Re: Transparent aluminum
... but Apple can't release it quite yet, because Samsung has not finished the necessary hardware development to it ... bugger ...
Posts by Erwin Hofmann
82 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jun 2009
Want a touch-friendly solar-powered laptop? Apple just patented it
Mystery 'doughnut' materializes in front of Mars rover: 'OH MY GOD! It wasn't there before!'
Apple kicks iStuff-sniffer out of App Store
Monday 11th November 2013 13:47 GMT
a shaky bus ride nonetheless ...
... what confuses me with this is not that Apple withdraw that App but why they approved it in the first place, since "Applications are subject to approval by Apple, as outlined in the SDK agreement" ... shaky, or what, Apples glorious App approval process (it might just be a political decision, after all) ...
HTC phone STOPS BULLET, saves Florida gas station clerk's life
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it ... Win Phone 8? No, it's APPLE'S iOS 7
Saturday 21st September 2013 12:02 GMT
Re: Jobs Comforter
"But Apple has at least taken the opportunity, offered by a skin refresh, to look at some of the system's earlier usability issues and address them" ... now, don't tell me, the most glorified (ever) Mobile-OS had some "usability issues" ... and that there (previously) was something like "This was an especially annoying one" even being recognized by a "fanboy" ... hmm ... shock, horror, dismay ... I just lost faith in the simplistic workings of the world ... but, at least, switching off design thingys, being not a feature, stay's for the foreseeable future (thanks Apple for that) ... imagine what would happen, if it would be possible, iPhones could work and look like Windows (phones), or worse, Android ... what a horrible, horrible, idea ... "If I was a cynic I would suggest Tony is trying to dis the very useful details he knows elevate iOS over its main competitor" ... are you talking about the features that are running in "main competitors" phones for quit a while ... welcome to the "Android-style gallery of app windows", the Control Center (Androids Utilities) and the, now, redundant's of half of iPhones Apps. Apples commercial grip on your iPhone/iPad, through iTunes (in Tune with Apple) "not being able to delete albums without hooking the phone up to iTunes on a computer" is definitely a usability failure" ... and one of my many reason not to use an iPhone/iPad ... but hey, it's just a phone or a pad and can do, the same way other products can, whatever it should do.
PS. Because the author (Tony Smith) actually asks himself if "this is (yet another) desktop iTunes quirk" simply tells me that he, most likely, is an adept "Apple" things user, knows what he is talking about and should not just be dismissed with remarks like: "trying to dis the very useful details he knows elevate iOS over its main competitor" ... cheers.
'Silent' staff stood by as £100m BBC IT project tanked – DG
Patent tank VirnetX fires 'secure domain name' design claim at Apple
Thursday 8th August 2013 10:21 GMT
Re: "What would really help is a law making the loser pay all legal fees"
... how about a law whereby the USPTO has to pay the defenders legal fees, for granting an unjust, questionable patents in the first place ... and cut the salary of the USPTO officer by 10% for every dismissed patent that person was involved with ... that sure would help to create a more responsible environment in the USPTO ...
World's FIRST TALKING SPACE ROBO-CHUM BLASTS OFF to the ISS
Tuesday 6th August 2013 10:47 GMT
... this reminds me of something ... hmm ...
Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.
I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.
I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.
Dave: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
It's called "Daisy."
[sings while slowing down]
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.
Limbaugh: If you hate Apple then you're a lefty blog-o-twat hipster
Google who? Samsung announces its first developer conference
Troll loses 'we own the Web' patent appeal
US public hate Snowden - but sexpot spy Anna Chapman LOVES him
Tuesday 9th July 2013 10:07 GMT 
Might be a variant of the "Stockholm syndrome" ...
