Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Manipulating populations is very easy
Life, James Hein, Published on 25/10/2023
» Have you ever heard of the term SEME, or Search Engine Manipulation Effect? The term was coined back in 2014 by the psychologist Robert Epstein, in his paper "The Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME) And Its Possible Impact On The Outcomes Of Elections".
Human override here to stay
Life, James Hein, Published on 10/04/2019
» Computers are useful tools and they will emotionlessly churn through thousands of operations in the blink of an eye to produce whatever results they were programmed to do. Most of the time the results are welcomed. When it comes to malware the results generate a different reaction, and then there are those spaces in the middle. The situation surrounding the Boeing 737 Max MCAS aircraft and the recent crash is an excellent example. The latest analysis would seem to indicate that the computer engineers made some choices that have had unintended consequences. In this case overriding the wishes of the pilots by assuming the plane was crashing, when it wasn't, and not allowing the human pilots to correct the computer's decisions.
A down vote for MS Skype
Life, James Hein, Published on 20/06/2018
» It has been a while since I've used Skype, and I had no idea just how much Microsoft has stuffed it up. Skype for the multi-device user is all but useless. I tried to find a way to allow someone to call into my PC's Skype but to no avail. I shut down Skype on my phone and was able to call out but not receive anything. This removed the possibility of using a good sound card and microphone for the mix, and all I could use in the end was my phone. BM -- or Before Microsoft -- Skype was usable and useful. PM -- Post-Microsoft -- you should look for any other alternative. Line seems to be most popular with those I know. This is not the first time Microsoft has taken over a product, and its usage has dropped dramatically. Of course that could have been the plan all along.
The perils of an electronic voting system
Life, James Hein, Published on 13/07/2016
» I was talking to some friends in Australia about the recent election and by the time you read this, a week-and-a-half later, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared victory for his conservative coalition. The reason it has taken so long besides it being very close is that the process is still a manual one. People put numbers in boxes with a pencil and other people then count all of the numbers entered on the ballots to eventually work out how many people voted for which people in what order. To make it more complicated Australia has a preferential voting system that can see someone with 0.5% of the vote get a Senate seat due to redistribution rules. The discussion was around how difficult it would be to set up an electronic voting system.
Exhausted all lifelines? Call a friend
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/07/2016
» People who use computers range in skill levels from absolute novices to advanced, but they all have one thing in common -- eventually they need to ask someone for help. Take the recent case of my Skype not working. I had exhausted my knowledge base, checked a few web searches for solutions and in the end had to call a friend who knows a lot more about networking than I do.
Data security is of utmost importance
Life, James Hein, Published on 29/06/2016
» If you are a security manager or in charge of a company's PCs, when it comes to what people can do on their machine I have a few warnings for you. I recently went through the process of a new Ops Manager at work deciding to limit access on my PC to the point where I couldn't even see the contents of a ZIP file anymore,making it impossible to do some aspects of the job. This lasted for a couple of days and while it was possible to have someone else do it for me that wasn't the point, it was the issue of security becoming so restrictive that I couldn't do my work. I'm sure that there are many readers that have experienced this at some time or other but in the modern age for it still to be occurring is either a lack of thinking about consequences or perhaps an indication that those it happens to should start looking for a new job.
Paid applications market growing at healthy rate
Life, James Hein, Published on 12/12/2012
» Your app store needs more developers. According to the analysis firm Canalys about half of the money paid out is to about 25 developers both in the Apple and Google worlds. Given that there are over 700,000 apps to choose from this means that most people miss out. Most of the top earners are game developers like Rovio, Electronic Arts and the like. The stand out non-game developer was Pandora selling the obviously popular Pandora radio app that supports the personalised music experience. So as usual it is the developers with the brand name behind them that get the money and it is difficult for a new player to break into the market. Not unexpected from the survey is that the demand and associated market for paid apps is growing at a very healthy rate so give it a go, you have a chance of making something for yourself in the future.
A pattern of patent complaints
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/11/2012
» In what should come as no surprise to anyone, moments after Windows 8 was released someone claimed they put boring coloured squares on a screen first. The claimant is SurfCast and they say they did the equivalent of Live Tiles, what Microsoft is calling a coloured square you can click on or touch activate, first. Their patent from 2004 is for a "system and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources". If for example you look up a screen shot of Xerox's Windows equivalent that appeared before Windows 1.0 you will see what looks a lot like a Windows 8 screen that was designed a long time before the year 2000.
It all points to yet another invasion of privacy
Database, James Hein, Published on 11/08/2010
» When does information collecting become just too intrusive? Google has a patent for a new system that will track where you hover the mouse and then tailor both search results and advertising.
Join the thousands and add your voice if you don't trust Oracle
Database, James Hein, Published on 13/01/2010
» You may have noticed that things tend to slow down a week or so each side of the New Year.