did they seriously expect

anyone polled in the UK to say

Yes, i believe that the Nazis creating the V2 rocket was the finest techological advancement of our age

scarey

Lying to someone in order to have sex with them is illegal?

@pablo

it's quite easy, some complete fools actually set their my documents folder as the destination for downloaded files, automatically sharing everything in it.

@jon 72

"At least nobody has suggested changing the world time to decimal.."

Now wait just a centon... you're clearly not a battlestart Galactica fan!

I have had to use decimal time at work for years, all because the professionally* created time recording software, wasn't designed to handle time properly

*some kind of profession, clearly not software development though.

faraday cage

while actively jamming the signals might not be allowed, it shouldn't be that much trouble to convert the exterior of a completely controlled environment into a Faraday cage. The only issue i can see is that it would also block the guards phones/radios outside of the prison. But then that's what hard lines are there for, as they can be secured.

great security

[quote]

smart card, used in conjunction with the hand scanners: the iris-checking system will be available as back-up where there is any doubt as to the identity of the would-be construction worker.

[/quote]

So, if the easily forged fingerprint check fails(see mythbusters for how easy fingerprint scanners are to fool), only then do they use the slightly more secure iris system. Although, not to try and stereotype too much, I'm sure builders, in general, are an extremely trustworthy bunch who wouldn't dream of doing anything extra for a bit of 'cash in hand'. So proving that the person walking in is actually who you hired may not be that useful.

@teecee

HD Ready is used, because there isn't a TV on the market at the moment (in the UK, and that i know of) that can actually receive a HD broadcast, they all need some type of external HD source.

Once the HD freeview spec is properly finalised, and integrated into tv's recieving 1080p i'm sure we'll be seeing 'full HD' stickers.

am i alone

in thinking that if microsoft had just released 1 disk, that had both 64bit and 32bit on, all of this would have been solved with vista.

when installing default to the processor type, and have an advanced button to swiitch back to 32bit if you really want to. Make it an exception to have 32bit, rather than the default. Maybe people will actually start writing a few 64bit apps if the majority install base goes 64bit.

depends

if google are scanning a paper copy and then publishing that digitally, they are very much infringing on the copyright of the paper version.

The digital distribution argument only holds water if they are copying a digital version!

no offense?

"The victims, meanwhile, will escape a legal knuckle-rap since they "had not committed an offence"

isn't attempting to counterfiet money an offense? That they were unsuccessful in producing a viable copy (and complete morons) shouldn't matter that much should it?

tom maddox has the right idea

the major problem with linux that i've found, is that it's a complete and total ballache to install anything.

Yes if it's in a repository and someone else has sorted it all out for you, its as easy as ticking a box. The problem comes when it's not in one, if your unlucky you might even have to downlaod half a dozen libraries and compile it yourself, and some of the libraries will conflict with others, and so on!

@Northern Monkey & Others

"Just because computers are getting faster does not mean we should write our code less well, less efficiently 'because we have room too'. Write the same streamlined efficient code you wrote for old, "slow", memory challenged machines "

This sort of thing shows you up as 'not a software developer' or if you are, please god don't let you be one that i have to work with.

Old 'streamlined' software, was streamlined because it had to be, it sacrificed stability and maintainability in order to maintain execution speed and a small memory footprint. People don't write code that streamlined anymore 'on purpose' as it leads to problems. It's often easier to re-write large chunks of it than make the smallest updates. People were writing it like that because they absolutely had to, not because they wanted to!

Would you rather your software crashed constantly, or whenever it did just gave you an unhandled exception, like in the good old days? Or would that the coder used a few, extremely innefficcient, checks on responses to make sure it either continued working, or gave meaningful errors.

As a developer, i know it's much slower to read things dynamically from config files, than to hard code them, but i still read them dynamically, as it means i can update them in seconds, rather than searching for masses of hard coded values, and recompiling the whole lot.

