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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 15 - 20 JANUARY, 2024
Hello and Welcome,
Welcoming Members to January 2024
Our Committee hopes you are all still enjoying the festive activities, so we have decided not to hold any meetings during January. This will give members more time with family and friends and recharge their batteries, ready for another busy year.
We will be holding our club's Annual General Meeting very soon; however, it is prompting an urgent call for Committee nominations. Please consider.
— John Lucke
Meetings This Week
NO MEETINGS
Meetings Next Week
NO MEETINGS
Schedule of Current & Upcoming Meetings
First Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Main Meeting
First Saturday 13:00-14:00 — Penrith Group
Second Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Programming
Third Tuesday 10:00-12:00 — Tuesday Group
Third Saturday 14:00-16:00 — Web Design
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Go to the official Sydney PC Calendar for this month's meeting details.
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Penrith meetings are held every 2nd month on the 1st Saturday from 1-2 pm.
The next scheduled meetings are in March, May and July 2024.
NOTE: THE COMMITTEE SAYS, "THERE ARE NO CLUB MEETINGS in JANUARY."
ASCCA News:Tech News:
Apple Watch Ban Blocked
See the InfoPackets article by John Lister on January 5 2024, at 12:01 pm EST.
Two new models of the Apple smartwatch were briefly banned from sale in the US — the ban related to intellectual property rather than any safety or security concerns.
The ban affected the Series 9 and Ultra 2, the latest versions of the two more expensive models in the range. It didn't affect the "standard" SE model.
Both sales and imports of the devices were barred by the US International Trade Commission (US ITC). Among other powers, it can ban sales where there's a dispute over intellectual property which has an international element. That happened in this case with a claim by the Californian company Masimo.
Former Engineer Jumped Ship
It argued that the new Apple models violated its patents on technology that can read blood oxygen levels. That usually requires a dedicated device and can be an early warning sign that a respiratory problem can be severe enough to require emergency medical attention.
The dispute was particularly spicy as Masimo's legal filings included an email from the chief technical officer of its sister company (Ceracor Laboratories) to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Shortly afterwards, the man was hired by Apple and began working on smartwatch tech. Apple insists he didn't have any specialist knowledge about the blood oxygen technology.
Masimo requested that the US ITC block sales of the two watches while the two companies could resolve their legal disputes. The ITC agreed to that ban in October, which kicked off a 60-day period when the federal government could veto the ban.
Christmas Day Ban
The government chose not to, and thus the ban took effect on Christmas Day. The ban had a mixed impact as it didn't affect third-party sellers who already had stock of the products. (Source: reuters.com)
However, Apple almost immediately took the case to a federal appeals court. It agreed to put the ban on hold until at least January 15 and will decide whether the ban should stay in place or the watches go back on sale until the patent issue is resolved. That's expected to happen in October 2024. (Source: yahoo.com)
What's Your Opinion?
Should devices be banned during intellectual property disputes? Do such bans encourage spurious lawsuits? Is there any point in such prohibitions if they don't affect third-party sellers?
Please Stop Making New Smartphones Every Year
See the How-To Geek article by CORY GUNTHER | UPDATED MAY 3, 2023.
New devices would be better, and older models wouldn't be forgotten so fast.
A Smartphone Every Year?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
With the small year-over-year smartphones changes, it may be time to ditch the yearly upgrade cycle. It would be better for consumers, the environment, and more.
Every year, all the big players release new smartphones. Sure, they're shiny and have extensive spec lists, but the $1,200 Galaxy S23 Ultra, expensive iPhone 14 Pro, and others aren't the huge upgrade we want them to be. It may be time to stop releasing phones every year.
The first decade or so of the iPhone, Android, and Samsung's onslaught of Galaxy devices was an exciting time. Back then, it was easier to justify buying a new phone yearly, and we all needed to, thanks to the quick technological advancements.
Phones quickly got bigger and faster, with more cameras and unique apps appearing all the time. Don't get me wrong. Devices are still advancing with more capable cameras or longer battery life. That said, buying a $1,000 phone right now from any manufacturer will be worth keeping for several years. Here are some thoughts and arguments against the annual release cycle.
