Vodafone and O2 are actually being relatively up-front about the limited nature of their packages (in O2's case, starting on Thursday). It's Orange that are still labouring under the delusion that 750 MB constitutes 'unlimited'.
The problem with that list is that it doesn't adequately define which 'rights' can be taken away as punishment for a crime. For example, I don't think you'll find a single country that won't take away the freedom of movement rights granted in Article 13, whether by imprisonment, restraining order, ASBO etc. The fact that some of these rights can be taken away severely dilutes the effectiveness of other articles such as Article 5.
Any declaration of human rights needs to split truly inalienable rights from those that are only rights for those not convicted of a crime. In the UK there has been a backlash against the Human Rights Act due to some of the more barmy 'rights', and because public opinion has swayed this way we're now in danger of abolishing the whole thing, rather than making it workable.
I get the feeling that a large part of the reason that lethal injection is considered 'humane' is that it leaves relatively little impact on the body. I imagine that the firing squad aims at the torso rather than the head for the same reason.
It's worth remembering that the condemned usually have a family, who generally like having something left to bury. High explosives, therefore, while being a lot of fun for the executioners, are probably out:)
I thought the article you linked was a bit tongue-in-cheek until I read the Highland Council website, which does indeed use the 'Wales' and the 'Belgium'. It also introduces the 'Luxembourg'.
I'm not entirely convinced of the usefulness of the 'Wales' though, seeing as it doesn't exist.
Also, every single mobile phone is exposing its location to the network. If you're really paranoid, stick it in flight mode, turn it off or leave it at home.
What are you talking about? O2 offer 30 day and 12 month SIM-only tariffs. You only have to sign up for an 18- or 24-month tariff if you want a new, generally subsidised, handset.
I wonder if this is why Android phones don't seem to be making as much headway in markets outside the US, where the iPhone is available on multiple carriers? For all the Android hype I've only ever seen one Android handset in the wild here in the UK (highly subjective, I know).
I've tried it, and sorry but you're absolutely wrong about that.
I'm not wrong, I just have a different opinion. I've tried a BlackBerry Bold, and the keyboard is a nightmare to use. The keys require too much force to press, and the shape of them means that my thumbs start to hurt after a few minutes of typing. And on the phone I used, there was no auto-correction if I accidentally hit two keys at once.
It's starting to annoy me when phones are automatically marked up in reviews for having a physical keyboard, when there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and which advantages and disadvantages are important is a matter of opinion.
I'm quite happy to accept that you prefer BlackBerry keyboards to the iPhone keyboard, but that doesn't make me wrong when I prefer the opposite.
Is there an already implemented standard for mobile video phones? Does it work as easily as it appears to on the new iPhone?
I've tried a video call before from my Samsung Z560 to a Nokia N95 and it worked fine, so yes, there is some standardisation. You type in the number, open the menu and select 'Video call'. The interface isn't particularly slick, but that doesn't need the networks' cooperation to fix. The resolution isn't great either, which might be a more pressing problem. And I fully expect Apple to integrate FaceTime into iChat, which can't easily happen with 3G video calls.
You can walk into an Apple Store, pick up an iPhone and try it out without anybody looking over your shoulder. It gives you a good opportunity to try out the user interface, which is one of the iPhone's big selling points.
I remember seeing what was once a working model of the T-Mobile G1 in a T-Mobile shop once, but the hinge had snapped, so it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.
I was quite surprised when I heard that video calls were going to be WiFi only, given that I have video call support on my old Samsung, which came out before the original iPhone, and my network has supported it since then too.
Does AT&T not support video calling on its 3G network at all? It was meant to be 3G's killer app at the beginning in the UK, although it never really took off.
The Nokia N95 has an accelerometer, and I believe it came out a few months before the original iPhone. That said, its only use at the time was to set the orientation of photos automatically, although this has subsequently been expanded with firmware updates.
