* Posts by Neil 51

49 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Sep 2009

Tesla owners win legal fight after software update crippled older Model S batteries

Neil 51

Re: Carbon neutral

Dear Sir,

These new fangled horseless carriages can not replace the exact purpose my horse currently does, and they also do not even run on oats! I therefore declare that they are completely useless and all attempts to implement them is doomed to failure and should cease immediately.

Yours, etc.

Even Apple doesn’t mess with Taylor Swift

Neil 51

Re: "the world’s biggest pop star"

You know, admitting you've heard of someone doesn't mean you're admitting to liking them or knowing any of their songs, just that you don't live under a rock. Or are you just alpha nerding: http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2670

Forget bonking, have ONE OFF THE WRIST with Barclaycard's bPay

Neil 51

Re: I've got one

How big is the actual card? Could it be attached to an existing watch? Or even an oversized ring?

If your kid blew $$$s on in-app tat, Google has a slice of $19m+ for you

Neil 51

Re: Still the parents fault.

" They were the ones who agreed to the T&C's, which stated this would happen.

If they decided it was too difficult to read the fine print relating to the services which they want to use, it's hardly Google's fault."

From the article:

"A year later Google added a consent form that the cardholder had to click on, but it didn't mention that the form gave tearaways a 30-minute buying window before they would have to pester their parents for permission again. This allowed children to buy more stuff than their parents expected"

Yeah, don't you hate it when people don't read things through properly.

100% driverless Wonka-wagon toy cars? Oh Google, you're having a laugh

Neil 51

Re: Oh noes!

"..Drivers have got so bad that cars are now designed to be able to run into people."

Completely agree. One of the problems is that people don't think of themselves as bad drivers - it's always his (or her) fault, never mine.

The sooner that people (including me) can be taken out of the driving equation, the better.

Neil 51
Stop

Oh noes!

The first pre-release version of a new technology isn't perfect and can't cope with every possible situation! How shocking! I'm so glad that when cars were first introduced they could already do 35 mpg, had seatbelts, airbags and crumple zones, an already existing petrol station infrastructure and came in different types depending on the type of driving you did. Otherwise they would never have taken off.

British support for fracking largely unmoved by knowledge of downsides

Neil 51

More likey a judgemental attitude...

Did you see the footage of the Balcombe protesters? They either looked like unwashed hippys, trustafarians or yummy-mummies. Basically the type of annoying twat that makes the average person dismiss them out of hand or want to deliberately be on the opposite side from them.

Whereas with climate change the impression is that the people warning about it are scientists so it tends to get more notice and be taken more seriously. I reckon that's a lot of the reason behind people being more positively inclined towards fracking anyway.

(note: I am not making any claims either way about climate change or the veracity of the science, merely how it appears in general. So quit your bitching.)

'WikiLeaks of financial data' prompts worldwide hunt for tax evaders

Neil 51
Stop

We need more people like the Lannisters.....

We had a run-in with this last year when buying our first house. Our solicitors rang me up and said they could save us the stamp duty on the purchase for a cut of it themselves by using some complicated loophole involving the transfer of deeds when we purchased.

My first thought was "I can save almost 8 grand! Yipeee!" closely followed by "Hmm, I should consult a solicitor. Hang on, these are the only solicitors I've ever had to deal with, who am i going to ask?".

In the end a combination of morals and realising it wasn't worth fucking about with the purchase of a bloody house meant I didn't go through with it, but these solicitors were apparently quite a big company, so I'm sure a hell of a lot of people did. It's amazing how widespread tax-avoidance has become.

GRAIL orbiters make DEATH DIVE into lunar mountain

Neil 51
Joke

I really hope...

That when she was alive she always introduced herself as "Ride. Sally Ride."

Facebook to debut auto-play video ads in 2013

Neil 51
Flame

Re: Feeling guilty? Bah!

"Shoving endless fucking adds in my face, for shit that I neither want, need, have asked for, or expressed a genuine interest in, is NOT advertising, it's wasting my fucking time"

So you'd be happier with increased web tracking so ads could be more tailored and less of a scattergun approach? No? How about paying a subscription to access websites? No? Everyone at El Reg working for free maybe?

Websites need to be funded somehow and advertising is always going to be hit & miss. Sure, they could tone it down and video ads are bloody annoying, but what's your alternative? Genuinely interested in if you have any answers, or are just ranting.

