Posts by Mage 9273 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Nov 2007
But the article describes vandalism. How hard is it to add a custom case & keyboard to a Pi + Display?
I was doing that nearly 15 years ago with Tact switches, pcb from a USB keyboard and dremmel on stock plastic case. Li-Polys sold as iPod classic battery replacements/
Thirty years ago I made prototype cases out of balsa wood and after sanding they could be finished with base coat and car spray paint to look like plastic or metal.
Coincidently I was in the attic and top of an old heap of CDs was IBM Viavoice98.
Voice to text -> then parser (The code of Eliza is available FOSS on Linux repositories inside a version of EMACs). Bob is then a close relative.
No "so called" AI is required. Eliza, Alice etc are not AI.
We had voice control WITHOUT recording OR Cloud Provider servers over 20 years ago on devices a lot less capable than a Raspberry Pi or a even a 10 year old smart phone.
The inescapable conclusion is the the companies want to capture the activity of use of the TV, phone, home hub etc.
Waterfox Classic with Classic Theme Restorer.
Tab against the pages.
Scroll bars always there.
forward, back, home, downloads, history on same tool bar as URL and Search.
NO search or guessing in the URL bar.
No hiding of prefixes like HTTP, HTTPS, WWW etc.
On Android (for 10" and bigger), a real desktop mode instead of is switching back tp mobile each time.
No trying to make desktop like mobile. Respect System Theme.
No, I don't want a stupid ribbon on ANYTHING. You can get a 3rd party Office 2003 style GUI for Office 2007 etc. LibreOffice has proper user editable toolbars and proper menus and the stupid Ribbon is off by default.
You should never design a GUI based on Telemetry. Only use it to fix bugs. Because it doesn't tell you WHY people click on things. Some rarely used things may be very important occasionally.
FF GUI has became a bad copy of Chrome. Menus dumbed down, configurations disabled, setting removed, vital plugins blocked, mobile centric design to desktop and mobile version settings and plug-ins dumbed to near useless.
Also too many websites are designing for Chrome and also too many using Google resources.
The 1950s and 1960s Space race was partly replacing bombers with ICBMs and partly the Cold War. JFK's Charisma certainly was a factor, but overstated. To-day maybe competition between USA and China? But that's not of the same ilk as the Cold War. Which the USA didn't win, it was more that it was bankrupting the USSR and they decided they wanted a different goal. Current Russia seems to have returned to Czarist ambitions. Will they want Alaska back? They only sold it to the USA so that Britain wouldn't get it. They'd just lost a war with Britain.
I just hope M.A.D. is off the menu in China and USA as well as Russia.
"Back in the day" it was actually already inhabited (Little House on the Prairie and many other books gloss over that). However it's unlikely that it's even got the Penguins and stuff Antarctica has though that isn't exactly the fairest International carve-up.
As long as there is no life I guess we can do what we like, it's our moon. But it should be "we", not big corporations, NASA, China, Russia or even the ESA (which while EU backed, not all of the EU are members and Canada is an associate). The ESA is actually the closest thing to an International space Agency, though a bit French (CNES and the European Space Port in South America).
It should be internationally managed, even though we are rubbish at international stuff. So should IP addresses and the Internet domain names. Why is that US controlled?
We had that 22 years ago with MS SFU and 3rd party X-Servers.
So they swapped bought in Services For Unix with free Linux. Meanwhile 22 years later it's SO easy to run Linux Mint, legacy win32 that won't work on Win7-64 or Win10-64 on 32 bit WINE on 64 bit Linux, and Windows on a VM if you need to.
Didn't they trot this out last year?
Also what is with installing AUTOMATICALLY MS Edge (Google's Chromium) on Win7 last week? I had to reset Waterfox as the Browser.