"Stockholm syndrome, or capture–bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness." [Wikipedia]
Korean doctors: Smartphones really ARE doing your head in
Washout 2012 summer, melty Greenland 'nothing to do with Arctic ice or warm oceans'
Wednesday 26th June 2013 10:00 GMT
Re: Climate report
... don't go swimming in the pool, go to the sea instead, it's really "warm", "Sea surface temperatures have been higher during the past three decades than at any other time since reliable observations began" (epa.gov) ... oh, by the way, higher sea temperatures means more energy in the atmosphere, which means more unpredictable, more extreme, weather ... shouldn't be hard to accept ... but it's really complicated since the way we humans produce CO2 is mostly related to atmospheric pollution which, through filtering and blocking of sunlight, has, at the moment, often a contradictory effect to global warming ... postponing and dampening any detrimental effects on the climate (as I said: at the moment) ... hence the confusion and often really stupid remarks ... hence, jet streams are not independent and self-reliant entities but an expression and phenomenon of the climate (atmosphere) as a whole ... don't jump to conclusions against the opinion of the majority of the scientific world (which accepts the danger of global warming and our involvement in creating it) just because of one publication ... don't forget, there was, once, convincing professional evidence produced that the Titanic was unsinkable ...
MPs demand UK rates revamp after Google's 'extraordinary tax mismatch'
Saturday 15th June 2013 10:33 GMT
Tax Evasion vs. Tax Avoidance ...
... it's the old question about Tax Evasion vs. Tax Avoidance ... isn't it ... who, in his right mind, pays more taxes as they have to ... would you ??? ... silly isn't it ... if one can avoid (legally) you can/should/have to do it ... and so do they ... and, don't forget, all the employees who pay their taxes in the country anyway ... I remember, when Ireland changed some tax relieve (regulations) for artists, U2 (the bands company) moved swiftly its business to the Netherlands, to avoid the higher tax demanded in Ireland ... villains ??? ... I don't think so ... if big international companies have some special arrangements, so what, in the end the we all will benefit ...
How Microsoft shattered Gnome's unity with Windows 95
Monday 3rd June 2013 17:18 GMT
You are mistaken …
... how can someone give a "thumb down" for this post (except for the spelling mistake in: "known") ... seriously, what's wrong with it. There is noting emotional, non factual or irrational in it.
And for the endless pro and contra topic of variety, which is exactly the strength of Linux and its distributions (like it, or hate it) ... Linux makes a good operating system for your telly, the space station, mobile phones and pads, the Google search infrastructure as well as your desktop etc. etc. ... and if you don't like it, buy a Mac ... fair enough ...
Monday 3rd June 2013 09:52 GMT
You are mistaken …
… Linux dev's (Kernel developers) are rarely concerned with a GUI (graphical user interface) and happily prefer the command line over any GUI … and, very important, Linux and GUI's are not the same. Linux-GUI's are only playgrounds, using the most widely used operating system in the world (Linux) to emulate and/or excel know GUI's like Windows, Android or Mac OSX. Oh, and another mistake (in the article) is the assumption Microsoft (Windows 95) invented the Taskbar. As I remember (being that old) Arthur 1.20 (later RISC OS), an Operating system from 1987, had that feature years earlier, called "the icon bar". Sure, Microsoft invented the "Start Button" ... wow … but that was merely an exercise to declutter the "the icon bar" (er, sorry, "the task bar") …
Microsoft conceals job ad in Bing homepage
Friday 17th May 2013 14:51 GMT
Re: On the rare occasion that I use Explorer ...
... how really stupid of Microsoft to integrate such a "Drive-by infection" look-a-like URL in their portal site ... Microsoft should be advised not to employ these kind of click-nerds at all ... bad example ... one dimensional cleverness ... this just shows, again, how little aware Microsoft is of what's going on out there ...
Acorn founder: SIXTH WAVE of tech will wash away Apple, Intel
Microsoft splashes big bucks to blast Google Apps
German govt DUMPS 170 NEW PCs riddled with Conficker
The UK's copyright landgrab: The FAQ
Friday 3rd May 2013 12:01 GMT
Re: two points i disagree on...
