* Posts by Herby

3058 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Dec 2007

Microsoft to end Windows 8 discounts on January 31

Herby

So what is the cost to DOWNGRADE?

So I want to go from W8 to W7. What does that cost me? Maybe if they start selling downgrades for "less" (I want W7, not W8, give me back some money!) it might be a bargain!

When this whole thing hits the fan, a bunch of people are going to be not to happy!

Smarm-bot Siri seeks side-splitting script-writer for charm transplant

Herby

Does this relate to...

...an episode of _The Big Bang Theory_ I saw a few days ago when Raj takes flowers to "Siri" with interesting results!

I believe they used the person who does the voice, but I'm not sure.

Happy birthday, Lisa: Apple's slow but heavy workhorse turns 30

Herby

Understand the Lisa for what it really is!

In the grand scheme of things, it was the prototype for the Mac. You develop all the features and work lots of the troubles out. Then you go and make a "second system". While this "second system" really isn't related to the first one, it grows and improves upon the the original. Sure, it did take a while to get the Mac up to the capability of the Lisa (around the Mac plus), things did work out.

My feeling is that it was a shame they dropped the 68k processor. For a given clock speed the 68k is far superior to the 80x86 chips. When they went to the PPC processor the deveopment of the 68k kinda died. Had it continued, I suspect the 68k processors would have kept pace. Oh, well!

New slicker Shylock Trojan hooks into Skype

Herby

If Microsoft isn't bad...

...let them prove it. They can easily push out a fix rapidly and show the world+dog that they are "on top of this".

Me? I'm not holding my breath!

The Spherical Cow lands, spits out Anaconda

Herby

Give up on Gnome!

Me? I'm using KDE, which seems to be just fine for me. Yes, it has quirks and seems to grind away at resources, but it does work, and thankfully doesn't have those silly cashews floating around the place. Browsers and office applications work with both styles of desktops and there isn't much difference there, the differences are in the "minor details", for me I just want out of the way.

Yes, I use F17 (presently) with KDE. It works just fine with my style. F18 with a new installer? I'll have to see. Maybe in a couple of months when F19 comes out I'll switch then.

NASA snaps pics of China's 'Airpocalypse' pollution disaster

Herby

Ah, the haze...

You can usually tell which kind of day it is in sillycon valley by looking across the bay to Monument peak and attempting to discern how many of the three towers you can see the top of. If you could only see the tallest (old channel 36), it was a yucko day. If you could see all three (old channel 36, old channel 48, and old channel 54), it could be counted to be a nice clear day. If you REALLY wanted to see smog, go to Southern California in the 60's. I had a friend who used to fly from the bay area down to the LA area in his private plane. At Tejon pass one could see the ooze bleeding north through the gap from the air.

As for Oakland, best to skip it (and most of the 510 area code for that matter). As for the Raiders, best watched on TV (just win baby!). Me (present day)? I'm a 49ers fan as they are in the playoffs.

Titsup Windows Phone 8 orders user to cram 'boot disc' in mobe

Herby

Next step?

So, now one presses CTRL-ALT-DEL?

John McAfee goes Hollywood with Warner Bros. movie deal

Herby

Gotta love...

...the pic on the top stories scroll. Looney Tunes it is!

Dell PowerEdge boots up after Hurricane Sandy acid bath

Herby

Another thing that helps

Is a freezer. It takes the humidity and condenses it out. Make sure that the equipment can "take" it.

One notes that if you leave an ice cube in a freezer, it tends to "disappear" after a few weeks.

Siri, will Chrome's new speech features kill you?

Herby

Accuracy??

Just remember if your administrative assistant (nee secretary) took dictation at a 99% accuracy, any executive worth their salt would just as soon fire them. Given that most voice recognition is not that near, as said in a previous post, it remains a nice fun tool. You will always be asked a confirming question (did you mean...?) and go from there.

Yes, great strides have been made, but it isn't "production quality" for the most part. I wouldn't bet my life on the recognition the first time. Even us humans don't get it right all the time and need to ask questions.