They also warned me there was no support and popped up an update box for "MS Wireless Keyboard-Mouse 850" which loaded an advert (in Waterfox) on MS Site to sell me "MS Wireless Keyboard-Mouse 850"
When you look for the PDF export plug-in for old MS-Word, you get adverts for Office 365.
I thought Win10 was the last, with it's stupid rolling updates and integrated Cloud. The next Gen Windows is Azure Subscription, running on "MS Cloud" servers running Linux?
At the time of the infamous Halloween Papers in 1990s and "Linux is a Cancer", Linux was about 6% of web servers. Now over 80%?
All my important computers only boot Linux since 2017. The Win7 box is a sort of budget XBox, though the last Win7 Steam Game I bought runs on Steam on Linux.
I have serious Deja Vu with this PR. Are they recycling it every 3 months?
KDP Select
Unlimited
KOLL
Prime
Adding of DRM via KFX when publisher ticks "No DRM".
Amazon has now 90%+ of English language ebooks worldwide.
About 80%+ of USA online paper sales.
Won't supply Libraries. (details are complicated).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Amazon
They are too big and abusive. They are two things: A mail order company and Cloud Services. Their Ring should be divested.
Google is a different sort of problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Alphabet
They are an advertising company, so unfit to run Search, Maps, YouTube, Android, PlayStore, Google Books, Google Art, Chrome OS, Chrome Browser.
Didn't Watson say the World only needed six computers? If he meant companies like Alphabet-Google, Zuckerberg, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft etc in the West he was only a little off target.
The internet tends to one of each thing.
Gadgets have been connectable to networking via a USB host for maybe more than 15 years. I installed Linux updates via Internet -> router -> WiFi - ancient Sony-Ericsson phone - USB Networking - PC some years ago.
Generic USB Ethernet adaptors have also worked on Android stuff for years. Most LANs have no security unlike the WiFi you might not know the key. Even small offices now should have security on ethernet LAN.
You don't need WiFi or Cellular. Computers have been getting updates and data connection by wireless since maybe 1970s. The actual physical location of the Server and Client can be changed.
Over 1973–76, DARPA created a packet radio network called PRNET in the San Francisco Bay area.
See also X.25 and ALOHAnet.
It's irrelevant if IP, token Ring, X.25, per client multicore RS232, RS422/RS485/Appletalk, wireless, coax, twisted pair, station wagon of tapes. sd cards on avians, or fibre is used. Somehow there is a data connection and there is a mechanism to decide if the Client gets an update from a Server. NO version of this was EVER worthy of a patent.
There was an MS version of OS/2 in 1989, for servers using win3.x clients and MS LAN Manager. I always wondered if that was why NT starts at 3.x
Absolutely correct. Win10 is NOTHING to do with Win3.0 to WinME as they were shells loaded from booting DOS. Win95 merged Win32s and Win 3.x 32 bit drivers, wrapped up all the diverse multimedia addons in Win 3.0, added DirectX to ease porting DOS games and added Explorer. It wasn't any more secure or reliable. You only needed to login for MS network shares to work. It ran very poorly on a Pentium Pro because of the frequent native use of 16 bit code. NT used NTVDM and also Win16->Win32 API thunk, so the 16bit Windows applications ran on Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC and also Pentium Pro without any native x86 16 bit execution.
Win95 only got USB later (only a preview ever on NT 4.0 after SP6) and OpenGL later (on NT at the time). It was a shame that Win95 and Win98 and ME were EVER sold to businesses by anyone. Yes, NT needed more RAM, but in comparison was reliable and secure. NT4.0 was less stable if you installed a buggy GFX or Printer driver due to stupid decision to move stuff into kernel for maybe 10% performance at a time when PC performance was sometimes more than doubling per year (approx 1992 to 2002).
Only a misconfigured NT paused on CD, one cause would be an HDD and CD drive on same IDE port. Also Autorun was an abomination. We disabled it in the Registry.
