Posts by Martin
620 posts • joined Thursday 17th January 2008 11:18 GMT
It works like this....
HTC Desire S - over 18 months.
Cost on contract for more-or-less unlimited everything - £25 - total cost is £450
Cost for phone £335 plus £7.50 per month over 18 months - £335 + £135 = £470.
So, I reckon I'm paying a premium of - er - minus twenty quid for the benefit.
And I don't have to find £335 up front.
I always said they'd fall flat.
Sorry...
Posted in HP's UK PC boss: We're going nowhere
@Danny 5 - you'll be lucky....
...there are none left at the sub-bargain price. Most of them are now on eBay and seem to be selling for about £200.
Real men don't even use Windows...
...and if they must, they use the command line.
Or good machines at LOW prices....
...witness the speed with which the £89 HP Touchpad sold out !
...and what happens...?
Doesn't work on Firefox, whatever it is....
Nice piece of history rewriting there, Reg
When I read the article, the headline said:-
"Groundbreaking" attack breaks AES crypto.
When I read the comments (most of which said "No it didn't!" or words to that effect), I returned to the article to discover:-
AES crypto compromised by "groundbreaking" attack
"But add it all up and the amounts become quite staggering..."
Mine's the one with the copy of "The Drunkard's Walk" in the pocket.
Not altered?
I refer you to the original document that El Reg got this from.
http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/107599/apple-levert-onjuist-bewijs-in-zaak-tegen-samsung.html
My Dutch isn't up to mutch, but they've carefully done a diagram annotated in English, which shows that the aspect ratio of a Galaxy Tab is 1.46:1, and the alleged Galaxy Tab is 1.36:1.
No further comment is really required.
Reminds me of the old Marty Feldman sketch...
...which starts with two bored airline pilots flying a plane; suddenly one of the reaches for the intercom and says "Ladies and Gentlemen - this is your captain speaking. There is absolutely nothing to worry about."
Well, nearly...
"...it's really akin to leaving the front door propped open with your 50" plasma screen..."
Have you TRIED moving a 50" plasma screen? I've got one - they weigh about 50kg. Even with two of you, you don't just pick it up and run away with it.
But I agree with you in general.
Posted in Acer Aspire 5755G 15in Core i7 laptop
Indeed...
...if this is a machine better aimed at work - then what, exactly, is the average work user actually doing with all this power?
ah, but....
...it's the gold-plated DIRECTIONAL audio phono cables that really make the difference between audiophile hi-fi and ordinary hi-fi.
Posted in Google TV box flop costs Logitech $34m
Just one interesting little item....
The Squeezeboxserver software has just officially gone to v7.6. In the nightly beta downloads, there is a directory version 7.7-lms (though it's got no software in it yet)...and the 7.6.1 versions of the software, though they are still CALLED squeezeboxserver are labelled as Logitech Media Server...
They obviously haven't given up on this yet.
http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/
But it's that little word "Apple...."
Apple have managed to persuade people that there are no alternatives. You want to look cool? You have to have an iPhone, or an iTouch, and/or an iPad. Your lappy is a Mac. Nothing else matters. Even if it's better, it isn't - it hasn't got the magic logo on it. And they catch kids early too. Kids have ipod minis, they don't generally have other mp3 players.
I'm trying to think of another brand that has succeeded so well with that "Essential" feel. It's technology as fashion. No-one else has ever really succeeded with that. And I have to, reluctantly, admire them for it.
Pedant alert...
"2 of the most core tenants of physics coming together"
I think you mean tenets. Unless someone is renting physics to the laws of thermodynamics.
</pedant>
Tom Bombadil?
I was entirely with you until you mentioned that irritating so-and-so.
This is a bit misleading....
The point about Good is it allows you to use your OWN kit to safely access work emails and calendars.
Hence, all it demonstrates is that there are more people who want to use their own iPhones and iPads to look at corporate mail than want to use their Android phones. It says NOTHING about what the IT departments want, use or support.
Good is supported on iOS and Android where I work. It's up to you what you use.
er....no....
I don't dispute that the Unions had their teeth kicked in. But unfortunately, the by-product of that tooth-kicking was indeed to destroy the manufacturing industry, and lost many people their jobs, most of whom were moderate people who just wanted to do a good job for reasonable money.
And to call me a communist because I think that it actually makes sense to rent when you're younger (so that you can be more flexible, and get other jobs elsewhere, and so you don't have a huge millstone round your neck) - well, words fail me.
