* Posts by Gulfie

749 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Aug 2007

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Crash survivor Twitters from burning plane (false)

Gulfie
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@Twitter is for Twits

AC, I'm with you one hundred percent. Anyone who uses Twitter clearly has more time on their hands than friends in their address book, and their followers are the new wave of 'train spotters'...

"I saw a tweet from Joe the other day" "really, I saw one from Frank, he said he was about to buy a coffee/take a dump/put petrol in the car" - get a life, please. Sad people who buy the single slice of Christmas cake from Tesco to share between themselves and their no mates...

Oh and el Reg, if any of you ever admit to twittering I may be forced to take myself and my Mock The Week ripped-off lines to a competitor site... "I am the antitweet, I am an anarchist..."

Walmart's Jesus Phone no better, no worse

Gulfie
Happy

@Nobody cares

Entitled to your opinion as you are I have to say that your comment about the keyboard is plain wrong. I have long and wider than average fingers (good piano playing hands, I can reach an octave plus two, shame my coordination is crap) but have never felt the iPhone virtual keyboard is difficult to use. Like any small keyboard, it takes a little use to get used to how it works. The keys are at least as big as your average phone keypad.

Would it be handy to be able to pair with a bluetooth keyboard? Well yes, but only for those rare occasions when I want two write more than a three line email, or SSH into a remote server to restart something. So that's about once a fortnight then. At best. I can live without it.

You're on the money with cut and paste though. And notes don't synch anywhere - not even with stickies on my Mac which is almost as bad as the lack of cut and paste. Also, something all the non-users haven't twigged - only certain applications respond if you switch from portrait to landscape mode (not good) and email isn't one of them (very bad).

See? It is possible for an iPhone user to get his head from out of his butt and make constructive criticism - but can you? Merry Christmas x

iPhone 3G finally unlocked

Gulfie
Stop

@Will - Quicktime

Quicktime is and always has been part of iTunes because its the software that plays video. As long as you've had iTunes installed, you've also had Quicktime.

Can't comment on the file association stuff, usually even(!) iTunes / Quicktime will prompt before it changes associations.

Gulfie
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@A J Stiles - Java on iPhone

There is already a version of JSE for the unlocked iPhone: http://java4iphone.com/all-news/tutorial-install-java-on-the-iphone/

Enjoy...

iPlayer chief pushes tiered charging for ISPs

Gulfie
Stop

No Way!

"The future lies in tiered services"

There is but one tier, either you have paid for a TV licence, or you haven't. I strongly disagree with the BBC's stance that they should run different tiers of service hand in glove with the ISPs. The BBC is one of the few 'universal access' service providers in the UK (yes, I know, that could be a whole other debate) and the licencepayers should not be expected to shell out additional monthly charges to receive any of the content we have already funded and the connection we have already paid for. Period.

Once ISPs accept the responsibility of accurately describing what people are buying - limits, real performance and so on, this problem will go away. The selling tactics of our ISPs are now distorting the way content is being delivered. I should have, as a licence payer, the right to access all the available streams without additional payment for doing so.

Tesla takes Top Gear test to task

Gulfie
Flame

@Ian Michael Gumby

"When TopGear tests a car on their track, they are hard on the machine. Tesla wasn't really designed for that sort of abuse."

Oh yes it was. Or should have been. From the moment they decided to build, now concentrate on this, a SPORTS CAR. It's based on the Lotus Elise, FFS, who buys these things to tootle around town at 25mph in? Not me.

I had a friend with a kit car that looked fantastic. A Countach look-alike. Trouble was, it had a 1600cc VW Beetle engine in the back so it sounded laughable once it got alongside you, and want about as fast as a snail. The guy was ragged mercilessly for the entire time he had it, and quite right too.

You build me a car that looks like a sports car and I'll drive it like one - fast. Yes it'll go into town, but that is not its primary stomping ground - you can leave that to the Gee-Wiz and Smart brigade thank you very much. Mind you I wouldn't touch a Tesla because I'd be forever seasick...

