Posts by John Bailey 811 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Jun 2007
"Only the big guys? Why don't the little guys get notification from these tools?"
Because the little guys can't kick up a public fuss and make Google's case for it.
This is still Google throwing a sulk when told to go clean it's room by the big meanies at the Data protection department. Not, as they would like to pretend.. an unjust and excessive burden on poor defenceless little google.
"Has anyone tried bending an iPhone 4 or 5 yet? Perhaps they were always bendy but no one thought of bending them?"
Yes. And even they take considerably more force.. That consumer magazine report from a few days ago tested a 5 in the same machine where the new preciouses came last. The one that found all phones don't in fact bend so easily.
Not the best performer, but Aluminium, despite Apple's assertions is indeed bendy in thin cross section.
Cracked screen and bulging case from swollen battery.. Noticeable.
Poor reception. Noticeable.
Flat phone not flat any more.. Noticeable.
Fanboy excuses.. Laughable.
From now on, when someone says their iPhone rocks, they may actually mean back and forth when they put it on a table.
"So how many people reading this have ever received a cheque in the post for revealing (or making up, there's no way to tell) any personal information whatsoever? Likewise, whever I fill in an online registration form that asks for anything more than a nickname and a password, I don't hear the kerchinnng of a cash register anywhere in the registration process."
Well. Me for one.
A survey site I used to belong to sent me a cheque for £50 at least once a year. Not many surveys though. And I think it folded.
Plenty of others still around. £40-60 a year from the ones I use is about average All in tokens these days though..
Personal data has certainly got value. But I'm afraid they will want a bit more engagement than your email address and an expectant grin.
"The $1,000 each retail, or the ~$230 each cost to build another one?"
Funny you should mention that.
If you break an item in a shop, accident or otherwise, you have indeed bought it. And if you refuse to pay, the police can be called and will persuade you to pay.
BUT!!!
You are not in any way obliged to pay the marked retail price. Only wholesale price. You are compensating the shop keeper for loss of stock, not loss of a sale. They are not allowed to profit from breakages, or it would be an incentive to pile up crockery in easily knocked displays.
So no.. they can not be forced to pay full retail Just the wholesale price. What that is could be interesting.
Personally, I'd put money on the kids not being charged. Unless Apple can get the sum concealed. A sound talking to by their parents perhaps, but that is about all.
"That's a bizarre list of people to link by any stretch of the imagination."
No it really isn't. But you thinking it is, is quite depressing.
It's a fairly good list of the "bad people" that politicians really really want to protect us from. But entirely by coincidence.. accidentally enable the ability to make life uncomfortable for any who asks awkward questions.
Remember.. it matters not if a hundred innocents are imprisoned, so long as one embarrassing demonstrator is denied the ability to cause people to ask why.
"Store layout folk really, really want to stop trying pop-psych, and work out the layout which will let folk do their shopping most efficiently."
And by "efficiently".. You mean for you?
Aww.. So cute.. So innocent..
No.. I'm afraid store layout folk really really really don't want to stop trying to pop-psyche you. Because it works very well.
This is efficient. Just not for you.
"Here's an idea - how about we give up on hard but brittle glass screens completely, and use some soft-but-unbreakable plastic instead, but one that's self-healing, so scratches never become an issue either?"
Great idea. Let us know when you invent it.
"But why should you have to buy extras?"
For the same reason I wear shoes, instead of expecting the ground to not have pointy bits. .
I buy stuff. I expect it to last longer then the warranty. A few quid for a cover = money well spent. Because the thing doesn't end up broken.
"A phone is something you use not a of art so should be able to stand up to normal use which I think we all agree is going to involve being dropped."
Should.. debatable..
Does.. no.
But expecting "should" to protect an expensive gadget.. Hell no. If I had something that cost as much as an iDiot phone, it wouldn't leave it's box until had a suitable protective cover for it.
And what exactly do you consider normal use? Dropping sensitive devices is considered a bad idea.
My new multimeter is IP67rated, but I don't kick it round my workshop.
