* Posts by JeffyPooh

1244 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Aug 2007

Glass aeroplanes and iPads on the way, say boffins

JeffyPooh
Pint

If you want a sample of metalglass...

Open up one of those anti-shiplifting tags, the sort used in CDs and DVDs (not the spiral type, but the layered sticks). According to something I read somewhere, the metal layers inside are this crystal-free metalglass alloy.

Facebook caught exposing millions of user credentials

JeffyPooh
Pint

"Facebook has leaked..."

Redundant. "Facebook..." There, I fixed it for you.

Microsoft resuscitates 'I'm a PC' ads to fight Apple

JeffyPooh
FAIL

Two words: 'Windows 7 Anti-spyware' malware

<- Microsoft

Okay, it's not really two words.

My kid has a Windows 7 laptop that is set to keep itself fully up-to-date with Windows Updates. MS Security Essentials is also kept fully up-to-date. He's browsing Google Images for game related pictures. Windows start oppoing open, in spite of IE being set to prevent them. One false click (as directed by the malware) and he's installed malware that *even got into the registry* (!).

Imagine: it's the year 2011 and we still have such piss poor security implementations from MS.

Virgin space rocketship trials 'feather' re-entry system

JeffyPooh
Pint

"...Alan Shepherd ...only went suborbital?"

"Only" ? Apollo 14. The fricken Moon. Whacking golf balls for "miles and miles."

Your basic point is still correct. An Astronaut is appointed, and this designation becomes indisputable upon reaching a certain arbitrary altitude that varies by era and opinion.

PS: I have a book Shepherd signed. And books signed by Bean and Duke. I'm just saying... :-)

JeffyPooh
Stop

Reentry *from orbit* explained...

...ping from orbit.

17,500 mph. BRAKE!! BRAKE!! BRAKE!! Ouch.

17,400 mph. BRAKE!! BRAKE!! BRAKE!! Ouch, brakes are hot.

17,300 mph. BRAKE!! BRAKE!! BRAKE!! Ouch. brakes are fried.

17,200 mph. BRAKE!! BRAKE!! BRAKE!! Ouch. Scrubbing off 100 mph hurts.

17,100 mph. BRAKE!! BRAKE!! BRAKE!! Ouch. Darn G-force.

17,000 mph. BRAKE!! BRAKE!! BRAKE!! Damn, This is going to take a while...

etc.

etc.

etc.

iOS 5 said to sport over-the-air update facility

JeffyPooh
FAIL

Why are Apple so slow to stop being stupid?

"As it stands, a small tweak to the OS... ...involves the entire OS being swapped out when all that may have changed is a few kilobytes of code. "

Apple squashes location tracking 'bugs' with iOS update

JeffyPooh
Pint

You're retarded & AC on Calender etc.

Cheers!

:-)

PS: Apple are still stupid for not understanding how to fix their software with little patches.

JeffyPooh
FAIL

666MB

[checks calender, confirms it's the year 2011]

Why-oh-f**king-why can't they issues smaller patches for iTunes and iOS, like everyone else in The Known Universe? Are the software coders at Apple really *THAT* stupid? [Yes, apparently.]

Even with moderately-reasonable Internet speeds, it's still a huge PITA to update when they STUPIDLY insist on downloading the entire damn thing each-and-every time.

New top-secret stealth choppers used on bin Laden raid

JeffyPooh

Newspaper said it was an RPG...

...that downed the downed chopper.

Intel debuts '3D transistors' with 22nm chip recipe

JeffyPooh
Pint

Moore's Law saved again

Always has been saved, always will be.

XSysInfo memory manager

JeffyPooh
Pint

After double-clicking...

...doesn't one then simply press-&-hold an icon to invoke the delete-jigglies, and then one can close as many background apps as one wishes?