Life goes on.

Computers are 'electronic cocaine' that make you MANIC

Herby

Less clinical methods...

Then there is the opposite: Caffeine, which is provided as well (usually for free in most work settings) to enhance the work flow.

Some of us to not imbibe in ETOH (C2H5OH) as much. There are better activities to counter depression. I'll leave those to another (probably NSFW) discussion. Suffice it to say that it works quite well.

Cisco sued by East Carolina University

Herby

USPTO use Google??

That would be the day. I believe that the only thing the "search engine" of the USPTO is an internal one. It really doesn't look THAT far.

Most likely by design (unfortunately!).

Bubble baron treats Space Station crew to blowup model

Herby

One way to check if it works:

Make up an inflatable and push it along with some other science to some outboard planet. Part of the science would be to detect leaks and how they work. While the balloon might be large physically, its mass would (hopefully) be quite small, and since mass is the driving cost factor, it would be a cheap experiment. The next question for everyone is what shape this blow-up device would take. I'll leave it to others to speculate, but I understand there are LOTS of example of blow-ups here on earth.

Disney World slaps pay-by-bonk stalker cuffs on grown-ups

Herby

It looks like...

Scroge McDuck's money bin is now founded in actual fact. All of these schemes are just there so a company can milk more money from the unsuspecting customer. On rare occasions they actually help the customer, but these are few.

Lots of places charge more for items that are cost savers for a company. The best example of this is the transition from rotary dials to touch tone. The advent of touch-tone allowed shorter line hold times (the difference might be seconds, but it DOES add up). It ended up being a cost saver for the various telephone companies. Of course, they charged customers for this time-saving convenience. Yes, the capital cost was there (telephones were supplied by the phone company then), but the savings in equipment load cost were much more.

There is a lesson here.

Firefox for Android now runs on EVEN OLDER, slower kit

Herby

Given the requirements...

Of FireFox in this environment, I still wonder how I could ever run a browser on my 80 Meg Quadra 840AV (it is one of the computers on my KVM switch) and have it work at all!

Wonders of the ancient world never cease to amaze me!

British armed forces get first new pistol since World War II

Herby

Of course there are alternatives

A nice small nuclear weapon will cure LOTS of things in short order. Of course it has instructions kinda like fireworks:

"Light fuse and run away".

As the saying goes: "Closeness only counts in horseshoes and atom bombs".

All in all an interesting discussion, even for one who likes personal weapons, but doesn't have one.

Boffins develop microwave weed-zapper

Herby

2KW of power...

Isn't very portable. You need probably 3HP of engine just to power the microwave horns, and a bit more to move it all along. If you DO decide to plug it in, make sure your home service isn't limited to 1.5kW (see yesterdays story) and don't plug it into a USA domestic outlet as they are only good for 1800 watts or so (at the outlet, less at the other end of the cord).

Alternatives that might work are playing music, as I've heard it does effect the growth of plants, I just don't remember which way it does it.

Otherwise, zap away. Don't forget you shouldn't look at the microwave emitter as it can cook your eyes if you aren't careful!

Texas schoolgirl loses case over RFID tag suspension

Herby

Mark of the beast problem?

Of course, one might not have 666 embossed on the RFID tag, but wouldn't 42 being the tag (it is the answer to everything!) be just the opposite?

In school, one needs answers after all!

I will note that such things as RFID tags on pupils (and teachers!) would not have prevented the tragedy in Connecticut. Please refrain from comments on this part, as it would be way off topic.

Potty-mouthed Watson supercomputer needed filth filter

Herby

Maybe it needs to have its mouth...

...Washed out with soap.

On the other hand, has it been shown the _New Hackers Dictionary_ (aka Jargon file)? That might give it some context.

Another interesting idea would be for it to glean information form the closed-captioning of a few TV shows. Of course, it should be told the rating of the shows so it has context. Then it could pick out those words that are used in R environments, and those used in PG environments.

