COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Whyperion]

This is the emergence of international data cables owned by a single powerful company. They are so expensive that they've usually been built and owned by consortia of companies with an interest in communications. Now the biggest tech companies have reached the stage where each can build and lay its own cable. They will own not only the data but the international cable carrying it.
`Google's new transatlantic data cable to land in Cornwall' LINK
`Google has announced plans to build a new undersea network cable connecting the US, UK and Spain. The tech giant says it is incorporating new technology into the cable, which it claims is a significant upgrade to older existing lines. The project is expected to be completed by 2022. Underwater data cables are vital to global communications infrastructure, carrying some 98% of the world's data, according to Google's estimate. The cables are usually built by communications firms - typically a group of them pooling resources - which then charge other companies to use them..'.

I cannot recall which cable service we hired in I think it was 2T or something category of service, some was Satellite via Inmarsat, a few C&W links around the world and 4 cables NY to UK / Europe I dont think that we owned the cables.

[chinatyke]

Just paid an extra £1 a month and got my internet speed doubled to 200 Mbps. Latency is the problem because most of my traffic is international and there are so few of those cables under the sea. The ISP even gave us 2 free 5G sim cards, not sure when they will be useful. Now I will have to buy a gigabit modem/router or be happy with 100 Mbps LAN. The service engineer is calling again tomorrow morning to advise me. Life used to be simple.

[Stanley]

It was never simple China but certainly less complicated!
A good treatment is to make steam engines in the shed, that constantly reminds you of the important things in this world.



What's this young man going to see? At least he will have a steam engine to remind him of the basics!

[plaques]

Stanley what you have done is the start of a family heirloom. Grandad made that!!! A bunch of wires that switches something on and off doesn't have the same appeal.

[Stanley]

I believe you are right Ken. That's why they all have engines made by me and of course when I die they will have even more! I doubt if they will ever move out of the family. No reason why they can't survive for hundreds of years. I wonder what an archaeologist will make of such things in the future....
Susan says the best thing about the latest ones is the fact they were made in my 85th year. I shall of course attempt to beat that!
[I get a certain smug satisfaction out of the fact that our family is so close knit and functions well as a support system. I see so many people living in chaos. I suppose making my engines is a sort of protest against that. Leaving some footprints in the sand.....]

[plaques]

Attempting to get myself up to steam on this white hot technology thingy I thought I'd try to connect my laptop to the G7 phone using Bluetooth only to fined that Bluetooth isn't installed on these new Windows 10 machines. Can anybody tell me the best free down load site to go to. I have a phobia of downloading and getting extra things I don't want which you spend hours getting rid of afterwards.

[PanBiker]

Bluetooth is in my version of Windows 10. It does rely on having a bit of hardware in the gubbins of the laptop to make it work though. I would think that any reasonably recent generation of laptop would have the facility. My laptop is about 4 years old and has the force!

On windows 10 go to the settings cog from the Windows side bar (bottom left). Then select devices, Bluetooth lives in there and may just be switched off.

[PanBiker]

Oh I should add that you can get a plug in USB Bluetooth adaptor if you need one. Windows 10 will just make it work. I happen to have a couple about my person if you need one. Should be built into your laptop though.

[plaques]

On windows 10 go to the settings cog from the Windows side bar (bottom left). Then select devices, Bluetooth lives in there and may just be switched off.

Well done Ian. Followed your route and there it was. I'd been following YouTube with.... Settings > Control Panel > Devices ... no blue tooth.
It was actually switched 'On' , Anyhow. After glaring with some mal-intent at both laptop and phone to show them I mean business I went through the pairing routine and bingo a connection. That showed them I'm not the sort of person they can play games with.

[PanBiker]

Aye, you have to show these microprocessor things who's boss.

[Stanley]

I wish.....

[Tizer]

Something for the retro nerds!...
`ZX Spectrum Next Issue 2 blasts through Kickstarter goal' LINK

[PanBiker]

I built one of it's predecessors the ZX80 from kit. Then I did the same with the next generation ZX81 from kit as well. I built an Acorn System 1 before both of them in 1979. I wish I still had them all. Went from there to BBC model A then upgraded that myself to model B specification.

[Stanley]

I just walked into Curries one day in Burnley and bought an Amstrad when they first came on the market. Purely on a whim. My education went forwards from there. Somehow I muddled through.

[Tripps]

I found the kids' old Sinclair in the shed a while ago, and since there is a Computer Museum in Cambridge I looked into the idea of donating it. I looked at the website to find that they had as many as they could cope with and weren't taking any more. I think nearly every shed and garage will have its resident Sinclair.

Seems to be struggling now - of course. Computer museum

[Stanley]

So many museums and heritage attractions are in the same boat David. A matter of regret but then I ask myself when I last visited one.....

[Tizer]

The exam grades fiasco has prompted this BBC `explainer'. It's strange how algorithms are treated as some new-fangled high-tech gizmo when the truth is they're just application of logic.
`The algorithms that make big decisions about your life' LINK

[Stanley]

Janet once told me that the big problem with many algorithms is their ability to migrate and replicate. She reckoned that the only way to clean out an old system was to extract the data, clean it and install it in a completely new system. The old one had to be physically destroyed. That's what she did with the WA confidential files police system when given the job of supervising its replacement.

[plaques]

To me it looks like the algorithm software writers have replicated the bias and prejudices that existed in the system before they wrote it. Rubbish in rubbish out. The only thing that migrated in this case was the hidden advantages given to those who could afford that little extra to lift Johnny up a notch into a better grade.

[Big Kev]

Some spotty 'oik' probably threw a formula into an Excel spreadsheet and everyone said that'll do the job.

[Stanley]

Easiest and quickest solution?

[Tizer]

This guy now currently works as chief information security officer at cyber-security firm Cloudflare....
`Uber ex-security boss accused of covering up hack attack' LINK

[Stanley]

Peter, I was puzzled by the fact that some sites are requesting passwords off me since I altered the cookie setting. It doesn't worry me. It hasn't affected my check out on Amazon.

[PanBiker]

If you kill all the cookies it will also dump any saved passwords which are linked to them. To retain these you should add the URL's to the allowed list in the security options. Another example of "Events Dear Boy"

[Stanley]

Not experienced that yet Ian but I have an idea that's a separate function in Firefox.