Posts by xperroni
225 posts • joined Tuesday 20th July 2010 16:44 GMT
Re: Replace the "call" button on each floor with a keypad -
This is how elevators work at the building where our company is hosted. It certainly adds a degree of amusement to the office routine every now and again, whenever a first-timer rushes into an elevator, turns to where the button panel should be, and stares in dismay at the blank wall they find instead.
Unfortunately its scheduling algorithm is pure pants. Time and again we've been at the hall waiting for a lift, and when an elevator arrives, it is directed to a single floor directly above ours. In come two or three people, leaving the remaining twelve or so to wonder why the damned thing couldn't be programmed to make a stop or two before its final destination.
Alas, I just hope the failsafe brakes at least aren't software-controlled!
Re: Once again...
Beat me to it.
As fate would have it, The Art of Manliness is doing a series about "human sheepdogs" – i.e. people who go out of their way to help and protect others, as opposed to the "sheep" who just move along as if nothing's happening.
Well, it seems that as if we already weren't short enough on sheepdogs, the state has decided to go after the ones who have the misfortune to fall under its sights, too.
I wonder what'll become of our society after the sheepdogs are done with or beaten into passivity?
Yeah, I remember working on an OpenVMS machine (running a DEC RDB server no less) in the early 2000's and thinking its path syntax was really awkward. I was also taken aback by the inbuilt file versioning, though time and again I've come to think modern OS'es could do worse than implementing something of the sort – as indeed they do.
Re: They've reinvented the portal!
Remember how one of the reasons to abandon Altavista/etc and start using Google was the minimal page design that helped to keep the information you're actually interested in more prominent? Google doesn't.
I bet they don't remember why everyone dropped the likes of Yahoo! Mail to hang with Gmail, either. The more Google "improves" Gmail, the more broken it feels...
Alas, have you noticed how far to the right have Gmail's link on Google's top bar moved? Eerie sign, if Reader's history is anything to go by.
Don't know about being tech savvy...
My mother can seldom do anything outside the browser (and even there she sometimes struggles) while my father has yet to get used to cellphones. I also know nothing of them getting cozy to other people...
But damn, are they fit! Dad is in better shape than me (as he's always been), and mom looks better than many women even twenty years her junior. Both are also much more outgoing than borderline-shut-in-nerd me. Really, I swear that in a few years I might well pass for their parent, rather than the other way around.
Re: Amurrica Strong!!
This means NO CONFLICT because we, the West, just don't pick fights with someone who can fight back.
I hope you're right in that no war between the US and China ever breaks out, but as others have pointed out, if nations could be relied to act rationally we'd be short a couple World Wars.
Re: Landfill
Nokia is already selling non-WP phones as this article is all about, so obviously they are 'allowed' to.
The only reason Nokia keeps working on non-WP phones is because WP cannot be crammed into the price/feature niche devices such as Asha are intended to fill. But ever since Elop unleashed his plan to run Nokia into the ground for the enjoyment of his true masters overhaul Nokia's premium mobe line, anything that could pose as an alternative for WP* – Symbian, acquired platforms, internal mobile Linux projects – has been sold over or killed off.
So yeah, surely Nokia can work on sub-premium S40 derivatives to their hearts' content – so far as it doesn't compete with Redmond's offering.
Re: Landfill
I'd bet at least some Nokia executives agree to you by now – but it's hopeless. Nokia sold their self-determination away to Microsoft for a bucket of cash and a broken OS with an unnameable UI; guess what Redmond would have to say about an "Android strategy"?
Re: A poor anaysis from Reg readers (sorry).
Yes – because "legitimate rape" is surely a thing.
Right.
Posted in Ten ancestors of the netbook
Re: Photoshop'ing like a bat out of Hell (was: Standards Dropping)
To me (...) it looks natural enough as a back-lit photo with "fill-in flash" lighting up what would otherwise be in shadow.
I'll take your word for it, but still I can't avoid the feeling.
