Why Do Companies Still Use Microsoft Windows For Displays?


As I was exiting Oxford Railway Station, I glanced at this screen showing the bus departure times. Notice anything odd about it? sigh Yet again someone has shoehorned Microsoft Windows into a product it is completely unsuitable for. Why does a screen which displays a fairly basic set of information need to be running on an expensive Windows licence? Moreover, why is such a machine connected to the public Internet? For bonus points, take a look at the program which has automatically…

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Galaxy Note 2 - Copy Bug Update


Last week I blogged about a pretty severe flaw in some of Samsung's phones. If you use copy & paste too many times - the phone reboots or resets. So, I ranted and raved on my blog and in the press. Samsung wouldn't respond to me - either through customer support or through their PR team. Nice way to treat a paying customer, guys! There is an OTA update for the Galaxy Note II - taking it to 4.1.2. Sadly this isn't yet being pushed out via all UK carriers (including O2, who I work for). As…

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Samsung Copy & Paste Bug (AKA Never Trust Samsung)


Samsung phones crash if you use copy & paste more than 20 times. http://t.co/2OnBwo86Shockingly bad engineering.— Terence Eden is on Mastodon (@edent) February 20, 2013 Sounds crazy, doesn't it? If you copy and paste text more than 20 times, your phone will restart! Some people have reported more severe crashes than that - but for me it is only (!) a soft restart. This affects the Galaxy Note II, as well as the SIII and Note tablet. Other Samsung products may also be broken in this m…

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Microsoft's New Marketing Campaign


The *real* reason the Bakerloo line was suspended this morning! An advertising screen showing a DOS startup screen.

I wander around the world in a perpetual state of confusion. Why is the world the way it is? Why do people make bad decisions? Why - when there are so many better alternatives - do people choose the worst of all possible worlds? Rather than getting bogged down in philosophy, I refer to the reason people choose Microsoft Windows to do anything public facing. Advertisers obviously care enough about their message to craft 30 second videos, they invest millions on infrastructure to support…

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