Live and learn.

'Leccy-starved Reg hack: 'How I survive on 1.5kW'

Herby

Replacement for "bypass breaker"?

Here in the 120 volt world (actually 240 volts with a center tap), the recommended method of bypass was to use pennies (nicely made from copper until they added some zinc) in the bottom of Edison based fuses. Worked wonders for additional current carrying capacity.

As for 1.5 kW (12.5 amps at our specified 120 volt level), it seems that ON AVERAGE that is what my house currently consumes. At least that is what the local power company (PG&E) tells us. Unfortunately that is not the peak demand. Sometimes the wife likes to have the shower room a little warmer after a chilling (45F) night and turns on the small space heater that in addition to only taking the chill off, does dim the lights while it runs. I suspect that it is around 1kW all by itself. Thankfully the house uses utility provided methane (again PG&E) to heat and cook. The main furnace does have a blower motor which is around 1HP or so (750 watts) but I haven't measured it.

And so it goes for us people around 37.5 degrees north latitude, which is near to what it is in Spain.

Scientists snap first film of giant squid in action

Herby

So, Calamari is...

...on the menu at the restaurant tonight?

Me? I just prefer a Cheeseburger and fries, thank you!

5.6TB helium disks could balloon, lift WD onto enterprise throne

Herby

Need more Helium?

Just have more Alpha decay!

Need more Alpha decay, more nuclear power plants. Nice side effect.

Then again, you could have fusion plants, but that is a ways away.

Yes, Hydrogen is a bit nasty. It makes metals brittle, and corrodes quite nicely. Best to make it on the spot, a little Zinc in HCl works quite nicely for this (as I saw in 7th grade/First Form).

Which qualifications are worthwhile?

Herby

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned...

Becoming a proper BOFH. Of course one may need to start being a proper PFY first, but usually you get that job by knowing the boss anyway. For many of us, the BOFH stories are biographical (if not actually, but the intent is there). Go read just how Simon solves the problems of the day. Remember, he calls the lonley people at the "helldesk" low lifes and has much distain for them since they rarely solve problems, and end up creating more for him.

Yes, go read several installments of the tales of BOFH, and his assistant PFY, and you shall become "enlightened!".

Then again, I've been programming since the 60's (and being paid for it) so what do I know. But there are those BOFH moments!

US nuke lab drops Chinese networking kit

Herby

One could suppose that this is ...

An argument for open source.

I'll let others argue the point ad-infinitium.

Zombie BT mobile patent emerges in hands of troll

Herby

Of course, one could look at prior art

In the form of US patent #4692761. While it involves using power lines as a communication medium, but the rest of it works on finding adaptive paths using signal-to-noise ratio.

Why do I know this? I helped in the patent application (but not the patent, so my name isn't on it).

Bacterial quantum tricks could help solar power

Herby

To there is a use for...

SLIME after all.

Now if they can get it to gobble up CO2 in great quantities here on the surface it could lead to climate change (bad, or good, you pick).

Microsoft burgled, only the APPLE iPADS stolen - cops confirm

Herby

Second prize?

As the saying goes, Second prize is a week in (name your ugly town), and first prize, you ask? That is TWO weeks in (name your ugly town).

So, second prize in this case is a Surface tablet, and first prize is many Surface tablets. Not an iPad to be seen!

Maybe thieves do have smarts, but I doubt it!

John McAfee the Belize spymaster uncovers 'ricin, terrorist plots'

Herby

One of two things are happening here.

Either this is all very very false, and he is shorted between the headphones, or it is all very very true, and we all need to be afraid.

Unfortunately the "bogometer" tends to point towards the first conclusion.

If this is in the 'very very true' region we might never hear about it. Of course this might be the plot for the next Bond movie, as we all need villains. Where is the guy with the white cat?

Windows RT jailbreak smash: Run ANY app on Surface slabs

Herby

First non-signed program to run?

