Posts by JaitcH

Thank you, Register, for yet another ...

handy reference piece to be filed away for use another day.

Meanwhile back to the trusted XP Professional!

One benefit of living in a less prosperous country, or one with a less popular language ...

is, it appears, that we get bothered with fewer adverts or other annoying interruptions.

Mongolia is a great country for obtuse language.

In Ha Noi there are 'guides' who hang around the monuments and approach tourists asking them where they are from. Once they get an answer they whip out a little notebook with recommendations from, allegedly, people resident in the tourists home country as an endorsement for their services.

I always answer 'Mongolia' as it appears none have recommendations from that country.

At airports, when asked where you are headed, 'No where' is an answer that never fails to stump the touts.

"Apple looks set to continue making more money from its smartphones than the likes of HTC"

There is a Chinese proverb that runs something like: "Fortunes are made from profits (margins) thinner than paper".

Apple might make more per handset but it's costs are also much higher than HTC, LG or Samsung but it is also more vulnerable if the Far Eastern manufacturers put the price squeeze on.

Remember, also, that Apple uses components and sub-assemblies made by some of it's handset competitors so they win whatever direction the wind of public opinion flows. Apple doesn't make much of anything presently and is therefore at the mercy of it's suppliers.

Republicans believe in ACTION! Wait until tornadoes hit New York and the sharks are in the harbour

Republicans are kind of slow when it comes to Nature, they think money - their main interest - can fix things, everything. How wrong they are!

With rising water temperatures, sorry I should have said with changing water climates, those 'twisters' such as Katrina will become more common. The increased heat will permit the twisters/tornadoes/hurricanes (whatever conjures up the mayhem in your mind) to hit New York full force - something it is neither equipped to handle or built to resist.

Another quirk about Nature, it is very possessive, it always likes to reclaim what has been taken from it, and a bit more, a sort interest payment. Much of Manhattan is recovered land, stolen from the sea.

And guess who inhabits Wall Street and southern Manhattan - Republicans!

So when the twisters are sucking out the high-rise windows (you should have seen Boston's John Hancock building when this happened) and the subway is flooded with the water slowly taking back that land which now lies under Manhattan - Wall Street gets it's name from an earlier sea wall - THEN the Republicans will become converts and true believers!

Just think of all the 'reclaimed' land around the world, even in England. The Thames Barrier will be standing there, an island, surrounded by water, as a monument to man's folly.

Chunks of Singapore and HongKong will disappear, as will a few man-made islands off ShangHai.

The trouble is that some nations are disproportionately more greedy for energy and they will pay. Europe has been conserving for years whilst the States was happily consuming 'cheap' fuel. Well, now that 'cheap' fuel has vanished even they are double insulating their windows and insulating their roofs.

This greed extended to water. Higher temperatures encourages evaporation and all that glorious network of canals that carries water from the US southwest interior will become evaporators - even more so than today. Push in so much and only a small percentage emerges in Los Angeles.

BTW, the Gulf Stream is the only thing that prevents the UK becoming colder than Canada. We can handle -30 to -40C weather because we are energy self-sufficient. Scientists predict with warming seas the Gulf Stream will cease to operate and even the disbelievers in the UK will be convinced.

Don't mess with Nature, she's no respector of politicians of any stripe.

Sounds better than Opera mail - but I still don't trust Google with my mail

Any content of any computer server in US territory can be copies/acquired by the US government without the need of a judge and under imposed secrecy - which is Reason 1 why I won't use Google.

Secondly, notwithstanding their benefits to society, I won't entrust them with my mail as I don't know what they do to it/with it.

Still, this latest mail App seems to be more user friendly than Opera Mail 2 - Version 1 was great for my use by Version 2 never worked as I needed it to. Thunderbird 2 did.

My e-mail provider, somewhere in Scandinavia, runs a smart system and it automatically pre-sorts some categories for me - I was amazed how much 'junk' mail arrives each week - all stored away in a folder. I can also preset filters which is, in a way like this Google App, so I am very happy thank you.

Why doesn't Jobs simply use iApps and be done with it?

Since Jobs seems to have a fixation with the self-centred letter 'I' (as in me, me, me) why doesn't he just bend the dictionary again and have an iApp store.

Then the rest of the world can have their App stores which name appears to originate in some of DEC's user libraries from years ago.

But there again Jobs is famed for stealing IP, which I guess explains a lot.