NT had true multitasking and token based security more flexible than UNIX since 1993. You could have thousands of user accounts. Only remotely accessed Server applications were multiuser. You couldn't have multiple users logged in at the same time, even swapping between them like Unix SU till much much later. DR Multidos and UNIX allowed actual multiple users logged in at the same time.
I remap it to Compose.
Both shifts if I REALLY WANT CAPS LOCK, any shift cancels.
Also I regard any keyboard without \ left of Z as suspect.
The only change I'd make on my keyboards with the Loooong right shift is to have prime and double prime (′ ″) on one key, with something else as the AltGr pair. I can type every other characters extra I need either with AltGr or Compose
I don't use « and » (AltGr z and AltGr x) and AltGr Z and AltGr X just duplicate < and > So perhaps I could map AltGr Z and AltGr X to ′ ″, the “ ” ‘ ’ are AltGr v b V and B.
Greek letters are all Compose g <key> and Compose G <key>. Cyrillic could easily be added.
So I can't see the point of this keyboard, though I do find the Num pad section pointless. Maybe good for accountants? But you can get a USB num pad.
I'd prefer a projector with a 3:1 zoom lens. Largest size (72") only for > 2.5:1 aspect ratio high quality cinema content and smallest size for talking head news and maybe old VHS.
Very few projectors seem to have zoom lens and few are better than 1920 x 1080. They seem to be mostly made for power point. Also single chip DLP have the colour wheel that can fail or cause a rainbow effect if you wiggle your head.
So I've been not buying a projector for 10 years. I don't want a 65" screen (roll up or not) for most content. Room too small and most is 1.85:1, 16:9 or 4:3. Some is 1.66:1, so a projector, Zoom lens and adjustable side matte on a projection screen is best.
They will do that warning, that "someone else [may have] used your password, when it was actually you, but the IP address changed. Or you switched browser.
The email client here triggers it when the ISP occasionally changes the IP address.
See also Steam's paranoid security where EVERY different browser or PC on the same external IP, with a massive big long unique password generates an SMS message. Or requires doing a Google Captcha, which is missing from the Win7 client, so changing account stuff on that fails.
It's also a problem if an ISP simply deletes all the email addresses and you forgot about site XXX.
Never mind flat batteries, disabled SIMs due to lack of use, or out of coverage (maybe a Faraday shield type room).
Passwords are not a problem. It's service providers leaking them or users using the same ones or simple ones. I only remember two passwords. The non-important ones are stored in browser and all are in a backed up address book, never in laptop bag and only taken ever to one other off site location.
Google wants our phone numbers and to know who all the accounts belong to. Now impossible to have separate Google accounts without Google knowing it's the same person. They are not a fit company to "own" Android or provide any service other than advertising.
The power consumption claims for a phone a bit disingenuous given RF transmit power, screen lighting and screen driving.
Also the best use for most of those transistors is RAM, or maybe Flash, but Flash is rather different in construction. 1G RAM per core and little shared RAM to reduce bottlenecks, like Transputers.
Also the BC108 chips are maybe 1 mm x 1 mm by maybe 0.1mm to dissipate power. But you can run them at 1.2V supply and a 1 or 1 uA per device. You need more then because gain is low. I did once make a matchbox radio for MW/LW with a soldered in AAA cell that lasted nearly 6 months and no power switch. Ceramic earphone.
Biometrics is NOT security, it's just like the username part of authentication, except you can't change it. You can change even your real name as part of a whim or witness protection scheme.
Biometrics should never be part of identity checks, passports, car licence etc. Because you can't change it and a criminal can use their real biometrics edited into your account, or vice versa as no computer system is secure.
But their PC is really a terminal to someone else's server. It's not private, even apart from the security vulnerability.
Cloud can be inappropriate. It's always someone else's server.
So called AI can be inappropriate. It's ultimately a human written program with human generated data using pattern matching.
Adding the two is often a recipe for stupidity.
But how many people are using it vs the target of how many people they want signed up?
