Computers & Technology 2
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Computers & Technology 2
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Sirius B   Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 
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The BBC didn't "blow" £220,000 of licence fee payers' money on training staff how to use an iPhone, nearly 800 employees were sent on a course that costs £300 per person. Average training costs are about £60 per hour so that looks like a one day short course, not long to learn how to film, edit and transmit news stories on mobile phones. So, a "manual handling" course then. ID: 1586780 ·  |
 betreger  Send message Joined: 29 Jun 99 Posts: 11451 Credit: 29,581,041 RAC: 66 
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Oh boy, don't know whether to laugh or cry... No Apple's profits. ID: 1586804 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 
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At last, is this a form of 'Facebook' whereby you do not have your life prostituted for you? 'Anti-Facebook' investors dig deep for Ello A social network promising never to sell user data or incorporate advertising has secured multi-million dollar backing Ello, which launched in August, has also become a Public Benefit Corporation, which prohibits its current and any future owners from breaking that promise. The network plans to make money by introducing micro-payments for additional features... ... He added that the decision not to explore user data was already saving the company money. "If you ask me what the demographic of the Ello user is I can't tell you - I don't know," he said. "Maybe anecdotally but not at a granular level. "While Ello has grown incredibly fast, we still have 14 staff. "We're adding a few more people to help handle growth - but because we're not selling ads or mining data, there's a whole load of people we don't need to hire." IT is what we allow it to be... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1591063 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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There have been some great challenges in the Boincverse, with the latest "funny" one being the naming of Celtooth's bum... ...But can anyone rise to this challenge? Digitial Detox ...of course, an exception could be made for all those "credit hounds" :-) ID: 1591462 · |
Bob DeWoody  Send message Joined: 9 May 10 Posts: 3387 Credit: 4,182,900 RAC: 10
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So, to become a member of "Ello" you must be invited. I bet I'll have a long wait. Bob DeWoody My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events. ID: 1591495 · |
Gary Charpentier     Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31256 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32
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ID: 1591772 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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ID: 1592133 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Here we carry on from earlier... Except this time, spot the difference?... Adobe spies on readers: EVERY DRM page turn leaked to base over SSL Adobe has tweaked its Digital Editions 4 desktop ebook reader to now encrypt the data it secretly sends back to headquarters – data that details a user's reading habits... OK, so that's a new twist on the previously: Who is reading who?... More 1984?... Guess that is why I don't make use of Adobe! IT is what we allow it to be... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1592446 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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I use ADE & it does the job I want it to do. so no need to upgrade to the latest version. After all, it's only an e-book reader for PC's. ID: 1592449 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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I use ADE & it does the job I want it to do. so no need to upgrade to the latest version. After all, it's only an e-book reader for PC's. That is all well and good while you are happy for others to list and control what you read. Oh, and sharing with your friends is Forbidden... And then when those controllers go all Fundamental or Political?... IT is what we allow it to be, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1592462 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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I use ADE & it does the job I want it to do. so no need to upgrade to the latest version. After all, it's only an e-book reader for PC's. Just how do you arrive at that? I see an e-book I want to read I get it. If there is a book not available electronically, I buy the print version. BTW, I have several 100 e-books, some purchased, some free - no DRM at all (& no, I did not strip it out) ID: 1592467 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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... no DRM at all (& no, I did not strip it out) Good for you while you can... See: Defective by design IT is what we allow it to be... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1592470 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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... no DRM at all (& no, I did not strip it out) Will be able to for a long time to come. Suggest you go to www.smashwords.com & read the founders blogs on DRM & his aims for the e-publishing world. so far he's doing a good job. Next! ID: 1592474 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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... no DRM at all (& no, I did not strip it out) Very good for that one example: About Smashwords What is Smashwords’ position on digital rights management (DRM)? We think DRM is counterproductive because it treats lawful customers like criminals. Consumers value non-DRMed content and there's a growing body of evidence that digital content producers who have abandoned DRM are enjoying greater sales. Many buyers of ebooks resent DRM because it limits their ability to fully own and enjoy their digital book. At Smashwords, we only publish DRM-free works. By the same token, we strictly discourage illegal pirating of an author’s works. Shame there are some unfortunate big names still stuck in the old days of wooden block type and vinyl and are hell bent on switching off the internet! We are all far from enjoying technological freedom yet... IT is what we allow it to be... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1592526 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24929 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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Shame there are some unfortunate big names still stuck in the old days of wooden block type and vinyl and are hell bent on switching off the internet! Are you sure about that? Check out Amazon's take on e-publishing. ID: 1592533 · |
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Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31256 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32
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Oh, and sharing with your friends is Forbidden... Like the NSA sharing with their friends ......... 
