Posts by Wibble
516 posts • joined Saturday 21st March 2009 05:54 GMT
Take away general purpose computers
Surely this is the strongest argument for taking away general purpose computers from numpties and giving them a locked down device where they simply can't do any harm. Like an iPad.
I don't understand how Windows allowed an executable .scr that's from an external source. Doesn't it pop up a window? I thought outlook classified executables such as .scr's as non functional and prevented them from even running. Oh, of course, it's IE to blame.
It's still 150% more expensive
You're right; Microsoft have finally added PST import into their fourth version of Office for the Mac. About bloody time. I admit I was wrong and apologise for misleading anyone.
To quote from Amazon.co.uk about the £104 Office 2011 3 user: "Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac and Messenger for Mac."
No mention of Outlook. I've seen this elsewhere but can't find the reference. BTW Messenger is a free download.
Office 2008 Home & Student 3 user - which includes Outlook^H^H^H^HEntourage - currently sells for £70)
Also from Amazon.co.uk, "Office for Mac, Home and Business Edition, 2011" includes Outlook and sells for £177.
Office 2008 Business edition (AFAIKS the only difference between the versions is an Exchange connector) is listed at £322. This also lists the free remote desktop connection application as included.
So, like for like, most people will need to pay an £177 - that's an additional 150% or £107 -- for the equivalent version of Office 2011.
Again, I'll restate that Office 2008 is actually quite a good application so there's no point in upgrading, especially as 2011 include the damnable screen-space wasting ribbon.
Certain demographics only?
That only applies to certain demographics. Like those with Facebook accounts and of those, the ones who actively take part in their network.
In short, mostly younger people.
Statistics, damned statistics and lies. Probably propagated by the FaceBook PR company. Again.
Citation please. Base data too.
Gouge the punters for me Steve...
It appears that this is a lightweight, superficial update to something that works perfectly well thank you very much. It adds a few new features but there's nothing that's compelling enough to dig out large piles of money for the upgrade.
It's still missing critical features: Entourage^H^H^H^H^H Outlook still cannot import PST files. You will need to shell out for a third party product for that.
Pricing is interesting; up from that charged for Office 2008 (currently selling for around £70) to £190 for Office 2011 Business Edition as they DON'T include Outlook in the base version.
Mac users have the choice of using the built-in OSX Mail and Calendar applications and are quite pre-disposed to using other suites - iWork (£60), or OpenOffice (free). It's going to be a hard sell for Microsoft.
Maybe their pricing strategy is based upon the average Mac user being more affluent than PC users? Affluent maybe, but not stupid.
I use my copy of Office 2008 daily and really like Entourage. I sure as hell won't be upgrading as there's no point, certainly not at those prices. And where's the iPad version?
Posted in Apple releases iOS 4.1 into the wild
Hope it fixes 3G performance
Ever since installing iOS4 on my 3G it's run like a dog and is borderline unusable.
Could this be a sneaky way of getting people to upgrade to the iPhone 4? If so, it was obviously planned in Job's secret island whilst stroking his white cat. Not sure I want to upgrade now my arm's been twisted.
How I wish I could downgrade to iPhone OS version 3.1 as iOS4 offers very little to 3G users, certainly not multi-tasking.
Posted in Bowers and Wilkins P5 headphones
Utter quality
Pondered these for ages and finally got the chance to listen to them at the Apple Temple to Tech. Hundreds of yoofs filling the store. Put these on my head, plugged in my iPhone and.... like entering a different world. Now had them for three months and have never regretted buying them.
The attenuation of external noise is superb. Train journeys are a pleasure. The sound quality sublime. The comfort, like an old pair of slippers.
But it's the quality that just can't be understated. Cannot be compared with the plastic tat from the likes of Bose, et al. Like getting into a Bentley in a car park full of blinged up todger-mobiles.
Not to be underestimated, the box opening experience is one to rival Apple. Superb, and one that reinforces your decision to spend money on decent head gear.
And then there's the natty soft quilted case with magnetic flap to store them in once you've finished.
Only criticisms are they're heavier than their plastic counterparts. Not that heavy, but you do notice them after a day. They're also not particularly comfy when hung around your neck, such as when you slide them off your head to speak to someone.
