* Posts by Ammaross Danan

1042 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Sep 2009

How Google taped up its email outage wounds

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

So right

"And I agree to the other commenter, unplug the HDDs and they will cost just as much as the tapes in that climate-controlled shelf."

Exactly. The WHOLE ARTICLE assumes your disk-based archive is live. As a matter of fact, from the article:

"trashed data was "snapshotted", replicated etc, propagating the original fault. Fortunately for users: "To protect your information from these unusual bugs, we also back it up to tape. Since the tapes are offline, they’re protected from such software bugs."

I would argue that hard disks can be taken offline, and thus be protected as well. The difficulty here is Google does redundancy to protect from failure (think RAID). This is NOT a "backup" or "archive." Google seems to carry a few days worth of snapshots on live disks, as is alluded by them saying the corruption was spread over a few days of snapshots.... But they had to fall back to their offline storage to find the good data. Since most need for restores happen within the first 24hrs of the data loss (some can stretch that out to 3 days), Google is actually doing a good job here. They protect the most common window with live snapshots: easy to restore. The less-likely-to-be-needed old data is stuffed onto tapes.

As for more in the HDD vs Tape comments:

"How much is this 48-tape loader again? Because the HDD headers and logic board are included in the drive price, not just the magnetic disk. The fair comparison becomes 48 drives adding up to 35Tb versus a fully loaded tape interface. Now tape wins."

1TB HDDs run in the range of $55USD each. Bump that to 2TB and you're looking about $70USD each. With an 800GB LTO4 tape running $35USD ($70 for 2 totaling 1.6TB), it becomes a bit clearer. Now we factor in the drive: a Quantum LTO4 drive for $1,600USD. You could likely pick up a 48-slot NEO400S used for just under $10,000. Of course, you could accomplish the same with 24 2TB HDDs as a JBOD (2x 12 drive racks perhaps?) A HP StorageWorks M6412A with a FiberChannel connection would do. You can get a refurb for $1,121USD (refurb because the 48 tape library was priced as "used"). Now, you can complain that the disks need to be stuffed in the hot swap cases to slot into the array, and yes, you're right. So much more hassle than just stuffing a tape in. But what do you get in return? A FiberChannel connection to your JBOD (two of them actually), which would be faster than SCSI Ultra320 I reckon. HDDs in JBOD would be equivalent to tapes with in an archive (since you'll need to sequentially number both if you use some software to write data across them). Of course, with HDDs, you could do any number of backup options. Tapes, you only have one: use a program to write data to it sequentially. HDDs can just be NTFS with raw files, whole disk encrypted, or a 1:1 partition dupe of your server's disk drive.

What does tape have going for it? The best thing I can come up with is "industry support." Most backup programs are designed with tape being the eventual end-point. Only recently have D2D2T or D2D2D been popular options. Oh, and a note about readability and just "finding" an old tape drive to read your data: you still need the disk drive to actually work. You need the connectors to use it (Ultra2 SCSI anyone?), and be able to actually install your backup software. Depending on your solution, many of those things can be eliminated with disk. I have no problem finding an ATA66 (very old hard drive)-capable connector. You can get one that converts an ATA disk into a USB drive for <$20USD. I doubt even a dusty used tape drive can be had for that cheap. I'm sure SATA will be in the same boat come another 10-20yrs.

Boffins build copper-crunching laptop cooler

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Video Card coolers

Um...video card coolers (notably the Radeon 69xx series) use a "vapor chamber" tech for their heatsinks. Evap on the chip side, condense on the radiator side. The only "new" tech in this GE research is the nano-bits on each side and the wick in the middle. The actual usage of evap and condensing is old tech.

Phishers dodge fraud protections in Firefox, Chrome

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Umm....

"visit the site using a bookmark or a Google/Bing search."

With blackhat SEO (search-engine optimization for those not-in-the-know), it's very easy to get a site near the top (if not THE top) of Google or Bing that even appears to be the site you are looking for. Even the "URL" displayed below (shown in green on Google) does not display the actual URL of the site. I've stumbled upon these myself.

