* Posts by Some Beggar

882 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Jul 2009

Page:

August DTV700B portable Freeview TV and DVR

Some Beggar
Meh

Request.

When something is "not very good" (and I agree that this sounds "not very good") is it possible to provide links to alternatives that are less "not very good"? Thanks.

WTF... should I pay to download BBC shows?

Some Beggar

Re: If the BBC commissioned the work....

Thanks.

Some Beggar
Thumb Down

Re: Some people just don't get socialism...

See my reply here:

http://forums.reghardware.com/post/1354548

simplePointRepeatCount++;

Some Beggar

Re: Optional

@oninoshiko

The article is about the BBC's commercial activities. Which bit of this are you struggling with?

Some Beggar

Re: If the BBC commissioned the work....

@Nigel Whitfield

Ah. I thought Sky/Virgin PVRs time limited pay-per-view and premium stuff? I might well be wrong.

The basic point remains though, I think: they would all prefer you to use their own boxes and services so that they retain some control over what you can watch and when rather than having you record and horde it all yourself.

Some Beggar

Re: If the BBC commissioned the work....

Perhaps you should have a nice cup of tea and a sit down, John. There's probably something soothing on BBC2.

Some Beggar

Re: TV license?

Feel absolutely free never to visit. We'll try to contain our disappointment.

Some Beggar
Headmaster

Re: But.....

@Chet Mannly

You seem to be under the impression that TV license payers somehow own the rights to the material produced by the BBC. Is that your argument?

Could you point me at the items of UK copyright law that lead you to this impression? Because as far as I can tell it is complete and utter bunkum. The TV license is a hypothecated tax, it isn't a share ownership scheme or mutual cooperative*.

Take a different example. Many countries (including the US and the UK) have a variety of hypothecated taxes that pay for the transport infrastructure. No matter how much of that tax you pay, you don't personally own any of the asphalt. If the government decides to use the system in a different way or charge for it in a different way then you don't get a free slice. You just get to vote for or against them at the next election.

(* it might be in Cuba, say, but somehow I don't think you live in Cuba)

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Eating your cake and having it there.

Good grief. I'm wondering how many times this point needs to be reiterated in the same thread. I'm going to have a wild guess at thirty times. I think we're already in double figures.

Paying for something once in one format does not mean you have a god-given right to receive it free in every other medium that exists or is yet to be invented.

I paid to see Star Wars in the cinema. It is older than most of the material the BBC is talking about making available with this new service. Should it be placed in the public domain? Should I be given the latest 3D blu ray for free? Derp derp a herp di derp derp. Herp derp?

Some Beggar
Trollface

Re: Optional

Targetting Joe Public is called Capitalism.

If you don't like it then I hear there are some lovely re-education camps in North Korea.

Some Beggar

Re: If the BBC commissioned the work....

"iPlayer catch-up is provided as a bonus"

A cynic might suggest that the various catch-up services (including the branded PVRs that time limit recordings) are designed to dissuade people from buying unrestricted PVRs and keeping copies of recorded telly forever and ever and ever.

Some Beggar
WTF?

Re: Not free, just not expensive.

So you're growing apples and complaining about the price of oranges.

I'm still baffled.

Some Beggar

Re: If the BBC commissioned the work....

My prescription might need updating but I keep staring at your post and all I can see is "boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo"

Some Beggar

Re: Unrealistic pricing

"Let the market decide."

If the price is unrealistic then it'll change. It sounds pretty high to me too but just because you and I might not pay it doesn't mean it isn't the going rate.

It could simply be a case of testing the water and seeing how many people go "ouch".

Some Beggar
Thumb Down

Re: Optional

Nice straw man you're arguing with there, Spotfist. This isn't about making people play for the current iPlayer content, it is about offering archive material online.

(I appreciate that you would have needed to actually read the article to grasp this terribly subtle point.)

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Not free, just not expensive.

If you produce IP and you only get paid for it once then you're doing it wrong. I'm not sure you can hold Auntie Beeb responsible for your lack of business acumen.

Some Beggar
Devil

Re: Eating your cake and having it there.

What's the weather like in Simplistic Black and White World?