Posted in Apple TV: Third time unlucky, Mr Jobs
Huh?
I just don't get the point of this gadget. I've never bought music or videos from iTunes and won't be starting any time soon. Not least because the network and bandwidth is lousy and unreliable.
But most of all because I just don't get 'rental'. If I download something, I want to keep it and play it on any of my devices be that a Mac, iTelly or car stereo when I want and as many times as I want.
Calling it an Apple TV just seems a misnomer. More like Apple iTunes portal with added DRM. Surely it should also be free or next-to-nothing as without downloading from Apple, it's pretty limited.
Surely an Apple TV device worthy of the name would record from air a-la Freeview box; play assorted format files; allow purchasing and streaming from iTunes; rip DVDs & CDs; run apps from iTunes; have huge storage; networking abilities... In short it's a Telly-centric iPad plus extras. Hey, a Mac Mini with Elgato device.
That sure as hell isn't going to happen as it does too much for too few bars of latinum that Jobs loves to covet.
Definite miss for this device.
Phones in secure locations
You aren't allowed to take phones into secure sites/locations. Makes no difference if theyre with or without camera.
Fraid knot
The meta tag is necessary to stop (L)users from setting their IE8 into IE7 mode (or idiot IT departments setting a policy). IE8 has two engines; the ok but nothing special IE8 engine, and the bug-ridden IE7 engine for "incompatibility" mode to render shite, broken websites the same as IE7.
Properly coded website *may* be incorrectly rendered by IE8 in IE7 mode so you *have* to use the meta tag to ensure your site works.
Will this poxy nightmare continue? I can hardly be arsed to bother downloading the beta as we all know it'll be the same old shit that Redmond always turns out.
Kids will be kids?
So, you put a button on a page that says "in case of emergency, click here" or wotever. How many kids could not resist that? About 200? How many were journos? How about friends of SeeOp?
Can we have audited clickthrough figures please.
Meh
They're only developing the 'interesting' stuff and not focussing on the important but boring suff such as re-writing the broken printer engine. There's loads of bugs outstanding for years that remains unfixed because it's percieved as dull.
Dull and important. No, lets play with the toys.
Go Apple go!
> only applying them when the company has "adobe" in its name is hardly fair.
Oh yes it is.
Adobe are a menace to the web with more security exploits per application than even Microsoft; total absence of standards compliance; creators of more unaccessible sites than FrontPage; and a bunch of rip-off merchants to boot.
Posted in eBay photocopier data risk ignored
Bring back Madame La Guillotine
The problem with crushing is that you have to kill the hard disc. If they dumped computers into the crusher there's a chance that the hard disc may well escape.
The only way is to remove a hard disc and literally fold it in half. Dropping a heavy spike on it, a-la guillotine, right in it's spindle chuff would proper fuck it. Or an oxy-acetylene torch. Or a disc cutter. Or even a 10lb sledge hammer. Ooh, torturing hard discs, what a great job.
It's surprising that there aren't mobile disc breaking services like there are for paper shredding. Tenner a disc?
Fantasic news for... web developers:-)
Oh yes as the dog says.
For years we'll need to create TWO websites; one for the HTML5/CSS3 compliant browsers, the other for IE6, IE7, IE8, i.e. Microsoft's legacy.
I wonder where this is leading? Will it a) hold back adoption of HTML5/CSS3, or b) lead to a two-tier interwebs.
Certainly going to be challenging for the laggard IT departments who still consider a 'browser' to be just for looking at thar intarwebs and not delivering mission critical applications. The ones who see this as a fantastic opportunity to move the corporate forwards will be well rewarded.
But, IE9 only works on Windows VII. So what's the choice for upgrading if you're going to stick with XP... oh yes, use a non-Microsoft browser.
Microsoft are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Shweet, they've only themselves to blame:-)
Which IE?
There's a choice of three. All different. Lumping them all together is negligent.
OSX "upgrade" version
The OSX Snow Leopard upgrade version is a full version. It's licence may not be, but the software is.
Mac users have always bought a licence - when they bought their original Mac.
Some Mac users run lots of windwos
On this here Mac, I've over a dozen virtual machines for testing various windows and browser configurations.
Therefore only 7% of my Mac is running OSX, compared to the 93% of Windows operating systems running.