Contention target.
Does any arbitrary VPN software work? Can you get a fixed IP? What is the jitter?
It has to make a profit per satellite in less than five years.
Nothing like Starlink was envisaged when the rules were written.
Space and orbits are an international resource.
Why did Starlink get approval just on USA agreement in the first place?
How does the FCC have the authority to allow these 500 km lower when they are not above the USA? Actually only one height makes a satellite appear to be always above the USA.
Also it's INTERNET satellites. Not Broadband. Peak speed doesn't make it broadband. Contention? Security & Evesdropping? Protocols?
What's the operational life?
I feel for Dabbs.
My own current frustration is trying to spend money on the Internet. There seems to be a mad concept of 2FA, SA and interpretation of EU directives.
I mean does it really really matter WHO pays my Car Tax? Also it's posted to a real address and the Government has all your details and the car's details. Yet it's like some sort of Plot your own Adventure Game. I peruse the list I made of 6 questions and answers I made for the Credit card company. The first question/response fails and I can't see what I'm typing * * * * * . I don't much use the other credit card now as they have an automatic security system that disables it. Such activity as paying car insurance or a €2 item off ebay will trigger it. They have my email and SMS. Yet only ever send a letter. Which takes 5 days longer than usual post. No human reviews the block till you phone them. Then they read out items bought instead of asking you.
Sadly I can't pay the car tax in the office due to Covid19 and the supermarket only sells cards for Apple, Google etc, not Car Tax.
Win 10 offers the SAME VM to consumers for incompatible Windows programs that Linux OS users use to run XP and Win7.
It also runs any version of Linux.
Also there is 32 bit and 64 bit WINE and even DOSbox for Win3.x 16 bit.
I agree some people have to run Windows boot. But I had Linux programmes in the Start Menu on NT 4.0 and XP via Services for Unix and a 3rd Party X-Windows server that integrated well to Explorer.
I gave it up when I upgraded to having a 64 bit CPU desktop with VM support. I was then running 32 bit XP and a 64 bit Ubuntu with an Oracle SQL in the VM. You CAN run a 64 bit OS in a VM on a 32 bit OS if the CPU supports it.
Now I only boot Linux Mint and use Wine or VM for Windows applications. Also browser can be more important for some people now. Thankfully Silverlight is in death throws.
I was demoing this to classes I was giving in 1999. MS Services for Unix, linux applications and a 3rd party X-Window server.
But since January 2017 I wiped the Windows boot & win NTFS partition on my dual boot laptop and made it ext4, and mounted it in home.
I run a choice of VMs on an external 3.5" USB drive. I have 32 bit Wine for some old Windows programs that don't work on 64 bit Win7 or Win10 and some that do. Can't remember when I last ran one.
So it's nice that MS is now "supporting" Linux instead of calling it a cancer. It won't affect much except maybe some devs in corporate places that insist the PC must only boot Windows.
A sop by a captured regulator? It's just a cheap way to extend coverage and reduces per user speed. A better solution is making licence conditions for better coverage and capacity by having x3 as many masts. Masts are harmless and can be unobtrusive. They are changing the wrong rules.
I've found sites that certainly only work in Chromium. Even if all protective plug-ins are turned off.
Also sites that detect uMatrix (which protects against malware) and block access insisting you are running an adblocker, even if you don't block any scripts.
That is OBSCENE.
I don't target adverts, I block potentially malicious 3rd party scripts. That's more secure than AV.
>
I think scripts in adverts should be illegal. Just serve an image that has a link to click. Anything else is abusive.
FloC is evil. Its entire description is dishonest. I've blocked ALL third party cookies for years. They should be illegal.
Um, less.
There were Jet engines before WII and also a Liquid Oxygen-Hydrogen rocket motor was tested in the early 1930s.
OTOH, the LAST manned Moon landing was nearly 50 years ago.
