Posts by ArrZarr

Re: Now you know what 2020 is going to look like

Cultures where life changed sufficiently quickly that each decade could have a distinct identity. Just look at computers since the 50s along with a view on what a computer from that decade was like from a '90s child. At no other point in history has the rate of change been so great that each decade could be readily distinguished just by the tech you would see in people's houses.

50s - An analog world with only the daring looking at these new-fangled whajamacallems.

60s - An analog world with computers that are as small as a garage. Two computers occasionally talk to each other under laboratory conditions.

70s - Everything massively process driven is computerised: banks, ATC get their own software. It's very basic and would be polished to a mirror shine over the next 40 years. Computers have an opportunity to get chatty every now and then.

80s - Everything else starts taking a look at computers and realises that a computer that fits on a desk could make white-collar work so much better. Computers start getting chatty regularly.

90s - The internet starts. People get their own computers with this fancy new thing called a start menu.

00s - THE INTERNET really happens. The nerds have won.

10s - THE INTERNET gets populated by non-nerds and ruined by Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Everything is awful.

The above being said, the scary thing is that the rate of advancement is increasing. It's possible that in the next 20 years or so we will have to break decades in half because the world of 2030 will be so different from the world of 2035 that you can't pin the decade down to one area.

Re: A Ubiquitous Weapon for Mass Distraction and Destruction and Disruptive Creation?

I think it's more of a reference to how many tasks that used to be done in specific programs launched from the OS have migrated to web pages, web clients etc.

For most people, the OS is primarily a means of getting to the things you want the computer to actually do. Browsers are now doing very much the same thing for a hell of a lot of use-cases.

Unsurprisingly, there is an XKCD for this - https://xkcd.com/934/

I'm sure you & Jake can suggest actions that a browser cannot do, but speaking generally, I believe I'm correct.

Re: Can someone please explain...

Presumably because Labour is the only party that has any chance of winning a majority against the tories, and any union leader advocating a Conservative government would be out on his arse in minutes.

Re: Bus factor

Unless he has put contingencies in place, like an Escrow, to mitigate the risk of all the work being lost due to bus factor 1 related problems.

This is not a problem that is difficult to solve.

Re: At that resolution, I dare you to get 144 Hz on a demanding game.

In my experience, 30, 60, 75fps and beyond is only noticeable if you are already used to the higher frame rate - I've made the decision that I'm going to stick with 60fps monitors for that reason - I can't go back to 30 but if I go up a step, I run the risk of not being able to go back to 60.

I accept that there are good reasons to go higher than 60 fps, but I'm lucky enough to not have to worry about them personally.

Re: So what you're basically saying is...

Just wait till the AI takes a photograph, turns it into a 3D model, 3D prints the model and then takes a photograph from that.

Re: Meh why bother....

2007 was very different to now. Google was unquestionably the dominant player in search already but its monetisation was well below that of today - Google shopping (Froogle at the time) was still little more than an afterthought and I believe that it was still a free service unlike today's PPC model.

In terms of the display ad game, Google was much less of a player back in 2007 as well. Buying doubleclick was their springboard into that space.

It's all very well saying that the doubleclick aquisition was obviously going to mess up competition but Display is still the paid search area that Google is weakest in and the most competition still exists. (I don't have stats to back that point up but search and shopping are both 90%+ so it would be hard for Google to be stronger in Display)

Re: Reminds me of a time...

Did you consider that they might have set up the form to be broken deliberately to avoid giving away any of their plonk?

Re: not quite

A journalist for a newspaper is accountable to their editor who is in turn accountable to a chief editor who in turn is accountable to the owner who is in turn accountable to any shareholders.

One person won't have that many direct reports and will be able to pick up on anything illegal and can temper work that's close to the line. If the entire paper is dodgy, then it has a record in Companies house which includes the directors who are accountable to the law.

A forum has just enough moderators so that the most egregious excesses can be expunged.

For FB, Google, Twitter etc. they have so many users that moderation looks more like tidal defense than anything else.

Not standing on either side of the fence at this moment, just pointing out one of the main differences.

Re: Europe to straggle

Does anybody in the US make a phone?

As far as I know, they're basically all made in the Far East.

Re: Regarding wands

FROGS - Frustratingly Restrictive Operator's Guideline Statement

Hell, I'd probably have begged/borrowed/stolen one of the deceased's nervegears after the first month and joined them all in candyland.

Re: Re IPv4

No argument there, The amount of legwork IPv4 has done in the past 40ish years is absurd and the reason that it's ended up insufficient for the present only serves to highlight the sheer scale of what the internet has become, which I assume was quite literally unimaginable back when the system was designed.

Re: Don't want a watch

Is it too much to ask?

Yes. We'll file that next to "where's my jetpack?"

Re: Let me sort this out for you all

Welcome back, Sir Humphrey!

Re: Been there...

I'm not suggesting that they wouldn't. Compared to anything from this decade (or last), they are still fantastic. It's just that they were the cheaper replacement for the older version.

Let me dream, please.

In my mind, there are two or three-person bands out there who have about the right number of clients to make their way profitable and because it's a small team of skilled people, the above is possible.

It's not scalable in any way, but that would be the closest to optimum.