Posts by uninventiveheart 36 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Nov 2009
"Belifore slipped on the safety vest of non-committal corporate speak to reply: "The company will evaluate that going forward." "
And that's how Microsoft will leave the mass computing world... not with a bang, but with quiet "evaluation". Nothing Microsoft has released in Mobile/Tablet computing is an "overnight success" that they keep supposedly seeking. So far, I only see AT&T pushing WP7: does T-Mobile even advertise that they have them?
Americans call this "Not in my backyard." There's many causes to champion for these things: prison construction, wastewater treatment facilities, drug users, sex offender halfway houses, cell towers, power transmission poles, etc. Most of these things are based on fear and supposition.
Before someone flies off the handle and boasts "How Dare You!", yes, I live in a state with a sex offender registry that's public information. I agree that sex offenders should live nowhere near schools or areas where kids or women exclusively gather, like schools or abuse shelters. That being said, they gotta live somewhere too.
Why can't Apple trademark vowels why they're at it? Anything "e-" or "i-" anything could get Jobs money.
Seriously... anything less than three letters which can be combined into a larger word could let Apple sue them out of existance. (Consider the Spanish infinitive "poder" and all of it's conjugations.) Unless the USPTO has a top bureaucrat under the table of the Apple Board of Directors (use any visual image you like), this won't happen at all.
Besides, forcing consumers off of standards and onto newer, less permissive ones makes the economy go 'round.
Or, media producers can accept the reality that there's very little they can do to stem copying altogether and just settle for a partial answer for a number of years. (Fat chance of that happening.)
Ignoring the onus that Christians may feel on this matter, appeasing the religious right is pointless only for the fact that they will oppose any measure on porn except outlawing it. Largely a waste of time for them and us... But they will do what they do without compromise and count this as a hollow victory against the porn industry when losing it makes no fundamental change to their fight.
The cost of such domains need to be equal to .com or less, or adult entertainment groups will never use it. Beside the fact that the proposed TLD isn't being enforced on existing adult-content sites anyway, so the filtering argument for it's passing is weak as well.
Approving this is a waste of time.
I was curious as hell about it. I tried Voice and loved it, and I figured Wave would be as useful.
Except it wasn't. While new communication tools need to serve a function first before they're made, I was hoping for the opposite to be true: new advancements can be made absent of function that will find a role itself. I knew it was a long shot, but I did it anyway. It was fun for two weeks, until all of us on Wave asked at once... "Okay... what now?"
I don't think Open Source will carry Wave along as an ideal single communication tool, as much as it will gut Wave of it's individual parts to add it's features and functions to other open-source projects who could use them.
The trick corporations use is calling the work Open Source, but only that. The license is the important part.
Free software and open source are not synonymous, but a lot of people make the assumption that if the source code is exposed, that it's free of charge. Microsoft is starting to figure that out with it's Microsoft Research and Connect projects. Despite that these projects are technically Open Source, it's not free software: MS still has an EULA on most non-GPL projects stating that any contributions belong to Microsoft and if they choose to close the source and sell the product, you get no say, no credit, and nothing out of it. Caveat emptor.
As long as that perception exists, more and more businesses will keep doing this.
Solaris 11 Express is for developer use only... if you aren't registered with Oracle as a developer, you can't have it. The email said they're no longer pushing code updates to OpenSolaris. That means it's dead.
Sun was bought by Oracle because by itself Sun is not profitable enough to survive. This decision shouldn't come as a surprise.
The only way they'll do that is if phone manufacturers get enough litigation to carry it out. The the "open phone" platform won't be so open anymore.
If the system has to ask if you're sure you want to dial a phone number in your phone book that was manually entered by you (an untrusted source) and not confirmed by a secure update from Google's Address file that matches SMS transmitted messages or Latitude shared data, maybe we're going too far.
Not only the first time a Android virus was publicized, the agency making the report, Kaspersky, OFFERS NO mobile client to scan viruses for Android.
Yeaaah. Fat load of good that your anti-virus program can detect the signature if you can't access anything more than the phone's SD Card (when the SMS is in protected internal memory.) Sure, it gets rid of the SMS messages from non-Android devices, but c'mon.