The best way to visit Bank of America or the like? Type: "www.bankofamerica.com" into your address bar. If you've got a decent browser, it will DNS resolve and take you straight to their website. If you don't, it might land you on a Google page with BoA as the first link, hopefully. (those that just typed "bank of america")

Spam levels plummet as Rustock botnet taken down... for now

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Your quote is wrong....

Usually the spam says something like: "Trill her nite every!"

Fukushima on Thursday: Prospects starting to look good

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Problem with sarcasm

"You don't do sarcasm then?"

The problem with sarcasm is context and point-of-view. Even though you /meant/ it as sarcasm, doesn't mean that the frothies won't take it as a launching point for validation. I could state that "after a few thousand writes, your flash will die!" and any SSD frothies will rally behind me. I completely ignore the wear-leveling and the like that make my otherwise-true statement short-sighted. Commentards may not realize that a nuclear reaction intended for a bomb is impossible in a BWR reactor, as many of the key components are entirely absent. However, not everyone knows, even remotely, how a nuclear bomb works. They don't even know what "heavy water" is. Therefore, off-base comments are sources for scaremongering, be they sarcastic or not.

Pervasive encryption: Just say yes

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

Encryption Overhead + Stuff

Last I checked, full-disk encryption overhead for my work laptops is only about a 3% CPU bump, with a slight dip (about 4%) in disk throughput. Of course, that's using TrueCrypt. It could likely be worse with whatever garbage Trevor is pimping.

WEP is a VERY common wireless setup, even now. Most businesses haven't swapped out their wireless router since they bought it 5 years or more ago. Therefore, anyone comment of "they haven't sold a WEP router since 2006" is bullocks, as my wireless N router still supports WEP, and the fact that the business in the "example" likely /did/ buy their router circa 2006.

Next on the list: lax security. Many commenters seem to think this grossly lax security is a stretch. It is not. The idea of having the spreadsheet online is more of a stretch than a sticky with the password, and the same password being used for banking, email, etc. They'd be lucky to have the wireless SSID changed from "actiontec" to something else. Expecting them to even be able to train on "security" or the like is out of the question.

What are we to do then? Perhaps the computer shop down the street (or evening-freelancers like Trevor (author) or I) should offer consulting services and advertise to target these particular cases. However, Trevor won't win any business by walking in and slapping down his "pervasive encryption" mantra as if these businesses had the budget of a datacenter. A simple 1hr consultation visit and advising them to apply patches, vary passwords, and employ a wireless router using WPA2 should be more than adequate. Even the stickies aren't really a no-no, since it would require physical access to the machine/area, at which point, just steal the laptop (TrueCrypt full-disk encryption again?) and the register cash. You can offer such consultation as the "minimum" they should do to start protecting themselves, and no, not as the "ideal" fix.

Google copyright purge leaves Android developers exposed

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Of course

"But as for the bit about applications developers having to reveal their code. **WHAT** ? Because the kernel and it's headers are under GPL doesn't mean that applications will have to be under GPL. That's one of the oldest bits if FUD thrown at free software and completely bogus."

Well put. Just because I #include <stdio.h>, doesn't mean that my code now falls under the GCC compiler GPL license. Bullocks! It would be the same as saying my Visual C# project is now copyright by Microsoft because I used their Visual C# lib headers. Utter BS.

The really sad thing? The author doesn't even know enough about the topic to address this in his article. Regurgitated FUD.

Microsoft malware removal tool takes out Public Enemy No. 4

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Fixed...

So, MS puts this virus in their MSRT just weeks after nerfing its primary means of spreading? (autorun.inf executing on insertion of removable drive).

It's a shame that most virii hobble the computer to the point that normal users can't really run the MSRT for some nasties. Just a shame that MS would get hit with a lawsuit by antivirus vendors and normal users if they bundled MS Security Essentials with Windows (with option to remove, just like any other vendor bloatware, of course). Of course, we can continue ragging on MS for not providing such security out-of-the-box, but honestly, only the /bugs/ are their fault. The fact that users say "yes" to anything they get prompted to download is not their fault, and is by far the more likely means of getting infected.

Intel: 'We ate McAfee to slip security into silicon'

Ammaross Danan
Coat

But....

"Intel should have bought something that can actually detect viruses."

McAfee detects and hobbles Windows, doesn't it?

