Posts by Tom 13

Re: I predict that businesses will be less resistant to Microsoft browser updates

Assuming you've made the switch to IE9 and IE11 is actually implementing standards (which it doesn't sound like it does) that is true.

The problem is, not all companies or government agencies can make the switch. The one where I currently perform support duties is stuck with IE8 despite its age because at least three different pieces of financial software depend on it. So across the day I pretty much run three browsers: IE8 for specific support tasks, Firefox for my miscellaneous browsing, and Chrome for my government GMail and calendaring functions. From a techs' perspective I'd love to upgrade to IE9 or IE10, but that would break the "business."

Re: Digital stamps

Bad idea because you ignore the reality of the spam culture as it exists today. The people who could be hit with an email tax aren't the spammers or wouldn't notice it. The people who would be eliminated by it have already pretty much been done in by ISP filtering. That's right, as the article noted most spam these days isn't generated from legitimate accounts on legitimate email systems. It comes from a vast army of zombie PCs sending out only a few emails each. Just like a DDoS attack, it leverages a lot of machines instead of a fast one.

Re: Google have way too much unaccountable power these days.

This is true but does not mean Google broke the code base. The intention of standards is write once/run everywhere. That turning off the bit that tells IE to use the non-standards implementation makes the browser work put the fault squarely in the MS court. Even if somebody at Google went out of their way to code a page to break IE11 in compatibility mode only, which seems doubtful.

Re: "This post best viewed in Netscape Navigator..."

Your comment shows little respect for the past or the current situation. "This site best viewed in Netscape Navigator/Internet Explorer 3.0" are vestiges of the time before standards were agreed to. If the Google searches were breaking in Firefox and Safari you could accuse Google of breaking standards to break MS. But they are working perfectly fine there. MS Compatibility mode was a horrendous non-standards compliant way of dealing with Petabytes of badly coded websites from when MS was pushing non-standard coding for websites.

I'm not fond of Chrome and preferentially use FF myself. But the pathway to recommending it as a download is pretty clear: Google don't have any say over FF or Safari and little input into the design and implementation decision for either piece of software. They do control Chrome so they are better positioned to enforce standards implementations on it. (Yes, the reverse is true as well, but there is no actual proof they are breaking standards.) So legal tells them to recommend Chrome which alleviates liability issues if they recommend something else.

@ SuccessCase

I've noticed it too, but that has nothing to do with the M$ frackup discussed in this article. MS compatibility-mode is most assuredly NOT standards compliant. And the code renders properly in EVERY non-MS browser. Which makes your rant about You-Tube in this context a red herring. If Google breaking MS things prods MS to actually fully and properly implement standards from ISO et al. I'm not blaming Google for breaking it.

Re: who are not in the US, UK or South Korea

truth be told, even in the US once you get outside of the major metropolitan areas you are likely to see consumers with very slow connections. I know I'm fortunate in that respect because I have at least three major competitors who offer high speed broadband in my region. There are places where your best option is wireless 3G, even for your desktop.

@ Timmay

If you are running your business properly your data usage will be well matched to your data plan. So a sudden boost to your data usage will put you outside the plan parameters. It will probably only cost you money not cut off service, but it is still something that MS should have made avoidable. They aren't being good stewards of the internet. But that's nothing new. And while it is true that Gates showed some failures to appreciate small business models ("hard disk space is practically free") it seems to have jumped a magnitude since he left.

@ Ledswinger

Make it a suitable charity of our choosing and you might be onto something. Or maybe the top 5 from a reliable survey.

Re: TV Makers are Tech Neanderthalers

The 52"+ tv market is never going to be consumables. It's just too expensive to manufacture a screen that large. The 30"- tv market already is consumables and priced comparatively with the same sized computer monitors. But regardless of which one you put in a given location, does it really need to be replaced every 3 years? Certainly not the big one, which realistically is a capital investment for a family. But even for the one that is, do you replace it just because it's old? Tablets might have faster processors which become the real impetus to buy a new one. TVs don't need them.

Over the last 10 years we've gone from analog CRTs to LCD and Plasmas as well as from NTSC/PAL to HDTV. Those were real motivators to change. But now most people have finished replacing their old equipment and we are in replacement mode. Any damn fool who couldn't forecast that deserves what's coming. And the damn fools who keep flogging the meme that tablets are replacing pcs, tvs, etc will soon be joining them.

@AC Friday 18th October 2013 12:01 GMT

If you are an aggregator in the US the last thing you want to do is ban illegal content. The safe harbor provision of the relevant laws applies only to unedited data. If you ban something your data is no longer unedited. Yes, it is a stupid provision and should have been a "good faith" clause instead. But it's what the jackasses in DC passed.

