Posts by Roland6

Re: Good riddance

>8Gb is still a pretty standard quantity of RAM in computers these days.

Just because it is “standard” ie. Sold with 8GB, doesn’t mean it is sufficient to do meaningful work.

A few years back 2GB was “standard” for XP/W7 systems, even though we all knew you really needed 4GB (XP) or 8GB (W7 x64) if you want to run MS Office in addition to Windows…

Personally, I’ve not brought any system since 2019 with less than 16GB of RAM, with room for expansion to at least 32GB…

Re: Martlet

A swarm of £100 drones would overload radar tracking targeting systems. Looking at the various ‘YouTube videos about Ukrainian drones, a key part of their success has been down to messing with the detection and missed targeting systems.

The focus seems to be on apps and websites accessing the age information.

Only the New York Senate Bill requires “ 1. "AGE ASSURANCE" SHALL MEAN ANY METHOD TO REASONABLY DETERMINE THE AGE CATEGORY OF A USER”

I suggest “reasonably” means if the “Account Holder” declares they are the parent/guardian of the user, it is reasonable to assume they will enter the correct age.

What I expect to happen, isn’t fines for entering wrong user age, but “interest” groups deciding websites should not self regulate, hence websites launch as the various Harry Port fan sites should be rated 18+ because of the use of magic etc. yet Truth Central and websites devoted to creationism should be open to under 13’s…

Re: How bizarre

It is also interesting to see their definition of “Account holder”, but the definition of “operating system” is curiously absent, as a definition of “person” (context seems to indicate it doesn’t mean “Account Holder”) and any requirements on the “Account Holder” with respect to accuracy of information entered.

Thus it does seem the OS will satisfy the basic requirement by just providing a user details screen, via which an “account holder” can select one of: Under 13, Under 16, Under 18, 18 plus and providing an API for applications.

Re: WHICH BANK ???

Probably because its a major US bank and so naming it has the potential to destabilise the US banking sector…

Re: Iran is no pushover

Not seen any reliable data on Iran’s weapons stockpiles, but what we do know is Iran’s drones cost a few tens of thousands of dollars each, whereas the US precision weapons being used to bring them down cost a million or so and are only being produced in relatively small quantities. (Patriot missile are reputedly 4M USD each and only circa 700 are currently being produced per year - hence why the US seems to have stopped providing Patriot missiles to its allies, giving us another reason to build an alternative defence industry…)

Re: Intelligence

Suggest you listen to some of the well informed information about the mindset of the fanatics - it applies to both Shia Muslims and Trump supporters. Basically, people have the capacity to live according to some seemingly mad beliefs and be highly intelligent (the “tech bro’s” are an obvious example). If Republican supporters had “REAL intelligence” as you are defining it, Trump would not have got anywhere near the White House.

Personally, because they tend to be more fanatical, they are likely to work the extra hours and take the risks, others, with more balanced outlooks tend to shy away from. Hence under-estimate at your own risk.

Works until the finance company decides because you don’t have a monthly (employee) pay cheque refuse finance…

Re: I would go further

>” Why does this need to be a spreadsheet at all?”

Making an offline form with simple tick boxes etc. is relatively simple in Excel. However, as we all know is data collection and collation, which (online) tools like SurveyMonkey make really simple.

Re: OOXML is also an open and ISO standard

>” Microsoft itself discourages the use of macros in shared files, not least because they are still possible attack vectors.”

Agree, the only thing to remember “shared” means used by an installation of Excel different to the one used to create the workbook, even if it is by the same 365 user.

Re: a modernized UI with a ribbon

>” you just say what it is. File. Copy. Paste. Select. Words.”

Also a very important consideration for over the telephone (or across the desk partition) support.

Whilst you can use, if you remember, the keyboard shortcuts, they are of zero help to the user as without the visual cues they will simply treat them as “magic incantations” and so fail to learn…

Re: a modernized UI with a ribbon

>” The best interfaces were done in the late 90s, when we had combined text + icon buttons.”

All based on the building blocks laid before anyone had heard of a Macintosh or Windows and vendors squabbled over trash cans and four colour flags..

UI/UX really started to go downhill when the design school idiots got control and decided they knew better…

Re: a modernized UI with a ribbon

That also has the benefit all the adjustments and utilities you need to comply with the DDA should also work for years.

My biggest headache is accommodating dyslexic users across all the various application access methods, then MS changes everything and you’re back to square one.