Me, I'd just run a program to re-flash the BIOS (or whatever they call it) to eliminate the signing of the OS image. Something perfectly good for me. Then install a version of Linux so it will be "Windows 8 or better".

Sounds like a plan for me.

US Patent Office seeks public input on software patents' future

Herby

Prior art?

The problem is that the USPTO only considers older patents as "prior art", meaning all "prior art" must be patented (surely it was?). Until they get over this hurdle and recognize that some (all?) software has some unpatented prior art they will never "get it right".

One could probably get a patent on various ways (methods) of obtaining a square root (there are lots), including one called the "odd integer method", that was implemented on a computer in the 1960's (exercise for reader, which one?).

Lots of the "reform" needs to be in the attitude that the patent office takes. One story is that they didn't hire "computer science" majors because the patent office doesn't do science. Perhaps there should be a "public comment" period on proposed patents so we can all contribute to the "prior art" knowledge base.

As I write this my cube-mate is working on a patent. Go figure!

Traffic app Waze 'turned down Apple's $400m, wants $750m' - report

Herby
Happy

You actually use 19th avenue to get to the GG bridge?

You are a fool. The better way is to go down Brotherhood way (the interchange at the beginning of the route) and take Sunset. Much quicker and avoids all the 19th Ave. traffic!

The bigger problem is that SF doesn't like freeways, but I'll leave the more lengthy comments on that for another day.

30 years ago, at flip of a switch, the internet as we know it WAS BORN

Herby

Re: Barbed Wire fences

Well, it does work over a variety of things. See RFC1149 for instance. Sure the delay is a bit long, but was shown to work!

Yes, you can get telephones to work over barbed wire fences. Just make sure there are two strands and hook your EE-8 set between them and crank away. Dual purposes work great!

US military nails 'best ever' Microsoft deal, brags size does matter

Herby

So, Windows is...

...running ships aground, and aiming weapons?

Sorry, I'll pass. Hopefully they will allow some 'other' software on their machines. Why not skip the 'office' requirement and specify LibreOffice (or equivalent) and get it done cheaper. THAT would give a BIG boost to FOSS and make lots of people happy!

Microsoft is probably very happy to get $100/machine for minimal (no?) work. PC vendors already include the cost of W7/W8 in the hardware price, so DoD is probably paying twice. I seriously doubt that Microsoft will give OEMs a discount for shipping machines to DoD.

Win for Microsoft, Lost for American Taxpayers (like me). (*SIGH*)

Microsoft says Google trying to undermine Windows Phone

Herby

What about those websites

That only work with IE?

Sorry!

Exploding stars drive Galactic geysers

Herby

Ergs?

Sorry I want my energy units more reasonable. knock it down by 7 orders of magnitude and call it 10^48 joules.

Who uses ergs for anything measurable anyway?

ARM server hype ramps faster than ARM server chips

Herby

So what do you say to Microsoft

If you are a computer maker. Microsoft expects you to include a version of Windows on your systems as well as paying a license fee. But there is no version of Windows available (yet?), so server makers will just forgo the licensing and ship servers with (god forbid) a non windows operating system.

Oh, the horror.

On another front... Apple announces a change in processors for their computer line. Sorry, Intel! Pigs do fly! Pigs in space!

Delay climate mitigation, escalate the costs: study

Herby

Yes, but...

How much is that in Chinese Yuan? They now produce more CO2 than most (if not all) other countries, and aren't going to pay to mitigate any CO2.

Then again, it was cold last night and even getting close to my wife didn't help as much as it should have. That and today is the closest the earth gets to the sun as it orbits.

Sorry, warming is also happening on Mars and they don't have silly carbon taxes that only help to enslaven us all.

Ever had to register to buy online - and been PELTED with SPAM?

Herby

My own domain...

I got one as well. Yes, I make up unique addresses for various functions. Yes, I can tell where they got the address. This is all well and good, and I found out that someone harvested my address from a Tektronix mailing list, and I now get all sorts of "ticket generated" spam using that address.

