* Posts by Nicholas Wright

93 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Sep 2006

Page:

Newspapers slam BBC iPhone app plans

Nicholas Wright
Grenade

Shocker

Us BBC license payers are paying for advert free content. And fair does, the BBC seems to have an excellent news service, brought out iPlayer before all the other commercial companies, and is one of the first with an HD Freeview channel.

Now, we do pay more that the usual Sky subscription (although how Sky has the barefaced cheek to charge you extra to watch Sport, and then STILL pump adverts at you is beyond me), and if it wasn't a condition of having a TV set (more or less) then perhaps less people would pay.

So we're paying over the odds for good content with no adverts, tell me why we're not allowed that paid for content on any platform we choose.

Anyway - what's the difference between a website and a mobile phone. I can already read the BBC news website on my Nokia S60.

Nokia adds police radar to handset

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

Why?

See title.

US Supremes to hear text-message privacy case

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

Yes, but no...

It's provided by the company, but a informal rule was set in place to say you needed to pay for any usage above 25000. Isn't that implicit recognition that the phone will be used for personal reasons, as all non-personal reasons would surely be covered by the 25000 limit?

If the user is paying for any usage over 25000, doesn't that change things? Is that a personal purchase?

I bet it started out as - you guys are getting phones for daily policing purposes. DOn't cary personal phones on you during day in case it reveals something about you, so just make a few on the work phones.

Wind turbines to power phone masts

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

A way to quieten the phone mast sceptics?...

Say that for every phone mast put up, each will have its own wind turbine powering it, and any left over electricity given to the local resident/business.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ6

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

Huh?

This camera is one of the smallest, if not smallest, super zooms you can get. The lens is Leica and is of a very good quality. Other review sites rate this camera very highly.

The mode dial thing - I've never had a problem with it. When you turn it, you know instantly if it's in place or not. It doesn't wobble or give you any impression it'll change if you sneeze at it.

There are other cameras which are cheaper, but they are either squat versions of a DSLR - therefore not pocketable, or offer a smaller zoom. I think only one in this range had an optical viewfinder, but there was something else wrong with it - maybe quality or something.

The only difference between this camera and the TZ7 is the HD movies. The TZ6 manual lists both TZ6 and TZ7 functionality, and only features pertinent to HD movies are extra.

It was a big thing me paying ~£200 for this camera, and I've been very pleased with it. Zooming into the distance for a spot on the ocean horizon, to then zoom into on the camera to see it's actually an oil refinery.

The range of predefined scenaries are impressive, while still allowing you to practice tweaking all the individual settings yourself. An Auto mode does it all for you if you haven't the time or energy.

I've not had a problem with start up time, and if you don't want to focus on a subject, just click through.

Employers to take fingerprints for CRB checks

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

A cunning plan...

The police receive the job applicant's name, address, oh... and some finger prints. Ooo.. that's handy... i'll hold onto them in case that's useful in the future...

TalkTalk steps up attack on government

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

Hang on a minute...

BT have said, "No, we're not paying for rural broadband... it's not commercially viable for us."

And the Government's said, "Oh, really sorry BT Sir. We'll find you the money from somewhere else."

Goverment press release - "All those people using BT's infrastructure now need to pay more money er... to BT... so they can insert broadband into rural areas, get the profits, and not actually spend any money on it."

Grow some balls, tell BT to either implement fibre or we'll find another company to take over the infrastructure - a national asset btw.

HTC says no to Android HD2 to aid Windows Mobile

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

WTF?!

So just when my current contract finishes, and a new version of Android starts me dribbling, HTC decide they won't bother :(

Will have to look at the top 10 phones mentioned by T3 (http://www.t3.com/features-gallery?articleId=11525)

Hmmm... Sony's... or LG's...

iPhone saves woman from bear

Nicholas Wright
Happy

@AC - "app for that"

.... still p155ing myself laughing...

Sagem DSI86HD

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Down

Airs above their station

Adding ~£80 to the price of a standard freeview just to watch HD? Most TVs these days come with built in Freeview.

The only reason Sagem exists is to make Thomson boxes look good.... er... or not alone.

Bridge made of recycled plastic supports 70-ton tank

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Down

Umm... and when they want to remove the bridge...

Can you just melt the plastic and reuse it?

I'm pretty sure steel, and the like, melt quite nicely.

Crackdown on dodgy mobile deals

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

@Bryan Anderson, @Grease Monkey

Are you mad?

1. Look at any standard contract and it's written by the legal monkeys. It's written to protect themselves, not to educate the customer. After you've got through a page of "definitions" - "a customer is someone who is a customer of the store, but not on a tuesday, or where other naming has occured...", etc, etc.

A customer has no hope of reading and understanding a contract without a pocket lawyer.

2. It's common for companies to put terms in contracts which are illegal, or unfair.

What should the customer do then? How do they know which is illegal and which is unfair?

Contracts should state in plain simple English, the important concepts - 2 year contract, a fee of £x if you cancel contract, etc.

