* Posts by Arctic fox

2770 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Nov 2009

Microsoft books stall at Appule - the Mac expo stiffed by Apple

Arctic fox
Headmaster

@AC 11.55 GMT Much as it pains me I have to be fair and say that Apple themselves........

...........may not have been involved in this set of threats. It may simply have been at the initiative of the reseller the article mentions - although I grant you that his behaviour is little different from that we expect and have seen regularly from Cupertino.

Only global poverty can save the planet, insists WWF - and the ESA!

Arctic fox
Thumb Up

@jake Absolute, the expression "grinding hard labour" does not even begin to cover it.

My father when he was younger used to cultivate a moderately large vegetable garden. He enjoyed doing it and it kept him fit. However, despite his hard work it only provided about 20% of what we as a family needed in the course of a year. As he said himself, "bugger doing this on the large scale"!

Arctic fox
Headmaster

Lewis, you do love tilting at windmills don't you?

There is not a cat's chance in hell that such measures would get any form of serious political support at all. Not in the "developed world" or, for that matter, in the "underdeveloped world" because they have no plans to continue living in the kind of poverty they are still experiencing. The overwhelming majority of our fellow earthlings have absolutely no intention of living the kind of hair-shirt existence on a permanent basis that the extremist end of the sustainability movement are howling for. My question then is why are you devoting so many column inches to attacking these groups? One might almost get the impression that you have political problems with the basic concept of sustainability - and by that I do not mean the kind of stuff those loony-tunes are calling for.

Nokia Lumia 900 WinPho 7 smartphone

Arctic fox

I feel that, all things taken into consideration, that the mark is fair.

Other than that it is obvious that the Lumia series currently is a holding action by Nokia. If by Q4 we do not see a genuine flagship phone running WP8 then the Finns won't have any excuses. I hope they will, Nokia at their best are fully capable of building superb phones. Unless MS in some very clear way frakk up with WP8 then Nokia will have the elbow room to do the necessary. If, however, they fail to do so then I fear that it will be looking very bleak for them indeed.

Siri subtly shifts smartphone allegiance

Arctic fox
Happy

Ho, ho, ho. Why am I not...................

.............surprised?

How to simulate a light armoured vehicle

Arctic fox
Joke

As far as "ologies" go I think that I'll pass on this one.

You can imagine the conversation between proud mum and her mate. "'As your boy passed all his courses?" "Yeah, he's a complete knob now."

Facebook co-founder renounces US citizenship pre-IPO

Arctic fox
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@Tom 101 Actually old chap an awful lot of very ordinary people contribute.........

.....through their work, on very ordinary salaries with no possibility creative tax planning, to ensuring that our society functions. Without their contribution we wouldn't have any kind of functioning society at all. They (many millions of them) are every bit as important to us all as people like this chap. The difference is that they are, like me an thee, ordinary folk without the overweening sense of entitlement that so many members of the 1% elite seem to have.

Megacorps accuse Chinese fab workers of pilfering designs

Arctic fox
Holmes

"This may be partly due to low wages and poorer working conditions..........."

Let me see now. You outsource your production to a country where you can get away with paying poor wages and employing people under conditions that would be directly illegal in your company's home country. Thereupon you discover that your sweated serfs employees don't feel 100 % loyal and committed to you. Hmm, yes that might indeed be at least a part of the problem. See icon.

Microsoft digs Doppler to effect gesture detection

Arctic fox
Happy

I frequently make gestures at my laptop..........

...........although whether those gestures would be any use controlling the os is another matter!

Queen unveils draft internet super-snoop bill - with clauses

Arctic fox
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"CCDP"? My problem is I am not sure, given what one suspects they would like to do, that....

.......they did not mean "CCCP". *

*Younger members may need to google that. -:P

Apple's HTML5 bet against Android extermination

Arctic fox

@tirk You have actually tackled the issue (from your viewpoint) in your posting - fine.

My point is that the author has not and it is hardly an irrelevant issue.

Arctic fox
Megaphone

As far as the tablet market is concerned, what about the gorilla in the room?

