Posts by happygeek

Multiple core processors are set to dominate the marketplace by the end of 2007, after AMD follows Intel down the ‘more performance for less power’ road. Having already beaten Intel to the dual-core processor punch, the announcement from AMD that it will ship four-core processors for high end desktops, servers and workstations by mid-2007 puts the chip giants back head-to-head once again. Considering the market share that AMD has carved out for itself in such a relatively short time, currently standing at 20%, Intel look a little exposed right now. It was hoping to stall the market slippage with the introduction of the Core 2 Duo processors, which will end the 13 year reign of Pentiums in the PC world. But given the performance-per-watt claims of AMD, and this power efficiency is perhaps the biggest thorn in the side of Intel, I’m not so sure it will succeed.

The next generation AMD processors will be built using an advanced 65nm Silicon-on-Insulator process, which includes micro-architectural improvements such as a unique and (geek confession coming up) rather exciting ability to dynamically alter the frequency of each core on the chip to match application workloads. End result: reduced overall power consumption and a performance-per-watt improvement over today's OpteronT processor-powered servers in the region of 60% upon release, rising to a 150% gain through 2008 as the technology is honed. Throw in the capability within the AMD processor-powered mobile platforms to dynamically power one or both cores on …

According to Symantec it would seem that security flaw + patch in 5 days = result. Certainly compared to the average 140 days it takes Microsoft to patch a vulnerability it’s to be applauded, but only with one hand. 5 days is 119 hours and 55 minutes too long in my book. In the wise words of singing tech gurus Tavares (or Take That for our younger readers) ‘it only takes a minute girl, to infect your PC’. Well, I might have taken liberties with the lyrics, but no more than security vendors take with the integrity of my data, resources and identity whenever product exploits emerge.

I’m not advocating, for even that single minute, that a rushed solution is any solution at all. However, I’m not prepared to join the throng of gushing commentators eager to praise the speed with which this patch has been released. Words such as remarkable and masterful have been bandied about, even the totally ridiculous ‘break neck speed’. Sorry Symantec, but I’ll argue until the cows come home that 5 days is not an acceptable length of time for a vendor of the size and stature of yourself to leave customers in a security threat limbo. The Microsoft comparison doesn’t hold water; the products are poles apart in complexity and lines of code alike. A better metric would be that of OopenBSD and SSH, for whom a day is considered a long time for a patch to get into the upstream distribution chain, …

The new Apple MacBook Pro is 17" of all new system architecture, but at what price? Every single benchmark I’ve seen rates applications using the Apple ‘Rosetta’ dynamic software translation technology as running slower than they do on PowerPC based Macs. A lot slower. How about Photoshop CS2 being 50% faster to complete benchmarking tests on a 12" PowerBook compared to the 2.16GHz MacBook Pro for example? If ‘legacy’ apps, yet to be updated to function fully on the Intel driven platform, are truly important to you then the harsh truth is that you’d be best advised to hang fire until they have been. You might even save some money as the MacBook Pro might have been discounted by then. Currently Apple will sell you one for $2799.

On the other hand, if you are using software that has been Intel optimized, such as all the standard iLife 2006 apps, then there really is little reason not to be excited about what is quite possibly the best mobile Mac yet. The infra-red remote control for the multimedia management software is neat, as is the Apple invented MagSafe magnetic power connector that will detach rather than pitch your MacBook off the desk if the power cable is snagged. The addition of the Apple Sudden Motion Sensor, designed to protect the hard drive if it does fall, brings even more peace of mind.

The dual processing core powered MacBook Pro is, fittingly, more than twice as fast a …

While innovation and the march of technology cannot, and should not, be stifled; this is neither.

I don't think this is innovative, and it has nothing to do with it being Microsoft. Rather a lot more to do with introducing yet another format that isn't needed, at least not in the mainstream which is where Microsoft seems to be positioning this. It won't be a replacement for JPEG, for all the reasons stated.

However, when it comes to license fees I think it has everything to do with it being Microsoft. Your examples notwithstanding, the market for this technology looks like being very specific, mobile devices, and there's money to be made there: lots of it.

There’s no denying that Microsoft has both audacity and folly in equal measure, and never was this more clearly exemplified than in the news that it is launching an ‘industry leading compression quality’ image format.

