Posts by gribbler
93 posts • joined Tuesday 13th January 2009 10:12 GMT
Re: boris
He makes me laugh. That's more than any other politician ever did for me...
Re: @Gerhard Mack
I'm with you mate. I'm also based in Spain, I'd happily pay the Beeb a license fee just to get (legit) access to iPlayer, instead of paying for a proxy service. The license fee would cost me more, but I believe that the fee is worth it for the great content they produce. If only they'd take my money!
For the rest, I download a lot of US shows so that I can watch the English versions. There's nobody here I can pay for them, or I would.
Looks like I'll just stick with CS5 then...
It'll be a long time before I need to upgrade, I only just moved from CS3 to CS5. In a few years time I'll take a look at what's out there, but I don't expect there to be any new "must have" functionality for a long time.
The last time I watched ITV...
was during the Rugby World Cup in 2011. The matches were at such a godawful time in the morning that I couldn't face the walk to the pub. Next World Cup is in 2015 and it's in the UK so all the matches will be at reasonable pub times. Maybe I'll watch ITV again in 2019, not sure where that World Cup will be.
Re: And if you thought the Outlook.com WEBSITE was bad........
Personally, I find the outlook.com website EXCELLENT. I've never used the Android app, I didn't even know it existed. My Android devices all have built in mail apps... and the latest versions are great so I've never felt any need to install a 3rd party application.
Re: Extrapolating - Eadon's predictions
Surely MS will be bankrupt by then Eadon?
"Apple's cloud expertise is likely to boost the usefulness of any wearable device"
Apple trail a long way behind the other major players in cloud capabilities, as is often mentioned on one of those online news sites I visit frequently. If only I could remember the name, it's called The Till or some sort of synonym of that. I seem to remember it has something to do with buzzards.
Oh, and + some generic rant about Apple and rumours and fanbois and stuff...
Well, at least El Reg is safe
"Until this finally collapses, though, it'll probably be the best media organisations which will pay the highest cost."
No need for Reg hacks to worry then ;)
Inspiring stuff...
Well, I hope the guide will be inspiring but I was thinking more of whoever came up with the idea of going on nice trips around the country and billing them as work expenses. Good work.
Re: Ahem
It would appear that you both have your rose-tinted glasses on. On both Android and iPhone a great number of apps (and virtually every game) are full-screen and block the notifications. That means that you need to exit the application to see your emails. If BB10 doesn't allow their message hub to be blocked then this would make accessing emails a lot more convenient. Oh and my Nexus 7 allows me to go directly to the individual emails from my notification bar, not to the inbox.
@ A Known Coward
There's no evidence at all that an LCD screen causes any more eye strain than an e-ink screen. Any studies on the matter have shown that the cause is always something else (not blinking enough, too small fonts etc.) and not at all related to the screen type.
Posted in Bong: My DIGITAL KINGDOM for a HORSE
Re: Let me be the first to say
And let me be the first to inform you that this is posted in Bootnotes, part of a series that has been running for some months. I would also point you in the direction of our good friend Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire
Am I the only one...
Who reads an article like this and (instead of wanting to start a debate about whether The Clash as punk or post-punk or whatever) wonder:
What are the actually calling the square? Plaza Strummer? Plaza Joe?
Where is the plaza? Is it one of the main ones or just a tiny little out of the way place?
Oh well... I suppose it's my fault for thinking that there might be some factual information in the article beyond the headline. Google here I come...
Could be a much needed kick up the arse...
I had the misfortune recently to use a new "smart" TV (I think it was a Sony). Whoever designed the UI and remote controls for these should be taken outside and shot. In the legs. And left outside in a forest. Tied to an ants nest.
I'm not an Apple fan at all, but I can guarantee that they will at least be able to make a usable device, with a functioning interface, albeit locked down to their services. An Aplle TV would give some impetus to other manufacturers to start building decent systems.
I'm really tempted..
Would like to take the plunge and try a Lumia 920 but I live in Spain and buying one unlocked is difficult and expensive... I may just save the hassle and get the Nexus 4, it's cheaper, I know that Android is a good OS and more importantly for me I can order online at a low price and get it delivered unlocked straight to my door. I know I'm not the typical contract customer but I am interested in WP8 I think I'm probably just too lazy to go to the hassle of getting hold of one. Please Nokia or Microsoft just open an online store and sell me one directly!
Re: But you can download google maps
Again, this depends where you are. I live in Spain. Just bought myself a Nexus 7 and one of the most exciting features for me was the offline maps. Right until I got the message "Part of your map will not be available". No further explanation. Turns out that offline maps don't work at all in Spain (or many other countries for that matter). I found this out by spending about 45 minutes searching G+ forums. It's ok though because Google are going to make this feature available when they can, again no idea when that is, but at some point in the future if they can be arsed they will get round to it.