It's a good achievement and indeed it's impossible to say what will be happening in 40 years time.
I built a bed with a desk under it. All the wood (plywood, not MDF for desktop) was less than cost of the mattress. Less than one day to assemble. I fitted spots in ceiling for my daughter to read in bed and under the bed for the desk for the occasions she did homework. She lived in that till she got married.
Indeed I deliberately don't have fridge/kettle/coffee makers in my upstairs library-study so as to have exercise on the stairs.
A sub €150 10" Lenovo will be better than any built in tablet.
This isn't ergonomic and even with the so called features it's overpriced.
One of the UK's most prolific writers used a portable typewriter, on a plank, on her knee. Outside if weather permitted.
I found that the most comfy chair was for a counter. It 's like a stool with a short back. So I put the pillar at minimum height and raised the entire desk on blocks and put a stiff foam block at the laptop rear to have a nice slope on the keyboard and have the screen at a perfect height and distance.
I like an L shape so there is space for stuff as well as laptop, mouse and extra screen. Separate drawer units, not attached.
I have a filing cabinet, but only one of the four drawers has files. One is full of cables.
Except amazing they spent about $11 Billion simply getting factories that needed to be closed, people needing made redundant and ZERO IP or the name.
Was Elop really an MS Trojan or a double agent?
The Nokia Phone division was on a dead-end path from about 2004 when then implemented internal competition and scrapped S80 / Crystal etc, everything except S60. QT, Megoo, WinPhone all too late.
Was Zune bought in?
Was Visio the last useful buy-in?
It's worse.
MS business model was to sell Windows, Office and some other SW and a little HW.
Google's business model is to use people's private behaviour to sell adverts.
The entire business model and method of operation of Google, Facebook and similar needs outlawed world wide. A threat to Democracy, Dictatorships, personal privacy and Commerical competition. Immoral and in some aspects already illegal.
Back in 2007 you could write Java so the GUI matched the native desktop. Any arbitrary Linux desktop, Windows Aero Vista or XP toned down to look like win9x/Win2K. It just worked. The ONE program distributed.
Maybe a little slow for some things, but it was a 1.8 GHz Mobile P4 I was using.
Since the advent of WPF (never finished), Vista, the pointless vb.net (c# was far better, anyone going from VB 6 was better to use C# for .net than VB.net) and .net has been a mess. UWP or whatever it's called this week was a better idea for PDAs & Phones than WinCE, was. But just as putting Win9x interface on a 320 x 240 device was brain dead, so was EVER putting mobile interface on Desktop Windows.
There are some good ideas in WPF and .net originally. They should have been in a new separate OS.
You need a different GUI for phones, big tablets (Android still bad on that), TVs/Setboxes and notebook/laptop/desktop. Android and iOS are optimised for smaller screens, no real keyboard, no mouse and consumption. Android TV is designed for streaming, games and desktop screens, abysmal for Satellite & Terrestrial broadcast or normal living rooms.
Desktop GUIs (Risc OS, Solaris, Linux Desktop Managers, Win3.x, NT/Vista/XP, Mac OS, Beos, Gem) use a keyboard and mouse. The Xerox WIMP concept has never been bettered and MS peak implementation was Win9x, NT4.0 to XP & Server 2003.
MS has lost the plot. So has Google with Android, but for completely different reasons and issues.
It's in the Public Domain. A certain author did have to change a character to Herlock Sholmes or something similar, but Conan Doyle was alive then.
Of course there are things where wealthy companies that were once the genuine estate of a dead author attempt to bully people.
Book Titles are not copyrightable. Not to be confused with Registered Trademarks, not all of which can be protected.
It depends exactly what you mean by an API, if it should be copyrightable.
Really the implementation is the definitely automatically copyright part. But increase of Copyright to Life + 75 is a landgrab by corporations and of no benefit to creators. Corporate Copyright shouldn't be renewable and should be 20 to 25 years.
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