"downward spiral sparked by an interest in adult pornography" I thought it would be upward

He should have used the defences used by other police 'experts' in other jurisdictions such as:

(a) They are my reference material; (b) I took my work home to complete because of time constraints; (c) The pictures weren't obscene in my opinion; etc.

Don't the police have in-house 'expertise'?

Question: Who rated them level 5?

If companies can do it for less, what is the council doing wrong?

Unless it is union busting in disguise, the question that begs an answer is how can a for profit business do the same work, at a like standard for less?

If so the first should go is the city manager followed quickly by other supervisory staff.

And in the case of a business failure of a council supplier where is the insurance, financial guarantees to make good the breached contract?

Or is the public supposed to pick that up, too?

Nuance makes great software such as ...

Dragon Dictation which, in it's latest iteration, spends much of it's time learning even from your typed corrections

Pentagon officials say the treatment is not for punitive reasons.

Who's try to con who? Civilians aren't like the military, they don't check their intelligence at the door.

Of course, being a marine, Bradley Manning is getting the full treatment - bet his cell air conditioning is turned up pretty high, too.

This is, of course Obama justice at work, Bush torture to cold attribute to ignorance but Obama actually excelled in university and is a lawyer and one of his duties is to protect American citizens.

Lucky his hasn't been declared an enemy combatant. Although, come to think of it Guantanamo inmates have it better.

Hope that this treatment is rated as cruel and unusual punishment and Manning is discharged on a technicality. Bastards.

It's so insignificant Microsoft has to take time out to ....

knock the competition as it is undoubtedly seen as a threat to MS.

Chances are Google is streaks ahead of MS. Following the Amazon Wikileaks debacle it is necessary to consider other aspects of vendors. MS has a track record of opening up it's vaults to law enforcement for minimal reasons whereas Google has a history of resistance.

"in Canada – where users could previously switch between the cellcos with a simple microSIM swap"

Might be simple but dam expensive for the large cellco's costing around CAD$50/SIM.

Wind is the cheapest at $15.

Obama did little to move this along

It is a Senate bill is sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Democrat-Vermont, Hatch and another top Republican on the panel, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

For a good write up see: <http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2011/02/28/D9LLLPTG0_us_patent_system_overhaul/index.html >.

Obama is too busy trying start another non-war in Libya following the US success in Iraq and Afghanistan.

GCHQ can't even handle the workload it has, what's it after more budget or hardware

GCHQ is supposed to be catching all those imaginary spies and terrorists and it is failing at that.

Where and how is it going to get the manpower or equipment to do this in these days of cutbacks?

Cut the pensioners again?

Why ;leave the Apple numbers out?

Well, I can understand, you don't want to hurt iPhan feelings. But 0.1% is still an increase even if Apple is in 3rd place.

Apple Oct-10:24.6% Jan-11:24.7% Point Change:0.1

Now we wait and see how the iPhans spin these numbers.

I wonder what applications DARPA will have in mind for US clapping soldiers?

So I guess we can see clapping, arm waving soldiers in the future as they direct their heavy guns or order in a drone to knock off some innocent.

Different, anyway.

Selling out employees for a pot of gold

I guess this proves Nokia has the morals of American business.

Dumping all that talent and expertise so they can make the bottom line look better.

Sad end to Nokia as the innovator and leader in the mobile business.

The BBC is like SkyB except that ...

it get free handouts from the taxpayer who must support under threat of fines or jail.

At least we know what Murdoch is, the BBC just pretends to be balanced.

Can Amazon be trusted after Wikileaks?

Amazon is a bit of a risk given then mix politics with business. They are also the 'cloud' behind the flaky Police.co.uk crime site.

The most important thing to know is if there is an Amazon 'back channel' in their store App and what does it report?

Additionally, will all your purchased Apps return if the Store is re-installed after deletion?

New British uniforms made in China! IP is given away by the US, too

A couple of years ago new style, high-tech, uniform contracts were awarded and ended up being manufactured in China. (See: < http://www.zeenews.com/news645002.html >) I guess the Chinese don't have an interest in green uniforms?

Most of the 'leaked' IP in China has been released to them by provisions in manufacturing contracts, so who is to blame?

A while back I was involved in Canada of some resource search equipment and a foreign entity wanted to buy some sets of equipment. This foreign entity was directed to a US company, who accepted the order, in turn placing an order with the company I then worked for.

The equipment contained high-voltage triggers used in atomic weapons which weren't allowed to be exported outside of the US. So the Canadian company took these triggers, added some circuitry to them for other parts of the equipment, will all markings - even resistor values - removed and the encased the whole lot in an epoxy type of gue that could that the assembly could not be removed without destroying the components.