... I kinda like where this is going. I am, forever, an advocate of the principle that everything publicly accessible on the web should be free to be used ... except, of course, for commercial use. This should relieve non commercial use from any danger of litigation, which would make life, in the web, more comfortable. Content provider should cater for this by providing quality restricted or watermarked content. Totally unacceptable though is any commercial use without the creators approval and the term "diligent searches being carried out", to allow surpass this obligation, is just to fuzzy to be fairly workable (nowadays it's just too easy to strip copyright info's from any digital work). Simply put, if you can't get a creators approval you can't use it commercially. This is a crazy, conflict creating, legislation and I must wonder which mind set creates something outlandish like this. Scary.
Fraudster gets ten years after selling fake 'ionic charge' bomb detectors
Barnes & Noble bungs Raspberry Pi-priced Nook on shelves
The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME
Wednesday 10th April 2013 10:35 GMT
Re: Wot no SGI?
... ah, the good, old SGI Indigo ... that clumsy, though functional, design would still give my dehumidifier a run for the money ... I kind of agree with Apples MacBook Air being a fine design (not very original but, again, functional and most certainly very challenging) ... I personally hate the black keyboard ... so, her we go again: "You can't argue about taste" ... rewording a toaster (Apple Power Mac G4 Cube) second place is, without arguing, ridiculous ... but hey I'm just glad the classic Macintosh didn't get mentioned. Oh, from that time, one of my all time favorite, not mentioned here either, is the Atari ST ... which, by the way, was the first home computer with integrated MIDI support and, thanks, to this was able to run music-sequencer software and controlling musical instruments.
Apple files patent for iPhone with wraparound display
iPads in education: Not actually evil, but pretty close
NASA melts mysterious 'metal Martian flower' myth
Lotus 1-2-3 turns 30: Mitch Kapor on the Google before Google
Saturday 26th January 2013 12:42 GMT
Re: Preferred
... and 9 years before that was Framework ... that just shows how old I am ...
Wikipedia: "Framework, launched in 1984, was the first office suite to run on the PC 8086 with DOS operating system. Framework could be considered a predecessor to the present GUI window metaphor as well as integrated interpreters. The spreadsheet program was superior in its day, offering true 3D capability, where spreadsheets could form outline which can be "opened" to reveal a separate spreadsheet as well as other frame types—a feat of sheer convenient function never again seen and further enhanced in much later versions".
Apple loses 'Most Valuable Company' honor to ExxonMobil
Yes, hundreds upon hundreds of websites CAN all be wrong
Tuesday 1st January 2013 22:38 GMT
Re: Oh
... well, well, well ... I wonder if someone considers that neither of the verses are actually correct ... listen to the song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQxc2-ERPug] ... it clearly says (in this and the version I have):
I'm tired of living with freaks
With their tongues in their cheeks
... now, how about that ... fool me twice, shame on me ...
Cheers
Monday 31st December 2012 12:29 GMT
Re: Oh
... a Google search, for the two versions (whole strings) results in a 2 to 1 probability to get the wrong information ... meaning, there is a 33% chance to stumble on to some real facts here ... oh, and the top one, on the result list of the wrong version, states: "What is the meaning of the expression "liver for freaks" in this verse of "The Endless Enigma" from the album "Trilogy" by Emerson, Lake ... which spells even more hope ... let the cleanup begin ... ha ha ha ... well spotted ...
Reefer madness blasts pot machine maker's stock sky high
Saturday 17th November 2012 13:29 GMT
... there is no Madness in Reefer, only in Politics ...
