Just one small glimpse of contrasting forces fighting over you:


Unlocking Technology Act plans to let freedom ring for devices

A bill introduced by four members of the US House of Representatives would lay down in statute the right of people to tinker with the hardware and software of any smartphone, tablet, or other device they own.

If enacted, the Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 would ensure that any software and firmware that comes with a device can be modified legally by its owner, so long as they have the device physically (or via an agent) under their control...


Adobe price hike: Your money or your files, frappuccino sippers

... What do you mean, I'll not be able to open my old files?...


World Web Consortium warms HTML bed for forced DRM snuggle

... The World Web Consortium (W3C) is pressing ahead with plans to standardise Digital Rights Management (DRM) in HTML, despite opposition to the proposal. ...


For the DRM problem, this comment gives a good summary:

The problems it causes

OK, you want the problems:

1) the *only* way DRM can "work" is that the DRM mechanism must have a secure channel from the decryption code to the user's sensory organs. If at any point in that channel there isn't total security, then the user can intercept the data at that point, and then do whatever they want with it. Thus, the ONLY way DRM can be implemented is if the content holders control your computer, not you - otherwise you can subvert that secure channel.

2) DRM means that just because you can access something today does not mean you can access it tomorrow. You may have that copy of "1984" that you bought and paid for, but if whoever controls the DRM key server decides you shall no longer have access, you don't. The system is totally asymmetric in terms of who's "rights" are "managed".

3) Likewise, it is an invasion of privacy: if you do have local "managed" media, whoever manages the key server can see when you...



IT is what we allow it to be made into...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Bernie I am wondering have you told your nabour his Wi-Fi is unsecured .....or are you a naughty boy and use the extra bandwidth ....lololololol

Well as I live in a flat in a highly built up area, I can see 15+ Wi-Fi signals and I have absolutely no idea who "HUI-PC" is so not much I can do. As I have unlimited 75Meg broadband and his is about 8Meg, there is really no reason to use it, except when I am testing out customers laptops to see if they can connect as it is a weaker signal than mine.

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Thanks Bernie, appreciated.

Question, would you recommend it for people like me on a budget knowing what my line of work is?

Well as you know I am a committed iPad fan and since going into a similar field to you last year my iPad has become my first tool, as long as there is Wi-Fi it can be very useful, I have configured routers and WAPs using it, much easier than a laptop. The Momo 7 has one advantage over the iPad (as do most Android tablets) USB! The Momo 7 can connect to a PC like "flash drive" so you can use it as storage and it can run USB sticks and external HDD's, all of which I have done.

As it is not mine I have not tried it in a work environment, but it has connected easily with both my router and separate WAP and my neighbours unsecured Wi-Fi. it seems to have everything going for it. As for long term reliability I cannot comment. The online reviews seen to be split almost 50/50 with "it's amazing" to "it's rubbish"

Bernie I am wondering have you told your nabour his Wi-Fi is unsecured .....or are you a naughty boy and use the extra bandwidth ....lololololol

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Thanks again, really is appreciated. Yes I've read the reviews & it seems to me that people just do not take care of their property - see it every day in my fields - both I.T & Transport.

As for the charging issues in the reviews, I've seen many of my customers mishandle the charging units as well as the devices, so much so, I've got numerous laptops here waiting for my associate to deal with - several with new charge points to be inserted.

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Thanks Bernie, appreciated.

Question, would you recommend it for people like me on a budget knowing what my line of work is?

Well as you know I am a committed iPad fan and since going into a similar field to you last year my iPad has become my first tool, as long as there is Wi-Fi it can be very useful, I have configured routers and WAPs using it, much easier than a laptop. The Momo 7 has one advantage over the iPad (as do most Android tablets) USB! The Momo 7 can connect to a PC like "flash drive" so you can use it as storage and it can run USB sticks and external HDD's, all of which I have done.

As it is not mine I have not tried it in a work environment, but it has connected easily with both my router and separate WAP and my neighbours unsecured Wi-Fi. it seems to have everything going for it. As for long term reliability I cannot comment. The online reviews seen to be split almost 50/50 with "it's amazing" to "it's rubbish"

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Thanks Bernie, appreciated.

Question, would you recommend it for people like me on a budget knowing what my line of work is?

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If you don't mind me asking Bernie, what tablet was that?

This one Momo 7 It's actually £5 cheaper now!!

I brought it for her and have given it a good once over and am impressed.

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If you don't mind me asking Bernie, what tablet was that?

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Android is at a point where it could easily subvert windows on net books and laptops. However it will have to be secure, and clamp down on "app stores", most of the problems I have read about are cause by rouge apps. Apple keeps a fairly tight reign on it's apps, because there is only one store. Android has several. Also of course once hackers realise that people are keeping all their valuable data on Android phones and tablets, antivirus and anti malware programs will become necessary, and of course they all work on Wi-Fi.

