Pics...
Or it didn't happen (sort of thing?).
[Sorry, bit obvious - long day!]
Posts by PaulW
55 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Aug 2009
Boffins snap first pics of hot white dwarf nova bursting out of its shell
Helpdesk/Service Desk Recommendations
Sunday 6th April 2014 04:28 GMT
Thanks to all!
Lots of input here so thanks - need to review and think as it were.
On spiceworks - one of the few I did get into looking at - its easy to setup, but for our user base a little confusing would be the best way to put it (think C-Level staff, manufacturing people and sales).
Access really isn't in our cards. Yes it could be done but our two Access people (myself included here) are busy supporting access on our shop floor system (works great - beyond great - but its a resource drain) hence the need to go with something a bit more out-of-the box.
PHP would be fine (I've done enough LAMP type systems to write a book) but again see previous paragraph.
Will investigate some of the rest above and report back once we have a solution.
Tuesday 25th March 2014 16:07 GMT
Helpdesk/Service Desk Recommendations
All,
Just ramping up to look for a new Helpdesk/Service desk with the current employer. They have and homegrown Access based application which... is difficult to use at the best of times. Normally I would go to Jira and build something but quite frankly I need something quicker.
Thoughts on what works best for a company of 100-200 users, of which ~50% are remote. My list of features is nothing a-typical:
* Email integration for submissions / updating users
* Web interface for Helldesk workers and/or submitting updating tickets by users
* Ideally fully customizable on queues (one for desktop, network, biz-apps, etc.)
* Supports subtasks if possible (but not a deal breaker)
* Good Management Reports (aka pretty graphs)
* Could usefully have KB type functionality too
* Needs to be self hosted due to some of our special contracts.
I throw this to the wide audience. I was looking at something like Zendesk but... suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers,
-- Paul
Google Glass pics will BAFFLE admirers: Nudge nudge, WINK WINK
Voyager 1 'close' to breaking through to DEEP SPACE - boffins
Microsoft Office 365 on iPhone NOW: No, we're not making this up
Friday 14th June 2013 16:14 GMT 
Well it seems to work...
Just installed it and tested in on a few bits...
- File shares to/from skydrive seem happy and relatively quick.
- Excel formatting works okay - don't have any with macros/pivot tables to hand
- Word document I tried it with (which has a nasty complex layout including some weird tables) came up cleanly - although I couldn't see an easy way to get to headers and footers.
- My really large and stupidly complex Powerpoint file opened right - played correctly and also was editable which is really what I was most in it for
Now for an ipad version so I can do it on something bigger than a 5" screen. If that works, Then I don't really need my work machine anymore running Windows as I can dump all the Microsoft files over to the iPad and use OtherOS to do the rest of the stuff.
(Conditional thumbs up since it this really does work in the long run I can dump all but 1 windows machine in the house!)
Astroboffins map GIANT MASS of dark matter
Archaeologists resume Antikythera Mechanism hunt
Eric Schmidt: Ha ha, NO Google maps app for iPhone 5
Apple TV: Rubbish, you don't like documentaries – I'll just flick to porn
Microsoft dumps Metro from Windows 8
'Spintronics' brings IBM's Racetrack Memory closer to reality
Sony: Walkman, meet Android
Wednesday 18th July 2012 17:30 GMT
Missing the point
So I have a phone and a tablet but I also have a music device (yeah yeah in this case they are all iDevices but I use the generic term in this case cuz I can).
Phone -> Makes phone calls and some apps, email, and mobile TV
Tablet -> Apps, web, and games. Sometimes video calls.
Music device -> music, supports the incar dash and has a much higher capacity than the phone. That way I have all my music in the car, and with the link up the car supports (Pioneer thingy) have playlists, album covers and the like
Now a 32Gb device like this Sony wouldnt work. I have 140Gb on the ipod. But a phone device would never come close. I could do USB into the Pioneer, but the biggest thumb drive I have isnt close (64Gb).
So yeas, despite the fact that it wouldnt work for **YOU** (or some others), there is a market segment out there that needs the devices. (Just like that long forgotten market segment that wants a phone that is well just a phone which is why you can still buy those strangely enough!).
Texan team paints batteries onto beer steins
E3 2012: Prepare to have your buttons pushed
Euro 2012: England is semi-final probability
Facebook stock plunge leaves tax-dodge Saverin WORSE off. Haa ha
Friday 1st June 2012 17:16 GMT
Re: Watch the slide...
"Except if you have a 401k or mutual funds"
Most mutual funds - unless explicitly called out in the prospectus - wont buy into or touch IPOs as they fall outside of the type of instrument they hold (e.g. Large Cap Dividend wouldnt have bought in). You did read the 401k prospectus right? You do understand what is in your 401k/IRA/Pension Fund? Thought not.