Remember the Y2k bug, 2 digit dates were used to streamline memory usage and processing power as it was expensive back then! If that happened again with modern code (significant change to the date format), i would hope it would just be a small update to the date type/class and a recompile.

Perhaps kernel code is different, but any halfway competant developer of most other software will be continually sacrificing execution speed and memory usage, for maintainability and stability, not just because they feel like it. Functions, no chance, all that mucking about swapping values on and off the stack is inefficient! Try/catch blocks are horrifically inefficient, but the core functionality of most error trapping!

There are reasons that companies/banks hire armies of assembler developers to make the smallest changes to their batch processing, as small inefficiencies can make hours of difference in those volumes, but it takes a long time to make negligibly small changes, and is mostly indecipherable to another person without taking a lot of time to investigte. Not to mention the smallest error causes the whole thing to fall over.

Yes, some software is inefficient without any need, and that should be eliminated, but don't just assume that because newer software has more of an overhead, and runs slower than older stuff, that there is necessarily anything wrong with it!

can't see it myself

a wireless router inside the car, that connects wirelessly with a 3g network, it kind of makes sense if you spend a massive amount of time ferrying you entire family all over the country, and the signal could be guaranteed. Otherwise it seems a bit of a waste. Otherwise why pay the subscription?

I can sort of see the use, having any wi-fi device be able to tie into the 3g network, but having to tie it to a car as well seems a bit of a waste, on the other hand a portable 3g wireless router, that could connect to any wi-fi device rather than needing a usb connection, would be worth it. It could even have a cigarette lighter adapter so it would work in any car.

we are currently

rolling out xp service pack 3, i have been told that we will go straight to 7 at some point, but personally i cant see it.

I have installed 7 (RC)twice on my machine, i like it, but in both cases i have been annoyed enough by serious niggles, to the point where i've wiped it and put xp back. I assume a higher spec machine would be fine, but the netbook i used is higher spec than every single pc we have at work.

I can't see any valid busines reason for switching, especially considering the sheer number of custom apps that would need testing, even if they didn't need changing. I wonder if Microsoft will certify visual studio 2.2 to run on windows 7 without any issue whatsoever? As porting all our code to visual studio 6 would be a massive undertaking, nevermind 2008. It would be better to rewrite from scratch, but no business will approve that without a 'damn good reason'

hmm

"help raise awareness about the plight of endangered arachnid species worldwide"

Does that mean i shouldn't be beating them to death with a shoe/phonebook everytime they get into my house?

even better

would be to remove the mag stripes from cards, which are negligibly easy to skim.

video calling?

it was one of the features of 3g, pretty much all 3g phones did it on launch. However, despite it being available for years, i don't think i've ever known a single person to use it.

playstations

After the mistake sony made with the original playstations, and their massive failure rate, i wouldn't expect them to do it again and carefully design for possible heat damage.

with microsoft not having a problem with it before they probably weren't as aware of it as Sony. I'd expect their next console to be a lot more robust as well.

pcworld have their place

they don't seem to play to it though. They are pretty much the only pc retailer with a physical presence!

i've used them twice that i can think of, both times have been for emergency kit replacements on a sunday morning, order online then set off to pick up.

I knew i could walk in and buy something i needed then and there, even if it was a little more expensive. however, if i didn't need it that day, i'd probably go somewhere else.

to take another direction

What the hell is the point of fining somebody on benefits! seriously!

It'll probably cost more than that in admin and processing to transfer the money from one government department, then out to him and then back to the other.

FSF are blind to reality

The big companies are never going to switch, as the costs involved in continuing with windows are trivial compared to the amount of money it will cost to switch.

