Posts by Mage

iPlayer

I don't give a fig about iPlayer*.

But iPlayer and normal web content should not be the same servers.

(* I don't have enough Cap for ANYONES video, not YouTube or Netflix (So I buy DVDs) and most of iPlayer doesn't work outside UK, which is where I happen to be. I get all the Broadcast UK content live fine though none via DAB platform and my media PC can record 2x DTT, 2 x Satellite (from four satellite positions) and 1 x Analogue Radio simultaneously (100kHz to 1300MHz, Analogue includes up to 8kHz bandwidth narrow band data such as PSK or FSK Weatherfax) UHF Digital reception, Motorised Sat Dish and 28 + 19 + 13 + 9 E sat reception with 16 outlets).

Very sad

Depressing really.

A decent sinewave and no RFI makes it hard.

It's trivial to do for sort of rubbish pseudo near square wave converters typically sold.

Good design and quite old power MosFETs can do this easily for pseudo near square wave converters. I'm baffled as to why it's a competition though.

Perhaps the real purpose is Google publicity.

Blocking

Install Noscript

go addthis.com (any page)

now on Noscript you can block addthis.com permanently

Bottom feeding scum?

Star Wars vs Star Trek

Almost everything in Star Trek is either nonsensical (Energy > Matter to make a cup of tea?) or not valid physics. Don't let me get started on Transporter Beams. Even if you solved the Information content issue, the energy needed, who wants to be killed and replaced with a replica every time?

I wouldn't worry about Star Wars. It was long ago and far away. Maybe a passing space dragon grabbed Luke's Sabre. Or a micro-worm hole in space. Or it caught on a TV aerial and the cable guy took it and dropped it later.

I may watch it and then decide. I wasn't hospitalised on after watching the last three (though I thought Lucas and some of the Actors needed treatment).

Stupid BBC

They now serve different news content to UK and outside UK. Often exchanged links won't work. Sometimes the bbc.com/news and bbc.co.uk/news links do automagically change domain when used across the national GeoIP border other times you get nothing. BBC future is unavailable in UK. They claim for commercial reasons of charter & Adverts. The real reason is that it seems to be recycled from other websites.

bbc.com/news working all weekend but very slow apart from the Clown Error page once.

Also too much damm video and flash rather than text and photos. Also outside UK EVERY video is poisoned with a prepended unskippable long advert. I do not wish to use up my Cap downloading stupid advert video.

They, ITV and C4 seem to stopped making much decent TV too (Five never did). I've gone back to Radio. I have no wish to watch soaps, Fry, reality TV, quizzes, crap rude comedy and US imports or franchises.

Arrg The Falconer

He'd love one of these.

The Falcon for Emperors :-D

Two problems

1) Google

2) Connecting ANY Gadget to be accessed via Public Internet. You need at least a 2 layer model. A hardened secured SINGLE "firewall like device" is Internet connected. Then ONLY one device needs security updates and can have all kinds of intrusion detection. It's daft to try and include this in every light bulb and plug top. Possibly the Gadgets should in fact use a non-routeable network protocol.

Really I can't trust any gadget maker for Security or Privacy, especially not Google. I'm sure some suitable plugin SW even HW can be used with OpenWRT and similar projects.

GiGo

Garbage.

Speaker wire for 6 speakers is easier to install than the mains power. Only two really at the back, the centre and sub Woofer channel are easy.

All the wireless speakers and sound bars I've seen are junk anyway. No way round having a big sealed box yet for a speaker.

If it was "Last Mile"

Then it would be wonderful.

But it's 30m (or 70m of slower) under good conditions. So only from the cabinet. Problem is lots of cables from cabinet is more than 900m which means ADSL2+. If you have 30m to 100m then today's FTTC + VDSL is already better than 95% non fibre.

Also how much RF interference from those copper wires on the pole to the 1MHz to 106MHz band?

This is interesting. But I'd hate to see it used by politicians and bean counters to justify FTTC/FTTK rather than FTTP/FTTH. If it's only 30m to 70 then in most cases the existing cable can be used to pull in a fibre.

The best value for it may be apartment blocks? Fibre to each floor and then existing copper.

Sahara etc

The Sahara was 1/2 the size I think 2000 years ago. I think they blame goat keepers.

Not sure about Australia.

Ireland used to be forest. Now look at the Burren. Manmade.

Meaningless comment

"I am NOT your father"

Meanwhile ICANN stupidity

adds more TLDs to make fraud easier and push up domain costs for everyone