Revealed in some detail at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2006 in Seattle, a picture containing more detail than a JPEG at 24:1 compression was proudly on show under the headline of ‘better picture, smaller file’. The Windows Media Photo format, as it’s being called, features multiple color formats for display and print, fixed or floating point high dynamic range image encoding, and extremely efficient decoding for multiple resolutions and sub-regions. Add a simple, extensible TIFF-like container structure, planar or interleaved alpha channel plus embedded ICC Profile, EXIF and XMP metadata for a more rounded picture of the format. If you’ve got access to Windows Vista Beta 2, then you’ll already have version 1.0 of the specification, but everyone else can visit Microsoft for the full technical detail.

While innovation and the march of technology cannot, and should not, be stifled; this is neither. Quite apart from anything else it’s going to have its work cut out to establish itself in the face of JPEG momentum. Marginal improvements aren’t going to convince anyone to take a ‘new’ format seriously, even (or perhaps especially) if it is Microsoft attempting the convincing. Heck, even when a better JPEG came along it didn’t so much as dent the original. Hands …

Inventor of the Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has been speaking out in favour of Net Neutrality at the 15th World Wide Web conference in Edinburgh, Scotland this week. For once, my spin on the issue doesn’t matter. What the man who created the Web thinks does, so I’ll leave the rest of this brief posting up to him via excerpts from his opening speech:

"It's better and more efficient for us all if we have a separate market where we get our connectivity, and a separate market where we get our content. Information is what I use to make all my decisions. There is an effort by some companies in the US to change this. In Europe, Net neutrality is the rule."

"What's very important from my point of view is that there is one web, anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece looks very boring."

While warning against the dangers of creating a dark net, Sir Tim remained upbeat that the Internet itself would strongly resist any attempt at fragmentation, concluding "I think it is one and will remain as one."

Bill Gates today announced at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2006 the immediate availability of Beta 2 versions of the three Microsoft flagship products. This is the first time that Microsoft has released such a trio simultaneously.

“The release of these three betas is a significant milestone for Microsoft and a major step toward delivering the platforms that will drive the next decade of computing, Gates said. “The combination of these innovative platform technologies and the new hardware and software being developed by our partners will make PCs and other devices more powerful, more useful and more intelligent for businesses today and into the future.

Yeah right. But if you have a MSDN or TechNet subscription, or are a member of the Technology Adoption Program (TAP) or TechBeta program you can download the Vista and ‘Longhorn’ Betas now to try for yourself. Microsoft will start the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP) within a few weeks. However, anyone can download the freely available 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta 2 right now.

Having built an online empire around keeping the advertising simple and unobtrusive, Google is about to enter the video advert business. The announcement follows the AOL acquisition of video search engine Truveo in January and video ad sales specialist Lightningcast last week, which will merge with Advertising.com which AOL bought for $435 million two years ago. However, while the AOL strategy appears to be a straightforward matter of selling commercials into online video programming, Google is taking a much more ‘in your face’ approach. If the information that is coming back to me through usually reliable sources is accurate, Google is going to simply insert video adverts directly onto the web page. Oh tell me it isn’t so.

OK, it’s not quite as bad as it would first sound, because those same sources tell me that only a single still frame will be presented to the user who will then have to make the decision to click a play buttons to see the actual video footage. However, it’s bad enough in my never humble opinion because it’s evidence of yet another move away from the basic principle of unobtrusive advertising that has stood Google in such good stead up until now. And further evidence that the new Google, the billion dollar megacorp Google, the ‘we’ve got shareholders to worry about now’ Google is losing the plot. At a pinch I could possibly learn to live with AdSense Video …

Although Vista isn’t expected to go on sale until next year, Microsoft has thoughtfully announced the minimum requirements for the new OS so you’ll have plenty of time to save for the necessary upgrades.

Just to muddy the waters and confuse the public, Microsoft seems to be adopting an Xbox 360 approach to Vista PC marketing compliance. So just as the games console was made available in a gimp version minus bells and whistles, which the cynic might argue was purely to reap the profit from selling all the upgrades to actually get an Xbox 360 that was worth having, there are two different versions of a Vista ready PC. First there will be a ‘Vista capable’ machine which meets that set of minimum requirements, and will indeed be able to run the new OS. Well, maybe run isn’t the right word: limp along is a better one. To run, to fly, you’ll want a ‘Windows Vista Premium Ready PC’ instead. Or at least you will if you expect to be able to take advantage of the much touted Aero UI and other high-end functionality.

