COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Stanley]

When I was at the clinic for my retinoscopy I picked up a copy of Which from 2014 (I can read it now!) and read a piece about the failure of electronic handbrakes on new cars. It detailed the faults and the enormous cost of rectifying them and just one of them was failure of either of the electric motors on the rear brakes which applied the brake. My mind went back to a simple lever in the car connected directly to the rear brake actuators by a wire cable and how reliable and cheap they were. Many such systems lasted the life of the vehicle. It seems to me that this demonstrated technology for technology's sake producing something worse than the original system. I note Pluggy's search for a new car with the minimum of such technology and then I compare this with Tiz's report on the I phone above. Then I thought of the way 'new improved model' is the way companies massage their sales figures. Then I think of the number of people I see every day glued to the screen of a hand held device and I can't help wondering when this con trick will reach its limit. No wonder people today complain of being 'time poor', they have allowed their lives to become cluttered with non-productive technology. I am not a dinosaur, I will take advantage of all the latest technology if I see it as economical and efficient, the FM3 and my swap to fibre are cases in point but there is no way I will ever commit myself to smart phones no matter how seductive the 'convenience' on offer. The telephone was always, in my opinion, a tyrannical technology because it demands instant attention. Think of the number of times a conversation has been interrupted by a phone ringing. It has now become a monster....
I am still pursuing the staggers in my own technology, I tested the speed of my connection this morning and noted that the 'ping' was slow. I cleaned my keyboard and gave it new batteries.... I shall hunt it down in the end!

[Wendyf]

Just listening to talk on the radio about superfast broadband. Don't they know that some of us...not miles away from civilization, can't even get broadband!!

[Marilyn]

We had the same problem living IN the city, Wendy. We couldn't even have a home phone without sharing the line with 16 others.... ( made for some very interesting phone calls! I had one woman ring me, asking what I was doing in her house, as she had phoned her home number and I answered. It was only the fact that I recognised her very strident voice that I was able to reassure her I was one of her neighbours, and not making home visits to her husband whilst she was at work. Awkward!)
We have used WiFi for years now...

[Tizer]

Another problem of technology bringing downsides as well as upsides...
BBC, 14th Aug 2015
`Car immobiliser easy to crack, say researchers'
"Anti-theft devices found on millions of cars are vulnerable to a "trivial" attack, say security researchers. They found the encryption system used in many car immobilisers can be cracked, potentially letting a thief steal the car. Vehicles made by 26 separate car firms including Volkswagen, Porsche and Honda use the "weak" security system. The researchers first released their findings two years ago but legal action prevented publication." LINK (The legal action, not surprisingly, was by the car manufacturers.)

Stanley's comment about the longevity of wire cable brakes reminds me of my 1950s Austin A35 car that I had around 1970. The handbrake handle came off and had to be welded back on. He also says "..the way 'new improved model' is the way companies massage their sales figures". With some products they also simply continue with the same product but the alter the name to make it look like it's new so that people rush to swap the old and get the `new version'. I saw an admission in recent weeks that some mobile phones are sold in this way just by adding letters, numbers or symbols to the name of the same old product.

[Tripps]

I read a while ago the 'man never lives with a level of technology lower than that which is currently available' - an example given was the flush toilet, which if reinvented today would surely have a water depth sensor with micro processor, coupled to a servo motor controlled valve to manage the inflow.

[Stanley]

This man does David! Look at the way the Cubans have managed to keep ancient American gas-guzzlers on the road, they would have had far more problems if they had computerised systems! Re-branding as way of fooling people that the technology is new doesn't surprise me in the least.
For much of my life I have worked with outdated but perfectly reliable technology, my shed bears witness to this and also my beloved steam engines. When I was at Ellenroad I proposed latching the engine to a big alternator and supplying Coates Inks with power and exporting the rest to the grid. The Coates accountants went over the proposal with a fine tooth comb and conformed it was economically viable but when it went up to the main board they didn't go for it for reasons that were nothing to do with economics or efficiency. That was the story with the technology after WW2, enlarging the Grid was seen as more important than simple efficiency and economics.
My problem with some of the modern 'improvements' like smart phones is the trend towards intrusive, over complicated systems that generate more profit for the industry but do not necessarily enhance the lives of the users. I see the same trend in Windows 10. I have always said that what I like about Ubuntu is the fact that it leaves me completely in control and doesn't try to run how I use it.
I heard the lady CEO of Talktalk on the radio yesterday talking about the poor standard of 'broadband' speeds in the UK. One surprising statistic was that we are number 50 in the world league table and that Ukraine has more fibre per capita than us. I have always said that there is no clear definition of what constitutes 'broadband', many years ago Big Harry and Janet were working with rates exceeding 1Gb/sec and were waiting for a new chip that would give them more but of course this was in military systems. I forget which R4 programme it was on but they had people ringing in to say that they had less than 1Mps in London.... A lady in a Devon village called to say that the main fibre feeder for the West Country passed through their village but BT refused to tap into it for them leaving them with Dial Up speeds. I suspect the BT accountants make a simple calculation based on cost versus the expected revenue from a box.

[Tizer]

My problem with some of the modern 'improvements' like smart phones is the trend towards intrusive, over complicated systems that generate more profit for the industry but do not necessarily enhance the lives of the users.