My DSLR could probably take a few falls. But I try to avoid such things. Because if it breaks, I'll need to buy a new one. Looking at a jammed bent zoom lens on a twisted mount, and saying .. "well.. it should have been able to take that".. doesn't make it all better. Still broken.
A neck strap worn at all times while handling the camera = No dropping. No bent lens. No need to replace it..
Should is little comfort if coming down a flight of stairs, your phone goes flying, and lands 10 feet below, on a hard floor.
My PDA was unscathed by the way.
Should is meaningless if it falls out of your pocket in the supermarket and cracks as the corner of the unprotected case impacts with the hard tiled floor. Not a scratch on my e-book reader.
"Should" is why you need to buy new stuff so often, while my stuff lasts as long as I choose to use it..
"Do you go and buy big rubber bumpers for your car so that you don't write it off when you clip the gatepost?"
Do you try to ram gate posts?
"There is a reasonable expectation that a car is fit for purpose and capable of withstanding normal wear and tear and small accidents."
And there is a reasonable expectation that one will take reasonable steps to avoid damage. Paint "should" protect the underlying metal from rust. Cars still rust though. How much use is should, when the chassis splits at 60mph?
"Why do we not expect the same from our phones?"
Because we are not idiots.
"Lets say that '1 Weekend' is the number of Galaxy S5's that were sold the first weekend the nwe can judge the success (or failure) of the latest iPhone release."
Why the first weekend? Why not say.. 6 months in, or 9 months..
Oh. right.. Must count the peak sales days, and extrapolate them to the months when Apple sales are tanking.
Sorry mate.. The "OMG Apple sold more in it's first week than X is not actually a useful figure. Because it neglects the steady sales of pretty much every other company selling pretty much any product throughout the product's life cycle.
Useless single data points are bragging ammunition. Not useful data. Just like the shipped versus sold meme.. If only Apple count that way, then the metric is of no use what so ever, because it gives nothing to compare it to.
It's the same as the toy industry projecting Christmas sales to the rest of the year, and claiming huge profits.
"If by some freak Apple sell say 10,000,000 and they are sold out for the next month then even the most ardent Apple Haters might (through gridded teeth) admit it was a success."
And you imagine we care because?
Apple sells millions.. Meh.
Samsung sells millions.. Meh.
Insert name of company who makes a product that sells millions.. Unless we own it, work for it, or own shares in it.. Meh..
Because we get to see NONE of that money. We understand that that money is not ours to spend. Some small amount of it may once have belonged to us, but that is as far as it goes.
And if they sell out in the first weekend, and have no stock for a month.. that is actually poor supply chain management. Not success.
I do have a question though..
What would be the number that causes you to concede that either model is in fact, a flop?
0?
-1?
"Are we going to end up with a similar situation with the compounds, that are used for fabricating the 3D objects, like we have with Printer ink now, that is the expense? As the prices for the 3D printers go down will we see the price of the compounds go up? Seems that we're swapping one 'Cartel' for another."
No.
Why not?
Take a look at who actually buys a 3D printer. Not who some marketing department would like to convince they need one, or who some "entrepreneur" wants to sell premium models to.. Or even who you invent to be a 3D printer customer so you can laugh at them..
Fact 1)
Entry level for a ready made 3D printer.. About a grand. Usually more.
How many people do you know who spend that much money on an impulse buy? Considered purchase.
Fact 2) The people who are actually buying 3D printers for themselves, rather than for schools or work or what ever, are the ones who will end up buying the consumables.
£20 a kilo, or £60+ for a 200M spool in a chipped cartridge (about a third of a kilo). Choose.
Fact 3) There can be no cartel, because the barrier to entry is so low it's buried. I can set up a small business for very little outlay gathering the parts to make a kit, and sell it for about £3-500. No knowledge needed, I can download parts, buy ready made control boards.. The works. This is how many of the companies selling the printers to the domestic market start.
"The kiss served no purpose in the story, didn't do a whole lot in the way of character development, and was rather clumsily shoehorned into the writing with an excuse."