Can I have a house-point for getting this statistics malarkey?
Posted in MS Office for Mac 2011 out in October
Messenger...?
Isn't that a free download? Did they forget to include Remote Access or SlitherLite into the package as they're also free downloads.
No idea who would want messenger anyway - there's plenty of better IM clients available.
Yo, you's the spinmeister Monkey Boy dude.
Posted in MS Office for Mac 2011 out in October
Ow much?
That's TWICE the price of office 2008. That came with Entourage==Outlook for about £90. Now it doesn't.
To top that, there's sod all benefit for upgrading. Office 2008 works just fine and 2011 provides very little in the way of substance. It ain't werf it at half (I.e. a quarter) of that price.
Spinning lying money grabbing bastards.
IE6 should die
Developing 'simple' intranet sites using IE6 is fine. However, the world has moved on and we're now developing 'applications' as opposed to static web pages. Getting these kind of pages to work with IE6 is difficult bordering on impossible -- pushing costs up massively.
There's a cost to developing with IE6. I'd argue that cost is far greater than the cost of upgrading.
IT strategy?
When will those donkeys who do "IT Strategy" for the government realise that sticking to IE6 isn't an option.
It is not just a browser, it's the delivery mechanism for all applications. With ever-increasing applications being written that are web-based, e.g. nobody builds thick clients these days, it's getting nigh-on impossible to develop for IE6.
The root cause is Microsoft's pathetic attempt to integrate the browser into the operating system as their response to the browser wars of the nineties. This means that any attempt to co-exist browser versions isn't supported.
Government's best bet is to install an alternative browser; Firefox or Chrome. Both will be better for security. Whilst they're at it, dump Microsoft Office and sanction Google Docs (run on secure private servers).
Fluff and no fixes?
All this tosh about the UI when there's a ton of really serious bugs that have been outstanding for years to do with printing. Sure, not exciting, but it's a right PITA to fix. For instance if you use fieldsets properly, it won't print beyond the first page. Similarly if there's any overflow set.
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=471015
Also 505747, 508498, 129941
Why does everyone get so excited about a new lick of paint when the damn foundations aren't up to the job?
Just need a pen option
Sounds like a great idea; should be able to place the mouse pad in front of the keyboard, between your arms, so should be easy to use. It'll be nice as it's larger than a normal pad, so the gestures should be a doddle to use. Just imagine using Omnigraffle (that's like, but better, than Visio for the Windows oiks) and manipulating objects; rotating, resizing, etc. Thus far, it's not possible to do that on a normal desk unless you're using the Macbook; if you've a remote keyboard, forget it.
I can't help but think that it'll be a great device if you could use some form of pen/wand, a-la Wacom tablet. Then you have all the benefits; use it as a normal touch-pad mouse and creatively for those times where a pen is mightier than the finger.
For those who rate Apple's mice by the smeg-awful puck thing from 10 years ago; the Magic Mouse is just about the best mouse I've ever used. The scrolling is amazing and it's really comfy to use for hours at a time. It scrolls vertically and horizontally and does a bunch of other gestures such as 'back'. It's rarely wrong with right-clicking, unlike it's Mighty Mouse predecessor and it's umpteen orders of magnitude better than the aforementioned phuck.
And the advertisers...
Don't they flog jam rags & pile cream during the breaks?
UK gov ASAP
This is just the ticket for typical UK government use and would save an absolute fortune as the Microsoft Office monopoly crumbles. It would mean that the existing machines won't need updating just to run the latest version of Office and might result in a better choice of browser.
Come on ToryDems, grow some gonads and save some real money
Use AtomicWeb
This 59p iPad/iPhone application is a Webkit browser that INCLUDES Adblock and various other useful features.
Zuckerberg spins more tosh than Tony B-liar
It's nowhere near half a billion. How many accounts are dormant? You can't get off the bloody thing once you've signed up.
And how many accounts are for fictitious 'people'. The only account I've ever created is for a start.
Meh.
Lies, damn lies and browser statistics
There's no doubt that Firefox was the developer's favourite and that anyone using IE by choice can hardly be considered sane enough to be called a web developer. But there's no getting away from the fact that Chrome's an excellent development tool. Now with add-ons, Chrome's only missing the excellent Firebug and developer tool maturity of Firefox.