I seriously hope Intel means well and makes an open API to their on-chip AV links, so the likes of Avast, NOD32, et al, can take advantage of this hardware acceleration (or at least lower-than-kernel hooks). It would make AMD processors less desirable in the workplace. If Intel pulls a 666 and embeds a VM micro-McAfee filter that nannies your kernel (be it Windows, Linux, or Mac), it will be the day that regardless of the performance boost of Intel CPUs, I'll be buying AMD 100%. Why hobble your hardware when you tend not to pick up virii anyway? Reminds me of the scare days of putting DRM in your HDD controllers....and your CPU, and northbridge, and southbridge, and.... well you get the idea.

12Mb/sec to a mobile telephone, but is it a new generation?

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Mb/s

"As for the monthly cap, that is a problem as its easy to use 100's of MB's watching streaming videos, but that's more about the phone companies marketing plans and willingness to squeeze more money out of people."

Yep Yep. As long as the cap is horrendously low, any gain in Mb/s is rather a moot point. I could advertise as 100Mb/s and stick my cap at 2GB, which would be gone in 160 seconds running at my advertised rate. Even running at 10Mb/s (note that's still "megabits"), which is a very decent "hi-def" video stream, would be gone in just under 27 minutes. Hit your cap just before you finish watching that hi-def stream of your favorite sitcom? We can scale that back even further to 1Mb/s streaming (reasonable res for 720p, right?). 4.4 hrs and it's gone. Sorry, I won't be watching Netflix on the commuter to work. Would run out within a week.

Remove the caps from wireless devices. They don't have 2TB of storage to download the world with. Impose throttling on tethered devices if you must, but this cap stuff is BS (that's "blood-sucking" too....especially when applied to corporate policies).

Fukushima situation as of Wednesday

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Inflation

"I still find it odd that you are trumpeting Nuclear power as safe, albeit with a caveat that it is relatively safe."

Nuclear power is safe(r) than other forms of power generation (excepting perhaps a bank of solar cells, minus the manufacturing of such....oh wait, more caveats....crap).

The reason nuclear power has the "frothinggreenies" (good term) up in arms is because of its potential to be catastrophic. A Chernobyl (or worse) accident has the /potential/ to make large swaths of land uninhabitable and potentially irradiate food sources and people. Thus, with the higher risk, higher countermeasures have been put in place. Arguably, a coal plant (or even a coal mine) doesn't have the /potential/ to kill as many people as a full-on nuclear accident (not a just a bad (read: "things go wrong") meltdown, but transportation of waste, etc).

Fear the risk, sure. That's what engineering battles. Decry it as being inherently unsafe? That's where you become wrong, since even coal power has more deaths annually, and has proven itself to be more unsafe.

Fukushima update: No chance cooling fuel can breach vessels

Ammaross Danan
Go

Now Imagine....

Now imagine a coal ash slurry pond(s) being hit by a similar Tsunami and getting spread over the land and/or washed out to sea. I think that would have received some press, but anything with the word "nuclear" in it is obviously easier to scaremonger with.

Can we get the radiation levels in the 1km-away-from-plant range, rather than the licking-the-fence range?

Fukushima is a triumph for nuke power: Build more reactors now!

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

Read this and get re-educated

For those of you that are not actual nuclear physicists or work in a nuclear plant, try reading this:

http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/

Once you actually scroll down to the normal-font (non-italics) letter quoted, you'll have an actual understanding of what happened. Those of you that can't see the actual facts in this situation and keep spouting that "the whole area is contaminated" or "the disaster is still going on" can keep your FUD to yourself.

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Carrier Leaving

Since any radioactive steam has been blown offshore, curiously toward the USS Ronald Reagen, it was an obvious choice to move the ship. The 200,000 people evacuated was precautionary in case there was a serious mishap, which there wasn't. It wasn't due to the current radiation leakage.

Now, re-educate by reading the letter quoted here:

http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/

Windows 7 customers hit by service pack 1 install 'fatal error' flaws

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Re @ "Needlessly complex"

"Can anyone explain how you could do 90% of the stuff you do nowadays on an operating system that took up 5MB (a bit more if you include browser, media player and expansion card drivers)?"

