Posts by Jason Hindle

Will WSL become LSW?

Enquiring minds need to know.

Perhaps a happy medium would be to....

Have an option to switch sideloading on but in a way that sensitive apps can detect*? For example, your bank may prefer their app doesn't work on a device deemed insecure? The only way to switch off such an option (which effectively jail breaks the device) would be a full factory reset.

* Merely mooted because it looks like this will ultimately be forced on users whether they want it or not. I certainly don't want it - I have Android for that (and the only app I've ever had to side load onto my Android phone was Didi Chuxing).

Fastly? We now know who they are, and where they live

Which, I'm guessing, is a level of exposure Fastly never wanted. Their greatest error was, erm, making a mistake :-/.

I see this ending only one way

A corrupted processor core and your computer attempting to use your smart home (or pacemaker) to murder you in the middle of the night.

I think Apple will partly lose this one

I’m not expecting a complete win for either side, but I’m expecting the final judgement to blunt some of Apple’s sharper practices. Apple’s walled garden is, in effect, Apple’s house and of course Apple gets to decide who gets invited to its house party. What happens beyond Apple’s house, on the other hand, is an area where Apple should have less influence. I’m therefore expecting two significant changes:

- Links to developer sites unrestricted in both the App Store and the App, facilitating a more direct relationship between the developer and end user.

- And I think also differentiated pricing between App Store and developer website.

For most smaller developers it’s going to be business as usual. Letting Apple take care of payments processing will continue to make sense. Likewise, for most end users who will continue to find the path of least resistance is to hand over their fingerprint (or face) and let Apple take care of the rest. But Apple will likely have to expect the loss of a fairly hefty chunk of revenue.

Bonkers approach?

Not the three day bit. That’s Apple’s choice and I’d grudgingly accept that if my employer made the same demand. But three days of a full house when fewer people, a bit more spread out, everyday, would probably be healthier? This disease isn’t going away and nor will the reasons to be a little bit cautious and manage the risks it presents.

Now I know how most here feel about Cummings

And I agree. But before throwing him under a bus, isn’t he just too useful and idiot to waste at the moment? Hold that thought.

Invest in a snap screen

We have one of these on the back door:

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/snap-screen-white/p/0323987

Note: If you have cats (or builders), they will destroy it.

I think there are better ways to make the point

Including consumer choice and understanding the risks, benefits and drawbacks associated with each OS approach. Anyone can buy a Mac and play Fortnite. Likewise anyone can buy an iPad and play only those games Apple allows. Given Federighi's comments, I'd expect to hear some noises from Jobs's grave....

They are laying cable in my area

Erm, I live on one of those streets that always seems to miss out (only bit of the area never to have had Virgin). Odd place to be, so fortunate to be just around the corner from the cabinet.

Someone dodged a bullet

Imagine having to deal with that first day on the job.

ARM64 support

Oddly enough, Chrome hasn't been ported to ARM64 Linux either. One of a number of odd omissions I came across while testing Ubuntu 20.04 on my M1 MacBook. Edge is ARM native on the Mac (as is Chrome - Google couldn't get that out of the door quickly enough) so I expect this is something Microsoft could address reasonably quickly. If they wanted to, that is.

The business side and economies of scale...

It’s not just impressive performance but impressive business also. Currently Apple provide the Mac Mini, MacBook Air, MacBoo Pro, iMac and two variants of the iPad Pro with just two variants (8Gb and 16Gb) of the same SoC. They’re all pretty much the same bloody computer, providing impressive economies of scale at the level of one of the most costly components. It will be interesting to see how Apple handles (or redefines) the high end with its (currently) very different economies of scale.

It’ll be interesting to see what limitations pop up

ARM in a desktop PC (or at least this level of desktop PC) is still quite new. Even ARM Linux has some limitations*.

* Though some might regard Google not being arsed to port Chrome to Linux/ARM as a positive advantage.

You can tell a lot from employees’ social media footprint

Microsoft and Google employees generally seem quite engaged with the world. At certain other places, it seems employees wisely think it’s best not to be seen having an opinion.

I’ve had plenty of mileage from Timeline

I like it and it does set Windows apart from Apple’s Mission Control. It is Mission Control + history. Corporates dislike it presumably because it means details of documents opened, and so on, on Microsoft servers? Being able to stop for the day, and then continue where I left off (smaller device) on the commute was pretty cool. It’s now disabled on the corporate Dell.

Just gave it a spin - it works

Nothing elaborate - just installed it and downloaded Ubuntu from the VM gallery. Bearing in mind this is base level M1 MacBook Air, boot time and performance of Ubuntu is pretty impressive.

It does look promising

I’ve seen a couple videos on YouTube, by British reviewers who are trying it out. If you live in a notspot and are desperate for Internet, it might be worth a punt. For anyone with good FTTP, FTTC or 5G coverage, Starlink is very pricey at the moment.

This is the one negative side of M1

I was hoping Apple would publicly document their new chip. The silence bordering on disdain, towards those porting Linux to the new hardware platform, demonstrates a closed mindset, I think.

We’ve come a long way from the old USB hubs...

And if I see the two magic letters, P & D, next to each other, respectively, I think I’d rather pay extra for something with a good reputation. At the same time, I’ve come to the conclusion that being able to hang power, external storage and 4K off a single USB-C port in no way absolves Apple of charging upwards of £1000 on laptops and skimping on ports.