Posts by frank ly
2117 posts • joined Wednesday 10th June 2009 09:17 GMT
Page:
It's a good start
"... children in the OLPC project in this country have an advantage on average of 5 months in the development of their cognitive abilities with respect to children who have not been helped by the program.”
I think that any group of children who are involved in any kind of project, with adult supervision and external academic study, would show improved cognitive ability compared to children who were not. This would be due to taking part in a long term challenging/interesting activity and having the support of sympathetic and interested adults.
The question to be asked is, "does giving them a laptop have any advantages over any other kind of educational development aid?"
As for their reading activities, they need to learn to enjoy reading in the first place and that is a totally separate issue. After they 'get into' reading, then free e-books (various methods and arrangements possible) could easily be provided for their laptop.
Re: Sacrifice some weight
That sounds like a good working solution and you can do that to your personal Boeing 787, the one you don't fly in controlled airspace or use to carry passengers. Boeing have many constraints on what changes they are allowed to make and re-certification would take ages.
@Big_Ted Re: Me Too
I thought that VM had buffer storage inside their own network for iPlayer, etc. so they didn't have massive peering charges from the outside world?
Re: Dematerialization
Yes, because the digitised copy is just a copy, to allow many people to read them with ease. The original documents and library will be maintained. So, the (rare and largely fictitious) paperless office could be called a dematerialised office?
Posted in Bacon sarnies can kill: Official
Don't Panic! There is a way out of this
I've heard that the bad effects of a bacon sarnie can be counteracted by accompanying it with a cup of tea. But, the tea has to be made in just the right particular way. I'm not sure what that way is. Any advice?
Posted in Reg readers brew up the ultimate cuppa
re. "... some sort of elite tasting team and bacon sarnies."
I'll work for free and I'll wash up afterwards. (I used to play Frontier Elite, I have good taste and I've eaten many bacon sarnies).
Something similar happened to me
Sometime last year, an organisation called HTC pushed out a software change to my Incredible-S phone, codenamed 'ICS Update', which noticeably slowed it down and changed the GUI in way that made it confusing to use as well as reducing the battery life.
They did this by using 'social engineering' in conjunction with an entity called Google that fed stories to the press saying that ICS was smoother and faster and had efficiencies that improved battery life, even on older phones. You have to be careful and you can't trust anyone.
Operating conditions?
Am I right in assuming that this assembly is supposed to operate in a bath of liquid Helium, or similar arrangement? The figure of 700pW of (local?) cooling power is amazing when you consider the amount of heat that must flow into the copper block, even if it were immersed in very cold liquid Helium. Have I got this right?
Oh wow
You really do have a full apple jacket. Be careful not to make any hollow points at the WSJ ;)
Good luck :)
Correction for modern times
"One of the main roles of government is to be paranoid _ABOUT_ its populace ..."
When the XBox comes in
"It's a great fit," Xbox Live product manager Pav Bhardwaj said. "The film is really well aligned with our audience."
How does he know this? Market research?
more Tesco digital stuff
Tescomobile (running over the O2 network) have some very good value SIM only deals, including some rolling monthly contracts which are useful if you don't like long term tie-ins. They seem to be embracing digital data in a big way.
Not long to go ...
I'm waiting for jake's thoughts on Chinese AV products and what their real purpose is.
Re: Following the tried and true patent troll recipe
If Microsoft were hit for $200 million and Apple had to pay $368 million, why are they saying that Cisco should pay them 'only' $258 million if Cisco is the whale?
Re: Bah, humbug
A small colour e-ink display should be easy enough to manufacture, maybe with a limited colour set. The relatively low number of pixels would give a reasonable frame refresh rate for information display. They might even be able to adequately display the moving second-hand of a clock so that you could have a continuous time indicator on your wrist. That would be quite an achievement.
Re: and so will likely suffer more than the rest
I've got it. You're Eadon's brother and you're a 3fan with an irrational dislike of EE. It's to be expected that this sort of thing runs in families.