I tend to perform this clean-up function at least once a day to close many dozens of apps that may or may not still be running in the background. Especially if I've been streaming media over 3G - I want to make sure that is really turned-off when I'm done with it. This clean-up must do something since an app that is closed is removed from the background app scroll bar.

No, iPhone location tracking isn't harmless and here's why

JeffyPooh
WTF?

Cell tower locations "secret"?

That's obviously not correct.

In fact, aren't the locations broadcast by the towers to aid non-GPS locating?

On a different scale, the locations are filed publically with the government regulating agency. Multiple organizations siphon off the data for various purposes.

Finally, not even 1% (?) of cell towers are stealthy. Most are clearly obvious and their locations are not secret by any possible description.

ForeverMap 2.1

JeffyPooh
Pint

P L A N A Hea.[|||]

Plan ahead.

When I visited the UK (from Canada), I brought along my Iphone to use as a GPS in the rental car (using a nice app from 'MotionX'). I downloaded the necessary map "tiles" *in advance* before I left home (about 150MB), covering a range of zoom and covering well beyond my planned route just in case. It was easy! When I got to the lovely UK, I had already turned-off data roaming. I used the Iphone as my in-car GPS with great success (needs DC power cord, GPS eats battery!). The bill for roaming data when I arrived home was $0.00.

PS: Driving in the UK is wonderful. Comedy cars and exotics are extremely common; a visual feast for car lovers. Most drivers are skilled and courteous. Roads are typically as smooth as glass. The landscape is to die for. I hope that you Brits appreciate it!

Calling all readers: Want some new icons?

JeffyPooh
Pint

Beer glass good...

...now add red wine glass, white wine glass, various hard liquor glassware, etc.

'Fierce competition' drives Apple's iPhone 6 changes

JeffyPooh
Pint

@There's nothing wrong with the antenna

Yes there is. The open circuit end of a monopole antenna is high impedance (zero current because you've run out of element, and thus highest voltage and *very* high impedance (Z)).

Because the end of the monopole is hi-Z, it is very sensitive to being loaded-down and/or detuned when touched. This hi-Z end of a monopole antenna is normally (instinctively) kept out of reach. The Iphone 4 has two external monopoles (differently tuned) with their hi-Z ends right next to each other where they can be touched, effectively bridging them.

It's a case of YMMV. If you have very dry hands and live in an area with strong signals, then it may never be a problem. But if you have hands that are damp with salty sweat and are in the fringe of coverage, then one false move and physics dictates that the signal will drop.

The wrap-around antenna is nice in some ways, but the design should be modified. One option would be to extend the monopole elements, bending them within the case (effectively end-loading). The hidden end would perhaps have to be effectively length-entended with dielectric. This would bring the hi-Z ends of the elements inside the case where they couldn't be touched. The part that remains outside would naturally present a lower impedance and would thus be less sensitive to being touched.

If anyone with any common-sense knowledge of antennas whatsoever had been in the room when the internal design of the Iphone 4 antenna system had been unveiled to management, they would have *immediately* pointed at the hi-Z ends and said, "You'd better insulate those ends..." I estimate the reaction time would have been about 1 or 2 seconds.

White iPhone 4 'in production'

JeffyPooh
Pint

Iphone 4W, where W really means 'G'?

If they've made any changes beyond replacing the coal dust with titanium dust, then it's an Iphone 4 G. I hope that they have...

As a connoisseur of fine antennas, I'm not buying one if they leave the Hi-Z ends exposed again. I'm just not. Ain't happening. Ever. I don't reward stupid.

German prangs dad's £275k supercar

JeffyPooh
Pint

"Papa, darf ich das auto leihen?"

Somebody beat me to the "It's looks better now..." joke.

Five cuffed over $37m heist of Google flash chips

JeffyPooh
Pint

Science Fair Project on hold

They were planning to make the world's largest capacity USB memory stick: 256 petabytes.

iPhone 5? You might be waiting till 2012

JeffyPooh
Pint

8 billion?

6.8 billion roughly.

