Posts by frank ly
2124 posts • joined Wednesday 10th June 2009 09:17 GMT
Page:
Re: I see what your problems is
I'll try to remember the password for my LinkedIn account and see if anyone's been looking at my profile.
@HMB Re: Android Honeymoon Over
The Nexus 4 doesn't have the 'old' Android browser, it has Chrome baked in. You're right in that the old browser had very nice reflow.
Every 'upgrade' I've seen; Froyo -> Gingerbread -> ICS -> JB, has removed useful functionality from the device.
The Froyo -> Gingerbread update removed the ability to have local/private calendar events.
Gingerbread -> ICS did something that pissed me off but I worked around it and have forgotten what it was.
The ICS -> JB update removed the ability of the OS to recognise phone numbers in text and html files and then feed them to the dialler when you touched them. That pissed me off because it meant that my local 'telephone and e-mail directory' didn't work anymore. I've moved to Colornote which has built in phone number recognition and active links between notes.
Also, in JB, the Google Play Services now form a key part of data synchronisaton and _must_ be active, as I found out when I disabled it. The reason I disabled it was to stop it pushing crap music and old books onto my phone. Eventually I found out how to dig deep into the Chrome synchronisation settings to stop it doing that.
I won't be accepting the latest 'upgrade' until it's been out for at least a few weeks and I've read the comments and discussions on the serious techie forums.
Every change of this nature is geared towards removing the user's ability to have local storage and privacy, away from Google's oversight and control. I'm getting pissed off with Google and disenchanted with Android, but I suppose that I'm not really part of their target market.
Drop Dropbox for Box
Box have recently upgraded my 5GB freebie personal account to 50GB. I asked them if this was a promotion that would expire and they told me that it's permanent. The Box PC sync application was also made available to me (it was previously paying clients only, I think) and I can choose which folders and sub-folders are synced to my PC.
As might be expected, they have apps for Android etc. and I use the third-party Folder Sync (paid version) to synchronise one of my Box folders to an Android folder.
I've no idea how well they perform compared to Dropbox or if their T&Cs are 'good', but for personal use they are worth looking at.
Can it work the other way round?
If it 'knows' the processes and patterns by which spoken language changes, can that process be applied to modern English (compared with older and ancient forms) in order to predict how it will be spoken in, say, 300 years time?
I realise that the modern world has a massive level of cultural exchange and pressure for language change than any previous natural process. It would be interesting to try it though.
I see what your problems is
"LinkedIn offers a feature ... that lets me see who has viewed my profile. I check it once or twice a day ..."
There it is.
A cave dweller writes:
"...Brits average six viewing devices per household, including PVRs, TVs and set-top boxes, ..."
I ought to get out of my cave more and learn about this stuff. I haven't watched television for six years; not since I packed the tv away when I did a major redecoration of the living room and never got round to unpacking it.
(iPlayer on my laptop gets used about once a fortnight when I'm bored and desperate for diversion.) Have I missed much?
Re: Nothing like a bit of institutional racism is there?
It's a lot easier to say than "people of Scottish origin, ancestry, residence, nationality, dialect or accent".
One offs are different?
Disregarding the validity of the patents, which has been well commented on already, I thought that patent protection only applied to people or organisations who were producing an infringing item/system for general sale.
e.g. If I had the ability and resources, I could produce an exact copy of an iPad and use it for my personal use with no legal redress from Apple. (I'm not considering the trademark aspects here, just the patents, though my reasoning also applies too the trademark.) As long as it's for my personal use and I don't try to sell it.
Similarly, I can ask someone else to produce an exact copy of an iPad for my personal use and that would also be ok, provided that I had specifically asked them to do that and that did not make a habit of doing this for lots of people.
If the Australian government (or any individual) specifically asks for one specific computer system to be built to its own requirements, in terms of characteristics and methods, then it doesn't matter if any patents cover that system because it is not being built/sold for general sale.
IANAL so can a legal beagle please comment?
@Thorne
How would you calibrate it?
Posted in Review: HP Spectre XT TouchSmart
re. Gloss screen
Sighs. I suppose you could stick a matte screen protector on it, as I do with my phones. Apart from the 'speckle' finish on bright areas they work well and you get used to the 'speckle'. (For a 15" screen, putting it on without getting several particles of dust under it would be an exercise in hope and swearing.)
Re: charging
I've been thinking about four or five galvanised steel buckets, filled with urine, with copper foil suspended in them, connected in series as a battery. Would this work? Have I thought of the correct materials?
