Re: I think we need a new acronym... POS is doubly accurate...
For me it's "SLA" (as in Service Level Agreement). Even all these years later I still will think "Symbionese Liberation Army" (and that dates me right there).
2005 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Aug 2013
Perhaps when the whole edifice collapses when a hapless fool innocently changes something which is replicated endlessly around the globe by aggressive dependency policies it might be cause for thought
And that gives me a possible solution for a problem in a SF story of mine, how a particular attack vector hits computers worldwide when originally meant for localized targets.
Smartwatch owners love their calorie-counting gadgets, but they are verrry expensive
Well, what better way to reduce your caloric input than to spend *SO* much money on worthless tat that you don't have money to spend on food.
Those who said they don't own a smartwatch said the biggest barrier was price.
No, the biggest barrier for me is why the fuck would I want one.
I'd agree on your "slightly" preferring Net Neutrality. It's the original intent of the internet, although I could see particularly egregious abusers of the system having to chip in a little more to compensate (but just *how* to determine that is the next problem).
Biggest problem I've had with NN is that it can readily be used by any administration in power (or even your typical petty bureaucrat) as a weapon to punish any company that dares to oppose some particular political/social agenda. I prefer to see as few weapons as possible in the bureaucratic arsenal. Add to that the government administrators who can't tell the difference between technical issues vs wilful blocking (not saying AT&T wasn't blocking, just that there actually *might* have been technical issues), or some abuser of the system trying to present themselves as victims.
It comes down to trying to establish static rules to something that doesn't lend itself to a static ruleset.
And if I hear it from an "analyst" AGAIN, I just shrug.
There's a reason they're called "analysts"; because they're usually talking out of their ass...
(BTW, ElReg: just HOW is it if I reply to a message that has a long title, you suddenly think it's too long? It was posted before with the same title)
My Netgear router fixed this problem by blowing itself up on the same day the warranty expired.
Yeah, Belkin routers have the courtesy to blow up 2 weeks after you buy them. The replacement units maybe last 4 weeks.
Linksys routers are minimally functional, but the parental controls act just like the teenagers you're trying to put time limits on; they ignore what you're saying and do whatever they want anyway.
At least the Netgear router I'm trying a recent build of DD-WRT on didn't cost me anything, so no money lost if I brick it.
Preposterous! Of course aliens are not the cause of all unexpected phenomena.
You lose your keys -> gnomes.
Nope, not that either. It's just that the blue-suited construction workers forgot to place them there when they built that minute.
It's unreasonable to suggest that aliens might be broadcasting messages in arbitrary directions at cosmic power levels on varied schedules from multiple locations across the galaxy and even other galaxies.*
The big issue I've seen with trying to detect "alien" transmissions (presuming they even broadcast in a band/frequency we'd recognize as radio/TV) is we have to detect them at JUST the right period in their development. Just look at our own broadcast history; from Marconi's earliest transmissions in the 1890's to 125 years later, we went on a curve of more and stronger broadcasts, but then moved to cabling, terrestrial satellite (which would be transmitting down to the surface rather than out), and various encoded streaming services over those lines. Moving to digital broadcast meant while we had more bandwidth, we have less range (our house gets *no* broadcast television). I'd suspect we're leaking far less for broadcast signals than even 25 years ago.
So effectively you'd have to catch that other civilization's signals during their century-long "noisy" period. I could be wrong, my wife would attest to that...
I'd also presume that having and using the supplied bloatware is part of the support contract or warranty support. I mean slapping an offshore call centre in front of a flow chart who's first question is "What does the software say?" saves on their budget.
But even if you're forced to leave the SW on the system, the next-best option is to make sure the software doesn't auto-load at startup. Only run it when absolutely necessary. If you're having to leave it on corporate desktops, delete the icons for it as well.
But you don't even have to be a *small* operation to have your system loaded down with crap. I remember seeing the IBM internal MSWin image, where all the bundled applications were loading all their memory/CPU-hogging accessories that the vast majority would never need/use. It was quite obvious whomever was setting up the apps simply clicked past ALL the default settings without even looking at them. Your tech-newbie grandmother could have done a cleaner install.