There should then be baseline T&Cs for all mobile contracts which can be assumed by the customer and company.

And failing that, if a situation occurs outside these, it assumed be in the customer's favour.

Baby swing vid man cut loose

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

Hang on...

So you're arrested (deprived of your liberty and anything you may have had planned, even a job), questioned (put under pressure and stress to defend yourself), kept in a jail cell (deprived of the comforts a citizen should perhaps have), kept from your loved ones, fed food which you may not like or be able to eat, get your name in the press and associated with child abuse...... AND then you're found innocent.... and you don't think that perhaps the treatment you received was unfair and should offer some form of compensation? At the very least an apology, and a promise not to do it again?!

Sorry, if my time is wasted because of the idiocy of others, they're going to have to pay the price.

T-Orange: How it's going to work

Nicholas Wright
Go

iPhone

Oooo.. if T-Orange is now the biggest, who do you think will pay loads of money to exclusively carry the iPhone?

HTC inks in Android-based Tattoo

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

A suggestion

What would be nice is that mobile phones could be configurable like PCs.

Want a good camera? That's £100.

Don't want the good camera, that's £25 less.

Want fast CPU, add £25, etc, etc

Wifi? Not really.

3G/unlimited internet - yes.

Samsung Android phone finally hits O2

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

WTF?! I was a little bit cautious about paying £35 (18month) for my N95 8GB

... but charging that much for a new platform, with nowhere near the same brand recognition, is surely suicide.

Not sure Google and Samsung are going to like this.

<-- gutted, was keen to give it a try.

iPhone thieves collared by Jobsian GPS

Nicholas Wright
FAIL

Great software, but...

$99 a year?! £40 odd quid a year to protect against an idiot stealing your phone?

Would be better off getting another mobile phone contract, with an additional iPhone!

HTML 5 is no Flash or Silverlight killer — yet

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

A reason not to use Flash...

... it costs money to buy the IDEs.

Canvas a part of HTML 5, will mean people can use without having to spend money on an IDE.

Google probed by Italy's anti-trust arm

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

I don't see a problem

Italian newspapers have websites, which have to be paid for by advertising.

Google ripping the news from their website and showing on its pages doesn't pay the italian newspaper.

But Google displaying the news as a search result, DOES encourage people to view the news and enable the italian newspapers to get paid.

Model-slag blogger sues Google for blowing her cover

Nicholas Wright
Paris Hilton

Actually...

Port looks better.

Nokia to cull Symbian from smartphones?

Nicholas Wright
Badgers

Innovation...

No, just joking. S60 hasn't changed for the last 5 years or so. Why do I want a modern bleeding edge phone, with a slow OS and functionality that hasn't changed or improved during that time.

I have always bought Nokia, but I'm doing to start looking elsewhere this year.

France takes third swing at 'three-strikes' law

Nicholas Wright
Grenade

Instead of the fine, plump for internet disconnection...

... and then say it wasn't your fault when you couldn't submit your tax return online.

iPhone v Pre - the celebrity smartphone deathmatch

Nicholas Wright
WTF?

You call this a review?

You laugh at application availabity for Palm Pre...

... yet the iPhone has been out for 2 years or so?

You think that might be the reason?

Social networking big boys must bow to EU data laws

Nicholas Wright
Boffin

It doesn't matter about physical presence...

... it's all about where EU data is held.

You are an EU citizen, and your name, email address, date of birth is held on a server. I believe it's actually illegal for a company to store your details on a server outside of the EU without express permission.

Ah yes - the storer of the information must obtain express permission from the resident country of each of their users - England, Scotland, Wales, France, Spain, Holland, Brussels, Poland, etc, etc, etc... not sure how many countries there are at the moment, and I wouldn't predict a reply within seven days.

I've heard of requests taking months.

US record industry wins $1.92m from file sharer

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

@AC

Well, would you rather lose $5k of your savings (holiday, clothes, food for the children), or be faced with a bill for $1million, and declare yourself bankrupt?

Tricky...

Comet opens e-car power car park

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

This is excellent!

Because if Comet is attracting customers because they know they can charge while they shop, other shops are going to have to start doing the same, just to compete.

Before we know it - uber coverage across the UK!

BenQ backs Android

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

Thank <insert deity here> for that!

Why do mobile manufacturers hinder their phones by using Windows Mobile?

S60 is a *bit* better, although hasn't been updated since apes started using tools.

With a Linux kernel (and OS?) it's going to be fast and flexible (if allowed :( )

Bates: Cops to defy courts over return of indecent material

Nicholas Wright

yeah roit

Which could easily be rewritten as:

"I don't see any reason why they should be allowed into the police's hands, of someone who could just as easily upload them somewhere else.

Any materials of this nature should not be allowed out of an expert's sight."

and makes just as much sense.

HP hit by laptop recall

Nicholas Wright
Flame

Is it just me...

... but with the advent of electric cars... with batteries inside them... I'm starting to feel a teensy bit nervous.

