* Posts by Cyberspice

112 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Apr 2007

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1 in 5 STEM bros whinge they can't catch a break in tech world they run

Cyberspice

Re: Form is temporary but class is permanent.

However white working class females are even more dscriminated against than white working class males. They are the ones who suffer the most pay differentiation. Intersectionalism is the relationship between different privileges. Yes white women in the elite are more privileged that working class men but they are still not as privileged as white men in the elite. This is the same at all levels.

Chap runs Windows 95 on Apple Watch

Cyberspice

So I ran Windows 95 on an Acorn RISC PC in 1995. That had a slower processor and far less memory.

Microsoft Surface Pro launch: It's easy to sell out of sod all stock

Cyberspice
Mushroom

How fickle nerds are...

Once upon a time Microsoft were the lords of evil. Now, to me, they're just the incompetent minion hiding under the stairs. However I'm amused at just how many of the comments which are even vaguely critical of the company are being voted down. Do you lot have short memories or are you all just 12?

Hmm, I think I'll order an iPad Mini on Amazon ... Oh no I won't

Cyberspice
Boffin

iPad Mini

I've ordered an iPad mini because I can afford it! :-)

I have Macs (laptop and desktop) for development purposes as they're the most flexible for what I need (Linux, iOS and Android dev). I bought an iPod years ago so when it needed to be replaced I went for an iPod that also happened to include a cell phone, i.e. an iPhone. I didn't move over until they did everything I needed (I was happy with my old Sony Ericsson candybar phone). I have a Google Galaxy Nexus as an Android dev phone but I prefer my older iPhone 4 as my day to day phone. It does what I want it to do and its less hassle.

Basically when I get home from a 10 hour day I don't want to be faffed with having to be techy to get something to do what I want it to do. I just want it to work simply, quickly, easily. i-products do that for me. The cost is not an issue and I know I'm paying for the convenience, so be it.

So yes the Kindle Fire may be better for someone people, the Google Nexus 7 for other, but for me the iPad mini fulfils my use cases. Any one who is pro an iPad because its Apple, anti an iPad just because its Apple, pro an Android tablet because its supposedly more open, is just a loon if that's your only rationalisation! If it does what you want it to do then great. But I'm not going to cut off my nose to smite my face.

Why do people buy BMWs when they could buy Kias? Because they're nice, they can afford to, and they want to. What's wrong with that?

'We invented Windows 8 Tiles in the 1990s', says firm suing Microsoft

Cyberspice

RISC OS

Acorn's RISC OS and its predecessor, Arthur, had dynamic updating icons. That was around 1986.

Cyberspice

Re: @Hoagiebot

Yes, The SX was a typical Intel marketing ploy. It was more like a 286 with some tweaks than a genuine 386. For one thing it had a 16 bit external data bus. Windows 95 needed the 32 bit bus of the DX.

FaceTime now on patent troll list

Cyberspice

Apple bashing, how original!

Actually the reason they're going after Apple is because as a *sole* manufacturer they sill have one of the biggest shares of the mobile/tablet market there is!

As for Apple never innovating. You guys crack me up!

World's tallest tower in massive broadcast FAIL

Cyberspice

Emley Moor

Even Emley Moor is taller than the Eifel Tower!

Raspberry Pi production back in Blighty

Cyberspice
Unhappy

Re: Get over it

Which version of the K series? Which gasket?

There have been at least three different generations of K series. For example in the 1400 there was the Metro version (which was bomb proof), the 'improved' rover 200/400 one which wasn't so, and the rover 25/45/MG one which was good again. It depended upon which cylinder liners you had in the block and what your stroke was. Admittedly the VVC has always been a little fragile.

The other issue was that because they were higher states of tune (for example a 2001 MG ZR 1400 produced 20 bhp more than similar capacity engines of its competitor) they needed more TLC. Most gasket failure was subsequent to overheating. When the engine cooks the head shifts due to expansion and the gasket is then weakened and will start to fail. So basically you should check your water levels regularly.

Unfortunately modern drivers just want a consumer product that can start and stop and ignore between 12000 mile services. Rover engines don't like that kind of neglect.

'GNOME people are in total denial about what their problem is'

Cyberspice
Happy

A load of crêpes!

On my first US work visit the French guy took pity on me after i had suffered US food and brought in a load of crêpes one morning for a breakfast meeting. There was no maple syrup anywhere :-)

Deadly pussies kill more often than owners think

Cyberspice
Thumb Up

I keep snakes

Its kind of like cats for people who are allergic to the buggers. They're relatively low maintenance. They eat rodents. However they don't shit on the neighbours lawn and don't have any claws. I'm not sure what's worse, a cat or python bite.