The answer to your slightly confusing sentence (I can only presume you typed something wrong) is that you CAN'T do 90% of the stuff you do nowadays on a 5MB (think MS-DOS) operating system. No GUI, no internet (just drivers alone for the tons of modems out there would be more than 5MB, not to mention NICs if you use a separate DSL/Cable modem instead of a simple dialup). Of course, a browser that is NOT lynx or the like would run at least 5MB too.

A fuzzy, feel-good interface (even OSX) takes up a lot of disk space. Functionality takes up space as well. The OS is likely "bloated" in your opinion because you don't even use half of the functionality that is available through menus, let alone any of the more hard-core functionality (when did you last use Group Policies? [just to name one]). A Linux install takes over 1GB (usually around 4GB for more common rollouts). I definitely wouldn't label Linux as a "for everyone" OS just yet. I feel 100% comfortable, however, having Win7 stuffed on machines though. No need to walk the parents through command lines or VI editing format-reliant config files.

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Yes

Not to rail on someone's (hopefully) sarcasm, but:

two - "a couple of"

three(ish) - "a few"

more than three(ish), but less than other "more shocking!" words - "some"

The order of "many," "most," "a lot," "serious number of," etc are up to personal taste.

Second explosion rocks Japanese nuke plant

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Clarification

First, read the reports. The radioactive material (Cesium and Iodine) that actually did get released from the steam venting (which venting incidentally caused the hydrogen explosion), was carried out into the Pacific, away from the populated land mass. This is why the radiation was deemed "safe," since it would have time to decay whilst blowing to and fro over the (usually) uninhabited ocean. Now, if you stick a few military ships directly in the windfall, of course you'll detect some of that radiation and it would be wise to relocate...

Thus, you AC are spouting FUD.

Apple iOS 4.3 cracked

Ammaross Danan
Coat

@ GrahamS

"So what's the difference between "jailbreaking" an iPhone and "rooting" an Android phone?"

"Jailbreaking" an iPhone is so you can actually install non-sanctioned apps, it it on other networks, access YOUR data as you choose, etc.

"Rooting" an Android phone is only useful if you want to remove MotoBlur or the like by installing a vanilla AndroidOS, upgrading the OS of an EoL phone (poor iPhone 3G, etc....), or gaining tethering (without paying for it...). Fortunately, these things are usually only the "geeks" of Droid-fandom as rooting your 'droid isn't necessary to install Apps from non-marketplace sources or to fetch data from it via USB....

There's benefits to either, but the sticking point is with the iPhone, it's necessary if your current wireless plan is not AT&T or Verizon (USA), but you want the new iThingy. (Most) carriers have a 'droid for their network made by a variety of manufacturers, which means if you don't like HTC Sense or MotoBlur, you don't have to get a smartphone with it. Not so with the iPhone. You get what you get and that's it. You can't even be ensured reasonable update lifetime apparently....something that fanbois have been decrying about 'droids for a while now. Guess it's true for both sides of the fence now.

How do you find the skills needed in the virtualised data centre?

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Agreed!

My CV is multidisciplinary as well. I've had years of software development in a variety of common languages (C,C++,Java,C#), and a similar number of years (more recent) doing Network and Server Admin, with VMWare stacks mixed in the bunch. Compound this by tacking in Web Development and UNIX/Linux experience. To top it off, DBA credentials too. I very much consider myself a jack-of-all-trades, but master-of-none (the last bit being my likely downfall), and if there's a multidisciplinary recruiter out there, I will call their bullocks of "hiring" people like me. The BOFH situtation is likely where I fall into: being THE "IT guy" and perhaps having a similar for a co-worker/assistant. Those are the only positions that are truly hiring multidisciplinary employees. You try to "branch out" at any other organization and you'll get kicked very swiftly.

/mines the one with "IT" on the namebadge. Why no accompanying name? Because there's only ONE.

Dim Brits think TARDIS IS REAL

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

Teleportation

"Almost a quarter of us believe teleportation can be achieved. Yes, disassembling our bodily parts to have them reconstructed in a new place, all without dying in the process. FACT."

The trouble with people is they don't get their (non)facts straight. Star Trek: The Next Generation gives a nod to how their teleportation device works in the episode where Picard is taken over by an energy being. He is teleported out into a "cloud" as "energy only, no matter" and is put back in his body by having the teleporter rebuild the last outgoing transmission and merging his "energy" self (that was in the ships systems by this time) with it. The doctor explained his memory loss as "this Picard didn't exist through the last three hours," meaning the body (and consequently the memories) had been dematerialized at the time of teleportation. The new body had been reconstructed from that transmission as if it had just happened. So, when we invent this form of molecular deconstruction and reconstruction technique, we'll, by definition, be able to clone people/body parts/etc automatically as well. Need a new body part? We'll "teleport" you, but merge your new body part into you during the reconstruction. Is it possible? Could be. Anytime soon? Not likely. It's that pesky problem of reconstructing all the atoms just so on the "other side" without having fancy machinery encapsulating you.

Which begs the question, if the teleporter in Star Trek can teleport from surface to teleporter, or from a point of the ship to somewhere else on the ship, why have a teleporter room? To serve as a "entry way" of sorts perhaps? Stargate had the proper idea with their "Asgard" teleporters, even if it was just as fanciful. :)

iPhone 5 design drawings spied on web

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Apple Continuum

Yes, but this is the Apple time-space continuum where the law of physics and, most importantly, user-thought don't apply. People will still dump their iPhone4 for the iPhone5 on launch day, even if it only has the craptastic bump of a dual-core Cortex A9 (oh yeah, Apple A5) processor and an iOS update. (yes, iPhone4 will get the same update, but will they care? not likely)

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Fixed

Yes, the antenna issue will be fixed. Why? It has a waistband now to protect the iPhone from users holding it wrong.

Apple bans iPhone 3G patch omission talk from forum

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Dictators

Isn't it usually dictators and tyrannical leaders that have rules against people questioning policies?

Google man opens curtain on cloud apps firewall glitch

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

Wait a second....

Wait a second.... "But on the SPDY mailing list, Google has said that SPDY is enabled in Chrome and Google servers for SSL traffic."

Since (most) webservers don't compress HTTP headers (normally) (hence why they "already developed a prototype web server" to use the spec), wouldn't SPDY require Chrome to bounce through a Google compression server before finally dumping the data to your browser in order to "speed up" "normal" websites that don't support SPDY? The only thing I can see being able to take advantage of this spec would be Google-hosted sites (Google Apps for instance). In this case, SPDY is next to useless unless (most) everyone gets on board.... But to use SPDY with non-supported webservers over SSL would require such a "bounce" server to be able to decrypt, compress, and re-encrypt an SSL session.... I may be totally off-base though, and inferring the SPDY system is trying to do more than it actually can, in which case, there's no issue. Yet.

NASA aims for space tests of Mars-in-a-month plasma drive

Ammaross Danan
Go

Nuclear Scaremongerers

Nuclear scaremongerers are grasping at straws and spouting "what if it explodes on launch/re-entry???" They're akin to the religiously-biased backwards-thinking of the world, well, right up to current times almost. I would fully support proper nuclear power for space-faring craft, especially of a propulsion-testing nature. Of course, the space cannon of Final Fantasy (the movie) fame is what people are fearing. Have anti-satellite weapons (which we already have apparently...) and get on with it!

The desktop lifecycle: How long is it anyway?

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

From a company PoV

Our machines have hit and passed their "3 year life cycle" and you know what? They still work. Granted, they were the "HP business machines" POS (no, not "point of sale") of which you get a crappier setup for twice the price.... However, the machines of just a couple years back have more than enough CPU capability to run today's normal business software (think accounting, office, web). However, the machines will feel painfully slow with the pitiful amount of RAM that "business machines" are given. The fix? Stuff an extra stick of RAM in it (hopefully up to 2-4GB total) and replace the crappy under-performing hard drive with a 40(ish)GB SSD. Why only 40GB? Last I checked, my machines average 22GB of used space on their 320+GB HDDs. Win7 perhaps closer to 30GB. Business users, in a domain (file server implied), don't use local storage. With a 40GB SSD for under $100 ($70 even), even a last-gen OCZ Onyx drive will make an old Pentium D-based machine feel new. So, you're out perhaps $100 per machine and you get to keep them for another 2 years. Retire them then, and pass the SSDs forward into the new machines.