With a battle cry of ‘get ready for Vista now’ Microsoft has made available a new Vista Upgrade Advisor which will interrogate your PC and make you cry like a baby as it reveals how pitiful it is. Or at least it would if you could get it. The tool is has mysteriously become ‘unavailable for download’ as I write, with …

In 2002, IBM scientists managed to produce a magnetic data tape capable of a storage density of 1 billion bits per square inch. This week the IBM Almaden Research Center boffins have done it again, in conjunction with Fuji, to the tune of 6.67 billion bits per square inch. That figure I confidently expected to rise to 8 billion by the time the tape becomes commercially available in 2011. If you are not a large corporate then this news will probably hold little more than a passing geek interest. For the enterprise that requires large volumes of static data storage to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, however, it’s truly exciting stuff. Why so? Simply that it means something the same size as a current industry standard Linear Tape Open (LTO) cartridge will be able to hold 8 terabytes of data. That’s the equivalent of text from 8 million books, which would take up 57 miles of shelf space in printed and bound format.

Fujifilm Nanocubic technology using barium-ferrite (BaFe) particle coating was used to enable the high-density data recording. Coupled to sensitive giant-magnetoresistive (GMR) head materials as used to sense small magnetic fields in disk drives, but applied for the first time magnetic tape. The IBM developed signal processing algorithms for the advanced read data channel employs ‘noise-predictive, maximum-likelihood’ (NPML) software which processes captured data far more efficiently than ever before.

All very impressive sounding stuff, but why is tape still being developed at …

Micron Technology, Inc., has unveiled a prototype of the World’s first 8-megapixel CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor using a miniature 1.75 micron pixel design in a 1/2.5 inch optical format.

As well as being small enough to bring 3-megapixel performance to your camera equipped cell phone, the new sensor packs a secondary potential punch: speed. The inclusion of a faster processor enables the shooting of as many as 10 images per second at the full resolution, or 30 frames per second of 2-megapixel quality video, without the usual delays between images.

Although mass production of the chip itself isn’t expected until 2007, and consumer product 2008, I wouldn’t get too excited just yet anyway. As anyone who has more than a passing interest in photography will happily tell you, taking a good picture requires a lot more than just a big-pixel image sensor. The combination of light and lens is perhaps most important, and the chances of getting a really good lens into a really small cell phone anytime soon is doubtful to say the least. Of course, Micron argues that the speed and power of the new sensor enable the use of a smaller lens without compromising image resolution. I’m not knocking it, or Micron who have leveraged their position as one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions to drive this development. Anything that improves the awful quality, and I use that word with reservation, of cell phone photography has to …

Thanks 'Stein, I write 'em as I see 'em :)

Remember this week, for it was the week that we lost the fight against spam.

On May 5th I reported how militant spammer PharmaMaster had brought down the Blue Frog anti-spam vigilante service. I wondered then if it was the end of the toad for Blue Security, and sadly this has proven to be the case as CEO Eran Reshef has now closed the service in fear of escalating an online war claiming “I cannot go ahead and rip up the Internet to make Blue Security work.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the success of the Blue Frog ‘Do Not Include Registry’ proactive approach to targeting spam, ultimately the company could not fight an apparently highly organized spamming group in control of a colossal army of remote PC bots. The distributed denial of service attack might have had Blue Security as its target, but the collateral damage was hugely damaging across a swathe of Internet sites and services numbering well into the hundreds of thousands. Victims included blogging service TypePad after Blue Security blogged a warning to users on the Movable Type system when its homepage became unreachable. PharmaMaster responded within the hour with a targeted attack bringing down millions of blogs in the process. Web and mail servers hosted by domain registrar Tucows suffered a similar fate. This last 14 day period has shown just how far spammers will go when they sense their livelihood is threatened. Worryingly, it also displayed the power of the weaponry available …

This week Adobe released the Spry toolkit that finally allows web designers to join the, until now, programmer led world of Ajax development. At the same time, Backbase introduced an Ajax development tool for Java applications. But what use is an Ajax powered website when search engines such as Google can’t see it?