How can one speculate about what will happen in the coming 2 - 3 years or so as far as any "disruptive" effect is concerned without expressing some opinion concerning the effect that MS' entry into the tablet market may or may not have (either way). Whether one is inclined to argue that Win 8 (which ever flavour one is talking about) will be a total dog or that it will do very well is entirely irrelevant. Giving the impression that the coming couple of years or so can be evaluated as purely a struggle between iOS and Android without taking Redmond into account is an implicit assumption that Win8 is going to bomb so badly in tablet space that it can be safely ignored. Now that's fair enough if you believe that to be the case - but then say so explicitly and say why. Pretending that the issue does not exist is IMHO not an option in a discussion of this kind.

Solar quiet spell like the one now looming cooled climate in the past

Arctic fox

Re: "chance to get my sledge out!" Hello? Do you mind. Where I live in.........

..............North Norway (in a town whose local nickname is "Snow hole" which will give you the general picture) I was looking forward to global warming and here's Lewis is doing his level best to destroy my dreams of growing grapes up here. I wish people would make their minds - I don't know whether to migrate south or stay where I am!

Pirate island attracts more than 100 startup tenants

Arctic fox
Happy

@Blitterbug Re:"Pleonasm". I have to confess that I...........

............had to look that one up! LOL.

Arctic fox
Trollface

Re: "LIMEY BRITISH MORON"? I did think about gently pointing out that that..........

..................is an unfortunate example of tautology. However, upon examining the content of your post and taking into account your use of caps lock I am forced to conclude that you probably have never heard of the word and wouldn't understand if you had.

Boffins baking big-data single chip architecture

Arctic fox
Happy

"Graphene saves the day"

Blimey, again? Is there anything that it can't be applied to? Perhaps a (very) short article on that topic could be posted!

'ACTA is dead,' says Europe's digital doyenne

Arctic fox
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@AC 04.47 GMT Re: "The problem is a small segment of society"

Then the industry is just going to have to come up with measures that do not punish the substantial majority as well - aren't they? Furthermore, if you really think that all that shite is only driven by their desire to tackle that "small segment" and has nothing to do with any desire for the walled garden model then I have to say you are being pretty naive.

Arctic fox
Flame

Business model anyone?

"Some kind of international agreement is needed to sort out the current deadlock in the intellectual property industry."

The deadlock is entirely driven by the IP/content industry's utter refusal to accept that their non-digital age business models have to change. Their wet dream is to turn the entire internet into a locked down "walled garden" where nothing happens without their permission or without them getting a cut. What they want above all is to turn the internet and what you are allowed to do with the devices you use to access it into a world-wide version of a Famous Mobile Phone Producer's business model. Until they are only one of the interest groups involved in the discussions with regard to any changes in the law we will get one bad anti-citizen/consumer load of shite after the other.

US Judge says IP addresses don't identify pirates

Arctic fox
Thumb Up

@Graham Marsden Indeed, the wisdom of Solomon in comparison to much else....

.........we have heard from the bench in this area.

"Thus, it is no more likely that the subscriber to an IP address carried out a particular computer function – here the purported illegal downloading of a single pornographic film – than to say an individual who pays the telephone bill made a specific telephone call.”

Everyone of these copy-write trolls should be sentenced to having that quotation tattooed on whatever part of their anatomy it is felt will do most good.

Apple updates iOS, mum on Wi-Fi, battery fixes

Arctic fox

@Robert Heffernan Re "whereas iTunes is an all or nothing process."

Meaning, I presume, that it in practice is a full install of all updates, even ones you already have via iTunes? Well, that would explain it! Thanks, I appreciate the info. -:)

Arctic fox

Pardon my ignorance......

"The 5.1.1 update's iTunes-download file size for our first-generation iPad was 726.1MB; downloading it using the iPad's Software Update function was a svelte 42.3MB."

............but why the huge difference? Does the latter have proper file compression and the former not? I ask out of wholly genuine curiosity.

Lenovo targets mobile market with new R&D centre

Arctic fox

“Mobile phones and tablet are one of the drivers for the ‘PC Plus’ era."

The "PC Plus" era? Hmm, well that at least more sense for the short to medium term than all that banging on about the "Post-pc" era.

China shoots for 800 million web users by 2015

Arctic fox
Headmaster

"average broadband speeds, at just 1.4 Mbps,"

It wasn't that long ago when that would have described the UK. Cabling up a nation with roughly 20% of the world's population within its borders still with a huge proportion being agrarian working class living in the countryside is a somewhat larger challenge than BT faced!

