Posts by Jason Togneri

Ummm

And what with solar receptivity and wi-fi signal being cut by bums on seats, won't they be even further reduced once the thing's been slashed, burned, vomited on and covered with grafitti?

Don't put anything valuable, delicate or sensitive in a public place, particularly not in a park.

Seconded!

Get a first life so you don't have to make so with a Second Life ;-)

Anyway:

"A spokesman cited educators using Second Life for training. "Even if an entire class is over 18," he said, "you don't necessarily want to be confronted with adult content while you're trying to teach someone about the internal workings of the pancreas"."

I think this goes a LONG way to explaining why education levels are so atrocious in the English-speaking world. You're seriously telling me that high school/university-level students are being taught using Second Life as an education resource? I weep for the future of humanity.

@ AC #1: I don't think future virtual archaeologists will be looking very deeply, because by that point people will have forgotten how to actually program stuff, and will only know how to use the tools that were already there. Innovation will grind to a halt and no real progress will have been mode :-(

Excellent stuff!

What a fascinating and informative article, thanks Reg! More of this sort of thing please!

@ Simon

"And users will always be confused about it if they never get the chance to learn. Look at other applications/OSs that only highlight the filename portion of the file whenever you click rename/F2 etc..."

Umm... well, at least Vista (and I assume Win7) do this by default nowadays.

@ Mike Dolan

Who on earth would use Vista without SP1? So your complaint is kind of redundant then ;-)

As for the rest of it, if they're bringing it up to what I understand to be the Windows 7 operational standard (that is, VistaSP2 = Windows7) then I'm happy. Certainly SP1 was a massive step up from vanilla Vista.

Nice one

Made me smile on a grim morning :-)

BMI = bollocks indeed

There's a great article (and easy-to-follow online instructions, explanation and calculator in-line with the article) here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14483512/

A simple and effective alternative to BMI for measuring if you're genuinely overweight and/or at risk of future complications!

@ ignorant, ranting, bandwagon-riding Goat Jam

Some quotes:

"After huge amount of blowing their own horns about the amazing new feature set of their next OS [...] the industry were starting to make jokes about the ever increasing list of dropped features and delay announcements"

So, pretty much like any proposed Linux distro then? Are you genuinely unaware of the phases that ANY product goes through? You don't just say "I'd like to do XYZ!" and then somehow magically create it without problems. I wish the world was so easy. I'd invent an internet-based idiot swatter and point it at El Reg commentards.

"So, it was decided to dust off the old XP code and polish it up and call it a new release"

If that's the case, why would there be compatibilty problems resulting in people staying with XP? Have you actually ever *used* Vista (or Windows 7)? I'd note some of the major codebase changes, but I doubt you have the level of technical knowledge required to understand most of them.

"Security was "improved" in the form of UAC"

So, you advocate Linux, and yet attack Microsoft for implementing the same non-root-privelege system that Linux uses? I agree that Vista's approach was a bit too in-your-face (remember, I'm not defending Microsoft here, I'm just trying to dispell some of the I'm-a-moron-who-automatically-jumped-on-the-Let's-All-Hate-Microsoft-bandwagon-without-thought-or-knowledge nonsense that's floating around here). This is supposed to be a site for people who actually *know* something about IT.

"MS had slapped together a fancy new 3D gui [...] users have long forgotten how to adapt to new interfaces [...] will require retraining"

So, you advocate Linux, and attack users for being unable to adapt, and yet don't realise that any move to Linux would necessitate adaptation and retraining even more so - not only would ALL of the familiar apps be different, half of them would even (gasp!) have different names! If users really are as stupid as you try to portray, then surely this is a step backwards?

"hardware requirements"

Uh... I've personally had Vista running quite useably on a 2003-era Compaq Presario 2500 laptop. It's quite scaleable and the only problem is the graphically-intensive Aero Glass UI, which - you don't seem to realise - is actually optional and quite easy to switch off or reduce from Aero Glass to standard Aero. Oh wait, you're about to mention Vista's incredibly high amounts of RAM usage, aren't you? And XP always has low RAM usage? Oh dear, I suppose you don't understand anything about RAM usage at all then. I would try to point out that Vista is precacheing and doing things that Linux does - after all, unused RAM is wasted RAM; look up articles on "Superfetch" if you want to read it from Vista's point of view - but I suspect it's a bit too complex for your little troll mind.

Well, rebutting your "arguments" (such as they are) has amused me for the last few minutes, but now I have to go and interact with people who actually know something about computers.

Muppets

"Shocka - it's actually totally usable. Yeah, there's barely any free RAM - 300mb or so, whereas XP would have 800ish - but nobody ever said the thing was going to have less of a mem footprint than XP."

