Comments for Andrew Ferrier

Comment on 24h Doughnuts by Lucien Relation

Lucien Relation — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:21:00 +0000

Krispy Kermes should be forbidden…they are part of a world wide conspiracy to make us fat But they are so delicious…

Comment on Dialling Problems with Vodafone 3G on Windows by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:10:25 +0000

Gerhard, well, I don’t have a PIN, so I don’t get that prompt. I’m not surprised it happens the same on other networks though. Unfortunately, it looks like once you’ve selected that ‘Device’, you can’t unselect it.

Comment on Dialling Problems with Vodafone 3G on Windows by Gerhard Poul

Gerhard Poul — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:08:08 +0000

Same thing with Vodafone (A1) here in Austria. Always close ATT before connecting with the Vodafone tools. Actually ATT will continue to ask you for your PIN code of the SIM card so it’s pretty obvious in that case

Comment on Royal Mail Track & Trace is Pointless by Phill

Phill — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:35:13 +0000

I have the same problem, parcel from China can be tracked ALL the way, from collection to delivery.
Our “postal sevice” is a joke compared to China.

As with you, tracking stopped at “parcel has been handed to overseas postal service to China”

So Sad

Comment on Royal Mail Track & Trace is Pointless by dimitri

dimitri — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:41:27 +0000

after how many days did you received your parcel?
I’m waiting for 15 days now…

Comment on Avoid Vodafone Mobile Connect client in Windows by Vodafone 3G - Position Your Card Right! at Andrew Ferrier

Vodafone 3G - Position Your Card Right! at Andrew Ferrier — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:56:01 +0000

[...] I’ve written before about how poor the Vodafone 3G Mobile Connect client is, and the alternative in Windows. However, it’s also worth mentioning that the card itself is far from perfect. It is very sensitive to the position of the SIM Card – having it off by even a few millimetres can mean it doesn’t connect, and it’s not always obvious what is wrong. The crucial thing is to have it poking out of the top, but only by half a millimetre or so. Don’t push it in all the way! This photo shows what it should look like: [...]

Comment on Fullscreen Video Flicker on T61 Thinkpad by Matt

Matt — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:11:22 +0000

Thanks so much. This worked perfectly!

Comment on Using AT&T Network Client VPN with Ubuntu 64bit by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:18:28 +0000

Incidentally, I should add that I use Ubuntu on both my desktop at home and at work – so I bear it no grudge – it’s just that my Thinkpad – being as I use it as my main workstation – has more ‘exotic’ requirements.

Comment on Using AT&T Network Client VPN with Ubuntu 64bit by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:17:02 +0000

Thanks for the link. I did investigate that option but it seemed more awkward than the ia32-libs option.

To be honest, though, I gave up on the whole plan of installing Ubuntu on my Thinkpad shortly after I wrote this. There were just too many stumbling blocks. I was preparing to trade down to 32bit Ubuntu (since I discovered I can recompile the kernel to address all 4GB), but even then there was too much pain: font rendering in Notes, Sametime, etc. sucks, lack of power profiles, switching displays is a pain, lack of support for my scanner, etc.

It’s a shame as I think Canonical have done a lot in 8.10 to get it working well out-of-the-box (e.g. the Vodafone 3G card worked astonishingly well, far better than on Windows, where it’s truly awful), but in the end it was just too much of a time investment – and I have work to do, so back to Windows I went!

Comment on Using AT&T Network Client VPN with Ubuntu 64bit by Anton Piatek

Anton Piatek — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:35:00 +0000

If you plan on installing Lotus Notes on this box you might as well start learning about schroot to install it all under, the debian amd64 howto is a good resource, as Notes is very hard to get working with ia32-libs. The other problem with the ia32-libs approach is none of your forced packages will ever get updated. This is fine if it is one or two, but once you start having to install various dependencies and libraries, it leaves your system more likely to be hit by a vulnerability

Comment on Connecting Google Reader and podget by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:11:53 +0000

Ben, thanks. I use http://reader.tap.ibm.com/ for that – it’s similar to Google Reader, but obviously inside the firewall.