I would quite like to see it happen to give MS and Apple something to think about, remember however Android is free, the hardware is easy to make and distribute, a friend recently asked me to look into a sub £100 7 inch tablet from a Chinese manufacturer. It is really amazing, Android of course, not as slick as an iPad but for the money excellent value.

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2 interesting articles....

Android O/S on PC's?

"Boxed" software to disappear with in a decade?

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Hehe +1, been there got the tee shirt :-)

For "next Friday" read "before lunch" - normally requested about 30minutes before lunch, and just before one's PC takes a nose dive due to the in-built stress detector tripping. The in-built stress detector being the one part of all PCs, printers and other IT hardware that works with absolute predictability...

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Sounds like your Employers should stop whinging and just train there staff with whatever software there using and stop expecting the gov to teach the students every dam program that's out there .

Glen, 90% of companies in the UK have standardised on MSOffice because it is the most popular suite of programs, it has the power to do what they want, it is supported, and training is readily available everywhere. If a company has bespoke software designed for a specialised purpose, then of course a company would expect to have to provide training for it to new staff. The list of programs that Martin previously quoted that he seemed to think that ALL people should be able to cope with just like that, is just ludicrous, even I haven't heard of half of them.

Employers are fed up with school and college leavers who simply don't have the basics under their belt. They are not philanthropists or charities, they have a business to run, they want people that are employable from day one. They are not getting them because of head in the clouds educationalists who haven't got a clue about the real world out there in the marketplace. Only at Director level do managers have Secretaries that do all the work for them, typing pools, later word processing pools, went out in the 1980's. These days middle and junior managers, and everyone else is simply expected to be able to produce a normal business letter, compile a basic spreadsheet, or produce a simple graphics presentation.

Job interview for Junior Sales Manager

"I have an HND in Computer Science, I can program in Java and C++"

"Well bully for you son, can you give us a spreadsheet showing a forecast and a trendline of our future sales, and present that to the Board on the overhead projector next Friday?"

"Pardon?"

"Next candidate please"

Sounds like your Employers should stop whinging and just train there staff with whatever software there using and stop expecting the gov to teach the students every dam program that's out there .
Here's a idea pass a rule /law telling the employer to spend at least 1% of there profits on training or they pay 2% more tax and then you won't here to much more whinging we did over here no more whinging from them now

Kids are much smarter than we give them credit . It was a 12yr old that broke into Pinegap here the U.S listening base in Alice springs used a el cheapo out dated Apple mac to get in then got all the way to sencetive files in the C.I.A system before they stoped him . You shore it's a good idea to teach them computer scince in high school ...........

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Profits, big fat profits.

Hence the Cloud......

.....what was known 20 years ago as online storage.

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Teaching the basic principles is fine, until you get Software companies run by Marketing Managers who insist on being new and different every 3 years in the mistaken belief that it is what the customers want, coupled with maverick educationalists, who should have been sacked immediately for incompetence.

What marketing person ever gave a rats ass about what the customer wants. It is what management wants and that is a fatter profit. New model every year, just like cars. Incompatible parts, er files, to force upgrades. Damn well can't build something that doesn't break because you only sell it once it if doesn't break. If it breaks you can sell it a thousand times over. Profits, big fat profits.

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Thank you young Sir, it did touch a nerve!!

:-))

Well ranted Chris.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

That is, you need to teach the underlying principles and demonstrate those principles on multiple software packages rather than blindly creating pre-programmed monkeys who are lost if a menu item is a slightly different name or is in a slightly different place.

Hold on there Martin. I am just going to have to challenge you on that one. A few years ago, a self important nonentity of a Manager took it upon himself to unilaterally decide to upgrade our College From Office 2003 to 2007 over the Summer recess without any warning. As you will know that was a sea change with the new ribbon menus.

The name ribbon was introduced by Microsoft in Microsoft Office 2007, although similar layouts of controls had existed in previous software from other vendors. The considerable redesign of the Office user interface caused a backlash and a rejection from some users of previous versions of Microsoft products, as well as from developers because of concerns about copyright and patents.

We had to spend hours and hours re-writing and printing all of our handouts that had screen dumps of the older version. And then teach the students the new version, which they hated. It was a total nightmare, and I wrote to the Principal complaining with a copy to the union. Of course nothing was done about it, although he did take early retirement a couple of years later. Damn good job too!

You also ought to know that the average user only uses probably 20% of the power of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access. To do more than that you need to go on advanced training courses. Windows comes with an inbuilt word processor called Wordpad and that does what most people want anyway. Teaching the basic principles is fine, until you get Software companies run by Marketing Managers who insist on being new and different every 3 years in the mistaken belief that it is what the customers want, coupled with maverick educationalists, who should have been sacked immediately for incompetence.

Rant over, for the meantime ....