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  • News & article

    Fact-checking AI content... Is it possible?

    Life, James Hein, Published on 26/04/2023

    » Everywhere I turn these days, there is another comment or opinion on artificial intelligence or AI. Digging a little deeper, it would appear the concerns are for what comes after GPT-4.

  • News & article

    When AI is not smart enough for the job

    Life, James Hein, Published on 14/09/2022

    » I was wondering what to write about this week and then I saw the Japanese Amazon story and how it relates to artificial intelligence. Labour unions in Japan have been a thing since World War II, but delivery drivers for Amazon Japan were not unionised, until recently.

  • News & article

    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.

  • News & article

    Scams on the rise as inflation bites

    Life, James Hein, Published on 06/07/2022

    » We start this week with a webserver with extras in a single file that runs on any x86-64 operation system. Enter redbean 2.0. Created by Justine Tunney, it uses the "Actually Portable Executable" that you can read about here, justine.lol/ape.html. When you compile a program to its native binary, in this case x86-64 code, and don't call any external code, then the only difference between a Windows and a Linux would be the file format. If you can solve this, then it could run on any platform. To do that you need Cosmopoliton libc because any real program needs to make some calls, in this case the standard C ones. So, with Cosmo and the APE format, you can write a C program and compile it to a single file that will load and run on six very different operating systems and the same binary can also be booted directly from the PC BIOS. It's not perfect, but any programmer would be scratching their heads by now. Pause for techie amazement.

  • News & article

    Got them new phone blues

    Life, James Hein, Published on 30/03/2022

    » It has been 3 years and I have a new phone. Thanks to a very generous rebate from Vodaphone I have the latest flagship in my hands. It feels nice and solid but I immediately put it in a Spigen Neo case, rated as one of the best by some reviewers. I have been happy with the Spigen range over the years. I watched some drop tests and prefer the phone to stay in good shape so I'm also considering a decent screen protector.

  • News & article

    Moving images to the next level

    Life, James Hein, Published on 16/03/2022

    » Let's start this week with a couple of software and technology announcements. The first is from the developer Dominic Szablewski. He has developed a simple, new image format. You will have heard of PNG, JPEG, MPEG, MOV and MP4, which he calls complex. Enter the Quite OK Image Format (QOI). Most of the older formats are closed, need libraries and a lot of computing power to implement and use.

  • News & article

    The chips are down for a while

    Life, James Hein, Published on 01/09/2021

    » If you haven't noticed, there is a microchip shortage. Makers of any device ranging from computers to guitar pedals are finding it difficult to source what they need from the marketplace. Expect delays on most things and if you do get yours in time then thank the silicon gods.

  • News & article

    Banner year for Zoom, Microsoft Teams subpar

    Life, James Hein, Published on 09/12/2020

    » 'Zoom records another bumper quarter" is an unsurprising headline. While Covid-19 still has a grip on leaders and businesses, online meetings remain a big choice, but for how long? Over the years I've noticed that management falls into distinct groups when it comes to working from home. Most want to see their workers in the office as much as possible but some do support remote work and work-from-home as long as the work is being completed. For those who have to travel long distances to and from work, it also provides an opportunity for more sleep and less stress. For an eye-opener on the importance of this, I recommend that everyone read Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker for data on the importance of sleep, including its benefits to organisations.

  • News & article

    Good things come in small packages

    Life, James Hein, Published on 25/11/2020

    » - I received a tiny Windows 10 based computer I had supported a while back on the Indiegogo site called the GMK NucBox 4K. Not having looked too closely at the specs apart from the ports and memory, the first thing I noticed about it was the tiny size about 2 inches by 2 inches and 1-and-a-bit inches tall. Literally pocket sized.

  • News & article

    Huawei facing tough time outside China

    Life, James Hein, Published on 29/07/2020

    » China, and in particular Huawei, is not winning these days. Huawei has some excellent hardware. Their latest phones are as good in many aspects as any other manufacturer. However, the fuzzy area is the company's links to the Chinese government. Huawei claims they are not directly linked to the government but many others say there are direct and nefarious links. Huawei recently lost their foothold in the United Kingdom as their 5G network has been disallowed or marginalised for the future. This leaves only Canada as part of the five eyes intelligence partners still supporting Huawei 5G. Other nations have also been hesitant to adopt the technology.

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