Ajax is the future of the web, declare the usual suspects, and with good cause. It is, undoubtedly an exciting technology that is already driving forward the idea of Rich Internet Applications. Yet dynamic client-server interaction and the display associated client-side trickery that accompanies it, cannot and will not be spidered, indexed or cached by search engines that don’t understand Ajax. In fact it’s even simpler than that: search engines not only don’t understand it, they don’t even see it. The irony being that Google is something of an Ajax pioneer, and GMail one of the best known Ajax applications

Think about it. A still typical, static HTML driven website with a couple of dozen short pages will see them all indexed by Google, driving traffic precisely to where it wants to go. An Ajaxified ‘fat client application’ site consisting of a single page (<body> element) and XML based content being loaded by JavaScript under user control (an onload event) with local interaction and navigation makes for a very rich user experience. It also makes for a very invisible site as far as the Google spiders are concerned. For all intents …

Sony used to have game. Its hold on the console market anything but inscrutable, being down to a long standing dedication to technical innovation, game play and pricing. But could that all be due to change following the debut of the PlayStation 3, dubbed PayStation, at E3 last week? Not only does Sony appear to have lost the pricing plot, but technical specs leave much to be desired as well.

Let’s start at the bottom, bottom line that is. At $599 the PS3 will be far and away the most expensive games console money can’t buy. The industry insider talk is that there will be a shortage of hardware for the launch in November, no more than a million units to be available worldwide. Of course, we’ve all seen this short supply marketing tactic before, especially in a bid to drive up the hype before Christmas in order to mop up the resulting New Year demand. But this time, I am informed, things are different because there really is a hardware shortage and it’s even possible that the launch will be delayed until 2007 as a result. Even if you are fortunate enough to get hold of a console, you may well feel a little cheated on the tech spec front. Your $599 won’t get you the double whammy of 2 HDMI ports for HDTV output that featured on the much vaunted prototype machines. Nor will it get you the prototype 3 Ethernet ports, just the one (which is …

I believe that may be at the root of it, yes. Although, as I said in the piece, the argument is somewhat diluted by the fact that EU member countries represented on ICANN voted against the proposal anyway!

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has voted against giving a green light for a proposed Internet red light domain. After a 5 year struggle to segregate online porn, the ICM Registry .xxx domain proposal was finally outvoted 9 to 5. This could be regarded as just another non-event in the dull as dishwater world of ICANN, were it not for the extraordinary comments from the office of the EU Information Society Commissioner. Reuters has reported that a spokesman for Commissioner Viviane Reding claimed the decision was “a clear case of political interference in ICANN and that “it’s a worrying development that the US administration has interfered in this process.

I can understand why it might look like political pressure was brought into play, and might even agree that it’s likely to have been. But where the EU argument falls over is in blaming Bush and the usual suspects of the religious right lobby in the US. If anything the opposite is true: this was the most unusual array of suspects in the history of Internet lobbying. Yes, the religious right lobbied hard against the proposal on the moral basis that it would legitimize pornographic material, but they were joined in opposition by the libertarians who feared the thin end of a state censorship wedge. If this were not a candidate for the odd-bedfellows of the year award, the pornographers themselves jumped into bed for a truly bizarre ménage-a-trois of resistance. As someone who has written …

The news that Jeffrey Toback, a representative in the Nassau County Legislature, has filed a 16 page complaint alleging Google profits from child pornography has ignited discussion of censorship, responsibility and technology. Yet I can’t help thinking that everyone is missing the real point: why are allegations covered by 10 year old legislation being made at all?

Is the Government using child porn allegations to punish Google for earlier non-compliance perhaps? You need to cast your minds back to January when Google didn’t play ball with the FBI. The Bush administration would like to revive the proposed Child Online Protection Act, a law that would require websites to do more in restricting access to minors where there are links to adult content. In itself, this is something that few would have any logical reason to complain about. However, in order to provide statistical data to add weight to the argument, the FBI asked various search engines to hand over the search logs and indexed URLs that would reveal the extent of online interest in pornography. Google, quite rightly in my opinion, refused to comply. Why so? Well, the request for a million random URLs and every Google search from a random 7 day period is just too broad. The civil liberties issue too hot to handle. The intentions of the Government with regard to that data, and importantly the precedent set by handing it over, just not clear enough.