Facebook IPO plunge sparks tidal wave of lawsuits
Wednesday 23rd May 2012 17:18 GMT
Re: So, let me see now....
And this is where my issue in the valuation lies... PE Ration of 75ish at $32/share gives a percentage point rating of around 42c/PE point. Assume a year over year increase of 40% revenues moves that to $1.15ish - so lets be conservative and say $1. If it settles to a PE ratio of about $15 which is a little high compared to established companies that gives a price point of $15 based on aggressive forward looking estimates. So in a generours case (and yes Im rounding up all around) that points a price point of $20/share assuming that they can get the monitorization of the mobile users which even FB called out in the S1/S1(A).
Roman roads get the web maps treatment
Ten... eight-bit classic games
Ten... Satnavs to suit all budgets
Sunday 22nd April 2012 01:19 GMT
What about the indash systems?
Admittedly this is (and should be) a UK centric roundup - but I live and drive by my in-dash Pioneer AVIC Z130 + NDM110T combo (well its a Z110 with software updates as the Z110 has a slightly larger screen than the stock 130). Realtime RDS Traffic in the SF/SJ/Oak Bay Area is excellent, reroutes on traffic, learns routes etc. Plus of couse since its in-dash it has all the hook ups (iDevice, USB, BlueTooth) and the like. Etc. etc. (DVDs on rear screen, rear camera, PandoraLink, Netflix, AhaRadio, AvicFeeds for upload/download of routes and driving info).
So it would be interesting to see how one of these all-in-one units matches against a dedicated GPS Nav device (other than you cant take it out and take it with you).
Dad sues Apple for pushing cash-draining 'free' games at kids
Tuesday 17th April 2012 21:53 GMT
Kids own iPad
I know I am in the minority here - but my 9yo daughter has her own iPad linked to my iTunes account. She knows to ask to download an app - even the already purchased ones - and double checks to purchase in-app credits. She is very good on this.
**However** I know she is in the minority.
That said though - on the iPad and other iDevices, there is a parental control setting to disable in-app purchases. Settings -> Restrictions -> In-App purchases. Its pass coded. Why wasnt that enabled?
Makes me think there should be a test to have a smart device of any sort (including TVs where you can now rent movies too). If you have a device with a supported restriction - for crying out loud learn to use the restrictions!
Wannabe Murdochs crash Ofcom's local telly party
Sony posts PlayStation firmware patch
Wednesday 8th February 2012 18:42 GMT
Well I'm just checkin it out. Release notes "on screen"
==============
The Internet browser has been improved.
Some websites that could not be displayed, including interactive websites, are now supported, and page layouts are now displayed with better accuracy.
You can now set to obtain the correct date and time automatically when you sign in to Playstation(r) Network. If you do not need to set the correct time automatically, set [Settings] > [Date and Time Settings] > [Set time automatically] to [Off]
=============
Seems like the release notes still call it Playstation(r) Network :) Someone forgot to fix that!
Drink diet pop all the time? Look forward to VASCULAR DEATH
Nissan Leaf battery powered electric car
Tuesday 20th December 2011 09:43 GMT
Yes, but...
Will it blend?
I know a couple of people who have these - my biggest complaint though is you can't hear the thing when its coming. It really is that quiet. Other than that and its range, however, its actually not that bad of a "short commute" car. If you want to do something longer it isnt going to work. (And by short commute, I mean say San Francisco to Oakland. Even in the bay area it isnt good for much further than that and back.
Mythbusters cannonball ‘myth-fires’
China pad peddler wins iPad name from Apple
UltraViolet: Hollywood's giant digital gamble is here
Zuckerberg submits privacy mea culpa after FTC ruling
Tablets need permanent Black Friday price slash to triumph
Friday 25th November 2011 21:26 GMT
But Apple can take the hit...
Apple can run at or near cost on its iPads for a few reason:
- The end to end consumer experience. If you enable all the iCloud settings, everything seemlessly moves between devices. If you take a photo it appears on all iDevices and your laptop/mac. It goes the other way too (laptop->iDevice). Plus "cute" features like purchasing music/movies/TV/apps in one place moves it to all places. In households with more than 1 device this feature is seen as a big value add.
- It takes a cut of ~30% on all iTunes/App store sales. This is funneled back into making the initial cost of the device a lot more palletable to Apple. (Think about it - how many 99c/79p purchases do you make on the device? I can think Ive probably underpinned apple to an additional $75-$100 already).
With the Android model, there is no pushback to the tablet maker on app purchases. This means they have to be at a profit on each device. Only Amazon could hope to emulate the iPad model with tie-ins to purchases on the Amazon site. Any and all other apps payed for just go to google and the app developer.
