* Posts by MrRtd

109 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Jul 2012

Redmond is patching Windows 8 but NOT Windows 7, say security bods

MrRtd
Devil

Maybe there is a valid reason, or maybe it's intentional. You can never really trust Microsoft's intentions, history has proven that time and time again.

Latest Snowden leak claims NSA bugged ALL mobile calls in the Bahamas

MrRtd
WTF?

But I read today the US Government is charging some Chinese officials for spying? Do as I say, and not as I do. That's must be the US Government motto these days.

Firefox, is that you? Version 29 looks rather like a certain shiny rival

MrRtd
WTF?

Classic Theme Restorer is your friend.

Firefox should have really made people aware of the monstrosity they were about unleash upon their loyal users. It was my understanding that Add-ons/Extensions were supposed to enhance your browser not something to restore usability.

Microsoft signs Motorola to Android patent pact – no, not THAT Motorola

MrRtd

What scam software patents are. This is a clear example of the "innovation" it's supposed to create and protect.

Ever since the first couple of Android distributors signed these extortion agreements, it has had a snowball effect. The mafia would be very proud of Microsoft.

This is among many reasons I avoid Microsoft products and services as much as possible.

Ex–Apple CEO John Sculley: Ousting Steve Jobs 'was a mistake'

MrRtd

I doubt Apple would be where it is today, had Steve stayed at Apple right through.

Spy-happy Condoleezza Rice joins Dropbox board as privacy adviser

MrRtd

So I checked it out, and sync.com says it's Canadian, with a Canadian address, but according to Geotool, the server IP address is in the USA.

So if you're trying to avoid the prying eyes of the Government of the USA, you are out of luck.

Microsoft: We've got HUNDREDS of patents on Android tech

MrRtd

And 100% of software patents are bunk. Whoever thought applying patents to software was an idiot. Software patents do nothing for innovation and everything for extortion.

Microsoft loses cash on each Surface slab – but core biz strong as ever

MrRtd

I seem to remember MS jacking up the prices for almost everything they sell. Surely this is a major contributing factor to any increases. Once businesses are locked in to MS, they are basically held hostage and forced to pay the higher prices. Because most businesses are focused on short term goals, they can only see that it appears cheaper to pay more for MS products than invest in other more economical software that would benefit them in the long-term.

HP sticks thumb in Microsoft's eye, extends Windows 7 option for new machines

MrRtd
Facepalm

Perhaps HP realized that Lenovo was selling their goods because they still offer Windows 7 while HP pushed Win8 (no "upgrade" to Win7) and their laptops/desktops stayed on the shelf collecting dust.

Java, Android were THE wide-open barn doors of security in 2013 - report

MrRtd

Re: 99% of all mobile exploits are on Android

Or they will kick you in the face for not have a phone worth stealing.

Remember when SimCity ABSOLUTELY HAD to be online? Not any more – fancy that!

MrRtd

Re: Fantastic news!

SC4 works incredibly well on Linux nowadays. There are some simple steps you can find by doing a simple Google search to get it installed without the need of a NoCD crack. From what I hear, it's probably easier to install, if you use PlayOnLinux, but I've never tried that myself.

Connecting Gmail to Google+ is SENSELESS, says Digg founder

MrRtd

Digg...

Now there's a site to look up to. They practically invented the the self-destructing social website, with every re-design it got progressively out of touch with what their users wanted, so now I'd be surprised if they're half of what they used to be.

Merry Christmas? Not for app devs: That gold rush is officially OVER

MrRtd

Re: App Permission

Similar journey for me, but I ended up with Nexus Flashlight, the two permissions are reasonable - take pictures (obviously because the app needs the camera for the ability to use the flash), and prevent phone from sleeping - nobody want their flashlight constantly shutting off.

Microsoft yanks Surface 2 DIM SCREEN of DEATH fix in update snafu

MrRtd

Re: Optical Mice

I have to agree. Comparing a mouse or a keyboard to much more sophisticated hardware/software is a bit over the top.

NSA spies should clean up their act, says Prez Obama-picked panel

MrRtd

What is with the recommendation that the data be held by a private party? Are they suggesting the privatization of this highly personal and valuable data is going to be somehow better for society? Oh, never mind, this comes from the same country that created a massive private prison industry, reliant of making damn near everyone a potential criminal all for the sake of profits.

Sky rapped over PREMATURE SEXY CONDOM ad

MrRtd

Advertising safe sex, such as condoms in an appropriate way should not be considered bad for children. If the child is old enough to understand the commercial, then that child is old enough to know about safe sex options.

Barnes & Noble's Nook sales take a long walk off a very short pier

MrRtd

From Mashable, there is this:

"Barnes & Noble uses a technology called Digital Rights Management to protect copyright content. Its DRM uses identifiers to encrypt the customer's valid credit card on file.

"Therefore the customer must have a valid credit card attached to their account to purchase new NOOK content or download previously purchased NOOK content with no additional charge,” president digital Products, Jamie Iannone, tells Mashable."

