Here’s the thing about spammers: they send millions of emails. They are able to do so because the marginal cost of sending is very small. I have heard it said that if they get one hit in a million, then they can be in profit. Some fools repeatedly suggest that a charge per email is… Read More »
From East of Eden: “Say, Carlton, how do you go about telegraphing money?†“Well, you bring me a hundred and two dollars and sixty cents and I send a wire telling the Valdosta operator to pay Adam one hundred dollars.†This particular bit of East of Eden (which is excellent, quite apart from this particular… Read More »
I heard about Bitcoins last year. Thought “could be interesting one dayâ€, checked the Debian repository for a version of the client (it wasn’t packaged yet), not finding it, I moved on. Then Slashdot mentioned that trading in Bitcoins had (temporarily) reached dollar parity. One Bitcoin was worth one dollar, but dropped back to about… Read More »
The continuing saga of the bitcoins. So far, it’s looking like a viable technology to me. The next step is to get a real address. I could sign up for an eWallet account, which has certain appeal for the anonymity it would provide (and simplicity). Possibly that would be the best first step for a… Read More »
I’m still interested in Bitcoins, and I am continuing my experiments and investigation. I have downloaded the beta Bitcoin Wallet for Android app, which is simplistic for now, and only works on the Bitcoin test network; but it is enough to see the potential of the system. Bitcoin Wallet App When it runs you are… Read More »
Electricity comes in many forms. Your residential house supply is 230 volts alternating current (AC from here on). The AC is supplied on two pins, and an earth connection on another. The AC pins are live and neutral. You shouldn’t go around touching any bare electrical wires, but if you did touch the earth or… Read More »
Sometimes the world isn’t so bad. Driving to a Mariners game, Duane Innes saw a pickup ahead of him drift across lanes of traffic, sideswipe a concrete barrier and continue forward on the inside shoulder at about 40 mph. A manager of Boeing’s F22 fighter-jet program, Innes dodged the truck, then looked back to see… Read More »
Price I paid for an off-contract Android-based HTC Desire: £389.99. Consumer electronics arguably unnecessary with a smartphone in your pocket: GPS receiver: approx £100 Wireless VoIP phone: approx £60 Archos multimedia tablet: approx £150 Kindle: approx £100 iPod: approx £100 Netbook: approx £300 Nintendo DS: approx £110 Therefore, my phone was free. (I realise that… Read More »
It’s not really on-topic for this blog, but you’ll forgive me I’m sure. I wrote this a few months ago, but didn’t really want to broadcast to the world that we were sad. Time and sadness pass of course, and we have a new puppy arriving soon, so I thought it was an appropriate time.… Read More »