Medieval warming was global – new science contradicts IPCC

Some Beggar
FAIL

Complete straw man.

The current consensus is that the medieval warm period was scattered across the globe but that the warming was not global.

This new data proposes a new local data point where that medieval warm period might have occurred.

To interpret that as "new science contradicts IPCC" is either dishonest or illiterate.

Dr Who scores new companion from Emmerdale

Some Beggar
WTF?

Re: whine whine moan moan

Tom Baker had already left Doctor Who before you claim to have started watching it.

Are you herp derping or just confused?

Some Beggar
FAIL

Ahhh.

I love the sound of deskbound middle-aged virgins complaining about the actress they'll be masturbating over later in the year.

Tree-hugging Chinese throttle rare earth production

Some Beggar

Re: Foolish US Decision

The US does still seem to be having a hard time accepting that Chairman Deng was better at unfettered capitalism than The Gipper.

Oz billionaire says CIA backs Greenpeace

Some Beggar
Angel

On the plus side

he has the resources to build the world's biggest ever tin foil hat.

Earth once had hazy methane atmosphere like ice-moon Titan

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Methane has greenhouse effect many times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Good grief. Is this a straw man convention? Nobody has ever suggested the planet will "cook itself to death".

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Really?

Straw men don't fart.

'Seas will rise, flood millions of homes' warns Eric Schmidt ecologist

Some Beggar
Facepalm

Re: ostrich, ostrich

@Sean Timarco Baggaley

You might want to read the original articles rather than Lewis's version before arguing against a straw man and posting a smug "fail" icon. The statistics relate to century-level flood events; this is NOT about the sea gradually creeping up the shore. Hurricane Katrina cost over $100 billion. The ongoing costs for protecting against a similar event in New Orleans will increase personal taxes/insurance in the order of several hundred dollars per year based on current sea levels. Increasing sea levels will increase the likelihood of this type of event and increase the ongoing cost of defending against it.

Do you really think the economies of coastal US will consider this negligible?

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: 20 to 80 more inches is "settled science"?

I gave a couple of seconds thought to actually addressing the "points" you attempted in that post. But I think I'll just leave it at "twaddle". No offence like.

Some Beggar
Facepalm

Re: This is big news here in Forida

This makes my sarcastic comment about Florida seem pretty crass now. Sorry about that.

(the d'oh is for me)

Some Beggar
Meh

You can't really accuse people of alarmism ...

... when you misrepresent their output to make it sound more alarming.

The ranges given in that paper 1.25-10mm p/a over twenty years or 2.5-12mm p/a over forty years. Those appear to match pretty well with the aggregate estimates from the first half dozen recent studies brought up by google scholar. Can you explain why you think they're exaggerated?

The study is also talking about flooding from rare (once per century) flooding events rather than a slow and inexorable rise swallowing up houses. I'm not really sure what's so controversial about that either.

I've no idea where they're going with the estimates of number of houses though. I'm pretty certain the inhabitants of those areas of Florida already realise they live at sea level. That's why they retired to the beach.

Encyclopaedia Britannica nukes print edition, goes digital-only

Some Beggar
WTF?

Re: Paper is a rubbish format.

"That's a bit like saying your car has a digital original because it was designed in a CAD program?"

Only if you think you can drive to work in a CAD program.

Some Beggar
Thumb Down

Re: Paper is a rubbish format.

"bit-rot"

You do realise that the paper versions of the Encyclopædia (and the OED and pretty much every other reference book you care to mention) are all made from digital originals, right?

Bit rot is basically a myth.

Some Beggar
Headmaster

Re: Shame

"A good encyclopaedia is is hard to find these days."

Hope this helps.

http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=437&LGIL=8&ServiceName=Find%20out%20about%20library%20services

Some Beggar
Meh

Re: End of an era..

If you just want them for cheesy decoration then pick up an old set. Paper is a truly rubbish format for an encyclopædia.

Chinese fossil analysis suggests new hominid species

Some Beggar

"including the frontal skull lobes found in modern humans but lacking an appreciable chin"

Homo Windsorus

Android clobbers Siri in Japanese... and English

Some Beggar
Gimp

"they want to buy into Apple's projected lifestyle"

Any chance you could be a tiny little bit more condescending?