Yes, there's the usual "crap breaks" rule, but once you get it in your head to have a "bone yard," it becomes a moot point. Those 3yr-old machines that pass out of warranty? They go in the spare parts bin when the mobo dies or the like. The next machine that has a PSU problem gets the boneyard PSU. Salvage RAM. Of course, there's always the "have new spares on hand" technique. If a PSU goes out, you don't have "downtime" of 3 days waiting for new parts, you just swap in the on-hand spare. Done in 15min if at a local office (which is usual for "small biz"). Usually, the "added burden to tech support" is due to the software, not hardware. This is why IT crews should (and usually do) have a stack of image disks. A virus takes out a PC? Re-image it. Back to working order faster than a Malwarebytes scan. You can even take a short stroll through the HDD to make sure the user has saved everything to the network.

BTW, Win7 runs perfectly well on those Pentium D machines I mentioned, 2GB of RAM with those 40GB SSDs I mentioned. Took all of 15min to dump the image on them. The neighboring non-upgraded (yet) computers seem atrocious in comparison.

SHOCK research reveals Wi-Fi not as nippy as Ethernet

Ammaross Danan
Headmaster

Teachers

Unfortunately, this is not the case. When I was going through Uni, the instructors for the computer-related classes (programming for instance) barely had a cursory knowledge of the subject. In the case of one particular programming teacher, they spent the summer prior learning the language.... At least the hardware instructor understood hardware. Problem is, they knew crap about software and couldn't figure out why his corrupt Windows user profile (well, corrupt user registry in his profile) was causing his machine to do the whole log-in-but-immediately-get-logged-out issue..... Unfortunately, those most qualified to "pass on knowledge to the next generation" are working other jobs making boatloads more than the pittance given to teachers. Once in a great while you'll find a technical-genius gem of an instructor who loves to teach more than he loves a decent paycheck. Those are the ones that deserve awards and recognition.

/grammer nazi, since it's the only academia-like icon available....

Making sport of browser security, hackers topple IE, Safari

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Carpet Bombing

Apparently you missed the /very public/ articles about the Safari drive-by-download they likened to "carpet bombing..."

That and it's a simple law of economics. You expect the best return by targeting the largest market. I know if I stuffed a virus on a drive-by-download site, expecting to hit perhaps 100,000 random targets (before the page is taken down by the powers that be), I'd load it with a windows virus. Why? 90,000 (90%) of them are likely to be read on a PC (vs the 5.19% Apple). Same principle applies to the likelihood of spreading (email or otherwise).

Numbers: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8

Router-rooting malware pwns Linux-based network devices

Ammaross Danan
Stop

Insecure PCs

Insecure PCs by no means. Idiot users. It takes a lot of effort to get malware to install on a computer (2 "run" clicks, one for the download/save, one for the "you're being an idiot, you sure you want to run this malware?" popup), not to mention finding the virus in the first place.

Ammaross Danan
Go

DD-WRT

I've installed DD-WRT on the WRT54G wireless routers. Works like a charm. Won't overcome the hardware's inherent desire to lock up after a few weeks of heavy use, so manual reboots are still required. :( At least it mitigates it some (they were locking up nearly daily before).

Wonder if a Buffalo DD-WRT-based cable modem is amongst the list of targets....

Apple MacBook Pro 13in

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Alternatives

Alternatives would be a program that can run a consistent, scripted something (in this case a looping benchmark), that works the CPU, GPU, and hard disk, that functions similarly in Windows, Linux, and MacOSX (so the GPU part would have to be OpenGL). Only thing I can think of is a custom bit of OpenGL code that spins a very complex polymap while doing a looping disk write and something akin to Prime95 in the background.....

Now that's my thoughts, care to actually posit a suggestion in your comment rather than just saying "your crap sucks, find something better"?

Ammaross Danan
Go

Comparisons

I agree, it's great to dig into the hardware itself rather than just going by speeds'n'feeds. Although, some gains are fairly moot, such at the 5GHz capability, as many WiFi-N devices still only have the 2.4GHz range. Dual-band devices are out there, but not as likely to be purchased.

