* Posts by Waseem Alkurdi

1240 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Apr 2018

Beware, Tesla might take away your car's autopilot if you buy its vehicles from third party dealerships – plus more news

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Mercedes-Benz has copied the Tesla design

That makes sense, but pre-Tesla, Mercedes-Benz's COMMAND infotainment center was a mouse-puck-operated monstrosity, not a touchscreen.

Only post-Tesla had they introduced touchscreens ... and EV models into the mainstream, although to give them credit, they had been experimenting with EVs ever since these nineties prototypes, and possibly even before that.

So it is far more likely that Tesla is the one doing the copying and doing it poorly...

This is what one is inclined to believe, especially that both compete in the same segment, but in this case, Tesla really set a precedent. It is a bad idea indeed to mess with a touchscreen while driving, but hey, one has to give credit where due.

(And that "mini car on the dash thing" - particularly annoying now that almost every other car manufacturer does it)

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Mercedes-Benz has copied the Tesla design

So you can avoid lawsuits by rotating the infringing design by 90 degrees?

They would be able to claim prior art. Touchscreens in vehicles have been in landscape since the first ones ever introduced in a car, but as far as I have seen, there have been no cars with portrait touchscreens until Tesla debuted the design in the 2011 Model S. (Before that, even Tesla's Roadster had a landscape-orientated display)

Samsung obviously missed a trick there.

No. Nokia's N-Gage line has the claim to being the first here.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Mercedes-Benz has copied the Tesla design

No clutch in any of these pictures - the clutch-like pedal in this picture is a footrest

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Mercedes-Benz has copied the Tesla design

Inappropriate comparison. Why didn't you compare with the Model S?

(Hint: the idea being copied is the on-screen instrument cluster + touchscreen dashboard + "mini car" image on dashboard combo [Mercedes] [Tesla] . The only difference is that the Mercedes dash is vertical instead of horizontal. Otherwise, it would be flagrant lawsuit material.)

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: bits of your car not working...

(but as bland and as boring internally as hell)

Objection: This is subjective. I find it sexier than anything currently on the market.

Perhaps that's why Mercedes-Benz has copied the design in their cars post-2015?

BOFH: Darn Windows 7. It's totally why we need a £1k graphics card for a business computer

Waseem Alkurdi

You can get a workstation laptop. Like business laptops but with 17.3" panels.

HP's line is called ZBook, and Lenovo's is ThinkPad W series, and both can be found for dirt-cheap used on eBay.

Who's got the WD-40? Owners of Motorola's rebooted Razr whinge about creaky hinge

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Balance...

I got to play with one last November at a Google event and was pleased with the build quality, foldability, screen quality, and lack of squeak from the hinge. The ability to snap it shut was quite cool too.

Hope you realize that this isn't exactly 'proof'. I didn't have a problem, ergo there isn't a problem.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: People just want to complain

The Motorola Lenovorola marketing department

Fixed.

AI of the needle: Here's how neural networks could detect nighttime low blood-sugar levels using your heart beat

Waseem Alkurdi

Not really

IoT: I could see an ECG in a future iteration of the Apple Watch.

Cloud: Chocolate Factory just released Google Health, which can connect to your ECG to provide a cloud-powered predictive insulin schedule (psst, buy more insulin!)

Blockchain: And you thought you're going to pay for all that insulin with, er, real money?

From July, you better be Putin these Kremlin-approved apps on gadgets sold in Russia

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: What is it with The Register and Apple Inc?

Read this: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/07/reg_effort_to_attend_iphone_7_launch/

Uber CEO compares pedestrian death to murder of Saudi journalist, saying all should be forgiven

Waseem Alkurdi
Trollface

Re: Simply awful

Perhaps Uber is "secretly" set up and owned by Facebook? The amount of data they collect is Facebook's ultimate dream.

Waseem Alkurdi

But the fact that Uber CEO’s first instinct was to defend against the murder of a journalist in order to avoid upsetting an investor, and then repeatedly failed to recognize the seriousness of the situation - calling it first a “mistake” and then a “serious mistake” - is an extraordinary indication of the continued lack or morals or ethics at the ride-hailing company..

There you go. Much better.

Chrome OS: Yo dawg, I heard you like desktops so we put a workspace in your workspace

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Linux for the win

@Jamie Jones

I'm stuck in the same boat - though my use case is a little different.