Probably not a big reason for slumping sales, as the average consumer probably doesn't know this, but I am sure this has angered many customers.

Ditch your boring iPhone for a hot Android piece, says Google's TOTALLY UNBIASED Eric Schmidt

MrRtd

Considering the very short official support period for smartphones (something like 18 months), I doubt I'll be buying another high-end device. There just is no justification on spending hundreds of dollars every couple of years replacing a perfectly functional and useful device.

MPAA, RIAA: Kids need to learn 3 Rs – reading, writing and NO RIPPING

MrRtd

I'd much rather children learn the concept of sharing, cooperation, fair-use, before anything "anti-piracy".

Google to web: SHUT YOUR MOUTH or Chrome 32 beta will do it for you

MrRtd

Good

Any advertiser or website that has auto-play media, deserves to burn in internet hell!

Adobe users' purloined passwords were pathetic

MrRtd

Re: Hang on

But, how may users use the same password for multiple accounts. A lot of those users probably have the same password for their email, which than allows the hackers a view into a whole lot more, perhaps which bank they deal with, credit cards, and all other sorts of valuable personal information.

New US Apple factory will make INVINCIBLE sapphire glass for SHINY iThings

MrRtd
Meh

Re: Love, Love, Loving the fact that...

They probably picked Arizona because there are so many immigrants willing to work for minimum wage. And I wonder what other perks the state of Arizona gave Apple?

I suspect the state wont make much tax revenue, and 650 of the 700 employees will be paid at near minimum wage rates with lousy benefits.

Microsoft: Ha ha, my Wall Street friends - THIS time the victory is OURS

MrRtd

Probably just a bunch of accounting tricks.

But seriously, considering they increased the prices for damn near every product & service they sell to businesses and consumers, I'm not at all surprised they are making more. I also wonder how many Windows Pro are downgraded?

Google pulls all Android apps linked to adware badness THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED

MrRtd

OK, why wasn't this something all the security software providers were all over? I would think, especially those who pay for their security software, that they should have been notified of this security breach in the apps that they scan. On the other had I am certain that the security software industry is in the Android market just to turn a quick buck while providing minimal if any security at all.

Mark Shuttleworth labels Mir opponents 'the Open Source Tea Party'

MrRtd

Re: Fragmentation grenade?

Wayland is the replacement of xorg and that xwayland is what is used to provide compatibility with X. Since Kubuntu is based on KDE and KDE is going with Wayland, that is the main reason for them to go with Wayland.

I think Suttleworth is being a bit over the top on this issue of Mir. I think he's upset everyone didn't flock over to the Ubuntu side.

Thousands! of! Yahoo! Mail! users! driven! crazy! by! revamp!

MrRtd

Re: Reply @Rascak

I just checked and it appears this just changed.

"As of October 2013 Yahoo provides all Yahoo mail users free and unlimited POP3 access and forwarding." - Wikipedia.

Gates, Zuckerberg to deliver free coding lesson

MrRtd

Re: Be fair

Ha. Now that I think of it, I don't remember it ever crashing either. But then maybe Clippy was actually the underlying cause of all sorts of other crashes. Guess we'll never know, and MS will never tell us.

MS Word deserves DEATH says Brit SciFi author Charles Stross

MrRtd

Re: Monopolies

Competitors didn't happily commit suicide. There were many undocumented "things" in Windows software that the competitors simply didn't know about or weren't able to know because of MS's proprietary system. Microsoft used it's dominance as a operating system to become the dominate office software. Underhanded, sneaky and down-right unethical tactics were used, just as they are today.

Creating the best software is not even a part of their mission statement.

Canadian operator EasyDNS stands firm against London cops

MrRtd

Re: False economics

What are you talking about?

The a major reason for many to get copies of shows via torrents, is because there are no way to see the show in a reasonable time frame or at a reasonable price. People don't want to wait, shouldn't wait, or need to wait for several months or more to see a show that aired on TV elsewhere in the world.

Like many have said for years. Make distribution of TV and movies simultaneous and quick at a reasonable price, globally and that will cut down on unwanted free content copying or like the industry likes to call it "piracy".

Bill Gates again world's richest, tops in US for 20th straight year

MrRtd

Question

If billions of dollars are just sitting in bank accounts collecting interest, rather than being spent and circulated by thousands of people everyday, how good is it for the economy?

Notorious Mexican drug kingpin nabbed thanks to drones and spyware

MrRtd

Remember practically all this violence and "illegal" activity is a direct consequence of keeping drugs such as Marijuana & cocaine illegal. It is complete insanity that so much time and money is wasted on trying to stop drug, production, distribution and use, when governments should be regulating and taxing this current underground economy.

Judge nixes Microsoft SkyDrive name in BSkyB court ruling

MrRtd

Re: using THIS logic...

Today the letter i is brought to you by Apple.