Posted in Ten ancestors of the netbook
Re: Photoshop'ing like a bat out of Hell (was: Standards Dropping)
I don't know if I ever noticed it before, but that pic seems so Photoshop'ed it's a bit disturbing. It looks as if the beach, the girl, and even the computer and the camera were all taken from different pictures, and then reassembled as one (quite unbelievable, even discounting the stitch-together feeling) scene.
Until you understand the difference between weather and climate, you probably shouldn't comment on threads about climate.
The gist of Pascal's message is that we shouldn't hold as ultimate truth and base our decisions on science that isn't reliable yet – though it may on the future, and then should be taken more at face value.
That you raced right past his main point, going straight to bicker on the difference between "weather" and "climate", speaks volumes on who really should think twice before commenting on threads... About anything, actually.
Re: No good deed shall escape unpunished
I think you're mum
I'm a man. By definition, I cannot be anybody's "mum".
No good deed shall escape unpunished
Though it's been almost ten years since I have moved alway from my parents' home – about 1000Km away into another city – I am still my mother's go-to son for all her technology needs. Eventually I got to direct her, at great psychological cost, into installing a remote management client to her netbook, so I didn't have to spend hours at the phone helping her download an attachment from Hotmail and the like.
Of course, my younger brother (three years my junior) still lives with them and could bloody well provide the IT support she needs. But apparently he cannot be bothered to help the woman who to this day gives him food, clothes and generally supports his lifestyle – which by the way he couldn't afford by himself even in those rare occasions when he has a job.
Re: pathetically dependent?
So if I were Apple, I would want to make myself market leader for whatever the next "mp3 / smartphone / tablet" thingie is, and a pile of cash would be bloody helpful in that aim.
You'd think that, however if that were true, why isn't IBM still the unquestioned top business computing company? Why aren't we all using Nokia handsets? Why isn't AOL the face of the web?
The sad truth is that as soon as a company settles into a market niche and way of doing things, it becomes nearly impossible for it to change – even when its life depends on it. Nokia saw the writing on the wall years beforehand, and yet couldn't get a new act together before it was too late; more recently, HP's thrashing about aimlessly trying to reinvent itself produced a couple amusing headlines and little else.
Of course Apple did manage to do it once; but I'd posit it had more to do with a flash of genius from Steve Jobs than to any feature of the company as a whole. And I doubt that, even if he was alive today, he'd be able to do it again.
"Women in technology need consistant [sic] messaging from birth through retirement they are welcome, competent and valued in the industry"
Well that's funny, because I sure as Hell haven't been "messaged" about how welcome, competent or valued I am in any level approaching "consistancy" – and lo and behold, I'm still around.
But then again, I'm a man. As is the current wisdom on the subject, I am a kind of creature completely unlike women, and therefore have no business expecting to be treated in anything resembling the same standards, or vice-versa.
Or perhaps this whole "women in technology" crusade has come a bit too far in demonising men, and we should instead concentrate a little more in ensuring fair treatment to people in general, regardless the shape of their reproductive organs?
Just sayin'.
Stuck back
Indeed, while we were not victims of any alien anal probing, Mrs D explicitly expressed a wish that something vaguely similar but eye-wateringly more vigorous could be inflicted upon Microsoft.
Because it wouldn't be an Alistair piece if it didn't refer to other people's buttocks.
Kinda obsessed with the stuff aren't we?
Re: I don't get it
> Why do you insist on trying to put in in a much wider context? And why so anti the idea?
From the article:
"Shams 1 is a strategic investment in our country's economic, social and environmental prosperity," said His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
"The domestic production of renewable energy extends the life of our country's valuable hydrocarbon resources and supports the growth of a promising new industry. The inauguration of Shams 1 is a major milestone in our country's economic diversification and a step toward long-term energy security."
