Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Samsung's A series phone is a big fat L
Life, James Hein, Published on 26/10/2022
» Nothing at all back from Samsung corporate on the A53-5G, if that changes I'll let you know. The new phone is a brick and after some research it turns out that more often than not Samsung only has a local warranty. I've since spoken to a number of people who've had issues with charging.
Metals and energy shortage is a looming threat
Life, James Hein, Published on 20/07/2022
» I know the word rare gives it away but the world is facing a rare earth metals shortage. The Chinese are currently the largest producers of this resource and they recently cut their production by half. Turkey is another potential source but that region has been unstable for centuries. Most modern technology cannot expand further without these resources and the whole idea of ramping up renewables requires lots of them. Elon Musk has said we don't have enough in the world for all the plans of our governments and other experts agree.
Always check your sources
Life, James Hein, Published on 15/09/2021
» At the dawning of the internet age the aim was to provide a platform to share information, initially between higher education facilities. It was a golden age of what was essentially a library of information shared across the United States and later the world. The early fact checkers were academics interested in facts, data and a robust discussion.
Big firms fuzzy on their AI thinking
Life, James Hein, Published on 28/10/2020
» Everything you see these days is AI enabled in some way, or according to the marketing they must be. Software, fridges, cancer detection and lots of other examples are all based on some kind of AI implementation. Google, Microsoft and all the big players are heavily invested in at least the buzzword, but the proof of delivery as promised is elusive.
Covid computing
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/05/2020
» Things are quiet on the IT front. Well, that's not necessarily true, as many are trying to come to grips with the whole working-from-home existence. Many, including myself, are spending a lot of time in front of a screen. Instead of getting up and conferring with a colleague at their desk, it is a Skype chat. Instead of a walk to the meeting room, often on another floor, it is a Skype meeting or similar. Many do not have a video camera at home so it is voice only. There are new collaboration technologies like Microsoft Teams to get used to. Instead of handing a report to someone, it is uploaded into a shared area for all to browse. I find that I am sharing my screen more often to go over a document or diagram. On the plus side I recently had an upgrade to my Internet speed. This has helped with downloads but not much else, as a chat takes up very little bandwidth.
A tangled web
Life, James Hein, Published on 18/12/2019
» Yes, it is the time of year where we see how well I did at predictions for 2019.
An English-always app workaround
Life, James Hein, Published on 30/01/2019
» On a recent overseas trip I noticed that some of my Android phone Google-related apps would change language settings and feeds based on the country I was in. Unless you can read in multiple languages this is really annoying. Even more so is that this behaviour is the default one and apparently unchangeable. If you are using Google as a browser you can at least stop this when browsing by using the URL google.com/ncr where the "ncr" stands for No Country Redirect. The result is an English always result regardless of where you may be in the world at the time.
A quantum leap for computers
Life, James Hein, Published on 22/02/2017
» According to Prof Winfried Hensinger of the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, he and his team have the first practical design for a quantum computer. Like millions of others, I have struggled to come to an understanding of quantum mechanics and how a quantum computer might work.
The Office 360 downgrade
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/10/2015
» As I write this article I am in New York. New York has excellent Internet connectivity if you have the right connection. Like anywhere, however, Wi-Fi access can vary considerably. When I travel I also use Team Viewer to connect to my home computer and as I found out you are relying on someone at the other end to restart the computer if there is a problem like a power failure. If you do travel I recommend leaving some instructions on what to start after the computer is turned on or set things up to auto load. The other option of course is to forget about technology altogether and just have fun. These days it is all about the selfie shot. I must admit that while I do not typically indulge in the practice I did take a couple in front of some iconic places and put them on Facebook. It is amusing to see someone use a selfie stick to take a normal picture, it looks very awkward.
Get intellectual about your property rights
Life, James Hein, Published on 23/01/2013
» Some businesses still think they can dominate their customers. A good case in point is the recent Instagram initiative to change the terms of use on the Facebook-owned social network so it could use member's photos and sell them for profit, without any compensation. The response from members was instant, and not a very nice one. Facebook made a fairly quick about face on the issue but they never should have tried it in the first place.