Posts by Paul Campbell

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  • Hard News: Food and drink,

    Giovanni said:

    Even I might be able to design apps for the latest model.

    Don't hold your breath - that model is vaporware ....

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Hard News: Food and drink,

    The iPhone issue is interesting - I know a couple of people writing iPhone apps in the US for pocket money and I'm looking at pushing out a couple of Android ones myself.

    I think a lot of the problem is perceived value and actual pricing - I can knock out a useful but trivial app in a week or two of evenings and sell it for 50c - if 50k people buy it that's not to be sneezed at - but it's not a business, or even really a living - it's good pocket money though - the problem is that apps that take person-years to write, things with real depth, need to sell at appropriate prices ($5-10) - but they're competing for mindshare with my (useful) piece of fluff

    Where someone might not think twice about spending 50c - $10 requires actual thought and the apple app store (or google market) may not be the place for that - which is why we need open phones

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Island Life: Good on ya, Paula,

    I think in RD's case he probably thought no one would notice - until the damn Brits got caught with their moats down - now he's stuck trying to justify it - which just makes him look like a hypocrite - if he were smart he'd have been on another overseas trip right now until all the fuss dies down

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Hard News: On the Box,

    The thing about DVB-T (and other digital broadcasts like ATSc and your cell phone too) is that basically either it works well or not at all - the packets carry FEC - extra bits to fix any noise related errors when you run our of error correction bits the noise takes over and ).5% errors in an mpeg stream can trash the screen completely.

    Signal strength is not everything - digital signals are just as susceptible to ghosting as analog - but it doesn't show up on the screen as a shifted image, it just causes noise and totally destroyed images as above

    So, as I said the other day - borrow a friend's decoder and try it on your TV to see what sort of signal you can get, if it's almost OK maybe get a better aerial - otherwise toss up a dish and get a signal off the satellite

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Island Life: Good on ya, Paula,

    well you know it's a private boys school trying to hard to be am English Public School - that's its 'special character' - bullying is probably a protected activity that produces the right kind of boys out the back end of the process (at which point they're no doubt given young Nats cards and set upon those on benefits .... just to get vaguely back on topic)

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Island Life: Good on ya, Paula,

    I don't think bullying in any school is appropriate, even if it's part of its "special character" - IMHO they need to be kicking out the bullies before they ever even consider kicking out the bullied

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Island Life: Good on ya, Paula,

    Ironically, quite a few children with special needs attend private schooling because of the better resources, more teacher attention available etc.

    And yet I know of one recent case locally of a private school trying to drive out kids with special needs, largely I think because they feel they will be targets for bullying

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Hard News: On the Box,

    sorry "real 3D TV"

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Hard News: On the Box,

    I don't think it's real TV unless you can peek under the desk and see if the newsreader is wearing shorts and jandals

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Island Life: Good on ya, Paula,

    My son looking at her on Close Up tonight announced she was wearing a set of curtains

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

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