* Posts by Charlie Clark

12110 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Apr 2007

Microsoft Publisher books its retirement party for 2026

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Serif PagePlus...

I was using PagePlus for my assignments in the early 1990s. At the time it was really the only option on a simple Windows machine. It wasn't perfect, but for many projects, including my dissertation, it was good enough. I revisited it a few times via a Windows VM and found it still usable and many of the older quirks had indeed been resolved. If I had the need for something similar again, I'd have no problem buying a new version, whether for Windows or Mac. Given the ability of the market behemoths to dominate and squash competition, it's really quite amazing it's still out there.

For Photoshop-like work I use Photoline.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: "have a go at importing .pub files"

Documenting and publishing the details of the file format is time-consuming and expensive and I'm not sure how useful it would really be for those few users of the software: they'd still need to develop parsers and converters. There are other alternatives migrating files to other software.

Euro shoppers popping more and more premium phones in the basket

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Many of us by used iPhones

Sounds like he's just using the phone as a media player and using it as a component of the car.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

I would say that comparing the situation now with how things were a decade ago is a little unfair. Since then there have been few changes in the OSes that needed vendor support. In addition, Google's Project Treble really did a good job in keeping devices reasonably up to date without vendor support. And we have an increasing range of things like Revanced to reduce the snooping.

Devices that support LineageOS tend to get support for quite a while until things like hardware support in the OS become a problem to support. The drivers in the vendors blob are usually all that's a required. A bigger issue for some is that some software complains about rooted devices. My S10e will get LineageOS soon so after when I'll be able to say more.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

This is really a question of getting the regulation right to make the market work properly. As long as it's cheaper to send kids to mine for whichever minerals we need, then that's what we'll get. The proposed EU rules might help because they should encourage manufacturers to consider repair and recycling in design.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Unscientific anecdotal sample

I can do the maths. 3 years + -2-3 years with a new battery is very appealing for anyone with a premium model.

Regarding IOS support, I know about this. However, a mate of mine who's been drinking at the koolaid fountain for a while says that older phones generally struggle on newer releases of the OS after a few years and many apps insist on the latest version of the OS and use changes to ask for new licences. Never come across this on any Android device. Still, as long as the users are happy with it, it's okay.

My S10e got a new battery last year and is all the better for it.

My main point is I suspect that Apple's halo may fade if phones in general become less interesting, as my own unscientific reporting suggests.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Unscientific anecdotal sample

Most of the people I know have got off the upgrade / replacement cycle and have phones ≥ 4 years old and for many a new battery seems the only thing they want. While the Fanbois do seem to be the ones to replace more frequently, I wonder how often this will occur as the caché of owning the latest and greatest phone starts to decline.

Still, given total volumes, it's not as if any of the large manufacturers need worry.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Ah, well...

What a great idea! When I think how quickly once-friendly neighbours turn into weapon wielding maniacs…

Where's the pitchfork icon?

MariaDB receives offer to go private more than year after disastrous IPO

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: trying to leech off the IP?

While I despise Oracle's sales practices, I think that, as a business, they've done a reasonable job with MySQL: there's still a free version but maintenance and documentation have considerably improved under Oracle's stewardship. Of course, they want you to pay for stuff and the licensing has been tightened up, but that was clear from the start and for any businesses who really need MySQL that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

You'll see what real sharks look like if this deal goes through. As for the DB itself, well, without a company like MariaDB plc doing most of the development, I wouldn't expect much. Fortunately, there are now quite a few alternatives out there. And, if needed, companies that can help you migrate.

Time to bring back the RIP icon?

Apple Vision Pro units returned as folks just can't see themselves using it

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: The usefulness of tech to carbon based lifeforms.

I wonder what you base your assertion on. My understanding is that a social context (may or not be competitive) is the key driver for most people to do some exercise: go for a walk, ride, swim gym class with a friend. Gameification tends to become relevant for those who do exercise and I do collect some data on the things I do, but again the relevance tends to correlate strongly with whether your friends do. As for any medical benefits: the advice for those who don't do enough exercise is rountinely: little and often.