The downside of this is that with your own domain, you get all sorts of spam that points to "users" that have never existed. Hundreds of them. On each email. So I now have a wonderful pre-processor that trashes all of these. In addition, you get people signing up for hotmail accounts with names on your domain (in my case many in Spanish) and I try to click on the link that says "no I didn't want this" while putting the address in my trash list.

It is a never ending battle, as the problem with Spam email is that (unfortunately) IT WORKS. So what if you generate zillions of spam emails, if just 10 or so net you some sort of $$$ they they have succeeded in their task. Since the spamming operation is "free" ANY click, virus infection, or silly "enhancement" advertisement is money in their pocket. Simple economics unfortunately. If it cost just 1/10 (maybe less?) of a cent for each email (how much email do you send on a personal basis) it would drive up the costs for the spammers to make it non-economical for them to continue. The reason there isn't (that) much junk snail mail is that it has a definite cost associated with each piece that goes out the door.

As for such things as mailing lists, I suggest a small "one time" fee to setup these on a server, and allow them to be audited for "spam compliance" (subscription procedures, etc.).

No solution is "perfect", but when the majority of email can be classified as "spam" something needs to be done. I would like to track down the spammers and greet them with some sort of weapon of mass destruction, but that might be a bit extreme (joke), or then again it might not be, who knows. (*SIGH*)

Microsoft scrambles to thwart new Internet Explorer 0-day attack

Herby

I'm shocked!!

I'm very shocked. There is a vulnerability in IE? And it existed back to IE6?

Shocked, I say, shocked!

Of course there are people who insist on wanting IE for all the wrong reasons, and having just talked to a business owner who must use it, a (drum roll) payroll program. Go figure.

He also does stats on what type of browser is used for his web site, and (drum roll) IE wins again. So, yes users ARE stupid!

Leaping hedgehog probes planned for Martian moon Phobos

Herby
Joke

Why am I reminded of...

The Muppet show's ...Pigs In Space...

When it comes to naming things after animals that fly high above us?

Movie oldsters FAIL at internet: Online Oscar voting 'too complex'

Herby

I resemble that remark

Being an "old geezer" and helping with elders and computers, I can understand the problem. But here in sunny (It did rain last week) California they already use these nice paper ballots for the confused who don't trust the silly voting machines (since discarded it seems). On these, you connect the lines (to make a nice arrow) and you are done. It can't get less complicated than that. All you need to do is send out a serialized ballot (the accounting firm might have the correspondence to real people) and await the return mail. Very secure for the most part (providing you don't let some secretary fill out the ballot as some do).

Then you tabulate the results in a nice closed room (no peeking!) and release the results on the specified day. You could even print out the results ready for stuffing in the "envelope please" as required. Seems a pretty simple task to me. There exist nice sheet scanners that work quite well in a "batch" mode, and considering that the academy doesn't have THAT many members (I think it is less than 1000, but I could be wrong), it can easily be done.

Note to academy: How about two new categories: "Honorable mention, nominated, but not winning", and "Honorable mention, not nominated". Both would be welcome surprises to the 3-4 hour awards show. The first would be the non winner of a group of categories with the most votes that didn't win, the second would be a pure write-in. Often times there is a clear "second place" that deserves an award! But alas I dream...

What's THAT, you say? Apple MIGHT be making a NEW iPHONE, iOS?

Herby

Obviously...

This is a new iPad model, the iPad micro edition.

Or at least that is what my BOFH says.

What Compsci textbooks don't tell you: Real world code sucks

Herby

One just needs to judge code correctly

You need to look at the whole thing. Comments, AND code. You can write terrible code, and you can write terrible comments (i++; /* Increment i */). If you are a 'supervisor' you need to weed out the bad, and fertilize the good (no not that way!). If you are 'management' you must allow for and budget money and time to get a proper result. It is a fools task if you take shortcuts.

The saying goes, never enough time to do right, but lots of time to do over. This must be stopped, and the people in the trenches given proper resources to generate code that WILL stand the test of time.