Off-topic, but I just had to say that I enjoyed very much the 'Sack Kay Burley' article because of one issue it raises:
Burley, ever the pro, responded at first with that glinting smile of hers: "Democracy in action right behind me." Many newsreaders have that annoying habit of declaiming sentences without verbs – but Burley has it particularly bad. She can go for hours without the slightest hint of a doing word.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one that gets annoyed by this. The BBC also do this a lot on their news programmes.
I find that knowing the language syntax is only half the battle. Learning how to use the libraries properly (standard or not) takes much, much longer.
My education in programming has largely been in Java since late high school and all the way through university, with deviations along the way into VB, C, PHP and PROLOG. Recently at work, I've had to pick up C++ in order to do some Symbian development.
Picking up what I needed to know of C++ was the easiest part. Learning how to use the Symbian C++ libraries, on the other hand, has been a monumental task, and one that has largely been ditched in favour of Qt for Symbian, which is much, much easier to get to grips with.
In theory I can now put 'knows C++' on my CV. I don't really. I've hardly used the standard libraries. I'm pretty confident I could write a Qt-based C++ app without too much trouble, either on the desktop or on Symbian. But I wouldn't have the first clue where to start if I was asked to write a Windows app, without a decent bit of learning and training. And I would avoid native Symbian like the plague.
I'm no expert in CV writing (I'm still in my first proper job after leaving uni), but I think that listing the things that you have done, and then mentioning the languages and environments that they were done in, is better than simply listing the languages that you know.
If I'm reading the HM Revenue and Customs website properly, the WiFi-only version will not be subject to import duty because both "Laptop and desktop PCs" and "Palm-held portable" computers are both exempt.
The WiFi+3G model will be subject to import duty, because it could reasonably be described as a "PDA with GPS".
I haven't read through all the explanatory notes that cover the bill so I can't comment on the requirements when it comes to throttling/disconnection. But the copyright holder is required to provide evidence of 'apparent infringement' even at the stage where only letters are being sent.
From the Digital Economy Bill explanatory notes, note 47 (emphasis mine):
The notification from the ISP must inform the subscriber that the account appears to have been used to infringe copyright, give the name of the copyright owner who has provided the report, provide evidence of the apparent infringement, direct the consumer towards legal sources of content, include information about subscriber appeals and the grounds on which they may be made, and provide other information. It also requires ISPs to make available advice on protecting internet access services from unauthorised use, taking into account that different protection will be suitable for different subscribers such as, for example, domestic subscribers, libraries, and small and medium business. The code may require the notification to include other material as well, such as a statement that information about the apparent infringement may be kept and disclosed to the copyright owner in certain circumstances. Further apparent infringements using the subscriber’s account may result in additional notifications.
What concerns me is that this part of the law seems to be very much written for Bittorrent. Copyright holders are expected to acquire the IP addresses of infringers by connecting to a tracker. This means that when piracy deserts Bittorrent in favour of another method of distribution, the copyright lobbies will be back asking for broader powers to snoop online.
What is relevant to a 'normal user'? Who is this person? Joe corporate PC user wants something that will run the corporation's networked apps
I highly doubt that this would be at the top of any normal user's list of 'things my home computer must do'. Anybody I know that does any significant amount of PC-based work at home or on the road uses a company-supplied laptop. If the company wants to use iPads then fair enough - there's nothing stopping them developing their own apps and distributing them in-house.
an exec still wants his laptop to do Excel
Then anything not running Windows is going to be equally useless, tablet or not (I don't know how fully featured Excel for Mac is so I'm not counting it). The iPad has iWork, which includes a spreadsheet app. There's nothing stopping Microsoft from making an iPad version of office. And there are already a few office apps for the iPhone that work with MS formats, so I'm sure iPad versions of these won't take long to surface.
There was an episode of the BBC documentary "Earth: The Power of the Planet", where the presenter and his guide were in Siberia, dug a hole in the ice, and lit the escaping methane with a lighter. They got quite an impressive sustained flame out of it.