So who put the idea in a wider context wasn't me, but its owners, who reckon Shams is the way towards a post-hydrocarbon, renewable-energy future. Only it isn't; it's just a gas power station that takes advantage of the fact it's located in a very sunlit place, though at a sizable material and estate cost. The idea might have its merits, but even if it does, it's a stopgap solution at best; it's certainly not "the future".
Re: I don't get it
> Of course it can work as a concept without gas. They just have their reasons for using gas in their
> hybrid design... because it's pretty much free.
So the station is meant to demonstrate the viability of solar power, but the makers decided to give it an extra push with gas just because they had some lying around doing nothing?
Oh, now it makes perfect sense!
And surely these conditions (lots of sun year-round and free gas) are found the world over, so really this design is bound to see widespread deployment.
Definitely a victory for solar!
I don't get it
So they take up a huge estate and fill it with tons of kit in one of the hottest places on Earth – and still the "solar" station can't work without a little push from burning fossil fuel?
Seriously, why bother with all those mirrors at all? Just commission a nuclear station and call it a day.
Posted in Ten smartphones with tablet ambitions...
Re: Funny thing, fashion
On a related note, I read the name of Asus' handset three times before figuring it's called the 'P'adFone, and not 'F'adFone as I first thought.
The mind, it plays tricks.
Re: FFS
Yup, it's the windows licensing fun all over again...
The best part about it all is how it makes the experience significantly poorer to honest users who paid for the software. Pirates need not bother with any of this.
I don't know how a "good" software sales model should look like, but sure as Hell it shouldn't make life more miserable to honest buyers than it does to thieves.
Posted in Any storm in a port
I have no idea what the problem is
Normal-sized USB plugs always have a USB logo on the upper side, period. There is no "except" to this – at least in 10-odd years using the things, I've never found a cable that didn't comply. Side-tilted sockets are a little bit more of a challenge, yes, but in any given device they'll all be tilted to the same side – you figure one, you figure all.
Really, whenever I hear people complaining about USB plugs, I don't know if I'm just too sharp, or it's them who are too stupid. Actually, I do know – I'm not that sharp really.
This is Russia!
Today in Sao Paulo (Brazil, for the geographically impaired) people were whining about how strong was the rain last night.
Meanwhile in Russia it rained rocks.
And people here think they have it rough...
Posted in Google Drives into web hosting
What about Google Sites?
Of course Google has had a web hosting service for some time now. It's called Google Sites, and it's kinda nice actually; I use it to host files for my blogs and the odd web page.
Since nobody ever talks about it I suspected it would be sent to the gallows someday; could this be it?
Posted in What’s a computer? Eat yourself fitter!
Why, welcome back Alistair
Didn't think I'd miss your Friday bile, but there.
People can open their hearts all they want...
I sure as hell won't peer over what's lurking inside.
"The executive's convictions included (...) unlawfully wounding her boyfriend with a gunshot"
Wait, are there circumstances where an executive can lawfully wound someone with a gunshot?
I knew there was more to this management thing than fiddling with spreadsheets!
Posted in Group vows new webOS smartphone by 2016
What's that smell?
Pro tip: outside of fantasy stories immolated birds don't raise from the ashes, they just fill the room with the stink of burned feathers.
I predict a not altogether different result for this latest effort to bring webOS back.
"[I]t will be interesting to see how dealers fare (...)"
Why do I get this mental picture of a bloke dressed in a white coat and holding a spreadsheet, looking through a one-way mirror into a room full of people that seem ready to snap any moment now?
Re: Eve Online but not Elite
Actually Elite was ported to several platforms of the time – I fondly remember playing it on my first-gen MSX.
So no, it's not parochialism to point Elite's absence.
"It won't make you any smarter"
You know what I like best about those times? Patronizing adverts. Really, it seems companies never missed a chance to paint their customers retarded.
Re: Terse?
It depends on your reference... Chinese (and Japanese for that matter) are more economical than English, but compared to most Romance languages it's a paramount of objectivity.
Posted in Assault on battery
"sharp-witted and similarly misanthropic guys from customer services"
Wait, how can a person who works in customer services not like people?