Apart from the fact that the clockwork zombies home in on breath, and the human girl's lung capacity was less than the lizard girl's. So they shared.
Some reptiles, such as I thing Crocodiles, can hold their breath for amazingly long periods, so is it really unthinkable that she would have that attribute?
Do some strenuous exercise such as fighting off the aforementioned clockwork zombies, or moving a large item of furniture, and see if you can hold your breath for as long as you can when not breathing hard.
How do you propose the lizard transfers some of her air to the human?
A straw?
A "totally believable" snorkel carried on the off chance?
An arbitrary hollow finger?
Oh the howls of outrage from the nitpickers about the plot hole. And people whine about the over use of the sonic.
The monster homing in on breath is not a new concept either.
Some of the Chinese vampire movies such as Mr Vampire portray Chinese vampires as homing in on breath too, so to evade them, don't breath.
Countless stories where people share breath to get to the surface when one has been trapped underwater..
Some real insects even use breath to home in on prey.
"I almost looks like this was the BBC's plan all along: Put something a tad provocative in knowing it would be sure to stir up complains from the easily offended homophobes* thus giving them a little publicity and making said homophobes look like the prudes and idiots they are."
Oh no.. surely not.. They would never do that.. Like the two women who kissed on DS9 years ago and caused outrage among the easily offended, or Uhuru and was it Spock, or Kirk's mixed race kiss?
It's a plot line. It rounds the characters out a smidge with a potential for a bit of back story. Deal with it.
Any worse than Captain Jack, and the any gender, any species, any time meme?
"*They all deny it, but does anyone seriously believe there would have been complaints had one gender differed?"
Who all denies it?
With people who get outraged for a hobby.. Sure. Some just love to tell anybody they can corner how offended they are. Just look at any story here.
Good on Ofcom for telling them to grow up and piss off.
It's 2014. looking at your feet and mixing up words up is not a believable depiction of affection any more. People engage in marital unpleasantness all over the place, and this would be a great opportunity to explain to a kid that sometimes people like to snog someone the same gender.
"Speaking of SUPER EXPENSIVE mice, does anyone remember the original Sun optical ones that required their own specific metal pad with a pattern on it?"
Not only remember, I had one. Well. A clone (looked the same, different brand). Cost me about a tenner at a computer auction. Worked great until I was doing something to the PC, and my ex sat on the pad. They don't like curved surfaces.
"Or the day that your house burns down, and your insurance refuses to pay out because your crap batteries didn't signal the alarm."
At least he has alarms..
But from your statement, you obviously do not, or you would know that the battery low alarm is on the extremely conservative side to say the least, and they not only beep in a way that is annoying enough to not ignore. But they are still functional while complaining of a low battery. I know this, because mine has gone off while complaining of a low battery. Just as deafening as usual.
They are also quite a small load, so even the cheaper batteries last ages.
So no.. OP's home will not burn down due to a non functional smoke alarm, because he went with some own brand instead of Duracell ultra pricey PP3s, but he will need to replace it a little more often.
"Pinching pennys is contraindicated when it comes to safety."
Over generalisation rarely provides a good argument.
Smoke alarms test the VOLTAGE of the battery, and complain when it hits a predefined value way above the functional limit. Even the cheap "included" battery that is found in so many devices with a quite comically optimistic brand name is capable of delivering enough power to operate a smoke alarm.
They do not check the brand, and go into a sulk when it is not deemed to be of sufficient quality.
"But, heigh-ho - I suppose if they can find a way to block stuff that *they* have a right to - but not, say, of little Johnny knocking one into the back of the net at the local park - then good luck to 'em"
Or do like everybody else in the media.. And send takedown notices to all qualifying images.. Including little Johnny kicking a ball round the back garden.
Little bit of work to rule might be spamming Youtube and other similar places with blindingly obvious not what ever it is league videos, and seeing how long before Youtube gets sent a nastygram.
Calling the competing press to make a storm in a teacup about it is of course optional.