I have a touchscreen tablet that came with Windows Ape, to quote Bombastic Bob[0]. Naturally, I run Linux on it. In touchscreen mode, I can't scroll at all, except if I use the scroll bar ... and you probably know how counterintuitive and frankly awful that is ... especially on a touchscreen, but even with a mouse, once one gets the hang of it.

For about a year I ran Android-x86 on the tablet, with a Linux userland instance in a 'chroot' container. It was tablet heaven ... but the Linux container was an issue, because you couldn't have both X11 and Android's SurfaceFlinger running at the same time! So I (reluctantly) had to give up Android and install Linux + GNOME.

It's terrible. But heck, at least touch scrolling works!

You should definitely investigate how to use GNOME's touchscreen scroll support with a mouse (emulate a touchscreen using a mouse for GNOME). Either that or wait until Linux gets touch-friendly (a few decades after the day of Linux on the Desktop™ comes).

For Firefox at least, there's an extension called Grab and Drag. That does the touch scrolling part, even with a mouse, while Chrome/ium natively supports touch scrolling, hold-to-copy, and back/forward gestures.

_____

[0] I still don't understand why people hate Windows 8.1. For the times you are really, really pressed into using Windows, it is quite the best version of Windows ever. Very stable, no slurp, very light, even lighter than 7.

Controversies aren't Boeing away for aircraft maker amid claims of faulty oxygen systems and wobbling wings

Waseem Alkurdi

That awkward moment when fiction becomes fact

I'm currently reading Airframe, a 1996 Michael Crichton novel. Although the plot revolves about a fictional competitor to Airbus and Boeing, called "Norton Aircraft", it strikes me that the plot is roughly identical to Boeing's present drama, although a little reversed.

Remember the 1980s? Oversized shoulder pads, Metal Mickey and... sticky keyboards?

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Same here

Seconded.

I think it's a Windows thing though, as I've never experienced it on Linux.

Lenovo unfolds time frame for bendy ThinkPad: Pricey Windows PC out in summer '20

Waseem Alkurdi
Angel

Re: WTF!?

Way of the future and all that? (/s)

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: re: Folding tablet

Thinkpads were rugged, reliable and repairable.

Now, now, wait a sec here. Durable designs mean that people won't be replacing them as often as the Lenovo beancounters like.

They've taken the ThinkPad name and milked it dry. All that remains is the logo, especially with the E series. Hide the logo and it would be another landfill IdeaPad.

From your experience with the keyboard, it seems he's done you a favor ;-)

If you don't have to have the latest and greatest, allow me to recommend an older, used ThinkPad. Costs much less, so less to lose if it is stolen again, and at least slightly better (they seem to get worse with every year that passes).

Lies, damn lies, and KPIs: Let's not fix the formula until we have someone else to blame

Waseem Alkurdi

Also known as Passing the Buck™

Known since before written history, but immortalized by the BOFH.

Father of Unix Ken Thompson checkmated: Old eight-char password is finally cracked

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: re: He was quite apologetic when I emailed it to him.

Standard penetration testing procedures. Part of the job.

Excited about dual-screen laptops? Make your own with duct tape and the ThinkVision M14

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Sleep is important

Why port it? Almost all ebook readers run Linux, and a minority runs Android. Both can be set up with a Linux chroot, and the desktop version can then be run normally.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Sleep is important

In addition to that, use less electronics as sleep o'clock draws closer.

Until E Ink monitors are a reality, nothing can completely fix the issues with LCDs like using them less.

Waseem Alkurdi
Joke

Multiple monitors are rarely needed;

But come on, even the BOFH uses three of them!

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Mad

USB Type C to HDMI adapter? (#DongleLife)

But would one justify it if it has to be sort of hacked up to add a proper HDMI connector, a touchscreen, a battery (as per @Dave 126 above), ... ?

Ever own a Galaxy S4? Congrats, you're $10 richer as Samsung agrees payout over dodgy speed tests

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Own or buy from new?

- You're commenting on a stale thread.

- Yeah, even if you no longer own it, as they only need proof of purchase.

- IANAL, though.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: I've got one too

Heck, it even has an IR emitter for messing with TV's, etc.

If only I could tell you how much I miss this on modern phones.

Hey, I wrote this neat little program for you guys called the IMAC User Notification Tool

Waseem Alkurdi

Ah, THAT!

"And I suppose... The UPS 20KVA really has a serial number of ALLBEANCOUNTERSARETOSSERS."