On second thought, forget I asked.
Re: Mint forced gnome 3 guys to introduce .... Gnome 2!
I do, but I'm kind of a freak... For one I loved Google Buzz.
And while I do like Gnome 3, I recognize the amount of tweaking needed to get it to suit my tastes would put many a user off. It's sad really: the software is good, but the way it's delivered kind of sucks.
We must put a stop to this, all future mars robots must be wind, water and solar powered.
I further propose we have members of environmental NGO's (Greenpeace, WWF, etc) on-site to verify compliance.
All of them, if possible.
Amazing
So they turned to IE and ActiveX for security?
Wow. Just wow.
So it wasn't extinct before...
...but since the only two specimen ever found are already dead, who's to say those weren't the last two?
Re: Sad, and a huge loss of resources
To me the saddest thing is that Gnome, once properly plugged-in, is actually quite a likable desktop; it just so happens that it's released in quite a screwed up form. There have been movements to rectify this (Fedora 17 for example brought back "Power Off" as a plain menu item, no more Alt-Click required), but unfortunately it may be too little, too late.
Re: Missing the point about RISC
That makes [RISC processors] (a) cheap (b) low power (c) easily testable and (d) easily integrated.
Also, the simpler instruction set lends itself well to architecture-level optimizations (e.g. pipelines). That's why Intel went to the trouble of making their chips RISC-like on the inside even though they still show a CISC facade to the world outside.
Better off without
I live in Brazil, and we have a running joke here where someone starts reading a news item that is choke full of omissions, completely misrepresents the subject, and barely even gets grammar right – then someone else says "damn, you're doing it again... You're reading local press articles!"
Such is the state of Brazil's national press.
So I think this is actually great for Google News: their feed just got rid of that much useless junk.
Humor aside, this is something I don't get: how come so many small critters got trapped in amber in ancient times? Were plants more... "Resinous" back then? Does it still happen today and we just don't get to notice?
Strange coincidences
Nokia's networks division and feature phones did well. (...) The bright spot was strong sales of its Asha phones: feature phone sales grew by 3 per cent, and sales into Asia-Pacific continued to climb.
So it's in-house technology that is saving the day, while Windows phones continue to flounder?
Why, who'd have thought!
Re: Welcome to Worker's Paradise
Taiwan thinks they do own China.
I don't argue that part, what bothers me is how the communists don't seem to very much bother disputing it anymore.
Welcome to Worker's Paradise
Ironic that Foxconn hails from Taiwan – you know, that place where the Chinese nationalists entrenched themselves after they lost the civil war to the communists and were drove off the mainland? Yet their companies deploy factories across the Popular Republic and harass its workers like they own the country. Meanwhile the communist government seems blissfully oblivious to such abuses, using its time and resources to bicker with Japan about a couple rocks half-lost in the middle of the sea.
Really, some worker's paradise you got over there...
"IPO of the century" of the week
I love when pundits say something is the best/biggest/baddest "of the century", specially as we're scarcely a decade into it. Really gives profound insight into their attention span.
My son, you seem to ignore the ways of the World.
When AMERICA asks you to cough up whatever information you have, they're doing it only in the interest of preserving Freedom ©! And you can be just as sure they won't misuse it in any way, because they said so!
In contrast, when those godless COMMUNISTS so much as ask you the time of the day, you can be certain they're plotting nothing short of destroying you, defiling your woman and corrupting your children!
So don't ever be fooled again, for there's not only good and bad corporations, but also good and bad government probes. They're easy to tell apart: those that hail from THE FREE WORLD are the good ones, and the others are the bad.
Re: Good and bad news
One of the reasons they're not handling human transport duty to SpaceX right away is because the Merlin / Dragon is a new design in its early revisions, therefore prone to little mishaps like this one. As launches pile up, enough data will be accumulated to iron such glitches.
Are you not entertained?
Re all those folks who were yawning "business as usual" earlier today.
