Posts by Geoff Campbell

Wow!

That is simultaneously the coolest and most utterly pointless programming project I have seen for about a decade and a half. Absolutely stunning!

GJC

The usual suspects generally use 80% contractors

So, snouts in the trough, boys!

GJC

PAYE dates

P32s for the previous month/quarter need filing by the 21st April, I believe.

GJC

Well, that's a bit of a trick question

OK, it's not a very hard trick, but I suspect quite a lot of adults will have forgotten about the precedence of arithmetic operators. It's not something that gets used in general daily life, so I always use brackets when writing something like that for a non-mathematical audience (which, in my current job, means all the time, writing as I do for a non-technical audience).

It seems rather unfair to me to use that sort of question to measure the arithmetic competence of the general population.

GJC

Meh.

Details, details.

Down-voted for that?

Someone needs to check out their insecurity rating....

GJC

@Ralph

He didn't call for the option to be explored. He called for Macs to be issued, because they work for him at home. That is an idiotic thing to say.

Moreover, I'm glad you don't need external data to know all about Apple reliability. Shame you're wrong, really:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

GJC

I thank you for your sympathy.

However, it is not needed. I still love my Galaxy Tab, and will continue to do so after it is superceded, whether or not I decide to replace it. Such is life in the world of gadgets, I knew exactly what the likely lifespan was when I bought it.

In fact, as per one of the previous posts, I will probably retire it down to one of my children, and replace it, although I think I will probably stick with the 7" form factor if something nice is released in that size. I'm liking the look of the 8.9" Samsung, though, that might be enough to sway me to one of the larger screen sizes.

Now, how about you go away and patronise someone else whilst the adults talk?

GJC

That's not clearance, as such.

I got a similar deal back in November last year, right after the Tab was released. You need to check out the monthly spend as well.

GJC

@Reversie

The Xerox Star was a commercially available personal computer, and cost $16,000 in 1981 - a lot of cash, I grant you. But then, the Lisa cost $10,000 in 1983, so the same sort of ball park given the pace of advance in electronics then and now.

Of course, both of these systems failed because of the price, mostly, as demonstrated by the Macintosh when it released in 1984 (Interesting that Apple seem to have had a twelve month release cycle even back then, now that I look at the dates).

GJC

Toyota customer relations

AC: That's odd, I've bought three new Toyotas, and each time there has been follow-up contact with questionnaires asking all of those questions. Also, the staff at the dealership are keen to spend time with us and chat over aspects of the car and their service.

Overall, I've been very impressed with both Toyota and the dealership, compared to previous experiences with other marques. It helps that their cars are very, very well built, too.

GJC

The CBI doesn't represent the people or the planet.

This is another one of those "So what?" statements, really. You wouldn't expect the CBI to call for higher energy prices, or lower rates of lending, so one is wondering why they think this is news.

GJC

Advent Vega

10" tablet, Android 2.2, very nicely specified, £249 from PC World. So, no, it isn't too much to ask.

Also the Galaxy Tab is available for not a lot over £400 if you look around, so also less than an iPad, albeit not by much.

GJC

IBM ripped off the Apple II?

Get out of town! *Every* small computer of the age followed the same formula, some form of back-plane to connect together various boards, with a motherboard either as part of the backplane board or one of the add-in cards. The Apple II was just another one of the same.

I've got a loft full of examples if you really want me to quote them at you, but it's such common knowledge that I'm loath to put the time in going up there, to be honest.

GJC

Not me either, but it isn't aimed at us.

I reckon this is a (quite stunningly clever, actually) play to get into remote third world communities, where smartphones, laptops, and PCs are just a distant dream.

GJC

PS=pferdestarke

Or, for those who don't speak German, Horsepower. It's not quite that simple, as 1PS is something like 0.996HP, but if you assume them to be equal you won't be too far out.

GJC

Another pricing fail. They seem to be all over El Reg currently.

The Advent Vega 10" tablet is £250, and selling so fast I've not been able to get my hands on a unit. There are various el cheapo ones for a lot less, too, but the Vega is the front runner in price/quality at the moment, from what I hear, in the 10" market.

GJC

@ AC Pricing Fail

"Drop" the price to £150? Even if you meant $150, you fail, because the Kindle is currently £109, and the much better built Sony PRS-305 not much pricier at £130.

GJC

You may find this a curious fact, but....

....it is not absolutely essential to have a degree to perform good work.

GJC

Job security, I call it.

Those of us of a certain age (I was going to say "old", but I guess I'm not the oldest hereabouts by quite a margin) had the good fortune to be born into a Golden Age for computing. We got easy employment when we were young, because our elders didn't understand the new technology. And now we have easy employment as we age, because our juniors can't be bothered to understand the new technology.

It also means my two daughters should be able to conquer the entire planet with nothing more than a small fruit knife in about twenty years.

GJC

Actually, Compaq might have had a problem.

IBM published a source-code listing of the PC-XT BIOS in the Tech Ref manual. IIRC, this was before the first Compaq Deskpro was released (it was a long, long time and many parties ago, so I will be happy to be corrected on this).

AIUI, this would have invalidated any cold-room claim that Compaq tried to make, but back in those innocent days, IBM didn't fight it. If they had had a crystal ball, they might have done so, however.

GJC

There's nothing wrong with a good wank.

Mind you, I suppose that using Windows as the motivation might be a bit wrong.

Actually, I'm slightly puzzled here, and have been for a few years. Apple does one thing very well, which is to take one or more previous bits of technology, and re-engineer it or them into a well integrated, balanced, and often beautiful product. Look at the Macbook Air, the iPad, and various desktop machines, and they are things of beauty, much though it hurts me to admit it.

But where did the iPod, which bankrolled all of this, come from? The early iterations were all arguably worse than the competition in just about all respects, the *only* differentiator was a set of white headphones, which the adverts emphasised. Surely the market isn't facile enough that this was enough to build a brand and complete market dominance on? Please, someone, tell me I'm wrong?

GJC

Nothing happens without a reason

And the reason here, just possibly, could be to keep the subject within the legal system for the foreseeable future, by saddling them with a debt they can never repay.

Or it might be something else. But it's a thought.

GJC

Nah, that's tosh.

There are plenty of boxes out there capable of identifying and mitigating DDoS attacks. I've worked in organisations that came under attack every week, without their customers noticing a thing.

GJC

" find a lawyer who can twist reality and ethics enough to draft such a suit?"

That's what lawyers *do*. And has been since the first lawyer crawled out of the slime.

Consider, if court cases were about ultimate truth and fairness, why would we need lawyers at all?

GJC

I *knew* the Daily Mail would be a bad choice :-)

If it were closed down I would be torn between dancing on its grave, sharing as I do your opinion of it as a newspaper, and going to the barricades to protest against government interference in the free press.

I think, on balance, the latter urge would win out. Perhaps I could take a lunch break from the barricades to do a little grave-dance, or something.

GJC