Gulfie
Stop

Not Buying. At any price. Seasickness

Did you see the body roll on that thing? Terrible! Never mind £90k, I wouldn't buy it for £900!

Gulfie
Alert

Strictly Entertainment

This show is pure entertainment built around the cars. Other than the lap times for the cars and the stars you should not take anything they do at face value. The 'races'? Can't be, standard insurance clauses don't cover racing on public roads.

Not everything they said on the night was internally consistent. For example they talked about one car overheating resulting in a limited speed, yet they showed the car stationary and then pushed it into the hangar. This *might* have been precautionary or it *might* have been because the team are _petrol_ heads not just car heads and they think the image makes for "better television". I suspect this is a case of fear and loathing of non-petrol cars.

What will they do when they get their hands on a Lightning?

It's Sadville: The Movie!

Gulfie

@AC "Same old tired cliches" - #2

Surely you're so proud of your immersement in Sadville that you don't feel the need to post anonymously.

Oh, no, hang on... you did.

I rest my case. Flying Penises - ATTACK! ATTACK!

Gulfie
Joke

@AC "Same old tired cliches"

It's BEHIND YOU!

Gulfie
Stop

I'd love to go and see it...

... I hope there will be plenty of cinemas showing it in Sadville, after all, I won't have the time to return to the real world, fight my way over the avelanche of junk mail in my hall and step out of the house.

"Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though I've got a few missing. It's ok though, because I've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8-color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation.. so when I meet someone who's an 8-color type.. I'm like, hey girl, magenta! and she's like, oh, you mean purple! and she goes off on her purple thing, and I'm like, no - I want magenta!" - John Mayer.

Sadville version: "Life is like a box of crayons. Except it's empty but for black, and red. Oh, and red is broken and somebody nicked the pencil sharpener"

The only people sadder than the Sadville fanbois will be the ones who go to see the film...

France liberates Jesus Phone from Orange

Gulfie
Stop

@Hate2Register

"while highlighting any fakes coming in from China"

What fakes are these, pray tell, that anyone would be fooled by? To put iPhone-like functionality into an iPhone-shaped package and make it look/run like an iPhone will be way too much trouble for counterfeiters - the point is they make something very cheap that looks and acts like something very expensive - e.g. a fake Rolex watch which will have very cheap innards and a sheap-ish case made to look like a Rolex.

Of course you might mean "real iPhones smuggled out of the factory" in which case they are not so much fakes as, let's say, "grey import". And there are one or two insurmountable problems that a purchaser would face before they could use said phone...

All iPhones have to be activated through iTunes and as each has a unique serial number it is more than feasible that iTunes would refuse to activate a phone that hadn't been shipped from the factory, gone through the inventory system or flagged as stolen.

Then we have the carrier lock-down although we now have the prospect that the phone will be able to be unlocked from its carrier soon.

And when you've got over all that you STILL need a package that gives you enough data to make all those features usable. From my usage I'd say 100Mb per month is a good starting point

Minister confirms low Lorenzo usage

Gulfie
Stop

Cancel, cancel, cancel

'nuff said. Waste of money. Project too big by far. Nobody wants it. Except government ministers because it allows them to crow about the 'good' they are doing in the NHS.

Virgin Media to dump neutrality and target BitTorrent users

Gulfie
Flame

@Allan Rutland

Allan, its the ISP you should be moaning about. Bittorrent users are operating within the terms and conditions of their ISP service agreement (I occasionally use Bittorrent to download a missed TV show). The ISPs are selling something they can't provide. Lobby them to be clear about their terms and conditions. Switch to a 'proper' ISP like Zen. Don't blame people who pay for a connection and use it to its legal limit!

Gulfie
Stop

@AC - I work for Virgin so am not unbiased

"Other users are also paying for that service and bandwidth is not infinite"

Hang on, what are all these VM users buying? If they are being sold (for sake of argument, I don't know the T's & C's) "50Mbps and unlimited bandwidth" then everybody is entitled to use just that. Because that's what they were sold and that's what they are paying for. Doesn't matter that granny down the road sends two emails a week and is paying for the same package.