Elon Musk envisions small town of vegetarians on Mars

Neil 51
Go

Re: And who'd be able to afford the $500K tickets?

You won't be coming back remember so quite a few people could get this together by selling house/car/absolutely everything they own, cashing in pension, emptying savings etc. The very rich on the other hand will be less likely to go because it is such a small part of their wealth and they won't be willing to leave the rest behind.

Mozilla's Social add-on MERGES Facebook with Firefox

Neil 51

Re: Bye bye firefox

Shush Patrick, don't get in the way of a rant. Facebook was mentioned in an article so it's customary for people in the comment section to try and out-Alpha-Nerd each other by loudly saying how "I DON'T USE FARCEBOOK" (other "hilarious" substitutions are available)

Just be glad he didn't start ranting about how he meets people in real life instead.

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2670

WHITE WHALE spent 4 years trying to tell us something, then stopped

Neil 51
Thumb Down

Re: Best get those scientists out there to do their research

As much as I like blaming religion for everything as well, I think in this case religions (particularly eastern ones) have done more to make people turn vegetarian rather than make people who would otherwise be herbivores chow down on a burger.

Humans are naturally omnivores so it takes something external (ethics, empathy, philosophy, religion, being a hippy etc.) to turn them veggie.

Apple design chief Jony Ive knighted - but not by the Queen

Neil 51
Thumb Down

Re: so few republicans

"What harm is the Royal Family doing?"

You mean apart from perpetuating the idea that some people are just "better" than the great unwashed purely based on what their ancestors did?

Sure, being born into money can be a huge advantage even without titles but it shouldn't imply that you are innately superior to someone born into a different family which is exactly what royalty does.

Again - it's nothing personal against the current Queen, she does seem like a nice hard-working person. It's the whole idea of inherited superiority that's the problem.

Neil 51
Thumb Down

Re: so few republicans

Have to agree with SB here. It's irrelevant how "nice" she seems or how crappy the elected government are - at least their crappiness is partly our fault for voting them in.

The idea that an hereditary position is automatically somehow assumed to be better than all the people from the UK (the term 'Subjects' may not have been used since the 80s but it still describes the situation pretty damn well) is so archaic it's amazing it can still exist in this day & age.

Then again I did grow up in a republic, so maybe I've been spoiled in thinking the lack of inherited titles is a good thing.

Waterstones stores surrender to Amazonian invaders

Neil 51

Re: Beating browsing proper bookshop

If paper/printing is such a negligible cost, then why aren't there any sites offering both a paper & e-version of books for one combined price? Personally I like the ease of use of the kindle but I do love having a paper copy for future-proofing/lending/bookshelf-prettifying. Even if there was a slight premium for getting both versions I'd happily pay it. Wonder if Amazon take requests....

Hands on with the Motorola Razr Maxx

Neil 51

Perfect timing..

Just in time for a phone upgrade. Was planning on getting the S3 but found this while googling for alternatives yesterday, Still a bit undecided though as I've never owned either a Samsung or Motorola. Any opinions on either? Plus, still can't see it on any pay monthly plans. Grrr.

Billion-dollar high-tech ghost town to run itself without humans

Neil 51
Alert

Re: Let's explain that one to the homeless mother and her kids

So does your primeval, primitive, caveman gut tell you to sell your non-essential PCs, game consoles & wide-screen TVs, move to a smaller, cheaper house, eat only Tesco value food and stop drinking/dating/socialising so you can give all that extra money you save directly to the important "homeless mother and her kids" yourself?

No? Then shush.

Zuckerberg: Now share your organs with Facebook friends

Neil 51
Stop

Re: UK Legal validity

"If it comes to it I will opt out and let my next of kin know my actual wishes."

So one of your final acts on earth will be to deny somebody the use of something which is now completely useless to you?

Sounds like your next of kin will be heaving a big sigh of relief to be rid of that selfish bastard.

And if it's because of some vague "ooo, it's all a bit big brother" argument, unfortunately assumed consent is necessary because people tend to be too lazy to go to the little effort it takes to opt-in even if they don't care much either way. Those who do care enough about it for religious or squeamish reasons will be the ones willing to put in the effort to opt-out.