I work in the IT department of a big bank, contrary to what people have said, the business does not run on office or powerpoint, these are merely conveniences. It runs on hundreds, if not thousands, of custom built applications, in our case some 40+ year old mainframe, some 20+ year old borland c, some visual c, some visual c++, visual basic, c#, web apps etc. These applications are specifically designed and tailored towards the way the company operates, and all interact with each other to provide the user experience. There is no way that an off the shelf third party system, even open source, could replicate this, without being custom built. Every single one of these would need to be redeveloped (not necessarily a bad thing, but expensive and time consuming)

A very large number of companies use custom applications, built to suit their business methods and processes, and these are the lifeblood, not generic office applications. And a company cannot afford to have bugs in their applications, which means testing. Lots of testing.

We have to submit applications to weeks of full regression testing, everytime we compile something, even if we didn't make any changes! As we can't risk that an application falls over because a rarely used linked library was missed, or a decimal point put in the wrong place. This is why it takes companies years to change OS, when you can do it in an afternoon.

The end users, ie branch staff, don't care as their machines are so locked down they barely see the OS. As long as they can still use the counter applications, get their mail/meetings through some outlook/exchange equivalent, and get on the net It makes absolutely no difference. The office staff, with a bit more freedom, would notice the difference, but again, as long as the applications are there and aren't too different, they'll get by.

Then comes the interesting bit, you've spent years developing and testing all these changes, you're absolutely sure it all works, all your access controls, software deployment mechanisms work. How do you get it out to your users? You can't push out a full rebuild over the network to hundreds of thousands of pc's in one night, even if you could, what if it went wrong? You would have to do it slowly, which means the two systems also have to be able to co-exist, all the access and applications you had on windows, have to be available on linux, and as you may move you have to be able to interchangeably log on to either type of machine without it impacting your work.

Yes Linux is a possibility for a corporate desktop, and if you were setting a new corporation up it would have to be given serious consideration, but for any large organisation, that is already using windows, I can't see anyone giving it a serious consideration unless it can be made completely interchangeable with a windows box within their existing network.

I'd have to say

It'd be a pretty last resort before calling microsoft in to help with a problem with an in house application. You;d have to have exhaisted every possible option yourselves, even if it was free!

I think we've had to call them in only once, and that was only when we couldn't get some microsoft tools and IBM tools, supposedly using exactly the same standards, to work with each other. And that was only to get a microsoft rep and IBM rep in the same room at the same time to try to resolve what the incompatabilities between their two bits of software were.

@beefstirfry

"Same goes for XP and/or Windows 7. If they ever make it uncrackable, and you have no choice but to pay for it, then I'll spend more time investigating Linux OS like Ubuntu."

I can't see that happening, i can't even see why Microsoft care so much about windows piracy, it's not like they automatically sell a copy of it with 90% + of all pc's sold!

If it's made uncrackable, people simply just won't upgrade anymore, if many ever did, there may even be more of a stink kicked up about OEM licences being non-transferrable, to give you an idea I have a copy of 95, 98, 2000, an xp home, and xp pro, an XP x64, a vista 32 premium, and a vista 64 premium. The only 2 i've bought are the x64 versions (reasonably cheap), the rest all came "free" with the machines i've had over the years, i'm not exactly spoiled for choice if i don't want to pay for 7!

I'm just amazed that Microsoft don't alter their pricing structure to take account of nearly everyone already owning some version, and elliminate most piracy overnight. I'll not pay £140 for any full windows 7, i'll not pay £60-70 for an upgrade on each machine, but i'm pretty sure i'd shell out £25 a time in an instant to upgrade all of my machines!

outstanding!

There is still a question about the future of the building i work in following a takeover, and there have been a number of dropped comments from the higher ups, such as an extra hours drive isn't an unreasonable commute.

I think an extra hours drive might be a bit of an issue, if you don't happen to drive!

I'm waiting for UK pricing on the "family" pack

I don't think it's that unusual, but i have a desktop, a laptop and a netbook pc. Although I don't really have any particular need to upgrade, if the price is reasonable i'll probably get it to bring them all in line. I currently have xp on the netbook, vista 32 on the 64bit laptop (how nice of HP!) and vista 64 on my desktop

At least the 32bit/64bit versions are combined now so i don't have to worry about that.