Experience comes from wisdom, and wisdom comes from experience. Coding in 6 decades does that to you (some were only a couple of years), yes 6 decades, back to the 60's.

TSA agrees to review of perv scanner radiation risks

Herby

Now I know...

Where to put the hip flask so I don't pay the outrageous price for the mini-bottles of booze!

SPUDS ON A PLANE! Boeing boosts in-flight Wi-Fi with tater tech

Herby

This just in...

The spuds have been declared to be "living" and as such subject to animal research guidelines. They need to be informed and have proper consent. PETA (people eating tasty animals) has already filed a lawsuit demanding that the testing be stopped.

On another front, it has been reported that those eating the "irradiated" leftovers might be exposed to radiation and may be entitled to compensation. Call (USA) 1-877-bad-spud toll free (of course) to get assistance in filing your claim.

US patent office: Nice try Apple, but pinch-to-zoom is NOT a new invention

Herby

Pinch to zoom??

Isn't it "un-pinch to zoom"? Pinching causes an anti-zoom (where you see more, not less).

Of course, people will attempt to patent a wheel so something.

By the way, does anyone know what patent (US) #1 was?

The fault also lies with the patent office, which seems to think that "prior art" is only things that are patented. They need to broaden their horizons and maybe do web searches to find ALL the prior art. Maybe after the end of the world they will get modernized with these new fangled things called computers!

Outlook 2013 spurns your old Word and Excel documents

Herby

Let's see now...

Microsoft not supporting a format in a version of its software.

This forces people to use a new format that is ONLY supported in the latest version of the software.

So when you interact with another person and send them a document, it is in the NEW format.

This forces your colleague to upgrade to the new version as well.

And the cycle goes on.

So Microsoft gets everyone to upgrade even if they really don't need it.

Microsoft makes BIG BUX on upgrades.

Isn't this the idea?

Me? I use Libre Office which works just fine on my Linux machine!

Canadians nab syrup rustlers after massive maple sap heist

Herby

Of course, in the states we make some as well

Up in those states that are oh so close to Quebec and the St. Lawrence river.

Vermont, New Hampshire, and upstate New York to name a few.

I can't vouch for quality or quantity in relation to the Canadian stuff, but it does exist.

Can't beat it for a nice waffle on a Sunday morning before the football (American!) game. Yum!

Search engines we have known ... before Google crushed them

Herby

Modem, speeds, and tones, Oh My!

Yes, there were things before "the internet" when you had to connect directly to the machine you did work on. Your "local" presence was a terminal that clunked along at 110 baud (10 characters/second). A wonderful mechanical beast called a Teletype machine (usually an ASR33, having paper tape and all). You did all that acoustic coupler stuff because the phone company wouldn't let you connect directly to the phone line. Of course, if you managed to "obtain" a real Bell 103A modem (they are nice big boxes with dial phones attached!), you could wire it up yourself and not tell anyone how you did it. Later on we graduated to higher speed terminals (IBM 2741's were in use in the late 60's/early 70's) or 30 CPS devices called DECWriters.

Search engines were usually the guy next to you when you asked "where is...".

Of course, lots of things were contained in rows of card files, or tape libraries, and "search" was to look to see if you could find it on the label.

Then there was email, to another guy on the machine. Did it in the 60's!

VCDX: The elite certification just 105 people hold

Herby

As for Porsches...

There is only ONE real Porsche, the 356, preferably a Cabriolet!

Get a Carrera version of that an you have something (no I never saw one, but they were available). Of course it will attract tickets from the local gendarmes but driving on the 280 freeway at 90MPH with the top down on a clear summer night is a wonder to behold.

As for certifications, most of them prove that you can get certified, and not much else. I suspect that there exceptions (and VCDX might be one) but you get the picture.

If you want REAL certifications, try flight training or medicine where you don't really have time to look up things (blood pressure over 200 is really bad for instance). To get these, you need to train, and go through a "real life" test of your knowledge.