... consider this, Hemp (cannabis, reefer) was used for thousands of, pre-industrial, years as an invaluable crop for making fabric, paper, rope, oils and much, much more ... but hemp's main property, it's durable and strong fibers, was always a main obstacle for using it in an industrial environment. That changed in the early 1930's when a new technique for using hemp pulp for paper-making was developed, by the US Department of Agriculture, and the patenting of the hemp decorticator (a machine that revolutionized the processing of hemp) came about. These innovations reduced the cost of producing hemp-pulp paper to less than half the cost of tree-pulp paper. Which threatened the profit making of DuPont (chemical industries) who held many lucrative patents on manufacturing plastics, tree-pulp paper making and paints that could become valueless if hemp products became widely available, and one billionaire William Randolph Hearst, then the most powerful US newspaper mogul, who owned huge amounts of timber acreage, which monopolized the tree-pulp paper market. No surprise that the Hearst medias began campaigning falsified and exaggerated stories about the "evils of marijuana" ... Reefer Madness ... it is really shocking to see how "easily" private financial interests find their way into law ... worldwide ... without any fact base ... but devastating and long lasting effects ...
Apple, HTC kiss and make up
Apple is granted a patent on the rectangle. No, really
Saturday 10th November 2012 12:08 GMT
Re: blimey
... I agree, but I don't think this is a laughing matter at all ... there must be an endemic psychotic disorder prevalent amongst the United States Patent Office officials ... you can't even really blame Apple, and others, for applying for this nonsense, while there is such an institutionalized "nutcasery" at work that grants patents like this ... and since there is no moral or shame in obscene profit making (sosume) ... this rubbish will go on and cripple real innovation ... worldwide ...
Windows 8, Surface slabs ALREADY need critical security patch
Beep! NASA here, a 400 tonne spacecraft is about to buzz your house
Mexico to Apple: You WILL NOT use the name 'iPhone' here
IBM prepares to demo 125TB MONSTER tape
Saturday 20th October 2012 11:16 GMT
Re: Tape not dead yet ?
... but should be ... tapes should be, definitely, dead ... based on my experience (30 years) this 125TB MONSTER tape is the surest way to loose ... well ... 125TB ... tape backups where the most frustrating experience in my whole computing career and retrieving data, after just 5 years, nearly impossible (mind you CD/DVD/BLURAY could even be worse) ...
13-inch 'Retina Display' MacBook Pro to uncloak next Tuesday?
Unrootable: Mash these bits together to get a CLASSIFIED spyphone
Apple supplier AU Optronics suffers IP theft blow
Apple extends fail-prone Seagate HDD swap scheme
Monday 15th October 2012 12:13 GMT
"Outside App, Inside Crap" ...
... and fail they do ... I replaced two of them already. A task, actually, not for the faint hearted. what astound me though, very much, is the fact that Apple assembles an old "rusty" 3.5" Seagate drive, in such a narrow space (I assume overheating is the cause for the problem) ... a surprisingly unsophisticated design choice ... well, speaking of "unsophisticated design choices", I remember the ordeal replacing a harddrive in an iBook G3/G4 ... horrible ... that's where I coined the phrase: "Outside App, Inside Crap" ...
Metric versus imperial: Reg readers weigh in
Saturday 13th October 2012 12:09 GMT
Re: Henceforth, the SPB should use...
... hmm ... should be change, to metric, definitely ... and while you're at it (US) go and change to the better traffic system as well ... left-side-driving that is (it's not a national thing, it's doing just better) ... Explanation: The default "give-way-to-the-right" rule is used in Continental Europe and the US. Which makes absolutely no sens when driving on the right side. Consider this, driving on the right means sitting on the left in your car ... which hampers your sight to the right ... driving on the left, on the other hand, means sitting on the right side in your vehicle ... which gives you an un"hampered" view to the right ... hence giving the one with a handicap (no free view to the left) the advantage and therefor "give-way-to-the-right". Even more impressive is the effect on roundabouts. Left-side-driving turns clockwise, left, around and hence traffic inside the roundabout has naturally way of right ... no special traffic rules, or signalling needed ... it's just beautiful ...
Swiss photographer sues Apple for pilfering her eyeball
Saturday 13th October 2012 10:04 GMT
"All Aplle had to do was just put on some various strokes and an uncopyrighted face"
... or, Apple could have just paid a little license fee and showed some appreciation ... but hey, "We're Apple. We can do what ever we want" ... remember, these is the same company that cries foul, all the time, over design choices other companies include in their products, Apple considers it their own design ...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