I'd not have a Burmese Python though. The size and power scare me somewhat.

I had a German Shepherd for years. He kept the garden pretty clear of cats. He eventually died of old age and my job means its not fair for me to have a dog at the moment. Hence the snakes.

Euro NCAP to mandate auto-braking in new-car test

Cyberspice
FAIL

What about tailing motorbikes?

There's a recognised theory called "risk compensation theory" which basically shows that the safer people believe they are the shitter they drive. This is all well and good for the person *in* the car but not for third parties.

So you've got every car with auto-braking to the point that no one actually bothers about braking because the car will do it for them anyway. What happens when you're following a motorcycle that has to brake suddenly. Its a skinny vehicle. The radar better work with them or I can see a lot of bikers being killed by being taken out by cars that never braked when they should have done.

Cars are never the only type of vehicle on the roads and assuming they are is bad.

The Dragon 32 is 30

Cyberspice
Black Helicopters

Re: TRS-80 - the 'CoCo' as it was affectionately named

To me the TRaSh-80 was specifically the TRS-80 model 1. The colour machine had a different moniker.

Cyberspice
Alert

Re: re:picking on the BBC

No everyone who had a Beeb got their parents to buy it. I bought mine with paper round money and birthday money that I saved up initially for an Acorn Atom but then saved a bit more and bought a Beeb. I still have it.

Cyberspice
Happy

Re: Superb

That was quite a common way to implement ADCs back then because they were *so* expensive (A replacement ADC for the beeb was £15). A DAC is basically a resistor ladder. Add a cheap op-amp and you have an ADC.

Raspberry Pi safe and warm in TINY Lego fortress

Cyberspice
Thumb Down

Not news...

Google LEGO RaspberryPi and see the multitude of cases out there built with the awesome bricks!

France's biggest Apple reseller sinks: 'Tech titan crushed us'

Cyberspice

Stores are so last millenia

Leeds doesn't have an Apple store because it has a reseller. I call it Apple Store Lite because its almost but not quite an Apple store. If they ever piss Apple off they're screwed. There are Apple stores 40 miles away (Sheffield and Manchester). So either I go in to Leeds city centre on a weekend, fun! (NOT!) or I have a 2 hour round trip to real Apple Stores.

I do neither. I go online and buy mail order which you need to do anyway if you've got a custom order! So I'm really not worried about stores at all.

Strong ARM: The Acorn Archimedes is 25

Cyberspice

Re: Development

What amuses me is you know how you could shift click on an application and look inside it as it was actually a directory with a ! at the start of the name. In OSX you right click, select "Show package contents" and there you are. Apps in OSX are just directories with the .app extension!

Cyberspice
FAIL

Re: Dear ? Oh Dear

Because having a high price has affected Apple's sales so badly! If you want a quality machine you pay a premium!

Cyberspice
Happy

Re: As an Acorn fan girl...

Actually I remember the JMP instruction because of the FX calls to program the BREAK action. Three bytes, the first of which was JMP, the next two being the address of your hook routine. :-)

Cyberspice

Re: As an Acorn fan girl...

I'm not sure you are older than me :-). I can remember that RTS is 0x60 and JMP is 0x4C. But that's about it.

Cyberspice

Re: Lander in BASIC?

Zarch wasn't BASIC. But I'm pretty sure that Lander was or at least was BASIC game logic with ARM assembler graphics rendering (assembled via the built in assembler).

Cyberspice

But lander was mainly BASIC

That was the thing. You could replicate some of the games on the 68K machines but you had to hit the metal somewhat more. The 32b ARM vs the 16b 68K made a difference.

Cyberspice
Happy

As an Acorn fan girl...

I loved my BBC micro. The first affordable ARM machine was the Acorn A3000. So I got that when it came out. By then I'd already been programming ARM code on a Uni Archimedes 305. I've known ARM assembler for almost 25 years. I feel old!

I still have my A3000 (plus a spare for parts) and my RiscPC which I replaced it (with a couple of spares including one which was an ex Acorn development machine). My RiscPC had the 486 card, 4MB RAM, 2MB VRAM and a 130MB SCSI HD. Alas the HD has died.

Basically those machines founded my career. On the A3000 I developed my first piece of commercial software. I produced an ARM Linux distribution for them in the 90s. I am now a software consultant and my work still requires me to do ARM dev. Finally to go full circle my Raspberry Pi turned up this morning. I will be putting RISC OS on it to play with.