If VM don't have the infrastructure to support what they are selling, THEY SHOULDN'T BE SELLING IT. In fact, they shouldn't be allowed to advertise or sell it in this way if this is the case. And this is why people get pissed. They buy one thing and find out that the network is run in such a way that they get something completely different.

My ISP does no throttling but clearly states what my monthly bandwidth limit is, and how much additional bandwidth will cost. Very clear, very up front, and my connection is fantastic, even in the evil 4pm-8pm window. Zen, by the way.

ISPs should be forced to state a number of things - like financial services companies - on every advert:

- The maximum speed down the line - which will be the lower of the 'line speed' usually quoted 'up to 8Mbps' on a BT line and their upper speed limit which is separately managed.

- The average speed during peak hours, and what those peak hours are

- The monthly bandwidth cap - no strings allowed. Unlimited should mean just that (i.e. no comeback for the ISP if somebody with a 10Mbps downloads at a rate of 10Mbps for the entire month).

- Which if any services are throttled, when and down to what speed

People will stop complaining once the ISPs choose to be honest about what they are selling. Don't sell something you haven't got and can't deliver! Mis-selling of internet services has got to stop. Tell people what they can and can't do and the vast majority will manage their usage within those limits - or switch to a package that gives them the extra they need.

Google hints at the End of Net Neutrality

Gulfie
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Does Co-Location Break Net Neutrality?

The point is, access to colocated services will be lower latancy and so over time people will (and they do) gravitate to the faster running sites. Ergo, selective colocation (or accelerated delivery over a separate pipe) can be viewed as breaking net neutrality. Delivery is no longer neutral (using the definition currently being bandied around) - the reason why is almost secondary.

If on the other hand an ISP builds additional infrastructure to deliver video on demand in a timely fashion and automatically routes all content over it, regardless of origin, this would be acceptable because all sources are treated equal.

Because of the topology of the internet you will never have a truly neutral net - sites in the same country as you will require fewer network hops and therefore, all other things being equal, respond sooner. Sites hosted by your ISP will respond even quicker than sites at the other end of the country. So before we can support or shoot down a commercial company for trying to get an edge on its competitors, we need to have a decent and workable definition for net neutrality.

For me, the starting point is the ISPs - they should ensure that all traffic over a given protocol has equal priority between the internet backbone (or co-located servers) and the end computer, and that there are QoS measures for each protocol in the customer contract. This would ensure equal treatment as far as is reasonably possible and stop (or at least make plain) any throttling measures being used - and the end user is receiving a neutral service from their ISP. They can change their package or ISP if they don't like the QoS terms, so customer demand will start to drive ISP packages again.

Do this and it is less critical if the likes of Google and Amazon co-locate with large ISPs because their traffic will be treated equally along the slowest link in the chain. Co-location may only exclude one or two hops, on the fastest part of the network, for these big companies.

Are iPhone users just tight?

Gulfie
Thumb Up

Look at the market, dummy

Most iPhone users are NOT business users and as others have said before me, they will not pay top dollar for something which has a lifetime as long as the phone.

Business is a different matter, if your company decides to use a 'killer app' on the iPhone then they are more likely to pay more for the investment. However I can only really see this applying to corporates - after all, small businesses are less likely to iPhone equip all their staff that need a mobile.

I think Apple's best approach is to automatically prune any app that has fewer than 'x' sales or one or less stars after, say, 6 months - and allow alternative market places (where the tat can go). The apps could still go through an Apple approval process - the app goes in, a signed app comes out - allows Apple to keep their wreched control over what runs, without insisting that iTunes be the only distribution point.

Daft list names Firefox, Adobe and VMWare as top threats

Gulfie
Flame

"Bit9 trolls for publicity"

And gets it courtesy of a slow news day for El Reg. Pressreleasetards, all of you. The shame of it.

Doctor Who heads iPlayer hit list

Gulfie
Dead Vulture

Mock the Week

Should be at the top of your list, after all you've listed it as No. '0'. Its at the top of mine, certainly. As a gonzo wizard (keep up - read Bored of the Rings) I of course never watch Merlin, although my kids are big fans.