However, the big issue, is who else has access to that data? My weight is between me and scales only. My bike computer is as dumb as they get, but at least it shows me the time.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

I think you managed to tell us a lot about yourself.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

The only people I know who really use it are tradesmen where it can be very useful for handling calls while they're hands are full and they're gloves are on: I've never seen any of them using the apps. An Apple watch if they have an I-Phone, something else if they don't.

British businesses told: Compliance with EU AI law will satisfy UK guidance

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Coat

Re: Hold your horses!

Most companies tend to prefer market access over Balkanisation and are, therefore, generally keen on seeing countries adopt existing legislation, even if it might restrict them. They know they'll still be able to lobby for liberalisation in the future in invariably secret trade negotiations.

While I do remember notices on some US websites a few years ago I don't recall having seen any the last couple. IIRC there was a bried period when GDPR applied in the EU and there was nothing equivalent in the US. Then California introduced it's own "I bet you can't believe it's not GDPR" and the Brussels effect went into force. In any case, if you're a publisher, third-party cookies are not your friends.

However, I do believe that some US residents in some states reportedly can't access some websites in other US states.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Hold your horses!

True, but you missed the strawman on this one: this Brexit we got by voting overwhelmingly for the Clown Car Party isn't the one we wanted. Can we please keep doing it again until we get the (still undefined) one "we" wanted.

I've got the oven on…

European Court of Human Rights declares backdoored encryption is illegal

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Well good thing the UK had Brexit

Germany is full of undocumented workers and, like most countries, it doesn't have the resources to run enough checks on them or their employees. But I do agree that the scale is probably greater in the UK, the home of "don't ask questions" regulation.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Well good thing the UK had Brexit

No, you don't need to carry a passport with you at all times, but you do need ID: need to get mine renewed. Or, are you talking about your British passport? Before I had both I never carried it but did need it as ID as the residence permit doesn't count.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Cherry picker.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Most European countries have strong constitutional protection of citizens privacy, which is why the courts continually block any such laws.

Doesn't stop the snooping, of course, but it does limit its scope and potential use in court cases, which law enforcement types tend to approve because they don't have the resources to snoop on everyone all the time, though the NSA might disagree. Much better to use standard techniques and get court orders when you know who you want to snoop on.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

It gets used because it's always popular and good for some soundbites when you need to look like you're doing something.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Well good thing the UK had Brexit

It's common enough in other countries and you'll hear it used in kitchens and elsewhere. The big draws are the diaspora and the availability of paid (however poorly) work.

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Stop

Re: Well good thing the UK had Brexit

You're missing the point, which is expressed differntly elsewhere along the lines of "if you want to know how civilised somewhere is, look at how it treats the poor". The UK did not like being forced to give prisoners their right to vote back.

Back to refugees, I have no doubt that, at some point, European legislation will be updated to allow for more stricter definitions – and the EU already has two classes of refugees based on the way it classifies Ukrainians. It's arguable that this is closer to the spirit of the law as it was drafted after WW II. However, the law is law and it's the courts job to enforce it and politicians to respect it, even if they intend to change it. But even after such a change, the handling of migrants will still require bilateral agreements to reduce trafficking and process returns. Numbers crossing from France tend to decrease when relations with France are better. I wonder why that is?

What could be done immediately would be to improve the crackdowns on illegal employment and thus exploitation of migrants.

Microsoft says it'll throw €3.2B at AI ops in Germany

Charlie Clark Silver badge

3,000 jobs

Buried in all the hype, which skirted over tax breaks and other inducements, was the fact that only around 3,000 jobs will be created. I don't know where the rest of the money is going but from the announcements a couple of data centres and solar parks wouldn't be it. And I wonder how many jobs Microsoft hopes to destroy by getting more companies to use its infrastructure and services?

WTF is 'deployment phasing'? One reason Cisco revenue just went backwards, is what

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: "probably in excess of 20-plus weeks of inventory"

Oh, we'll renew before it fails. But if extending hardware lifetimes by a year is okay for Google and Microsoft, it's okay for the rest of us.

