Spodcasts meet Quilty-Harpy and the Pentium 4

You might be tempted to view this story as a dark tragedy but here in the USA, where guns, violence and business are our life blood, this is the market speaking and I would expect future do everything, Swiss Army knife cell phones to include a built in hand gun.

Mark
Minneapolis

Spodcasting

I think the voice is great. The INQ always reads as though it's some bloke down the pub (which, after all, is true a lot of the time). Mr. This-is-the-Voice-of-the-BBC brings all of the humour into sharp relief because it just sounds so unlikely from that sort of voice.

It's like having John Humphreys suddenly using the 'bollocks'. It's very, very INQ from my point of view.

And I'm serious about the get it on the radio bit. There are plenty of commercial stations who'd love to have a tech programme. Giving it to them as free advertising for yourself might work but you could probably sell it for a decent whack and still get the advertising for the site.

There are some rough edges that would need to be smoothed but nothing that would take longer than an afternoon to note down.

AR
Channel Islands

Information Week got it wrong

Just a minor correction -- Information Week got a few facts wrong:

They say: “The Ask Jeeves applications flagged by Sunbelt's anti-spyware program are the Ask Jeeves Bar, the Excite Speedbar, iWon Co-Pilot, My Global Search, My Search Bar, My Speedbar, My Web Search Toolbar and the Need2Find Toolbar"

Actually, the list is a bit different:

The list would be My Global Search, My Global Search, My Search Bar, Need2Find Toolbar, and My Speedbar; as well as variants of MyWebSearch Toolbar which include CursorMania, FunBuddyIcons, HistorySwatter, MyFunCards, My Mail Signature, My Mail Stationary, PopSwatter, Popular Screensavers and Smiley Central. These will all be listed in the CounterSpy database.

Anyway, no biggie. It can be quite challenging to get figure out all the different AJ versions!

Also, it's not only us - Facetime is invovled as well -- http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1857761,00.asp

Full writeup at my blog -- http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/askjeeves-question-hopefully-weve_12.html

Alex Eckelberry
President, Sunbelt Software

Quilty-Harper needs to lighten up

I've got a few comments in response to the letter posted on Sunday, 9/11 , written by a Mr. Quilty-Harper.

First and foremost, the Inq has always had a wry sense of humor, often poking fun at marketspeak. The "eyePod" is readily recognizable by a literate reader, preserving the meaning of the article, while still injecting the article with that humor that makes the Inq an absolute pleasure to read.

His nitpicking over the potential grammatical errors is both incorrect and silly. Yes, I agree that it would be nice if you'd keep your sentences a little more concise and clear, but "We are wondering about Sony." is indeed a sentence.

It has a verb and a subject, and in context, its meaning should be clear, as you are wondering about how a major competitor factored into and will respond to the new Apple strategy.

I suppose the crux of what I'm getting at could be phrased more simply. Please don't post letters from people whining about grammar or your Inq-isms. I wonder about them.

Forever faithful
Jesse Keilson

Intel and Hadrons

As a person that works in the High Energy physics field I can tell you that most of the LHC simulations are carried on on x86 hardware. It is true that a limited number of Itaniums are in use but they represent a very tiny percentage of all the LHC computing power.

Name supplied

Displays! Sheesh!

I just read this rant [previous letters, Ed.] and it has forced me to write. This is so right on, they want us to buy, but no one can tell me what to "really" buy, each product has pluses and minus, but I want my 5" thick plasma hanging on the wall and I am ready to buy, my wife is ready to buy, but before I throw down upwards of $3-4k on a TV, I want true resolution, a VGA (or DVI) port and content.

I am siding with Andrew for he has put into words what most of us only think about. He is right on, and I really hope someone in the power arena will read and have a wake up call. Probably won't, but here's to a nickel's worth of free hope.

Michael

Yahoo and China

"The problem, of course, is that large corporations are wholly unaccountable to anyone apart from their shareholders." But not their customers?

A free press in China is a prerequisite for a freer society there and you are right to point out Yahoo's shocking behaviour. But to suggest that they are not accountable to the public is misleading. Yahoo ceases to exist if we, the public, stop using their services. Maybe your readers will realise the obvious next step in protesting Yahoo's actions but it couldn't hurt for you to remind us of it.

Regards,
Simon Cullen

The Pentium 4, pins, and netbust

Hello Mike

Yes indeed, it's confusing as heck out there. I've actually found it a mess since the Pentium 4 came in socket 423 and 478 flavors. Factor in the chipsets, all the new number ratings that don't mean a thing, and it's even worse. Then we've got the 7 varieties of upcoming Windows Vista, not to mention trying to find a display that'll work with it and....it's no wonder people are getting tired of it.

I've been using AMD chips since Intel tried the Rambus or else approach, and I feel at least like I have a vague idea what means what. As it is, if I plan on getting an Intel box anytime soon I may just....ick, get a Dell and let them worry about sorting it out.

On a side note, tour de force for Microsoft making the gaming version of Vista require activation, while the corporate version won't play games so hot. While I'm sure the tag team of Gates & Ballmer are rubbing their hands at all the $ they hope will start rolling on, I'm wondering if this will be the thing that finally spurs a viable Linux alternative to Windows. As it is I just have to content myself sticking pins in my Bill Gates voodoo doll.

Sincerely,
Scott Peterson

Merom wasn't built in a daze

I don't really know where to begin.

Merom/Conroe will be late. If it wasn't going to be late, they'd not bother with Pressler, imo. The fact that they are "introducing" a new cpu, and new mobo, supposedly 6 months before an entire cpu revision tells me that its not really going to be 6 months...

64 bit. Ok which is it? Necessary? (P4) Not necessary? (Yonah) 64 bit isn't just about memory capacity. It appears to be adding some noticeable gains to programs specifically rewrittent to take advantage of it. Oh, and if Vista is a "from the ground up" 64 bit, then wouldn't someone want a 64 bit chip? Expect the spin on Yonah to come fast and furious as they try to convince the market that, "really you don't NEED 64 bit not matter what we said before or what you've heard about Vista".

Do you ever get the feeling that they are so up in a tizzie about AMD that they are just throwing products at the public hoping one takes root? Yonah on the desktop, Conroe in servers, P4's with huge cache's, all just waiting or rather hoping one is a hit product? I think they must be running a fun internal project: Make a hit product and you keep your jobs...

I feel like Intel is 90% spin right now, 100% "just wait we've got something good coming, don't buy an AMD system yet" and 0% ability to deliver. Remember 6mo ago they were hoping Yonah "might" be here in Q3? Then Q4. Now it's January, but I'm not even sure I believe that. There were almost no working designs on Yonah at the IDF. It was all spin and future stuff that doesn't exist yet.

I feel like Intel has jumped into the midnight infomercial stage, and nothing they want to sell you they will even give a hoot about supporting in as little as 12 months down the line.

$.02

Name supplied