Samsung Galaxy S III: A Swiss army knife of wireless tech

Arctic fox
Happy

Re: "Reg -> English dictionary" As far as "bonk" is concerned it can certainly.......

........be described as "peer to peer communication".

Cybercrims dump email for irresistible Twitter, Facebook spam

Arctic fox
Trollface

Have to say that I agree.

After all Arsebook and Shitter users spend their time spamming one another - seems perfectly reasonable that the Stiffy-pill and Tadger-extension sellers should bug them and not the rest of us.

Web super-TV turns EXTREME sports fans into sofa-dwellers

Arctic fox
Happy

".............and base jumping (parachuting off tall buildings)"

They also jump off of mountains, not just tall buildings. Either way, they are barking. -:P

Microsoft's dumpster-diver partner strategy is rubbish

Arctic fox
Headmaster

Re: How could Microsoft partner with a market leader?

I would be very interested to know if you are able to point to any indications that those three companies would be willing to share with MS, or for that matter with each other. Further, I am obliged to point out that if there were any indication that Redmond, Mountainview, Amazon and Cupertino were willing to "share" (ie divide up the spoils) with each other, competition authorities all over known space would begin to howl in chorus (with very good reason).

Arctic fox
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@Bill Neal Re: ".......how would they avoid the DOJ & antitrust?"

Precisely. The strategy in theory is to buy into companies who have the competences and or market experience you lack in order to compliment/extend the range of your business. The moment however that a company the size of MS starts trying to purchasing market leaders the alarm bells start to ring at the DOJ in the States and at the European Commission. What the author has to say is not without interest but he is failing to take into account that fundamental point.

Samsung shows 'designed for humans' handset

Arctic fox
Happy

Did they say...........

............it takes an SD card as well as up to 64Gb on board? Blimey! Plus an enooormous battery? The power users are going to be overjoyed. It does look as if Sammy has really pushed the boat out this time. The Galaxy series has been very impressive with each new iteration.

Nokia: 'hybrid' mobiles will save us

Arctic fox

@qwarty Re: "Pureview potential" Blimy, be careful old chap...........

.....balanced and thoughtful postings about Nokia's possible future aren't allowed round here.

Arctic fox
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Let me see now. AC and "Read Tomi Ahonen. And don't be so pompous."

I think that you just did what I did when I was five years old. Ring on my neighbour's doorbell and run away.

Arctic fox

Re: Dear Jorma :- I am curious.

I have seen any number of critical posting concerning Nokia and it's future. Many of them arguing a reflected and thought out case to the effect that it has gone too far for Nokia to save themselves. Fair enough, if that is ones opinion and indeed, objectively speaking it may turn out that they are right. However, from the tone of a significant number of another type of critical posting one gets the distinct impression that the poster is posting want he wants to happen because of the association with The Great Demon of Redmond rather than his honest opinion regarding Nokia's likely fate. Which category do you fall under?

Apple blocking Dropbox SDK over in-app buying

Arctic fox

Re: Anti-competitive?

The difference being that MS got stopped (quite rightly) from doing it precisely because it was anti-competitive.

Dinosaurs were DRAINED of blood by GIGANTIC HORROR FLEAS

Arctic fox
Happy

Re: * LUNGS "Lounges? Lozenges?"

(chaise)longues? Fleas that infest furniture?

Kaspersky: Apple security is like Microsoft's in 2002

Arctic fox

@Steve Evans Re:"Or even updates to protect against Fakeflash for anyone...........

.......................who dares to not be running OSX Lion."

Yes, I have to admit that when I saw that Cupertino was treating Mac owners that do not upgrade to Lion in that way I was fairly astonished. Can you imagine the uproar if MS said "we won't security patch anything older than Win7"?

Phone-hack saga: Murdoch 'not fit' to run News Corp, blast MPs

Arctic fox

Re: No shit...........What a difference a year or so makes.

It was not so long ago that none of them (with a few honourable exceptions) were willing to whisper one critical word in private about NI let alone condemn in public.

iTunes fanbois outraged by Apple's sex-life quiz probe

Arctic fox
Thumb Up

@Tom Maddox RE: "I believe the tone of the review............"

