Posts by Register Reader

Huh?

"Department for Education and Skills was renamed the Department for Children, Schools, and Families with Ed Balls MP at the helm"

Surely there can't be that many families with Ed Balls MP at the helm??

I'll get me coat..

ISPs taking a larger role

I think that if all ISPs started filtering out spam at its source then that would give us a lot more bandwidth to play with. Though we'd have to pay more for the processing power that they need to stop the spam. I like how the FBI or whoever it was had released code to patch up people's machines automatically though, it's really what needs to be done now.

Alternatively, we could nuke Microsoft? Problem solved..

BAMS

Don't BAMS usually have their girlfriends or mates in the front, and even more mates in the back? Presumably this is to get better traction as they blast away from the lights at mind numbing[ly slow] speeds in their 1.2 litre Corsas?

Will they be fitting these machines with Plain Old Telephone Systems? I just want to see the acronym BAMPOTS being used in a military context.

Don't forget that you're only allowed to fly one of these things if you have a burberry patterned helmet.

Hmm..

How long before Intel bring out their 'Asbo' mobile phone chipset?

Look for a file

"Look for a File - Spotlight locks up

Look for a File - Spinning Beach Ball of wait n wait n wait n wait .....

Look for a File - Finder CRASHES REPEATEDLY!"

Funny how that's never happened to me, eh. Sensational, almost. Doesn't sound like it's the file system at fault anyway, more your install of Spotlight?

HA!!!

That exchange of words was the funniest thing I've read all week XD It's very true to life as well, you should be a writer (if you're not already) ;)

what are you saving?

"Another tactic that I've clued into is the habit of receiving coupons on upcoming sales for 10-12% off only to find out once I'm in the store that items I'm interested in have mysteriously risen in price by 5% comparable to other stores in my area. So what exactly are you saving?!!!"

5.5%?

Wow..

Pre emptive windows bashing.. someone saying that you can't choose when to download Windows updates.. are people really this ignorant and pathetic? Yep..!! :P I love Mac and Linux more than Windows but this whole debate is pointless. It's good that the patches are out there. As a Macbook Pro owner I'm happy with the way Apple did things, and I will feel more secure while using OS X than using Windows any day..

"Who downloads an entire CD from iTunes? (or other sources)"

People who don't just listen to whatever music is currently in the charts, of course! I have been disappointed with albums occasionally when buying them on impulse, but you grow to like them. Whereas most singles are good for the first few listens but can get old pretty fast, especially if you always hear them being played on the radio. The best songs are the ones that don't hit you immediately, that you suddenly one day realise that you identify with for some reason. Well, that's all just my opinion of course. And I won't even see a reply because El Reg doesn't notify you of other comments being posted (will go check the settings just now just in case you can turn notifications on..)

hacked copter?

what makes you think that these choppers will have any means of external input at all? I would think that is just a security risk.. quite possibly there would be some signal you can use to cause it to self destruct in emergencies (that could be randomised each time you send it out so as to reduce chances of the enemy being able to set it off..), but any other means of control shouldn't be necessary.

Why would you even be bothered?

"I'd be happy with this, if the data was safe from governments. If its not, then I'm a bit worried."

Seriously, why does it even matter? Unless you're a terrorist of course. Oh noes! The government knows the day I was born! AND they know I like big tits! Aieeee!!

$7 billion a year?

I know that's 'only' £3.6 billion, but you'd think they'd have come up with something a bit better than an OS that takes 15 minutes to delete a file.. unbelievable..

This is Madness!!

Madness? THIS. IS. SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Sorry, had to do that.. good idea evil Tom, but when you start mentioning open source software I think you're getting outside the realms of what any of those officials will know about (well, most of them), better to keep it about networks, and restrict the length so that they'll actually read it all! It was entirely unreasonable what happened, *especially* because the owner of the network didn't sound bothered at all..

What format are your MP3s?

What format are your MP3s and AACs? I recently re-ripped my collection after getting some Sennheiser headphones and the quality on the treble seems pretty good with 192kbps MP3s, though I haven't conducted extensive tests!

Bram Jan Streefland

That is quite possibly the coolest name that has ever been assigned to a humanoid creature. Zaphod Beeblebrox would have nothing on this guy.

