Posts by Mage

Re: shorthand for "click the

"You select YES, you don't click on YES.

"Click on YES" is shorthand for "click the (primary) mouse"

Indeed! "select Yes" would be Tab / reverse Tab or arrow navigation to select the "yes" button, that then could be executed by pressing Enter/Return key

Re: computer devices had horrible artificial "click"s

None I've had in 40 years had any sort of "artificial clicks." Some decent keyboards had a faint mechanical click. You COULD turn on an artificial keyboard "click" on some BIOSes, but I never knew anyone that did and I knew plenty of people that had used typewriters and still used them in parallel up till start of 21st C for specialist tasks.

Re: "click" with the sound the mouse makes...

Also my mouse (pointing pebble a better name?) has a tactile click on the buttons or wheel press, none have ever made an audible click. The so called "haptic" feedback on phone virtual button presses is useless, nor has any phone had a decent click sound. Some manage the DTMF tones on keypad.

Re: "click" with the sound the mouse makes...

"click" with the sound the mouse makes when they press the virtual button on the screen.

My mouse click has never in over 30 years of using GUIs resulted in a sound effect when using "virtual buttons". They USED to invert the left & top with bottom & right to visually indicate clicked or held down. Sadly mostly the now don't. "FLAT" is stupid.

Re: Cost!

I have data permanently off on my phone.

I use WiFi on it (late when laptop shut down) or if relative / friend /office.

That's free.

Also 10 to 50 times faster.

The peak speed of a cell is not the speed users get in busy periods in an economically used mast.

Ofcom are a lobbyist for mobile companies (see their submission about roaming charges during consultation) and like Comreg get most of their income from Mobile operators. It's nonsense.

Re: AAC @128kbps

Ha!

They'll switch to 64kbps AAC. Half the transmission cost. Because only "slightly poorer" than 128K MP2 Stereo (older DAB).

" MOST FM transmissions contain non-trivial non-linear distortion" Due to misuse of the compressor on "loudness wars". Not at all inherent. Here most Digital (DVB-T has more than twice the DAB coverage and in this part of Ireland the same line-up) uses same feed as the badly engineered feed to FM. The DTT and Satellite RTE seem to be using the same 128K now as DAB. I could be wrong.

What's the point of DAB when DVB-T and DVB-T2 has better coverage?

Also DAB favours national broadcasters with multiple channels (see SFN and DAB multiplex coverage vs a local Radio FM transmitter).

True national coverage is poorer on FM than AM and poorer still on DAB. This is why BBC R4 LW has the Cricket that is on DAB, spoiling R4 in areas with no VHF-FM, or when Satellite isn't practical.

I have three old satellite receivers and the legal £5 approx FM transmitters for phone/MP3 to car Radio. Lets me have continental stations in better quality than local DAB on my FM portables. Sometimes I feed one from the MP3 Library (must get a bigger SD card for phone!).

not much better than AM

Actually if there is no interference AM can be BETTER quality than 128K DAB or 64K DAB+ stereo, especially if you have poorer hearing.

1) Less distortion (no artefacts)

2) The acoustic lossy data compression model assumes average hearing

3) DAB+, where it's used (starting in UK) is simply used to double the number of stations, hence 64K bps.

4) Ergonomics on most 1935 to 1995 Analogue sets is better than DAB or Preset FM

5) Few DAB sets have decent cabinets and speakers. Most 1965 to 1995 sets that's larger than pocket sized sound better on AM.

6) Power consumption. Battery valve sets can beat many DAB models! Transistor analogue sets can run x20 longer on same size cells.

Re: protected by zener diodes

You'd need a fuse too. 1: Easy to overload zeners. 2: Easy to destroy other things on the power rail. An amazing amount of pulsed power & destructive voltage can be stored by using high voltage capacitors.

original credit card sized SIMs

Not a problem. you can cut up an expired bank card or Sky viewing card.

I have some that SIMs popped out of so I can read phone SIMs on a full size ISO serial port reader (Needs Win98).

Amstrad 1640 with EGA

I've an upgraded PCW8256. I tried it recently and the screen lit up. I'm not sure I tried the right CP/M floppy. Surely it should still go?

I took it in a soft bag to NY once for a demo. Works on 110. Irish customs seized it on return till I faxed them the Irish receipt.

Re: 10-Base-2 50-ohm terminators

I use them on my HP 141T plug ins. The 8555 used a good few, also some other test gear. I'm also using some of the shorter cables replaced in 1998 by Cat5.

Also I've converted some T into L adaptors.

Dumped a load of MS Select, MSDN and TechNet disks from 1993 to 2001 last month.

Dumped a load of EISA cards (RAID SCSI), early ISA CAD video with VGA daughter boards, 8088 to 486 Mobos and screens a couple of years ago and missed none of it. I must have another clearout in attic so I can move the more modern IT stuff and old collectable non-IT stuff to attic.

Anyone want a real IBM AT with AST memory cards, VGA, various floppy and maybe 2 x MFM HDDs (with spares?)

Or copies of Word 2.0a on CD (copied from Floppy 14 years ago, plus manuals and licenses)?

A bunch of 17" multisync CRTs?