I've been an Android user since the early days and I'm now seriously considering the new Nokia. Great hardware, camera and maps. Those are the killer things for me. I'm just not sure if I can live with WP...
as a bit of a fandroid
I'm typing this on my Nexus 7 where I've been recently incredibly impressed with the new MS Sky drive app. If WinPho works as smoothly as this then coupled with my free 25gb of storage and a top notch camera I'm feeling pretty tempted. My only concern is whether WinPho is quite ready yet, first one was interesting but flawed, this generation is looking better but it might make sense to wait for the next one.
Re: Guess the name...
May I suggest using the mobile version of elreg? m.theregister.co.uk = much less annoying ads
Google Maps
"In addition, the Maps app is vector-based, making zooming and rotation smooth and seamless – and making Google Maps look oh-so last decade – and supporting a 3D Flyover mode with real-time rendering of buildings in select locations."
Google Maps on Android have been vector based for some time (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/17/google_maps/). It looks like Apple (quite reasonable) got upset with being offered an inferior service.
Re: Cutting their own throat?
re: "PS: Does anyone else thing the Amazon TV ads showing someone using a Kindle floating in a swimming pool is an attempt to sell more devices"
Isn't that the very definition of an advert?
Posted in WIN an HTC One X with Reg Hardware
mobile friendly?
Bit of a shame really that the competition site is such a mess on mobile...
Re: £100
Except it's 100 quid on PAYG. Read the article before you comment...
Re: The downfall begins
Seriously? You think that companies are more successful if managers don't care about their employees or whether they are liked?
There's no place for mr nice when dealing with the competition, but if you can't win over your own employees then you might as well give in.
Posted in El Reg Forums FAQ
The one thing that I really dislike about the forums
When I upvote a post (which I don't bother to do very often) I get the message:
Upvote post
We’re glad you liked this post!
Your vote will be recorded in a few moments.
It's the middle sentence that bothers me. As a long-term register reader, I refuse to believe for a second that any of the staff give a monkeys one way or another whether I like some commentards witty remarks. It's got that sheen of false politeness that just makes me squirm and an overly enthusiastic exclamation mark at the end... makes me shudder. Surely more accurate copy would be:
Upvote post
Now you feel like you've contributed, bravo.
Your vote will be recorded in a few moments.
... or something equally cynical?
You're a cynical bunch
If it is a fake then it's a pretty elaborate one. He's been featured in the German FT, got videos, blogs etc going back over 6 months and really spent a lot of time creating content and documentation.
Posted in TV market stalls as LCD sales slow
Re: Hardly surprising...
Exactly. I bought a decent 40" TV about 3 years ago. It does HD and digital and all that malarkey and I don't imagine I'll be buying another TV until I break this one. The only recent innovation seems to be 3D and that isn't going to sell me a new TV until the technology gets MUCH better and MUCH cheaper.
Posted in New forum Wishlist
Re: Announcement now published - 10k chars are back
This new forum stuff looks pretty good in general, but I always use m.theregister.co.uk (mainly to avoid the annoying pagination in your longer articles) and the forums and comments sections are a bit rubbish on the mobile version. Shirley something that can be improved.
Posted in Hey Commentard! - or is that Commenter?
Re: Re: Re: Commentard
You must stick with commentard. As an expat, one of the reasons I come back to el reg on a daily basis is to get my dose of snarky, mildly-offensive British-English. The day you start to treat us lazy punters and commentards politely is the day I start worrying what you're plotting....
Posted in Mornington Crescent
Doesn't the move to Goodge Street..
leave open to the intra-connection omnibus rule?
Straight to Notting Hill Gate, and an extra bonus move.
I only drink coke...
with rum. Fat coke all the way!
Posted in French get unlimited mobile for €20
Simyo all the way if you're in Spain
They're dirt cheap and in fact just emailed me last week to announce that they were going to increase my bandwidth limit for free.
Microsoft's damaging monoculture?
What kind of idiotic anti-MS bullshit is this? MS traditionally made operating systems. They helped to make computers cheap and widely available and didn't limit in any way what software people could run on the platform or what they could do with it after they had purchased it. Please explain how this damaged creativity?
@AC "Being open source does not preclude any piece of software from being easy to use."
