Posts by Mike Bell 754 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Aug 2007
@dopefish
"Ah yes, the 'pain' of ensuring your computer is protected from viruses. Far better to buy an Apple device at inflated cost, because they are impervious to any such things."
This probably isn't the best place to debate malware - no computer is safe from their users and any software installation may contain malware - but to the best of my knowledge, there are no OS X viruses.
@Kristian
"what you're doing wrong is assuming that everyone else's usage pattern is just like yours"
Actually, I make no such assumption. I'm just outlining my personal experience, and why some of the gripes in this thread aren't relevant to me. I don't use Thunderbolt much but I'm sure there are plenty of Apple owners who work for video editing firms, and make good use of Thunderbolt to connect to large displays and ultra-high-speed networks, for example.
It strikes me that you are by nature a careless and clumsy person, losing and dropping stuff - no offence intended, it's just your own description of your events. I'm sure there are chunky ruggedised computers out there that would fit your particular requirements.
My story: I've bought so many gadgets over the years, you just wouldn't believe it. Some I've loved, and others were just silly toys.
In 1982 when I shelled out £400 (a lot of money for a student in those days) on a BBC Micro, it turned out to be the best investment I'd ever made in terms of fun had for each pound spent - in fact learning how to write 6502 assembler led to my first job in IT.
Countless gadgets later, and my 2012 Retina MacBook Pro gives me the same gadget-happiness. I'd deliberately put off getting one until antique technology like spinning lumps of rust and plastic and thumping great connectors like RJ45 went by the by, in favour of a light and portable device with an awesome display. After a few months I gave away my high spec self-assembled tower PC to a friend and was glad to see the back of it.
Now, a year and a half later, I do photo editing and hobbyist music production on my gadget with joyous lack of pain. Do I have enough RAM? Yes, I didn't penny pinch. Do I have enough flash storage? Heck, yes, I didn't penny pinch, and if I need multi-terabyte storage there are ways and ways. Can I read and burn CDs? Don't need to, but if I did, a cheap drive can be plugged in. Do I miss the RJ45 or floppy disk? Nah, I'd sooner have the little adapter for the very rare occasions where I need to plug in an Ethernet cable, rather than a big fat body on the laptop. Am I worried that I can't put more memory and storage inside? Nope, I'm nowhere near maxing out, and if it came to that the resale value of the laptop is nothing short of spectacular, which would go a long way to funding a new gadget. Do I miss the flaky audio glitches and never-ending pain of device drivers and antivirus on my PC? Well, you might be able to guess that one.
Will I get the new model? Very doubtful, as the one I have is doing fine, for my purposes.
So, before you downvote, what am I doing wrong?
"2KG with only ONE HAND! You must be working out! Seriously though, that's some pricey kit. No ethernet port is a royal PITA I would think for the target audience"
It's easy enough to pick up, but you seriously wouldn't want to wave it about too much. Then again, why would you?
I have the 2012 version and I don't miss the Ethernet port one jot, actually, as I use wireless almost all the time. I do have their Thunderbolt <-> Ethernet adapter just in case, you know, for hotel rooms with wired-only connections, that kind of thing. YMMV.
I don't want my TV turning off 2 hours into Aliens Special Edition.
BTW, the iPhone already does that home proximity stuff. I rarely use Siri, but I've told her a few times to remind me to do something "when I get home" and, true enough, the phone pops up a message when I pull up at home in the car.
Ooh let me guess... Maybe because a new version of the OS supports new features of interest? Maybe because it's the first Apple upgrade in years that is designed to work with pretty old hardware? Maybe because it's free? Maybe because it was in beta for a long time and had generally very positive reports? Maybe because you're not using your computer for mission-critical work? Now I come to think of it, I'm struggling to find any reason at all.
RAM is eaten in a hurry
Yes. Mavericks makes much better use of RAM than its predecessor, and will aggressively cache memory to make better use of hardware, as well as compressing least-used memory. Unused RAM is a waste of resources, and you should view it as such if you have Mavericks installed.
After two years of use, my battery on my Apple iPhone 4S was working very nicely. But I dropped the phone and cracked the screen. I took it to an Apple Store and they gave me a new phone. That doesn't suck, and it didn't cost me $8. Well, maybe the price of an underground ticket.