Comment on Connecting Google Reader and podget by Ben F

Ben F — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:46:59 +0000

Hi Andrew

This is a well written script, and is what keeps Perl alive! People can mash together services with this.

I was wondering what reader do you use for internal blogs like the BlogCentral?

I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Regards

Ben

Comment on Standing up to Injustice by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:40:39 +0000

I’m sorry if my last comment was a bit strongly-worded – I was only trying to show how I thought that mindset involved sticking one’s nose into others’ business (and I still do). But I didn’t mean to offend you personally, and I assure you you are allowed to have a different view (if I didn’t welcome them, I wouldn’t have comments enabled). Thanks for the debate.

Comment on Standing up to Injustice by Alasdair

Alasdair — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:03:04 +0000

I think you are reading too much into what I am saying. I would be happy for alcohol to be banned, that does not mean that I advocate banning it. In fact I said “studies have shown that small amounts of alcohol can have a beneficial effect on health”. I think that shows I am thinking of the cost and the benefits. I just believe that the benefits of smoking to the individual and society do not outweigh the risks involved.

But you are right I should “Butt out” who am I to have a view on this that differs from yours.

Comment on Twitter by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:29:06 +0000

Yeah, I think that’s pretty much the conclusion I’m coming to – on the basis of which, twitter.com will work just fine, I should think.

Comment on Twitter by James Taylor

James Taylor — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:34:46 +0000

You have to chill and let stuff go unread. If it was really interesting, it’s likely to crop up again. I tend to have a twitter-free day now and then when I find it sucking too much of my time.

Comment on Standing up to Injustice by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:47:26 +0000

@James, I guess, although it would be pretty foolish to work for an employer with such a reputation I don’t consider that to be a big problem.

Alasdair, I don’t really understand what you are saying. So you’re happy to ban alcohol; what else are you happy to ban? Television can damage your eyes. Travel causes you to run the risk of being in a fatal accident. Sex can spread disease. There’s no end of things you can ban if you fail to take into account the benefits as well as the costs.

Why do you get dominion over the lives over others? You have no right to determine the cost-benefit analysis that others perform on property that is solely theirs. Pubs are not your property. The air inside is not. The cigarettes are not. The other persons’s body and health are not. Butt out (pun intended).

Comment on Standing up to Injustice by Aladair

Aladair — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:40:00 +0000

Andrew,

I think I already said that I would not have a problem with banning alcohol. In any case I think the pleasure argument is rather weak. We have banned Pot, and Heroine (among other drugs) both of which are pleasurable and bad for you.

The interesting thing about this discussion is that neither of us is changing our views. You are a libertarion so have one view and I am not and have a different view. Of course in this case I am right and you are misguided.

Alasdair

P.S. That last bit was a joke.

Comment on Standing up to Injustice by James Taylor

James Taylor — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:24:52 +0000

Sure, alcohol can be just as damaging as smoking but don’t forget, no one has actually banned smoking. In my mind, drink driving laws and recent smoking laws are far more comparable than trying to compare banning smoking in public places to banning anything outright. Technically (now I’m hoping I’m going to get this right!) you should not be servered alchohol (in the UK at least) if you are drunk and standing next to someone who is drinking does not always result in injury.

If you simply respect property rights, would it be ok for employers to leave dangerous chemicals or equipement in the workplace in any way they liked and risk killing or maiming employees?

Comment on Standing up to Injustice by andrewferrier

andrewferrier — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:11:40 +0000

Alasdair, I think Anton has made a valid point that alcohol can be equally damaging. It can also have an effect on others – there are plenty of alcohol-related deaths both from direct consumption and violent side-effects. Would you ban alcohol too?

Cigarettes also have an upside: they are pleasurable to smoke (I have to admit that’s second-hand evidence – I don’t smoke myself – but many people admit to enjoying them). You’re not taking into account that fact.

Fundamentally, if you are to ban anything that’s dangerous (and hence, god forbid, fun), the world would be a very boring place. Keeping these things restricted to private property that isn’t really any business of the government (e.g. a pub – and yes, I’m aware of the irony of the name) seems quite reasonable to me. There really is no balancing to be done – you simply have to respect property rights.