Why do you people constantly advocate Linux and then say idiotic things like this? Why is it so hard for people to understand memory management? Let's go through it one more time:

a) free RAM in XP is wasted RAM. It's not worth having, because it's not doing anything.

b) RAM is used in Vista in Superfetch (look it up), which uses it for actively precaching data from your most-used apps - but will give this RAM up when needed

c) Vista runs quite smoothly (with Aero skin off) on an old Presario 2500 laptop with 1GB of RAM and shared onboard graphics, because RAM use is scaleable due to b)

d) point b) is exactly what *nix has been doing for years. It's not new, and MS took ages to get round to doing it, and it's a more efficient use of resources (even though the "used RAM" bar is higher)

So: it uses RAM efficiently. It returns RAM when needed for an app. It manages RAM in the same efficient way as $linux_distro. It is a million times better than XP in that sense. And you complain because of it? Don't you people know anything about computers? Learn a little about the subject before you fire off your automated reactionary bandwagon nonsense.

@ vincent himpe

Actually, although it's not quite the same, for many years you've been able to get remote controle apps which use the IrDA port of the old Psion palmtops and later on, Symbian devices like Nokia's S60. One such app comes with quite a large database of TVs, digi boxes, VCRs, DVDs, etc, and can be quite handy for controlling them or just turning them off. Of course, it's not as simple point-and-clicky as this one, but just to let you know it's already possible. IIRC the Symbian version of the product was Psiloc's irRemote.

@ Peter Hartley

"it's the first gadget I've seen that lets you stream video to a TV, *and* has its own screen for listening to audio without having to turn the TV on, both in the same box"

Bollocks. You evidently haven't been looking very hard. Back in 2006 I bought the Rapsody RSH-100, which has its own screen (and controls) built onto the front, so it could be used in the absence of its remote control. Handy for music without having to turn the TV on. It's old tech now, but does somewhat nullify your statement. See it here:

http://rapsody.com.ua/eng/tovar/rsh100.php

http://www.rapsody.ch/

http://www.kjglobal.co.uk/acatalog/Rapsody_RSH-110_3.5__HDD_based_.html

At the moment, I know you can find it for £69 in online retailers (add your own drive), and probably cheaper on eBay. It's a decent piece of kit. There are now newer models out, if you look around I'm sure you'll find them - the RSH-300, for example, is the same basic design but HD-capable.

@ AC, 5th March 21:21

To clarify, Scandinavia is so named for the Scandinavian Mountains, the line of hills that bisects Norway and Sweden (which are two halves of the same penninsula) and runs undersea to Denmark. Hence, Scandinavian countries. However, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland are all culturally and historically linked as what are known as the Nordic countries.

@AC: Why wouldn't there be hordes of Finns rushing to tell you the same thing? ;-)

Um

So what they're actually building is an Eee, but without a screen?

Hmm

I wonder what we are all going to do in countries without these blessed 'Amendments' and without, for that matter, a written constitution?

Madness from all sides

"A number of reports have recently linked online networking and computer games to a host of health risks." - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7907766.stm

Craziness! I agree that a lot of people ought to get out more, but the internet seems to be the next video nasties/3D consoles/paedophiles - oh wait, it combines all of the above already! Idiots.

To summarise the concern so far,

"Pix or STFU."

Linky pic isn't a real NE employee.

Oh yes, I can see it now

"What's this link? tinyurl.com/3v9nx98 - let's see what it is."

*clickety-click*

And suddenly you did not pass Go, did not collect your £200, and found yourself in jail.

Ummm

Am I the only person to wonder if it's valid to 'hack' a pre-release OS? Is it just me, or does this just sound really, really, stupid? If they want Windows, they should try post-release Vista SP1. An OS that isn't in final form yet is like hacking the beta of Windows Neptune. Hardly a real-life challenge.

@ What the author forgot to mention

So, in your roundabout, circumspect, and extremely subtle way you're trying to say, is that the author forgot to mention it was a Windows virus? So you didn't even read the title of this article ("New Windows virus") before you began your bandwagon trolling?

@ Steve

Wouldn't surprise me. Given how bad the skin on my hands is, I'd be surprised if the first set even matched me after a couple of months. I can just see a whole world of headaches opening up...

"But I am really me, honest guv!"

I think I'll just go into hiding. I wonder what this'll do for Finland's already quite extraordinary suicide rate?

Mine's the one with the latex paint in the pocket. I'll get it on my way to an imaginary impartial country.

@ various incorrect assumptions so far

"Since Windows Update only works with IE"

There are several options, quite apart from the fact that Windows Updates works for all the critical security patches if it's enabled to download automatically, so you're only missing 'optional' updates - there's a third-party updater called AutoPatcher (which has been shut down, officially, but is still available in places), and also alternatively IETab addon for FF.