I'd tag myself a pedantard but having just voted for the abolition of *tard I better not.

Germany tests tadpole airship

Gulfie
Alien

Close Encounters of the Bogus Kind

Get ready for a fresh rash of UFO sightings when this thing starts being tested. I can see the headline in the Sun now: ET Soars With Eagles!

But seriously, its just as well Concorde isn't still flying, I bet these things don't show up very well on radar.

Atari promises it won't suck this time

Gulfie
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Monthly charges for MMOs

Personal aside: I like adventure games but point blank refuse to pay monthly playing fees for any online MMOs.

OK, that aside I can't think of a worse business model for 2009: Sell an expensive game and expect people to shell out (hopefully after an initial free period) every month to play. I can grok that people may continue to buy video games as an escape from the misery that is the current recession, but I can't believe that those same people will happily shell out what is in effect a monthly rental.

Apple files 3D-interface patent

Gulfie
Paris Hilton

@Pierre

I'm a Mac user of 12 months having previously used only Windows (3.1 through XP). Can't say I recognise your rant as representative of my working experience. I find the Mac GUI no worse that the Windows one I continue to use at work, and frequently better. It sounds like your friend needs to hear two words:

Keyboard Shortcuts

Or it could simply be that she likes the Mac experience so much she actually prefers to play with her desktop than do the work that pays the bills...

Pais, 'cos I've heard she prefers to play too.

Hawaii says 'aloha' to Phoenix electric SUVs, pick-ups

Gulfie
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Phoenix or Ford?

The hatchback looks like a Focus with pumped-up suspension. Pity the range is so low. What is the on-board charger - a two-stroke engine and an anternator?

... no, just checked the web site and it requires a 220v connection. The 10 minute charge requires three phase at 500A (yes, five hundred amps!)

Netbook SSD usage to fall under 10% in 2009

Gulfie
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Not just HDD but Microsoft too

"The vast majority of people buying these cheap and cheerful notebooks are the families who just want a cheap laptop to get on the internet. They haven't a clue what an SSD is, or why it is/isn't better than an HDD."

And for the same reason Linux will also become a minority on all platforms capable of running Windows XP. People try to load Windows games and utilities and find they can't do that on a Linux based netbook. Linux will only get a decent market share on machines singularly incapable of running a Windows distro, and for those machines to succeed they must have an attractive and probably unique USP. Its not enough to just be £50 cheaper because there is no Windows Tax.

Gulfie
Joke

XP Lives On

"the 10in, Windows XP, HDD design will emerge in 2009 as the standard netbook form-factor"

So just how long will Microsoft continue making XP available? Are they prepping a netbook version of Windows 7? Or will they skin a linux distro with a Windows look and feel, and a copy of mono ;-)

Microsoft recruits OpenID evangelist

Gulfie
Flame

SXIP appears to have been dormant for some time

SXIP on google code hasn't had a release of any sort since February and is at version 0.9 complete with a selection of know defects that require you to download and compile the source for yourself.

As an open source project it lacks somewhat, I've found joid a far better proposal for JEE web sites.

If this is all it takes to get a plum job with the devil, maybe I should be applying for high-flying jobs too?

Gaps blight JavaFX early promise

Gulfie
Thumb Up

We need Mobile

FC will have bright future IF the mobile version allows me to write ONE application that can adapt itself to either mobile or desktop based on screen size and UI capabilities.

A380 too quiet, moan Emirates pilots

Gulfie

Strange but true...

I wouldn't have believed this but a former colleague worked in the middle east, he lived and worked in a shipping container. To make it livable the container had a hole cut in one end and an AC unit welded over the hole. It ran 24/7.

When he came home after a 6 month stint he had to go to sleep with the vacuum cleaner turned on, he wasn't used to sleeping in such a quiet environment.

iPhone lights a fire

Gulfie

@Aaron

Lightsaber is free and my kids love it. I've downloaded quite a few things but I am very picky about what I will pay for. So far that's Super Monkey Ball and an SSH client. FakeCall is good but I got it when it was free. Just as well as I've not yet had a bona fide use for it.

