* Posts by GrumpyJoe

227 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Mar 2010

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Time to rid ourselves of the tech channel zombies

GrumpyJoe
Meh

Re: Nice article! @Thomas 4

my local Thorntons have converted to an 'outlet' shop, selling at 50% discount - not a good sign if you ask me.

GrumpyJoe
Holmes

Re: Nice article!

I'm going to go with one you mentioned - WH Smiths. Name ONE thing they do that other corner shops etc. don't? Apart from depth of magazines available (and that can be fixed with a subscription), they are just a big corner shop.

Thorntons, as you say, they can go online so you lose the high street but they don't go 'under' as such, so they aren't in the running for this question (yet).

After the Gadget shop died on it's arse, I'm surprised that MenKind is still going... didn't gadget shopping on the internet kill those kids of places?

So many to choose from, I feel quite morbid.

Lenovo, PayPal, launch post-password plan

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Up

Just got a Yubikey

(http://www.yubico.com/) and it seems to be a nice piece of kit - my email provider uses it so I can protect my email in a more secure way. There IS innovation in this space, it's just more vendors need to embrace it.

Anybody else have one?

Why you need a home lab to keep your job

GrumpyJoe
FAIL

Re: re: and best keep professional relationships professional.

You get paid more than permies - THAT is your training budget. So permies get less than you AND have to absorb the cost of training - get it?

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Down

Re: Why is it only IT personnel that has to go to these lengths?

And if every company expects people to move to 'greener pastures', and none of them train? They ALL get saddled with idiots (arguably what is actually happening in the industry now anyway).

You are playing a suckers game, absorbing costs that your employer should be absorbing.

Next week, bring a bucket. Other companies don't have toilets, so you can take your bucket with you. You pay for the bucket, the company save on toilet cleaning costs, you get to shit in a bucket - BONUS!

GrumpyJoe
FAIL

But if this cycle continues

That is yet another part of the work 'contract' that has gone, along with security in a job and pensions etc. If your employer doesn't pay, and no other employer does, but they don't increase your wage to cover it, then they've just successfully offset a business expense to YOU - that's a sucker's deal.

At that point, apart from a monthly salary (which in the current environment isn't guaranteed anymore, neither is loyalty, respect etc.) what are we doing working for these assholes?

As you say, they are lucky it is most of our's hobby, I've got a small network I run at home for my family, but that's MY thing, and it's not for my employer to offset a business cost to me.

Anybody else a bit pissed off at this? The defeatist attitude is worrying.

Mark Zuckerberg doesn't know how to use HTML5

GrumpyJoe
WTF?

Re: Hang on a minute...

I think you've missed the point here - I've seen other articles where the front-end guys were butting heads with the server side guys as to what APIs were available/workable/efficient. Ok, so their html is great and handles it just as fine as the native - the proxy is CLEANING UP the returned data to allow for quicker access/rendering - that is ALSO something Facebook should've done but possibly didn't (server guys vs client guys).

What I see is a responsive HTML5 app that is just as quick as the native app, with some back end tweaks (that Facebook didn't do obviously) thrown into the mix to allow the HTML5 to compete with a native app - no smoke and mirrors?

Hold the front page for ETERNITY: Murdoch kills The Daily

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Down

Re: Music Hall & Vaudeville

I thin k you meant 'paper' not newspaper. There's nothing specific about 'newspaper' that makes it special for any of those (and nobody round here uses them for fish and chips, the ink was seen as a health hazard, dontchya know).

WANTED: Actual HELPFUL info on price-comparison websites

GrumpyJoe

Re: I have used lots of price comparison sites

Those need renewal every year, remember - don't let that catch you out!

GrumpyJoe
Unhappy

Confused are particularly bad at this I think

I use custom addresses for each form I fill in, so I KNOW the spam has come from them selling/leaking my address - as well as several calls from those helpful 'claim back money' companies or surveys - some of whom plainly said 'it may be because you put your phone number into a price comparison website'.

Simple - I block that address entirely, but confused cannot then email me deals etc. Their loss.

Pong creator turns nose up at Nintendo Wii U

GrumpyJoe
Windows

Re: If anything

Well, I'm sort of partially leaving the console systems (PS3) and feel like a move to PC gaming is on the cards. Thanks to an article on the register a while back (Trevor on Alienware) I now have a laptop PC capable of playing most modern games at high quality, with a hdmi connector.

