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User: SimonTheSoundMan

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Comments · 913

  1. Re:Good luck with that. on Rite Aid and CVS Block Apple Pay and Google Wallet · · Score: 1

    Credit card 15-20% APR, debit card you make money though interest. How is not having a credit card is a poor financial decision?

  2. Re:Good for them on Rite Aid and CVS Block Apple Pay and Google Wallet · · Score: 1

    The waiter, or anyone else for that matter, should never touch your credit/debit card. Why on earth are people giving it to them for?

  3. Re:Good luck with that. on Rite Aid and CVS Block Apple Pay and Google Wallet · · Score: 1

    What's wrong with it linking to your current/checking account? I do not intend to own a credit card, I do not need one, as the same is with most people.

  4. Re: I don't follow on Apple Doesn't Design For Yesterday · · Score: 1

    I don't even have font smoothing switched on my retina MacBook Pro, just no need.

    OS X has quite good font smoothing, if you want to see a bad one just try one of the many Linux desktop environments.

  5. Re: a quick search on No More Lee-Enfield: Canada's Rangers To Get a Tech Upgrade · · Score: 3, Informative

    More accurate, don't jam as much in cold weather. If a Lee fails to fire, you can pull the pin back again without moving the bolt. If a bear is coming at me and the rifle fails to fire, do I want to pull a pin back and then it'll fire, or have to go through the drill of making the firearm safe, emptying the round from the chamber, then loading the next round then pray it fires that time around.

  6. Re:Yes yes yes on One In Three Jobs Will Be Taken By Software Or Robots By 2025, Says Gartner · · Score: 2

    Well software and robots will do some of the tasks we do today, which means people of the future will be doing other tasks. Walk in to a factory these days in Western Europe, the factory has possibly 5 employees on the floor, go to China and there are thousands to make the same product. This is what is different with out economies, wages will in China will get to a point where robots are more cost effective, and efficiency is needed. People keep on going on about Foxconn buying in robots, this isn't anything new, just they are shifting just as Europe did decades ago to automated lines - a cover glass for a product is no longer manually stacked and trollied over to the next workstation by workers, it is now done by a robot with suction cups and the trolly drives itself to the next workstation. Skilled engineers will go off designing new robots, some will become managers as their jobs are more service sector jobs working in sales or maintenance for example. You'll find 4 of the 5 workers on the floor are simply cleaners or loading materials, the 5th person in an engineer that managers the floor, workers and maintenance.

    If you're not the one designing these robots or software, and your not in these management roles, you're stuck in the last decade of engineering in manufacture. Same can be said for many other disciplines of engineering.

  7. Re:How can you on Apple Sapphire Glass Supplier GT Advanced Files For Bankruptcy · · Score: 1

    It's cashflow. I guess it halted after this: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/...

    You have to be able to pay your staff, overheads and other costs etc. The new iPhone is at least a year away, I guess they couldn't secure a loan.

  8. Re:Antecdotes != Evidence on Will Windows 10 Finally Address OS Decay? · · Score: 1

    I got very paranoid about my Mac slowing down. I tested all sorts before doing a full wipe.

    Before wipe, booted in 38 seconds, tested some apps load time, I can't remember off my head but it let's say 10 seconds. Wipe, machine took 35 seconds to boot, apps took the same time to open.

    Meanwhile, two Windows machines I have with Windows 7. These machines do not get used much. Before wipe took 3 minutes to login screen and a good 2 minutes after login to be usable (don't get this in OS X), wipe the machines took 50 seconds to boot and were usable after login. I've been to businesses where their quad core i7 machines get switch on in the morning as soon as staff arrive at their desk, they then go make a coffee, eat breakfast and come back and the machine would just about be booted. Meanwhile I'm there with an iMac from 5 years ago that has never been wiped and it boots in 30 seconds.

    Now on a retina MBP. Takes 11 seconds from boot to login, most of that time is EFI doing POST etc.

  9. Re:Faraday Cage / Tempest on Boeing Told To Replace Cockpit Screens Affected By Wi-Fi · · Score: 1

    Damn, posted that as AC. Banana equivalent dose is actually a thing.

  10. Re:No Way! on Curved TVs Nothing But a Gimmick · · Score: 1

    4k is refereed to cinematic camera resolutions, 4096 pixels wide, and shot at 24fps. It is a standard by Digital Cinema Initiatives. Tons of content shot at this resolution, the work I do we have been shooting digitally in 4k ad 6k since 2009. Also uses CIE XYZ colour space, UHDTV will be standard illuminant.

    You all miss my point, the current TVs will not be compatible with UHDTV. Biggest difference apart from rec202 is having to support 100 and 120Hz, all progressive.