"I use Ubuntu and it comes with Firefox pre-installed - does this mean that it will have to be removed now? [snip] "you can just install a different browser with the package manager", but I can just as easily install a different browser [...] on a Windows machine as well. [...] this seems to be a case of attacking [Microsoft] just because they are the biggest and yet letting others (Apple comes with Safari after all) do exactly the same with no penalty."

a) it's not a case of market monopoly laws, because the Mozilla Corporation do not build operating systems, and the Ubuntu people don't make Firefox. The legislation doesn't say "no browsers may be bundled with the OS", it's rather saying "you're not allowed to make your OWN browser be the default, pre-installed one".

b) attacking Microsoft, yes, but just because it's Microsoft/the biggest? I doubt it. I'm sure it's got to do with the fact that they have a known history of taking advantage of the end user and inserting their own monopoly in anti-competitive practices. I'm sure that if the EU wins, Apple will be scrutinised more closely.

All of this aside, it's a great idea - half the reason that IE exploits = Windows exploits is because the browser is so tightly integrated with the OS (IE <-> WE). If the browser would be a completely *seperate* application, most of these problems would disappear. I understand why they did it from a useability point of view, but it just doesn't work any more, so they should stop.

@ Knifaphobia!!!!!

That's nothing. Last time I went through Edinburgh Turnhouse, I was careful to not have anything pointy or slicey with me - only to discover a (WHSmith?) on the 'secure' side was selling Gillette Mach 3 razors and spare razor blades. Why am I not allowed to bring my own, and yet I'm allowed to buy a new (and therefore probably a lot sharper) one on the other side of the checkpoint?

@ Morons!

"Another point worth mentioning though, is that it makes no sense what so ever that they're being prosecuted. The bank screwed up, isn't that what they're insured for?!"

Errr... are you stupid? They knew the money wasn't theirs, they knew that the error would probably be noticed and rectified quite quickly, and they knew their correct course of action as law-abiding (note that term) citizens would be to report it and wait, and yet they grabbed the cash, quit their jobs, and vanished with it - that's called theft. If I gave my wallet to you, that's one thing - but if I leave my wallet in your house by mistake, and you leg it with my cash and max out my credit cards, that's quite another.

Good grief

"the solutions are better parenting and education rather than technological silver bullets"

AND THE AWARD FOR BLEEDINGLY OBVIOUS CONCLUSION OF THE MONTH GOES TO...

Hygiene?

Touchscreen this, touchscreen that - it's not necessarily intuitive, it's not necessarily the best solution, and it's not necessarily hygienic, especially if you let other people use it, and more so if either or both of you have a cold. What's this obsession that everything has to be touched to be used? Fine for mobile devices, I suppose - not regarding the caveats above - but I quite like the keyboard/mouse/monitor paradigm: I don't want to look DOWN to see my screen, but I don't want to reach UP to use my controls, either. Seperate control and viewing mechansims are a great solution. Oh, I'm sure on larger devices you could have a primary screen for viewing and a touchscreen for controlling, but that kind of defeats the purpose, and invalidates all those years of learning to touch-type (a skill that seems to be lost amongst the younger generations anyway, so I suppose it's irrelevent).

Er, </rant>.

"Buffling"

Personally I don't use any of those terms - at least, I've not noticed it - but I have noticed them in common use more and more often. On a related note, are you sure "buffling" isn't just a typo (intentional or otherwise) of "bluffing"?

Missed opportunity

"The worm is notable because once it takes hold of a machine it patches the vulnerability to prevent competing attackers from taking hold of the same valuable resource."

You have to wonder why security companies don't just release their own self-replicating versions of the patcher. The blithering hordes of people with unpatched machines who let these things replicate could them also be used as a great way of spreading countermeasures: "Come to F-Secure and get yourself infected with a 'good' virus!"

Actually, that's a pretty good biological analogy, taking the virus thing one step further.

Paris 'cos most computer users these days are as clueless as she is.

@ autorun can be globally disabled

I'm amazed that people constantly forget about the useful and sometimes extremely powerful built-in diagnostic and administrative tools in Windows (2000 and up, particularly XP, don't know about Vista), such as gpedit.msc, services.msc, msconfig, etc. While it's true that I don't widely advertise these to users who are likely to do more harm than good, any sysadmin worth his/her/its salt surely knows about and how to use these tools. They can do most things that any third-party admin utility can do; granted, the interfaces aren't always intuitive or user-friendly, but you'd think they'd tweak the settings (via reg or bat, maybe) and either make a profile or a user image that they'd roll out on new machines with these settings already in place. It's not like any of this is new; welcome to 2002 (XP) or 1999 (Win2K).

Not just schools

Re-read the article, substituting "oversight committees" for "teachers", "governments" for "schools" and "ministers" for "pupils". Sad, innit?

Yay! But 1394?