It is interesting. Most of the majors realise that one of the ways that El Reg attracts readers from amongst professional (and enthusiastic amateur) techies is precisely it's style of insouciant satire and cynicism. It is an observable fact that all of them end up on the receiving end of the "treatment" on a regular basis. Plus the fact that those of the readership who do have a strong affinity for this or that company (note how politely I expressed that, -:P) do adore seeing the one they in fact love to hate being subjected to an "El Regging". In sum, the style attracts one of the key potential customer groups that these companies wish to attract the attention of. However, the former CEO of A Famous Mobile Device Company was of the type to take these matters very personally, something which perhaps explains why they (still) have a tendency to react to El Reg's mischief in the way they do.

HTC peeves punters with One X woes

Arctic fox

Re: .....says

I doubt very much that Lord Sauron of Redmond thinks that you are important enough to send his ring wraiths out after you any time soon Barry.

Lenovo U300s Ultrabook

Arctic fox
Holmes

".........below £1,200 before it could be forcefully competitive................"

See icon.

The truth about Apple's mind-boggling low tax rate

Arctic fox
Happy

@Captain Save-a-ho.. I do not dispute your figures - they appear entirely believable.......

.......my point really was that they are all at and in the process they are hollowing out the tax-base to a degree that is causing the same society that they are dependent upon for their profits enormous harm by their behavior. Fundamentally I am saying that BigCorp in this context are a bunch of bastards - Apple is simply the poster-boy/example.

Arctic fox
Mushroom

On this occasion I am willing to accept the iPhanboi argument that.......

.....Apple is no worse than any other example of "BigCorp" in the US, the UK or anywhere else for that matter. Whether or not that is anything to boast about is of course another matter.

Windows Phone 7 'not fit for big biz ... unlike Android, iOS'

Arctic fox
Facepalm

"......all the Microsoft Reading employees downvoting me......."

To quote Oliver Cromwell in another context "i beseech you, in the bowels of christ, think it possible you may be mistaken". It is possible you know to disagree with you without being on the payroll of Lord Sauron-Ballmer.

Redmond man unmasked: UK.gov open standards stalled

Arctic fox
Thumb Up

@AC 27th April 2012 23:24 I agree with you.

"..........the invariable public-sector lock-in to Cisco's proprietary Skinny protocol. In comparison, money spent on MS is chump change."

However, I am afraid that the the members of the Anti-MS Choral Howling Society are so obsessed with the size of the teeth of The Demon Lords of Redmond that they have a tendency to miss the fact that there are other sharks out there with even bigger sets of oral cutlery.

CloudOn

Arctic fox
Happy

@hitmouse: I take your point and I have to admit...........

............that I would not care to be the senior manager at Redmond charged with that particular judgement call. However, that is the point really is it not? Where is the balance of advantage contra disadvantage? To be quite honest I do not have any certain opinion here and am just glad that I do not have responsibility for that kind of decision. -:)

Arctic fox
Headmaster

Pre-admission of failure? No, marketing.

Microsoft think that having a free-version of Office on Windows RT (ARM version) will be a killer app as far as selling that version of Win8 is concerned. Whether they are right or wrong about that it is not difficult to see that porting it to the big tablet rival would not be the smartest move they could make.

Star Trek role-players' privates sniffed by alien invader

Arctic fox
Facepalm

@Flippo RE:"was actually genuine?" It does make you wonder does it not?

The e-mail I received a few hours ago purported to come from PayPal and asked me to "click here" and thereafter (when one had arrived at the "home page" if one were so transcendentally stupid as to click on the link) re-enter your account details. A standard phishing attempt of course, immediately recognizable to any techie with more than two neurones firing at the same time. Seeing a legitimate company sending a genuine e-mail that is the very twin of the one I have just described leaves me utterly convinced that I would never under any circumstances trust any confidential details to bunch of tools like that.

Scientists slurp conductive fluid for paintable solar panels

Arctic fox

Re: Of course, since cadmium is such a harmless element

Indeed, it is very nasty stuff. Not only that it is comparatively rare (about 0.1 ppm of the earth's crust). I would be more impressed with some of these breakthroughs if they did not involve using elements that are likely to end up as another resource problem (as in lack of). I am no kind of bunny-hugging Luddite, I am in fact as keen on innovative tech as the next person but sometimes one has to wonder!