Posts by Eponymous Cowherd 1596 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Nov 2007
Take any contemporary bit of IT kit, be it a Windows box, a Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android phone, Kindle, routers, sat-navs, etc, etc.....
You will find that they are either based on Unix and/or created using C or one of its derivatives.
Jobs had a big impact on a relatively small section of IT, Ritchie's work underpins almost all of it.
A very great and sad loss to our profession.
I see PC World are selling the kindle (WiFi) 3 (now called the "Kindle Keyboard") for £109, a mere £20 more than this. That £20 gets you the keyboard, an extra 2GB memory and audio features. That's an awful lot for £20.
The biggest down-side is the lack of a keyboard. Its a complete pain in the ass when you have to use the "sym" virtual keyboard on the 3 to get at non-alpha characters. Having to do that all the time would be a real show-stopper.
For me, if I didn't already have a Kindle 3, Amazon would have to sell the 4 for something around the £60 mark for me to even consider it over the 3, though I note the Amazon UK site has stopped selling Wi-Fi only 3s
Getting the BBC "bureaucracy" to reduce itself is like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.
Still rather annoyed with the BBC over its underhand Sky F1 deal, and had occasion to make a comment regarding this on its "Internet Blog". The BBC bods were crowing about yet another web site redesign (about the 5th or 6th in as many months). I happened to ask why the dear old Beeb was blowing cash on tarting up websites while killing off BAFTA winning sports events that attract 6m viewers?
Instantly got my post moderated because, and I quote:-
"a comment of the form "I do not like [topic of post], the BBC should instead have spent the money on [off-topic segue]" is off-topic."
I used to be a supporter of the BBC and the "unique way it is funded", but things like the Android iPlayer cock-up, the F1 fiasco, and anally retentive control-freakery like that exhibited above are starting to make me think its time it was put out of its misery.
The problem Apple has is that there are an awful lot of Android fish to shoot, and they are breeding like wildfire.
The other problem is that it will only take one of these "fish" to get lucky with a single shot and its game over for Apple.
Apple may be the 800lb gorilla in the smartphone market, but even an 800lb gorilla can be killed by a single lucky shot from a 100lb weakling.
If someone buys a vacuum cleaner that, for example, is infringing a Dyson patent. There is nothing Dyson can do to the user/owner as they haven't manufactured it.
However, the act of setting up a network *is* manufacturing something (the network), so it may be possible to sue the network owner on that basis.
I do agree with others here that some anti Patent troll legislation is badly needed. Make it illegal to buy a patent that you have no intention on implementing. If you do not implement the patent within, say, 18 months, it expires.
VB.NET is a far more capable language than VB6 (rather VB.NET / C# are, as they are two sides of the same coin).
I'm not sure what has been "missed out", unless you mean such gems as On Error Goto.
The reason VB.NET is dying out, if any. is that migrating from VB.NET to C# isn't difficult and C# offers a somewhat more versatile and terse syntax.
But C# and VB.NET also compile to the same CIL. Indeed, in many cases it is, and always has been, quite possible to compile VB.NET code to CIL and then decompile back to C#.
Add to that, that both VB.NET and C# compiled to the same runtime (.NET or Mono) also share the same API and can utilise the same 3rd party libraries, then, in most cases, the only difference between them is syntactic.
While, indeed, most OO are semantically similar (though I wouldn't go as far as to say identical), there are still far greater (non syntactic) differences between Java and C# than between C# and VB.NET.
Or, to look at it another way. It is far easier to take a C# programmer and get him/her to write VB.NET than it would be for them to write Java, despite the syntactical similarities between C# and Java.
Skis work because the snow under them melts, causing a thin film of water which they ride upon.
at -200c, the "snow" on Enceladus would be more like trying to ski on real talcum powder.
IIRC, it was the low temperatures causing the snow to behave more like sand that caused a lot of the difficulties Scott encountered in his attempt to reach the South Pole.
But is it, though?
I have an HTC Touch Pro 2, which is the sort of form-factor suggested here, and its fat-but-curved shape sits in the palm of my hand quite nice and comfortably.
By contrast, when I hold my HTC Sensation, there is a big gab between the back of it and my palm, which might as well be filled with phone.
I actually find the iPhone 4, with its angular top and bottom edge, rather unpleasant to hold, whereas the curvy iPhone 3G is comfortable.
I really don't get this obsession with smartphone thinness.
I really rather like this idea. It is substantially different to the other examples in that it is a system for docking components *in* the phone rather than *on* the phone.
If it is, indeed, a new idea, then its a good example of what a Patent should be (are you listening Apple, Lodsys, etc).
Not sure how MS will use this though. Could they, for example, licence this to HTC, but only for Phone 7 (i.e. not Android).
you will be......
Anyone else remember "Soap", the late 1970's sitcom? Every episode started with a précis of the story so far, and ended with the line "Confused? You won't be after this week's episode of Soap"
This is a bit like that. Who's suing who? Who has an injunction against who? Who can't sell their products in Germany?
What we need is an official El Reg "Who's suing who" wallchart to help us keep track of these shenanigans.
The dropwire (the bit from the pole to the house) used to be coper plated steel as the conductors had to provide strength as well as act as electrical conductors. The problem with these was that any nicks in the copper plating and the steel would rust.