And I certainly havent seen anything close to point 1 on the non-Apple tablets - although I'm happy to be corrected as people have been asking me for ideas too :)
Larger Kindle Fire coming soon, say moles
Tuesday 22nd November 2011 00:45 GMT
>> "it's not the same as a full featured tablet but THAT IS NOT ITS INTENT"
Unfortunate then that Amazon are running adverts on the telly right now proclaiming that it is the intent of the product - a full featured tabled with tight integration to Amazon's online product offerings. As are the Nook people (not seen one in action so I cant judge). Good job you dont have any moles inside Amazon.
(Full disclosure - I do have a number "n" of ipad2 devices where n > 1 and n < 5 )
Robot ostrich spy outpaces world’s fastest sprinters
BOFH: Where's my free fondleslab?
Faster-than-light back with surprising CERN discovery
Friday 23rd September 2011 00:37 GMT 
I too recall..
I too recall the possibility that neutrinos may have really small imaginary mass ("hi" or something like that). Not negative mass as mentioned above btw*.
So the question really is, and I am trying to visualize this right as its all quantum thingy, is the speed 'c' possible to be approached by an article with 'h'. And thus, if so, could a particle with equivilent imaginary mass thus exceed the speed of light by that same percentage. But then it would get hairy with particles that have even larger imaginary mass.***
*Which would lead to the interesting thought of a particle with negative mass actually working through a dimension backwards - would it be the time dimension?**
** And does Dark Matter have real positive, real negative, or imaginary mass or some form of mass that isnt actually described by those three planes/ummm number lines?
*** And yeah my QM was all done about 20 years ago so Ive forgotten most of what I learned back then - but I did get to do real MOSFET layouts and use SPICE (well p-spice) and stuff :)
Gravity wave detector gets more sensitive
Oz parliamentary network breached
Amazon confirms the terms of its declaration of war on Netflix
Monday 28th February 2011 22:42 GMT 
What I would like to see though...
Is NetFlix not pulling movies once they are streaming online. Its bloody annoying to get half way through something (say all the Eddie Izzard standup shows) to go back to something you are watching and find that between today and yesterday they've pulled the damn thing.
Also no mention of services like CinemaNow in the article? Its up there with NetFlix (mostly).
Google and Apple locked horns over iPhone location data
Saturday 29th January 2011 15:13 GMT
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
Noooooo.... its "I ***COULDN"T*** CARE LESS"... I could care less implies that if people want your friggin' data they can have it which I know is not what you meant.
I couldnt care less
I couldnt care less
I couldnt care less
(I feel like Bart Simpson on this one).
Oooooh that annoys me more than any other typo/grammer error!!! Okay, sorry Sarah, I'll go back to sleep now.
Lame Stuxnet worm 'full of errors', says security consultant
Harder to read = easier to recall
Feds subpoena Twitter for info on WikiLeaks backer
Saturday 8th January 2011 04:49 GMT
Re: And the story is? (why doesnt it do this automatically?)
"Oh, and just to make it clear Twitter would respond to any request from any country as long as that request is made however that countries laws require"
I think you mean:
Oh, and just to make it clear Twitter would respond to any request from any country as long as **it has an office in that country the resquest is made in, in order to keep doing business there as it has no choice**.
I very much doubt that it would even bother to respond to a request from e.g. Australia as it has no presence there and would enjoy sticking too fingers up at the Aussies (much like we did over the Ashes ;) )
Samsung shuts out Symbian
Friday 1st October 2010 15:48 GMT
The only issue there...
As has been said elsewhere though, the issue with going "android only" is that you have to rely on content and UI to differentiate yourself. If you come up with a new hardware feature (hey lets add a hand mixer to the phone - sorry thinking about the rather excellent toad-in-the-hole I made last night), you have to make sure that any additional chipsets etc you add to the device have drivers and UI components that fit into the linux architecture. I know this is the same to some degree if you have your own OS but often times you have your own inhouse phone OS folks who can probably throw something together. If you go andriod only you would, IMO, more likely just have an inhouse reference design and porting team which wouldnt necessarily have the same skill set.
I think part of the reason for some of the confusion here around phone OS strategy is that some of the phone companies forget that there is a segment out there that just wants a phone thats is, well a phone, and dont need camera, email, games, etc. Thats of course coming from the person who has an iPhone 4.
NFC breathes new life into tombstones
Microsoft volume licensing site serves up customer details
Microsoft tests show no Win 7 battery flaw
Tuesday 9th February 2010 16:16 GMT
Pardon?
[Quote] windows 7 corrupts the information stored on the batteries [/quote]
Can anyone explain this part to me? Am I really missing something?
I thought APCI was read only. I was unaware that anything could write back to an APCI device? (Maybe its done by using some funky quantum mechanics during the charge cycle to set electron spin orbits or something?)
And if I can write to the battery, how much storage can I get on a battery? Could I use it to store my collection of umm fine art images for extra portability?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
