Posts by Fred Flintstone 3110 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Jun 2009
Yup, just you wait until donors are starting to have accidents, or until the next "upgrade" which just happens to set your permissions for organ harvesting to "on", especially that helpful option "if I have 2, come and get one even when I'm still alive".
I'm OK with the publicity, but I dislike donorship being trivialised in this way. But that's just me.
Maybe because there is a slight difference in scale here? Just how much malware is there for Windows, and how much for OSX? Sure, that will change but you are talking about a difference of several FACTORS here, something the Microsoft fans are casually ignoring.
Even in terms of botnets do the numbers rather differ.
Yup, the Mac is vulnerable too and I personally disliked the Apple ads for alleging otherwise, but from a risk perspective there is still a vast gap between OSX and Windows.
Having said that, Apple MUST improve their handling of security issues. For a company that is good at marketing and reputation management, their handling of security issues borders on the inept.
I bought a Mac because it works better for me than Windows. Despite the fact that the number of virus infections of OSX is several factors less than those for Windows, I never bought that as fact - I like proof, so I have always had a virus checker on the machine. And I'm familiar enough with operating systems not to do something stupid and to avoid running the machine on an admin account (although that is sometimes a pain).
Anti-virus companies have a bit of a problem. They should stick to facts, otherwise they will be accused of scaremongering to sell product, on the other hand, dry numbers don't wake people up. Not an easy balance to achieve..
Actually, I'm with Alexander on a few points.
If the intention was to just sniff SSID vs geo coordinates, the back end would have never been designed to pick up all that extra data. The size of the payload coming back from the first car should have tripped a heads up that far too much data was being returned.
Secondly, you do have to notice that Google only fessed up after it was proven without a shadow of a doubt that they had been collecting far too much, on a global scale. I really do not like that attitude in a company that tries to grab as much data of its users as they can possibly get away with. That doesn't instantly make them a branch of the NSA (well, since the Patriot Act they actually are) but it doesn't exactly engender trust either. But hey, only those who never read T&Cs would trust Google or FB, so that's peripheral to the matter at hand.
In short, I'm not 100% with Alexander, but that doesn't allow me to dismiss all the points he made..
In that context I had to laugh at anyone calling especially *Android* as safer. You know, from the company that has now admitted their WiFi snooping was FAR from accidental (and who told the Canadian Information Cimmissioner they would not *need* to do it again because that function was now taken over by the Android handsets). And there is zero checking on what Android apps actually do, and whether you actually have the real app or an infected variant.
Not that I fully trust Apple either, but at least there is some checking of Apps, and it's not the company's core business to gather and sell information (still just a happy side effect)..
The best mobile phone, however, is still one that isn't smart at all.. Not sure how much longer the Nokia 6310 will work, but that's the one I use if I just want to be reachable..
The idea is OK, but developing a standard is a tedious process, and not for everyone. That's why MS had to rig ISO - it had no time to do it properly (and no intention to, it was just to cut off ODF before it became too popular).
I can see especially consultancies drooling at the prospect of being put in charge of a standards - that's endless revenue for years to come, and you can see what a mess you can create by throwing a handful of money into ISO - how many national leaders simply ignored the majority vote?
Personally, I'd go for ODF, but if that's too hard, roll back to a de-facto standard - use the Office formats of at least 5 years back. You'll get plenty of bleating about loss of "features", but at least those formats are known and stable, and by freezing it a while back it stops the upgrade game (another MASSIVE source of costs which bring no improvement whatsoever).
.. thanks for the laugh :). I had a similar funding problem, and by the time I'd resolved that the Psion Organiser II was launched. I came across it at an electronics show, and I think what sold it was probably because I could tinker with it as the sales people had all gone off to lunch :).
I bought it because it was small - you could say it was an early day laptop as it had keyboard, screen and storage, and small enough to take to work with me. The latter was critical as I was working in shifts, and the night shifts were *very* quiet..
I actually started my computing "life" with the Psion Organiser II, which sported the Organiser Programming Language (OPL). The major benefit for me was that the device was infinitely portable (it was, after all, the first usable PDA). In addition, it had storage (EPROM packs) and the language wasn't too bad as it was a mixture of BASIC and Pascal in the way it was structured.
The only problem was that I ran slightly out of steam with OPL alone, so I soon obtained the docs from Psion in London which told me where to go and poke around (pardon the term), and after grabbing a microprocessor book I started hand coding machine language bits to include in my OPL to make the machine do more interesting things - as I also had the schematics I knew how to interface with the top port for I/O.
I still have two of the later 4 line display models - it was a fun start. Actually, now I think of it, I still have a Roland plotter A3 flatbed lying around as well, must go and dig it up one day as it's still more fun than the inkjet approach..
You're right - the actual device costs (the bit you save with BYOD) are minimal in comparison to the overhead you create and the extra risk you have to manage. On top of that come the problems of having to keep private and business use separate which is in itself not only a management nightmare, but a legal one as well.
BYOD only works for small shops. As soon as you hit 10+ people (an estimate) you're better off with business provided devices (you can add private use allowance into this model, but at least YOU are in control, not the end user).
Heck, I've typed insane amounts on the Psion Organiser II but granted, that was code. I actually miss the simple flat file databases it had - you could mess around with the record buffer in code and get very creative with what you could store (which you had to, the max size ever to fit in that machine was 2x 256k flashpack).
It would have been useless for serious amounts of text, and I agree with the general opinion on the 3c. The 5 wasn't bad either, but I never got that to sync properly (that was IMHO the eternal problem).