Fast forward to now: Toback claims Google “promotes and …

“I believe the 2.6 kernel is slowly getting buggier said the rather respectable looking man with short hair, spectacles and absolutely no beard whatsoever. What on earth could Andrew Morton know about Linux then? Quite a lot as it happens. Morton is the ‘lead maintainer’ of the Linux production kernel, and when he gets worried, we should all get worried. But who said anything about being worried? Oh, yes, I forgot to finish that quote “It seems we’re adding bugs at a higher rate than we’re fixing them.

Speaking at the LinuxTag Conference in Wiesbaden, Germany last Friday, Morton’s words sent a shockwave around the Linux developer community. Not necessarily because they disagree, but rather more because he said it at all. Perhaps the fact that he went on to say that if the statistically evidence proves his suspicions, then he will consider halting kernel development, at least on a temporary basis until enough issues have been resolved to play catch up. This would almost certainly involve a bug fix only kernel cycle, requiring developers to reallocate their time so that more is spent bug squishing. But with an increasing number of these developers being employed by IT companies with little financial interest in the legacy hardware that tends to cause most of the problems, how do you motivate them to participate happily, if at all?

What must rattle the cages of Linux developers everywhere is the timing of such a statement. Just as it is starting to …

There are many reasons why people use FireFox, and I doubt that safety is the main one for huge swathes of them. I favour it for flexibility, being open source and not being IE, for example.

However, the emphasis of my piece was that asked the question "which is the most secure web browser client?" the majority will almost certainly say FireFox.

And be wrong.

Here’s a question for you: being a clued up Internet user which browser client do you favour when it comes to being totally safe and secure on the web? The answer I know you are shouting loudly at the screen is ‘Firefox you freakin’ idiot’. But at the risk of being shot down in flames, literally, I have to say you’re sadly mistaken. There is no such thing as a totally safe and secure browser, and according to respected vulnerability statistics Firefox isn’t the closest thing you’ll find to one either.

Let’s not lose grip on reality here, nobody is suggesting that Microsoft has anything like all the answers, least of all me. I might be a freakin’ idiot, but I’m not a stupid freakin’ idiot, OK? There have been improvements made in IE7 Beta 2, and I’m not talking the huge efforts to make it more user friendly, more like Firefox in usability terms in fact. Technically it gets much closer to Firefox in the security stakes, by blocking downloads unless you opt-in to accept them; new URL parsing code can limit the danger from buffer overrun exploits; a phishing filter can automatically display a visual indication of dangerous websites as you visit them; and the user gets much greater control over ActiveX including the ability to automatically uninstall ActiveX controls. But IE remains the most popular browser, end of story. Apart from the notes on the rear cover which state that because of that market share, because …

With the failure of the amendment to the US Telecommunications Reform bill, itself a much diluted version of earlier amendments, it would seem that Net Neutrality is a dead legislative duck as far as Congress is concerned. But what is Net Neutrality, and why should anyone care?

The Internet is a network built entirely of ‘ends’ and as such it’s a pretty dumb thing: so dumb its super smart in fact. Anyone can provide anything at the edge of the network, you can put whatever you like at your ‘end’ by way of a website or service. The Internet itself just provides a method of shoving data from one end to another, regardless of who owns the network infrastructure in-between, regardless of the principality across which that data flows, regardless of if Telco A has an agreement with Telco B or Telco Z for that matter. All that does matter is that if you want to create or use a service online you can just do it. Net neutrality ensures that the Internet is operated using the triumvirate of non-discrimination, interconnection and access.

Basically then, what we are talking about is the separation of network architecture and content. You should be able to visit any online retailer to do your shopping, not just the ones your broadband provider has an affiliate deal with. You should be able to use that Internet connection for whatever (legal) purpose you choose, not just the ones your ISP approves of. So if …

Blue Security has decided to close the Blue Frog service now, based upon the ongoing threat to bring down more than just the servers by what I guess you would have to call 'militant spammers'.