Zuck weds self to lady friend in surprise ceremony

Cyberspice
Unhappy

That is offensive on so many levels. Its offensive to asian women, its offensive to trans women and its offensive to the hubby.

Diablo III

Cyberspice
FAIL

Whine whine whine DRM whine whine whine...

Since I play Blizzard's other bottomless pot of gold, World of Warcraft, I'm used to have to be connected to servers to play games anyway. That you need it for D3 for DRM or so your mates can play co-op I don't care. D3 is beautiful on my 27in iMac. And when my broadband dropped out the other day? No problem. I switched the mac to wifi, fired up the hotspot on my android, and carried on playing...

75,000 Raspberry Pi baked before August

Cyberspice

Re: I was a bit slow

I got the same e-mail!

Apple drops '4G' label from new iPad

Cyberspice
FAIL

Tech specs

Surely people read the tech specs before they buy. If you're the type who gets a computer from PC World because its blue then you deserve to be disappointed.

Hamburg court: Google must police YouTube content

Cyberspice
FAIL

Re: The users lose out

No shit music and protectionism is what's helping to kill the music industry. Why should a club have to pay a licence fee to play music which was created by a band that is friends of that clubs owners and is not signed to a record company? Because they do and the musicians see nothing of it. Remember the Pratchett book with the guild of musicians. That's the modern music industry that is!

Lesser-spotted Raspberry Pi FINALLY dished up

Cyberspice
FAIL

Re: Me personally,

I'm old but you make me feel young. If kids can learn about electronics from Arduinos they can learn about it from Raspberry PIs. Get off your fecking hobby horse about Turbo Pascal (shite!) and PC parallel ports.

Teen hacker suspect Ryan Cleary in the clink for bail breach

Cyberspice
FAIL

Not locked up for going on line...

But for being a crap hacker and being caught going on line...

Female Chinese astronauts must have no scars, straight teeth

Cyberspice
FAIL

Sigh!

Not sure what's worse, the misogyny in China or the misogyny in this thread. At least China's a developing nation. What's the excuse for the Neanderthal behaviour here!

Dutch birdman admits flight was filmic fantasy

Cyberspice

Pick the right bird to mimic

I love how everyone's suddenly saying. Of course I knew it was a hoax. Where were you guys when the original article came out. Humans can't power flight like small birds which flap to fly, pidgeon, black bird, etc. But human powered flight is very possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRyyKQQtYqg

So the trick would be to emulate a bird like an albatross. That can't flap its wings very well either. Its a soaring bird that rides the air currents. I'm sure you could could up with a pair of wings to act like that.

Google+ lets in nicknames, slams door on plebs' pseudonyms

Cyberspice
FAIL

Being the top hit on google.com is...

...apparently not well known enough. In fact if you google Cyberspice I'm most of the first page and have been for years. However the google name police got me a while ago and I closed my account rather than put my real name on Google minus.

Study finds piracy withering against legal alternatives

Cyberspice
Unhappy

Simultaneous release in US and UK?

I do not torrent movies. I do not torrent music. I do torrent and watch the occasionally TV program from the States.

Why?

Because I have many friends in the States and I want to discuss stuff with them / not be spoilered / etc. So why do I have to wait months sometimes to watch the same show in the UK. Its not like it has to be dubbed or anything. So I torrent usually just after it has been broadcast over there and then buy the DVDs when they finally appear over here.

To me Steam and iTunes are excellent examples of services that do work. I buy a game on Steam and then I can install it on all my machines. I've bought more games on 'PC' (Well iMac running OSX / Windows7) in the last few months than I did in the entire few years. I buy media on iTunes too.

If the TV companies made the shows available to download at say $2 a pop right after they've been broadcast I would be buying them like there's no tomorrow.

Finally there's one other kind of show I torrent. Those I just can't get in the UK. For example the Legend of Neil is not available at all over here. Only season one is available on iTunes (US - Store). So there's no choice. I have to torrent and the company loses a sale.

Basically media companies drag yourselves in to the 20th (I mean that) century. Stop trying to prop up a tired and dated business model.

Apache confirms new OpenOffice build by 2012

Cyberspice

OO/LO, MS Office and Latex

I use OO/LO regular to write reports and documentation. Previously I used to use Word in a different company to write business plans. I find Word more polished that OO/LO but not enough for me to pay out for it (especially as I try and avoid Windows). However if i was to write another academic paper I would immediately reach for Latex. Anything involving complete formulae, scientific stuff etc. both LO/OO and Word suck.