If I remember correctly, the programme implied that it wasn't uncommon to be able to do this. Of course there's no telling how many different takes they shot with how many different holes.
The first line of the summary states, "The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that online content can be judged by the standards of the strictest community that is able to access it".
I can't imagine that Amish communities are able to access the internet.
Slashdot Mirror
Vodafone and O2 are actually being relatively up-front about the limited nature of their packages (in O2's case, starting on Thursday). It's Orange that are still labouring under the delusion that 750 MB constitutes 'unlimited'.
The problem with that list is that it doesn't adequately define which 'rights' can be taken away as punishment for a crime. For example, I don't think you'll find a single country that won't take away the freedom of movement rights granted in Article 13, whether by imprisonment, restraining order, ASBO etc. The fact that some of these rights can be taken away severely dilutes the effectiveness of other articles such as Article 5.
Any declaration of human rights needs to split truly inalienable rights from those that are only rights for those not convicted of a crime. In the UK there has been a backlash against the Human Rights Act due to some of the more barmy 'rights', and because public opinion has swayed this way we're now in danger of abolishing the whole thing, rather than making it workable.
I get the feeling that a large part of the reason that lethal injection is considered 'humane' is that it leaves relatively little impact on the body. I imagine that the firing squad aims at the torso rather than the head for the same reason.
It's worth remembering that the condemned usually have a family, who generally like having something left to bury. High explosives, therefore, while being a lot of fun for the executioners, are probably out :)
Just try having conversations about the Citroën 3DS and the Nintendo DS3 in a short space of time. I still can't remember which one's which.
I thought the article you linked was a bit tongue-in-cheek until I read the Highland Council website, which does indeed use the 'Wales' and the 'Belgium'. It also introduces the 'Luxembourg'.
I'm not entirely convinced of the usefulness of the 'Wales' though, seeing as it doesn't exist.
That might backfire if he's murdered in an alley and it turns out that you were following him around all day (according to your phone records).
Also, every single mobile phone is exposing its location to the network. If you're really paranoid, stick it in flight mode, turn it off or leave it at home.
For the non-Australian reader, a message reading "This content is only viewable from within Australia" appears.
What are you talking about? O2 offer 30 day and 12 month SIM-only tariffs. You only have to sign up for an 18- or 24-month tariff if you want a new, generally subsidised, handset.
I wonder if this is why Android phones don't seem to be making as much headway in markets outside the US, where the iPhone is available on multiple carriers? For all the Android hype I've only ever seen one Android handset in the wild here in the UK (highly subjective, I know).
I'm not wrong, I just have a different opinion. I've tried a BlackBerry Bold, and the keyboard is a nightmare to use. The keys require too much force to press, and the shape of them means that my thumbs start to hurt after a few minutes of typing. And on the phone I used, there was no auto-correction if I accidentally hit two keys at once.
It's starting to annoy me when phones are automatically marked up in reviews for having a physical keyboard, when there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and which advantages and disadvantages are important is a matter of opinion.
I'm quite happy to accept that you prefer BlackBerry keyboards to the iPhone keyboard, but that doesn't make me wrong when I prefer the opposite.
I've tried a video call before from my Samsung Z560 to a Nokia N95 and it worked fine, so yes, there is some standardisation. You type in the number, open the menu and select 'Video call'. The interface isn't particularly slick, but that doesn't need the networks' cooperation to fix. The resolution isn't great either, which might be a more pressing problem. And I fully expect Apple to integrate FaceTime into iChat, which can't easily happen with 3G video calls.
You can walk into an Apple Store, pick up an iPhone and try it out without anybody looking over your shoulder. It gives you a good opportunity to try out the user interface, which is one of the iPhone's big selling points.
I remember seeing what was once a working model of the T-Mobile G1 in a T-Mobile shop once, but the hinge had snapped, so it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.