ID: 1592638 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Moving onto another aspect for how we are restricted and also rendered vulnerable by the present "Big Boys" OS oligarchy: Here is a good reminder about how we can ALL be undone by a single 'mistaken' update that is automatically applied to all those on the same one IT ecosystem... FTDI yanks chip-bricking driver from Windows Update, vows to fight on Chipmaker FTDI has pulled a driver from Windows Update that could brick devices... ... Earlier this week, hackers from various hardware forums began noticing that FTDI's latest driver would set a USB device's USB product ID to 0 if it contained a fake version of one of FTDI's chips. Once zeroed, neither Windows, OS X, nor Linux would recognize the device anymore, rendering it useless. Naturally, owners of devices containing the counterfeit chips were less than pleased. Responding to the growing furor, FTDI now says it has yanked the offending driver from Windows Update so that Windows users will no longer receive it automatically... ... Anticipating such a move, Linux kernel contributor Russ Dill – a Texas Instruments employee – submitted a patch on Thursday that purported to have Linux perform "the FTDI genuine product verification steps as contained within the new 2.12.00 official release." He did so without so much as a wink, but the kernel community assumed he had tongue planted firmly in cheek... ... "Funny patch, you should have saved it for April 1, otherwise people might have actually taken this seriously," Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote in response. "Patches as performance art, now I've seen everything..." The Reg asked Microsoft whether it had any official position on hardware vendors using drivers to enforce intellectual property concerns, but Redmond declined to comment on policy... Note how that update could render your hardware unusable, possibly permanently, regardless of whether you as a user know anything about such chicanery... All the worse in that that one appears to have been done by deliberate intent. What scope is there for something more general, by mistake or by deliberate design, similarly wiping out everyone using similar systems?... (And this has happened on occasion in the past for some very large organizations and at great cost...) IT is vulnerably what we allow it to be... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1592639 · |
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Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31256 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32
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Note how that update could render your hardware unusable, possibly permanently, regardless of whether you as a user know anything about such chicanery... Is receipt of stolen property a crime?
ID: 1592648 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 21704 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Note how that update could render your hardware unusable, possibly permanently, regardless of whether you as a user know anything about such chicanery... So you condone deliberate sabotage that trashes your computer equipment? And worse for the consequential damage/disruption?... We can let people judge for themselves on this example... One good comment is: FTDI may have made... ... the clones contain zero FTDI IP, they are only emulating the interface... As for how the Patents "IP" system has been brought into disrepute and whether ideas and the thoughts themselves can be considered 'property' to be restrictively 'owned'... That is another thread for itself. Meanwhile note the main point for the post for how you are at the mercy of, and victim to, the whim of whatever your 'trusted' suppliers put into the software updates that take over certain computer systems... Whether by honest error or deliberate intent... Do you know? Would you know?... It is your money buying such stuff. Can anyone reliably watch over the proprietary chicanery when that is 'proprietary' and 'secret' to the users/consumers?... IT is what we allow it to be... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1592669 · |
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Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31256 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32
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Note how that update could render your hardware unusable, possibly permanently, regardless of whether you as a user know anything about such chicanery... If you are caught with stolen property do the police and courts allow you to keep it?
ID: 1592691 · |
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