What we also want is better interoperability and more competition.

Dumping us into ad tier of Prime Video when we paid for ad-free is 'unfair' – lawsuit

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Question is...

FWIW I use both and pay for Windy (annual subscription) and Today Weather (one off). Windy is a geek's dream but Today Weather has a the Hitchhiker's Guide UI that is very appealing and broadcasts local weather warnings.

But looking for long range forecasts, I recently discovered MetCheck, looks like hours of endless fun!

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Question is...

Can't argue you with that but I also think they know when something isn't worth the fight.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Question is...

The advertisers don't really, the publishers do.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Question is...

I think advertisers will tell you that most people are more than happy with ads. If this were not the case, businesses that depend upon ads but where people can opt out (whether through technical means or otherwise) would fold. Figure of the air but I seem to recall that ad-blockers are on less than 3% of people's devices.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Question is...

I'm not sure that's true in this case: the ad-free users are still providing useful demographic data to both the publisher and the advertising company which helps target the ads. Eg. if it's richer, more educated, etc. users that are "ad-free", this will help the advertisers in their planning and they may buy fewer premium slots. Of course, they still want to reach these users so they might start offering "incentives" to the publishers who then increase the "premium" you have to pay to avoid ads and the effect will be the same: the premium is always going to be > commission, which is why everyone tends to end up being fed ads.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Idiots

Still sounds like a material change in the Ts&Cs. I think they'll want to settle this quickly to kill of the discussion and run of cancellations.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Question is...

There's a bit more to it than that. Subscriptions are great because, like gym membership, they tend to have long tails of people who hardly use them but never cancel their subscriptions. This skews the "per user" calculations.

If you've ever looked at advertising spending, and this is what actually matters, you'll realise that they probably make quite a bit more than that. Don't forget that they use the data from the "ad-free" service to profile and market the advertisers and this means they really do know a great deal about their audience and advertisers are happy to pay for high quality data. Note again, that the "per user" number is skewed, advertisers will be bidding only for active users, say British ex-pats in Germany who are interested in IT, are retired and "from a far look like flies".

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Idiots

What they should have done is announce a price increase and a new ad-supported service, forcing people to choose. They'll get this in the end but it will cost them to settle in or out of court.

Europe loosens the straps tying Apple and Microsoft to tough antitrust rules

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Subject to review

The legislation has some poorly crafted categories. No doubt it will take the courts to sort this out.

Tesla's Cybertruck may not be so stainless after all

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Coat

Re: Stainless?

That's down to the combination of hard water and the salt used to soften it: sodium and calcium with an electroylte is not a good combination. You've probably got the water set as too hard, try and reduce and see how that works – it will take a few washes to become noticeable.

Mine's the one with the pH meter in the pocket.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Stainless?

Rivets and whatever it's mounted to spring to mind. There are reasons why stainless steel isn't used for car bodywork and cost isn't the main one. We'll have to wait and see whether the damage is purely cosmetic, though rust rarely is, or whether it's back to th advanced metallurgy course.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Stainless?

It rains like shit here but stainless exterior fittings remain remarkably unblemished. This really shouldn't be happening. I'd suggest there is some less corrosion resistant material around there that's happy to form a circuit with the steel. If that's the case, pretty much anything will corrode.

Joint European Torus experiments end on a 69 megajoules high

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: 69 megajoules

It's both: the magnets are so strong that they affect what they're built with but they need to be big to be stable.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: On the right track?

My point is that this most recent experiment validates much of what ITER will be doing. Ie. while the dates of the various stages will no doubt continue to slip, it does look like we will no longer forever be 20 years from practical fusion. This stuff is hard™ but the experiments have been getting more successful.

And, please don't play fundamental research projects like these off against industrial policy: it's not an either/or world. Of course, we should be investing in renewable energy and the massive amounts of associated storage.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: On the right track?