Perhaps someone should tell MS that ecosystems need a reasonably stable environment to develop and flourish, currently MS seem to be doing everything to destroy the Windows ecosystem; Something the Open Source community should also be aware of and leverage to their and our advantage…

Re: Oh, no, not again...

>” but this could well lead to the Collabora Online "soft fork" from TDF becoming a "hard fork".”

I suspect , from the little I’ve read about the tensions, it seems the new TDF wants to be able to walk away from Collabora with a source code base it has full control over.

It’s also disjointed if the desktop version can’t be used in place of the online version ie. The user should be able to use either clients and switch between online and offline working depending on the document being edited.

Basically, think of the offline client as download and install once online client, that doesn’t need the added memory bloat of the browser.

Re: Why? Just why?

>” Running the fully local version of LO on the 2026·28 version of the "Netbook" or 4G/Celeron Chromebook might an unpleasant experience.”

If you using such low end kit then perhaps best stick to Remote Desktop as the local client…

Re: a modernized UI with a ribbon

That’s what GPO and user profiles are for. These permit you to either lockdown hard or give some users and user groups room for flexibility, with their preferences being stored in their profile…

Re: RFC 666.999

“First byte”? This is an AI enabled network, so that byte needs to be able to handle an over 2 billion parameters…

Re: Aye Eee Connectivity

>” That simply means that the Aye Eee Connectivity will be sending data”

From recent evidence presented in ElReg, the Aye Eee will be telling everyone it has sent data, when instead it has quietly discarded it..

Re: People will buy Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity stickers?

>” There are also various websites which sell keys which appear to be of somewhat grey providence.”

And which MS want people to believe are selling keys illegally… hence why MS are wanting customers with resealable keys to trade them in for 365/Azure discounts and why MS are harassing the brokers who buy such keys and (legally) repackage them into bundles for resale.

A problem (for you and me) is MS seem to have (deliberately) reduced the amount of information about their differing licences and because MS don’t want to support resale, all you have to go on when buying is what the seller tells you, so when you get a digital key it is only after you have activated it can you determine what the key actually licences. So I have a bunch of digital keys for which the (pdf) receipt is the only proof I have of “ownership”. However, because a broker can subdivide enterprise keys into smaller lots, I have receipts giving me differing rights to use the same activation key (i.e. On one receipt I purchased a licence for 6 systems, on another receipt I purchased a licence for 3 systems, both have the same MAK key, provided the broker has kept allocation records it can all be legal, however less professional brokers may keep no records and over sell individual MAK keys…). Hence as a buyer you are taking a gamble and MS want it to be a gamble to encourage people to shun the second user market and pay full price. For my third sector customers that presents a problem, yes Charity Digital and the Microsoft Non-profit scheme give access to Microsoft’s non-profit 365 subscriptions but not to discounted on-premise licenses. With Server 2019/2022 I was able to pick up a bunch of OPEN licences (now discontinued) as these were discounted due to the licence limitation they were for non-profit and education businesses. With WS2022/25 there was a “small enterprise” licensing scheme under which MAK keys could be purchased in bundles of 3~20 licences (hence why you will see this number a lot, but details of the scheme seem to have been obfuscated).

Re: Iran. Trust Israel ?

On this morning’s radio, the (BBC) presenter just couldn’t get it through their head the Tehran University professor they were talking to wasn’t a member of the Iranian government and being a resident in Tehran was having to be very careful about the words they were using and what they were saying. However, despite the dickhead presenter, he did manage to convey a lot of information about the mindset behind the Iranian missed attacks and thus how they would be perceived differently by their allies to how the Americans and co. might perceive things: If US troops actually set foot in Iran, don’t be surprised if they are stoned and not welcomed as liberators, even by those who do not support the Ayatollah's…

Re: Obligatory xkcd

modern America, protect the military: it is the UK government who are taking steps to get its nationals out of the War zone the US has created, Trump on the other hand has just told Americans they need to get themselves out of the war zone…

Re: Those swappable ports

Totally agree with the problemsif using the wireless to stream video and games, but for more typical office desktop usage… However, remember this was a “concept” demonstrator laptop and the tethered screen clearly is intended to be used within 1.5M of the system unit.

I suspect in real terms this is simply a lightly modified Lenovo Legend with a Lenovo Mobile Monitor (minus the battery pack stand and independent power supply - hence need for peg leg and cable connection). So more of a “cheap” to manufacture variant that might be manufactured if there is sufficient interest and developed further if there are sufficient sales..