Re: PR replaces journalism
I remember when Acme used to release jet-powered roller skates, exploding corn and similarly exciting products. They've just stopped innovating.
@AC 13:51 Re: Contacts
Well, excuse me for not going through all the possibilities. My phone contacts are not Google contacts or SIM contacts either and Android doesn't need access to them in order to sync. The two examples I gave are just the obvious ones for an Android phone especially for someone who seems to be new to Android. The OP made a statement about Android syncing, which I believe was incorrect. I explained something using two examples.
Stick to the point instead of taking cheap imaginary shots.
Re: A novel idea
If you're wearing Google Glass, nobody will hook up with you - unless, maybe, they're wearing Google Glass.
Re: Google Play is a failure
I agree with you that it seems unreasonable (and maybe suspicious) that an app which had nothing to do with phone calls is able to read your phone state and the numbers you have called. The explanation I read was that the permissions are too coarse: e.g. a developer who needs to know if the phone is ringing (for incoming) so they can pause music play has to have access to 'Phone stuff' which is so coarse as to include all phone stuff, not just the elements they really need.
As for the forced Facebook thing on your phone, that is a deal between the phone maker or mobile provider who put it on there before you bought it. I don't have that crap on my phone (Nexus 4). I have other crap :)
"Android can't even sync without you giving all your contact information to Google. Sod that!"
You need to spend time in the deeper settings menus, where you can select which google services are synced and which are not. Note: If you're worried about syncing your Google contacts, Google already have your Google contacts (think about it). If it's the phone SIM based contacts you're worried about, then your statement is simply not correct and you need to learn more details about syncing information on Android phones.
Posted in Huawei CEOs are 'migratory birds'
Built in redundancy
This seems like a good idea, once the CEO team have had a few rotations to give and get experience. If the current CEO dies or goes obviously insane, they just push the body to one side and plug in a proven and acceptable replacement. No panic, no wondering if the new one is up to it - smooth transition.
Posted in Evernote joins the notably hackable club
Re: Macs?
The attack and intrusion was against the Evernote servers, I figured that out from reading the article. So, unless Evernote have a warehouse full of networked Macs, running some kind of distributed server, then the intrusion was not due to a vulnerability in Macs.
More strange thinking
"... alcohol advertising should only be permitted in newspapers and other adult press."
Because children can't buy newspapers and wouldn't read one even if you gave them one. Eh?
re. "...just look at the amount of money men now spend on hair gel."
Are you jealous because they still have hair to put gel on? I know I am. I used to be able to wear tight trousers and not look ridiculous - sighs.
Just wondering -
- are there any laws/regulations/limitation on 'hobbyist' release of payload carrying balloons? e.g. payload size/mass limit or prohibited places where you can't release?
I've said it before -
"Broadcaster Sky ... told the City this morning that it planned to buy 02 and BE's home broadband, phone and fixed-line rental customers for £180m."
- We are regarded as farm animals, to be bought, sold, milked and rendered.
Re: ... nervous system extended beyond the head.
If the 'body' is just a digestive tube with food processing and fat storage, then it doesn't need any kind of nervous system. Even a primitive heart could have evolved to beat at a constant rate. A chemical messaging and feedback-control system does a good job of controlling much of our 'modern' bodies with no awareness or nervous system control.
Re: Heh… Zopfli
It can't be called a .jar file (which is a shame), so I hope they call it a .zop file.
interesting possibilities
"...“huge amounts” of free cloud storage, which can be passed onto users;..."
Does this mean I could set up a Dropbox-like service with public key encryption so that users could send secure private messages to each other and also store their personal and confidential information in a hosted Chinese cloud?
Re: exuberant at recieving a lawyers bill
"... an exuberant amount of money ..."
It's the money that's exuberant. Money loves to be spent.
data rate explanation?
An 8-bit ADC performing a billion (10^9) conversions a second produces a data output stream of 8 Gb/s. How does this correspond to the claim that it would enable 100 Gb/s communications? Also, as mutatedwombat has said, 8-bit resolution is 'crap', for anything involving audio/video.
