Entries for Ray6

Negroponte promises XO2 [Negroponte promises XO2]

Ray6 — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:24:20 GMT

Can't keep a good man down ...

Shrugging off comments that he's 'sold out' to Microsoft, Negroponte has unveiled version 2 of his OLPC project.

It has dual screens (the lower one being multi-touch) and will go for the totally unbelievable price of $75. I imagine that will be '$75' in the same way that the original OLPC sold for 'below $100'.

More details at Engadget.

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Home Office planning 'Big Brother' database [Home Office planning 'Big Brother' database]

Ray6 — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:41:23 GMT

In what will probably be the biggest IT project failure in New Labour history, HM government is planning to build a database to record every telephone call made, email message sent and web page accessed by every UK citizen for the previous year.

The Telegraph has all the sordid details.

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Nintendo to fight EU Fine [Nintendo to fight EU Fine]

Ray6 — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:24:39 GMT

pocket-lint wrote:

"The penalty was unfair, illegal, even shocking", Ian Forrester, representing Nintendo, told the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.

He added: "This remains one of the biggest single fines in EU competition law".

Seriously, this bloke doesn't know the MEANING of a big EU fine.

More details here.

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Attack of the Mutant Friesians [Attack of the Mutant Friesians]

Ray6 — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:32:40 GMT

Now that is one seriously big cow ....

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Rock Direct goes into administration [Rock Direct goes into administration]

Ray6 — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:36:21 GMT

One of the UK's most famous resellers of perfomance laptops, has hit the skids.

Trusted Reviews: Rock Direct goes into administration

This has come as a bit of a surprise to existing customers and to the ones who have orders waiting, because aside from shutting down the forums, Rock has given no real indication that they were in any kind of trouble.

The company explains that they ran into cash flow problems after goods were 'misappropriated' by an ex-employee. Sounds odd, but it may (or may not) have something to do with this chap ....

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Microsoft to bundle Parallels with Expression subscription [Microsoft to bundle Parallels with Expression subscription]

Ray6 — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:53:23 GMT

MS will bundle a copy Parallels Desktop with the Expression Professional subscription, which will allow folk to run it on their Macs.

Not really earth-shattering news, but I wonder if this is how Microsoft intends to get around rewriting MS Office for the Mac?

'Rewrite it in Cocoa? No thanks Stevey-lad, we'll just bundle virtualisation software with the Windows version.'

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From Win32 to Cocoa [From Win32 to Cocoa]

Ray6 — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:54:12 GMT

Peter Bright is writing a few pages on why he decided to leave Win32 programming and head for the heavenly pastures of Cocoa development

What Microsoft could learn from Apple

More stuff that Microsoft could learn from Apple

He makes a lot of good points (and I say that as someone who isn't that impressed with Cocoa), but I think he's a little unfair in his description of people who develop Windows software.

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Apple Vista? [Apple Vista?]

Ray6 — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:18:09 GMT

I've put off upgrading my Powerbook mainly because I don't install the first release of any upgrade; I usually jump in at the .2 release.

Well, from what I've been reading, this may not be the wisest course of action.

Jason O'Grady is looking into some of the troubles that Mac users are working through, that has caused them to dub 10.5.2 as Apple Vista

Here's my favourite quote

Rabid Mac fan wrote:

If I wanted to run on a buggy crappy operating system, I’d pickup a PC running Microsoft Vista. I don’t expect this from my Mac. Mac OS 10.4.11 (Tiger) ran great whereas Apple Vista just appears to be immature and needed more time to cook.

A fascinating demonstration of the skewed reasoning that can result when some people find disappointment with the platform they have chosen to deify.

First, cry on line like a baby, then try and make yourself feel better by running down the operating system, the alleged crappiness of which, you are secretly beginning to doubt.

Perhaps it would be better to just report your problem to Apple and help them to help you? I dunno, just a thought.

Anyway, it is hard to prove how widespread these problems are; Apple's desire to cast itself as perfect, does mean that problems like this are talked up out of all proportion. And the problem that this chap seems to be having, look as if they are related to an EFI update that went wrong, rather than a problem with the OS itself.

Still I have to say, I'm a little worried that Apple's software quality control may be slipping, without Avie Tevanian's steady hand to guide it.