I was quite surprised when I heard that video calls were going to be WiFi only, given that I have video call support on my old Samsung, which came out before the original iPhone, and my network has supported it since then too.
Does AT&T not support video calling on its 3G network at all? It was meant to be 3G's killer app at the beginning in the UK, although it never really took off.
The Nokia N95 has an accelerometer, and I believe it came out a few months before the original iPhone. That said, its only use at the time was to set the orientation of photos automatically, although this has subsequently been expanded with firmware updates.
Which is a minor miracle, given the amount of heat those things put out, even in 'standby' mode.
According to The Register, one factor in the discrepancy was that the survey which put Android ahead didn't include corporate/enterprise sales.
Off-topic, but I just had to say that I enjoyed very much the 'Sack Kay Burley' article because of one issue it raises:
I'm glad that I'm not the only one that gets annoyed by this. The BBC also do this a lot on their news programmes.
I find that knowing the language syntax is only half the battle. Learning how to use the libraries properly (standard or not) takes much, much longer.
My education in programming has largely been in Java since late high school and all the way through university, with deviations along the way into VB, C, PHP and PROLOG. Recently at work, I've had to pick up C++ in order to do some Symbian development.
Picking up what I needed to know of C++ was the easiest part. Learning how to use the Symbian C++ libraries, on the other hand, has been a monumental task, and one that has largely been ditched in favour of Qt for Symbian, which is much, much easier to get to grips with.
In theory I can now put 'knows C++' on my CV. I don't really. I've hardly used the standard libraries. I'm pretty confident I could write a Qt-based C++ app without too much trouble, either on the desktop or on Symbian. But I wouldn't have the first clue where to start if I was asked to write a Windows app, without a decent bit of learning and training. And I would avoid native Symbian like the plague.
I'm no expert in CV writing (I'm still in my first proper job after leaving uni), but I think that listing the things that you have done, and then mentioning the languages and environments that they were done in, is better than simply listing the languages that you know.
If I'm reading the HM Revenue and Customs website properly, the WiFi-only version will not be subject to import duty because both "Laptop and desktop PCs" and "Palm-held portable" computers are both exempt.
The WiFi+3G model will be subject to import duty, because it could reasonably be described as a "PDA with GPS".
I haven't read through all the explanatory notes that cover the bill so I can't comment on the requirements when it comes to throttling/disconnection. But the copyright holder is required to provide evidence of 'apparent infringement' even at the stage where only letters are being sent.
From the Digital Economy Bill explanatory notes, note 47 (emphasis mine):
What concerns me is that this part of the law seems to be very much written for Bittorrent. Copyright holders are expected to acquire the IP addresses of infringers by connecting to a tracker. This means that when piracy deserts Bittorrent in favour of another method of distribution, the copyright lobbies will be back asking for broader powers to snoop online.
I highly doubt that this would be at the top of any normal user's list of 'things my home computer must do'. Anybody I know that does any significant amount of PC-based work at home or on the road uses a company-supplied laptop. If the company wants to use iPads then fair enough - there's nothing stopping them developing their own apps and distributing them in-house.
Then anything not running Windows is going to be equally useless, tablet or not (I don't know how fully featured Excel for Mac is so I'm not counting it). The iPad has iWork, which includes a spreadsheet app. There's nothing stopping Microsoft from making an iPad version of office. And there are already a few office apps for the iPhone that work with MS formats, so I'm sure iPad versions of these won't take long to surface.
There was an episode of the BBC documentary "Earth: The Power of the Planet", where the presenter and his guide were in Siberia, dug a hole in the ice, and lit the escaping methane with a lighter. They got quite an impressive sustained flame out of it.
If I remember correctly, the programme implied that it wasn't uncommon to be able to do this. Of course there's no telling how many different takes they shot with how many different holes.
You are not knowing your quotes!
The first line of the summary states, "The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that online content can be judged by the standards of the strictest community that is able to access it".
I can't imagine that Amish communities are able to access the internet.