Why Manufacturers Release Phones Every Year
First off, why do Samsung and Apple release phones every year? Well, for several reasons. Phone makers know that just about everyone has a phone, and people buy them at random times of the year. Only some get the latest iPhone the first week or two after it comes out.
Many wait for deals, discounts, or an existing phone to break or get a cracked screen, then finally bite the bullet and get another one. At any moment, one of the millions of customers could be in the market for a fancy new phone, and manufacturers want to ensure they have a tempting new phone on billboards or TV to tease them. And that's without mentioning the endless supply of "leaks" and constant rumours.
It's all about staying relevant and fresh in consumers' minds, tempting us with something fun or new, and it's super profitable. You have to keep investors happy and profits up, right?
Cars and Game Consoles Don't Come Out Yearly
Apple, Samsung, Google, and all other phone makers could take a cue from the automotive and game console industry.
Would Microsoft or Sony have released a new game console every year with minor upgrades but charged top dollar? Or, what if Ford and Chevrolet released completely revamped vehicles yearly with a slightly bigger infotainment display and different tires? It makes no sense and is extremely expensive to research, develop, and manufacture.
Instead, we get meaningful and game-changing advancements on a new console every three or five years. The same happens with vehicles, where a 2nd or 3rd gen model arrives years later with significant changes.
Sure, Sony revised the PS5 a few years ago, but that's different than releasing an all-new phone every 11-12 months. Phone makers could learn a thing or two from the auto industry.
Why Apple and Samsung Should Switch to Every Two Years
Nowadays, it takes two or three years (or longer) before phones get substantial upgrades worth paying for. I use a two-year-old Galaxy S21 Ultra, and it's still a fantastic phone. It has the same massive screen as newer models, terrific battery life, and excellent cameras. No, I don't have a crazy 200MP camera, but I don't need one.
Simply put, there need to be more changes to warrant all the time, work, effort, and expenses going into the switch. Maybe the Galaxy S24 Ultra next year will get a significant design overhaul or something more meaningful to lure me in.
The iPhone 14 Pro is in a similar boat, with even fewer marginal upgrades over its previous model. If manufacturers released phones every 2-3 years instead, here's what we could expect.
Longer Support Lifecycle
While software updates and device support are more significant problems in the Android ecosystem than on the iPhone, both could be better. If Samsung didn't release dozens of different phone models every year, it mightn't be spread so thin regarding product support.
Even OnePlus or Google, which only release a few phones each year, could double down on supporting the phones currently available for more extended periods, with better results and fewer mistakes.
Instead, we get Android or iOS updates that often do more harm than good and are rushed to devices, all while trying to keep up with the next big gadget, OS release, etc. And while Samsung is one of the best, offering four years of OS updates, releasing new phones less frequently could help extend that further.
Again, imagine if manufacturers released fewer phones every year and could take their time and get things right with upgrades, support devices longer, and deliver more meaningful upgrades along the way. This sounds nice, right?
More Meaningful Upgrades
So much time, effort, and money goes into the yearly upgrade cycle. What if Apple, Samsung, Google, and others released a phone and spent the next 2+ years throwing money at game-changing advancements or R&D?
Instead of putting all that effort into another phone coming out in 11 months, it could focus on actual technological advancements rather than minor spec bumps or more RAM that doesn't change how we use our phones daily.
Folding phones are neat. I love my 120Hz smartphone display with its under-screen fingerprint scanner, and having a slew of cameras on the rear makes it easy to take great photos and videos. I've had all that for several years, though, and I'm confident I'm not the only one waiting on a bigger step up.
It'd Be Easier On Everyone's Wallet
Last but not least, think about how much easier it would be on everyone's wallet. I mean everyone — suppliers, materials, shipping, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. If Apple didn't need to make a phone every year and push it so hard, future devices could be more affordable for everyone.
Phone makers wouldn't have to spend mind-boggling amounts of money on advertising for those tiny year-over-year upgrades to convince people. Instead, an exciting new phone release every 2-3 years would sell itself. Consumers would save money, and manufacturers could too.
In closing, it may be time for companies to stop releasing new phones every year. Please focus on the great devices that are already out, support them longer, and put more effort into notable and unique upgrades that improve the user experience by leaps and bounds. Get buyers excited about phones again.
It would be better for the planet and everyone involved. Well, except for maybe the shareholders.