Use the holy word of God to stay secure online, says bishop

Neil 51
Happy

I remember hearing before that they used to try to identify German spies during the World War by asking them to say 'Squirrel' as apparently it was impossible for those who grew up speaking German to pronounce.

Probably an urban legend but at least it's gotten everyone who reads this to say squirrel out loud, so the worlds a more squirrelly, therefore better, place.

Mutant bird flu won't slay ferrets, people

Neil 51

Missing the important question..

What the hell does this bastard have against ferrets?

The top five spam subjects sullying inboxes

Neil 51
Joke

Well....

...just tell your girlfriend to stop forwarding it to you.

.Scot campaign seeks UK Gov backing

Neil 51
Gimp

Or www.doctor.scot

which would randomly redirect to www.jan.et or www.roc.ky

NASA Legonauts set for Jupiter voyage

Neil 51
Stop

ODFO.....

With that sort of attitude the human race would have died out ages ago owing to a lack of scientific advancement. Science and exploration is too important dammit.

I'm assuming this was your last post before you sell your laptop along with all your other non-essential possessions so you can send all your money to Somalia? No? Then stop being a fecking hypocrite.

'There's too much climate change denial on the BBC'

Neil 51
Meh

Hey kettle, you know what you are...

I find that if I open the BBC's 'only-write-pro-MMGW-articles' site in one tab and El Reg's 'only-write-anti-MMGW-articles' in the other, by flicking between the two quickly enough I can actually get a balanced view.

Or lose any semblance of hope that either of my two most-visited sites will one day actually do some unbiased reporting on the issue. Whichever.

Spotify trumpets move to US (and little else)

Neil 51
Paris Hilton

Is it just me...

I've got the premium subscription as well (definitely worth it, even if only for the time saved in finding, downloading & transferring new music) but looking through my saved playlists lately I noticed that there seems to have been quite a bit of music pulled over the last while (e.g where are all Dylan's albums gone? Or the Dead Kennedys'? They definitely used to be there but now there's just a couple of live ones, or some newly released "Remastered" ones.) Did some label pull out of Spotify & I missed the news?

Alleged LulzSec hacker still inside

Neil 51
Happy

Apologies for my lack of empathy...

.... but all that's been going round my head since I read the story:

"Maybe he's agoraphobic."

"Father Jack, scared of fighting? I don't think so"

Kindle Store awash with auto-generated crap 'books'

Neil 51
Pirate

Slightly off-topic..

..but was looking the other day for any sites which offer both a paper & e-copy of a book (The kindle's more convenient, the books look better on my shelves).

Since we're constantly being told that the price point for e-books isn't cheaper because "most of the cost is writing, editing etc." then they wouldn't lose anything by doing this. I seem to remember some DVDs offering this - a (very locked down) video file which could be copied off the DVD to the PC.

Is anyone aware of any website offering anything like this, without resorting to piracy?

How to... change sleep-screen pics on your Kindle

Neil 51
Thumb Up

Nice one..

Thanks for that, much better than the default images.

One thing though - I saw on some forums people saying they experienced sluggishness with their Kindle if they had too many images in their folder. Have you noticed anything like this with 700 (or is it possible they were just running out of space)?

Samsung rolls out 22in see-through screens

Neil 51
Thumb Up

Actually, I can see a use for this

A telly with a mirror behind it - It can be backlit (or use natural reflection when bright enough) when turned on if you have a 2-way type mirror dealy (possibly). When turned off you have a mirror hanging on your wall rather than a big gray rectangle. Much better.

Time-wasting twits survey scam hits Twitter

Neil 51
Thumb Up

Damn right...

.... it's such a waste of time that could be used in much more profitable ways. Such as reading an article about a service you don't use then taking a few extra seconds to comment on it in the hope of getting a few thumbs up.

Cable vendor slapped for unproven claims

Neil 51
Alien

Genuine question here...

...but how are psychics, tarot readers, spiritual healers etc. still allowed to advertise in newspapers? Surely Trading Standards should be investigating them for being full of shit.

Facebook bug sin-bins female users

Neil 51
Heart

Y'know what...

...I don't use Twitter either, the difference being I don't care about it enough to pick on people who do. If they enjoy it, fine, everyone's different.