Samsung unfolds phone with e-ink panel

Nicholas Wright

Nice idea!

Like it! Now stick it on a proper phone!

Rail union ballots for strike over fingerprints

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

Am I missing the point, but...

... isn't this just a more foolproof way of clocking on and off? It's not like they have an expectation of anonymity. How do they expect to get paid?

I can totally imagine people clocking their friends in/out as needed.

ID cards is one thing, and as long as the finger prints aren't passed on to the police, I'm not sure I see the problem.

Mozilla considers dumping Firefox support for Win2k, early XP

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Down

WTF!?

Mozilla's falling for the Microsoft PR?

Most people will be skipping Vista, and only *might* touch Windows 7.

Losing XP support will certainly be a bad move.

New e-waste rules may be too much for UK business, warns Gov

Nicholas Wright
Stop

At first I sympathised...

as I think of British businesses as the small business, trying make money, etc, etc.

Then I realised it - the government is talking about big businesses here as well. In fact, those big businesses are probably the ones which whinged to the government in the first place!

Went to Ireland 2 or 3 years ago. WEEE was already in force there.

Admittedly I had a small hissy fit at having to pay extra for my purchase, to offset the cost of disposing it.

LibDems want gov action on killer lorries of death

Nicholas Wright
Stop

Reading's Elgar Road

*shrug* It's an industrial estate, and actually the location of the local DVLA test centre ;)

So probably more hassle for the learners than many other people/

Bush Obama sides with RIAA in P2P fight

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Down

@AC

In the English courts, a deterrent of jail time or a fine is fine - questionable whether it works, but I guess the thought is good.

The thing with the RIAA, is that this deterrent money is going straight into their pockets. Not to the state, charity, etc.

"Press Release from RIAA and DOJ: From now on, everybody convicted will be fined $1 million. This may seem large, but it's a deterrent. Er... of course that money goes to the RIAA, regardless of how much they've really lost."

Ofcom slaps Bristol radio for uncoolness

Nicholas Wright
Coat

2-TEN FM in Reading

... is also morphing into Heart. What if they decide to cut costs and play the same dull music in sunny cosmopolitan Reading, as they do in Cornwall?!

Mine's the one with the recently knicked stash inside it.

Online gambling safe from EU regulation

Nicholas Wright
Unhappy

Can't read :(

Can't read this article because of the Microsoft flash advert.

UK IT should 'fire men first', says Kate Craig-Wood

Nicholas Wright
Paris Hilton

WTF?!

That ain't no woman! It's a man, man.

It's one of Dr. Evil's assassins.^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H

Orange and Barclaycard partner on touchless pay-by-phone tech

Nicholas Wright
Alert

Insurance on mobiles...

... so are they going to start including any money spent on the lost/stolen mobile?

Intel aims open source at your car

Nicholas Wright
Paris Hilton

@AC

> Cars are dangerous enough with all the retards who think they can talk and drive at the same

> time

How about those that drive and read maps at the same time?

LG Super Multi Blue BE06-LU10

Nicholas Wright
Dead Vulture

Actually...

The same thought did occur to me. I don't want to see personal bias being involved in hardware reviews which I trust so much.

Nokia nixes flagship phone in US

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Down

@AC

Nope.

I've always been more upset than the software just didn't change over time. The calendar has stayed the same, contacts has done just enough to keep itself relevant, messaging has also stayed the same.

How about some software which actually has improvements in functionality?!

E-tailers can't claim on returned goods

Nicholas Wright
Boffin

They're very lucky!

Lucky she didn't ask for a replacement under warranty.

Obama balks at recovery of lost Dubya emails

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

Perhaps, just perhaps...

...Obama is actually trying to make a difference, and this Bush email thing is just hassle that's pointless and won't help.

Perhaps drawing a line on the previous administration, and starting afresh is good.

Life hands Sun steaming sack of...

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

Have you tried Flash?

I had a go a Flash, and found it as understandable as Prolog.

The reason why JavaFX and Silverlight could/should win, is that they'll be easier to write applications in.

Nokia N79 smartphone

Nicholas Wright
Paris Hilton

Umm...

... just get a second hand N95?

Same resolution camera, has full GPS, can upload photos, can listen to music and radio.

Fisker posts Karma Sunset shots

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

I've got one word for you...

...moist.

Nokia N97 to land late Q1

Nicholas Wright
Thumb Up

And...

... the keyboard is easy to use.

Nokia N97 touchscreen webphone demo'd

Nicholas Wright
Alert

*sigh*

One of the reasons I dumped my XDA IIs was just the size of it, and also the fact that typing SMSs on it was a pain in the rectum. Even using the stylus didn't make it as usable as a normal phone.

So, seeing a qwerty keyboard on the N97 should be good... but the blinking size of it!

People'll be thinking I dress both to the left and the right.

Hmm....

Home Office denies remote snooping plan

Nicholas Wright
Dead Vulture

Re: What If I?

You've got a lot to hide?

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