My old phone didn't go to landfill – it will be salvaged in one of Apple's huge repair facilities.
Meantime, I'm quite happy to have a phone that doesn't have creaky bits that snap apart for the dubious purpose of fitting a new battery, fluff-gathering expansion ports, flashing LED adornments etc. etc. etc.
So there.
Be careful out there.
Crafty websites can often identify users even if you have cookies turned off. IIRC, El Reg had an article about this a few years ago. Checking for browser capabilities, plug-ins, screen resolution, fonts, timezone etc. can often fingerprint a particular browser instance.
Dear Touchy Arctic Fox,
Point 1: We both stated that consumers generally don't know what 64-bit computing is. But my statement pointed out that despite this, consumers know about it and will see it as something worth having. Whereas you, in your infallible opinion, stated quite explicitly that All they are interested in is "does it just work?" (to coin a phrase) and is their new precious "shiney shiny". Those are diametrically opposite points of view.
Point 2: I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about armchair economists in general. Especially the kind who would take your advice about how consumers make their purchasing decisions.
I take exception to your assertion that I am a thoroughly dishonest person.
Take a stress pill or something.
I disagree. 64-bit computing is a notion that has probably seeped into the public's awareness by now – even if they don't have a clue what it actually means. Not the Nine O'Clock News did something similar with woofers and tweeters donkeys' years ago.
The armchair economists here might pause to think that Apple are sitting on the biggest pile of cash in history, so as a business they're doing pretty well. They probably don't need you to tell them how they need to go about presenting and marketing their stuff.
@Esme
As I understand it, 'their' is an acceptable alternative to the use of 'his' in this context. Its use is not, however, any more correct than 'his'. I'm not a fan, since it usually refers to multiple people rather than an individual.
I'm sorry that you feel ignored when writers use a word that, by definition, pertains to an unspecified sex. But to tell the truth, the writer isn't talking about you, or even your sex, so you are bringing something to the party that doesn't exist.
The next time you see a group of girls out on the lash calling themselves, collectively, 'Guys', perhaps you'd like to think about who owns the English language. It's no more men than women.
I'm putting my own fire-proofs on now: the origin of the word 'Woman' is Wife + Man.
“The inability of the decider to predict her decision beforehand holds whether the decision-making process is deterministic or not”.
Call me old fashioned, but I find this kind of right-on politically correct language to be very annoying, not to say patronising. The possessive 'his' has for many years been defined as 'belonging to or associated with a person or animal of unspecified sex'.
I don't need my hand held to remind me that women comprise half the species, and clever talk like this won't force me to re-evaluate my perception of where they fit in the world. I really don't. So leave it out, will you.
Having said that, my wife can never make her mind up, so I won't deny the truth of the statement.
"The EU regulation in question is the amended Radio Equipment Directive, which will require all radio devices to feature a microUSB socket."
According to the Amended Radio Equipment Directive linked to in the article:
"On the basis of the Micro-USB interface, the companies have agreed to develop a common specification in order to allow for full compatibility of chargers and mobile phones. These specifications have been translated in European standards.
N.B.: The agreement allows for the use of an adaptor."
How does that equate to all radio devices being required to feature a microUSB socket? If the agreement allows for the use of an adaptor, surely manufacturers can use any old socket that they like?
To be fair, a bit of social engineering is involved here by making the file look like something that it isn't (a PDF). Not every user is a geek, but they might know enough to know that PDFs are normally harmless viewable documents. If they possess a little geekiness, they might know that you'd better be dead sure you're running a *very* up-to-date PDF viewer. A little more and they'd know that executables can be camouflaged like this.
I imagine that such a "dumb" user might be tempted to call you and me nerdy geeks who need a life.
It would also require an OS update, since every app using inclinometer data would want to receive calibration-adjusted data.
But if you're spending a large amount of cash on a premium device, you'd naturally expect HQ components to be used, and any such calibration to be done at the factory.
Or am I being picky?
But what is depressing is that tricks like this continue to be a necessity.
If third parties like this (and thousands of others) can route calls over existing networks at a negotiated massive discount, there's no reason why the phone providers themselves couldn't do it.
Of course, the providers are more interested in ripping off users by charging exorbitant international charges when they can get away with it, i.e. relying on the fact that many customers are inconvenienced in having to use another SIM for international calls, going through an intermediary number etc.