Note: This is a serious engineering problem, so no sniggering and no off-colour jokes please.
@Ace Rimmer Re: Data cap anyone?
I asked about the FUP on the One Plan (which allows tethering) in a Three shop and was told that it's 100GB a month. The guy told me that if you pump more than 3GB a day for 3 consecutive days, then they send you a polite warning e-mail (I could live with that). I forgot to ask if the FUP figure was printed in the contract or Ts&Cs.
Note that the SIM only One Plan is a rolling one month contract so they could easily pull and replace Ts&Cs.
Re: Bangalore Chore
I was talking on the phone to one of those last week. He told me his name was Tipu though he had an obvious Birmingham accent. Oh, wait a minute, my cousin lives in Birmingham and he has a son called Tipu who would be about 22 now ..........., bloody outsourcing.
(but maybe not a joke)
The $5.5 billion is to pay for a small army of world-class psychics, who work in shifts 24/7, to maintain a reality distortion field over Australia. This is the only explanation I can think of for why Australians spend so much money buying Apple products.
Re: Variable Relays
" ...I imagine that they had already been through a full rehersal.. ."
Imagine all you want but I imagine that a full rehearsal costs money they weren't willing to spend. Even switching on lights and all expected power loads would be an organisational cost that was judged to be too great. I speak as someone who has, in the past, tried to get management to agree to real world test scenarios for systems testing instead of theory and dummy loads.........
re. TV licence needs for iPlayer
I'm sure the iPlayer first page used to have a statement that you needed a TV licence to watch it. Not anymore though (and I deleted cookies).
Posted in El Reg contemplates the ultimate cuppa
I refuse to take part in this
"For the love of all that's holy don't get sidetracked into the perfect biscuit to accompany the perfect cuppa."
Separation of the twin sacrements is a heathen act.
Re: I'm sure I remember...
I once read that the number was in fact 66.6, which happened to be my weight in kilograms. I made an effort to eat more and now I don't feel cursed.
@ge Re: Alternatively
Why not go all the way, tell them you're interested in buying a nanowidget and get them to send a salespup round to give a demonstration in the comfort of your own home? Imagine the fun you could have 'testing' the nanowidget and pointing out all the flaws it has.
Then you offer perform consultancy services to improve the design of their nanowidget and ask for a working lunch with their managing director. You also send them an invoice for the 'initial consultation' with the salespup. The possibilities are endless.
Cynical and suspicious .....
In the 'Mobile Geeks' linked video, I got the impression that the change in display from '0' to '1' happened when he moved the phone to change the viewing angle, and there were positions in which both '0' and '1' were visible together, which is not what I'd expect from a working display demonstration.
Bill The Galactic Hero ......
... would know how to deal with them.
Re: and so the takeover begins...
Googoo, Gahgoo, Goohoo, ...?
@Lee Dowling
El Reg does have an RSS feed, it has several. I've been using the main one for ages and it's _usually_ exactly up to date.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/feeds.html
@DrXym Re: Some tips for sites
Thank you for saying what I've been thinking (with less technical detail) for the past two years. I get especially annoyed with ebay and Wikipedia who always initially deliver their mobile site to my 10" tablet.
Having said that, I am pleased that 'The Independent' newspaper delivers its mobile version, because then I get just the article text, with no fancy layout bars, no adverts and no big pictures; with simple links to other articles underneath it. I've tried the main site and it's full of crud that I don't want to download or look at. I use the Google RSS news reader for my newspaper and other regularly updated websites.
Re: Bring it on ISON
You have a waistcoat made from oak panels?? Very cyberpunk. Does it have turned brass buttons?
@Kevin Johnson Re: Nice distinction there
I recommend that you consult the Oxford English Dictionary. It's on the internet nowadays; which is nice of them.
History - learning from it - as if
You know how we look back at boo.com and similar ventures, then say, "WTF was that all about?". Well, ......
How about locking you and your children in a concrete bunker and dropping food in through a hole in the roof twice a day? I can't see any downside to that.
re. prospectively predicting stuff
'prospective' means relating to the future. So, 'prospectively predicting' means predicting things about the future.
I thought that predicting was always about the future. Is there another kind of predicting?
Re: Wise up?
If only you'd had the courtesy to stay out of our awareness.
