Posts by David Goadby

Pick me, pick me!

I guess my single Win2003 server with 5 CALs doesn't qualify. Even if it did, the cost of the work required to upgrade far exceeds the cost of a PC and fresh licences.

Our server is a business tool. Now virtualised and fully fire-walled, it works perfectly for us so why do we need to change it just because U$oft say so? The answer is less about giving us an "immersive experience (yuk)" and more about needing our money on a subscription basis. They want a direct debit from my bank account.

Who believes that Win10 will be free forever? Take the free upgrade and then, in a year, we will get some form of paid option.

Microsoft just don't get it.

out of control

.NET is out of control - that is why U$oft open sourced it. How many of have installed a new program only to be informed that a certain version of .NET is required? And they are all HUGE.

I installed Nero a few years ago and after installed a very small executable, I remember the system informing me that I required .NET 3.5 to be installed. And that was over 300MB.

Like Windoze, .NET has become bloated and bug ridden. And the compatibility between releases is appalling. By now, we should only need one version of .NET installed on our PC's but I seem to have FIVE! Grrrrr.

Time for a permanent chage of OS

I manufacture monitoring systems. They usually have a lifetime of 8-10 years. After suffering XP-Pro updates and reboots (some of which were automatic -grrr) on my users applications I have now bitten the bullet and moved over to Linux. Yes, it's different; yes, some Windows apps wont run and don't have good equivalents BUT, it is stable and updates are totally under my control. And I didn't have to buy new hardware either!

Cost is not the issue for me; it's the honesty of the OS supplier. Microsoft is sneaky - witness the "essential update" which is a Windows 10 promotional tool.

I have some legacy XP systems and a couple of 2003 servers - all are now virtualised and are air gapped. The rest are Win7 and, if I have my way, will never be Win10.

Intel will now look at ARM

quote "develop Altera's ARM-based..." Altera are up to speed with ARM and Intel are losing out in the power conscious processor space. So, with cash left in the kitty, ARM must be a logical target for Intel now.

Intel will now look at ARM

I'm sure that Intel will look at it's low power portfolio now and re-consider ARM. Intel can afford it. It would be shame to lose our UK sweetheart but it is not large enough to resist a takeover from a giant like Intel unless AMD, already a customer, decides it wants it first. In a bidding war (still time to buy ARM shares) Intel would win for sure. Ironically, Broadcom (soon to be Avago) is an ARM customer. Boy this business is incestuous...

Re: Echo Chamber

Surely the so-called echo Chamber effect works both ways? Our Government seems to act this way and just use the argument that totally supports more taxes.

Mind you, the huge loss of Liberal Democrat MP's, including the loony Ed Davey, does indicate the some of us were fed up of their "ideas"

Too little too late

This seems like a desperate move to gain market share. But, if they "open" the architecture to university students how long do you think it will be before the whole information package is in the public domain?

what about cloudy data?

This has more to do with the cloud than anything else. If you have PC's on-site with installed software and on-site backups then life can continue in administration (assuming power is on). If you are fully hitched up to on-line services such as Office 365, Azure, Windows 10, Photoshop, Amazon etc then your business could be dead in an instant. Ditto if you have a poor internet connection.

shorter life?

Using so much propellant must shorten the life of the satellite as future corrections will need it.

Why are the EU wasting out money on this in the first place?

Lost the plot

Their bait and trap attitude coupled with complicated licencing schemes have put off many of my customers.

With many billions per quarter revenue you would think that moving support to less "English" countries seems a bit of a mistake.

Maybe the boss wants to spend lots of money an another Americas Cup boat....

Old practices still at work?

ICL was taken over by Fujitsu. ICL was always a union shop.

This, along with the poor pay and conditions (a crap company car for starters), stopped me leaving IBM to join them.

Why Microsoft?

I fully appreciate the wrights and wrongs of this case and I see why FTDI would like to protect their IP but, who elected Microsoft to do device driver policing? What other devices will be bricked next - mice, bit-pads, multimeters, Arduino links, micro-chip emulators etc etc?

I wonder how many innocent users will be returning equipment to shops and suppliers as faulty? A real can of worms has just been opened and FTDI will not reap the benefits of it at all.

At least Linux users aren't affected. (Linux 1, Windoze 0).

We have been using FTDI for a long time and I do wonder why this has just surfaced now.

Doomed

Since the start they ripped off education establishments (ie took our money) by re-badging and slightly modifying off-the-shelf equipment and selling it at a huge profit. You couldn't just add a hard disk to an RM box; oh-no you need their branded version.

Their networking sucked too.

Despite brave noises I cannot see how RM can survive as they no longer have a captive customer base or any products the education really wants.

On the downside a lot of local education authorities are now canning their school IT support departments as schools are doing it themselves.

Not enough

Surely this business, although very welcome, is not enough to save Blackberry in it's current loss-making state?

I moved to NoMachine some time ago. When they offer their "NoMachine Anywhere" service then I will no longer need LogMeIn.

Tail wagging the dog

Microsoft have painted themselves into a corner of their own making. They know there are a lot of XP users out there sitting on their hands. They also know that these same XP users do not really like or want Win8.

Even Win9 is being launched early to try and keep the spotlight on Microsoft.

The problem is the world is changing beneath them. They mocked Apple but then they just watched them overtake them in the marketplace. They pooh-poohed Android as a Google toy and watched them take the largest share of the phone and tablet market.

