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Links September 2012

Scott Adams has an interesting idea for political debates he calls “Fact Bubbler” [1]. It sounds implausible the first time you read it, but then so did Wikipedia.

Arstechnica has an interesting article on software defined radio [2]. This could change many things.

The Nieder Family has another update on the way patents threaten their […]

Server Use Per Person

I’ve just read Diego’s response to an ill-informed NYT article about data-center power efficiency [1]. This makes me wonder, how much server use does each person have?

Google

Almost everyone uses Google, most of us use it a lot. The main Google product is also probably the most demanding, their search engine.

In a typical […]

Australian Mobile Phone Costs

I previously wrote about the changes to bundling prices by Virgin (which are similar to changes by other telcos) which make it uneconomical to take a bundled phone [1]. This makes it a little easier to compare telcos as there is no need to be concerned about which telcos offer phones you like. Now it’s […]

Changing Phone Prices in Australia

18 months ago when I signed up with Virgin Mobile [1] the data transfer quotas were 200MB on the $29 per month plan and 1.5G on the $39 per month plan. About 4 months ago when I checked the prices the amounts of data had gone up on the same plans (2.25G for $39 per […]

Servers in the Office

I just had a conversation with someone who thinks that their office should have no servers.

The office in question has four servers, an Internet gateway/firewall system, the old file server (and also Xen server), the new file server, and the VOIP server.

The Internet gateway system could possibly be replaced by a suitably smart […]

Back to the Xperia X10

10 months ago I was given a Samsung Galaxy S Android phone [1] to replace my Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. I also installed Cyanogenmod on it (here is a more detailed comparison of the phones with a focus on liberty [2]). But now I’m using the Xperia X10 again.

Hardware Reliability

Some time ago a […]

Links August 2012

Google are providing some really good employee benefits including benefits to a life partner of a deceased employee [1]. It’s not known if all those benefits are available outside the US, in any case the US is the first world country with the least social security so they need it most there.

A recent Australian […]

Woolworths Maths Fail

The above is a picture of the chocolate display at Woolworths, an Australian supermarket that was formerly known as Safeway – it had the same logo as the US Safeway so there’s probably a connection. This is actually a 24.81% discount. It’s possible that some people might consider it a legal issue to advertise […]

SSD for a Workstation

SSDs have been dropping in price recently so I just bought four Intel 120G devices for $115 each. I installed the first one for my mother in law who had been complaining about system performance. Her system boot time went from 90 seconds to 20 seconds and a KDE login went from about 35 seconds […]

Mirror Displays

When I previously wrote about the Retina display in the new Macbook Pro I was so excited that I forgot to even check whether the display reflects light [1]. A TFT display with a mirrored surface apparently permits more intense color which is generally a good thing. It also makes it easier to clean […]