IE's still around and even IE6 won't go away all the time that stupid IT departments keep seeing the browser as, well, just a browser and not the delivery mechanism for all applications. Who needs thick clients when you only really need a browser? And when browsers do all the HTML5 coolness - local storage, persistent state, fast JavaScript compilers, etc., they'll only be more questions about the need for thick clients and thick-headed IT managers who buy this crap.
Microsoft only have Ballmer to blame for this. It was he who disbanded the IE development team leaving IE to stagnate -- screwing millions of web developers in the process.
It's such fun to watch Microsoft finally take a thoroughly deserved beating.
Keypresses - IE Skype addin?
Loosing keypresses - check that the Skype addin on IE isn't causing grief. This was the problem on a client's machine recently - and I took the blame prior to this.
Posted in Council wins motorbike charges case
The law's open to everyone?
"The council said it would seek to recover £50,000 in legal costs from Djanogly."
Brilliant; attempt to resort to the law and loose your shirt. That's what Robert Maxwell used to do to intimidate people.
Have you tried Objective C
Objective C is about as challenging as learning Chinese and the code makes about the same sense too.
OTOH developing in web-based technologies for simple applications is quite trivial and any half-decent HTML / JS / CSS coder can do this. Turning a website into an application makes a lot of sense; just look at the sorts of things the eBay or Amazon application did.
There's an excellent book on the subject of building iPhone applications with HTML, CSS and JavaScript which I recommend you read.
Of course, developing in normal languages is well beneath the hyper-intelligent mega-being's tool of choice: Obfuscative C.
Sounds like...
CC:mail and MSMail connectors from donkey's years ago. Maybe also like the public folders vs. newsgroup connnectors...
Given that Facebook is similar to email, it makes sense to use an email client to access it.
But for whom? Corporates? SMEs? Maybe of some limited use in the corporate.
Lot of effort to go to though.
Scalability?
Interesting that 'classic' ASP is still going strong.
One of the frustrations with ASP.NET is the constant restarting of the application whenever a new DLL is loaded - this plays havoc with user's session state if you're daft enough to use the out-of-the-box state management. All this makes it difficult to scale applications without a lot of release management effort.
Pirates
The reason the Somalis have so much shipping to choose from is so much has to go through the Suez Canal.
An airship can go from A to B, OK, from A to B navigating around troublesome countries.
Thus the Somalis et al can go back to banging rocks together and trying to figure out a way of evolving into a amicable society.
Posted in How can UK.gov spend £35m on a website?
Where's the Java-based sites?
Java's very popular for application development, particularly in SOA stacks. Strange that this tech wasn't found in your research.
Too much style, not enough substance
I bought the app. Thought it was OK, albeit a bit thin and not enough detail -- I'd like a little more meat on the bone as it were. Yeah, a lot like a typical glossy mag which has more style than substance.
I won't be buying another copy unless it's a lot better. I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment.
Sue them...
"LeBlanc grumbled that the assertion of the Financial Times (which wrote the report) that “Windows is known for being vulnerable to attacks by hackers and more susceptible to computer viruses than other operating system” could not be supported by the facts."
Come on Microsoft, if you're so certain the FT are wrong then sue. Then we can all look forwards to finding out who the liars are.
Posted in iPad users put tablet to netbook tasks
In a week or two we'll tell you
It's so exciting waiting for next Friday to have a play with the new precious. Pity I'm away for the weekend, but I digress...
In a couple of weeks El Reg could do a survey of iPad owners and produce some primary research for a change:-)
Me, I'm looking forwards to putting it to use on the daily commute. I think it'll be just the job for this, particularly when standing up (can't use a netbook for that).
Bedside radio use
Doesn't look as if it'll be much cop as a bedside radio. For a start the display colour is wrong - need amber or red. Also one wonders how well you could see the clock at night.
The display's a bit old-school blocky LCD, especially when compared with an iPod/Phone in the dock.
Strange that manufacturers don't make something for this market.
Posted in Google mocks Jobs with Flash on Android
You're counting a Blackberry as a smartphone?
This discussion is about Flash usage. The Blackberry has a lousy web browser and effectively isn't much cop for surfing. Similarly the Windows mobile internet exploder thingie.
It would be a lot better if you sub-divided "smartphones" into them that browse (iPhone, Android), and those that don't.
Using that, Apple have a much greater proportion of smartphone browsing devices.
Interesting extrapolation
So, you had one duff G3 iBook, circa 2000, and therefore everything subsequent from Apple is broken.
Sounds more like religion than logic.
For what it's worth (about three fifths of nothing), I've had a lot of Apple kit since 2005 and it's all been fine; nothing has broken. So as I've had 4 lappies and 2 iPhones, to your 1 broken machine, that makes it a 6 to 1 failure rate. Not bad really. Is this Maffs or Stastistics?
Posted in Apple MacBook Pro 15in
Keyboard backlight brightness
You'll be wanting the F5 and F6 keys to raise and lower the brightness.
But why
Why share the "info" in the first place?
Sue the patent office?
If the patent office grant a patent that's later discovered to be incorrect, e.g. there's prior art, then why not sue the patent office.
That way they'd stop issuing any patents and the cost would go through the roof. Normal economics would dictate that the trivial or chancer applications would completely dry up.
Or just stop issuing patents for software.
iDo
I want an iPad. I don't want an iPod touch as it's a not as functional as my iPhone. I have specific needs for the iPad, e.g. commuting and lightweight browsing at home/on the road. There's nothing wrong in these requirements.
The iPad is a completely different device that will tell how useful it is. See in a couple of months whether it's a toy in the back of the toy cupboard, or if it's a real tool for communications on the move.
If iCretin then uTwat(tm).
Posted in Adobe declares 'LOVE' for Apple
We love your money
No Apple = reduced marketplace which we've spent years developing. At Adobe's prices it doesn't take long to earn a fortune.
Posted in Steam rushes from Valve onto Macs
No content...
Downloaded it onto my Mac. Had a quick poke around at the games available.
Quite frankly nothing took my interest. Couldn't find any simple, cheap & cheerful games. Those that were there, with the exception of Osmos which I already have, looked a right load of tosh.
Doubt that I'll bother again.
Posted in What can Google's tablet deliver?
Why did you write this?
How dare you attempt to speak for me! What next, we all have to wear Mou suits and wave your little red book?
It's choice man. People are free to make their choices and buy whatever suits them. It's plain to see that the iPad/iPhone/MacBook doesn't suit you. Fine. But you're not me. And I'm more than happy to buy Apple gear and am delighted at being given the choice to not purchase tacky 'orible cheap-and-nasty plastic grot.
Some of us like the design of their kit, Apple's design principles and are more than prepared to pay for this quality.
My iPhone is the best smartphone device I've ever had. Sure, it's got problems (dropped calls), but it's so much better than anything else that I'll forgive it's odd foibles. Similarly my MacBook Pro is by far the best machine I've ever owned. Fast, reliable, simple, lovely design. Even the price (£2500) isn't that bad considering how much money I make from it -- for goodness sake, a plumber's tools would cost more.
Just because you don't like Apple kit doesn't make it irrelevant to others.
Posted in What can Google's tablet deliver?
iPhone
I bought the first generation iPhone as it was the first smartphone that worked properly, e.g. had a working web browser, simple interface and did all the things that I wanted. When 3rd party applications were subsequently added along with the free upgrade to the iPhone 3G, it just made a great experience better.
At the time the rest of the market had stagnated with pretty poor interfaces (choose betwen Microsoft and Symbian), tied to the telcos (Orange's branding everywhere), poor applications (web browsers, email, and no chance of installing 3rd party applications) and lousy hardware (stylus input - scratchy scratchy loosy stylus, low-quality low-resolution wishy-washy screens, resistive touch input). Also it was impossible to update the software: buy a new phone and throw out the old.
I think it couldn't be illustrated better than Sony Ericsson's P900, a good but not great phone for it's era. The updated version P910 was ever-so-slightly better but nowhere near worth upgrading to. Then the P990 went backwards offering a worse user interface and unreliability as standard.
Moving from the P900 to the iPhone 1G was an amazing experience. Truly moving from one generation to the next. Then moving from the iPhone 1G to 3G with its GPS and 3G just made a great experience even better.
Well done Apple for sticking it to the competition and truly raising the bar.
The kids have taken over...
WTF has Facebook got to do with WORK?