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MS crs on MSN music subscribers [MS crs on MSN music subscribers]

Ray6 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:33:07 GMT

As reported by Jack Schofield and his fake pipe ....

MSN wrote:

As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers. License keys already obtained as of August 31, 2008 will continue to allow you to listen to songs on all the computers that you previously authorized for service

So that's it.

When you buy a new computer, your music collection is lost.

I'm hoping that MS will do the right thing, and replace their customers files with DRM-free ones.

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Apple buys P.A. Semi [Apple buys P.A. Semi]

Ray6 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:56:07 GMT

WTF?!

Well I have no idea how this one is going to play out.

If you remember, PA Semi are a group of boffins who Apple was within a gnat's (I need to watch my language) width of buying, when they dumped IBM's line of PPC chips.So the question is, why now?

Surely, his Royal Jobsness hasn't fallen out with Intel already? Is the threat of unapproved clones enough to send him hollering back to the PPC?

No, this is probably about the mobile devices, but then again that begs the question; isn't the Intel stuff good enough?

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Ballmer: 'Vista is a work in progress' [Ballmer: 'Vista is a work in progress']

Ray6 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:34:15 GMT

Oh dear ...

Ballmer says that Vista is a work in progress

Yet another severe case of 'foot in mouth', and it doesn't get much better unfortunately.

Although many of his comments are a cause for concern (serious concern), Vista being a work in progress wasn't one of them. Dunno about you, but I haven't come across an operating system that WASN'T a work in progress; that's why we have updates.

in reply to Ballmer: 'Vista is a work in progress'

PhotoShop going 64-bit for Windows; the Mac will have to wait [PhotoShop going 64-bit for Windows; the Mac will have to wait]

Ray6 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:58:58 GMT

Well it was a no brainer that Adobe would eventually drop support for 32-bit Windows.

John Nack goes into great detail to explain why the Mac version of Photoshop will still be 32-bit (Adobe plans to complete the transitiion in Photoshop C5).

He already knows that his reasoning is not likely to appease some Mac users (just look at the first comment on the page), but I remember thinking 'Oh bugger ... Photoshop' when Jobs announced that they were dumping Carbon, so for me, this is very good news.

And for someone like me, who complains about Microsoft slavishly clinging on to backwards compatibility, this has been a good hard look at the flipside ....

I wonder if MS will be announcing similar plans?

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The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year .... [The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year ....]

Ray6 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:03:37 GMT

... went to this self-help manual for women.

Punchy. Straight to the point. A well-deserved win.

More from the Guardian

in reply to The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year ....

11 year old running school IT infrastructure [11 year old running school IT infrastructure]

Ray6 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:01:31 GMT

... seems to be responsible for the whole shooting match, but no mention of how much he's being paid.

Hmmm ....

in reply to 11 year old running school IT infrastructure

IBM researchers weigh in on CanSecWest aftermath [IBM researchers weigh in on CanSecWest aftermath]

Ray6 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:03:57 GMT

I wonder if this would have been released if the PWN 2 OWN results had been different.

According to these blokes, Microsoft has shown improvements in their handling of vulnerability disclosures, but Apple seems to be sliding backwards. The writer surmises that the problem could be the relationship between the Apple and the crackers. In order to maintain their image of invulnerability, Apple isn't keen on acknowledging holes in their OS/applications. So when researchers discovere holes, then they are more likely to sit on them until events like this come round.

Microsoft has the right approach here.

in reply to IBM researchers weigh in on CanSecWest aftermath

Linux wins at CanSecWest [Linux wins at CanSecWest]

Ray6 — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:07:52 GMT

On the final day of the PWN 2 OWN contest, only the Linux box was left standing.

Vista fell after 2 days of intensive effort, the winner used a flaw in the Java runtime to gain control of the Windows box. It wasn't all plain sailing though, Shane McCauley needed help from VMWare's Alexander Sotirov to get his code working. Apparently, Vista SP1 comes with additional security measures that he wasn't expecting. He also got a little help from co-worker Derek Callaway (does this mean they share the computer they won?)

McCauley had this to say about his win:

PC World wrote:
"The flaw is in something else, but the inherent nature of Java allowed us to get around the protections that Microsoft had in place," he said in an interview shortly after he claimed his prize Friday. "This could affect Linux or Mac OS X."

He chose to work on Windows because having done contract work for Microsoft, he's more familiar with their products.