I was expecting an Iphone 4 G(S) follow-on type product with most of the hardware design flaws of the Iphone 4 engineered out. I'm not having an Iphone 4, but I'll take a close look at any updated versions (assuming that they tuck the Hi-Z ends of the monopole antennas inside the case this time).

Ofcom forced to publish tests on dodgy radio kit

JeffyPooh
Stop

"Time to embrace the new century gentlemen..."

These sorts of mindless comments reveal a deep and profound ignorance of the facts. Anyone that actually understands the importance of the HF and VHF radio spectrum would not make such foolish statements. There is absolutely no excuse for allowing any form of "power line" communications scheme where it leaks noise into the local radio spectrum.

Tesla Motors sues BBC for defamation

JeffyPooh
Pint

"!!! tuo kooL"

"Twaaaaa Coooooool!!!"

Top Gear is entertainment, with only the occasional reference to reality.

Back to the nano-mechanical future

JeffyPooh
Pint

We've come full circle...

Storing digital data by way of little tiny 'Morse code' hand keys.

Curiosity kills 3D Cameron cams

JeffyPooh
Alien

Duh!

Asuming that the scene is stable, take a picture, shift sideways a bit and take another picture.

If something moves in the meantime, then wander over and talk to it...

Chinese firm accused of mobile malware ruse

JeffyPooh
Pint

Allow me to say...

Ni de dian hua!

Fukushima scaremongers becoming increasingly desperate

JeffyPooh
Pint

I am X-127...

I think that I might read "Level 7" again tonight.

Give myself a real good scare.

Gabrielle Giffords may wave Endeavour off

JeffyPooh
Pint

Here's to NASA...

Go NASA!

Get well soon Congresslady!

Google open sources MapReduce compression

JeffyPooh
Pint

ntrstng

Fr sm rsn, I fnd tht rtcl vry ntrstng.

Ten... on-ear headphones

JeffyPooh
Pint

Sony MDR-XB700

3Hz low end. Three hertz. Three.

And no, I've not measured it myself. And yes, I understand 'blah blah blah'.

But the bass *is* amazing and incredible.

On sale for Cdn$100 with free shipping. Y price MV.

Wi-Fi body wants hotspots to override 3G

JeffyPooh
Pint

@Grease Monkey

Wifi password? No, the wifi at my house is wide screaming open. When one has dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of wifi-enabled gadgets, fiddling with passwords is boring and a waste of time. Sekuritee is provided by acres of spruce trees, further supported by a 'who cares?' attitude.

And even *if* one were to not inform the phone of the wifi password (where applicable), then one would be constantly typing and erasing the password as circumstances and desires change.

All I'm asking for is a setting to be able to override somebody's otherwise good idea.

JeffyPooh
Pint

It had better be configurable !!

"...to reduce data flow over pricey - and often slower - 3G HSPA links..."

I count two sometimes-false assumptions in the above extract.

My iPhone plan allows 6GB per month. Any use up to that limit is essentially free for me (your circumstances may vary).

For various boring technical reasons related to my location, my home Wifi hotspot is connected to a DSL that provides only about 1Mbps. The 3G connection can acheive at least 3Mbps. *AND* the home Wifi is often plugged-up with children watching YouTube, leaving nothing for their parents.

I agree with the approach, but it had darn-well better be configurable in the settings menu.

Nanotech nerds assemble überfast-charge battery

JeffyPooh
Pint

One gasoline pump (energy transfer rate) ~=~ 30 mega watts

...so I've read.

Me thinks there will be a market for 'small' (LOL, ~300MW) nuclear plants to be buried beneath the stations' forecourts. Not to mention superconducting cables, plugs and sockets.

Also, someone may wish to compute V=IR, P=V*I, T~P, and PV=nRT.

Apple finalises first iOS 4.3 update

JeffyPooh
Grenade

How about the new WiFi Hotspot feature on 3GS?