I know, right?
I had this discussion with someone on Ars Technica who was sure that Steam coming to Mac/Linux would end this in 2011 and knock Microsoft off of it's last pedestal.
With DirectX11 on the newest cards only and XBox360 as a tie-in to developing with DirectX. Hmmm, write one game, port it to two platforms... yeeeah, I think I'll go with Ballmersoft on that one. I think MS will be king for a eensy bit longer. Mac hardware comparatively start off with weak NVidia cards (Geforce 310... meh), and most Mac users (NOT ALL... hold those torches, fanbois, I know you better than you think!) are so stuck on Easy Mode that opening the case seems like cutting open your pet to see how they work. (See, it wasn't that mean.)
MS had it so good in the Wintel years (1994-2004) because most of the software made for Windows wasn't interoperable, and the open source alternatives in the mid 1990's weren't comparable at all. (Sawtooth was more disgusting to look at than Windows 95, and I hated KDE.)
Now, approaching the 20th year since Windows 95 was released, and look at what we have: Apple's alternatives are equal or better than Microsoft Office 2003/2007 in a lot of areas, Linux has gotten plain gorgeous as well with Gnome/KDE (I looove KDE 4, it is a great improvement over it's prior versions!), Google's Chrome OS is the first proof-of-concept of a Cloud-centric operating system.
While Windows 7 has caught up to Apple in terms of UI appearance and fixed a lot of problems with Windows Vista, it's not inherently different since Windows XP... or 2000, or Me, or 98, or 95. All of the above operating systems (except Goog, of course) have done a lot of work on user experience, whereas Windows' best UI improvement in the last 6 years is Windows Media Center.
Applications-wise, the only reason why to buy Windows 7 is the same reason to buy X-Box 360... most games still require Windows to run well (well, there's Wine/Cedega/vmware, but let's face it, it would be easier if game developers/graphics card manufacturers wrote for multiple platforms to begin with.) If you don't play graphics card intensive games, there is nothing tying you into Microsoft except that either you can't afford a Mac (PC still whips Apple on pricing, but even on cheap hardware, Linux is there to fill the gap), or you're afraid to leave Windows.
It's easy to evangelize open source, but it won't change Microsoft's bread and butter... their stance is exclusivity: Most of their hardware is certified to work on their machines with sparing support on other platforms, Apps only work on Windows by mutualistic license agreements and developers who write Windows-only code, and Microsoft doesn't play nice with Linux or Apple, period. (Try networking a Mac Mini and a Windows 7 PC together... you'll need to spend five or more hours, plus a couple of bottles of Rogaine to replace all that hair you ripped out... And even if you figure out how, if you post it online there will be 100's who won't be able to follow what you've done for some reason or another.) While it would be possible for them to monetize Bing and use it for more Google-esque pursuits, it's not likely to happen.
While I see the 'attachment' of "apps" to the iPhone as a good business idea, there's so much on the "iPhone Web" that can be accessed by a traditional web browser (iPhone web sites all work on Android, Firefox, or any other browser: the "iPhone formatting" disappears and it looks like a tiny HTML page.) It's just a matter of time before someone is clever enough to find the "app URL" and share it.
Anything that takes up really well on iPhone finds ways to honor the Apple patents, but makes the leap to be cross-platform for mobile devices anyway. (Layar, Epicurious, etc.)
(Reg folks: ... as an aside, when exactly are the Steve Jobs and Mark Shuttleworth Angel/Devil icons going to appear in the comment icons for us?)
NVidia has yet to release an open-source version of their drivers to allow Linux to better operate on their cards. NVidia is the primary reason that Sony decided to disable "Other OS" support on their consoles. And CUDA as an interface will never be on ATI cards short of a merger or buyout. Yes, OpenGL/CL is on their new cards, but not the latest version.
