Posts by Eponymous Cowherd
1248 posts • joined Wednesday 28th November 2007 12:47 GMT
The boot is on the other foot....
There used to be an anti-piracy ad that Disney used to stick on its VHS releases. It showed a family sitting in front of a TV trying to watch 101 Dalmations through a storm of noise bars and snow with some brat whining about it. The voice-over went on about how you had to ensure you had a genuine Disney tape to avoid this sort of thing.
Oh, how things have changed. Little Miss Cowherd got one of those Triple-Play Blue-Rays. Tried to use Ultraviolet to get a copy for her phone. Fail. Daaaad, it doesn't work.........
Half an hour of farting about, no luck.
The moral of this story? If you want a good quality, plays anywhere, copy of a movie then you are a mug to buy a "genuine" copy.
Now we wait.....
for Apple to start suing Sony, Pebble, etc, for stealing their "innovation".
Re: You what?
"I'm not suggesting that everyone can/should root their phones, but I'm sure a silver-badged commentard knows what they're doing ;)"
I do, indeed "know what I am doing", I was commenting on the stock Sensation as almost all users will use stock firmware.
Re: You what?
Ditto the Nexus 7.
My HTC Sensation, however, with its HTC and Vodafone "improvements" is a different matter.
Android, particularly in its 4.2 guise, if perfectly fine. It is the handset manufacturers and network operators that ruin it.
Re: I wonder how much of the opposition matches mine?
I am not opposed to the idea of ID cards
I am not even particularly opposed with a legal requirement to have one.
I am opposed to the database behind the card and my use of it (the card) being tracked by the Government. This was the core of Labour's ID scheme and why it was a major infringement of civil liberties.
Re: Sir
I wouldn't be surprised if Her Majesty knows a damn sight more about IP addresses than the Govtards who will be formulating this legislation.
Posted in Attention large Linux workloads
Shouldn't this be.......
down the side with the other ads?
Re: Will they ditch the awful flat interface AND CAPITALISED MENUS?
Every new edition of Windows is the fastest ever when its newly installed.
Every new edition of Windows takes ages to boot and runs like a dog after 18 months of normal use.
Power to weight ratio.
"It reckoned OEMs weren’t turning out enough PCs, tabs and hybrids with fast enough processors, big enough memory or the necessary graphics acceleration."
Kind of like blaming an F1 engine manufacturer for you car's poor performance because the engine only produces 800bhp instead of wondering if a racing car should actually weigh 6 tons?
Re: The difference...
"are you telling me you think the right approach is to ignore the issue? "
No, the correct approach is to report it without the lurid "we're all gonna die" headline. A security issue in a developer preview model is no biggie and uncovering such is a major reason for having such preview devices.
Is the complete package for the tech Fashion Victim....
a pair of Dr Dres plugged into an iPhone 5?
Re: This is good news
Great fun to string these guys along.
A good one is to try to follow their instructions on a Linux box and see how long it takes them to guess you are pissing with them.
"Click the Start button"
"What's that"?
"The button in the bottom left-hand corner with Start on it"
"I don't have one of those"
"Are you running Windows 8"
"Well, there are a lot of windows all over the screen".
etc
etc
etc
Re: True but misleading
Ditto.
You are required to register for so many sites that it is completely impractical to have a separate password for each.
I, too, have "graded" passwords ranging from the one I use for crappy forums through to the one I use for online banking.
The passwords themselves should be robust, but having a different password for each and every site is stupid.
Re: Price Fixing?
It was still price fixing, which is inherently wrong.
The publishers should set the wholesale price. This is the price, that the retailer pays for each copy. The retailer should then be free to sell at any price they like, even at a loss.
Why should Penguin, Hachette, etc give a damn about how much their books are sold for as long as they get the price per copy they ask for?
This was, as we all know, an agreement to ensure a certain retailer got their 30% mark-up, and to prevent the likes of Amazon undercutting them.
Price Fixing?
"Commission said that the company may have been involved in an illegal cartel operation with Apple and several other publishers."
And I believe the Sun may have risen this morning.
Seriously? These cretins thought they could gouge customers with hardback prices for (often poorly formatted) eBooks? They need to wake up and smell the coffee!
Porkie du jour
Yet another telco tells a massive porkie in its ad and gets a robust gumming by a toothless ASA.
The only way there will ever be a point to the ASA will be when / if it ever gets the ability to actually fine an offender or ban them from advertising for a certain length of time.
Of course, that is never going to happen while the ASA is being paid for by the advertisers.
Its easy to spot a middle manager's poo
As it has come out of an enormous asshole.
UK Gov != net neutrality
Considering that the UK government had mandated against Net Neutrality on the grounds that we might use certain web sites for illegal purposes, what chance is there that Ofcom will uphold it?
The phrase.....
polishing a turn, comes to mind.......
Re: Thankyou
I quite like Fry, he does come across as rather smug and "up himself", but he does seem to be a rather likeable guy.
If Andrew wants to target anyone for being a faux-technologist it should be Rory Cellen-Jones. This guy is supposed to be the BBC's chief technology correspondent, yet his articles demonstrate the tech know-how of a year 6 ICT student, and a poor one, at that.
Posted in Review: Renault Zoe electric car
Almost, but not quite.
The price is right, and it is a very nice looking car, but that £70 a month to rent the batteries is an issue. Add to that that its going to cost about £1- £2 a day to charge (assuming single charge) then the "fuel" costs are going to be in the order of £90 - £110 a month. You also need to consider that its still going to burn that £70 even if it never moves off your driveway.
So it still doesn't, quite, compete with fossil burners for fuel economy (£90 will take my diesel estate over 700 miles (55mpg, and, yes, it really does do that). Even the battery rental equates to over 550 miles.
I imagine that as the technology improves the cost of the batteries (and their rental) will go down, charging times will decrease and range per charge will increase. Its also pretty certain that fossil fuel prices are going to increase substantially.
So, sometime in the near future (5 to 10 years, maybe), electric cars will be cost effective, but not right now
Re: It is when I fill up
That's another thing to confuse your average Merkin.
They pay before they fill up. We pay after.
Re Pasties
"and as for [a pasty] being a "snack", you obviously haven't eaten a proper one,
You forget this advice is aimed at a race who view a two pound burger as a "snack".
Beer, flat and warm, as it should be.....
Re: Quality drop
This is purely down to cramming more channels onto each mux. My hope was that, after the analogue switch-off, the Freeview channels would be spread over many more multiplexes, decreasing the compression ratios and, therefore, improving quality.
However, the govtards saw the analogue switch-off as a money-grab, resulting in the same compressed-to-hell-and-back picture quality, but now with the added bonus of interference from 4G.
Re: Hmmm...
This is a real issue as the people most likely to be affected by 4G interference are, precisely, those on long paths with mast head (and other) amplifiers.
Wot, no Avatar?
OK joking aside, great list.
Forbidden Planet has always been a favourite of mine. Always amazes me how it doesn't look particularly dated considering its 1956 vintage.
Re: Now... will the movie industry take note?
Had the self-same experience with Ultraviolet. Just way more hassle than its worth. I just want a file on the DVD I can copy to my device. If I have to jump through any more hoops than that, then the torrents get my business.
Quite willing to pay for content, but won't put up with:-
- Having to install 3rd party software to view it
- Not being able to view it on the device of my choosing
- Having to "sign up" and give personal details to view it
If I can't just load 'n' play, then I'm not interested.
I used to be in to....
bestiality, flagellation and necrophilia.
But found I was flogging a dead horse.
Or was it a lasagne?
Re: 'Filth'
Rhyming Slang?
As in, "Do you fancy a quick Donald"?
Copy copy
"For most folk, the real flaw with DRM is not copy prevention but the way the technology ties content to specific devices or platforms. A movie downloaded from Apple’s iTunes can’t be played on a TV without the presence of extra Apple-made kit, for instance, and it certainly can’t be copied to an Android tablet or a Windows phone."
In other words the real flaw with DRM is copy prevention!
Re: Samsung Freesat
"The fact you have copied and pasted a REALLY old bug list, suggests you either work for Humax, or havn't switched your sammy on for 2 years."
Nope, in use and current firmware. Only last night I fast-forwarded over some ads, overran, rewound, hit play and it went into its weird freeze-frame mode.
Had to do a reset a couple of weeks ago because recordings selected in the guide weren't added to the timer list and weren't recorded.
As I said, pile of shite.
Do you work for Samsung?
Re: Samsung Freesat
Agreed, the SMT-S7800 is a pile of wank juice.
Multiple bugs:
Guide keeps jumping back to the original channel.
Keeps losing recordings, requiring a system reset.
Said reset loses all timer settings.
Timer becomes increasingly flaky over a couple of months (won't record what its set to) requiring another reset.
Trying to rewind live tv invariably results in jerky stop-motion playback.
Randomly freezes, requiring reset and subsequent loss of timer settings.
Selecting a programme on an SD channel prompts if you want to record the HD version, but it only records whatever is on the HD channel at the same time.
Pile of junk IMHO
Reckon it's deliberate.
Gives Oracle another chance that you might forget to uncheck the feckin Ask Toolbar
Re: If there is life out there, they're keeping quiet
"why haven't they found us and made contact yet
Probably too busy looking for Rachel (and the puncture repair kit).
Re: Scott 49
Well, there are a lot of people who have to use Windows, though not many would describe themselves as "fans".
Those that actually are "fans" of Windows tend to have an air of Dwayne Dibley about them.
UFO
If they are going to remake anything, remake that!
Re: Round and round....
I think this has more to do with the availability of enabling technology.
Resistive screens, which were all there were in the days of Palm and Windows Mobile work well with a stylus, but offer a poor touch experience. Capacitive screens were the reverse. The modern swipey touch interface is a consequence of the technology that enabled it (capacitive screens), not any great innovation on the part of Apple. They were merely the first to make an obvious use of a new technology.
Now that Wacom/Samsung has produced the technology to enable accurate and pressure sensitive use of a stylus on a capacitive screen you will start to see these becoming more common on tablets (at least) as it does offer some distinct benefits over a touch-only interface. You now can have the best of both worlds.
Samsung has been quite crafty in buying into Wacom. It means that they will be in pole position for what is likely to be the next big thing in portable computing, and Apple could be left with egg on its face as it tries to compete against pen enabled tablets or has to go crawling to Samsung for a licence.
Re: @peter storm (French cars)
I have had 3 French cars in my time, and one of them was the most reliable car I have ever owned (while another one was the 2nd worst).
I had a Renault 25 (widely regarded as being one of the biggest piles of crap ever to take to the road). I had it for 12 years and, in that time, never needed anything other than servicing. It eventually gave up the ghost when the gearbox went, but it was 16 years old, so pretty good going.
The worst car was a Ford Granada. 6 years old, had it 18 months and it contrived a simultaneous failure of both the cylinder head and auto box.
The best car was a Nissan Primera. Rock solid, sold it because I needed something bigger. Now have a Peugeot 406 1.8 petrol estate (station wagon to those in the US). Had it just over 3 years and has been solidly reliable in that time.
Re: NO problems with old Samsungs
On the other hand, I have a Samsung Freesat STB, and its a pile of crap (an SMT-S7800). Just do a search for it.
Regularly loses its library of recorded programmes, and required a hard reset every moth or so to reset the increasingly erratic record timer. If you hit record on an SD programme, it will ask you if you want to record the HD version. Answer yes and it will record whatever is on the HD channel at the same time, even if it isn't the programme you want. Freezes about once a month, and every time you have to reset the thing (which is frequently) you have to re-schedule all of your recordings as the timer settings won't survive a reset.
So. while Samsung make good stuff (I bought the box on the name). they are just as cabable of producing a pup as anyone else.
Re: Parked up prats
"What is actually needed is for the councils and operations like BT to come up with a form that sets out the venues for an engineers work each day that could be issued by the LA on request by BT. Otherwise it becomes a case of joe public getting upset with a "Im gonna punch your head in - you booked me but not him...."
Hmmm, and I'm sure the people without broadband, gas, electricity, etc will be really pleased when their service hasn't been restored because the utility company is waiting for authorization to park up for what may be a 20 minute job.
Re: Novelty
No, the original Wii sold because it offered something new (the controllers) and the ability to control a game by moving yourself instead of twiddling some knobs and buttons. An idea that was copied by both Microsoft and Sony.
The original Wii had a big "Hey, cool, want one" factor, and was priced (£170 at launch) such that it was something people didn't mind taking a punt on.
The WiiU has no "wow" factor, and its too expensive for casual gamers to consider. Result = big FAIL
Netflix vs LoveFilm vs Blinkbox?
I subscribe to LoveFilm and Netflix VOD services. Personally I find:-
- Content: LoveFilm is the clear winner. Far more stuff I want to watch than on NetFlix.
- Picture / sound quality: Not much to choose, both very good (and superior to iPlayer).
- Reliability: Both pretty good. NetFlix suffers slightly fewer buffering issues.
- Device support: NetFlix is the clear winner. Lack of Android support is a big issue with LoveFilm
Posted in UK 4G auction kicks off in total silence
More competitive pricing?
"Meanwhile EE has changed its 4G pricing, introducing a £31 plan with a 500MB cap and a handset, along with a SIM-only plan offering 20GB of data at £46 a month, realising that its monopoly on 4G is about to run out so more competitive pricing is in order."
This must be some weird use of the term "competitive" that I haven't heard of before.
£WTF a month for crap coverage and shite data allowances. What these muppets have to understand is that they are also competing with 3G. It doesn't matter how fast 4G is, with a 500MB cap it offers no advantage over 3G because you can't do anything that sort of speed permits without blowing your allowance in a few minutes.
Wake me up when they announce £30 for 20GB and coverage is more than a few big conurbations.
Not to mention.....
Arses and, errm, "front bottoms"
Actually, the real problem.....
Is that he's a numbers guy who thinks he's a tech visionary.
The problem with Jobs?
People seem to think Jobs' biggest fault was the way he stole others' ideas.
It isn't
That is the way technology evolves, and always has evolved. See a good idea and make it smaller / faster / cheaper / easier to use. That is what Jobs did, and I have no problem with that. In fact he should be lauded for it because he did it well.
The issue with Jobs is that he wanted to have his cake and eat it. He was happy to use other people's ideas, but threw his toys out of the pram when someone did the same with one of his products. There are recordings of him boasting about stealing Xerox' ideas, and then his famous "kill Google" rant.
Re: You can smell the desperation
That was, rather, my first impression. Sort of opposite to the effect they want.
The way RT slabs and Phone 8 are being pushed in TV ads doesn't make me want one, it just encourages me to steer well clear. If they are advertising that hard, they must be in trouble.
And that James Cordon "phone for grown-ups" ad......... WTF! That just says "windows phone, for when you get bored of Fisher Price"
Research, waste of money.....
Punched tape was good enough for Grandad, so its good enough for you.
As we all know, companies that pull the plug on R&D to save money are the ones that survive, so stop farting around and sell them 80mb winchesters.
Hell we made a mistake when we moved from stone to bronze.
Re: @Katie Saucey Bronze badge -- Engineering school?
Assuming they are off the shelf tags, rather than zapping them, buy a whole shedload and program them with duplicate IDs to those in use.
Hide them around the school, stick 'em on other kids, teachers, etc.
Sit back and watch the system collapse.