Lenovo: Windows 8 is so good, everyone wants Windows 7

MrRtd
FAIL

The problem with MS is that they want to be the master and dominate all things It, be it on your phone, laptop, desktop, server, both at home and in the office, in the data centre, and for all online services too. They have no focus, and are trying to shove everything through one pigeonhole.

Supreme Court silence seals Thomas-Rasset's file sharing fate

MrRtd
WTF?

Just more proof of how broken/corrupt the USA legal system is.

Microsoft, EMC, NetApp support Oracle against Google

MrRtd
FAIL

"friends of the court" - LOL. These companies are no friends to each other, your or me, or to any court in any country on this planet.

Australia cuts Microsoft bill by AU$100m

MrRtd
FAIL

Savings? Well when you are locked into the proprietary formats of Microsoft, it's really no savings at all. It's Microsofts intention to make it as expensive as possible to get off their software, all at the same time charging more for their products, even though many are technologically inferior to the competition.

Ebook price-fixing: Macmillan settles with DoJ, Apple fights on

MrRtd

I still can't jump on the ebook bandwagon. Can I transfer from one ebook reader to another? What about drm? What about format compatibility with future software?

I suppose for many things isn't an issue, but for me, if there is a particular book I thoroughly enjoyed or want to keep for future reference, I don't want to lose access for purely technical reasons. We already run into problems compatibility problems with office documents, do we need to have the same thing happen to all our older ebooks?

Amazon patents digital resale market

MrRtd

Patents

The very idea of business processes being patentable is ridiculous. But then so are software patents.

Here again this goes to show how business is trying to force the new digital era into the the former conceptof physical ownership of information sources.

I do support limited copyright restrictions to some extent for currently living content producers such as writers and artists, that people should respect. But for everything else should be the public domain

Japan hides anti-piracy warning on P2P networks

MrRtd

HA!

Like anyone pays attention or cares about these warnings. This is not unlike those damn warnings at the beginning of DVDs that every on and ignores.

When will the entertainment industry realise that the best way of fighting 'piracy' (such a misuse of the term) is to implement cheap and easy ways of distribution that is available at the same time for all global markets.

Facebook burnout: 61% of users have needed a break

MrRtd
Devil

Facebook was fun and interesting back in 2007 or so, when it was not overly commercialised. Furthermore this article points out many other reasons why I rarely use it.

For myself I consider privacy as a major reason not Facebook for anything more than a basic database of friends and basic communication such as birthday wishes. I think this survey is inaccurate on the privacy issues. Several of my FB friends do not use their complete first & last names, have deactivated their account during job searches, and have more than one account for various other privacy reasons.

Mayer! predicts! mobile! personalized! future! for! Yahoo! at! Davos!

MrRtd
FAIL

In other words, let us track your every move online and we'll be able to more accurately target ads to you.

No thanks.

Microsoft blasts PC makers: It's YOUR fault Windows 8 crash landed

MrRtd

Typical

Notice this is a common response of Microsoft whenever something doesn't go their way. It's everyone else's fault, OEM's, other software companies, users, and the list goes on.

Nokia axes 300 IT bods, outsources 820 to Tata, HCL

MrRtd

Nokia, will be a textbook case of how to completely ruin a once successful global company. From #1 to 0 in record time.

Rumors say Dell again thinking of going private

MrRtd
Paris Hilton

I don't think it is stupid to go private. Private companies have way more control, and not at the mercy of volatile markets. The stock market is nothing more than a casino, where so-called investors aren't interested in long term growth but focused on short term gains. A private company with good management, decent assets, can be very successful and profitable for the the owners.

Bob Dylan's new album is 'Copyright Extension Collection'

MrRtd
WTF?

Madness

Wasn't copyright intended to benefit the artist / creator?

Nowadays it's purely for the benefit of corporations, a terrible perversion of the original intention.

US Patent Office seeks public input on software patents' future

MrRtd

Software should only be copyrighted not patented.

The LINUX TABLET IS THE FUTURE - and it always will be

MrRtd
Thumb Up

Re: And the point of the article is? - fluff ?

Well said!

University of Western Sydney hands out 11k iPads

MrRtd
FAIL

I can assume the school got a great deal from Apple. No doubt that iPads are useful, but to choose the most overpriced tablet (I'm thinking more about replacement cost) and has the most closed system around, just doesn't seem like a wise choice for a school.

Grinchy Google to shut down another batch of services

MrRtd

some miss igoogle

Personally I never liked iGoogle. I always preferred the default google page. Since I use Kubuntu as my primary desktop, I already got my bits of information directly on my desktop thanks to all the plasmoids (widgets),.

Nowhere to hide for Google users as Play is given Plus treatment

MrRtd
WTF?

Why can't Google provide their users with the option of privacy - the option to post anonymously is a fair compromise if they seriously value all of us users of the services. I know I'm more willing to share my real name and info if I'm assured some privacy.