@Don Jefe

About ten years ago my mother decided to try to return to the "Buy American" roots of her union parents. She gave up after a few weeks. She couldn't find anything in the stores that wasn't made overseas. She noted it was nearly impossible to buy clothing that wasn't made in China. I don't imagine the situation has improved since then.

Re: Updating the law is not difficult.

Probably true. Which may speak volumes about the intent of the enforcement agencies.

Do I want Google tracking me like a commercial version of the NSA? No. But we need to follow the rules when ensuring they aren't.

It seems to me the proper course of action would be for the committee to go through the legal case in the courts establishing that the rule does apply. If the courts aren't involved and it is strictly an administrative hearing under the auspices of the committee I regard it as an improper legal procedure because there is no system of checks and balances.

Re: as long as you also ensure *access* to said

Not my fault, not my problem.

It's you lot that bitch when WalMart wants to open stores in underserved areas.

Re: They did add a pony

If you want a pony, work for it and go buy it yourself.

As to your list, let me fix some things for you:

-Return to chained CPI not quite sure what shorthand you are trying to use here, but right now the CPI is fucked. You can't print money at the rate the Fed has been pumping it out without causing serious inflation (I lived through the Carter years when they didn't fiddle with the CPI). So yes, it needs to be fixed. I'm sure both single and married mothers would love to ignore the inflation rate for fuel and groceries just like the feds do.

- Reduction of SNAP benefits (food assistance for the poor) Reducing corporate welfare. And yes I damn well do want SNAP benefits reduced. Too many people sitting on their asses not doing anything.

-Zero funds for Obamacare (Affordable Care) Which so far has cost at least a couple hundred thousand jobs, billions in increased consumer expenses on their insurance assuming they can keep despite proposals, and is destroying the actual healthcare market in the US. I'm quite sure this isn't an unintended consequence.

-Neutralizing the Consumer Protection Agency Which, unlike the NSA, actually has an explicit license to spy on consumers. They aren't likely to do a damn thing for me except drive up my expenses. The sooner they are gone the better.

-Roll back of almost all financial sector reforms Which so far have added only sand to the gears of industry during the middle of the worst recession/depression since 1932 and haven't done a damn thing to stop any real fraud on Wall Street.

-Unrestrained domestic spying and neutralizing of civil rights Only in your dreams. The IRS wasn't working against commie groups, only the TEA Party and Patriot groups.

-Preservation of offshore tax havens and loopholes for the corporations. Republicans favor either the FAIR of the FLAT tax. Either of which would eliminate all of those loopholes. Most likely including the cherished "home mortgage" deduction. But if you aren't going to adopt those, fair is fair. All corporations should be treated equally by the IRS and not penalized because of the political beliefs of the party in charge.

Re: That would be the British

Um, no. You Brits sided with the south in that civil dispute.

@ThomH: You were doing ok

until that very last statement. Their dealings with IBM on OS/2 even more than their dealings with Lotus 1-2-3 forever cemented the "Microshaft" nickname.

While I think you are correct about Google's counter

that should fall flat. It might make their model of free email untenable, but it doesn't make providing email as a service economically untenable. They might have to switch to a paid service, but those are the breaks.

I don't know who is officially listed on the suits, but I expect the first thing Google will now do is make sure none of them HAVE signed the terms of agreement.

Re: Whatever happened to the concept of

It was a flat out lie at the time. Nothing has changed since then.

Re: Who knew!

HP makes printers? I thought they just sold toner and ink.

Sadly, I'm old enough to recall when they sold cool stuff like low powered He-Ne lasers.

@ Khaptain

Give him a break. Given JDX's postings over the last couple of months, I think the doctors are still adjusting his meds. After they get that right he'll be able to start Group, and maybe 6 to 12 months after that he'll be able to fully rejoin society again.

Re: the Reg would have been a bit more savvy.

At the time of my posting, 26 other posts and 47 up or down votes. I'd say El Reg is very, very savvy.

Re: Colourblind

Animals do not pray, they are prey.

Re: Horseshit indeed.

One-brain-celled-rednecks don't live very long. If you ever encounter a real life redneck you'd better remember that. I reckon they've got more brain cells than you pampered city boys.

@Mark.

Kind of makes you wonder if the company making the study is a shell corp owned by Apple, doesn't it?

Re: To be fair, the authors did state:-

You can't claim fairness when you were the one who committed the foul.

There were two iPhones. Samsung probably makes sense for the customized Android. A Nexus should have been the other phone. Why? Because none of the phone suppliers mess with the Apple design. So no matter what you buy, you get their design. A fair comparison therefore requires you look at Google's intended design as well.

Besides, it's easy to rationalize just about anything after you've picked the best target for your slanted study.