply not that hard.

Admittedly, some GUIs are harder than they should be and don't really aid the novice (Windows networking being a good example). However, this is not such a case.

JEDIDIAH
Gates Horns

Windows is all about the vendor lock

My prejudices remain:

- Linux is for developers and servers.

- Macs are for content security consultants, and people who like shiny, expensive toys.

- Windows is for ordinary users who need world class applications for office automation.

---------------------------------------

Windows is for people that feel they can't live without some bit of Windows only software.

Everyone else can be easily acomodated by Linux or Macs depending on their comfort level with each or their willingess to pay for a Mac. Windows is still a mess when it comes to usability. MacOS has a better thought out design in many ways and Linux is built by users for users (perhaps not your sort though).

Any time I try to do anything non-trivial I only end up with a renewed respect for Apple and a deep seated desire to erase Windows. Windows makes even simple stuff like network setup unnecessarily bothersome.

If I haven't used Windows in some meaningful way for awhile I forget just how crappy it is.

Here's to forgetting this weeks experimentation with Windows 7 MCE. '-p

JEDIDIAH
Linux

You generate your own bad karma.

> when you use the forums ?

>

> got fed up with standing in penguin shit whilst trawling for solutions

> that just aren't there.

>

> How happy am I running a PC that won't; play MP3's even after installing

> the codex, fucks up

> printing documents from Open Office, shows Flash ads in

>

I can see why you get abuse. You sound like a troll.

You can only get out of a help forum what you choose to put into it.

No one that isn't getting paid to put up with you will put up with your crap.

JEDIDIAH
Thumb Up

VLC rocks.

VLC rocks on all platforms.

It doesn't matter if it's Windows, MacOS or Linux that's giving you the trouble.

It's one of those great cross platform apps that makes every platform better.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Shuttleworth is irrelevant.

Shuttleworth is irrelevant and at best a minor nuissance.

He does not control the platform like Gates or Jobs. No matter how much he might try to micromanage Ubuntu itself, it still remains a collection of projects controlled by other people. Anything that is in Ubuntu is the same stuff that's in any other distro. A few notable exceptions are special Ubuntu specific management niceties that have probably gotten ported elsewhere by now (one would hope).

I can dump a Gnome tool for a better one any time I like. This even applies to the login manager.

The "chaos of choice" is very helpful in that respect.

I am not stuck using Powerpoint or iPhoto if I despise them.

Pictures of Ubuntu: Linux's best photo shots at Windows and Mac

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Pounding nails with the handle end of a jackhammer.

> I hate to put it bluntly, but The Gimp, which I use and like, is no way near Photoshop for picture

> editing. Don't misunderstand me : I use it

Unless you make matte paintings for Hollywood movies, you don't really have much reason to care either.

There is a reason why stuff like Picasa and iPhoto have been created to deal with photo management for the masses. For most people, the idea of using Photoshop or other Adobe

applications is absurd and excessively expensive.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Not everything is freebies on Linux.

> Why? Because there really is no substitute for Lightroom

No. You've just not looked very hard.

The subject of commercial software on Linux is something that El Reg should take up sometime.

Linux game-time refined with latest Wine

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Meh. Emulate the entire machine.

> We've been waiting for Wine support for the *current* QuickBooks and UPS programs for years.

>

> That's all that is keeping Windows in this office.

>

a) There is (or at least was) a web version of Quickbooks.

b) I successfully had Quickbooks running in wine a LONG time ago.

That said, stuff like vmware and virtualbox do a much better at this problem of "running that last kill Windows app". You can just emulate and run and entire environment. You even get some direct hardware support if you need it (AnyDVD).

MSO and CS5 really are not terribly compelling in the "why I can't give up Windows' department.

The Reg guide to Linux, part 3

JEDIDIAH
Linux

You don't sound like a genuine Ubuntu user.

> How do I install mp3 support from the GUI?

>

> NOTE: Before those Pizza munchers throw their hands in the air with horror, I am more

> than happy on the command line and have been running Ubuntu Netbook remix on my

> N110 for months now, I just think this article is a little

Really? Then you should know that Ubuntu does this sort of thing "automagically".

It's really only the things with a potential legal problem (DMCA) in some jurisdictions that require some form of command line futzing in Ubuntu.

That's the beauty of automation (apt-get) and an "apps store" approach to installing software that predates the "app store" by about 10 years.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Shiny happiness doesn't really help so much

> sudo apt-get install app-install-data-medibuntu apport-hooks-medibuntu libdvdcss2 w32codecs

>

> Yes thats so much easier than Windows, I wonder why i didn't see it before........

>

> Sighs with head in hands and goes back to Windows

It's actually dramatically easier than Windows.

It just looks intimidating.

Knowing what you need and where to find it is usually the more interesting problem.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Overblown fear of the shell

> So you want to convert people to Ubuntu, yet start throwing commandline stuff around

> that is totally unnecessary. What the hell did they invent the Software Center for?

Type "this" is a lot more direct and to the point than trying to describe a bunch of steps in a GUI.

Even this "hard way" is not the worst possible option between Linux, Windows or MacOS.

It's simply "scary". Certainly people spend a lot of time scaring the end users and convincing them that everything is too difficult for them to deal with.

The Reg guide to Linux, part 2: Preparing to dual-boot

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Webcam hysteria

> All on netbook. Will any of them load basic functionality such as the webcam?

I dunno. I just bought the cheapest webcam I could find at the local department store and it all worked easy peasy (on Ubuntu). YMMV of course. It always helps to mention the specific hardware you have trouble with. Vague hysterics are neither informative nor productive.

JEDIDIAH
Linux

vmware and virtualbox support USB.

> I have no other windows machines at home. I need XP, a) for iTunes to activate iPhone,

> b) To flash non jailbroken HTC Hero so that I *MIGHT* have a chance of getting an OTA

> pre-update to android 2.1, and then android 2.1. How else am I supposed to do this without

> dual boot, or buy another PC just for windows, which I will only use for the above?

Virtual machine software includes USB support. So you can manage USB based devices from a copy of Windows-in-a-box if you need to.

Apple Mac Mini 2010

JEDIDIAH
Linux

Whatever Apple calls Purevideo and VDPAU.

> People seem to get very cofused as to what they thing graphics

> cards do for HD video.... let me simplify it:

>

> FUCK ALL*

>

> stu

>

> *unless running windows MPC HD, you can stand the inbuild accelerated

> decoder and have a compatible nvidia or ati card. On osx - its all about CPU

> baby. for now and for the last 4 years.

The nv320 does all of the heavy lifting for decoding mpeg2, divx and h264.

The nv9400 in slightly older Mac minis do just mpeg2 and h264.

HD h264 is really the only thing that needs it as an even AppleTV can handle HD divx.

If your Mac based HTPC is ever running with CPU usage more than 15% then either Apple or Adobe has done something wrong.