Re: Ballmer Babes

Security's too good at the Apple stores?

Sometimes ya gotta settle for second best.

The original

Big Iron?

Re: He was a bit

That's what makes him interesting. Odd and intelligent is a great combination.

RIP

Many wall warts wouldn't pass EU tests if you tested them.

But they have CE marks on them!

Oh, sorry...that would be the confusingly similar (read: identical except for microscopic differences invisible to the untrained eye) "China Export" mark.

(indicating that the article in question was exported from China?)

I tend to view any and all certification marks on Chinese manufactured products with the greatest of skepticism.

Re: Switched-mode power supplies are often like this

That whining you hear, is actually a built in indication that your efforts to reduce power supply cost have gone past the point where they affect the proper functioning of the unit. It's time to put just a wee bit more money into the parts and buy some inductors that are more tightly wound on cores that are bonded together with something more robust than hot glue.

Quality Chinese Engineering at its finest, I would suspect.

Re: Stupid people always want something to blame

Same thing happened on my road. Though the town gets partial for not using an official "DEAD END" sign.

How stupid do you have to be to keep going when there's brush scraping both sides of your vehicle?

Re: Hackers would go after Windows phones...

Windows, Linux, Macs, Android -- they *can* all get malware. What differentiates them is:

- market share -- is writing the malware worth the effort?

- defenses -- what tools are available to block/combat the malware?

Microsoft (the market leader) have anti-malware software available but choose not to include it or enable it by default in their OS. If you're committed to fighting malware, why would you not ship your product with anti-malware tools installed and enabled by default?

Re: Low end?

"The cheapo tablets are generally compromised in some way..."

Usually, in my experience, that way is basic function -- as in "they don't work". But what did you expect from Chinese white box tablets for under $100?

Re: Sanitary Engineering

A well designed toilet is a work of art.

Some day, the British will have the opportunity to see one.

//seriously -- British toilets could use a redesign

Re: Another idea

Shame you couldn't get some kind of Royal Charter or something...I hear one of Them is an SAR pilot. If you'd made the extra effort to get him interested in the project, maybe...oh, wait -- he's got something else on his mind right now, doesn't he?

Well, it was a good idea. Better luck next time, guys!

(and thanks for the stroy, tracking, photos, videos, etc, so we could follow along)

Re: Total bollocks, all right

"The innovative bit about the patent is the re-radiating of power from one device to another"

Let me get this straight: "re-radiating" is somehow better than just letting the end device pick up the power on its own? Recovery of radiated power by the re-radiator is necessarily inefficient, as is the process of "re-radiation" (whatever that may be). I guess it'll work as long as the battery in the "re-radiator" holds out.

Up to a meter, huh? I'll believe it when I see it work without something melting or the disc on my electric meter spinning faster than light.

//it's the one with "Secrets of Free Power" in the pocket, thanks

Re: Or on Three network

Hmm - interesting. It's the exact same process on the AT&T network here in the US. I wonder if they're all using the same 7726 software? Typing in the sending number is a pain, but I try to remember I'm helping to build a database to shut down these b@stards.

Maybe there is hope after all. It seems to be working here, I haven't gotten SMS spam for a while now. It does seem to come in bursts for several months, then dies out. I'm currently getting robocalls offering me [lower interest rates, free alarm systems, or dead air!)

Re: 7726?

Assuming that the carriers actually care (or are encouraged to care by the regulators), the first step in shutting down SMS spam would be to gather statistics.

The carriers can't seem to stop the spam at the source, but 7726 allows them to automate the process of identifying the sending number and enables them to block it almost immediately (simple script -- if you get 10 complaints on the same number to 7726 inside of 10 minutes, block the number).

It may not end the problem, but at least it makes life a bit more difficult for the spammers (they need to buy more SIMs, as they're being blocked more quickly) and collects evidence (we have all these compaints of spam from this number, and here we have a SIM registered to that number, perhaps you'd like to explain?)

Re: The Newton was not a technology failure

I beg to disagree. Jimbo seems quite displeased with the performance of its handwriting recognition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZJsGuUfew

//one of my favorite Simpsons moments

Re: clarification for foreigners and the young

I believe the Honorable Gentleman was attempting to cram a large number of currency notes into his suitcoat at the time he made that statement.

Re: Palm Pilot never tried to be anything more than a digital diary and contacts list.

I had a satellite tracker on mine :-)

//worked a treat!

"legitimately CE marked..."

Call me a sceptic, but in my mind, the probablility that a no-name PSU has legitimate CE and/or UL markings is so small as not to be worth mentioning.

//"China Export", my Aunt Sally...

A "friend"...

....acquired a corporate WinXP Pro install disk. No more crapware on "his" PC, and "he" can wipe and reinstall any time without any pesky activation requirements. Works under VirtualBox as well.

Re: Spot on

"have they started selling Tasers to mebers of the public yet???"

No, but you can make one easily from the guts of a disposable flash camera :-)

Re: Spot on

"I need a cattle prod..."

...and a roll of old carpet in the corner of your office?

Re: Is that really???

It does appear to be one of HP's greatest. I still have mine, though nowadays I tend to use its virtual version on my iPhone (i41CX) and my desktop (V41)

RPN forever!

Re: But the important question is

Shouldn't it go "Ping!"?

Re: Once upon a time they might have been able to kill Skype

" People use Skype because everyone else uses Skype. "

And everyone else uses Skype because it's the only available cross-platform audio/video chat app (that works).

It even works on Linux...

Re: I wonder how he feels

Made in Worcester, MA, I understand (not 30 miles from my own abode). So, his space suit has actually put money in the pockets of my neighbors, which could be considered saving a small portion of the planet['s population]...

//point stretched to the breaking point, I believe

Re: If they didn't have all their electricity cables above ground...

You folks in the UK may not have it, but over here in the colonies (New England, specifically), we have this stuff called 'bedrock". I invite you to try burying cables (or anything else) in it.

Re: Lost power probably...

"...why arent they fitted with some sort of built in auxiliary power (barrel solar arrays or built in generator)?"

The one down the road from me has three (or four?) providers on it. Each one has a generator and an associated large underground propane tank. Of course, that tank only lasts a certain number of hours...and refueling it when there are downed trees across the road is...problematic. Wind generators, solar panels, etc don't produce enough steady power to run the site, and would require large batter banks.

All of which is why I still have a land line :-)

Re: Am I the only one that

No, you're not.

Though I always see one of these:

http://www.ozcamera.com/photo%2030/3038.JPG

I had one as a teen...worked well

Re: Helicopters (one) can have eject systems!

"... a explosive charge blows and releases the main rotor blades and then the pilot is ejected..."

Important to get the timing right, then?

//leather flight jacket, thanks

Re: Microsoft going for the Apple lock-in.

"Once you buy Metro apps, then you will be locked in Microsoft in a way that make Microsoft marketing men jump about in excitement. It no longer matters how shit Windows Phone is, you will buy it, because you bought aload of Metro apps...."

Until, in typical Microsoft style (Zune, Plays for Sure, Kin1 and 2), they go off on another tangent, leaving you and your Metro apps in the dust.