Agreed about the peer-to-peer approach, in itself nothing new but combined with the Do Not Include Registry and Blue Frog ideals it might just work.

Just when you thought the spam problem couldn’t get any worse, comes the news that spammers are fighting back against the pro-active anti-spam community approach using tit-for-tat Denial of Service attacks and intimidation.

The Blue Frog anti-spam approach is a relatively simple one of ‘hit them where it hurts’ and for the spammer that’s in the wallet. How the hitting is done is the controversial bit. Instead of the spammer, Blue Security targets the companies whose products are being marketed. It works like this: you add your email address to an encrypted Do Not Include Registry database, you report all spam you receive through the Blue Frog system, once confirmed as spam by Blue staff a complaint (one per spam) is posted at the website of the company whose product is being advertised asking them to stop spamming the Blue Community. Blue claim the ethical high ground by saying that it’s a strict one complaint per spam. However, these complaints may be posted via the shopping cart or customer services route online, anywhere that works. With a community of half a million the complaint volume can be enormous, and that starts to look suspiciously like a Denial of Service attack, or anti-spam vigilantism. To stop the complaints all the company has to do is get their spam agent to scrub their spam list using the Blue compliance tools which remove any addresses held in the Do Not Include Registry. Blue claim to have had great …

Perhaps we could start a Microsoft legal fees fund.

Anyone want to donate?

Nope, thought not...;)

In an astonishing display of pique, Google (the new Microsoft) has complained bitterly to both the US DoJ and the European Commission about Microsoft (the old Google).

What exactly has the Boy God Gates done to annoy billionaire double act Brin and Page so? At the risk of reading like a Monty Python sketch script, it would appear that having the audacity to use MSN as the default search engine in the latest IE7 web browser client Beta was enough to get Google running to tell teacher they were being picked on. Google complains that it’s unfair for IE7 to default to MSN, complains that users should have the right to choose. Yet changing to another search engine, yes even Google, is just a matter of picking one from a drop down list. That’s not so different from the Firefox situation, except Firefox default to, who is it again, oh yes – Google. In fact, Google pays Firefox handsomely (as they do Opera for that matter) to ensure they default to Google. Please feel free to rearrange the following words and email them to Brin and Page: kettle, pot, black.

Indeed, if we want to talk about monopolies then why not look at the search business itself. Who has a market share of more than 80% globally there again? Well, for the time being anyway. Perhaps that’s another issue that is hitting home at Google HQ, that the climate may be changing against them. Amazon announced yesterday that …

Just in case anyone needed further proof as to why they should be very wary investing in pre-ratified hardware, here it is.

The first 802.11n draft has now been voted upon, and didn't get the required 75% pass mark. Whoops. No moving to the next stage as is, but instead there comes a period of revisions and changes to the specification.

Of course, the nature of those changes is an unknown. Just like the impact that will have upon the hardware already out there. But the smart money says it will become obsolete quicker than a political promise.

I wouldn't worry about brain cancer, after all I rarely balance my laptop on my head :twisted:

I think that there's a difference between simplicity and convenience - wireless scores highly on the latter, no doubting that. But once you've taken issues of unsightly cabling out of the equation, a wired network wins out. what could be simpler than plugging a cable into a socket and it 'just working'? Most PCs come with an Ethernet port, and there are far fewer interoperability issues with the hardware than with wireless. If I had a penny for every person who has emailed me with 'why won't my wireless network, er, network' type questions I'd have about £5 (UK). Not a fortune but better than the 5p in my 'wired network connectivity problems' question stash :)

It has become fashionable to go wireless, and like many fashions people simply want to grab the latest trend off the rail and get into it without thinking about the fact they look like a dork. Everyone wants wireless because 'the industry' say it's the cool technology to have, yet vast numbers of people would be far better off sticking to a simple wired network for reasons of cost, simplicity, performance and security. Given the importance of that 'power four' it's mind boggling that there are so few voices saying "step away from the WiFi, nothing to see here".

Belkin has announced the launch of their N1 range of next generation wireless routers based upon a new WiFi standard that could extend the range of existing ‘wireless-G’ solutions by a factor of 4, and speeds by as much as 12. This might bring out the excited little geek in me, were it not for the fact that there isn’t any standard yet, no guarantee it will work properly with other 802.11n kit (even from the same manufacturer) now or in the future, and most damning of all: nobody really needs it.