While I think Intel/NVidia's infighting over hardware architecture and graphics implementation is ridiculous and I side with NVidia on a lot of that mess, Big Green still isn't innocuous of "industry influence" on technologies. Gaming on Linux is still largely a joke compared to Windows systems (not the fault of the progenitors of Linux gaming: Wine, Cedega, indie developers doing what they can, etc., but rather short-sightedness and backroom dealing) thanks in part to companies like NVidia.
Automagically rarely comes along with "free" in the legitimate business world. I doubt Microsoft would let users backup to a cloud service, even with ad-supported service.
I think that most Microsoft developers make the same assumptions about their customers: make a copy of your personal folders and leave it at that... If your system goes belly up, reformat, reinstall Windows, reinstall programs and copy your personal folders back to the hard drive. (Yes, I know people like to not do this. I'm one of them.) Makes sense when they lock user permissions to prevent people from writing files to the main directory of the C: drive or Program Files, even if they're administrators. (Permission denied? I'm the Administrator, how much more permission do I need?!)
Most sensible thing for Microsoft to do? Get rid of the Backup program completely (which has been a joke since Windows 95) and tell users to go buy one. At least users aren't hoodwinked into thinking that the included one will work when it clearly doesn't.
It's easy to hate Microsoft no matter what they do. Dropping XP support is a cash grab, yet supporting it is admitting how crappy Vista/7 is to the non-MS crowd. Yet when Mac drops support for Tiger, everyone pats Jobs on the back for antiquating perfectly useable computers as "junk" for low-income people and schools who may not be able to afford new computers, even at a discount.
Before someone mentions Apple deeply discounts computers for education, remember that schools in America are firing teachers/losing staff at an alarming rate. Hard to justify buying new computers when the computer class needed to teach them is shuttered and the school is looking to sell the outdated equipment to prevent firing a teacher in Math or History. The PE and Home Ec teachers were fired ages ago. There's not much left to lose.
Back to the point: Tablet PC's when Microsoft first touted the idea was a gimmick. It's still a gimmick, even with Apple in the 'game', now Microsoft and Google are interested in releasing competing products for a niche market. The market is there, don't get me wrong, but it's not a huge one... one product will do, if any at all. Even a dated Eee PC 801 does as much as an iPad does now, it's not leaps and bounds apart. The main difference is the packaging.
And most of us don't need it. $400-600 spent on a gadget about to occupy a closet shelf or desk drawer, and yes, for those paying attention, it's what the mainstream users are finding about right now regarding Netbooks. If you have the cash to pony up for a Macbook or a PC Laptop, take the initiative and get it already.
Or possibility #5: everyone who wants to quit over privacy already has, except for 30K of folks out of 450 million. That's 0.00006% for those who like infinitesimally small pie graph slices... real world example: a sliver of cherry cheesecake cut with an electron knife. Not enough for a taste of cheesecake, let alone the almighty Z to care about privacy issues any more than he does. The only reason 'action' is being taken is to shut the media up about it.
I think a large number of people are concerned about their privacy on Facebook, but aren't so fatalistic as people who choose to leave: It's possible that people who have privacy issues with Facebook might still want to use Facebook.
Tort law is still a factor. Companies advertising a feature of a device then removing it from end users after purchase through a remote update may still violate laws and consumer protections.
A EULA can state "Anyone who purchases this device shall lose citizenship in their present country and agree to become a legal resident of Kiribati, observing all laws, fines and fees therein of the immigration process." It doesn't mean it's enforceable.
Companies who make promises then reneg on them, regardless of the EULA, usage (or non-usage) of the feature, or corporate concerns against it's user base do things like this for a simple reason: in case of a class action suit, they're prepared for the damages, if any would result. They know what's coming, they'll play their role, and if they lose, they'll pay.
Another certainty, of course, is how many people who read class action notices mailed to them and ignore them like they're a Jury Duty notice. Again, they're prepared for the outcome.
Sounds from the website that they have no right to the name yet...
From their News Page:
"We are hard at work here trying to solve the problems of world hunger & global warming; not to mention finding a way to achieve international peace and the cure for all the horrible ailments that beset mankind.