I understand that Mr. Jobs et al are withholding the WiFi Hotspot feature from pre-4 iPhones.

Anyone understand why? I mean, besides marketing?

I might have to look into Jail Breaking my iPhone if they're going to play silly games...

Apple iMovie 1.2

JeffyPooh
WTF?

Works on Iphone 3GS? Yes/No?

It's showing up on the aPple app store (via my 3GS), but the 'requirements' mention Iphone 4.

Very confusing.

TIA

Another year, another iPhone time slip

JeffyPooh
WTF?

Confirmed as a bug

2nd Iphone 3GS. Same exact thing. Cycled power and the stupid sw (4.2.1) finally noticed that DST was in effect.

@Dana W: It's *monumentally* illogical to deny a problem just because you didn't happen to see it given your particular circumstances. It's *obviously* a case of YMMV. That's common sense. Please try to keep up...

JeffyPooh
FAIL

If it's ONLY the network...?

...then why did my I(diot)phone correct itself about 30 hours after the fact (2AM Sunday), and just about a minute after I cycled the power (Monday morning)?

Conclusion: there's some buggy software IN THE PHONE itself.

JeffyPooh
FAIL

Happened to me, fixed with power cycle and a minute

IPhone 3GS running 4.2.1. DST was ignored unless I unset the automatic time feature. I just did a power cycle and now it's correct. It needed a good minute after power up to sort itself out.

Apple makes some bone-headed errors sometimes.

Chicken Little report: Sat-nav dependency spells DISASTER!

JeffyPooh
Pint

What ever happened to the GPS Pseudolite concept?

Basically take a GPS satellite (much, much, MUCH cheaper version) and bolt it to a pole. The ephemeris location is obviously surveyed and hard-coded. Each pseudolite would broadcast the exact same sort of signal as does a GPS satellite, but would obviously provide a much higher signal strength in the local area (vastly increasing reliability in the local area). These gadgets would be scattered around airports and major waterways.

Spooks' secret TEMPEST-busting tech reinvented by US student

JeffyPooh
FAIL

Oh FFS!

I was giddy with excitement that maybe someone had discovered something that was really New And Exciting (TM).

50 watts of ultrasound?

BORING!!!!

If I had paid $1 for admission to this science fair exhibit, then I'd be demanding a refund.

Q2 motion-controlled internet radio

JeffyPooh
Pint

Thank you

"The Q2 takes about 15 seconds for sound to arrive after switching on, or from deep sleep, while the delay between switching stations is between 3-8 seconds."

Excellent that you checked the Achilles' heel of most Internet Radio appliances. Some of them take many minutes to turn on, and the better part of one minute to change stations.

Thanks.

New 'supercritical' generators to boost nuclear output by 50%

JeffyPooh
Joke

Hmmm...

Sounds like we're gonna need more CO2.

Everyone should do their part. I'll leave my car idling overnight tonight.

NASA scientist spies extraterrestrial life

JeffyPooh
FAIL

Unnecessary complexity

Compare and contrast:

Life was spawned somewhere else, somehow hitched a ride up into orbit, somehow gained escape velocity and left orbit, travelled all the way across the galaxy (Universe?) to Earth, plunged through the atmosphere as an incandescent fireball.

Life was spawned here.

Hmmm...

All that for a measly 3:1 (13.7B/4.7B) increase in timescale? Hey, if it was a 100:1 increase in timescale then it might be worth considering. But 3x isn't worth crossing the street for; let alone all this nonsense.

Note - life evolved here on Earth, probably several times. First batch to evolve a mouth ate all the evidence of the others. Life evolved elsewhere as well. But we need not rely upon it to explain Earth-based life.

NASA's Glory climate-data sat crashes into Pacific on launch

JeffyPooh
Pint

Well that explains sea-level rise...

They're slowly filling-in the Pacific ocean with expensive ClimSat kit.

Sigh...