OK, so when has need ever stopped an early adopter? Good point, but even the usual desire to own the latest technology is dampened by the realisation that you’re getting absolutely no practical benefit whilst still paying over the odds for the privilege of testing the product line. Being an early adopter you’ll no doubt already have invested in Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) enabled kit if you really required the extended range on offer. The test reports I’ve read so far would suggest that MIMO, which is also a key part of the emerging 802.11n specification, is just as effective on existing 802.11g devices anyway. Which just leaves the speed issue, and let’s face it that’s the real hard sell for Wireless-N isn’t it? The marketing blurb makes for moist reading: up to 600Mbps throughput claim some vendors. But a claim is all it will remain for some time to come, as a closer inspection of …

Exactly that - the other thread was deleted of the two as it had no replies while this one had replies. ASP thread now restored. Apologies for the confusion which double posts often lead to.

He opened up two questions in two forums so the moderators probably deleted the other thread. Deleted threads on daniweb are "soft deletes" so the information can still be recovered I believe.

The warning system provides a way of letting members know they have broken the rules without it actually giving them infraction points or being too formal - as it says, it simply serves as a reminder of the rules. It also says "We understand that you probably didn't intend to do something wrong" so don't take it as an intolerant slap but rather a friendly chat in the corner :)

Hey folks, let's not get *too* far off topic here please :)

To be honest, I think the poll results attached to this thread pretty much say it all. Of those who were interested enough to vote, overwhelmingly they said no or don't care to the idea - which is hardly endorsement enough to even begin thinking about implementing such a system.

Please do continue with the input on DaniWeb, suggestions for improvement are always welcome here. However, as far as this one goes, I think it's a dead duck.

deleted

Hey, feel free to keep making suggestions even if they are not applied or there is general disagreement - it's what being part of a community is all about.

Actually, the mods and myself spend a great deal of our time deleting the tipard spam and infracting/banning the users who spam this (and other 'ripper') stuff. I have banned half a dozen such people today so far, for example.

Every reported post is read by the mods and myself, and gets dealt with as soon as is humanly possible.

Please rest assured that the moderator team here, and the admins for that matter, are doing all we can to keep the spam to an absolute minimum.

Yeah, user banned and posts have been deleted

Exactly. An Australian publication I write for just went through this process, took a couple of months but eventually the username was surrendered to it.

The fact that the daniweb username is not active, and has never really been, means the process should be speeded up considerably I would imagine.

I've only been on Twitter for 2.5 years, and didn't know about that one! :) Now following...

Looks like someone has taken the daniweb name on Twitter (back at the end of 2008) although the account is hardly active with 1 foreign language post and just the 1 follower.

There are mechanisms by which a business can reclaim a name from Twitter, which I could follow up if there is enough interest from the members here to make a DaniWeb Twitter presence viable.

So, would you like to see us on Twitter and what would you like to see posted there - service updates, server downtimes, links to latest DaniWeb news postings etc?

Maybe add your yes/no vote here, along with your Twitter username.

I'll start the ball rolling:

Yes, happygeek.

Done :)

Doh! I think I had the wrong brain switched on when I posted that :)

Try clearing your web browser cache then logging in again.

Dani and I are pleased to announce that, following the recent resignation of Narue, we have promoted ~s.o.s~ to take up the position of our new Super Moderator here at DaniWeb.

I believe If being a comment submitter If we submit our ideas and share it. I thing We should be rewarded with a link back to our websites.

If you are talking about DaniWeb forums here, then you can already do this using the signature facility. We only take action against those who promote their own sites within the message itself, or use a 'fake sig' to the same end.

Melvin, we will all miss you - but then you know that :)

Thanks for all your hard work here over the years, it really has been appreciated. Not just by your fellow mods and us admins, but by the members of the community who have been inspired by, and benefited from, your knowledge in the forums.

agreed - checked his post history, mainly 'i cannot help you' and 'i don't know the answer' all with a sig full of DVDs for sale. have deleted posts and sent a warning PM to user

For security try the Viruses, Spyware and Other Nasties forum - for 'helping yourself' it really rather depends what help you need as we have forums which cover pretty much every area of IT.