Connect that easily portable device to my TV - use a wireless mouse/keyboard and I'm away - with much more customisability and freedom.

Playing Skyrim from the Steam sale (in 'Ultra' mode) and looking at the available modifications? Astounding! I think the PS3 is going to one of the kids eventually, as the laptop also has a Blu-ray drive so I don't even need the ps3 for that!

Will it be out of date soon? Yes, but I can just ramp down the graphics, still playable. AND I can do actual WORK on it to subsidise it if I so wish - Win/Win.

Am I a convert/turncoat/member of the PC master race? I don't care really, just seems like the most flexible option.

Freeview to be nudged down to clear 5G bands in 2018

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Up

That sounds too sensible - don't expect the current crop of politicos to go for it! Been f**king up the country since at least Beeching!

Black Ops 2 takes HALF A BEELLION DOLLARS in just ONE DAY

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Up

Re: Is it again a liner shooter?

The campaign is still a 'little' stiff - you do have to wait in line for the NPCs to open doors occasionally etc. - but there are different paths through levels, there are choices that affect later level outcomes, airplane shoot em ups and even RTS sections that affect overall games play - and you get to customise your loadout in campaign single player.

Overall, I'm impressed with the campaign, getting used to the MP (explosive flechettes FTW), but sadly Zombies hasn't lived up to expectations (pardon the pun) - I'm a zombie nut but they've ruined it for me... To open and too far removed from previous outings (but I stopped a Kino der Toten and Five, so I may have missed developments since then).

Overall, I'm going to get solid entertainment out of this for a year or so for £38 (Rough three pounds a month!), so for me it's bargain.

SECRET 28 'scientific experts' who Greened the BBC - Revealed!

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Up

Re: Its called Google and now everyone can play (and make up their own minds)

Thank you. I was asking for something like that - and before someone goes off on the JFGI bandwagon - I'm not a journalist and I read the register to get bitesize items of digested content - I'm no expert in this area and I'm looking for some editorial content.

If everybody had the time to do the research there'd be no reason for news sites?

GrumpyJoe
Mushroom

Re: Without knowing the ins and outs of this..

Ah, the JFGI response - nice! Thanks for that, wasn't aware of search engines, having not been using them since Altavista et al.

I was sort of hoping for a more clued-in response at the moment, maybe a follow up article will give more details (this is a news site, after all). Without analysis this list is nothing but that, a list. TELL ME why it is so important!

GrumpyJoe

Without knowing the ins and outs of this..

Could someone point out WHY each of these attendees was bias or otherwise? At the moment, to me (not really been following this) it's just a list of names. Okay, I know Greenpeace, but a bit of history on the people involved would be useful?

Stob on Quatermass: Was this British TV's finest sci-fi hour?

GrumpyJoe

Re: ?

Nope, it was Simon MacCorkindale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_MacCorkindale

Was also in Clavdivs according to that page. Didn't remember him being a brit!

Classic game 'Elite' returns … on Kickstarter

GrumpyJoe
Go

Saw title of article

and within 20 seconds had pledged £20. I don't see the downside personally - £20 in year and a bit for a full game with some nice personalised extras? What's not to like?

Additionally, if it all goes titstup.com the most I've lost is £20.

No brainer.

(Was anybody else stupefied when the realised there was an entire galaxy modeled on a single density floppy (AmigA)? I STILL am!)

Chinese jitters as tech firms look to SE Asia expansion

GrumpyJoe
Unhappy

And when the companies of the world have run out of cheap countries to exploit?

Where do they go? Fully automated? Who then has a job and money to BUY the product. Companies are amoral and only care for the profit motive (fair enough, it's legislated for), but at some point they run out of cheap labour and THEN the big movement happens...

I'd LOVE to live in a post-scarcity economy (Star Trek et al) but I don't think I or my kids are ever going to see it, a few powerful interests want to keep the economic benefits to themselves.

Sad.

TRULY sinister blond madman signed for Bond 24, whisper insiders

GrumpyJoe
Happy

Oh Snap

you went there.

"Your were thinking it!" "Yeah, but YOU said it!" (name the film).

Granny upstages Microsoft, storms stage at Surface launch

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Up

I'll say one thing..

Those girls are PROFESSIONAL!

"The show must go on!"

'Regular' PS3 gamers who've cancelled credit cards? You FOOLS!

