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Tuesday, 30 Sep 2014 (Only #Computing and Internet)

The Shellshock bug

It's a long time since I used Unix and shellscript etc and it makes a change, although not really a pleasant one, to hear tales of woes related to the can-do-no-wrong-Linux platform instead of the Axis-of-Evil Microsoft.

When I have read and digested these articles about the bug in bash, maybe I willbe able to offer some critical comment. For now, I am in curate-only mode.

Wired.com article:-

The Internet Is Broken, and Shellshock Is Just the Start of Our Woes

More restrained headline from wired.co.uk:-

Shellshock bug already enabling botnet attacks

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Wednesday, 9 Jul 2014 (Only #Computing and Internet)

Rantastic - a rant about Runtastic Customer Support

I run to try to keep a modicum of fitness. I am not a super runner but nor am I dreadful at it... Well, actually I am pretty crap but I try. Anyway that's not the point; it's just the introduction before I get off to a rant.

I have the Runtastic app on my Windows Lumia phone, to help me keep track of my activities. To be frank, I rely on it and it is pretty good.

Most of my running is static - on a treadmill - but sometimes I do an outdoor run or just a walk. Runtastic can follow you by GPS and will present you with your route shown on a map. It's a pretty cool feature, when it works. There's the rub. Recently it stopped working: All that gets recorded is a timed activity, going nowhere. It happened on a 5k run I did the other day - my first proper "race" in six months. That was really disappointing.

Now I think it may be me that's at fault. It could be an over-riding setting that I have changed on the phone to preserve the shitty battery life, and my next walk to town will be the opportunity to test if I have fixed it. But that is not the point eiher...

The point is that I thought there could be a problem with the app and, feeling sufficiently motivated (i.e. disgruntled) I used the "feedback" feature built into the app to report it. It's a feature which invites you to report problems or provide feedback.

The canned response (literally) that I received in reply raised my blood pressure. I quote the email and my reply below.


From: james.collett@jscinternational.com [mailto:james.collett@jscinternational.com]
Sent: 08 July 2014 09:13
To: runtastic support
Cc: help@runtastic.com; johannes.knoll@runtastic.com; michaela.leitner@runtastic.com; susana.lopez@runtastic.com; tomoe.himukai@runtastic.at; sifei.yu@runtastic.com; evrika.dedours@runtastic.com; beatrice.ferri@runtastic.com; laure.brouard@runtastic.com; office@runtastic.com; josh.shaeffer@runtastic.com
Subject: Re: [Feedback WP7]: runtastic PRO Version 2.7.0)
Importance: High


Sirs,

If you do not wish me to report issues through this channel, then I suggest that you publish an update to the app on my phone to change the way the "Report feedback" feature works.

I must say it does not feel terrific to see your Reply-To email address so unequivocally black and white (support+canned.response@runtastic.com) even if I could have guessed the nature of your reply below.

You can send as many "canned responses" as you like. I will continue to use the app as you supplied it and assume that your system will create the necessary ticket.

Thanks,

-James.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "runtastic support" support+canned.response@runtastic.com
Sent: 07 July 2014 12:53
To: james.collett@jscinternational.com
Subject: Re: [Feedback WP7]: runtastic PRO Version 2.7.0)

Hi and thank you for your e-mail!

We have set up a brand new help section on Runtastic.com for you. In this section, you will find the latest instructions, videos and answers to frequently asked questions concerning all Runtastic apps, Runtastic.com and Runtastic hardware.
If you are unable to find the answer to your question within this section, you are welcome to create a ticket and contact our Runtastic Help Team directly. One of our team members will respond to your request as quickly as possible!

Check out the new help section here: https://help.runtastic.com/home?utm_source=supportmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=supportmail_ar_en

Runtastic Regards,
Your Runtastic Help Team

---------------------

Hallo und danke für dein E-Mail!

Wir haben für dich einen brandneuen Hilfe-Bereich auf Runtastic.com eingerichtet. Dort findest du aktuelle Anleitungen, Videos und Antworten zu häufig gestellten Fragen bezüglich aller Runtastic Apps, Runtastic.com und der Runtastic Hardware. Solltest du dennoch keine Antwort auf deine Frage finden, kannst du dich dort direkt an unser Runtastic Help-Team wenden und ein Ticket erstellen. Unsere Mitarbeiter werden dir so schnell wie möglich auf deine Anfrage antworten.

Den neuen Hilfe-Bereich findest du hier: https://help.runtastic.com/home?utm_source=supportmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=supportmail_ar_de

Runtastische Grüße,
Runtastic Help-Team


runtastic GmbH
www.runtastic.com
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Friday, 4 Jul 2014 (Only #Computing and Internet)

Scumbag Microsoft



Original here:-


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Wednesday, 11 Jun 2014 (Only #Computing and Internet)

Alleged Turing Test Success

Reading University posted this article on their own website:-

TURING TEST SUCCESS MARKS MILESTONE IN COMPUTING HISTORY

Over on Facebook, my friend Jonathan MacDonald published a brief Voice of Reason post:


Folks. Chatbot vs. Turing test. The Chatbot is not thinking in the cognitive sense. Pls avoid linkbait.



- which I can totally get behind. It got me thinking... and here are my thoughts:-


I think Turing's test was intended to highlight the fact that no-one could define or explain or measure cognition - real thinking - by offering instead a pragmatic, black-box type of test. It seems to me that he was saying, for all his mathematical and logical prowess, that the best discernment of "thinking" came from the gut - i.e. intuition (another thing we do not understand): If it sounds like thought and it smells like thought (to me) then maybe it is.

A: Is it a clock?
B: I can't tell you yet. I haven't opened it up and figured out how it works and if it has the bona fide workings of a clock inside it.
A: Well then - what time is it?
B: Oh...



FYI I do not mean in any way to laud the recent chatbox hypefest, specially as I found out that bellend Kevin Warwick was involved and spouting off.

Here's some more reading (no pun intended):-
No, A 'Supercomputer' Did NOT Pass The Turing Test For The First Time And Everyone Should Know Better

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Sunday, 1 Jun 2014 (Only #Computing and Internet)

Follow the money

I have a spare Nokia Lumia 620 mobile phone in mint condition and I was wondering if it had much of re-sell value. I naively typed "sell Nokia Lumia 620" into Google and found, at the top of the non-sponsored ads, a link to the website sellmymobile.com. They claim:-


We compare more phone buyers than anyone else so you are guaranteed to get the most cash for your Nokia Lumia 620



They offered £25.25 for the phone. I was disappointed. It's not a current model but it really is not old and it runs WP 8.0 (and probably 8.1).

The sellmymobile.com website waxes on about how they work for you to get the best possible price from the best deals on the internet.

And yet less than two minutes later I had generated a quote from CEX (we have a local store in town, so I am familiar with them). They offered nearly twice as much - £46 for an A-grade Lumia 620.

I guess this shows that you can measure laziness in pounds Sterling.


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