But onto the winner!

Several attendees attempted to crack the Linux box, but none were successful. However, some of the show's 400 attendees had found bugs in the Linux operating system, but apparently, didn't want to put the work into developing the exploit code that would be required to win the contest.

Now what is that all about? I thought the whole idea of open source was to get this sort of thing out into the open.

Still a good effort that shows that two other vendors still have some work to do.

McCauley also had something to say about the Mac's showing at the event.

PC World wrote:

Earlier, Miller said that he chose to hack the Mac because he thought it would be easiest target. Vista hacker Macaulay didn't dispute that assertion: "I think it might be," he said.

Full details at PC World

Now I imagine there is going to be some to debate as to whether this is actually a Vista flaw, or a problem with Java. I would say both. The problem is caused by Sun, but it is also Microsoft's job to protect the user from weird behaviour in applications. I wonder if we're going to see increasing use of virtual machines for hijacking purposes.

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Consumer version of Surface by 2011 [Consumer version of Surface by 2011]

Ray6 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:45:30 GMT

Okay, I can now see why a bar or a hotel may want some of these.

But what are you going to do with one in your house?

in reply to Consumer version of Surface by 2011

Microsoft brand in sharp decline? [Microsoft brand in sharp decline?]

Ray6 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:52:25 GMT

It is according to a survey carried out by market research firm, Corebrand.

InfoWorld wrote:

Gregory said that a decline in and of itself is not indicative that a company is losing its mindshare or reputation among customers. However, what's significant in Microsoft's case is that the decline has been consistent over a number of years and has plunged dramatically in a brief time.

"When you see something decline with increasing velocity, it's a concern," he said

... now I think about it, this story rings a bell; has it been posted before?

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Nipple rings as an offensive weapon ... [Nipple rings as an offensive weapon ...]

Ray6 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:34:21 GMT

.... I guess if you were determined enough, you'd find away to use body jewelry to bring down an aircraft.

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How to earn $10,000 in two minutes .... [How to earn $10,000 in two minutes ....]

Ray6 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:50:44 GMT

The CanSecWest PWN 2 OWN contest has been won. Same as last year though; the rules had to be relaxed on the second day, which allowed Charlie Miller to crack a MacBook Air in two minutes; a feat that netted him a new laptop and $10,000

Invest wisely Charlie ... :)

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Biker's airbag [Biker's airbag]

Ray6 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:07:16 GMT

Apparently it's been ten years in development.

YouTube Video

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John Gruber weighs in on the Safari 'update' debate ... [John Gruber weighs in on the Safari 'update' debate ...]

Ray6 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:56:39 GMT

He's not happy about it, and gives his reasons. But I wonder if he's also a little concerned at how such an underhand move will affect Firefox's market share on the Windows platform?

And I wonder how many of the Mac disciples who replied, feel the same way when MS tries similar tricks?

in reply to John Gruber weighs in on the Safari 'update' debate ...

Is this a new trick [Is this a new trick]

Ray6 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:03:47 GMT

Just read a press release for the new line of Tosh laptops (still no Blu-ray I see), and I thought I'd check something.

Tosh Press Release wrote:

Each model will also have an integrated webcam and built-in microphone as well as a clever new feature called "USB Sleep 'n' Charge" which will mean USB charging can continue even when the laptops are in sleep mode.

I'm pretty sure I've seen other laptops that can do this.

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Open Office for the Mac gathers pace [Open Office for the Mac gathers pace]

Ray6 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:14:45 GMT

Although users should be wary of doing important stuff with it, the Open Office porting team has released a milestone ~~beta~~ alpha of the Mac-native office application.

The team also states that the upcoming release of Open Office 2.4, will be the last one based around X11. After that, native all the way.

Now this coincides happily enough, with another piece of news.

The Open University is finally dropping its Windows/Office policy and is working on supporting the Mac (and Linux).

Details here.

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Fine looking lappy ... [Fine looking lappy ...]

Ray6 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 05:42:24 GMT

Asus is going great guns at the moment. The eePC is getting the kind of media attention usually reserved for our friends in Cupertino and they're churning out some pretty impressive high-end machines too.

Nothing too special on paper, but looks nice and has loads of options. Apparently there is a 17-inch version waiting in the wings, with a 1TB disk.

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