Glad to hear it, and it's about bloody time we got a bandwidth upgrade for local devices, but what will Firewire be looking like by the time this is released? Will the battle for supremacy never end?

"DOS criminalised"

I looked at the URL and thought "about bloody time" but it turns out it's DoS, not DOS...

@ Fermi Paradox

You should read Stephen Baxter's Manifold Trilogy (Time, Space, Origin); it deals with three different interpretations to explain the Fermi Paradox and is damn good reading. Sadly, the Fermi Paradox seems all too likely.

"a solution for all the parents out there being harassed for big ticket items by our kids"

Well, if you are "being harassed for big ticket items by [y]our kids", you're a bad parents - you shouldn't be letting your kids harass you. Teach the swine a bit of discipline! Kids these days are either impoverished and socially maligned, or spoiled rotten, neither of which is good. Your child shouldn't "harass" you about things - especially "big ticket items" - and you as a parent shouldn't be feeling "harassed". Maybe tell them no? Make a deal, they'll get the "big ticket" item if they understand it's "big ticket" and maybe do something to EARN such an amazing gift? Sheesh. It's no wonder society is going down the drain hole.

Learn from Bob!

As a former teacher of English as a foreign language, and part-time online grammar nazi, this news saddens me. We could all learn a thing or two from Bob's attitude towards grammar.

http://www.theworldaccordingtokang.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/bob-the-angry-flower.gif

http://www.angryflower.com/plural.gif

http://www.angryflower.com/destro.gif

http://www.angryflower.com/itsits.gif

Technology lacking?

Honestly, I don't give a shit if the technology is lacking, because at least if private ventures are being made - given the precarious state of NASA and the lack of excitement in the ESA et al - then that at least provides some hope for the future. I have always and do still firmly believe that space is the way forward (eggs in one basket syndrome aside), and I'm glad to see that the human race as a whole hasn't given up on trying to get there. I don't care whether it's public or private, or what sort of technology is proud - success in space will breed commercial sponsorship which will enable technology research. The only thing missing is a starting point to get this ball rolling, and private ventures such as this can provide such a starting point. Reid Malenfant would be proud.

Uh...

"Also, Microsoft has heard that Windows Vista was a resource hog."

Oh, THEY only just realised that now?

"The company is scaling down the code base and tickling up performance to run on netbooks and existing PCs - so you need to buy a replacement machine."

Based on what you're saying, surely that should be "so you DON'T need to"?

@ James Dunmore

"for once, microsoft, do something innovative"

What, you mean like the whole Start button paradigm which defined a whole generation of operating systems (including most GUI/WIMP applications on Linux)? Maybe you're just so used to it now you've forgotten whose it was. No, I'm not pro-Microsoft, but I am anti-moron.

"the exposure is equivalent to that experienced by being outside on a sunny summer's day in the UK"

So, not much to be worried about then?

Personally, I keep a lizard, so I have these bulbs running for 14 hours a day. Of course, they're behind glass which kills most of it, and UVB doesn't travel that far anyway, and I'm hard-pressed to think of circumstances where you'd be in such close contact with one. Do people actually use these in desk lamps?

Remote access/IP question

Or... and here's a really wild guess... he could have been using web-based remote admin software, such as LogMeIn (which is actually pretty good - logmein.com) so he wouldn't have to know the IP address he was connecting from, since it's remote machine <-> LMI server <-> remote user. It's really not a difficult concept, people, so stop giving yourself hernias about it.

"What's the tech angle? You're reading this on the internet."

Ouch. You people are getting nasty. I didn't fight through two world wars... etc.

"...in the UK's capitol."

Er, the UK doesn't have a capitol. While the US capital (Washington) has a capitol (the government building occupied by the state legislature, where the United States Senate and the House of Representatives meet), the UK's capital doesn't have a capitol. Please get it right next time, and try not to write in ALL CAPITOLS...

Or, to put it into perspective,

USA: 162 USDbn / pop. 303.8 = 0.53 USD/person

UK: 44.3 USDbn / pop. 60.9m = 0.73 USD/person

Source: CIA World Factbook

So, we can take one of two things from this. Either Brits spend more, per capita*, than Americans... or Brits pay 25% more for electronics. You choose.

* yes I know that these are bad statistics, because the population figures include the young, the very old, and other marginal groups who aren't big technology spenders. But we all KNOW that we get roylly fucked for technology prices in the UK, so stick with the spirit of the thing, okay?

Chrome-o-drome?

Oh, El Reg, how you disappoint. After "mobe" I was expecting something invigorating, like "Chromosphere".

@ huh?

"So this product encourages the coathanger man to check his email while driving as he's cruising up the M6 on his mobile?"

I didn't realise you could cruise up the M6 on your mobile. Is it one of those new HTCs with the fold-out wheels?