I'm not sure what exactly is happening
"The charity's phone-in helpline ChildLine said that compared to just one year ago, a whopping 70 per cent more boys had called in about seeing porn online, ..."
If I want to see porn online, I have to make a reasonable effort (hint: it's not worth the effort).
How are these kids doing it? If the are being shown porn or being sent links to porn, then this is an issue for child protection authorities and the police. If they are actively seeking it out themselves then that raises all kinds of questions.......
@diodesign Re: Scott 49
Windows has WIMPs.
(Scott; I'm a fandroid and not at all bothered if anyone calls me that.)
Puzzled re. legal jamming
"Jamming is done legally to ...[do A] .., and ensure that our defence forces could cope if GPS got knocked offline, ...."
I don't understand how the ability to perform jamming would be of any help if GPS went offline. What scenario do you have in mind here?
Also, I thought that using a mobile phone to call in the 'detonate' command was fraught with danger (to the perpetrator and the aim of the mission) and so they used cheap old phones with no SIM card but a calendar event used for the trigger?
The underpants GNOME
1. Have discussion and gather opinions
2. Choose javascript
3. ??
re. HTC
"The company has spent most of 2012 fighting arch rival Apple in court "
I thought that 'honour' went to Samsung? I don't remember reading much about HTC's efforts in this area.
The fanbois threw a party at the Apple jail .........
evasi0n started loading, they began to wail .....
(It's early in the morning. I could work on it, or somebody else could- a community composition?)
Posted in Solar undercuts coal in New Mexico
Re: I'm "planning" to be rich someday...
Another way to get rich is to sell your commodity product at 5.79 cents when your competitors are selling it at 12 cents. Wait, how does that make sense, in an undistorted and free market?
Re: My Samsung Chromebook turned up last week!
What can it do when it's offline? I was under the impression that all your documents etc were in the Google cloud so that you couldn't do any productive work offline. (See my comment earlier.) Can you tell me what things can be done with it offline?
@fero
What you said about 'competitive advantage' is quite correct and is against the principles of 'free market capitalism', since the small local companies are not free to use the techniques the big internationals enjoy.
As for those who spout off about VAT and employee income tax, that must be challenged as soon as it is said.
VAT is not paid by the companies, it is paid by their customers. If VAT was doubled overnight, it would not affect the profits of the company, since all they do is collect it and pass it on to the government.
If income tax was doubled overnight then that too would not affect the profits of the companies. For the large companies to say that they are the ones who are paying VAT and income tax is like me saying, "because I didn't kill you today, that means that I've saved your life, and I'll save your life tomorrow as well, I'm so good to you."
About the big internal hard drive ...
Does the Chrome OS have a music/video player and slideshow application for local content?
What's needed is ......
... for headbands to become fashionable. Women would generally have not much of a problem with that but men would, I suspect. With a headband, they could fit lots more tech into it.
Re: A Qihoo spokesperson said ....
Think of it as an inoculation comment, or homeopathy. (I'll try anything to keep him away.)
A Qihoo spokesperson said ....
"Microsoft was an inspiration to us. We're late starters but we're catching up quickly."
Putting on my devil's advocate hat .....
"Transfer pricing ..... is one of the hottest areas of international tax fraud, ..."
You seem to be pre-judging the issue :)
You are Eric Schmidt and I claim my prize.
Posted in ESA proposes 3D printing on the moon
Re: more techo-wanking - Markus Kayser video
In the close-up shots of the powder fusing, I have the feeling that a low melting point binder powder has been added to the sand. Anyone else think that?
Re: self-help The Microsoft Way™
Admitting that you have a problem is the first step. We should listen to them.
My immediate thoughts re. The Minister
""The Minister considers this type of conduct offensive ............. to ensure no confidential taxpayer information was compromised."
Po faced, tight arsed, uptight, straight laced, small minded, reactionary, ......... bah, humbug!
Re: Thost that are dumb enough to think a phone is a status symbol of success
Yes, who the hell indeed. Inquiring, smart and tight minds want to know. Tell us ! (please).
(Tesco Mobile: £10 a month rolling 1 month contract, 500 mins, 5000 texts, 1GB data)
@Ru re. Re: Oh How I Laughed...
I thought that 'bricked' meant that your shiny item of kit had assumed the functionality of a brick, but that it was recoverable if you knew how to do the necessary digital incantations.
You seem to think it means that your shiny item of kit has suffered the equivalent of having a brick thrown through it.
We need a formal and agreed glossary of terms.
