* Posts by H H

19 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2013

Love Minecraft: Java? You'll have to learn to love your Microsoft account as well – it will be required next year

H H

Re: "security should be better with multi-factor authentication"

Insane that someone would actually pay for something so mundane as a few virtual bits in a f2p game!

H H

Re: "security should be better with multi-factor authentication"

Are you saying I could make real money by selling my unused level 40 Pokemon Go account? Get real!

UK parcel firm Yodel plugs tracking app's random yaps about where on map to snap up strangers' tat

H H

"Thanks to the laws as they stand, until the delivery is in your warm hands and you've acknowledged it, then the vendor bears all costs of non-delivery"

Unless Yodel has acquired proof of delivery or written consent to dropping stuff off at an unsecure location, they'll get a nice, fat invoice from their customer when that happens. An invoice, mind you, that they will probably forward to the poor sap they in turn subcontracted the job to. In the end, some of that stuff will end up as insurance claims but noone wants to go there unless they *really* have to because that drives the insurance fees up.

H H

> It would be so nice if all retailers gave us a choice of delivery services.

Yeah, like that's going to happen... then their nice, fat margin on freight costs will be in jeopardy. You may think you get it with "free shipping" but the reality is, shipping stuff costs a substantial amount of money. Hence it's added to the price of the product instead.

Now, let the user choose the delivery service - how much will you pay for your goods?

Breaking out shipping from the cost of the goods will out how much the retailers actually make on shipping.

Ghost of NTLM still haunts Microsoft: Aged protocol hole patched

H H

It's very hard to dig tunnels in soft soil. Just saying.

BA IT systems failure: Uninterruptible Power Supply was interrupted

H H

Very true and so sad. What a counterproductive way of working.

Plan to kill net neutrality is the best thing/worst thing ever! EVER!!1

H H

"unlike copper lines, fiber lines aren't shared"

Oh, but they are - here in Sweden. You even get fibre out in the sticks in quite a few places. Friendly competition FTW.

Shopping for PCs? Ding, dong, the Dock is dead in 2017's new models

H H

Re: Issues...

Issues with the wireless keyboards and mice (especially disappearing receivers)

Yes! Exactly! What's up with that?

Vinyl and streaming sales offset CD decline in UK music sales

H H

Re: @ It's understandable...

Don't forget that there are a lot fewer plants to press those vinyl albums. Besides, I'd wager there are way fewer copies made from any given album today than was the case back in '82. Short series, scarce production capacity, rising demand.

Why I just bought a MacBook Air instead of the new Pro

H H

Thanks for the educational comment.

H H

Exactly the same scenario here. Hanging on to my user upgraded 2011 iMac 27" for dear life and just replace a 2007 (!) white macbook with... an Air - after seeing the new models. Two years ago, I got the then just discontinued 2012 Mac Mini for my media serving needs - also right after seeing Apple newter the new models. This is getting really sad.

No surprise: Microsoft seeks Windows Update boss with 'ability to reduce chaos, stress'

H H

Re: Microsoft attempting to hire someone competent?

Please, PLEASE, call them. Can you do that for us unfortunate Windows admins everywhere and be our hero?

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Thin plot, great CGI effects

H H

Woah! Even the embedded trailer here felt 2/3 too long. I'll give this movie a miss.

Do YOU work at Microsoft? Um. Are you SURE about that?

H H

Re: Mistake ?

The wording in the article doesn't make much sense. Some googling gave me this.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/272747/net-profit-by-quarter-of-the-microsoft-corporation/

It would seem the second quarters of 2008 and 2009 are "just like any other quarter" but order has since been restored with Q2 of 2010-2014 netting some 15-25% above the average quarter.

You 'posted' a 'letter' with Outlook... No, NO, that's the MONITOR

H H

This is really not an IT problem. It's a people problem. Just watch a regular user fill in a simple date column in an Excel spreadsheet. Over time, they'll manage to hit just about every date format ever invented. It'll be 'Monday', '06.12.2014', 'Week 27', '06/12' and on it goes.

Those are the people who can't remember instructions even for ten minutes or who, suddenly, after two days of vacation can hardly remember their username when coming back to work.

Simply not wired for structure.

Helpdesk/Service Desk Recommendations

H H

Re: Helpdesk?

OTRS seems to be written in perl, not php.

Surface RT: A plan worthy of the South Park Underpants Gnomes

H H

Re: Surface RT not a bad product - distribution was the let down

[quote]...many people(non tech folks anyway) forget they were there doing mobile more than a decade ago with Windows CE and the other software packages they had(Pocket PC etc, they obviously have had a strong presence in car navigation systems for a long time as well. ). They didn't catch the wave of the latest generations of devices like Apple and Android.. but they have been doing mobile for a LONG time, just not well.[/quote]

Yeah, exactly, "just not well". All the examples you mention brings up awful images of stylus driven, sluggish handheld gadgets like barcode scanners, mobile phones and swiveltop laptops not to mention the (equally sluggish), confusing mess that most car navigation systems I've come across are.

It amazes me that Microsoft can still find custom in these markets with such an appalling user experience.

Please, Microsoft, wise up or go away. There's enough harm done already.

'Big Data changes EVERYTHING' vs 'Hadoop? For my 200-customer biz?'

H H

Yes. Yes! YES!

Spot on. Us working in the real world trying to deliver the most bang for the buck to our users are rarely catered for by going after the latest buzzword. Big bang implementations of entirely new concepts are just ways to piss away our employer's cash. If a buzzword survives more than a season or two, I usually start researching what it's *really* about and if it seems worthwhile, keep it in mind when planning upgrades, development and such. Sure, there won't be many huge, costly and visible projects and it might take a few years to get there but there's seldom reason to be among the early adopters anyway.

This kind of reasoning doesn't seem to resonate well with most of the sales guys that gets sent our way. They all want us to rip out all we've done so far and start afresh, unburdened by past successes and failures. I guess it generates more billable hours so I tend to stay clear and look for the smaller outfits that more or less lets their techies recommend sales.

Not cool, Adobe: Give the Ninite guys a job, not the middle finger

H H

Re: It's worse than you think.

"Truth be told their website also sucks for those that can see it. I can only imagine the extra pain visited upon you."

It's actually quite easy. Close your eyes and have a go. No cheating!

(I never tried that myself but now I definitely will for the sites I manage!)