* Posts by John McEchron

12 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Feb 2008

Rethinking the iPhone

John McEchron
Jobs Horns

Overkill?

I'm disappointed the author didn't look at any non-Apple solutions. I have a Droid on Verizon with outstanding coverage for voice and data, even in the middle of Iowa farm country, and I only pay $65/month plus tax. My voice plan doesn't have 1000 minutes, but with free nights, weekends, and calls to other Verizon customers (almost everyone I know since AT&T coverage is terrible in the rural midwest) I have never had a problem going over my monthly 300-minute talk time allowance.

The no-contract advantage is one I can't beat. Luckily, I don't mind as I don't have any plans to switch carriers or lust after other slightly-better phones until LTE/4G is available in my area.

Android rebellion: How to tame your stupid smartphone

John McEchron
Thumb Down

Cause: User Error

I dunno what is different across the pond, but it sounds like it must suck to live in the UK. I've had two Droids myself and never seen any of these problems. My wife recently got an R2D2 and it took her all of 15 minutes to set everything up and sync her contacts and Yahoo email account. This was her first smartphone or touchscreen device, but the only difficulty she had was accidentally pressing the back button when typing.

I read the Reg specifically because it tends to avoid the mass marketing/media FUD of American news sources, so it is very disappointing to see such flamebait posted without at least a /sarcasm tag.

Iowa police mugshot exposes world's worst tattoo

John McEchron
FAIL

Duh

Did you not see the word "ROCK" in both tattoos? 93.5 used to play "alternative rock" 10 years ago when these dumbasses got their tats, but now it's just another ClearChannel station endlessly replaying RIAA-approved hip-hop.

Bill would let feds block pirate websites worldwide

John McEchron
Thumb Down

who pays?

Policing the entire series of tubes that make up the internet would require employing a ton of plumbers. I hope the bill at least includes a hefty charge/bribe for disabling each site the RIAA/MPAA requests the government to kill.

F*ck you, thunders disgruntled fanboi Apple user

John McEchron

and the fanboi says...

well, I can't jump because I always get stuck in some hipster-pose with my hair spread out. Then my iPod starts glowing white and I can't move again for at least 30 seconds - like I'm waiting for some random iTunes task to complete.

Academics gripe about Windows 7 promo collapse

John McEchron
Gates Halo

Worked OK for me

I had no problems with the download manager or extraction tools, and it was very simple to just burn the contents of the "expanded setup" folder to a DVD. I haven't tried a clean install yet, but the order website was plastered with warnings that this deal was for an Upgrade-Only license.

Microsoft thinks it can sell one copy of Windows 7 for every four people

John McEchron
WTF?

Magical pirate conversion?

"Microsoft hopes to sell 14 million copies of Windows 7 ... buoyed by the response from its 15 million beta testers, only eight million of which were actually legit users..."

Lemme get this straight - M$ expects that out of 7 Million people who pirated the FREE Win7 Beta, 85% will PAY for a licensed copy?

Yank slams El Reg 'zio-fruitcake' Playmobil 'crap'

John McEchron
Unhappy

scary

Maybe this is the guy that killed a census worker in rural Kentucky and carved 'FED' in his chest? All you furriners remember, America can be a wonderful place to visit as long as you don't go too deep in the forest. If you find yourself somewhere without wi-fi (or heaven forbid GSM signal), keep your eyes peeled for Tim driving a rusted pickup with Trucknutz.

Israelis' invulnerable, 60-tonne robot bulldozer force to double

John McEchron
Flame

What about the REAL Killdozer?

Comparing this to the fake movie killdozer is an insult to Marvin Heemeyer's true Killdozer. It had over a foot-thick armor of steel and concrete with gunports that survived over 200 rounds of ammunition with no major damage.

The True Confessions of an Election Official

John McEchron
Thumb Up

Thanks from a fellow Iowan

Pete, I voted last Saturday at the First Avenue Hy-Vee in Iowa City and I thank you for making this election such a breeze with early satellite voting. My regular polling place is at City High School, and for the primaries we had people standing in the hall because there literally was no room left to stand in the cafeteria. If we had not been given the opportunity to vote early I am sure that the lines today would be unbearable.

I was sure to thank the poll workers when I voted and I thank you as well. Next time I vote I'll be sure to bring along something for you or your fellow PEO's to snack on.

Iowa man sacked for demanding prostitute

John McEchron

Local info

I live a few miles up the road from Riverside, and this was easily the funniest story of the week. The casino just opened about a year ago, so I'm not surprised they are rewarding staff that have been there since the beginning.

As for the bloke that questioned whether Iowa even has prostitutes, we aren't that wholesome in middle-America. They just busted a prostitution ring in town last month, and our local bars (and strumpets) can be seen in the latest Girls Gone Wild video.

Missing: 80GB PS3. Last seen: Sony's website

John McEchron

Still available from Sony directly

I was still able to order an 80GB PS3 directly from Sony on their rewards website:

http://sonyrewards.com/en/redeem/product/index/4/7?&pid=PS98004&subcategory=9802