No fule here. No iLogFire either! How about a mocked up pile of iPhones instead of logs - then a few iHaters may decide to take the plunge!

What we really think of IT architects

Gulfie
Go

Didn't see the survey but...

... the comments you posted chime exactly with my view of an architect - having 20 years of development expertise, at least half as a technical lead and architect. Not that I've held that title as such, some companies don't recognise the need for architects with hard experience.

Part of the problem is that the senior people who were architects ten years ago were working with architectural models - and languages - that didn't change dramatically in decades. People who last cut code (if at all) with Cobol or Fortran. They don't get the OO world and the very rapid pace of change that has been around pretty much since the late 90's (the last time I touched a 3GL). My C, Cobol, Fortan etc programming skills are the same today as they were then (and just as applicable) whereas the Java I knew five years ago would be barely adequate for the work I do today and certainly wouldn't get me a job interview.

Powerpoint jockeys, the lot of them. I came across many such people in my time at EDS and sometimes you didn't know whether to laugh at their naiivety and poke fun at them, or cry in despair knowing they would be setting the budget and technical direction of your next project...

Microsoft phone coming Zune?

Gulfie
Paris Hilton

Eh? April 1st already?

Sorry, did I oversleep and miss three and a half months?

Given that the Zune has a tiny, tiny market share, what is it that makes Microsoft think it can turn its fortunes around by bolting on a phone and installing Windows Mobile?

Even if the phone sees the light of day, I bet the only people you'll see using it will be Microsoft employees - because you can be sure they won't be given a choice.

Paris, well, why not? And also because she knows a hard sell when she sees it.

IBM crossed off ID application shortlist

Gulfie
Stop

Re: big risk

GIven the public position of the Conservatives and Lib Dems you can be certain that bids drawn up by the still-competing companies will have big parachute payments in the likelihood of cancellation. Not least because they'll need to find new (and unplanned) work for all those staff beavering away on the project.

On the plus side (for me!) this also means they will probably mitigate the risk by filling any labour shortfall (no pun intended) with contract staff. The idea of working on a project that is to all intents and purposes dead in the water does not appeal - especially as a taxpayer and especially in this time of financial meltdown for the government's accounts.

Ideally even bidding for this project should be shelved until 2010, just run with the prototype and see how things go.

EDS carpeted for struggling prison project

Gulfie
Go

Standard Government contract...

Generally speaking, Government projects that go this wrong are very poorly specified or very poorly managed, sometimes both.

Add in the possibility that EDS hasn't put the right resources in at the right time - a frequent problem when I was there was that you'd end up with people working in completely unsuitable positions just so that they were 'chargeable' - with no training or intent of training by the company.

And don't forget that EDS would have won the business with a rock-bottom price and a contract that penalised change with lots of extra charges. Standard practice for consultancies bidding for government projects these days. I've worked with others (Capita, CapGemini to name but two) and they are all cut from the same cloth.

Things will not improve unless and until the government changes they way they specify their requirements (involve the end users from the beginning) and manage change. Then you'll be able to see when the problem is down to supplier incompetence (that is, PM incompetence).

And to all those people who say 'I could do that for 100k' - you couldn't. Even when the software is relatively simple, the infrastructure, support, disaster recovery and security requirements are never simple for a government contract, and everything has to be documented in detail and reviewed and approved by other consultancies retained by the government for this purpose. Of course, they have to prove their worth by finding issues even when there may be none (you know who you are).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending crap management or flawed technical implementation but I've seen enough government projects to know that most of the time it is down to bad management and/or customer interference.