Similar spec'ed PC laptops would likely run quite close to the MBP's prices, so it really comes down to a couple things: 1) Operating System (and with it Application Support, capabilities, etc) and 2) Cost of Upgrades and Peripherals.

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

I for one

I for one enjoy piping HDMI to the telly to watch 1080p content....except there's no 1080p source in the MBP (such as Blu-Ray). Which is why my PC laptop does the task for now. Just because the screen is <1080p doesn't mean the Blu-Ray drive isn't useful. Currently, you're forced to rip/downconvert your already-owned Blu-Rays and stuff them onto DVDs/USB-HDD to watch on your MBP.

Chrome 10: Google whips out its Crankshaft

Ammaross Danan
Go

Print Preview

Yes, IE is rather nice when you want to print something. I usually simply highlight the relevant part of the page, right-click -> Print Preview. In the preview window, I select "As selected on the screen" and it displays my selection only. Can change the header(s) and footer(s) to be page nums, address, date, etc.

On the downside, anyone notice that if you run IE for extended periods (continually opening/closing tabs & new windows, but never actually fully closing out about 8 tabs/windows) that right-click -> "Open in new tab" does nothing? Just opens a new tab, but does not actually load anything, nor populate an address in the address bar. Close tab and try again, and it may (usually, but not always) work. Only real qualm I have with it at the moment. Oh, and IE8's crap javascript performance (just try reorganizing a 200+ netflix queue and you'll see what I mean). Should be remedied in IE9 though.

- Sent from my Firefox.

Microsoft to Apple: 'Oh, yeah? Well, your font is too small'

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Font size

"The main body of Apple's rebuttal, for the record, is 25 pages long, the table of contents is two pages, and the table of authorities – settled cases that support Apple's rebuttal – is four pages."

Yes, for the record, it is 25 pages long. However, that's 25 pages in the smaller-than-mandated font. Change the font size back to 11 and they'll likely be over by a few pages. Margins and font size (14 vs 12 and the like) is a common way of making a college paper appear longer, hence why even profs mandate font size, type face, and margins. Break these rules and you get a FAIL, regardless of how good or close your paper was. Same principles should (and do) apply to courts. FAIL on Apple's part for their snafu. (they likely left the default font size and style on their iDoc writer. Silly them)

NEC goes out on a limb with arm-tap gadget control

Ammaross Danan
Alert

Or....

Or you can just put big gel-soft-type buttons on the wristband.... I wonder how this setup would react during jumping jacks, since it seems to be pitched as a "while exercising" device that can detect hand claps.....

Google vanishes 'DroidDream' malware from citizen phones

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Legalese

One great example of a "IANAL" commentard freaking out over legalese. Even without knowing what "the Software" was defined as, it's obvious that it's for Microsoft products only, and definitely not applicable to content (such as pictures or doc files) that were generated by said "non-Genuine" software.

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Control

"Now what was it the droid-boys were shouting about, they have control over their own phones and apps unlike the Apple fanbois?"

Another fail for this commentard, since the kill switch can be compiled out of the code, thus providing a kill-switch-free firmware. Last I checked, iOS doesn't have such capability. With the ability to install Apps from outside the Android Market, you're not locked into some company's idea of a worthwhile App. Without lock-in, subscription-based services would be cheaper too, since there's no 30% Apple-tax. Yes, there's a 10% Google-tax, but only if they are used for the credit-card processor and other associated functionality. There is no rule against allowing the App to use alternate payment methods and ditching any Google-provided services altogether.

One does also wonder if the kill switch will yank Apps installed from non Android Market sources? Would be a whole new anti-malware technique of simply blacklisting apps from the get-go.

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Compensation

Your "compensation" is not having your banking details sold to/stolen by a 14-yr-old in China or Russia (or other hotspots these days). Worth the $0.99 loss I'd say, if you actually paid anything at all in the first place...

Prepping the great Windows 7 migration

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Data and Installs

"Why did W7 try to upgrade the D: partition when the C: partition was the bootable one?"

Because you took the easy way out and just clicked on the "easy mode" button. Always pick "Custom" and you'll get the option to pick with partition to dump Win7 on to (as well as allowing you to format, repartition, etc).