Galaxies to get the Pluto treatment?

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: This is taxonomy - not science

@Thing

Horsetwaddle. Science uses precise classification because clarity and organisation is absolutely critical in the sharing of complex knowledge. It doesn't matter a jot whether the classifications are arbitrary or intrinsic. What matters is that scientists understand one another without having to write a paragraph-long explanation each time they employ a poorly-defined term.

Just like a real computer: Android gets Android IDE

Some Beggar
Stop

Re: Just what we need

Don't take this the wrong way or owt ... but did you mean to log in to Crochet Weekly rather than the Register? You seem terribly grumpy about technology.

Some Beggar
Angel

Re: This could be the tipping point...

And I struggle to understand why anybody would choose a netbook over a fondleslab now that they're equipped with relatively meaty processors and grown-up applications/OSs.

It's almost as if people have different tastes and needs.

For most on-the-go applications, screen stroking is a better user experience than key poking. Particularly on the hobbit-size keyboards of a typical netbook.

Some Beggar
WTF?

Re: Just what we need

Why would they be any more amateurish and buggy simply because they're developed on the target itself? If anything, on-target development is generally more stable as it is more likely to be test-driven rather than hacked.

Kogeto Dot 360° video lens

Some Beggar

Re: Money for old rope.

I'm not sure there's an upper limit to what some people will spend on crappy plastic gimmicks for iphones though. Crappy plastic gimmicks for iphones might just be what pull us out of the recession.

Some Beggar
Thumb Down

Money for old rope.

£70 for a curved reflector, a plastic case and an iphone App?

Nice work if you can get it.

WTF is... White Space radio networking?

Some Beggar
WTF?

Re: Simple Answer

"Yuppie DIY outdoor WiFi"

Did you throw some fridge magnet words up in the air and copy them however they landed?

Council spunks '£100k on how to wash your hands' vid

Some Beggar
WTF?

Headline shennanigans.

Why have you essentially reproduced the Telegraph's exaggerated headline when your own simple arithmetic has calculated the actual cost at under £2k?

(ummm ... ok ... so what exactly is objectionable about this post?)

Some Beggar

Re: There are plenty of blokes who could do with watching this video

I avoid this problem by just pooing under my desk.

Some Beggar

Re: No laughing matter

Quite. But why do they need a Sussex-specific video? Surely one nationwide Charlie Says or Tufty Club video would do*. Handwashing is handwashing regardless of your local council, isn't it?

(* or whatever the new-fangled modern equivalent might be)

Ten... in-car gadgets and accessories

Some Beggar

Elf an safety gorn mad innit.

The Highway Code says don't drink while you're driving. Miserable do-gooders with their sensible advice that's been consistently lowering road deaths for the past umpty years. It's no wonder we lost the empire blummin immigrants can't even sing baa baa black sheep harumph etc.

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Kinell...

I'm torn here. On the one hand I'm an easy going chap and believe that people should have as much freedom as society can sensibly allow to make decisions about their lives.

On the other hand, if you enjoy spending time in a tin box sipping tepid coffee then you're an idiot and should probably just donate yourself to the nearest A&E department to patch up somebody who is making proper use of their mortality.

Nuke clock incapable of losing time chimes with boffins

Some Beggar
Happy

Re: How?

You sound exactly like my three year old nephew. Do you want to build some lego?

Scosche MyTrek health monitor

Some Beggar

Re: I'm possibly out of my depth here technically so apologies for the naive question.

OK. Thanks.

So it's more like a crutch for people who are desperately out of touch with their own bodies?

Some Beggar
FAIL

I'm possibly out of my depth here technically so apologies for the naive question.

But could somebody tell me if staring at your pulse in a gym is more or less useful and exciting than watching an odometer tick over a thousand mile mark while trundling along a commuter queue?

Thanks.

Solar storm arrives, nobody notices

Some Beggar
Meh

Re: We had a Cisco ACE module reboot due to a SDRAM parity error

Thrilling stuff. You should get on the phone to HBO. This could rival The Wire.

Page: