* Posts by dervheid

1194 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Dec 2007

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MS showcases Red Ring of Death Xbox 360 at expo

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Oh Sweet Irony!

Sweet Swet Irony!

Official: Toshiba discontinues HD DVD

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RIP HD-DVD

I bet the senior exec's at Sony are glad they didn't back the wrong horse this time round!

Forth Bridge painters to down brushes in 2012

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Putting it into perspective...

for our American cousins. When a new gas loading terminal was being built on the Forth near to the bridge back in the early eighties, one yank "engineer" was apparently giving the standard "We built this, we built that, bigger, better yadda, yadda, yadda" speech to some of the locals. One large Fifer, puts his arm around the yank and pointing at the Forth Bridge says "See that, well WE built that while you were still fighting the f**king indians!" Bragging session OVER!

The big difference in the paint job this time, unlike the last 'high-tech' paint job, is that they're taking the structure (cast iron) back to bare metal, not just slapping it over 100 years worth of 'red lead' paint. When they did that, back in the 90's (correct me if I'm wrong Mark M!), they sealed in all the moisture and the bridge started rotting under the paint, with some fairly large bits falling off!!

As for the 'lifespan' of this latest paint job, I'll just wait and see.

One question though, is the 20 years being measured from when the first sections were completed, or the last, as there'll be about a 10 year period between the two?

Mine is the "Craig & Rose" red one!

Xbox 360 console failure rate forecast at 16.4%

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1 in 6!

Well almost!

By any quality control standards (do they HAVE any Quality Control or QC Standards?) that's SHITE!

Hope the sleeves don't fall of my 6th coat!

HMRC blows £1.4m on two-word slogan

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Taxing our Patience!

Wish I hadn't said that now, as that'll probably be next. Or is that what they're already doing with this latest farce?

Mine is the one with the reinforced pockets

Panasonic preps Wiimote-proof TV

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Well they would...

If they were looking at the same picture of the Wiimote that's posted with your article! That's one big ugly mother of a Wiimote, not to mention the HUGE connector for the nunchuck.

That said, it's not a BAD gimmick, but it's still a gimmick. Just like the Wiimote jacket produced by Nintendo!

I'm just waiting for the Heath & Safety Nazis trying to ban the Wii as being too dangerous, just like conkers!!!

Mine's the big padded silicone rubber one, hanging on the rubber safety hook!

US may shoot down spy sat to safeguard tech secrets

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Black Helicopters

Probably...

costing more to make sure that no "security sensitive" parts fall into the 'wrong hands' (ie anyone except the US of A) than it cost to build the damn thing in the first place. What was that, it didn't cost anything? Ah, the good ol' "Black Budget".

(Are we actually allowed to use that term these days, or should we be using the term 'African American Budget' or 'IC3 Budget'. I'd hate to offend anyone, well, at least unintentionally!!)

Microsoft takes a back seat as Orange goes for the eyes

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Give us back our phones...

I think it's about time that operators gave their customers a more flexible, customisable interface, rather than the rigid corporate front you do get, especially from Orange! I want to be able to set up my home screen the way I want, not the way they want it to be!

NEC goes Back To The Future with XP for biz users

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Gates Horns

Never Gone...

to Vista, personally. Seen it in (in)action often enough to be (un)impressed. I agree that XP is bloated, if not quite as lardy as Vista. I'm not advocating XP as a de-facto standard (God forbid!), but 'Micro'$oft need to take an OS back to basics. By all means, provide all the knobs, bells and whistles, but as OPTIONS, not as integral parts of the OS. Let's not forget that "OS" is SUPPOSED to be the OPERATING SYSTEM.

I accept that the vast (and I do mean VAST) majority of home PC users want a system that gives them all they (think) they need 'out of the box', but the (corporate, in particular) business user wants a more streamilned, customisable OS. Let's face it, it's (almost) always going to be easier to add something(optional) in, than to take something (integrated) out.

I dread to think how bloated 'Windows 7' is likely to be. Probably make XP (if not Vista) look like the proverbial 'Racing Snake'!

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@ Johnny Fireblade

...NONE!

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Advice...

...to Microsoft.

The hint is in your own corporate title. "MICRO". We don't want any more lardy-arsed OS's porking out on our system resources. Surely it's not beyond you (well, maybe it is) to produce a leaner, faster more frugal OS that doesn't need 2Gb RAM to function at an acceptable speed. Oh, sorry, I forgot. You did that already (XP, well, sort of!). Couple that with cutting your EXTORIONATE pricing (yes, I KNOW R&D costs a bucket of $), wouldn't it be more effective to produce said slim OS at a low retail price (below 'pirate' profitability margins) and actually GIVE THE CONSUMER WHAT THEY WANT, not what YOU think they SHOULD HAVE!

