21 Burbank Dr, North York, ON M2K 1M7, Canada
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Apple Inforrmation Requests
Apple released a report that details (apart for the US) the number of requests that it received from Law Enforcement Agencies yesterday"
I just listened to a program on the BBC World Service that discussed it. I was confused to know why the number of requests that were granted (i.e. information was actually released) was not discussed. Surely it does not matter how many requests are made or received, it is the number that are complied with?
Perhaps Apple were asked as they possibly would have this information to "give-up"? Other companies or services may not have this information as they may not have a clue. I am sure that Google does though!
The main issue seemed (on the BBC report) was the general terms that Apple are allowed by the US government to reveal information on US requests.
Do I see a double standard here? Again, nothing new............
After all, the NSA is only spying on these nasty foreigners, not on its own citizens!
I just listened to a program on the BBC World Service that discussed it. I was confused to know why the number of requests that were granted (i.e. information was actually released) was not discussed. Surely it does not matter how many requests are made or received, it is the number that are complied with?
Perhaps Apple were asked as they possibly would have this information to "give-up"? Other companies or services may not have this information as they may not have a clue. I am sure that Google does though!
The main issue seemed (on the BBC report) was the general terms that Apple are allowed by the US government to reveal information on US requests.
Do I see a double standard here? Again, nothing new............
After all, the NSA is only spying on these nasty foreigners, not on its own citizens!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Hats off to Roger Dingledine
Not only did Roger (Arma) take the trouble to write a blog post about the Guardian "exposé" he also responded to the comments that visitors posted about it.
Some of the comments were accusatory, in that Tor did have a problem or that they are in cahoots with the NSA, but he responded, I think, in a manner that was wholly appropriate. Not only did he address each point, technical or political, he was also tolerant of the idiotic.
Some of the comments were accusatory, in that Tor did have a problem or that they are in cahoots with the NSA, but he responded, I think, in a manner that was wholly appropriate. Not only did he address each point, technical or political, he was also tolerant of the idiotic.
- Yes, we know about the Guardian article - October 4th, 2013
- My page on Roger Dingledine - and the Tor Blog.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Problems with Netflix Audio Sync
If you search for this problem on the Internet the first result that you will find is a posting from Netflix that indicates to me that they don't know what the fix is for this.
I have seen this phenomena before on downloaded media from torrent websites. The fact that you are streaming media from a paid subscription to Netflix does not mean that you will not see this there.
If a media stream is not encoded correctly the Audio and Video can often fall out-of-sync. This could be due to a number of reasons but once the delay or advance has occurred on the original media stream it is not easy to correct it.
If there are problems with the audio/video sync on media watched on-line from Netflix it is more than likely to be a problem at their end than with your equipment.
I have documented this in more detail on tempusfugit.ca
I have seen this phenomena before on downloaded media from torrent websites. The fact that you are streaming media from a paid subscription to Netflix does not mean that you will not see this there.
If a media stream is not encoded correctly the Audio and Video can often fall out-of-sync. This could be due to a number of reasons but once the delay or advance has occurred on the original media stream it is not easy to correct it.
If there are problems with the audio/video sync on media watched on-line from Netflix it is more than likely to be a problem at their end than with your equipment.
I have documented this in more detail on tempusfugit.ca
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
I'm really impressed with Windows 8 - how bad it is!
It maybe fine on a phone or a tablet, but as I have no intention of purchasing a Windows powered one of them I cannot comment. In fact, there are too many better alternatives out there and that also includes Google Android.
In addition to the ungainly, and frankly "amateurish", appearance of the "tile" interface - there is little on the "Home" screen that is of interest to me when I am using a computer. In general the tiles are too big and apart from Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer there is nothing really of interest to me. I have no intention of purchasing anything from the Microsoft Store or using anything that needs a Microsoft Account. Why are all the tiles so big?
My Windows desktop is rather like that of a Mac as it comes out of the box, it is a carefully selected background image and NO ICONS. I am of the school that likes menus and believes that this should be the sole way of accessing programs.
Whatever I attempted to do on the Windows 8 computer that I purchased (on a non-touch device) I had to drag the cursor to the side or corner of the screen to pull up the menu so that I could either access the settings or do even the simplest of tasks as actually turning the computer off! Most of the time the menu refused to pop-up - I got the impression that this would not be a problem if you were using Windows 8 with a touch screen as a swipe to the left would bring up the menu, using a mouse or the trackpad yielded less than satisfactory results.
Reverting to the traditional desktop was a pain - I admit that this was probably due to a learning curve and I probably would get used to the Windows 8 way of doing things. If I had to purchase a Windows machine I would probably "live with it" and not downgrade it to Windows 7 (although I am capable).
The computer had an InsydeH2O UEFI preboot, a bain to many, as I was not looking to see if I could install an alternate operating system I do not know if this would have been problematic (in that it would have "locked-out" changes - ie. a Secure Boot)
The computer was returned to BestBuy within 24 hrs of purchase. I think that it is time to save up for a Mac.
In addition to the ungainly, and frankly "amateurish", appearance of the "tile" interface - there is little on the "Home" screen that is of interest to me when I am using a computer. In general the tiles are too big and apart from Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer there is nothing really of interest to me. I have no intention of purchasing anything from the Microsoft Store or using anything that needs a Microsoft Account. Why are all the tiles so big?
My Windows desktop is rather like that of a Mac as it comes out of the box, it is a carefully selected background image and NO ICONS. I am of the school that likes menus and believes that this should be the sole way of accessing programs.
Whatever I attempted to do on the Windows 8 computer that I purchased (on a non-touch device) I had to drag the cursor to the side or corner of the screen to pull up the menu so that I could either access the settings or do even the simplest of tasks as actually turning the computer off! Most of the time the menu refused to pop-up - I got the impression that this would not be a problem if you were using Windows 8 with a touch screen as a swipe to the left would bring up the menu, using a mouse or the trackpad yielded less than satisfactory results.
Reverting to the traditional desktop was a pain - I admit that this was probably due to a learning curve and I probably would get used to the Windows 8 way of doing things. If I had to purchase a Windows machine I would probably "live with it" and not downgrade it to Windows 7 (although I am capable).
The computer had an InsydeH2O UEFI preboot, a bain to many, as I was not looking to see if I could install an alternate operating system I do not know if this would have been problematic (in that it would have "locked-out" changes - ie. a Secure Boot)
The computer was returned to BestBuy within 24 hrs of purchase. I think that it is time to save up for a Mac.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)