EDS boss Rittenmeyer 'retires' from HP reorg

Gulfie
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@skullrippa

I think you've missed the point, as an ex-EDS employee (I saw the writing on the wall late last year and promptly left) EDS staff have had crap treatment for several years. All the time we were getting the message that we were hitting targets and 'doing well' - albeit withouth the corprate grin - yet pay was kept well below the going rate. The company was turning into a low-way sweat shop and we were expected to support, promote even, moving our own work and therefore jobs to India and Egypt. Staff left in droves in late '07 and early '08 and hardly anyone was replaced, the rest were just made to work harder.

The writing on the wall for me was in summer '07 when I interviewed for new staff to work for me, on a grade lower, and the company was offering them 20% more than my pay at the time, because that was the going rate. But not apparently for people already employed. Ethics? Do as I say, not as I do...

Moral was bad when I left, I shudder to think what it is like now. EDS never pampered its employees when I worked there. Sounds like it is completing a transformation - to a workhouse.

CSC orders staff home in cost-cutting shutdown

Gulfie
Boffin

Re: Where's the Money

The 'saving'is in NOT having to attribute costs from project budgets to all those days that would otherwise be 'worked' - all those staff have to book time to something when they are in the office.

Forcing people to take their annual leave means that the books will look better - project managers do not incur seven days of fees on all their staff - that's a 35% cost reduction for December or 10% for the final quarter of the year.

It's purely temporary and has no long-term benefit, all they are really doing is pushing costs into the next quarter. EDS used to (probably still does) stamp hard on 'unneccesary expenditure' towards the end of every quarter to try and meet targets. It's quite common and particularly American.

Apple swings DMCA at Hackintosh maker

Gulfie

@AC and DropDeadCriminal

"Just because you write it in a EULA does not make it legal" - agreed, and I'd like to see it discussed in court BUT the Psystar case against Apple has been thrown out so for now I guess that we're unlikely to find out if this clause can be overturned.

"Turn about - fair play?" Microsoft would not get away with adding this type of clause now because they are the dominant player in the market. Such a move would be viewed as an abuse of their dominant position. Apple do not have sufficient market share for their practices to be regarded as an abuse of position. However I suspect this would change - once their share of the enitre US market for all types of PC exceeds, say, 20% (right now I think it is 10%) then the authorities would probably be forced to think again.

For me, the best thing that can happen is for Apple to be so successful that they are forced to open up their EULA to support additional, non-Apple platforms.

Gulfie

@Mark

@Mark

I can see your point about the TPM chip not being copy protection but that wasn't my point. The TPM chip uses digital signing so that the OS can verify it is running on genuine Apple hardware.

Ignoring the violation of the EULA issue, Psystar are installing software that emulates the TPM chip. You can read about the TPM chip here: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/TPM

Don't get me wrong, I'm against the idea behind TPM and IMHO it is one of the more dangerous under-the-radar changes that has happened in recent years. However, reverse engineering the TPM to emulate it in software quite possibly breaches the DMCA.

Reading the osx86 FAQ page - http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ#Legal - it is clear that the people running this site believe that to perform the act of installing OS X on non Apple is a breach of the DMCA. You can be certain that this site has been examined very closely by Apple's legal department and I'm therefore inclined to take their legal FAQ as a good approximation of the truth.

My hands aren't on my ankles as you so delicately put it... I use Apple gear because it is very good quality and I can afford it. I do not like their business model, which is why my AppleTV is cracked and patched to play non-Apple video formats and use local networked media files without needing a running iTunes. I don't agree with Apple's stance on the iTunes store. I'd like them to offer OS X on non-Apple hardware.

However it is Apple's right to do all these things, and to prevent other companies from profiting from their IPR illegally. We may not like what they do or how they do it, but we have to respect their right to do so, provided that it is legal.

Gulfie

@AC 17:21

"If I OWN it, I have the right to modify it. If I RENT/LEASE it, then I don't have the right because I have to eventually return it."

You don't own and you're not renting or leasing. You've purchased a right to use, subject to licence conditions. Completely different to renting or leasing.

And in the UK at least, if you can't read the licence without opening the software, you are still entitled in law to return the opened software if you don't agree with the licence terms.

Gulfie
Boffin

Please, please, check your facts before flaming...

C'mon guys, if you want to argue the point at least do so from a rational and reasonably accurate standpoint...