I agree but have another problem with such things - the way that the customer is forced into a contract of 12 or 18 or more months. We should be able to buy gadgets outright, choose whose service we want to use and then pay for that service without any contract. There's no need for a contract, it's just another cunning wheeze to make bigger profits and trap customers in. It's a bit like being bound in by a truck system and we need a modern version of the Truck Acts to get rid of the abuse of contracts.

[LizG]

I just updated my laptop to windows 10. Apart from the time it took to download and install, when it restarted there was no access to the internet. In order to fix the problem I had to get onto the the internet to find out how. Good job I had another way to do that. Very frustrating since it is a known problem.

[Stanley]

I agree Tiz. it's just an excuse for making a charge if you want to transfer out to a better offer.
Re my staggering problem. Can anyone tell me why I got a message in the bottom left hand corner of the screen 'waiting for paypal.com'? I didn't wait, I have got so used to this happening I just hit the back button and repeat the keystroke which then works instantaneously as usual.

[PanBiker]

The paypal message will probably be the link from the homepage for the donation button loading. Never noticed it as a problem on Firefox or Chrome on my Windows based laptop or desktop.

[Pluggy]

If you've got a smart telly Stanley. Try it on the smart telly. Its starting to sound like your internet connection. I don't have any issues with OGFB on Firefox and Ubuntu although I'm not using it at the wee small hours......

[Tizer]

No problems here, either.

[Stanley]

No doubt it will clear itself up eventually.... New Linux image just downloaded....

[Stanley]

The new Linux image may have made an improvement. I think I have lost the scrambled text when replying to topics. The drop outs when contacting the ISP continue but I suspect this is a different problem. I am also tending to think that a new keyboard and mouse would be a good thing.....

[Stanley]

The new Linux image may have made an improvement. I think I have lost the scrambled text when replying to topics. The drop outs when contacting the ISP continue but I suspect this is a different problem. I am also tending to think that a new keyboard and mouse would be a good thing.....
Very shortly I will have a new router as I swap to fibre.... Who knows, that could make a difference.

[Tizer]

I can't see how a new mouse and keyboard would solve the problems you described - but you might like a new set anyway.

[Stanley]

A bum keyboard and even low batteries can affect performance. Not a question of 'liking', more a question of trust.
If you're looking for a fault, don't automatically discount anything. Test and reassure....

[Thomo]

I have available a free upgrade to Windows 10. My current set up is Windows 7 home premium. I would give it a go, but one thing is worrying me, at present if I have a major problem caused by outside interference, virus's and such, I can re boot with system restore. As a part of this process, the system pulls the original Windows material and re builds from there. If I install Windows 10, I am assuming that the original will be removed, and that if I restore it will be to 10 and not 7. I have back up discs that I can use to fully restore to factory state, but unsure has to how to use them. I would value your thoughts on this and gladly accept any advise given. Something else that is putting me off is that many "apps" come with it, these I do not need as I live in an "app" free world!

[Tripps]

I asked a similar question a while ago, and Pluggy was kind enough to give his expert opinion.
He said, as I recall, If you are using Windows 8, then since it is so bad, change to 10.
If you use Windows 7, leave it alone. I use Windows 7, and haven't thought of anything I want to do which I can't do.

'If it ain't broke - don't fix it' seems to suit the situation. I have similar thoughts on changing to a higher speed fibre optic connection.

[Thomo]

Many thanks Tripps, that seems like sound advice.

[Pluggy]

Yep, If you've got 7, stay with it, at least for the time being. You've until July next year to upgrade.

Windows 8/8.1 you don't really have much to lose.......

From all accounts Windows 10 does a lot of data harvesting and sending it back to its masters. (You didn't think Microsoft would give you something for nothing did you ?)

[Thomo]

Thanks Pluggy, that was another of my concerns.

[Big Kev]

From all accounts Windows 10 does a lot of data harvesting and sending it back to its masters. (You didn't think Microsoft would give you something for nothing did you ?)

It is possible to turn this off along with the connectivity sharing for updates. I'm sticking with 7 for now.

[Thomo]

Snap!!!!

[Stanley]

Computers can't half waste your time.... The phone ran g this morning and it was a nice lady with an Asian accent calling from Talktalk to let me know that because of reports from their server they suspected I had been hacked by a site purporting to be in America, she said that they were going to terminate my internet connection if nothing was done about it as I was disrupting their systems. When she found out I was not running Windows or Mac she passed me on the the 'Senior Technical Adviser' who was obviously sitting next to her (I heard her speak to him) I asked him how I could be certain that he was actually from Talktalk but he evaded the question and told me that if I typed in SCS330.com into the address bar he could clear the virus for me. Out of curiosity I did so and Firefox security immediately booted it out as a suspect site. After a few more questions he told me that for £3 I could get rid of the virus. So I asked him how he intended to collect the money off me and if it could be debited from my account. This sent him into defensive mode and I got fed up with the pantomime. I told him that I suspected he was a phisher and was going to hang up and contact Talktalk direct...
Now of course I might be wrong and I shall ring Talktalk later to confirm my suspicions but I am convinced it was a scam. All I can say is that it was a cut above the normal spam, they were very convincing. I think what first triggered the serious alarm was how fast I got to speak to 'senior management'. These people should go out and get a proper job......