</rant>
I would imagine that 'they' (Crittercism) are relying on apps that have their crash-monitoring and reporting software installed by participating developers. The devices phone home quite often and – voila! – crash stats are available.
NB, crash logs are a useful source of information to the creators of iOS jailbreaks as they can be used to identify weaknesses in the OS.
I'm surprised you found the time to write that – between installing Windows Update patches.
Seriously, I get very occasional updates for my Apple laptop. And more often than not it's for a Camera Raw update that allows the computer to recognise new camera models as they come to market.
I'm all for standardisation, but the 'de facto' standard that we have now should in no way, shape.or form (quite literally) be the legal standard. Apple's Lightning connector is vastly superior in terms of ergonomics. As others have mentioned, it is easily and securely inserted every time, even in the dark without guessing or having a blob of Tip-Ex and a torch to hand. If a universal standard is to be mandated, it should at least be a good one.
'Does the "lock & wipe" work when the SIM is removed?'
Lock & wipe works on a particular phone. The SIM that is currently in the phone has no bearing on that.
If the phone is quickly put into 'Airplane' mode, it won't receive the lock command from Apple Central. But a phone in such a state isn't really much of a smartphone and will be worth very little to a thief.
"Isn't the video just showing the reader's ability to see through the latex (or glue, or whatever it is) copy of the finger print into the real one? If they used a second person with the latex, that would be fair play."
No, not really. If the video was supposed to be a good demonstrator, the guy should have placed his middle finger on the sensor several times to indicate a negative; then apply the fake print and show that it is indicated positively. Not sure why anyone would miss such an obvious test. As it is, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a thin film applied to an already-registered finger was recognised.
Step 1: Buy the newest iPhone because it takes your fancy
Step 2: Buy an unlicensed Lightning cable that circumvents licensing and testing
Step 3: Plug it in
Step 4: Your phone goes BANG
Step 5: You take your smouldering device to an Apple Store and demand that they replace it
Step 6: Apple say "fuck off"
Sounds reasonable to me.
Step 4 is avoided by detecting your dodgy equipment and saying "fuck off" in software.
Chrome to Chrome sync has been in place for a long time, using Google as an intermediary in the background.
The Apple ecosystem uses iCloud to sync a lot of things between Apple devices. This new facility allows you to sync Windows Chrome browser bookmarks with iOS or Mac Safari bookmarks. It requires Apple's iCloud Control panel to be installed on the Windows PC (which can also sync Outlook contacts, calendars, tasks, photos with iCloud equivalents). If you elect to sync iCloud bookmarks with Chrome, you are invited to install a companion Chrome plugin.
My experience (MacBook Pro) is completely the opposite.
a pretty high failure rate
I have a lower sample size of 2, but none have ever failed.
Overheating is a massive issue
Not with my MacBook Pro, it isn't. It's a rare day when the fan turns on.
The trackpad is pretty low quality
Mine is excellent quality. I've never ever seen the cursor out of place.
To click the mouse, you have to push the entire trackpad down
Not on mine, you don't. In any case, it's quite rare that I need to click it - you can easily configure the trackpad to use soft taps and gestures, like using an iPad.
The front edge of the laptop lacks any bevel or chamfer
Mine does. I'd never even given it a moment's thought until you raised it.
Programs crashed more on Mac than on PC
In 18 months' use, I can count the number of program crashes on one hand.
The CD drive is not properly reinforced
Modern MacBooks don't have a CD drive. Yesterday's technology.
There is no eject button, or manual eject for the CD drive
Ditto.
Dual video chipset, but not really
Is this an issue on my MacBook? No
I use a PC at work all day long. But I take my MacBook in with me as we'll, because its so much nicer to use.
Been through passport control in the US? The NSA already have your fingerprints on file. Actual images, not just a set of key indicators that will be stored in a phone's processor somewhere. Indicators that cannot possible be used to reconstruct original print images.
Chopped-off fingers: that's not going to work, so crims had better wise-up fast. Touch ID senses finger temperature and pulse. A dead finger won't work. Bad guys will have much more luck by just giving you a good thumping.
Check out the following graphic.
Going to be sitting less than 6 feet from your swanky new 110 inch display, are you?
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