This assembly was given an parts number and added to the parts list.

As the completed geophysical set was exported to the US it didn't require any declarations. The US purchaser was aware of the situation but was more interested in money.

A massive amount of forms were completed by the US entity which incorporated a parts list which declared the source of manufactured materials on it. The assembly, with the vital high-voltage switch, was simply described as a control module.

After a month or so the US government approved the sale and the three parties were happy.

So much for US ITARs.

Too cheap to use an InterNet cafe?

How come these characters always seem to be dumb and/or cheap.

A quick visit to an InterNet cafe would have saved himself a lot of grief, especially if it was one popular with games players.

Wrist watches vulnerable to damage and too small to have adequate power or range

What a waste of a development.

You lose it to charge it, which is likely often, and it is vulnerable to damage and theft - even though it looks clunky.

Using a handset makes so much more sense on so many levels. Besides, wristwatches seem to be passée unless you wear a 'chronometer'.

Dearlove should be listened to, this is the Establishment speaking out against the Establishment

For a guy with a track record like Dearlove's he is someone worth listening to having been M!6 boss between 1999 to 2004. His speaking out against 'striking and disturbing' invasions of privacy by the Big Brother state', including some activities that were abuse of the law, is significant, especially when he said immediately after retirement he wouldn't be doing interviews. This also means he was in the know around the 2001 New York air incidents and he believed the U.S. response to 2001September 11 had been disproportionate. (No kidding).

Dearlove has also complained of the 'loss of liberties' caused by expanding surveillance powers and said some Plod operations as 'mind-boggling' including the massive surge in police use of stop-and-search powers in London, headlining the fact that Scotland Yard Plods have carried out more than 150,000 searches since 2007 which compares with fewer than 300 in Manchester. Reg readers will undoubtedly recall photographers and rail-spotters were Plod targets.

A total of 238 Territorial Support Group officers were investigated over 547 allegations of misconduct of/to the public in 2009, 29% referenced serious and sexual assault, and other assaults. This is pretty bad even for Plod supporters. This Plod mob sparked controversy over policing during the G20 protests, were accused of 159 assaults in the past year.

This former spy chief is not alone as a growing number of high-profile critics warning that individual freedom and privacy are being seriously eroded by the Government's efforts to guard against terrorism. Personally I think they have gone way too far.

Sir Richard Dearlove particularly noted inadequate laws to regulate some surveillance powers. Even the House of Lords Constitution Committee has called for the state's Big Brother powers to be cut back, and the Information Commissioner has condemned the spread of surveillance, particularly the UK's 4.5million CCTV cameras, at a cost of at least £500million of taxpayers' money was spent installing them. Home Office research has shown that the millions of CCTV cameras in Britain's streets have done virtually nothing to cut crime.

Dearlove said Home Office plans for a vast InterNet surveillance database were 'a step too far for the British way of life'.

Remember if Britain accepts all this it will only get worse. Time to write your MP.

Browsers and their use will determine the prevailing standard

Even though MS Internet Explorer is ahead by a mile in the browser business, Safari is small potatoes. The ones that will count are Chrome, Firefox and Opera.

MS wins as it is the free and default browser but what will happen when Google's (free?) OS hits the market? Since hardware manufacturers are always seeking ways to improve profits taking on Chrome is a sure fire way to further those goals.

Android has demonstrated that this model works for both Google and manufacturers so it is not too pioneering from others, particularly hardware manufacturers who already have Android products.

Content is another determining factor. If browser users visit YouTube this enhances the adoption of the royalty-free V8 codec. What popular content does Apple or MS offer?

I just checked our company work centre computers and of the 165 computers only one has used Apple's Quicktime in the past three months.

With the DOJ kicking the tires/tyres of MPEG-LA it will force them to put up ... or shut up.

"Eastern District of Texas is traditionally friendly towards patent holders" - not for long

The new patents legislation working it's way through the U.S. congress has, according to press reports, language that is intended to kill off trial venue shopping so companies will have to take their lumps elsewhere.

"RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers" if you don't want choice

Android is employed in a equal number of handsets as Apple and RIM but the advantage is that the plethora of handset styles and features makes it a better fit for all lifestyles. If you want Motoblur you can have it, if you want HTC Desire features they are sitting there ready for you.

Apple comes in one operating flavour limited, of course, by the foibles of the Walled Garden. Despite what Jobs says, his OS is still number three, according to Nielsen, in North America. When iPhone 5 arrives there will be an opportunity, if it works properly, to redress the lost sales attributed to Lemon 4.

