Posts by Tom 13

Re: Can you spell horseshit?

I particularly like the called out quote on this count:

"Take any recent top-of-the-line smartphone, and you are likely to get a well-designed, fast, pleasant to use bit of hardware: fluid operation, responsive interaction, fast graphics,"

For work I've configured a number of Blackberrys and a number of iPhones. For personal use I once bought an HTC from Sprint. On both the Blackberry and iPhones that supported touchscreens, I had a bitch of a time typing. The HTC 3000 was perfectly fine. I suspect that has a bit more to do with hardware than software, probably sensor density on the touchscreen. I no longer have the HTC because I just didn't use the phone enough to justify the exorbitant cost. But if I were looking for a smartphone, I'd be looking for something like the HTC.

Re: HiVOLT

"But it was the humans who torched the sky."

I'm sure the system would work. But this is one instance where I'd like a good bit more study before we change anything. I have a gut feeling those belts do more to protect our environment than we know. I'd be more comfortable with a system that made a temporary hole that could close again after we were finished with it.

Re: American Express isn't a credit card

Strictly speaking yes. But Amex does offer cards that are credit cards (Amex Blue). Not sure I'd depend on that distinction for this case.

But frankly when I looked at taking them for a group where I volunteered, the sole reason to prefer Mastercard and Visa was the ease of setting up both accounts and the manner in which fees were charged. MC/Visa only charged if the transaction went through. Amex (and Discover at the time IIRC) both charged per transaction regardless of whether the transaction was approved.

Re: Disable Find my iPhone?

It doesn't matter if he's selling it for $20, $50 or $250 dollars. The point is, he probably doesn't know what kind of phone it is before he mugs you. He just wants the phone to sell to a fence. The fence is the one who disposes of it. Maybe he know the technical details, maybe he doesn't and sell it to a guy who does. Maybe the guy hacks it, maybe he turns it into parts to resell. Either way you're still out an overpriced iPhone. To me this smells of the same Kabuki theater in which the TSA is engaged.

Re: His theory is that we work and have money because of scarcity.

That's not his theory. That's the basics of all non-utopianist economic theory. Capitalism is all about maximizing the output of scarce economic resources. The political troglodytes just don't like the allocations that result from it.

And you should be careful. People who are looking for "the final solution" tend to miss that things have already gone sideways.

Re: why do the Feds need those kind of fishing expeditions

Actually, most of this stuff on finances is all pre-9/11. In theory it was put in place to locate money laundering associated with drug smuggling, prostitution, illegal gambling and other activities of organized crime. With the tools mostly already in place it was easy to extend them to National Security after 9/11. Even now I could see police looking to be able to track the money transfers to mules who empty bank accounts as a result of identity fraud.

Re: not sure what happened to make it what it is today

One word: Chrome

As to why, that I'll never understand.

Re: do NASA only use old computers and operating systems

It's got less to do with the bugs that the other testing surrounding the installation of various systems. IIRC the problems you expect to encounter in space before the first experiment are well understood and mitigated. What turns out to be the most difficult issue is usually overlooked: vibrational issues from the stress of launch. Also older, higher voltage systems provide more stability once you are beyond the protection of the Van Allen belts.

Re: Don't gloat too hard

Also, I'd bet at least one of those companies has insisted that Adobe put the relevant source code in escrow so that if Adobe goes bankrupt their rights continue and they are then entitled to use the source code to continue their product development. I mean hell, if HP put those conditions on the company I worked for back in the late 1980s when we co-developed a product, I can't see any way the legal hounds would sign a contract without it today.

Re: As long as Windows 8.x looks like crap

Yeah, it looks like the sort of interface I'd design.

The difference being I know I'm not competent to even become an apprentice to a user interface designer.

Re: Oldest, not closest

And for once in his life Kerry would be correct. Since the foundation of the US starts with our Declaration outlining our grievances in the then ongoing war with Britain, by definition the British can't be the first. And since France were US allies in that war they are truly the first. But the British are likely to always be the closest allies.

@ Tom Samplonius

Direct works if all you are selling is hardware, preferably of a specific type. The problem with that is you become a monoculture. And while a monoculture can get big as Dell 1.0 proved, if something changes the environment for the monoculture, you're toast. And something ALWAYS changes the environment for the monoculture.