NO?

Thought not.

ps. Vista is a dead horse. Stop flogging it.

EU to ban the patio heaters that ate the planet. Not.

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The patois...

of hysteria. Typical, knee-jerk reaction from the biggest collection of jerks on the planet. If we could harness the pure hot air being generated by MEP's, I believe we could heat half of Europe for free.

It'd be (vaguely) interesting to know just what proportion of these numpties have said offending article(s) themselves!

I'll fetch my nice, warm, baby seal fur lined coat for the patio.

Motorola poised to offload mobile biz

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Paris Hilton

Not to worry...

they should pick up some return business from disenchanted Samsung owners. I've had the misfortune to have had a U600. Looks great, but full of operability issues. Has put me off Samsung phones for good.

The PH angle. Refer to text above

Veggies a 'perversion of nature': Official

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Four...

...Fried Chickens, & a coke!

Online advertiser pays $200,000 for deceptive claims

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Small beer...

I suspect. There're still enough suckers out there to have made this outfit more than the 200k. Step in the right direction though.

Tech support gets religion

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Boffin

Oh dear...

that'll be the cat out of the bag for the IT crowd then!!

If that fails however, just sit in front of your (dead) equipment, and chant "OMMMMM!"

Tolkien-inspired oil painting 'immortalizes' Silicon Valley rich people

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Surgery...

required, surely. Clearly she'll be setting herself a nigh on impossible task to produce this 'work of art' with her head so clearly lodged up either her own backside, or that of the prospective 'marks' for this scam, oops, sorry project.

(comma between "sorry" and "project" optional, dependant on your interpritation)

That'll be the "Emporer's New Coat" type coat, please.

US Navy to test fire electric hypercannon

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Faster then a speeding bullet...

but not much use if you can only fire off a few rounds before the gun collapses. More time required on the drawing board, methinks.

Top secret UK data network goes live two years late

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Paris Hilton

What!? Again!?

So another government IT system is late, presumably over-budget, and leaks like a sieve. And this would be surprising, how?

The Paris Hilton Angle.

Could it be any worse if it had been put together by the oft misunderstood heiress? Nah. Thought not.

Sociologists: Studying engineering turns you into a terrorist

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Flame

Statistically speaking...

this pair of sociologists appear to be 100% ARSEHOLES!!

CCTV must not record conversations, warns new guidance

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CWOT

The only thing CCTV seems to be any use for is providing hours of footage for trash TV portraying " ******* Stupidest Criminals" shows. (Insert the name of your most/least favourite nation in place of *******

MPs slam costly war-tech projects at MoD

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Black Helicopters

WTF!

232 Eurofighters (typhoons). Why in Satan's Name would ANYONE think that the UK forces would need 232. Unless someone somewhere is planning a MAJOR WAR? I think we should be told.

UK.gov on Galileo: We can't stop it, just sign the cheque

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More Orbital crud

If we continue to put ever more satellites into the sky around this planet, by the time we develop any sort of useable deep-space technology, we'll be screwed because we won't be able to get off this rock any more.

on the plus side, since it's EU Farming subsidies that are going to be used, at least the French farmers will know EXACTLY where they are in their tractors, in their latest summer road block.

Thing about sat nav is, it doesn't matter if your equipment can figure out where you are to the nearest millimeter, or how far your going to the nearest mm/sec, if the maps/database that it's being related to are SH*TE, then so is your sat nav.

Dallas man accidentally shoots self in head

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Stop

Oh Dear.

It's amazing, really. One incident. One poor (possibly drunk) young half-wit with a gun manages to terminate his exisistance with an act of stupidity and before long we're all dragging up the national stereotypes and historical animosities (going all the way back to the American War of Independance, some people know how to hold a grudge!).

People with Guns DO NOT make the world a better place. Not now. Not then. Not in the future. Not here, there, or anywhere.

We need to deal with our inability to control our anger, and our total intolerance of any other opinion than our own, which are the biggest problems I think we face. I've just heard about a forty something father who has been killed over some (stupid) argument about a FOOTBALL. A FOOTBALL!! Reality check required all round.

T-Mobile sells more than 70,000 iPhones

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How Many?..

Didn't think there were so many suckers out there! Still, I suppose it's a better phone than the P.O.S. U600 I'm currently stuck with.

Spy satellite to slam Earthside

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Spys 'R' Us

It'll have more missiles tracking it than any other object known. No way will the good ol' US of A allow as much as a single rivet from that to come into "enemy" hands. If it don't fry coming into the atmosphere, it'll be 'fried' pretty damn soon after.