Is this the same as Chuck?

I got that off the net when first broadcast in america, and it seems to use a different system for it's 3d to everything else available, apart from the superbowl :)

"Complete loose-stool-water,

Arse-gravy of the very worst kind"

Although if i'd gained that kind of accolade, i'd have to print the quote on the book jacket!

It's not that surprising, at the height of it's popularity, the number of people i had describing the da-vinci code it as one of the best books ever written, was unbelievable. Only to get it and think, meh! It was never really aimed at the sort of peopel who buy books and keep them long term.

personally

i just stick on a dvd or blu-ray and tweak it til it looks right, i don't really care how it's setup as long as it looks good to me.

I've tried proper setups, as THX dvd's tend to have a THX calibration option on them, but it usually looks wrong to me afterwards, either too dark, dodgy contrast or odd colours.

@Anonymous John

As the article says, it is a lot less dense than jupiter. twice the size, but half the mass, suggests that it's got a lot more empty space in it, it could even be made of much heavier elements than jupiter, just less of it and very spread out.

in all fairness

to the Chinese, i'd trust that nice Nigerian man, who's been emailing me about wanting to deposit 10 million dollars into my bank account if i'd just send him my account number and sort code, more than most politicians.

i take it

the ASA don't watch a lot of childrens tv if they have a problem with a bit of innuendo. it might be different these days but it used to be nothing but, and the children were completely oblivious.

family pack!

i work in IT i have 3 pc's myself! The family pack sounds like it would be a nice option for a full upgrade, if it's released in europe, and if it stays at that price.

but it's only really useful if it's mixed, ie if i can install the 64bit version on my 2 64bit machines and the 32bit version on my netbook. I'd really hoped windows 7 was going to be the big step towards 64bit that vista was supposed to be, but most people will probably stick with 32bit, despite the majority of processors now being 64bit.

i have picked up with vista that you can't use a 32bit key to install from a 64bit disc.

@j ford

i did read the article, i just didn't believe that anybody, however gullible, could be stupid enough to really think that they were skint tourists

anybody who falls for these things, falls for it through greed, nothing more.

ahh, this old chestnut

Cheating someone who is clearly attempting to buy stolen goods. Aren't conmen like these actually performing a public service?

If you try to buy an ipod off a random man in the street, you know it's not exactly legit. If you are conned you deserve everything you get, for all you know someone could have been killed being mugged for that ipod!

does anyone know

if windows 7 defaults to showing file extensions, i can't remember, but it's about due time for this silly security hole to be plugged.

Exploits like this really shouldn't catch anybody out anymore, especially with all the warnings that you get trying to run downloaded executable code these days.

i wonder

how long iot will be before someone who has completely doused themselves with petrol, and is threatening to light themselves, is 'calmed down' by a bit of gentle tasering.

i should really be surprised that the police don't know not to introduce sparks near flammable substances, especially petrol with a flammable vapour, but sadly i'm not.

@g-ham 2000

as you say, it's not the removal of the book that was really the issue, you have hit the nail on the head with saying it was all around amazon's communication, or lack of. If they had simply pushed out a message saying

we are sorry, but they ownership of this book, provided by a third party, has come into question, so we have been compelled to withdraw it until the ownership has been established. In compensation we have refunded to your account what you have paid for the book, and when the ownership is established and the current situation resolved we will be happy to add the book back into your account for free.

i can guarantee a message like that would have made this a non-issue, and if they had also added a credit to your account amounting to the average price of a book, to sweeten it, they would have been praised on the way they handled a difficult situation.

@SuperTim

<Quote>If he left the "gratuity" field blank? cos if i was a waiter, i would add 24 quadrillion to some snot-nosed punks bill!</Quote>

You never know, he may have been from the UK and believe that you actually have to earn a tip by providing excellent service, rather than automatically be entitled to one no matter what!

