Showing 11 - 20 of 39
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.
Privacy an artefact of times past
Life, James Hein, Published on 18/07/2018
» If you have learned nothing else from my many years of writing, it should be that unless extraordinary steps are taken, personal data privacy doesn't exist, except perhaps in the deluded minds of government officials. The only thing privacy laws do these days is stop you from returning someone's lost phone. In just one day in the news, I read reports about Huawei infiltrating Facebook, another Spectre CPU problem, political data harvesting in the UK, insecure military servers in the UK, Chinese hackers interested in Cambodia (and the rest of the world) along with other items about lost or hacked data. Yahoo and Google collect far more than the whole of the US spy agencies combined, though at least the latter doesn't deliberately spread it around or sell it to marketers.
Words don't come easy to millennials
Life, James Hein, Published on 23/05/2018
» Next time you're in a restaurant or where people gather in small groups, sit and watch for a while. Note how many of the groups are silent, all doing something on their phones. When you find such a group, note how long they go without saying a word to each other. There is an interesting behavioural shift occurring in the phone-enabled world where casual conversation skills are being replaced by surfing, messaging and instant posting. It won't be too long before the best way to find out what the person next to you is thinking is to live feed their Facebook, send them an SMS or Line message, or heaven forbid a tweet.
What will 5G mean for you?
Life, James Hein, Published on 25/04/2018
» Is 5G going to save those people with bad internet connections? As the world moves more towards mobile platforms, users want faster and more reliable services. I know I do. 5G is being touted as the way to that future, with the promise of a high-def movie download in seconds and other benefits, like better access to the often-mentioned Internet of Things, or IoT.
Even writers need to think before tweeting
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/08/2017
» Without the internet, there would only ever be part of a story. Consider the recent example of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. She watched an edited video and then took to the internet using her fame to decry the treatment of a small child by a prominent leader. Her concerns were quickly and widely spread but the unedited footage showed the opposite. Even the mother of the child finally got involved and asked the internet to please tell J.K. Rowling that she was wrong. At the time of writing Rowling had apologised to the mother but not the leader she smeared. In the current fast pace and instant Twitter-response world it is important to take a step back and do some personal investigation before reacting, often incorrectly, to a flash tweet or news story. If you see a clip try and find the full or unedited version, that extra time can save you from future embarrassment, though some personalities seem to be immune to it.
A very taxing problem for all
Life, James Hein, Published on 08/03/2017
» Every government wants taxes. It is, after all, how the salaries get paid, and how funds are raised for re-election and looking after the country, often in that order. Consider the UK as an example. Starting in April, there will be a new set of tax regulations based on the IR35 guidelines. With the uncertainty surrounding this change there has been a rush of IT contractors leaving government positions, in many cases over half, halting a wide range of projects. This has been happening for over a year now with, as an example, the Ministry of Defence losing 30 out of 32 contractors last year. When the process of government is stopped because of taxes imposed, you're probably doing something wrong.
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.
Microsoft price policy will raise a few eyebrows
Life, James Hein, Published on 05/10/2016
» With the Microsoft Server 2016 evaluation version now out, the company is bucking the typical IT trend by planning to make the new version a lot more expensive. Windows Server 12 users thinking about upgrading may be in for a number of pricing surprises. So if you're planning to upgrade, start communicating with Microsoft now to get the best deal for your organisation, at least for the next three years.
Latest Chinese tablets a viable alternative
Life, James Hein, Published on 25/05/2016
» It has been a week and I really like my inexpensive 12-inch Chinese tablet made by Chuwi. I just added a 64GB MicroSD card that immediately popped up as D: drive when I booted into Windows 10. This will be the first Windows 10 based machine that is all mine and so far I have been impressed. The unit has no problems running a program like Visio and I have already used it for a presentation at a client's site. The screen is excellent and I like the way the unit notes when I have disconnected it from the keyboard and asks if I want to change to tablet mode under Windows. I used the Wi-Fi to connect to my mobile phone acting as a hot spot and there were no issues at all. Battery life has been good but that is one aspect I have not had the chance to really test out and reading some blog entries it takes a few charges to reach the full capacity.
New offerings from China
Life, James Hein, Published on 11/05/2016
» As predicted, the Chinese products in the smartphone, tablet and smartwatch categories are starting to come thick and fast, and they are starting to challenge major brand names like Apple and Samsung. I was browsing the Banggood website recently and saw the new CHUWI Hi12 Stylus Version Tablet PC for sale. This is a 12-inch-screen tablet device that dual boots into Android 5.1 and Windows 10. The display is the same as that used in the last-model Microsoft Surface Pro 3, making it easy to find a decent screen protector with a resolution of 2160x1440 and an IPs-capacitive touchscreen.