Facebook now has 1,000 times the referrals of Google+

Cyberspice

Google-

As I'm really not keen on Facebook or its (lack of) privacy I though that Google+ would be ideal for me. And it was for about two months until the 'real name' police caught up with me. So I killed my account. Google doesn't seem to realise that they can get people transfer from Facebook if they provide a service that addresses privacy issue that Facebook has. Unfortunately they seem to be just copying Facebook and why would someone use a copy Facebook if there's Facebook.

The BBC Micro turns 30

Cyberspice

The Einstein

@Richard Lloyd - I once applied (and was offered - I never took it up though) a job coding games for the Spectrum. The company used a whole load of Einsteins which they'd bought cheap. Yeah, no one used the Spectrum for actual programming!

Cyberspice

Apple Mac was '84

So by the time you got your BBC Micro it was at least 1986 which means that the Achimedes was just about to be launched and the world's first RISC desktop would arrive pre-dating Apple's PowerPC and causing a law suit.

BTW I love my 21 century Macs. In the 80s there was only one thing better than Apple kit for me and that was Acorn kit.

Cyberspice
Happy

Built to last!

I was one of those kids who did a paper round to pay for her BBC Micro. The machine taught me all about software, hardware, concurrency, interrupts and basically gave me the founding for my career. I still have the machine. Here is is at Makefaire last year!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anachrocomputer/4440207275/

Despite Android lead, iOS devs slurp scads more mazuma

Cyberspice
Unhappy

Anti-elistist an-droids!

When I look in to the parking lot I see mercs and bmws and jags as well as fords. Why? Surely they're all just cars with four wheels, a place to sit and a place to store stuff? Why pay more for the german hardware? Because they look nice, they're a pleasure to drive, and because if you can afford the vehicle you may value other aspects of a vehicle than mere price.

Its the same for me with my iPhone. I bought an iphone not because its the latest and greatest. Not because its better than X or Y. But because it was elegantly designed, worked with my existing kit (an iMac and a Mac Book Pro) and because I've never had a single issue with any apple kit *I* have ever bought. Its not like I can't use anything else (I'm an embedded Linux developer with hardware design skills).

Similarly I will pay for content and apps. I will read the reviews and then pick what appears to be the right app for me. I have no issue with paying for what I get or reimbursing the developer for the hardware they've put in to developing a polished, quality controlled, virtually bug free piece of code. (Quality control is substantially lacking in the FLOSS environment without commercial backing).

I just I just want my stuff to work and since I can afford the cost why shouldn't I? I'm not some imbecile drawn in to marketing or what ever. I value aspects of my life above money. So why don't you an-droid types just take your sour grapes vitriol off somewhere else, or go play with your nob or something.

Cyberspice
FAIL

Re: Leaving asside the rampant fanboy-ism

You can create an iTunes account without a credit card. I have done so pretty recently. In fact Apple have a tech note about it! http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534

Microsoft to offer dual upgrade path for Windows 8

Cyberspice
Linux

Re: Windows 8 will be here to stay

Dear Claire Web Specialist,

Got a good investment in M$ shares have you? That's the only reason I can see why you're spouting the drivel that you are!

As a company that plays catch up most of the time Microsoft is only of importance really on the desktop and some areas of the server market where you want to employ staff who don't need the skills to run a proper UNIX set up. You as a "web specialist" must know that most of the servers running sites out there and *NIX systems. When you look at smart phones and other devices too M$ very much has a catch up position.

Sure for the average home user who wants a cheap laptop and an operating system on it to browse the web, reply to e-mails, play a bit of games, and watch porn windows is good enough. In fact I finally bought a copy of Windows 7 for gaming (dual boot my machine). But the users also don't need to upgrade to the latest and greatest if the OS does what they need it to do. What would Windows 8 give them on top of what they have?

For the company with a mass install of 'doze they've all just spent money finally to upgrade from XP straight to Windows 7 (bypassing the abominable Vista). They're not going to pay out again for 8. In fact I predict 8 to be the next Windows Vista.

As for Ubuntu. My elderly father copes quite happily with it on his netbook (he's in his 70s) after having several Windows machines and hardly using them. Again all he wants to do is browse the web, read e-mail, and watch iPlayer. The company I work for has standardised on Ubuntu on the desktop (because we are mainly developers and so need a reliable operating system - Windows if needed is run in a VM under Linux). This is not an issue for us because we have IT staff who actually know what they are doing and haven't done some M$ "learn which boxes to click" course.

I will be sticking with my "old-fashioned and obsolete software" in so much as I will not be upgrading my Windows 7 installs in the foreseable future. I would rather keep a stable current install than risk getting the bleeding edge. Its the reason why I haven't installed Lion as the main OS on my MacBook Pro yet. These things are tools and as such I need a reliable tool.