As for data, you should have backed up. In failure of that, the disk may have become unbootable, yes, however, just pop it in a desktop and you can still recover your data (unless windows decided to format your D:, at which point, refer to answer #1).

Samsung admits iPad 2 will be tough to beat

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Nah, if your concerned about expense....

Archos has a 70 and 101 at sub $400 range. gTablet for $350. I'm sure there are others, but these two tend to be the "best value" so far. With the iPad2 dipping so close, even being hobbled, it will still raise the question in consumers of "with just $100 more...."

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Viewsonic

the g-Tablet has a community with custom firmware to return it to a (very) usable vanilla Android. It even runs smooth too. Was eyeballing the g-Tablet over an Archos 101 since Archos hasn't quite jumped on the Tegra2 yet.

Intel re-invents its mainstream SSD

Ammaross Danan
Go

OCZ Vertex3

The Vertex3 does still top the charts in overall performance with "real" data, but using purely incompressible (random) data, the new Intel drive starts running stride for stride with the Vetex3. However, real-world use of semi-compressible data makes the on-chip compression of the Vertex3 MUCH faster in terms of reads and (definitely) writes, making it the more ideal "home user" drive. If I were using it to shuffle audio/video data (or using it as a full-disk-encryption disk), the Intel would be the better option. But that is nearly splitting hairs when considering vs a standard spindle disk, as either would be phenomenal comparatively. It likely will just come down to price. If they're within $20 of each other, then role/bias.

Microsoft blows Windows Phone update, again

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Fail

Fail for both the author and the commentard who can't figure out the article states "4GB of free memory" which obviously means storage capacity, as 4GB of RAM doesn't exist on a mobile phone (yet). The Author gets a numpty award for publishing a tech article without understanding that storage is not "memory."

NASA's Glory climate-data sat crashes into Pacific on launch

Ammaross Danan
FAIL

Does no one actually read the articles?

Really? Would be like reading about Core i7s and how they're quad/hexa-core but with hyperthreading enabled and posting a comment: "Yeah, they also have hyperthreading!"

Ammaross Danan
Coat

Or likely....

Climate Change advocates, since they seem to have more people in leadership positions able to pull off a covert sabotage. :P

Android malware attacks show perils of Google openness

Ammaross Danan
Terminator

Agreed

Simple way to sneak a malicious app into the Apple Store: have it wait 30 days or so before it starts behaving maliciously. Will give the "legit app" part of the app time enough to be vetted, and also obscure which installed app caused the infection.

I agree with the Android fragmentation view. The one thing iOS has going for it is the enforced updates to the latest version (at least until the 3G and less got booted out, but that's likely due to handset capabilities and thus understandable). Honestly, since handset makers practically abandon their models after a month, there should be a "defaults to Google" function in there that allows Google to push over-the-air updates for these abandoned phones.

/Terminator, for lack of an Android icon.

From messiah to pariah: The death of open source on mobile

Ammaross Danan
Linux

Re @AC 16:33

"Free if your time has no value? I assume that you either work for MSFT or haven't seen Linux, LibreOffice, etc. in the last few years."

Those are the "diamonds" he was referring to. Granted, I don't recall any end-user GPL stuff that takes even 30min to install and configure. Note "end-user stuff" doesn't include Apache or Bind9, but even Apache works out-of-the-box....

I will grant that it's hard to find an obscure-purpose GPL application that has made it out of alpha/beta phase and into 1.0 territory though.

Cobalt-barrel machine guns could fire full auto Hollywood style

Ammaross Danan
Go

@John Sager

"A white-hot barrel is going to be just as much a giveaway as muzzle flash."

Just because it's 1100 degrees, doesn't mean it's "white hot." Likely it will have a heat distortion effect radiating off the barrel, for sure, and just think: no need for a bayonet! Just barbecue them!

Ammaross Danan
Boffin

@Armchair metallurgy

Concrete doesn't have the same molecular structure as metals, as metals have a more precisely aligned structure to the atoms. A molten metal would be like the magnetic bits on a hard disk platter being scattered every which way, whereas metal that has been forged is more akin to precisely aligned bits of perpendicular-recording media. (except with metals, they're laid parallel). This is why "folded steel" makes for an extremely sharp, sound blade.