@Mark 13:40

"Worse for Apple, Pystar only edited their own copyrighted works and not the works of Apple." Doesn't matter, not with DMCA. IANAL but if they have edited 'their own' works (remember they also ripped off a third party's BIOS adapter code) to circumnavigate copyright protection (e.g. to emulate the Trusted Platform Module on every Apple motherboard that prevents OS X running on non-Apple hardware) then they have still committed some kind of civil act in breach of DMCA and the Apple suit stands. Smart move adding this point to the suit by Apple.

@AC 13:45

When you buy a car you own the car. When you buy software, you don't own it. If you bother to read the licence that comes with it, you are actually buying the right to use it. That is how all software is sold. If you don't like it, don't buy any software sold in this way. That includes Windows, Office, and all your favourite games.

Apple are not telling you what you can and can't do with your Mac. They've merely worded their licence to make it a violation to run your copy of OS X on non-Apple hardware. The thing that everybody forgets is that you've not bought the software. You've bought the packaging, DVD and manuals, and the right to use the software within the terms of the licence agreement. Using the software without agreeing is almost certainly a violation of the agreement because you may only use it by agreeing to do so within the licence terms. Or return the unopened and unused software for a refund.

Software has been sold this way since the year dot - I remember the RML 380Zs we had in secondary schools in the late 70's stated just this point on the floppy disc that came with the purchase of various versions of RML Basic.

Apple can't stop individuals buying an OS X disc and building a Hackintosh and probably don't care anyway. Why should they - they made a sale they probably wouldn't have otherwise, and the end user will either love the experience so much they go out and buy the real thing, or decide they don't like it - in which case Apple has still made money on the deal. Ditto if the disc is then passed on to others. It's a backward compliment to Apple which might explain why they don't jump on the original authors of the bios adapter software.

They do care when a company tries to swing a very large axe at their business model, promoting mass violation of the EULA for profit and, probably, violating the DMCA. No company on earth would stand by while a competitor shafts them in a way that is illegal. Psystar pre-install the operating system so THEY, not the end user, are violating the licence and DMCA.

@AC 14:17

Apple design everything themselves, using off the shelf chipsets. In that way they are as much a hardware manufacturer as HP or Dell, And like HP and Dell, everything is manufactured in China or other far eastern countries. You cannot buy a 'Mac compatible' motherboard, Apple's motherboards are not staock Intel boards which is why you need a 'fudge' layer of code to adapt a 'standard' BIOS and emulate the Trusted Platform Module which is a piece of hardware that identifies the motherboard as a Mac motherboard. See the osx86project.org FAQ for more information.

Personally, I'd like to see Apple make the OS available to third parties. I don't see them doing it because their business model is all about selling products that give them downstream revenue generation. If you have a Mac that you can use for five years, and it will perform well with new versions of OS X, you're going to buy the newer version. If on the other hand they did a Vista and you needed to buy buckets of extra memory, sales would be lower...

Gulfie
Stop

Bitter and twisted?

@AC 8:55

"why do they sell it seperately for use on x86 systems"?

So that we don't have to purchase every upgrade they sell between the one our system is delivered with and the one we want to use. So that the occasional re-installation requires only one DVD, not three or four.

Meh.

@AC 8:56

"a poor competitor that props up its range of overpriced but very pretty PCs with the profits from its real business of making (very good) MP3 players and dodgy phones"

Unfortunately you seem to be in a minority with that view. Apple's share of computer sales (in terms of units shifted) doubled in the last 12 months, and they are the second biggest smartphone seller (again, in terms of units shifted).

As for overpriced. My last Windows laptop managed three years before expiring and couldn't be upgraded to run Vista in a way that gave adequate performance. A colleague's Mac, used just as frequently for the same job, went for five years and was still as sprightly as the day it was delivered, despite having been through several OS upgrades. When you consider the longevity of the hardware (quality and cost) and the fact that new versions of the OS don't require you to upgrade the memory, it actually compares very favourably.