Oh, and the Tories also sold off all the decent council housing stock too. So there's no decent rental market any more - particularly in London.
Good post, apart from the knee-jerk Labour bash....
Remember it was the Tories in the eighties who shut down most of the manufacturing in the UK and starting this obsession with owning property.
The Harmony does more than just replaying IR
Push a button once, and it cleverly does everything in the right order so that the correct items are switch onto the correct settings.
Don't know if this is anything to do with the patents, but it's definitely something a bit more than just replaying IR
Posted in Vesta flashes charms to approaching Dawn
More precisely....
"It cannot land on Vesta itself because its engine thrust (10 grams at 1g) is much less than its weight on the surface (27.5kg)."
Actually, there's no problem at all about landing on Vesta. It just wouldn't be possible to take off again.
On a more serious note - it is quite jaw-dropping that in a year's time, we'll have some pretty serious maps of Vesta - a small lump of rock less than a third of the diameter of the Moon, a hundred and seventeen million miles away.
I wonder if there will be any sign of the Silver Queen?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marooned_Off_Vesta
Posted in Amazon's anti-iPad arises 'in October'
colour e-ink?
Do you want your books to look like old Geocities web-sites?
NomNomNom, you're either a troll or an idiot...
...so I'm not sure why I'm responding to you.
But let's give it a try.
If paedophiles are driven underground, this is not a good thing.
The whole point of paedophiles going underground is that once they are underground, the police no longer know where they are, and can't keep an eye on them
If there is a paedophile in my town, I'd like to be sure the police know where he is. And if he leaves the town, it's a good thing that they know where he's gone.
If paedophiles are driven underground, so that the police no longer know where they are, the world is actually a more DANGEROUS place for kids....
But you're clearly too stupid to understand this.
"...scientifically proven that men are better..."
Check out "The Myth of Mars and Venus" by Deborah Cameron before you make statements like this.
The vast majority of the so-called "better" performance is to do with early conditioning and education. Would you assert that it can be scientifically proved that men are better software engineers than women?
Fiona Richmond...
...actually owned the wonderful FU 2
She may also have owned PEN15, but I suspect you've just got your numberplates mixed.
Oh, come on....
...just because it's Greenpeace, doesn't mean it's wrong by definition.
Greenpeace, without doubt, have an agenda.
But that doesn't detract from the fact that one of the leading scientists on the denier side is being paid by the coal and oil industry.
And it also indicates that El Reg is being their usual selective self by ignoring the stories that don't appeal to THEIR agenda.
And with a response like that - you're telling ME to grow up?
It's not at all too much to ask...
....it's just that, on the "denier" side, the vast majority is in the business of spreading FUD, and not in the business of actual science.
It's a lot like the way the tobacco companies attempted to hide or discredit the facts about the health issues of cigarettes (and still do, come to that), or the way the Christian Right is trying to "teach the controversy" about Intelligent Design.
There are very many scientists trying to do actual proper transparent science. The vast majority of them have been convinced - by the science - that we really are likely to have a problem in the fairly near future. They can't ALL be deliberately misleading us. On the other hand, there are a lot of non-scientists (and a few scientists, to be fair) who do not believe the science is convincing. And there are a large number of corporations who have a vested interest in persuading people that it's not really happening. And the science is hard, and not by any means exact.
Hence, it's very easy to spread FUD, and El Reg ought, frankly, to be ashamed of the help that it gives the deniers.
I wonder why El Reg hasn't covered this story?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/28/climate-change-sceptic-willie-soon
So, there are loads of climate change scientists who have a vested interest in saying it's happening, to justify their claims (according to the "skeptics").
But how about this leading skeptic who definitely has a vested interest in saying it's all rubbish?
xkcd....
Can't believe no-one has posted this yet...
http://xkcd.com/918/
As for the suggestion of having two facebook accounts, one for work and one for friends - isn't that what LinkedIn gives you?
Posted in Samsung NC110 matte-screen netbook
"...the price has gently declined..."
No it hasn't.
The range for a netbook has always been between £175 and £329. It hasn't changed a bit in two years or more.
Given you can get the Packard Bell DOT-SE-911 from John Lewis for £229, and as far as I can see it's the same spec, this is just a basic machine at a silly price.
I was honestly expecting a machine like this to be £150 by now. But no-one wants to sell machines that cheap - they'd rather price netbooks too high, then say "no-one wants them" - so they can concentrate on making bloody tablets that loads of people don't actually want.