Careful now, UK court ruling says email signature blocks can sign binding contracts

Waseem Alkurdi

It's difficult to falsify the fact that a verbal agreement had taken place (I'm not talking about lying about them, but about "spoofing" a verbal agreement like forging an email header).

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Signature versus signature block

Came here to make this exact distinction.

A judge seems to have taken the "signature" in "signature block" far too literally.

IT workers: Speaking truth to douchebags since 1977

Waseem Alkurdi

the second worst PC manufacturer

Gateway?

Sailfish OS given a Jolla good buffing as version 3.1 bobs gently into port

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Any LineageOS comparisons?

You could get an unofficial LineageOS ROM if they don't officially support it for your device.

Mind you, Sailfish OS is *NOT* Android, but features Android app support.

You can port Sailfish OS to your device yourself, though ... and I guess a Note 4 port already exists.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Kudos to Jolla

Nokia/HMD Global claims that title, yet it isn't really Nokia.

No financial gain from adopting Sailfish OS = no go.

Poetic justice: Mum funnels £100 into claw machine to win single Dumbo teddy for her kid

Waseem Alkurdi

It's weird how world+dog (at least governments) would expect the gambling industry (and the smoking industry, and the pr0n industry, yadda yadda) to piss in their own pool?

Waseem Alkurdi

That quote is usually attributed to Einstein.

Far be it for me to be a physicist, but I've read somewhere that on a quantum level, certainty is replaced by probability, so it wouldn't be at all stupid if something was done once and twice and a different outcome happened.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Did she learn nothing?

[sniff] [sniff] Do you smell something that usually belongs in the sea?

BOFH: What's Near Field Implementation? Oh, you'll see. Turn left here

Waseem Alkurdi

Possible, but their writing styles are different.

Is it because the genres are different, with Dabbs specializing in commentaries and Simon in the BOFH?

Iran is doing to our networks what it did to our spy drone, claims Uncle Sam: Now they're bombing our hard drives

Waseem Alkurdi
Trollface

Re: A certain amount of thrashing around going on here....

Nope, that's what they would like you to believe. In actual reality, it's either been 'upgraded' to Unix [1] by some contractor 'coz "Linux is better than Windows, innit?' (https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/04/bofh_2004_episode_14/)

Or it's been silently replaced with a 'puter that's still IBM, yet is PC compatible and runs MS-DOS 6.22 beta build 2220.

Or Longhorn.

_______________

[1] It's a 16-bit, but still, IBM supported it for Unix, according to a 1985 Byte article linked to on Wikipedia

Bill G on Microsoft's biggest blunder... Was it Bing, Internet Explorer, Vista, the antitrust row?

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: So which company do you think DID see the future often?

If you want to know which products Google developed internally, look at those long lists of products Google has canceled. That's always the fate for stuff they come up with themselves.

Fuchsia.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Microsoft did not used to need to see the future

and shipped with an AV...

Not Android ... at least not on stock Android. That must be your phone's OEM, and frankly, to get a virus on Android one must be a real idiot.

Waseem Alkurdi

The result being that nobody can do any serious PC gaming outside of Windows.

Waseem Alkurdi

You've forgotten one: more (security) holes than a filter.

Probably more than Flash. (Or nope, I am exaggerating)

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Damn I Miss Windows Phone

There is a Chinese launcher that brought the Live Tiles to Android. Probably long since dead now.

May I interest you in a OnePlus 6 that runs Windows 10 ARM? Twitter's @NTAuthority has done it, and I would rob a bank and hand over the spoils to know how the hell he did.

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Yet another....

And Clippy.

(But nice pun you've got there! :-P )

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Yet another....

Not Windows 7 please. Or Windows 8.1 (beyond the UI).

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Yet another....

Windows CE or Windows Mobile?

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: Yet another....

Not NT ... it is quite a reliable core, that it didn't need a significant redesign in 30+ years.

Having bank problems? I feel bad for you son: I've got 25 million problems, but a bulk upload ain't one

Waseem Alkurdi
Thumb Up

Reversing the debits into credits?

That's one fucking brilliant move.

Ubuntu says i386 to be 86'd with Eoan 19.10 release: Ageing 32-bit x86 support will be ex-86

Waseem Alkurdi

Re: 16-bit apps

If the source is available, then it's a matter of recompiling the Xcode project to target iOS 11 or higher.

Waseem Alkurdi
Waseem Alkurdi

Re: only reason I can see to run a 32 bit os

There are servers that use Intel Atom CPUs. An oxymoron, I know, but they were used because they are frugal with power.