Top transport plod to probe Tory leaker's arrest

Gulfie
Stop

So when are they going to arrest...

... every other MP who has ever leaked supposedly restricted information. Starting with the Great Gordo who admitted during a 90's TV interview that he had a 'good source' inside the then Tory government. Bang them up! Now!

Is there a good reason why the opposition should not, in general, have access to the same documents as the government? As long as they protect the detailed content to the same degree?

This is a serious threat to the basic functioning of government, who will dare leak to the opposition if they get hauled over the coals for it. Public Interest is the defence and as somebody who pays all these people's wages, I think it is a solid one.

Bittorrent declares war on VoIP, gamers

Gulfie
Go

Pay for what you use!

Simple solution. Take the Zen Internet route:

1. Provide sufficient capacity.

2. Don't throttle.

3. Give users a specific amount of bandwidth per month.

4. Make them pay for every byte over their bandwidth allowance.

I switched to Zen about six months ago. The network always responds well, even in the busy 4pm-8pm slot. I know exactly how much bandwith I can use for free. I am an occasional Bittorrent user (mainly TV I forgot to record and can't get on internet replay).

Then, it won't matter what protocol is used for file sharing. Except of course that, since the main effects are allegedly in the backbone it will rely on the majority of file sharing traffic coming from ISPs that charge in this way.

Its got to be the way forward, not least because the package is crystal clear to market.

Endeavour down safely at Edwards

Gulfie

I was walking down the road and a spanner fell on my head

At least I know who to sue now ;-)

Portsmouth gets crime-predicting CCTV

Gulfie
Stop

@Mad Dave

Surely they'll be displaying signs of brainwashing, not independent thought!

If these people were capable of independent thought then they would be far less likely to bomb, understanding instead that violence achieves nothing beyond the initial shock and damage. Integrating with, and contributing to, the indiginous culture is far more productive - for everybody.

Mandy preps list of UK businesses to save

Gulfie
Coat

"No one can foretell how short or long - how painful or painless - the recession is going to be"

Surely the all-seeing Gordon has already declared that the recession will be over by Christmas, erm, sorry, the next election. How will this honest admission go down next door?

But seriously, the level of debt the government is willing to put us in hock for is frightening, even more so when you add PFI 'commitments' on top. I can't see the UK being a fun place to live over the next ten years EVEN IF the Great Gordo's plans work out as he predicts, and we all know how accurate his predictions are, don't we (hint: boom and bust)?

TIme to leave. Last one out turn off the lights please.

HP could impose compulsory redundancies for EDS staff

Gulfie

No Takers for VR Shock

C'mon, who in their right mind is going to volunteer for redundancy in the current climate? Next you'll be telling us the pope is catholic...

I agree with AC ('Packages') though, there was plenty of crap management when I worked there. The whole organisation was (is?) about as agile as a weelchair-ridden arthritic 90 year old...

Apple to slash prices by up to 15% on Black Friday?

Gulfie

£66 on a MacBook, according to a mate...

So around 6% then? C'mon Apple, you can do better than this.

Still, at least the next time I go in there will be plenty of space to wonder around in - except of course around the pseudo internet cafe area

Robo-flower wilts as power burns

Gulfie
Thumb Up

What if I'm green...

... and have a micro-generator pushing current back into the grid? Does the plant revert to a seedling?

And I could have endless fun starting and stopping seti@home on my quad-core PC, watching the flower wilt, perk up, wilt, perk up... feel a link to the lapdancing story coming on...

Oxford student vote kyboshed by email

Gulfie
Thumb Up

@John Bayly

At my polytechnic the student union took to adding a zero to all vote totals when they published them. Somehow they seemed to think that this was less embarassing than admitting that only 300 of 6000 students bothered to vote. But of course they had to explain the fact that they were doing this... so the only people who were remotely fooled were visitors...

Satanic net neologisms - nominations invited

Gulfie

Hmm, based on the office chatter I'd have to say...

'Twitter', to 'Tweet' - what's the point?

Anything ending in 'tard' - 'Mactard', 'Wiitard'

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