Excellent example of the Emphatic Period there.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/01/verity_stob_english_upgrade/
If the Guardian has an article by a scientist...
...who is actually working on ice cores, and if the article refers to evidence which is (apparently) well researched, then it's not an unreasonable cite.
I said NOTHING about whether CO2 causes global warming. I specifically said that you could argue all you like about whether the rise has any effect at all. I merely said that it was a fact that CO2 has risen significantly, and it's difficult to see any other explanation which doesn't involve man.
The article which bill 36 asked me to read, is, however, an article written with an agenda. It reminds me of anti-evolution propoganda - full of quotes with no context, loads of doubtful possibilities thrown out and appeals to authority.
I do not dispute that people on both sides have an agenda. I do not dispute that this is not an exact science.
But at the moment, the scientific consensus is clearly that there is a rise in C02 in the atmosphere, and that it's very likely indeed to be a result of the action of man. That's ALL I said. And, speaking purely personally, it's difficult for me to see how anyone could dispute it.
Finally - nyelvmark - please look up the difference between weather and climate.
Sigh...
What, exactly, did I get downvoted for?
What's not to like about a statement of fact (and yes, the statement about the current CO2 level compared to what we have over the last million years or so IS a fact), and a very reasonable deduction from that fact?
Ah, what the hell. It was probably downvoted by Lewis.
Take a read of this...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/10/3
...and then tell me you don't buy this CO2 bit.
I refer you in particular to this sentence...
"These measurements show that atmospheric CO2 concentrations fluctuated between around 180 and 280 parts per million (ppm) during nearly one million years. This provides an important baseline for understanding our current CO2 level, which is now at 393 ppm"
You can argue as much as you like about what the effect of the increase in atmospheric CO2 will do. But it's not really realistic to deny that there has been a massive and sudden increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, and it's hard to think of any other reason as to why this might have happened except due to the influence of man.
But what do you expect at El Reg?
That's their default position on Global Warming - the scientists are wrong and it's all rubbish.
Get used to it.
And as usual, the minute I get a new phone....
...they come out with another one that I want.
The bit I think is ingenious is the fingerprint sensor. Why has no-one done this before?
Time to ask Verity what she thinks....
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/07/verity_stob_cplusplus/
It would be nice to see an updated version of this.
Posted in Samsung UE40D6530 LED 3D TV
Sooo....you pay a grand for a TV....
...and when you get it home, you are expected to fiddle with the settings to get the picture to your liking?
Look, when I pay a grand for a telly, I expect the settings to be right. If I go to the cinema, they just get it right, don't they? Why on earth can't it just be right for a TV?
The difference with audio is stark. When you spend less on a sound system, it tends to come with multiple audio adjustments to try to fiddle the sound to be a bit better. When you pay a lot for your system, it comes with a volume control and that's it. To my mind, it should be the same for visual systems - you turn it on, and it looks great - full stop.
(I'd accept a bit of adjustment for a bright or dark room, but that's all...)
International Boffinry Alliance
Excellent.
Posted in Verity Stob and the super subjunction
A useful piece of advice....
The front page contains the title of the article, the summary and the name of the author. This is useful information, and should be noted carefully before clicking.
In future, refrain from clicking on the articles labelled "Stob". Then you won't feel it necessary to tell us you don't like them.
Posted in Verity Stob and the super subjunction
...or even....
Spot. On.
Isn't there a Parameterised Emphatic Period?
Best. ${item}. Evvah.
And for the 7000th time....
...you can't convert DRM'd ePub books to Kindle format.
(Well, not legally, anyway.)
When people say they want ePub support, they mean they want to buy an ePub book from Waterstones, or get a ePub library book, and read it on their Kindle. They don't want to have to find a bit of dubious software to hack it, then transfer it to Calibre, then upload it to the Kindle.
Seemed huge to me...
Well, it still seemed big to me - I guess I do have small hands.
Got a desire S in the end - even that seems a bit big. I tend to hold a phone in my left hand (even though I'm right-handed) and I can only just reach the top right of the screen with my thumb. If I'd got a Galaxy SII, it would have needed two-handed use a lot of the time.
A lovely phone, I admit. But I'm happy with what I have, and I'm paying a fair bit less a month too.
I was seriously considering this....
but when I got my hands on it - it's flippin' huge. Not sure whether it wants to be a phone or a cut-down tablet...
well, for one thing....
...that 'orrible keyboard taking up all that space?
The reason is very simple...
...and it's always been the case.
Software developers like writing new stuff. They don't so much like maintaining the old stuff.