As for the Apple ][, you could save yourself some money by assembling it yourself - buy the motherboard and start soldering (there was a Pear II at some point, not quite original, but annoying enough to ensure Apple went solidly proprietary :).
Oh, and IBM: my first PC was a clone with a Turbo button (remember those?), using DoubleDOS so I could do more than one thing at once :).
Thanks for that - that's a very clear summary.
Having said that, I can see Oracle being pretty annoyed with having the product, and Google walking away for free with the work involved in creating the language, the docs and the dev base without paying a penny (sorry, dime), but if that cannot be licensed, so be it.
I suspect this will rumble on for a while, in effect creating the same environment around Android that Microsoft created around Linux: the vague fear of infringement. All Oracle needs to do is to keep the potential threat elevated enough for developers to start worrying (and maybe buy a separate license if it was available)..
I think it was because Sun simply didn't want to sell what Google needed. This is possibly where Google went wrong: they choose to do something that looked like going ahead without license.
Personally, I wouldn't put it past Google that they did that and tried to get away with it (it seems to be their MO to ignore laws), but it has to be proven that that is what they did, and there appears to be enough confusion to warrant doubt. So, it's up to the judge to decide if they did or didn't.
If they lose this it may blow a ginormous smoking hole in the whole Android platform and lead to all sorts of followup lawsuits from OEMs (read: its of lawyer money earned and possibly a seriously large dent in the Google share price), if they win Oracle will surely follow this up - I cannot see Oracle spending so much effort on this unless they think they have a chance, although it could also be the classic play garden for *WAY* too rich people.
There are two people involved here who both have wide and high doors to their offices so as not to impede their ego entering with them..
Actually, I use maps too but because I do not want to lose those map skills. In my line of work, I have to take into account the possible unavailability of GPS through jamming..
Now, SatNavs
Mio: I will *never* buy one again. It took 3 years before map updates were available. Funnily, only the first 2 years of map updates were free - which weren't available. No thanks. A shame, it had the best user interface of the lot.
TomTom: Iive traffic updates are IMHO a killer feature that I gladly pay for. However, it demands more attention during a trip than two small children high on sugar. A GPS should *assist* a driver, not draw his/her eyes from the road with useless confirmations or with menus that are now so long with totally unwanted guff that they require scrolling.
Be careful with big screens and tablets - a larger screen takes too long to absorb, also because designers can never resist filling all that empty space. And when parked, you will find out that map browsing sucks on a GPS (at least it does on TomTom, I guess that's to hide the fact that it likes U-turns more than your average New Labour government). So small when on the road, please.
Last but not least: when will the EU make a universal car interface for GPS compulsory so that both internal and external GPS can get roll data from the ABS sensors? It may make in.car GPS actually *sensibly* priced due to much needed competition - and you can choose your own..
Nope for doing it in the UK - has to do with sovereignty of a state and so on.
Assange(tm) could have solved the issue there and then if he hadn't fled Sweden. Given what is known of the case it seems likely he could have had his blood tested, pick up at most a fine and a ticking off from a judge and be in his way in days.
You cannot ask the Swedes to travel where the original cause was Assange fleeing instead of having himself tested. As a matter of fact, if he had bothered to do it when in the UK could have helped as well, but that would have taken away his opportunity to be splattered all over the press with wild accusations about US plots. He couldn't miss up on that free publicity - after all, he had a book to sell. Not that it helped..
.. follow the same curve as a recently launched North Korean rocket..
By the way, I noticed an interesting bias in the article:
"Assange, is still creatively languishing under UK house arrest awaiting a decision on possible extradition to Sweden over TRUMPED UP ALLEGATIONS of sexual assault."
Err, nope. This is 100% according to Swedish law, and Assange had every opportunity to avoid the charge - it was all in the paperwork that leaked, much to Assange's chagrin. If he had had any decency (which is where the problem seems to lie) he would have had himself tested, but because he didn't the charge automatically escalated. He had a lawyer in Sweden, so it's unlikely he didn't know this would happen. Nothing trumped up about it.
Mwah. With the way Assange(tm) has been going about things I would not be surprised if it was Abu Hamza - another one off his rocker and absolutely desperate for any attention..
No, wait - with that definition there is another possibility: it *could* be Ken Livingstone..
(busy donning flameproof vest)..
The reason those systems/toys are closed universes is the same that makes Microsoft choose undocumented file formats: the suppliers like you to stay with them instead of going elsewhere (however better that would be for flexibility, and, in this case, mental flexibility).
I fear they may attempt to quell this idea before it gets too popular..
Yes and no - it may be free advertising, but where are the authorities? Who is in control here?
To me, this looks like a massive loss of face for Apple, the competing shopping centre and the Chinise authorities alike.
Imagine you're an innocent tourist getting caught up in this - I wouldn't want to go near an area with competing and uncontrolled gangs (gang = "a group of 'security' people acting without any authority whatsoever").
*Not* good for anyone. What's next - getting clubbed in the street because you bought at that store? Or did I just give them an idea?
Look up "softenon" and "thalidomide" ..
Not that I say that the issue is as grave - we simply don't know yet. For all we know, it may even help. The problem is indeed the lack of funds for doing a study which is without bias. A mobile company sponsoring the research doesn't inspire trust in the results, however good the intentions may be - the tobacco companies have taken care of that..
Thank you, exactly my opinion too.
If I was prepared to give up my own privacy for a financial incentive, there is always the possibility I might do so too for corporate resources. Nope.
Besides, if they want to look they can see the public data. The rest is 100% my own (not that there is anything I do not expose business contacts or family relations via anything online).. For the rest, tough luck.
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