The only sizeable market left is corporate where Microsoft have been strong for years. But even there, BYOD, Cloud and tight budgets have worked against them. And corporate is where these XP boxes are. So, do they piss of their chips and risk defections to Linux or relent. Despite previous statements from Microsoft they have backed-down and it must be embarrassing.

With Ballmer going they have a chance of a major restructure and boy do they need it. All empires have their day and we are witnessing the fall of the original Microsoft. Once there is a new helmsman we will have a new dawn. IBM and Apple survived by looking at the market and then inwards - Microsoft need to do this with a very sharp knife - and soon!

Robbing git

So, Murdoch wants to strip news for free from Twitter and then charge us to read in on his paywall protected papers? Go figure!

to rushed ot carry out testing?

It appears that Microsoft are starting to panic and, as a result, are not thoroughly testing their code. Having missed Xmas last year, and with RT a flop, Microsoft need to get someone at the helm that can manage a big company - and FAST. They are rudderless at the moment. Yes, they have a cash mountain but it won't last forever.

Why do we accept this?

Microsoft got 13 years to get this product secure. Why should be product test XP for 13 years and then still be told that it is not secure after all. Then, we are advised to upgrade. Great for the Wintel conspiracy!

With so many XP installation in the wild why is Microsoft just abandoning it's customers? What other products that we buy do we get this sort of treatment? Imagine that every item in your house came with a replace-by date. Even Win7 is going to be expired in 2020 so then we have to upgrade to Win8? No way.

The sales driven security fear-sell is also becoming a bit wearing. We just aren't; buying it but don't try to make out that we are criminals when we don't jump to Microsoft's tune...

Doomed

They have run the course and would be better to take the remaining cash and shutting up shop now rather than taking the painful slide into insolvency. With their better competitors also struggling then a take-over isn't likely either.

This is a new era and the Wintel conspiracy is coming to an end. Microsoft is looking rudderless and Intel has just woken up to a new competitor on the block.

The industry needed a kick or two and ARM/Apple/Android was just what was required.The latest chip announcements are part of a knee jerk reaction and they need to get it right.

Of course Intel did have their own foray into the ARM world some time ago but abandoned it.

They could buy ARM with lose change today which is why I am hanging onto my shares.

Oversight or boundary pushing?

Surely a company like U$osft with building full of lawyers couldn't just forget this EU agreement? If they did then they re losing the plot. Alternatively, with full knowledge of their legal department, they are just pushing the EU boundaries to see how far they can go.

Either way Win8 is not for me or, I fear, a lot of corporate customers. U$oft don't like it but XP still rules in a lot of companies I know. And, with no easy upgrade to Win7, a lot of my customers are now visualising their XP systems and using VDI/RDP to access them.

If I were a betting man I would give very short odds on Ballmer being gone within 12 months.

who pays?

As well as giving the power companies an Orwellian control over our electricity supply, there is the other question of who pays? I am sure that we will all pay for the meters on our fuel bills just like the feed-in tariffs. There is no free lunch here. And I will not hold my breath on the reduced fuel bill promise - that will never happen.

With security systems being broken every day, and even "unbreakable" encryption systems being cracked, surely the Government is naive in thinking that the smart metering system will be secure for ever? A lot of smart, bored, chess-playing eastern Europeans will relish the challenge.

I live in a very remote part of Wales where Broadband coverage is poor so how come I can suddenly be connected to a nationwide network that I didn't ask for?

Dafydd, North Wales

Royal Mail Website

I purchase stamps online and one part of the process is to get the address using the postcode search etc. For my address, which has no house number or street the address, the address checker fills in the form ok. But, when I come to purchase the postage to print the label, it rejects it as invalid.

The stupid system rejects an address that IT generated - how daft is that?

I have lost count of the number of times I have emailed this problem in and never a replay and it is still not fixed.

The workaround is to type a single character (I use a space) into the street address.

Yeh right - No IE - no problem?

Try and use a number of Microsoft's own websites and you will be denied access unless you are using a Microsoft browser.

Surely, the EU should only left U$oft off the hook until the whole company is browser neutral? Since browsers ought to be W3C compliant then this should never be an issue. I

If U$oft think their browser is the best one then let them offer a free download with a shareware type charge of just 1$ for it. Just think of the possible revenue Redmond!

So now sue the AA

As he was deemed to be an employee then surely he was entitled the benefits that an employee would get? So, holiday pay, sick pay, training, out of pocket expenses etc. Also, the AA should contribute to the NHI as a normal employer would.

They cannot have it both ways.

I'm glad I quit contracting before IR35 came in. This sure is a mess!

Where else is there now?

I'm over 50 (like it matters) and have been with Demon for over 14 years. If fact, ever since I realised that Pipex were ripping me off. More importantly I use Demon for my business and we have ten direct connections and five customers who use Demon on our recommendation.

The reason we use Demon is fixed IP's, no usage caps and excellent uptime. When we get ADSL problems then Demon always manage to sort BT out when I can't.

If CW decide the just take the Demons customers into their existing system then we are doomed.

What CW should do is look at why Demon has so many faithful and satisfied users.

It's a sad day for sure. Talk-Talk anyone?

360 camera

This has been done before but not with an integral camera. Usually, the camera points at the 360 mirror from below. The image is "corrected" using software. There is always a single point where there is no image.

See also http://www.0-360.com/