Current dropwire consists of 4 wire (0.5mm copper) with a steel catenary for support.
I don't know if there is much aluminium cable left, but it certainly was a right pain in the ass. It was used during the '70 when copper was scarce and expensive as aluminium is a fair conductor and is much cheaper than copper. Unfortunately it was prone to age hardening and became brittle. The upshot was that a technician fiddling with one circuit in a cabinet is almost certain to bush against others. If these used aluminium wire they would often snap. Another problem was in joints between ally and copper cable. Electrolytic action would corrode the ally wire until the joint fell apart.
You have a lot of people out there using Windows Mobile apps. Suddenly Microsoft pulls the rug out from under your ecosystem with Phone 7. Suddenly the platform (windows Mobile) your corporate apps run on becomes as rare as hens teeth.
What do you do? You could start using expensive enterprise "bricks", pretty much the only thing that is still available with Win Mobile but, realistically, you are going to have to port your app to Phone 7, Android or iOS.
We are still in the process of deciding which one to choose, but have already discounted one as a non starter. Can you guess which?
It would be better if the BBC spent more time fixing problems instead of tarting up stuff that works OK.
The dire Android iPlayer and this:-
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.taggames.doctorwho.androidnonuk&hl=en
Which is about as big a FAIL as you can imagine.
Really rather pissed with the BBC right now regarding the way it climbed into bed with, and allowed itself to be roughly sodomised by, Ecclestone and Murdoch empire over F1 coverage.
Single app store? No "unknown sources"? App approval system?
You mean like Apple?
Android cannot compete on those terms. One of the major attractions of Android is the freedom to do what you like with your own device. If you tie it down like an iPhone, you might as well buy an iPhone.
The Android permissions architecture is a pretty good idea. The problem is the implementation and presentation is poor.
When you are browsing the Market, you don't get to see the permissions until you are ready to download the app. It would be far better if the permissions were on the main app description page. It would also be a good idea for the Market app to highlight permissions that are a particular risk ("Services that cost you money", for example)
Its all, or nothing. You either agree to all of the permissions, or you don't install. In some cases this is sufficient, why would a fart app need access to my contacts? Other times it isn't. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for an app to require network access, even if it is to serve up ads. There are also plenty of malicious uses for that permission.
What is needed is for the permissions system to be up-ended. Instead of the app saying "I need these permissions", the user should be able to say "I give you these permissions", preferably when the app asks for them. The app asks to access location services, the user replies "No", "This time only" or "Yes Always". The Android API should require that apps should handle being denied a permission gracefully.
The network access permission could be tightened up by making it more specific. Something akin to a firewall, perhaps? Allowing the app to access certain addresses or use certain protocols? Could be too complicated for the average user, however.
There are firewall and permission blocker apps available, those these need root access and apps that have their permissions blocked often force-close or behave badly in other ways.
There are apps for rooted devices that allow you to restrict permissions. i.e. you can install an app that asks permission to access your address book, but it won't be able to when it tries. This will cause some apps to force-close, however.
IMHO, this facility should be a basic feature of Android, and developers should code their apps such that they don't die when told to feck off when asking for a permission.
Ideally a clean Android device should ask permission the first time an app asks for certain sensitive permissions (address book, things that cost money, SMS, location, etc). Users should be given a choice of "always allow", "never allow" or "always ask".
With regard to permissions look at this lot:
Your personal information
Services that cost you money
Your location
Your messages
Network communication
Your accounts
Storage
Phone calls
System tools
Now, what do you think would need all of those? Eh?
HTC's battery widget, that's what. And, because its installed from the "HTC Hub" app, you don't get to see these unless you happen to browse the app in the Manage Applications settings screen.
We are talking about the copyright on a recording here. A few minutes work at most. He may have also written the song, but that's a different issue. Of course, the people that do the donkey work, the sound engineers and support people get a one-off payment.
In the time it took Sir Cliff to wail out Living Doll, I could probably crack out a "Hello World". How I would love to be paid £shitloads over 70 years, for that.
I suppose it probably varies from school to school, but I don't have too many issues with my daughters' progress in English, Maths and Science.
But, particularly considering the school is trying to position itself as an IT academy, the 1 hour of secretarial skills training they receive each week as "Information and communication *technology*" is lamentable.
Not since "domestic science" (AKA cooking) has a subject been so poorly named. Next up, the driving test to be renamed "Automotive and Engineering Technology" and swimming lessons to be called "Hydrodynamic Studies"
You aren't going to knacker your battery by leaving it "on charge", largely because you aren't leaving it on charge. Ever noticed how most devices have a little LED that changes colour when its fully charged (usually from amber to green). Yep, that's right, it manages its own charging and stops charging the battery when its full. It then continues to power itself from external DC until it is unplugged, ensuring that the battery is nice and full when you disconnect it.
Plug your phone into this thing and it will charge it up (over a couple or three hours) and then disconnect. At that point your phone is on battery. So you won't wake up to a fully charged phone.
Now, running your device on battery is *less* green than running it on mains power because of the inefficiencies in charging. As using this thing means your device is spending more time on battery power, it could actually be less "green" than merely relying on the device's internal charge regulator.
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