Once you get into the sort of integrated systems Dell 3.0 is looking to sell, you need channel partners. Your channel partner knows the clients, knows what they need, and establishes the one-on-one not-an-account-number-only relationship you need for the long haul. Yes, it might be more profitable if the sales organization grew that way organically and was all under the same house. It would also be more profitable if I could sell unicorn farts to power your car with no CO2 emissions for a whole year. And those two resource live right next to each other. Back here in Walgreen land you need a channel partner for that kind of integration. Dell will still be able to sell direct to small outfits that don't need that level of integration, or who have somehow landed a genius team to run their IT Support. But the channel were never going to pick them up anyway, so they aren't irritated by that the way they would be if Dell went after their customer list.

What I think you are going to see is a couple of quarters, possibly years, of Dell running losses or at least even more paper-thin margins than they have in the past while they re-org the company. That's the kind of thing you can't be on the exchange and do. You take a 1 to 3 year hit on the profits so you can more quickly get to your full channel goal, then run the next 10 years in a profitability range that makes taking the hit worth it. Gutsy and risky. Wall Street likes the first, but is even more averse to the second than vampires are to garlic and mirrors.

Re: Last Chance

USD, Euro and Mexican Peso only?

I wouldn't think any of those would be acceptable. I'd think we'd be talking Gold, Platinum, or Cut Gemstones.

@doctor dodongo

It's a sweet deal for Google. A little too sweet for my taste. I think they should be paying full retail for the fuel. I'd let the have the write-off on the rent.

That being said, the other part of the question should be: will we get more out of the government making them pay that than it cost for Grassley to investigate it? Much as I think we need some sunlight on these kinds of deals, I'm not sure those numbers balance out.

Re: Nearly managed it!

I wouldn't say "well", but he at least had a thesis I was willing to doubtfully consider.

It seems like old companies will try to move to a combination of software and hardware that lock in the customer. The problem is, once the customer is set free, he rarely wants to return to his cell.

Re: And yet *all* the 9/11 flights were *internal*

Yes, but not all of the subsequent close calls were. And the relevant factor on 9/11 is that they were all cross-country flights with the planes taken over on take off. The point being to have the most fuel available for destruction when it crashed. Which mean international flights are other prime targets.

Now, having said all of that, I think 9/11 was pretty much a one trick pony. Up until 9/11 we were all told and trained to obey the hijackers and chances were good we'd all come out alive. And being good little monkeys we all played along. As of 9/11 we now all know those rules don't apply anymore. Which means from hear on out, when you stand up to announce the hijacking the immediate response is going to be a plane full of pissed off people intent on taking you down no matter what. And that is what pisses me off the most about the Kabuki theater of airport security.

Re: the profit margins are crap.

I expect that's true on the consumer side. Business, probably not so much.

Businesses try to cut costs, but they understand their vendors need to make a profit too. The overall relationship is critical to the business culture, and a long term, stable relationship with quality merchandise at low but not cut-rate prices will usually be better for both parties in the long run.

Re: How the hell

If you played the timing game and bought when they dropped and held until now, you made a tidy profit.

Of course, if you hold it in the expectation it's going to be the next Apple...

Re: Glory days

Corel Draw was a great product. I preferred it to the hideous Adobe Illustrator. And they did OK with Ventura Publisher for a while. It was my go to product for document production back before MS homogenized the hell out of everything. Ventura only went to shit when they decided to ape Adobe, which was not what I wanted. Of course, trying to drain me of too much money to frequently didn't help either.

Re: Infidelity

What all the chicken little posters on this thread are ignoring is that the NSA, like most government agencies, has a fragmented personality. They aren't all engaged in spying on people. Some significant portion of them are engaged in protecting government assets from being spied on. Their mission is to put out the most secure code possible. And they pursue that as aggressively as the spies pursue theirs.

Re: Compromising randomness is likely a far harder proposition.

Yes. I noticed the original article was very careful to say 'circumvented or broken' (or words to that effect). And all the articles since then have, umm, edited for shortness. Yeah, that the ticket! Edited for shortness, not edited to enflame and/or mislead.

Re: can I report Linus to the police

Sure.

And after they knock on his door you don't mind if we link Anonymous to your link her at El Reg do you?

Re: How big !.

Disk space and memory are practically free. Just ask Bill, he'll tell you that again.

Re: snowden would have taken a polygraph

IIRC Snowden was being polygraphed and that was part of what tipped him off that it was time to leave.