Fazal Majid's low-intensity blog

Most programs now include an online version check. This is a mixed blessing – there has definitely been a loosening of QA standards since the days when software shipped on shiny discs and distributing updates was very expensive.

Another, more subtle issue is that most of these programs check or updates on startup. Guess what? That’s precisely when I least want to be interrupted by housekeeping administrivia. Just let me get on with my work already.

Others, like Java, arrogate to themselves the right to keep an application running just to periodically check for updates, even if you never use the application in question. This slows down system startup time for a task that will be useful for a few minutes per year at best, and only shows how arrogant and narcissistic these companies are with their assumption that the universe revolves around them and they have the right to steal other people’s time and computer resources.

The best solution would be for Apple and Microsoft to open up their respective software update systems to cover third-party software under a unified interface. Failing that, programs should be rewritten to check on exit or after an extended period of inactivity, to be less disruptive to the user’s flow.

Update (2009-02-02):

I tried to update Google Earth on my laptop and discovered that it installs the incredibly obnoxious Google updater. Well, at least Google Earth 5.0 has the decency to disclose this fact, unlike previous versions of the updater.

I refused to accept installation of the updater, and uninstalled Google Earth altogether. I generally distrus Google (my browser is set to reject their cookies, for instance) and this doesn’t help.

I recently replaced my squeaky Dunlop SP Sport DSST run-flat tyres with high-performance Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 non-run flat tyres often recommended on E60.net. I am now noticing a 3-5% drop in fuel consumption as a bonus.

For some reason the audiophile electronics market is full of vendors selling wares with dubious claims supported with pseudo-scientific technobabble, in a way other expensive hobbies like photography are spared from. It’s one thing to charge a premium for overbuilt metal chassis that look good in a rack but do little for sound quality, another altogether to claim improvements in sound quality from tweaks that simply can’t make a difference.

“Audiophile” power cables are an example – somehow a $500 IEC power cord blessed with pixie dust will make up for the miles of bog-standard copper or aluminium power lines from the utility. Peter Aczel has made a convenient list of the top frauds perpetrated by the so-called industry. Of course, it would be unfair to tar an entire industry with a monster brush – there are ethical cable manufacturers like Blue Jeans Cables.

Audophiles who buy into those scams also tend to become rabid supporters (cognitive dissonance in action) and will get quite upset if you point out basic high-school science makes those claims unsupportable.

Usually these shady practices are limited to the ghetto of cable manufacturers, but when a supposedly reputable firm like Chord gets into the act with their “Indigo Plus Digital” digital S/PDIF coaxial digital interconnects, the only sane approach is to boycott the company altogether. I had considered their Chordette USB/Bluetooth DAC, but you’ve got to doubt any claim made by a company that will stoop to a transparent fraud like purportedly premium digital cables.

I don’t understand why the media make such a big fuss about computer companies like Apple, Dell, Gateway or now Cisco entering the consumer electronics business. Consumer electronics is a puny industry compared to IT. Just compare the market cap and revenues of Apple, HP or Cisco to that of Sony.

Diversifying into consumer electronics is a no-brainer because entertainment’s migration to digital makes many technologies dual-purpose, but consumer electronics will remain a marginal sideline to IT companies’ business, not a replacement growth engine.

A similar instance of the media industry’s myopia (and indeed narcissism) is how they make a big fuss of telecom and cable companies entering the market for music – the entire content industry’s revenues, music movies et al, does not amount to more than a couple weeks’ revenues for telcos.

Despite my loathing for all things Sony, I purchased a Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-Ray player a few months ago. One of the reasons is specifically because it implements Profile 1.1 and not 2.0.

One thing you can be sure of – BD-Live will be used by the scumbags in Hollywood for tracking and spyware long before it is used to bring anything of value to the customer, just as TiVo was used to snoop on users’ watching habits.