I have to agee with others though, it's a good job it was so high it was silly, as if it was a coupel of hundred you'd never get them to admit it was an error.

pc world at it's best

whats the point in a pc health check right be fore you install a fresh OS?

hard for others to catch up?

what others? it's not like you have a wealth of other vendors to choose from when getting applications for an iphone or ipod touch (legitimately anyway).

although i too would like to see the stats on how many were free downloads, in all the time i've had my iphone i've downloaded hundreds of apps, but only bought 1, for 59p. I then discovered a free alternative that was far superior.

it's only a javascript bug

so no-script will sort it.

@Patrick 14

try buying a decent one!

I find my MSI wind perfectly fine for 99% of the tasks i used to use my desktop for, certainly video & dvd playback is fine, even when output to my 1080p tv, i honestly wasn't expecting it to be able to cope! It has become my main machine over both desktop and notebook, simply because i can stop what i am doing at any point, about 30secs to hibernate, and stick it in a coat pocket or bag to take with me.

I can even play 3d games with it, just not the most recent ones. Aside from having intel graphics, it's pretty much identical spec to my old gaming laptop, just with a small screen.

The only gripe i have with it, is that i'm used to multi core machines now, and it appears to be sluggish doing some things compared to them because of this.

aren't lcd panels...

... actually pretty cheap, personally i don't have much of an issue with price fixing, if they are fixing it at a low level

second class citizens?

not quite, but they are not entitled to your company's employee benefits, as they aren't employed by your company. Please remember, this is an external company that you are contracting to do a specific piece of work for you, even if that company is a single person. Unless there is a specific reason for it, they shouldn't really even be allowed on the premises*.

Why should you invite somebody, who works for another company, into your company's strategy meetings, or give them any employee perks.

*I'm willing to bet that most of their tax returns say they work from home!

Seriously??

Hollywood will "create a plot from scratch"?

Please tell me there will be a film crew present to record this unprecedented event.

i've bought a lot this year

but none of it has been particularly recent, and most of it down to getting a blu-ray player at christmas.

I can't actually think of what decent films have been released this year, i'll probably get watchmen when released, but i can't think of much else worth buying. Last year didn't have a massive number of releases worth buying either, maybe 3 or 4.

I wonder if the studios, and others, realise that sales naturally fall off as the market is saturated. people who buy dvd's generally will now have all the currently available films and will only buy new releases. No decent releases means the number of people buying them falls off.

not surprising

This is the same government that claimed there was no need whatsoever for kitchen knives to have points, and tried to ban those too. I'd love to see them try and open a packet of shrink wrapped bacon without using a knife point.

Knives are such useful tools, that any form of banning would be a nightmare, as someone above mentioned, buying online is sometimes the only way to get a decent knife. and before anyone raises it, yes a 'real' chef's knife can make life in the kitchen a lot easier when compared to the £10 supermarket kitchen knives, and they are very unlikely to be sold in high street shops.

hmm, odd

As a normal user, i can't say that I've spotted any obvious differences (ok, the new + tab), but then again, some of my normal sites seem to be rendered slightly differently. I'm buggered if i could tell you how though.

I'm not sure what the big deal is to be honest, if this came out as a standard auto update i probably wouldn't even have noticed it.

more would be gained

by making it so that people don't get a laptop as standard, only as an exception. 90% of the people i see with work laptops, don't actually need them. they move between different company sites, where they could easily log onto a company desktop. Or they work from home, where they could be set-up with a desktop at home. Very few people really need one away from certain fixed locations, and those few times that they actually do could be served by a shared machine scrubbed back to a base image after each use.

One, quick solution would be to put a networked desktop machine into every meeting room, that would remove the need to have a laptop just to give a presentation, for some strange reason fixed projectors are there, but no-one ever connects a pc to them.

it's just a shame that being high up in a company seems to automatically grant the use of a laptop, regardless of need, which are also the numpties most likely to do something stupid with one.