RIM offers a better choice than Apple as it has several models from which to choose.

That Apple pleases the most retirees is understandable as they, like iPhans, just want something that works without being too adventuresome with Jobs looking after the Garden. Having tens of thousands of apps is meaningless unless they can offer a lasting benefit to the user and Jobs' mantra of that we have the apps is simply PR fluff since many are crappy but keep his number rising. How many apps can you load at one time? How many apps do you NEED on a smartphone?

As many opinion forecasters have opined, by 2015 Android will be the leading OS. By then the app market will have matured, junky apps will fade, and then we will be left with the ones that really enhance the smartphone experience.

As for having 'one OS fit all' is yet another example of Jack of all trades and master of none means that something has to be compromised. Tinkering with a common OS to solve a problem in a smartphone application might result in degradation of tablet features so the RIM and Google solution of using OS tailored towards their penultimate use makes more sense than a more generic OS.

For me, personally, I am still looking for the ideal smartphone for my needs and it may well indeed turn out to be a 7" screen unit with telephony features which will serve my total requirements in a single package and, hopefully, with a little ruggedness built into the case.

The answer is obvious ... it's far bloody colder in Canada

Canadians burn their excess calories off trying to keep warm, or chasing hockey pucks and shovelling snow. Often town bylaws require property owners to clear the snow off the side-walks in front of their properties, no doubt with exercise in mind.

It frequently snows in June in Hurst and Geraldton, both in Ontario and both south of Hudsons Bay. Then by late October the winter starts in again.

Still, it's a record that we are happy the Americans have laid claim to.

PS: Could it be all that GM food they eat down south?

The Judge has an interesting bio.

Howard Charles Fraser Riddle, 63, was for 20 years in private practice as a solicitor. He is a District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) based at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, first appointed as a Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate in 1995.

He has been a member of the Sentencing Advisory Panel since 2004 (deputy chairman since 2007) and was recently appointed as a member of the Advisory Group to the Law Commission.

He is also currently chairman of the legal committee of the Council of Her Majesty’s District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts).

Source: < http://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/wilkinson/authors.html >.

Appeals courts get to know their inferior judges and if this Beak has had many judgements overturned, Assange may be SOL.

Would you trust any car running on Microsoft software?

Presumably there is a screen somewhere so we can see the familiar 'blue screen'.

And what hidden features are there sitting ready for activation by Plod?

"the Eurofighter has no stealth features at all." No problem!

In times of conflict the plan could be to fly the Eurofighter around, like decoys, so the enemy would be suckered in to chasing them.

Meanwhile the Raptors could pick off the enemies aircraft and all, hopefully, would be well.

P.S. Not even 'best friends' Britain can get Raptors as no opportunity for export currently exists because the export sale of the F-22 (Raptor) is barred by American federal law

I hope that ...

any royalties or other payments accrue to the benefit of Wikileaks rather than individuals - whomever they may be.

"privilege against self incrimination ... not available in "proceedings for infringement of rights"

My money is that Blair/Brown/Blunkett and possibly even Straw was involved in promoting this legislation.

What defences still exist in the UK? Arrested - you have to spill your defence; computers - you have to cough up the password or go to jail. etc.

Maybe the only defence left is amnesia - or 'Plod took all my notes and I don't recall anything'.

What a sad state of affairs. It's enough to make you immigrate.

Plod and ACPO are too involved. They should butt out of the process.

Plod is little different to anyone involved in computers - they HATE deleting data.

Why is Plod even involved in the records deletion decision making business?

Let's take Canada. It uses the British (common) law principle and it has a great working systems of criminal record handling.

Assume you are convicted of any offence you criminal record remains until after, I believe 3 years the sentence is completed. In the event of a conviction of a felony the conviction remains until 5 years after the sentence is completed.

To have a criminal record suppressed, and I mean really suppressed from the preying eyes of Plod, an application is made by the individual to the Federal Parole Board (as opposed to the provincial boards).

These guys are in the forgiving business: they have street creds on both sides of the bars. They are the guys who let inmates out on parole AND they grant criminal record suppressions. Only a minister can overturn their decisions, say, for example, continued criminal activity.

In UK the usual prejudiced/biased suspects are involved and even after 25-35-whatever years following a persons last criminal conviction they don't issue a 'clear/clean' record there are either the old convictions remaining or, in the case of records for immigration to other countries, a code that indicates to these countries there is a criminal conviction although expired.