On top of all this, we are diligently and fervently entrenched in the negotiations that will allow us to place this cute little logo nameplate on our all-in-one computer."
Until the website changes or a press release appears, I say "Meh."
While he's no Steve Jobs, there's something that can be said about Woz' accomplishments, which admittedly are few, and why Woz has appeal at all: he may be a dork, but he definetly is not a jerk.
There seems to be an undertow in the technical community and a type of eyerolling given to past entrepreneurs and moguls... If you haven't invented anything recently, you deserve absolutely nothing. There is no reverence in technology: if everyone in this generation was born with color TV, no one cares that you invented it; worse, people will insist you retire for even mentioning it.
I'm not impassioned about Steve Wozniak, in fact, I never liked Apple. But remember that not too far along in this world, there will be a point where your children will be contemptuous of your life's work. And when it happens you'll be lucky if people your own age dare validate your existence at all.
I remember when they tried it on Discovery back in 2004... I fell in love with the show immediately, but after being shuffled around they stopped re-broadcast. Then I heard they wanted to breed a spin off for the states involving of all people, Adam Corolla. Thankfully it never came to fruition, with the executives saying something to the effect that we "just don't get the format". It's good that we didn't: the three presenters have a chemistry to them we couldn't possibly hope to emulate with our "talking head" mentality (re: Ryan Seacrest and Nick LaChey.)
I love the show's 40% "Motorweek", 40% "Jackass", 10% talk-show approach. There are decent reviews of high powered cars I couldn't possibly hope to attain, and a few of the challenges they get actually involve relevant performance considerations, so it does have good information. (But the "Water Test" of British Leyland still remains a personal favorite... and utterly useless for real-life application.)
The title sums up my sympathies. Every person I know who bought a Dell desktop as a residential user has always regretted it from the lack of support, bad build quality, and (my issue) machines that despite making it to the repair facility, still get "lost in the mail" with no recourse for the owner.
I'm not an idiot, I purchased insurance on the delivery in case something happened. But mail insurance doesn't apply if the machine made it to the destination in good condition; UPS made no fault in the delivery, Dell lost the machine. So I tried suing them. My lawyer handed me a letter and instructed me that he can't help me in the matter: I need to talk to an arbitrator alone (Dell brought their lawyers, of course).
After three months of arbitration, I ended up paying them an additional $200 more in fees to lose my PC that cost $1,250 in the first place. Even after paying it, it was reported to the credit bureaus and any creditor asks me about it although it's been reported as paid in full and on time. (Still enough to skunk my car loan when I needed one.) After the decision, Dell kindly reminded me in a letter that I am ineligible to receive any further support, sales, warranty or any service of any kind from Dell for a period of 15 years, even if I buy a product from them at a brick and mortar store. So basically, they skipped on paying for their dinner, left me with the check, and of course, stole my wallet on the way out of the restaurant while telling every woman I'm a rapist.
Anyone who is dumb enough to buy Dell products who is not in the private sector can just pay their older sibling $1,400 to sock them in the face and buy something else, in the end it will lead to the same result. But at least this way you'll keep your money in the family.
I got a Gateway LT3100 series recently (in the UK, Packard Bell dot M/A) and it runs Windows 7 Home Premium quite well, Aero, WMP12, and all the fixins. Sure, it sucks on full-screen video, can't play HD anything, and gaming is weak at 10-12 FPS, but it is a netbook. I know what to expect.
I keep reading reviews of ION based netbooks in hope that one or more may close some of these gaps, but most of them fail at it... I know these machines are the bottom of the barrel, but some machines between the bottom of the barrel and the lowest rung on the Laptop ladder (most capable laptops start at $700 to do anything more than what a netbook can pull off for almost half of the price) to fill the needs of the still-largely unanswered market segment: a decent subnotebook that's light and portable that's a jack of all trades that costs less than $600. A machine that won't splice together 720p video, or play Crysis at full settings, but can at least play games above 30 FPS on the lowest settings and play video regardless of where it's from or how big it is.
So, IBM, sorry... I'll pass on this. If you're going to bother with elevated specs, make sure it does one task well at least.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