Nuts

"I watched a program last night about food standards in the big supermarket chains here in the UK. It was nuts. The conditions in which food is packaged and served to us in the UK is shocking."

I guess that's why everything says "may contain traces of nuts" on the packaging?

Sad..

"Gone are the days when visitors are happy looking at animals and matching them with the information on the sign boards"

Wha? I would think that would be more interesting than having everything spoonfed to you. I can see the benefits, but we're getting far too lazy these days. I sound like an old man, don't I? I'm 23 btw :P

"it's passed straight through!"

"it's passed straight through his ahrse!!" hehe

cool

Get one of these http://www.firebox.com/product/1420?src_t=t20 and attach a webcam and you have the same thing (probably even longer battery life, though I don't know how it fares outside in the wind). Attach some kind of high velocity missile/BB gun attachment, and you can go hunting for police choppers :D How long before all crime and anti-crime is done by remote control toys? I look forward to the next era of combined Cops/Robot Wars on TV!! :P

huh?

Here in the UK, I can set my cruise control that high too. And they do use 'chav' in Edinburgh, though ned is preferred around the rest of Scotland AFAIK. I'd never heard of chavs until about 5 years ago.

Yanks comment?

Sorry, wasn't aware that all yanks have a drug problem.. sounds more like something you'd think other people thought was a problem, but you're so out of touch that you don't actually know what we *do* think are the problems.. that's one of the problems.. ;) But seriously, when I think of medication I don't tend to think of America. If you said cocaine then sure, but pills, not so much :P

What were you expecting?

I've always liked Spiderman, and I wasn't expecting any Dicken like plot.. this movie is based on a COMIC BOOK for crying out loud! And anyone who actually likes Spiderman will already know the loose plo of what happens with Venom. I remember seeing the scene on the cartoon series where he gets rid of Venom in the clock tower. The film didn't do it quite as well in my opinion, but I found it entertaining nevertheless. Thinking about it, it did get me emotionally involved in Peter's troubles and problems with the venom symbiont - the emotional depth wasn't the same as the first film, but it was still pretty good, and the plot was adequate. There's only so much you can do with Spiderman without inventing new villains and plots. You have to tell the core story first though. Maybe they'll come up with new stuff later, but then it will be slammed for not being 'classic' Spiderman, unless maybe Steve Ditko and Stan Lee write it (they'd better hurry though, they're getting a bit long in the tooth!).

Huh?

Why do you need to use the numbers when you can just have a database table with for example

34734923947 | Broken leg

and then they can type in 'broken leg' and the computer will substitute the numbers in later (possibly verifying with the user first in case they made a spelling mistake or whatever). Typing in arcane numbers like that is just insane...?

WTF..

I used to want to make a map of my high school to play Quake DM in. It doesn't mean I actually wanted to kill anyone (though I thought it would be funny to have the teachers as monsters on the map for a single player version..). This is really sad, punishing the guy for something that should be encouraged - making 3D maps/models is a useful skill that he could use/develop to get a decent job.. I can see the mum getting worried though, if he's always sitting by himself in a darkened room shooting people in a virtual high school, with swords on his walls etc.. but :/ still pretty retarded to expel him for this!!

What the..

How is this any more of a risk than employees using email, or talking to people on the phone? What is so different about social networking sites that suddenly employees are going to start talking about company secrets rather than just catching up with their friends. What a load of tosh, as El Reg would say..

Okay..

I'm assuming you don't have a job, then.

Err..

"Windows doesn't need re-installing every six months either. I'm sat posting this comment from a machine that was last formatted over a year ago, installed with Windows XP and has since had a Vista Upgrade install done on it as well and it's working perfectly fine (and no, I'm not some Windows zealot either, I spend most of my day working with Linux)."

So what you're saying is.. you had XP for presumably around 6 months, then Vista too.. so you've kinda re-installed Windows on average every 6 months.

You do need to reinstall Windows at least every couple of years if you install/uninstall lots of stuff.. it just gets clogged up with crap. Admittedly that could be attributed to the third party app developers, but it still holds true that you have to do that in Windows in normal use (in my experience). Obviously for those that aren't always installing games etc then it won't be so bad, but for normal family or gaming use, machines tend to work a lot better with a fresh start every so often. Even a couple of machines here at work are in desperate need of a fresh install of Windows..