Fun Facts:
Using Regular Expressions for Searching Text Files
Part of a Computer worker's usual job, among other things, is to write programs and scripts to search through text files for various matching keywords and phrases.
How to REGEX
Say your supervisor wants you to go through some incoming emails applying for a job, and you need to extract the phone numbers. You copy and paste the emails into a long text file for checking. You can't just write a program with "Search for Australian Telephone numbers with the following formats: 04XX XXX XXX within Australia or as +61 4XX XXX XXX outside Australia."
You have to use a language with specific pattern-matching features.
That's where Regular (or Regex) Expressions come in.
Regular Expression Layout
If you saw "(041) 123 456" in the text, i.e. an opening parenthesis followed by 041, a closing parenthesis and then two 3-digit numbers, you could be pretty sure it was a phone number.
But how do you specify this in computer language?
We could try: "/^(\(\d{3}\)\s+\d{3}\s+\d{3})$/". Pretty scary looking, huh? The trick is to look at each element individually and avoid getting confused by the number of symbols.
You can find an excellent web tutorial at Reg Ex One. In each Lesson, they present a couple of lines containing various character strings. It then asks for a regex expression to match all of the lines.
You can only continue if each line is given a green light to signify a match (or a red cross to signify a non-match) before you proceed to the next topic.
Lesson Notes from regexone.com — regex summary notes for the student:
abc...— Letters
ABC...— Letters
123...— Digits
\d — Any Digit
\D — Any Non-digit character
. — Any Character
\. — Period
[abc] — Only a, b, or c
[^abc]— Not a, b, or c
[a-z] — Characters a to z
[A-Z] — Characters A to Z
[0-9] — Numbers 0 to 9
\w — Any Alphanumeric character
\W — Any Non-alphanumeric character
{m}— m Repetitions
{m,n} — m to n Repetitions
* — Zero or more repetitions
+ — One or more repetitions
? — Optional character
\s — Any Whitespace
\S — Any Non-whitespace character
^...$ — Starts and ends
(...) — Capture Group
(a(bc))— Capture Sub-group
(.*) — Capture all
(abc|def)— Matches abc or def
At each tutorial chapter, you can ask for a hint that fully explains the solution before continuing the Tutorial.
Explanation of the Regex: "/^(\(\d{3}\)\s+\d{3}\s+\d{3})$/"
"/ — The expression is written with opening and closing slashes like "/ ... /"
^ — Start at the first character of the input line
( — Start the Capture Group
\( — Match an actual opening bracket
\d{3} — Match three digits
\) — Closing bracket
\s+ — One or more spaces
\d{3} — Match another three digits
\s+ — One or more spaces
\d{3} — Another three digits
) — End of Capture Group
$ — Use up to the last character on the input line
/" — End of Regex expression
As you can see from this example, there are shortcuts to some of these expressions.
For example, when you expect a sequence of digits, no one wants to type "\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d" for a string of precisely ten digits. The shortcut is to say, "\d{10}"; much more straightforward.
A Sample Script
Here is a short program written in Perl to extract the phone numbers.
The Input Text File (emails):
====================
1st phone is for Bob: (041) 234 567
Then Carol: (041) 890 123
and
Ted: (041) 456 789
and Alice: (041) 012 345
====================
The Script File:
====================
$file1=emails;
$file2=phones;
$count=0;
open(IN, $file1);
open(OUT, ">$file2");
while($line = <IN>)
{
if($line =~ /(\(\d{3}\)\s+\d{3}\s+\d{3})$/)
{
$phone = $1;
$count++;
$x = sprintf("%4d %s\n", $count, $phone);
print OUT $x;
}
}
close(IN);
close(OUT);
====================
The Output File(phones):
====================
1 (041) 234 567
2 (041) 890 123
3 (041) 456 789
4 (041) 012 345
====================
For Extra Credit:
What if one of the input lines had the string: "I can be reached either on (041) 555 777 or (041) 555 776."
How can your script handle two or more phone numbers on one line?
— Ed.
Meeting Location & Disclaimer
Bob Backstrom
~ Newsletter Editor ~
Information for Members and Visitors:
Link to — Sydney PC & Technology User Group
All Meetings, unless explicitly stated above, are held on the
1st Floor, Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
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