Locked iPhones still got their ears on

JeffyPooh
Pint

"...thieves and prankster friends..."

Mobe security systems need to include consideration of the fact that many people that may discover a lost phone are perfectly honest, and they'd just like to return it to the rightful owner as quickly and simply as possible. The overall security, locking, Find-My-Iphone scheme should include a facility that allows the honest finder to make contact with the owner (obviously via some means other than their phone). If the only interface is just a passcode lock screen, it isn't exactly making it easy for the finder.

When my son's Ipod Touch was 'borrowed', the screen lock passcode prevented the 'borrower' from connecting to his wifi hotspot, which prevented the Ipod from connecting to the Internet, which prevented the Find-My-Iphone (Me.com) feature from working. Not an issue with Iphones, but still an indication that the overall scheme hasn't really been fully sorted. Borrower was forced by his parents to return the 'borrwed' Ipod back to school.

Customs officers get X-ray machines for down under searches

JeffyPooh
Pint

200 will quickly become 2000

There has to be a 'cost' for such intrusive, mandated tests that come up negative. Maybe a money order for $400 to compensate the innocent for their trouble. Failure to think this through will lead to abuse.

LightSquared squares off against GPS worriers

JeffyPooh
Pint

Adjacent Channel Interference

Even if the new transmitter is as clean as clean can be, it can still create interference within the victim receivers. If the existing receivers were not designed with this E3 environment as a requirement, then the new transmitters (no matter how clean they may be) can still create problems.

Peruvian spuds entombed in Arctic 'doomsday vault'

JeffyPooh
WTF?

Post-Apocalypse...

How do the unwashed, global-catastrophy survivors get from where they emerge into The New Dawn, all the way up to the Arctic 'doomsday vault' to sign-out a potato? It's a very long donkey-cart ride from central South America to Svlabard Island. Perhaps part of The Plan should be to stash some business jets in various caves around the world.

Locking antlers with a network Nazi

JeffyPooh
FAIL

Symantec are idiots, and so are their customers

Google: Symantec Sucks

...and you'll find the blog where their incompetence is fully documented in cut-and-paste glory. There's nothing left to prove. They're flaming idiots.

Unless they can show me the receipt for the new brains they've subsequently had installed into their diminutive cranial cavities, I'll go with the assumption that they're still idiots.

D-Link Boxee Box DSM-380 media streamer

JeffyPooh
FAIL

D-Link DSM-3x0 = a very bad taste left in mouth

<- Utter.

I've got a D-Link DSM-320 and the best way to describe my ownership impressions is to consult a thesaurus under the word "horrible". It's all of that.

It offers just a few Media Indexing services, and then because I don't live in the US of A, it disables most of those. Essentially all that remains is Live 365; and they spend every working hour of their lives trying to insert their perplexing financial model in-between what should be free Internet media sources and the end-user. Yeah right, subscription per month for what amounts to a link to a UDP stream - dream on Sunshine.

The DSM-320 is one of the worst appliances I've ever had the misfortune to purchase.

This relates to the DSM-380 because it's the same company, the same model range.

Six... budget Blu-ray Disc players

JeffyPooh
Pint

Ah... how about the PS3?

PS3. Typically about $80 to $100 more than a decent blueray player (one that comes with built-in Wifi). But it's a better blueray player than almost any blueray player. And it's also a better DVD player than almost any blueray player. And the firmware gets regular updates and will continue to do so into the distant future (long past the point where other blueray players are being ignored). And it's extremely fast power-on and disc-to-play time too (as compared to most blueray players, some of which are simply annoying).

I bought another PS3 at Xmas for Cdn$250 (about UKP 160). Plus another $20 for the proper "dvd" remote control. YMMV.

NASA snaps Sun in super STEREO

JeffyPooh
Pint

By the way, there's an app for that

"3D SUN" by Dr. Tony Phillips, LLC.

It's free. And very very good.

(iOS Apple, not sure about other platforms...)