There may be some analogue processing on radio antennae signals that could be done in 8-bit digital, so can anyone comment on that?
I feel a bit more relaxed now
"Music fans shouldn't have to worry that sites distributing music online are illegal and unethical. "
I've been worrying about this for a long time. Now they've shut down these bad sites, I can relax and happily download stuff from my usual site.
Do your civic duty
" ...The cameras should bring in 100 million roubles ($3.2m) per month in speeding fines, ..."
Break the speed limit often, to assist the finances of your home town.
" ... 10 per cent of internet growth causes GDP to rise by 1.2 per cent ..."
Isn't this a case of confusing correlation with causality?
Valid tactics
Being 'heavily intoxicated' may be a very good way of gaining an advantage over the machines. Their internal assessment and prediction algorithms wouldn't be able to cope well with a drunken adversary.
"Dad, the machines are coming." "Ok son, take the whiskey bottle to your mother and bring me the crystal meth."
Posted in Larry Ellison buys airline
You're all missing the point
A techno-plutocrat now has a private island. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Re: Sideshow Bob..
I remember that episode :)
Re: Well About Time
Some things, and some people, can't be improved no matter how hard anyone tries.
"... and the cost in terms of reputation that victims could face. "
Reputation is very important of course; especially for banks and major corporations who need our trust to operate. The reputations of banks and major corporations must be protected at all costs.
it all depends on which premium
Tabs down the side has the advantage that it doesn't reduce 'precious' vertical space for a web page. But, that means the tabs are more likely to accordion into one another, since vertical space is at a premium.
Re: Geothermal for cooling?
I was surprised to read about 'water-short Perth'. As you indicate, they have a vast and effectively unlimited supply of water nearby.
Re: First Direct
I remember when First Direct wrote to me telling me details of how to logon to their website to control and monitor my First Direct account. I immediately destroyed (by burning) all personal identity portions of those documents. Very soon after, the technical and national press carried stories about security breaches on a major banking website. Banking apps on an Android phone ........hmmmm.
re. " ... junky dory ..."
I'm sure this is the opposite of what you meant, and I can understand how it happened. Thank you for accidentally coining a new expression. You may be forgotten one day, but 'junky dory' will live on :)
re. " ... the dumb pipes they really are ..."
Yep. The Post Office don't take a percentage of the value of cheques I post in the mail. My cable internet ISP don't take a percentage of the credit card and Paypal payments I make using the internet. They just shovel my data, which is what I pay them for. Why do the mobile operators think they can interfere and dip their fingers into any data transactions between me and a vendor?
Is that a bonking wallet in your pocket?
... or are you just pleased to buy stuff from me?
Posted in Firefox to spit out third-party cookies
Use 'Request Policy'
I recommend the use of the Request Policy plug-in for Firefox. It blocks all requests to third party websites and indicates that it is doing so. Then, you can temporarily or permanently lift the block for all requests to that site or only requests from the site you're using at that time. (It's easier to understand if you just use it and play with it.)
On many sites I use, there are an amazing number of third party sites that are blocked by Request Policy without my use of the originating site being affected at all. If an image is blocked, it shows the image box as greyed out with a little red flag in the middle that can be clicked to indicate the name of the site being blocked.
The first time you use it, there is the minor frustration of having to go through the list it presents and deciding which ones to allow, since many sites use third party sites to deliver required content. However, I feel it's worth it to avoid the shedload of crap and all the inevitable tracking stuff that will be there.
Re: Reg: May I propose....
You lose additional points for misspelling 'Treknobabble'.
Are those candle-holders for sale?
If so, you need to get them up to speed with data mining techniques, referencing all their previous sales and searching Google etc. for potential leads.
@vmistery
" ...brief sessions on Google to find out the latest butterfly facts or something similar."
Ahhh, Painted Ladies and Red Admirals, phwoooar.
'Ole Juul : Re: Not surprising, but nice to see some stats
Thank you for that well explained and thoughtful response.