""It has become increasingly clear that the Chinese government has seized on using the [antimonopoly law] to promote Chinese producer welfare and to advance industrial policies that nurture domestic enterprises, rather than the internationally accepted norm of using competition law to protect consumer welfare and competition," the group said"
Translation..
How can we dominate the Chinese market when they refuse to do what we pay them to. This is not the globalisation we paid for.. Now go over there and set em straight, or the money stops.
"It it important to understand that Hitler had clearly stated what he was planning to do before he did it, and people supported him anyway."
And it's even more important to understand that a statement of intent is of no consequence when nobody listens to it.
"So, this report. Does it show that 'devices powered by Android were used more than iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices running iOS throughout July 2014'?"
Well.. Considering it uses the exact same data as fanboys have been using to prove Apple superiority due to superior web surfing numbers.. It must do.
Otherwise they would just look silly.
"I'm still not convinced smart meters will really help. I take energy usage seriously but I wouldn't gain much from such an app. By being interested in energy saving(*) I already know how to determine which appliances are the worst offenders(**). Those not interested will probably ignore the display anyway."
And which ones have you used?
Determining which appliance is a heavy user of electricity is not the same as seeing a real time energy use figure.
(*)Then you should be delighted to see the introduction of a meter for both gas and electricity. You can track it all. Run experiments on different lighting, verify that the fridge door is closed, or that the light is not left on in the bathroom.
(**) Like when you don't close it properly, or it is mostly cooling air, and you briefly open it, or when you turn it up too high, and it stops refrigerating, and starts freezing?
Those not interested will not be interested, and hey.. water is wet.. SURPRISE..
"And when all's said and done what is anyone supposed to do with the knowledge that their fridge is the biggest consumer? Go into the kitchen and give it a good talking to? Spend several hundred pounds replacing it with a newer model in order to save a quid a month?"
Umm... you haven't bought a fridge in a long time.. have you?
But what will real time awareness change?
I had one for a few months when I was part of a beta test for a different product, and they used a little clamp meter to measure my electricity consumption before and after the tested item was fitted. The real time awareness alters behaviour.
Turning the kettle on less often, turning the lights out when not in use. Not having the telly on when nobody is watching. Only using the oven when unavoidable..
"Does anyone really leave energy hogging appliances running excessively long without realising it? Would such people pay any attention anyway?"
Yes. I did. An extra 10 minutes or so preheating the oven.. No big deal..Right? And for heating up a frozen pizza. perfectly economical.. Right? And surely a flat screen TV doesn’t use that much leccy.. does it? And the kitchen light is a fluorescent.. low power.. innit.
From experience, rather than contrarian conjecture.. When you have an up to the minute indication of how much electricity you are using right now,, It is surprising how often you think twice about starting the kettle boiling a second time, because you had to futz about with something for two minutes, or letting something defrost on the counter in it's own time, instead of sticking it in the microwave.
But hey.. I'm sure you will use more power in protest.. Right?
From experience.. It does indeed make a difference. From a high horse. many things are difficult to see.
"Can everyone jump on the "wearable" bandwagon now please? Are we missing anyone? Is that everybody?"
No.. We are still waiting on the commentoads who smugly reject anything new until it becomes commonplace. But I expect they will as usual, sidle in, and try to make out they were here all along.
"Isn't having CP in your possession strict liability, i.e. someone else put it there is no defence? If Google have such content on UK servers plod are surely duty bound to get cuffing Google employees..."
No.
Safe harbour rules. Google do not check each and every Youtube upload, so can not be held responsible if illegal content turns up through the actions of a service user. And so long as they remove it when informed, no foul on their part.
3) They exist, but are so far away that we can't see any evidence of them.
This is no different to my dad, who never left a 20 mile radius of where he was born, dismissing Spain as a fairy story.
In the far reaches of space.. What would tip us off to the presence of a gigantic city sized space craft, when we can barely discern suns that far away?
If it takes a few million years for the light or radio waves from some distant sun to reach us, then what we see is the past. Not the present. So that distant earth like planet might very well have already been colonised, striped of resources, and abandoned... What we see from here, is the light and radiation from before the time of dinosaurs.
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