Posts by Dave 126

Re: How the...

I didn't downvote you, but someone did maybe because you could be read as supporting the OP, which suggested that the 'hackers' merely took advantage of a "username: admin, password: password" type approach, whereas the article states:

using a "prodigious quantity of tools, routes and servers"...

They were further said to have targeted executives at an unnamed US firm and another company involved in weapons control and "electronic warfare systems".

Re: Recycling?

Glass is routinely recycled, so I'm not clear on what you think the problem is. It would be easy to create an automated disassembly line that smashed the glass enclosure and then sent the internal components on for further processing. Indeed, this would be easier to automate for glass than a similar line for gadgets encased in plastic.

Similarly, things held together with glue can be 'unfastened' in bulk in an oven, whereas a gadget held together with screws requires a person with a screw driver to take them apart - which is labour intensive.

Re: Inspiring

>I've talked to folks who seem to think crowdfunding is a fad that will never produce anything more exciting than a pot of potato salad.

Well, that's the attitude one is tempted to adopt when something is hyped extensively in the media... yet the truth is usually somewhere between the status quo and the disruptive arrival.

Crowd-funding seems to be nowt but a happy compromise between consuming what we are offered and investing in interesting companies in the traditional way.

Who here would watch a pay-per-view manned mission to Mars? I would. Sheeiit, choose the right crew and even the people who watch Big Brother would tune in.

Re: iWatch power

If the charging time could be reduced to seconds (perhaps by using better capacitor technology), then a battery life of a few days would be less of an issue - the watch could be charged without having to take it off one's wrist.

Re: You had me at "Clara"

Ah, so *that's* why you hide behind the sofa when the Dr Who comes on TV!

Re: Which app store?`

"While PrivatOS is essentially Android, it’s Android without Google—which means no Google Play store and no easy access to Google’s collection of apps.

PrivatOS’ main innovation is its Security Center, an interface that allows the user to explicitly control just what bits of hardware functionality and data each application on the phone has access to. It even provides control over the system-level applications—you can, if you wish for some reason, turn off the Camera app’s access to the camera hardware and turn off the Browser app’s access to networks."

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/06/exclusive-a-review-of-the-blackphone-the-android-for-the-paranoid/3/

Re: Voice Search of XBMC from watch

Thank you Steve for taking the time to share your experiences of actually using such a device.

Media remote control is an ideal application for a smartwatch (or even a key-fob, for that matter), since a phone can be left in a speaker dock away from the user. A television remote control that can't be lost - because it is strapped to the user's wrist - is also a good idea.

A blindingly obvious interlace would be to make use of a watch's rotating bezel as a jog-wheel - popularised by the iPod, though first seen elsewhere.

Personally, I'll wait until a sensible balance of features against battery life and appearance is struck. It seems to me that all the Android devices are trying to do too much at the moment, when a lot of utility can squeezed out of a simple dot-matrix display, and perhaps a couple of RGB LEDs for notifications. This simple display can easily be implemented in behind a real analogue watch face, and the power requirements would allow a couple of year's use (based on Casio's G-Shock Bluetooth Watch, or Citizen's similar effort).

Re: As an iPhone owner

Something Huawei added.

The strangest thing for me, as a PC user coming to Android, was the concept that I didn't need to close applications. Reading up on it at the time, I was given the impression that Android OS did this for me. Fair does. Since version whatever, I can manually close apps with a swipe, but often when I return to an app after a period of time it shows signs that it has been 'hibernated' in the mean time.

Re: It's nice, but one missing feature.

>Where are the cheap chinese knock-off refills? ... That means I'd want to see many manufacturers competing to provide the resin.

It would appear that they do. More information is here, evidently gleaned from hobbyist forums:

http://hackaday.com/2013/10/09/3d-printering-you-want-uv-resin/

Re: Typical.

> it is pointless trying to debate with the sheeple.

Well, characterising people as 'sheeple' isn't the best way to converse with anyone.

Re: It just isn't available in the UK

>Android phones have been NFC capable for quite some time but there is very little that you can actually use them for.

I've had an NFC phone for a couple of years... I toyed with the idea of buying some 'smart tags' to go with it, to trigger different actions - i.e when the phone is placed on bedside table tag it switches to a silent profile - but I never got around to it.

If I could 'print' my own tags, I could see them being useful in some situations - stock control being the classic example - but is that a consumer application?

@ Dan 55

Agreed. And let's not forget Stephen Fry offered to pay the fine and subsequent legal fees of Paul Chambers, the man convicted of sending a "public electronic message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character contrary to the Communications Act 2003" - Mr Chambers had made a joke on Twitter about blowing up Robin Hood Airport. His conviction was later quashed.

Re: Nobody other than Apple is allowed to track you

Apple simply have less of an incentive to track you than Google. Google makes its money selling advertisements, Apple make theirs by charging the customer upfront for hardware and services.

Safari on OSX similarly has features to thwart trackers, by pretending that you have visited hundreds of websites that you haven't.

No company is saintly.

Re: well very few products are competely new designs?

>The E-cigarette?

Has it origins in vaporisers used to extract essential oils from flowers for perfume making... later adopted by marijuana smokers who wanted to minimise the chemicals they inhaled. Another influence would be the sheesha or hookah, a way of enjoying tobacco that is popular in the Middle East, where the smoke is cooled and stripped of larger particles by bubbling it through water.

The compact 'e-cigarette' depends upon energy-dense Li-ion battery technology, though one can image a butane-powered version.

Re: Recovery or Backup?

>Windows 7, then the built in Windows Backup isn't actually too bad.

