Posts by AndrueC

And for places where they can't get LLU set up, they'll be rolling broadband out over Openreach lines rented from BT Wholesale, yes?

Sorta :)

They always have to use Openreach lines and (for FTTC) equipment to get to the exchange but after that things vary.

For LLU ADSL the line goes into the CP's MSAN and they arrange for the data to be carried from there. Exactly what route this takes probably depends on the CP. The early part from the exchange is often on BT fibre but with capacity reserved just for them. Some exchanges do have third party fibre in them though.

For LLU FTTC there's something called GEA (Generic Ethernet Access). This is where BT get the data from the cabinet to the exchange then leave you to work out what to plug into the Ethernet socket. From this point on it's going to be the same as LLU but worth noting that unlike ADSL LLU the MSAN is not used to decode the analogue signal. That's all done in the cabinet.

For everything else (ie; not LLU) there are two choices these days:

WBC (Wholesale Broadband Connect)- This is where BT carry your data between the cabinets and your servers.

WBMC (Wholesale Broadband Managed Connect)- This is where they carry your data between the cabinets and one of several nodes scattered around the country. You then arrange to carry it from there to your servers.

I think that's about it :)

As for who does what in this regulator enforced house of cards:

BT openreach - Owns pretty much anything that's physical. Lines. DSLAMs/MSANs, cabinets. If you can touch it it's owned by openreach.

BT wholesale - Creates various products for CPs (Communication Providers).

BT retail - This is the 'BT' that consumers know and love. Or not. The only member of the trifecta that you can actually talk to.

One minor point. With ADSL LLU the CP talks to openreach to get their own MSAN installed in the exchange. They never need to talk to Wholesale. With FTTC CPs always go to through Wholesale. I don't know if it's possible to avoid that for FTTC unless you go with SLU (which means installing your own cabinet and hardly anyone wants to do that).

More info here.

Re: @AndrueC

What you say is only true if the CPU has something useful to do.

No, it's always true. You just have to read my reply more carefully. I said that a given application might be waiting for the HDD (the text editor blocked because the file hadn't loaded) which is what you're talking about. But the main thrust of my reply was that the CPU is never waiting for the HDD. And it never is - not in a modern computer with a modern OS. The CPU sends the I/O request then it 'forgets' about it and looks for something else to do.

Quite often as you say there is nothing else to do but the CPU is not waiting for the HDD. It's not waiting for anything really. It's an important distinction. If you are waiting for the postman it implies that you are looking out of the window. It implies anticipation on your part. That doesn't apply in any sense for the CPU. It isn't checking up on the HDD. It isn't pacing the metaphorical floor wondering where the data is. It's kicking back on the patio with a cool beer and when the doorbell goes it has to put the beer down and go and find out who it is.

That's a big deal in computing. The ability for the CPU to go idle and do nothing has a significant impact on power consumption. It can also mean that the machine as a whole can do much more if you can keep enough CPU intensive tasks queued up.

Re: It's cool.

Also gave up TV in the last century, the advertising annoyed me and the news made me depressed. I presume that it has never changed.

Well one thing has changed. If you have a PVR and never watch anything live the adverts are rarely seen. Although I've noticed some channels recently getting sneaky with break graphics which in combination with the crappy FF that Sky boxes offer means it's harder to spot the end of the break.

Re: @LDS

What about relativity effects?, are the astronauts in orbit not running 38 microseconds slower than earth?

Some people will do anything just to live a bit longer.

Re: Superfast Cymru

I think that North Wales has more to complain about. The stretch of coast from (but not including) St Asaph to Bangor has no FTTC and only since summer has BT said they have plans for those towns. That's of the order of 100,000 people in some fairly large towns that have been ignored. Llandudno and Conwy are only seaside towns in name. In character they are both vibrant towns all year round. Neither goes to sleep or becomes a ghost town out of season.

Re: Java autoupdate

Same on my work machine. It tells me there's an update but when I run it it says everything is up to date. If I got the website it downloads a newer version :-/

But more importantly I wish updaters wouldn't drop a new application icon on the desktop. Adobe seem to have stopped finally but iTunes still puts it there. Only the initial installation should do that (and even then the option not to would be nice).

Their world view and values are not the same as the English. If you remove the English from England, what do you really have left?

The English are whatever particular group of people happen to call England home. Until a couple of hundred years ago everyone and their dog invaded us. Even the French managed it for a while. And even though there've been no military invasions for a long time there have been plenty of immigrants. Far from being a problem I believe that it's one of the things that makes England strong. We are all the result of thousands of years of invaders and immigrants. It's worked well so far - why stop it now?

The only real definition of an Englishman is 'someone who lives in England'.

Most of the HAL was removed in NT 4 to improve speed on x86.

Well according to this support article at least some of it still exists in Win2k8 (search for 'HAL'). But I confess that I wouldn't be surprised if it was cut down from the original concept and implementation. But based on web searches something by that name still exists and is doing a lot of what you'd expect it to since people changing their hardware are getting STOP 0x79 which means 'MISMATCHED_HAL'.

Re: Not so human after all

Musk really doesn't like the idea of K.I.T., does he.

KITT

Knight

Industries

Two

Thousand

:D

Re: Grasping at straws are they?

With all the weasel words and add-ons like "exercise and a healthy diet", I smell a rat

Actually the testing was done on mice :)

Seems another simple solution to just cleverly record the prog automatically at a different time as most things are repeated these days.

Yup, like my Freesat box has done ever since I first bought it. Or even better - just download the programme if it's available from On Demand.

Re: Cruise control

Though it may ruin the drive for committed drivers for long distances the most efficiency is cruise control.

That may depend on the implementation. I've never really tested it but the CC on my Jazz doesn't fill me with confidence in that respect. It's fine on the flat but going up inclines it lets the speed drop quite a lot (2 or 3mph) before putting the clog down(*) and accelerating to 2 or 3mph above target. Worse still it often seems to start accelerating just before the brow of the hill then it lifts off when it realises it's over shooting in.I do use it but only on motorways and long stretches of A-road that I know are free of upward inclines.

(*)Although to be fair it is supposed to be better to accelerate 'sharply' rather than barely tickling the accelerator. It's more the way it so often has to lift off and engine brake at the brow of a hill that bothers me.

Re: Rootable

I wonder if there is a new ROM for it.....

The article tends to imply that there is no ROM for improvement :)

Anyway being pedantic if it has a ROM you're stuck with what you're given ;)

Re: Why it got waved through....

And the really neat thing is that your comment would apply to anything the government did. It's a kind of universal political commentary.

The power shower pump failed. Not only does that model no longer exist but the replacement isn't a "drop in" fit.

Yup, had that problem several years ago. I was lucky though I managed to find a 'new old stock' later version that with a bit of cutting, drilling and finagling could be persuaded to go where the failed unit was.

And shoes can be a pain. Why do Nike have to keep releasing a new version of their 'Dart' series? The more recent versions don't have the arch support I like and seem to feature a raised heel and toe that wasn't there before.

Re: MAGNA CARTA

i'm sure you would defend their right to say them......Free Speech

Free speech is about interactions between citizens and government. The Register is a privately owned site and is entitled to edit and censor anything that is posted here. Free speech is irrelevant when discussing their editorial policy and how they deal with commentards.

P.S. I wub El Reg :D

Re: Misinterpretation

They plan a landing on Ukraine and making a base in 20 ears.

Pardon?

Re: Mobiles are the new email.

Today you don' want people knowing where you are.

Can't say I'm all that bothered. But if you're that paranoid you'd best be unemployed and homeless then. Anyone with a full-time job and permanent place of resident can be found by the authorities almost any time they want you.