Does this really incentivise someone to go straight? I submit not, The UK should adopt the Canadian model as it has a good track record and has been in effect for decades.

What's wrong with making shippers (and purchasers) pay

This tax evasion racket is common in the U.S.A. where several states are running large deficits.

In Canada, outfits in Ontario have to remit taxes (federal and provincial) if they have offices in Ontario as well as their home province. Canada's Customs (whatever fancy name they have been given) get to slap any applicable duty + federal tax + provincial tax.

Now that the Feds are collecting taxes on behalf of more provinces, their income has risen.

Shouldn't be a problem to apply in the UK - give the UK customs another chance to screw up. Eligible people should then be able to claim a refund. Better to collect first and refund second.

No doubt Amazon will try calling the government's bluff - as it does in the U.S.A. Cameron should stare them down.

BTW, how difficult is it to discriminate between flowers and CD/DVD's when writing a tax code?

One name Neil Young should keep in mind and that is ...

Aaron Barr who also shot his mouth off only to eat his words, big time.

Young should also bear in mind that the quality of product matters, not the quantity. Poor games products bore people and then they give up and move on to something else.

His market is so ephemeral that it can disappear in a flash, so he shouldn't be so cocky.

Serial thievery? BTW, how can you copy something that isn't released?

So everyone has no ideas except for the ones that they're stealing from Apple? And just where the hell did Apple get them from? So many of the patent filings with Jobs name on them are prior art. Starting with company name and the IP theft from Xerox. Apple couldn't even copy a rice cooker connector without it burning up!

Still, with the new U.S. legislation coming down around patents maybe some of these claims will fall by the wayside.

And how does RIM get to copy HP when HP's pad is so far off? Perhaps if HP spent less time knocking personalities, starting with Hurd, and concentrated on the tasks at hand they would have a better product.

The Australians are simply trying to ...

out do the U.S. Homeland Security and FBI. This appears to be the criteria they use in so many government activities.

Very sad for a nation that was well known for it's independent thought.

Besides, what do kangaroo's and Kuala Bears or even feral rabbits know that the government has to invade people's privacy so much?

Never buy anything early in a production cycle ...

as you don't know what problems will be experienced. Just like the Lemon 4 problems didn't surface for a week or two after release. Given that there have been wholesale hardware changes in this latest Jobs tablet, caution is warranted.

Then there is a new OS and we all know what happened last time!

No one mentioned what screw heads are used, either. And a cover which uses magnets sounds like a recipe for disaster and frustration and only USD$39 yet. But it does have the nibbled fruit logo on it!

Let others be the guinea pigs.

The big question is ...

just how many FB users know how to locate their control panel AND when they do find it, do they know how to use the options.

Certain ages should be banned from being able to share, too.

We must be lucky, then, we have guaranteed minimums

For several years VietNam was in the same position as other countries are now until customers complained so much the national government woke up and really put the boots to the InterNet and cable industries.

They also set up 0800 numbers for filing complaints. Boy, did it work.

Our government telco has 5 speed bands, FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY, from which customers may select their service. In addition there is an 'unlimited' option, on any speed, which means what it says - no limits on downloads and the the final option is dynamic or fixed IP addresses. The guaranteed worse minimums are also stipulated.

The telco will also enter into special contracts for users who want higher bandwidths (speed) with guarantees.

If IP TV (TV over the 'InterNet') is offered where you live in the UK, taking that service means the ISP will have to really condition your line which will also improve your InterNet speeds no end.

If a very big country, when compared to Britain, such as ours, with terrain as varied as Britain's, can get fibre all over the hills and dales one has to wonder just why, with the UK's high population density, is it so difficult to get the fibre out there.

Possible Australia has an answer - have the government organise the fibre backbones, as it does with water and power undertakings because obviously private industry is falling down on the job.

"We trust that AT&T will not take it personally"

I never realised that Chief Justice John Roberts even had a sense of humour.

Touché!

Did you hear that ...

the U.S. Congress is changing the rules for Jobs favourite repository?

See:<http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2011/02/28/D9LLLPTG0_us_patent_system_overhaul/index.html >.

Apple, and Jobs, make ...

Scrooge look good.

How venal can they get?

Will they have worn e-book sales as they do with paper books?

Libraries derive quite a bit of revenue fro selling off 'worn' books.

Does Harper-Collins allow them to do this?

For the iPhan who needs everything

< http://dantri.vcmedia.vn/Uploaded/2011/03/02/steve-jobs-ipad.jpg >

Perhaps The Reg can display it.