It's a good idea to run a virus scan before making an image backup with Win7's built in tools, because if it finds something it doesn't like several hours into a backup, it will abort.

Re: FUD

Yeah, I'm not sure of the value of dismissing a concept based on a pre-release implementation.

I for one just hope they arrive whilst there still some country pubs left!

Re: Pffft! Idiots!

How can you fit millions of music tracks into mere Gigabytes of space?

I use my kettle every day. Before I bought it, I consulted reviews to get the best balance of time-to-boil, quietness, and efficiency. My current toaster is okay, but it lacks a 'reheat' button, that is invaluable for topping-up the brownness of my toast - otherwise, I tend to pop it in for a second time and forget until I smell burning. Its a small detail, but one that can save breakfast.

Mature and boring is good - it means people look at polishing the small details. If the downside is that tech site reviews are slightly less fun to read... then I can live with that.

Re: Sorry me old septic, but Bond is British

>But in truth, he's no more James Bond than any other IT guy that's played Bond on Playstation.

And in truth, spies aren't like James Bond, either.

Here's a good hour-long discussion with a few contributors, one of them Markus Wolf, former head of the foreign intelligence arm of the East German STASI for 34 years:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/features/inbedwithphillip/episodes/160-cold-war-espionage/

Re: Just relating to screen tech

>Higher dynamic range on displays. Not just stretching the current range to higher brightness - a proper standard for darker darks and brighter brights in new content without making existing content for today's displays overly garish.

Dolby are working on it. Obviously it it entails a standard for the whole camera to display workflow.

Re: Option C

> it is the demonstrable lack of judgement being demonstrated while applying for a job that requires responsibility and discretion.

Sorry, we had assumed the shortage was in in problem-solving skills. 'Responsibility and discretion' are fairly easy to come by.

As an interviewer, I would be put off people with a demonstrable lack of reading comprehension.

What if if the substance improved their performance? [see Paul Erdos, above]

What if the individual was potentially open to blackmail?l [see Alan Turing]

Re: Bah!

And Stevie, if you could link to a current Windows laptop with a 16:10 or 4:3 screen, I'd appreciate it. I just can't find any. Ta!

Re: @ Dave 126

>Somewhere to spill your coffee too, I suspect.

That's a very valid point.

It can be mitigated, though - the Sony Tablet S is fully waterproof. It just seems to me that making an Android tablet that can function as a secondary monitor might be away to differentiate it the market.

Re: Audio-in is dead already

>Am I the only one who sees the lack of audio-in combined with a move to digital audio-out a move towards preventing the consumer from copying audio from one device to another?

It would appear so. Here's why:

Most people use laptop mikes for Skype or dictation. The Macbook's built in mikes are fit for this purpose.

Most people who want to record high quality analogue audio use an external ADC.

These two scenarios cover the vast majority of users' needs.

Since most people's audio is in a digital format these days, it can just be copied. Software solutions can be used to sidestep any lingering DRM. Its best to avoid Digital > Analogue > Analogue > Digital workflows.

If you do have a stack of audio on, say, cassette tapes, that you wish to transcribe, a USB or FireWire ADC can be had for not much money. Certainly for far less than a decent cassette deck.

>- Combined optical digital audio output/analog line out minijack

Has been around on laptops for years. Don't panic! As has the opposite - optical digital in combined with an analogue line-in 3.5mm jack. Certainly my c1998 MiniDisc recorder had it. This is why one end of your TOSlink 'cable' is mechanically compatible with 3.5mm audio jacks.

Re: Smooth models

Current workflow:

Create CAD model

Convert CAD model into a mesh defined by thousands of triangles (*.STL)

Take STL into 'slicing' software, that has had machine-specific variables (material, print temp, bed temp, bed size etc) loaded into it:

- analyse overhangs and create support structures if need, either 'break away' or using a second extruding head

- slice the mesh and added structures into hundreds of 2D slices

- create G Code that controls the movement of the print axes, lots of factors here including print temperature and speed.

Put G-code into a software 'print simulator', to make sure the slicing software hasn't got confused.

Load G Code onto the 3D printer.

Calibrate printer

Print

Spot an issue, fine tune some of the above variables, repeat steps as required.

Print again.

Cross fingers, go to pub for a couple of hours.

There is certainly room for improvement. There is no real reason why the intermediary STL format is required, when my instincts tell me the 2D slices or the actual G-code could be generated directly from the original 3D CAD model, with greater respect for the 'design intent'. The GCode format itself isn't perfect, either.

Really, systems are getting smarter. There is no reason a depth aware system akin to MS Kinect couldn't be used to provide real-time feed-back to the control system to compensate for any physical variation in the print process (belt tightness, ambiant temperature, variation in material composition). I'm not sure that the current Gcode system is suitable for this scenario.

AutoDesk's products, like those from their competitors, already have simulation plugins and the like... there is no technical reason one should have to leave one's familiar CAD interface in order to print the object.

Re: A storm in a tea cup

>> "I love that I can pay £28 monthly"

>They have you well trained...

All other issues (reliability etc) aside, £28 per month makes it possible to just use the software for one job if you don't use it all the time (product designers, for example, might only have use for it at certain stages of a project); It is more manageable than an initial outlay of £hundreds.

>> "GIMP"

>Yup.

Right up to the point that you want to manipulate EXR or other HDR files for environment lighting maps. Or use use free transform to quickly mock-up a three-quarter view packaging design. If you are chasing a deadline, these niggles are worth spending a quid a day to avoid.

You might find that the GIMP fulfills your needs 95% of the time, until you require a feature it lacks. At which point, being able to rent Photoshop by the month becomes attractive.