Melanie (Senior Software Consultant)

Facebook boss-lady is up the pole on the glass ceiling

Cyberspice

Ambition is not always the problem.

I can't have children so family has never been an issue for me. I am moderately ambitious. I enjoy work and like being challenged but don't want to work all the time. However I left my previous job because I did hit the glass ceiling. Despite basically doing the job for 18 months in an 'acting' position my misogynistic boss would never actually promote me to the position. When questioned it was never my technical or managerial ability that was at issue. I also had lots of support from other colleagues who wanted me to get the position. But this guy always said "I didn't have the complete" package. In the end I decided the complete package was a set of testicles and changed company. I'm now a senior consultant in a company that actually advises me previous employer and I've watched us grow as they've shrunk...

Open 'Facebook killer' survives on cash donations

Cyberspice

A school year book?

@Johnny What's a school year book? We don't have those either.

WTF is... Bluetooth 4.0?

Cyberspice

I agree with the poster that the lack of proper OBEX in iOS is annoying. I work in a very RF noisy environment where WiFi doesn't really work. When I take a photo of the whiteboard at the end of a meeting it would be nice to send it to other peoples' phones. Its an annoyance rather than a deal breaker though. I connect my phone to my laptop and send it from there.

I love bluetooth and have been using it for years. I used to use my old SE K750 with Saling Clicker to control my Mac remotely from across the room before the days of iPhones. I've done networking in GPRS days through my phone from the linux laptop I had at the time using PAN. I've even done it with a Zaurus. Now I get in my car and my iPhone connects to it. I can listen to music whilst I'm driving and have the tom tom app interrupt it when it needs to tell me something. Can even make calls through the car. Nothing special technologically just nice. No wires and seamless integration.

Now if only apple would make an extended version of their bluetooth keyboard. My track pad is wireless my keyboard is wired because I want a full one.

Jobs: 'I'll spend my dying breath destroying Android'

Cyberspice
Meh

The man was dying!

Dudes. The poor guy has been dying for years. I think I would be somewhat pissed off and ranty if my health was so poor. So he said some unadvisable things. Give the guy a break.

P.S. I don't think Apple invented smart phones, or the point and click UI, or what ever. What they did do how ever is make them work for the man in the street. I've been using and developing Linux since 95 and other OSs (non windows) much longer. However my computers at home are OSX because they just work. I bought an iPod because when I looked at MP3 players it was the one that was easiest to use with my stuff. So when it came time for a smart phone I bought the iPod with the cellphone built in. I didn't buy the first one because it didn't do 3G. I currently have an iPhone 4 which I bought outright so I wasn't tied to a contract. I won't be getting the 4S because the 4 does everything I want it to do. In a year's time I will look again to see what there is.

I've tried Android and in isolation its a good system now (it took until 2.2 for it to get good). My problem with Android is its just too damn messy when trying to work with other devices. And that's the crux. I know you can get device X for less money than the iPhone. So what if I save 200 quid. That's a few hours of my time. If I save a few hours over the life of the phone by spending that money then its worth buying the more expensive devices. For me time is my scarce resource, not cash.

Obama+world pays tribute to Steve Jobs

Cyberspice
FAIL

Inflated prices???

Dear coward (who's not willing to stand up and be identified),

1) Everyone is using 'chinese slave labour' right now. The whole electronics industry gets stuff made in China. How did you post your comment in the first place? Carrier pidgeon!

2) How can you play on people's greed *and* charge 'hugely inflated prices'. Surely one negates the other. People who are greedy want something for nothing not something for a high price.

3) Actually all Total Cost of Ownership studies show that apple computers are value for money. As for the mobile tech. Its no more expensive than similar specced devices from the opposition. That's why they failed and apple didn't.

Cyberspice
Thumb Down

@Homer1 Sorry but I find you offensive! But that doesn't mean I'm going to slag you off when you're dead. I'm just going to do it now! Go get a life!

What's not in the iPhone 4S ... and why

Cyberspice

What do you call an anti-fanboi?

i always wanted to know. Just as the fanbois love anything apple regardless. There are the android lot who hate it just because. What do you call those with an irrational hatred of apple? Enquiring minds want to know.

As for me. I'm holding off to see what the 5 is like. I develop embedded linux products as a day job so Android is too much a busman's holiday. The iPhone does what I want a phone to do. It just works. I have Apple computers so it works seamlessly with them. It looks nice. And I can afford it.

Its like buying a BMW. You can get a Ford cheaper, may be quicker, may be more up to date. But BMW sell and there's a reason!

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