Posts by Mage

Yah!

gcy2017 := New (Year);

gcy2017.happy := TRUE;

Great to have you back Verity.

Only now?

I've been blocking SMB with a firewall ever since I started installing networks with Internet access, well over 20 years ago.

Why many phones & Tablets have no updates.

They need maybe 5G to 6G free space. The cheaper Android tablets only have a 3Gbyte free when new.

Only buy gadgets with a SD slot and 16G+ Flash to start with. Note some versions of Android and some apps can't use data on user SD card, only internal Flash. So avoid entry level tablets with older Android and only 8G byte Flash memory.

Aliens

Quite good icons compared to some recent ones for Operating Systems.

Unlike the NASA torture machines called toilets, for microgravity, the toilets the Aliens use on their starships are pleasant. They are curiously similar to the Japanese ones.

“Good, just try and rest,” she urged. “I will put up navigation plots superimposed on the camera feeds. The bright line is the Intergal One starship and its torch drive. Let me know if you are thirsty or need to use the personal waste facility next door. It’s simple to operate and suitable for both sexes and most species. We can cut the thrust to one gee if you need it.”

“Every species has two sexes?” asked Bill.

“Yes,” agreed Mikle, “some say it’s evolutionary pressure and others claim intelligent design.”

Ed was sceptical of the idea of a simple to use space toilet. They had all used their own on the shuttle before the flitter rendezvoused with them. It was hardly suitable for humans. They all had then added adult nappies. He watched the display, which looked like very large pane of glass. He could see a pair of tracks. It looked like the couches and the panel had two positions. The image was very high quality and high resolution with no frame rate flicker even in peripheral vision, but like all the video feeds it was monochrome. He wondered why they didn’t have a colour screen. Then he realised they should have had an anthropologist or something. Understanding the alien cultures and motivations was surely as important as the science.

Later:

Back at her starship apartment, Janethra announced she had to go to a meeting and then would be going to bed. She showed them how to work the bathroom.

“You didn’t use the toilet in the flitter?” wondered Gemma.

“I did, it was just like here, built in bidet function.”

“The away team never mentioned it either. Why didn’t you mention it?”

“I didn’t think it was important,” explained Jack, “the Japanese have them.”

“Oh.”

(From "The Solar Alliance" by Ray McCarthy)

AI

Maybe the reality is that "real" AI doesn't exist. What we have are nicer interfaces to 30 year old "Expert System" type programs using larger datasets (mostly human curated), often designed to exploit consumers by capturing our choices and behaviour.

Android on Phones, Tablets and most evil Android voice controlled TVs you can't even tune/install without agreeing to Google's coercive contract.

Amazon Echo.

MS Cortana

Apple Siri

AI isn't needed actually for voice control, and it's an unsafe and unreliable method of control.

Exactly what examples are there of real AI and how do it/they benefit humanity compared to clean drinking water, pollution free energy, proper toilets (I use my bathroom to wash), food not full of added water (ham, bacon), added sweetener (real or artificial), added fat and added salt.

Well, this is the guy that runs MS, and they have totally lost the plot anyway.

IBM: Don't look behind the curtain to see how Watson really works.

AI is an interesting goal. However after many years of study I'm more in doubt as to why we need it. Do we need to make silicon based gods in our own image and give up our free will to them? Is it indeed even possible? We don't understand Corvid or Chicken intelligence much less Human, so how can we create a program today to simulate it?

Refuse them

This a typical corporate land grab.

They should use same rules as everyone else.

Removed the image

Eh?

It's the text that's stupid. Not the image.

It's true that part of Co. Clare overlooks Galway bay (Ballyvaughan), but the Cliffs shown are on the Atlantic coast.

Mines the one with real maps in the pocket.

Cool effects and animations

Cool effects and animations have a place in Cinema. TV etc. They are pretty in a demo or showroom, but 100% stupid and damaging to usability and productivity on a GUI.

As are totally flat interfaces. Clickable stuff needs a minimal 3D highlight and shadow (not a HUGE Aero blur). Icons need to be obvious and neither skeumorphic, nor abstracted to the point of being meaningless black glyphs.

Hyperlinks should look like hyperlinks.

Text should not be light grey on white or dark grey on black etc.

Blockchain?

It's for distributed anonymous transactions.

Regular security systems are more use for this. This is just IBM buzzword marketing.

5G and Cars

No mobile tech at all should be "integrated" to cars. RF transponders for anti-collision don't need mobile. GPS or better Galileo for navigation don't need mobile. Mobile integrated to car is a security/safety disaster and only facilitates personal data theft by corporations. Apps can use BT or WiFi (thought other than diagnostics are security fail).

Local traffic data can use even FM (and/or) DAB more efficiently than Mobile with better coverage, though they can't even do the security properly on that.

Frightening

I mean the FBI ought to be the good guys, not an evil Goliath being fought off by David CloudFlare.

I thought the USA Government was fighting for Truth, Justice and the American Way?

Spying without court orders, (on Americans or anyone else private), extra-judicial executions (drones in Pakistan), Police shooting unarmed people (their skin tint may make it more likely but actually is irrelevant to the issue, all lives matter), TSA seizing electronic items / data without court order (and claiming they can do it outside USA!). DMCA and DRM contravenes international law on copyright. Stupid patents, Trademarks and Design Patents. Stupid no choice race for President.

Winter is coming.