I have to both agree and disagree with this statement. Being open source doesn't in any way force software to be harder to use, but unfortunately this is normally the case. I'm a big advocate of open source (because I'm a geek) but there's a reason why Windows and OSX dominate on laptop/desktop. They're simple, fairly idiot-proof, no set-up or technical knowledge is required and they have marketing support and advocacy. Personally, I love messing around with different versions of linux, but 90%+ of my friends outside of the tech world have never even heard of it.
In the mobile sphere, people love iOS because it just works and Android is rapidly taking the old MS position of strong brand, pretty good and plenty of marketing dollars to support it.
A true open source mobile OS is likely to end up with the same market share as linux does on the desktop and it's precisely because it will be harder to use and is unlikely to be supported by comprehensive marketing (so nobody will even hear about it).
very valid point
used to see the same (3 or 4 years ago) when I looked at the web analytics for a large company. Mac/Safari was a tiny proportion of the user base but spent well above their share. Personally, I interpret that to mean that Apple users have more money than sense, but only 'cos I think it's fun to wind them up!
The next logical step?
"With the clear success of the Kindle e-Reader over the past 3 years, and Kindle Fire possibly succeeding in the low-priced Tablet market, we view this as the next logical step for Amazon."
I'm not so sure. Phone users are likely to buy apps (which are relatively low-margin) but e-books and film/TV are a pretty poor experience on a phone. If the (statistically irrelevant) usage patterns of smartphones that I've observed amongst my friends and I is accurate then the most common activity is web browsing - and I don't see how Amazon can monetise that.
yes, the tube is expensive
I recently moved to Barcelona, and a one month pass for the central zones (metro and bus) now costs me the same amount as 3 days on TFL. The tube in London is one of the most expensive public transport systems in any major European city.
Posted in Apple 'prepping smaller iPad'
Pocketable?
Are you a giant? How big do your pockets need to be to fit a 7" tablet in them?
Rather disappointingly...
...I can't find a video of a monkey trying to hump an elephant. But now that you've brought it up I really want to see one.
Sometimes reg hacks do this thing called humour. I think you may have missed this.
Yes you can...
.. on android, maybe not on whatever overlay your device manufacturer has put on top of it, but Android let's you delete those apps and every manufacturer flavour of it I have used does too.
Port B
"Beijing, Brisbane, Brindisi and Birmingham, they're really all just nodes on the container shipping routes..."
Maybe Bristol would have been a better example than Birmingham. Still alliterative and it has a container port.
Let me...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=efts
3rd result.
So...
So, why does that bother you?
Posted in Hands on with the Windows 8 fondleslab
Good stuff
Nice to hear that MS have made a good job of it. It'll be interesting to see some more competition in this area and I think the idea of an optional pen interface is inspired.
very interesting link
but the point of the article here is that many people do use their real identities online, especially older people (my dad doesn't hide his identity on skype). I actually don't have a great problem with MS trying to use the data from that to identify people. If you've chosen to not be anonymous on skype then so be it, similarly if you want to use a pseudonym on skype and link it to a random email address etc then you should be allowed to do so. As long as it's optional then it's ok, many people really are not that concerned about online anonymity and really most people have nothing to fear. Now, google trying to force people to use true names is something that I really don't agree with.
calm down, calm down
can't we just agree that all the political parties are shite and get back to the topic of apprenticeships?
good to see them try
I can imagine the Baidu response to a patent/copyright infringement lawsuit from Oracle would be along the lines of "so what?"
Posted in Google+ offers new 'Ignore' feature
It's all about numbers
I signed up for the beta of google+ just to see what it was like - I already use other social networks to keep in touch with my friends (I live abroad and it's a very easy way to keep abreast of life at home). I honestly think that google+ is much, much better than Facebook (the main competition) BUT most of my friends have never even heard of it and so I find that there are very few active users in my streams. Facebook has the user base that means that I can keep in touch with all of my friends and know what they are up to. The only people posting on google+ are journalists and I already have RSS feeds and twitter for the people I am interested in, so I don't need google+ for that.
Facebook have managed to effectively create a monopolistic barrier to entry to prevent anyone else from getting into their market. 600 million users? Want to connect with your real world friends? Keep in touch with distant family? Use Facebook. Even if google+ is the best thing ever, it will be years before my mum, my sister and all my non-techy friends move over to it.
Posted in id Software Wolfenstein 3D
memories
I remember spending hours and hours playing this as a kid, great fun. They don't make 'em like this anymore - in fact all the latest first person shooters are just too hard for me!
Very disappointing G
I'd love to believe Google's arguments against the software patent system (even though I know they're doing it out of self interest, I still believe it's a worthy cause) but when they go and do this sort of arsehattery it just makes them look like the 2-faced onanists they (and all large corporations) are. FAIL