I've got some new ACME paint that is guaranteed to prevent intradimensional monsters, the kind that those fools at ITER and CERN are bound to unleash on an unsuspecting world. But I'm worried about delta-rays that everyone refuses to talk about!

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: 69 megajoules

Containment over time (more than microseconds) has proved to be much, much harder than anyone imagined. The effects of the magnetic fields required are in the realms of science fiction. Imagine magnetic fields strong enough to act like gravity on everything around them.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: 69 megajoules

No, creating more energy from the reaction than you need to start it will happen almost by definition once the reaction is sustainable. The rest is a matter of scale, which is why testing things like the walls is very important.

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Go

On the right track?

Sounds like the final experiment suggested that, despite much criticism, ITER could be on the right track. There is now quite a bit of VC money sloshing around in various fusion projects, all of which seem to suggest that it can be done easier and cheaper than anything the bureaucratic boffins in Toulouse can come up with. And yet, and yet: record energy release and nearly record reaction length.

I think, that as with many things, we may need to go all the way with ITER and then work backwards when it comes to doing it better and cheaper.

Of course, I'm going to put another layer of foil on the house: you can never be too careful!

Billions lost to fraud and error during UK's pandemic spending spree

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Oops, we stole it

With all due respect, I'm still of the opinion that we witnessed a staggering combination of "this time it's different" with the headess chicken syndrome, determined above all to be seen doing something.

Countries should have plans for epidemics and they need to communicate quickly and clearly the dangers, the home truths that potentially millions will die, and the rules for the first 8 to 12 weeks (doens't really matter after then).

Unfortunately, many countries quietly shelved their plans, because maintaining the inventory costs money and we need to make some budgetary savings… We can always reactivate it when we need it…

Google silences Bard, restrings it as Gemini with optional $20-a-month upgrade

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Pint

Re: Three syllables better for voice recognition

Have one of these. After all, it is Friday.

Still, I think Gemini is probably quite a good brand name for a digital assistant.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Three syllables better for voice recognition

I suspect this is just a prelude to the "Gemini" assistant with three syllables chosen as a good basis for invoking it: complex enough to be reliable and less likely to happen by accident. Right, Alexa?

BOFH: Hearken! The Shiny Button software speaks of Strategic Realignment

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Don't forget Cover Your Arse™. This package will ensure that, whatever happens, someone else gets the blame.

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Coat

Re: Resource re-alignment?

It's the gravy for ambitious but no so talented managers. People who haven't worked in the service industry shouldn't want to be managers, but they do. Management done right provides a service to the employees; done wrong, try to treat employees like servants.

Realignments are inevitable when it becomes clear that the last set of consultant-based reorganisation didn't work and now even fewer people who need to work together are working together. Instead everything has been streamlined and nobody knows what they should be doing. So, time for a realignment and cue the next lot of consultants arriving with whiteboards, charts and games to break the nose ice. Add some creative accounting and, while productivity goes down, it's bonuses all round as profits are juiced by selling assets and leasing them back. Then there's a round of musical office chairs as the most motivated middle managers are whittled down for allowing the most talented employees to leave.

Mine's the one with The Mythical Man Month in the pocket.

Microsoft seeks patent for tech to put words into your mouth

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Welcome to the Age of Plausible Deniability

I don't believe you said that.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Welcome to the Age of Plausible Deniability

Fraud tends to adapt quickly to whichever technology is available. Lindsay's Blow Up, Coppola's The Conversation but also Wag the Dog, The Bourne Supremacy and myriad pranks (and fake UN reports) have shown what is possible. Sometimes it takes a lot of work but some of the best stuff is quite low tech, because the key thing is the psychological component getting us to trust the messenger.

What's really new is how to create completely new fakes.

CERN is training robot dogs to spot radiation hazards at Large Hadron Collider

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: We're all going to die!

I'm sorry, Korev, I can't tell you that.

Microsoft embraces its inner penguin as sudo sneaks into Windows 11

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Coat

Let me know when the Linux lot gives up on the reinventing it poorly bit.

Mine's the one with 101 Things to Hate About Linux (2003 edition) by I M Grumpy.