Why get so annoyed over it? Oh, and the whole Twatter/Failbook/New Liebour replacing of words: To me that's a lot closer to being verbal diarrhoea and a lot more irritating than the things themselves.

Brussels blocks UK from biometric superdatabase

Neil 51
Joke

Simple...

...If the package being sent by freight is wrapped in brown paper, it's singled out for extra attention. Packages in white paper are waved through.

India bans mass messaging on mosque riot fears

Neil 51
Joke

Hang on...

So they're worried about illiterate people receiving text messages? Are they worried about deaf people getting phone calls too?

DARPA inks 5-year-mission solar strato-wingship deal

Neil 51
Thumb Up

Thanks guys...

I realise I could have googled it, but I always prefer getting my info from people interested in the subject.

Neil 51
Boffin

Out of interest....

...how far up does the airspace of a country extend? I'm guessing this could be taken as violating airspace if flown over the wrong country whereas a satellite wouldn't be, but is there a defined limit?

Trident delay by the Coalition: Cunning plan, or bad idea?

Neil 51
Thumb Up

Hear hear

Completely agree. I can't imagine the Trident issue had much of an effect on anybody choosing to vote or not vote for the Lib Dems. There were far more major election issues.

iPhone 4G blingmobe: Yours for £13k

Neil 51
Joke

Well, nobody's going to buy that...

It's not like iPhone owners are likely to be the kind of people with disposable income and a severe lack of imagination when it comes to spending it, who can be easily convinced to buy anything shiny.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Neil 51
Happy

Yup, not a bad phone

Got one last week - Was a bit wary as it's my first touchscreen phone (I like proper buttons) but I'm liking it so far and no problems with the small screen. I wanted a small phone to use mostly as an mp3 player and this fits into my pocket quite nicely. One thing I would say is that the shipped music player app can be a wee bit iffy, so any suggestion of a good replacement is welcome.

Russian spy ring bust uncovers tech toolkit

Neil 51
Joke

She was being a bit obvious...

...everyone knows that fake street only goes up to number 70

iPhone consumed by solar 'death ray'

Neil 51

I assume...

...you mean iPhone owners?

Antarctic glacier melt maybe 'not due to climate change'

Neil 51
Unhappy

Sigh...

While I'm still open to being convinced either way on climate change, the bias of printing only anti-MMGW articles on El Reg is as bad as the BBC only printing pro-MMGW articles. Is is too much to ask for a bit of balance and both sides of the argument to be available on one site?

French judiciary makes transgender boob

Neil 51
FAIL

Big fat fail..

..sorry Jennyalto, but you are clearly using common sense, logic and empathy in your post. I must insist you cut that out right now and post a knee-jerk, badly thought out response right this second.

Stephen Fry's truly terrible mistake

Neil 51
Flame

What....

..the British claiming an Irishman as one of theirs? But that's never happened before (see also: Dylan Moran, Spike Milligan, Peter O'Toole & Oscar Wilde)

Gadget tax needed 'to save US newspapers'

Neil 51
Paris Hilton

Might be a silly question here...

... but I genuinely don't know. if the Guardian is losing £100,000 a day how is it still in business? And why would they keep going with that amount of losses?

Guardian says dating site rivals violated database rights

Neil 51
Heart

Erm, no, again

Have to add that I'm using Guardian Soulmates at the moment and finding it very good so far (still chatting to girls in bars as well though, it's not an either/or situation) . It was recommended to me by two separate (female) friends who both found their current partner on there.

Haven't come across any "professionals" or import-a-bride scams, but hey, maybe I'm not looking at the profiles of girls who's pictures are the kind you'd see stuck up in a phonebox.

Free dating sites on the other hand are stuffed full of scams because there's no barrier to entry, bar a working e-mail address. Once you start charging the number of scams are of course going to go way down.

For the record, I don't read the Guardian - in fact I don't think a lot of people on there do. It's just one of the more popular sites.

Also - People sneering at online dating on a site full of nerds? Know your audience people.

Wikileaks video shows US gunfire on Reuters staff

Neil 51
Grenade

So have you got a link...

.... to the unedited video? Or did you just read a description of it on the internet, so it must be true?

Scientists lay bare Irish potato famine blight

Neil 51
Joke

Pefect excuse to tell this one...

How many potatoes does it take to kill an Irishman?

None