Hard hats all round to go with the coats

New Bond film title voted a 'Licence to Thrill!'

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@ anonymous coward

Re: A Squat Colon Fume.

Picked that because I felt it described the effect of the actual title. It's sh*t, it stinks!

There are indeed much funnier ones.

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A Squat Colon Fume

This and other anagrams at

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/anagram.cgi?anagram=quantum+of+solace&t=1000

Bank turns London man into RFID-enabled guinea pig

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Black Helicopters

Another Example...

...of banks taking liberties with customers and their accounts. My Bank (Lloyds TSB) are in the process of changing "partners" on their credit cards from Visa to Mastercard. No consultation, one announcement, then new cards delivered superseding the old ones. (don't know if they're RFID'd or not)

Of course, LTSB have taken care of all the "front end" processes in setting up the new accounts (done without my permission!) but the customer has to do all the donkey work when it comes down to setting up any on-line payments, or existing regular accounts, including setting up a new recipient so I can pay the damn credit card via the on-line banking.

I shudder to think what the possibilities for error in "universal" non-contact payment world are likely to be (not LOW for sure). Hard enough to prove fraudulent use as it is, never mind the possibility of your 'chip' being tracked everywhere you go!

This madness must stop.

Man stumps record £375k for number plate

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Or this one

WNK 3 R

Scottish Government to block wind farm plan

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In The Dark Soon...

Will any future visitors to Scotland kindly bring the following on their trip;

(Even more) warm clothing.

Candles.

Firewood, (Coal if ye prefer)

Matches.

Batteries (for ony electronic items you really CANNA dae without during your stay).

Paraffin (for the lamps, ye ken)

It'll be like that if these government numpties dinnae get their act the gither.

Nae nuclear. (Well, no on Wee Alec's watch)

Nae wind power. (frightens the grouse!)

Nae wave power (they only last a wee while!)

Nae coal power (nae mair scottish coal!)

Water power? (nae enough tae gan roon)

As Private Frazer wid hae said, "We're A' Doomed!"

DfT magicians conjure a nation of car sharers

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Who foots the bill...

"There are Lies, Damned Lies and then there are Statistics"

...for this drivel from the DfT?

That'd be us. Again.

People don't car share because;

It's not convenient.

Neither is the apology for a 'public transport system' we have in this country.

Maybe the DfT should pay more attention to that.

Phishing coders hook clueless crooks

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Pirate

Not rats...

As far as I recall, rats don't have the nous to enlist the assistance of less intelligent rodents to unwittingly do their dirty work for them.

Still, it adds weight to the adage "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!"

Researchers share video contact lens vision

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Woo Hoo!

As long as they make them so you appear to be paying attention during those all day compulsory corporate bullsh** sessions, when in fact you're actually watching something entertaining, place my order NOW!

Sparks fly over electric shock dealing Dell laptop

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Nice!

They should market it to all those knuckleheads who buy all those othes "Shocking" products. You all know the kind of cr*p I'm talking about.

DVLA's 5m driver details giveaway

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Breaching...

...the Data Protection Act surely?

Home Sec in anti-terror plan to control entire web

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"Freedom?"

Just waiting for the Home Office to be renamed "The Department for Homeland Security (UK)"

Outrage over Nokia factory closure

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Inevitible!

Not the first company to do this, and won't be the last. Sign of the times, and the joys of a wider Europe. This type of economic migration (jobs heading east) is just the opposite side of the coin (workers heading west).

Acquisition-happy Game not anti-competitive

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No Loss of Competition?

We have both Game and Gamestation locally. Can't see BOTH staying open. Mind you, there's been nothing to choose between the two pricewise recently. Wouldn't have anything to do with the acquisition, surely. Another victory for the consumer then...

California to snatch control of citizens' air-con

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In a sweat?

Sweaty Californians? Perish the thought. Or is this some covert plan to reduce the Californian populace / obesity levels. we should be told.

Hannah Montana fails to defy laws of physics

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Stop

And?

I was going to comment on this but I can't be bothered.

WHO CARES!

Microsoft set to milk mobile Messenger mavens?

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Microsoft want more money...

No! Really! And this would be what kind of surprise?

Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's

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"OOK!."

There may be a cure somewhere in The Luggage. Anyone brave enough to have a look?

Shell in Hawaiian algae biofuel pilot

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Shell Shocked

This almost seems to make (some) sense. We shouldn't be paying farmers to grow crops to "burn" when people are still starving. I'm sure there's probably some other 'scum' that we could squeeze some oil out of.

By the way, I'm a Global Warming 'athiest'.

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