There's always Captain Obvious from some hotel commercials.
Several MS employees and graybeard-equivalent experts on the Microsoft forums would lead the seeker-of-truth down many twisty passages which didn't help.
http://www.tensionnot.com/jokes/customer_service_jokes/microsoft_tech_support
(although my favourite is still http://www.rantnroll.com/html/gates.html#divine)
But once you're putting the SBC inside the case, you might as well get a PineBook (this is exactly what they do).
But as a convenient KB/screen for your phone, it could still have it's uses. If I were one to actually use cellular data (rather than syncing through wifi before I leave home) I'd consider it. I had intended a similar idea with the current Barnes & Noble 10" tablet & keyboard, but the KB cover accessory for their tablet is non-functional shit.
I'm not so sure the expense ends up being as bad as you thuink. Considering they can replace expensive, one-use CommonCore-mandated textbooks, and can be readily used for 3-4 years. Add in the other consumables the Chromebooks can replace, they might end up being a cheaper solution. Just forget for the moment they come from the GoogleHydra, and just think of them as portable terminals.
[3] All links resolved by javascript, with their HTML anchors blocked by #, ensuring that the user can't browse without being snooped on.
The other problem I've encountered with links calling javascript, is it means you can't open links in the background to be read later. Taleo would do a lot of that (but Taleo are general shitheads anyway)
As a coder myself, I understand the value of using someone skilled at UI/UX and using graphic designers to make the functionality usable by casual users.
GRAPHICS designers? Nope, they just like making things fancy, not usable. If they were capable of usability, we wouldn't end up with the sort of crap Jony Ive and his ilk come up with.
Proper battery, or a Dallas chip ? Horrible bloody things.
At least the Dallas chips mainly just die quietly. The "barrel" batteries in Amiga, Mac (?) and other 90's kit are notorious for leaking out when they die, corroding the system board around them. They have spot-welded leads and are soldered on the boards. Whomever thought having batteries permanently soldered to the board should be made to lick a few of those damaged boards clean.
I fully expect future generations to just reset the clocks and carry on.
The AT&T 6300 PCs had an oddball clock chip, where you could only set the clock for dates from January 1984 to December 1991. I had to "fix" one in January 1992, and there already was a clockfix utility to set an offset for the system clock to allow you to set dates later. Apparently it will still work too (just have to set the appropriate multiple of 8). Although that's compensating for a hardware issue, while this is OS & software.
The grease-monger has also been installing touchscreens in its restaurants to save customers having to bark orders at staff.
More likely because as more states move to a $15/hr minimum wage, it has become cheaper to replace staff with self-serve signage.
Just waiting for someone to invent a restaurant where the kitchen staff are hidden behind a wall of compartments, and you just put your money in on the side of the compartment to pull out your food selection. Maybe call it something like "Automat"...
My question here is: are they bricking the entire unit, amplifier and all? Or just the remote-services function? Because if the latter, you just take the old kit, wire in an auxiliary input directly to the amp (if it doesn't have it already) and use them as powered speakers. it's the only way I would use such a device anyway, as I would never buy hardware completely reliant upon an internet service, readily subject to being cancelled at any time.
Meh. It took me 3 months to get hold of a couple of NUCs after pre-ordering 3 times, only to get let down each time with no stock appearing after the stock due date.
So I guess there's been an advantage in my habit of using only used/cast-off x86_64 (and a few straight x86) hardware. I think the last time I had brand-new x86 kit was a homebrew Athlon64 back in 2004. Now, Arm and Atom-based hardware is a different story (yes, I know Atom is technically x86, but I'm considering "mobile" as a separate animal)
Come on, you turn it sideways and you can watch Crunchyroll on one screen and Funimation in the other... (especially fun if you run the subbed and dubbed versions of the same episode).
But the big problem is if you want to use a physical keyboard with them in landscape mode. You'd have to have some tall extender to hold the two screens up. I guess that's where you'd fold them in laptop-mode and do a soft-keyboard on the second screen.