    As for tests, BBC in the UK plan to launch UHDTV1 service over DVB-T2 in 2016, this has enough bandwidth to support this format. UHDTV2 has some more hurdles.

    Only a handful of monitors support UHDTV, they are mostly professional grade 1 panels, and in 4:3 (so we can have other data above and below the image). Current '4k' TVs you could say are UHDTV 0, it is what we call them. We keep 4k different to UHDTV so we do not get confused.

  11. Re:No Way! on Curved TVs Nothing But a Gimmick · · Score: 2

    4k is sure a gimmick.

    UHDTV is coming, and these current 4k TVs will not be compatible. For a start, the resolution will be UHDTV1 2160p (just under 4k) and UHDTV2 4320p (that's almost 8k!), rec.2020, 100fps and 120fps, plus much more. Plus DRM issues.

    Testing in the UK for UHDTV1 is 2016, 2020 for UHDTV2 which the Olympic Games in Japan will be shot at.

  12. Re:No Way! on Curved TVs Nothing But a Gimmick · · Score: 1

    Well, primary reason is to increase viewing angles.

    Meanwhile, I went to an EBU standards meeting on UHDTV. Curved screens came up, some want it to be the norm, asking if none straight lines should be used instead of straight ones on transmission so lines appear straight on curved screens.

  13. Re:Real-world conditions on Official MPG Figures Unrealistic, Says UK Auto Magazine · · Score: 1

    The flaw is it has stupidly hard roll bars and coil overs, something that modern sporty hatchbacks seem to have. You need this camber (and toe) to bring stability back.

  14. Re:Nah...TL:DR on Google Chrome 34 Is Out: Responsive Images, Supervised Users · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't this be better with JPEG2000 or other wavelet based image format?

    You just fetch whatever level of detail you want, you just stop.

  15. Re:WTF would you think we would enjoy an "audio ve on The Inside Story of Gmail On Its Tenth Anniversary · · Score: 4, Funny

    Woosh!

  16. Re:New UI? on Firefox 29 Beta Arrives With UI Overhaul And CSS3 Variables · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Chrome looks like Firefox - Mozilla did the research for a new UI and UX, collected tons of data through Test Pilot project, released the data to the public, before Firefox 4 was released with the new UI, Google came out with Chrome that looked very similar to what Mozilla drew up in mock UI's. This just completes the overhaul of the UI. A little late as it was a low priority. Sad story, but true.

  17. Re:And when it doesn't fit on Your Next Online Order Could Be Delivered To Your Car's Trunk · · Score: 2

    I worry about the dead body being found in the boot.

  18. Re:Its too bad.. on Under Armour/Lockheed Suit Blamed For US Skating Performance · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Like the IOC did with swimming banning such suits, you'd think they would have made this a rule across all sports.

  19. Re:Trademark powers? on 'The Color Run' Violates Agreement With College Photographer, Then Sues Him · · Score: 3, Informative

    Same with London Olympics. A new law was made for this purpose, the 'London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006'.

  20. Re:Is it really worth it? on SpaceShipTwo Sets a New Altitude Record · · Score: 1

    I guess briefly as it starts to fall back to earth. It wont be orbiting or going faster than escape velocity.

  21. Re:How many don't use the chrome part? on Chromebooks Have a Lucrative Year; Should WinTel Be Worried? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is what I hear from everyone I know who has one. I know of 7 people with Chromebooks, they either wiped Chrome off or left it getting dusty on a shelf, one or two given to someone else. I must state that none of these people bought their Chromebooks, they were given for free from Google.

    So, does anyone actually know of anyone who has bought one? Why do they sell well on Amazon? A race to the bottom to release cheap hardware, Chrome OS machines being one of the only ones left as OEMs have learnt that racing to the bottom doesn't work.

  22. Re:There's a solution you know on Some Londoners Cut Off As Failed Copper Thieves Take Fiber · · Score: 1

    I think we do in the UK. You're certainly not allowed to touch any cables or equipment that is beyond the demarcation box or master socket. Anyone?

  23. Re:Doesn't Apple have a patent on this? on Death to the Trapezoid... Next USB Connector Will Be Reversible · · Score: 1

    I'm in the UK, I use these in my home. They take up far less space than normal 13A sockets.

    Now, powerlock. One for the home.

  24. Re:Small Connectors on Death to the Trapezoid... Next USB Connector Will Be Reversible · · Score: 2

    I've never understood this. Same with HDMI/DVI. Why can HD-SDI transmit 2k uncompressed video and 16 channels of audio easily over a 200m reel of coax cable, yet HDMI wont go any further than 10m.

  25. Still becomes a brick. on Google Is Building a Way To Launch Chrome Apps Without Installation · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It still becomes a brick when you have no wi-fi or you don't have an over-priced GSM subscription.