GrumpyJoe

I don't use these firmwares

and I buy games regularly as normal - but I'm looking forward to when the PS4 is released and this console becomes obsolete - at that point this work that is being done to crack it will mean it can still have a meaningful life.

Mine's the one with a free for all open PSN network for out of date hacked PS3s.

Sony posts, pulls PlayStation Store update

GrumpyJoe
WTF?

Re: Full price launch titles

Yes, but it's just NOT competitive unless you are a cave-dweller! And a virtual copy is only good while Sony let you have it - no resale etc. means it's actually LESS valuable than the actual disc.

Personal choice I guess, but I'd LOVE to see the purchase figures on those things - I can't imagine they'd be that good considering the local stores have them on discount pretty much from day 1 - if not Amazon and hundreds of other places online. As you say, it could be convenience, but downloading 8Gb of data for most people - you probably COULD have gone out and got it quicker in meatspace...

Disclaimer - I HAVE bought PSN stuff, but not at full price or only for stuff that was not available on disc previously.

GrumpyJoe
FAIL

Full price launch titles

Who in their right mind is paying £50 for Assassins Creed? What are Sony smoking?

Google data center spies on ITSELF: 'Like a boring version of Doom'

GrumpyJoe

Last photo

now has a blurred face - obviously feeling a little guilty about all those snacks...

Pirate Bay moves to the cloud to confound copyright cops

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Down

Re: irrelevant tech fixes

DNS is a distributed system, US controls .com, .org etc. - THOSE they can take down. As long as a server has an IP address it can be found.

Vote NOW for the vilest Bond villain

GrumpyJoe

Hugo Drax needs more love

"Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him."

Harvester garners iFans with first UK Passbook e-voucher

GrumpyJoe
Meh

Proprietary Vouchers?

Wow, the future has arrived - just think, before this we had to cut PAPER out of a PERIODICAL!

Check out my posting history, I'm SURE I'm getting more jaded as the years roll by...

STILL TRUE: Facebook and co to handle taxpayers' ID

GrumpyJoe

Re: Semantics

To be fair to Milliband, he WAS schooled in a state school, but yes, he's as wet as a Welsh Summer Bank Holiday.

Major Freeview EPG revamp to go ahead after appeals rejected

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Down

Re: Renumbering

Depending on your PVR it loses serieslink recording stuff - so if you have a dozen or so links to programmes it LOSES THEM ALL and then you need to enter them all back in - by hand.

If you just have a dumb Freeview box no biggie, but PVRs are more of an issue, and I for one am getting fed up with it.

GrumpyJoe
FAIL

Re: Sounds great...

but does it do the channel rejig for you? MY Fox T2 drops all my serieslink recordings on a retune - wasn't cheap either.

Getting quite fed up - my PC needs upgrades, my phone now needs upgrades, my consoles now need upgrades and now MY GODDAMN TV NEEDS UPGRADES!

I'm waiting for my shoes to tell me they need a software upgtrade to stop squeaking.

Better pay your taxes: The world's NOT going to end this year

GrumpyJoe
Go

Re: It's all very vague anyway

Thanks for that, looks like it was mostly made up. Imagine the problem once we start colonising other planets with +/- 24 hours days... superluminal flight...

UNIVERSAL TIME!!! (runs off with a pen and paper).

GrumpyJoe

It's all very vague anyway

We can standardise time down to physical contants (vibrating atoms etc.) but we have more difficulty tying down actualities such as periods of time - look at the Jewish Orthodox/Muslim/Far Eastern calendars - all on different timescales but with days as the standard (obviously).

If we could work out how many seconds have occured since the Big bang we might have something to count up from, but as it is we just count from 'signifigant event' upwards.

Anybody remember what Startrek Stardates were based on?

Firefox's birthday present to us: Teaching tech titans about DIY upstarts

GrumpyJoe

I think that's the point though...

Native apps are almost DESIGNED to be a tie-in. Companies have to gamble which one will bring in the most moolah, and mostly choose iPhone because of the purchasing power - hence Apple get the tie-in bonus!

If you could have something that ran WEB apps on it with native hooks and write-once-run anywhere then this advantage disappears - Boot to Gecko being one of the outcomes.

I DO begrudge paying for duplicate functionailty per platform really - I realise that it takes time to rewrite but that's not MY problem - that's a decision made by the platform incumbents to create an ecosystem that benefits them.

Ex-HP boss Mark Hurd's $53m gold parachute approved by judge

GrumpyJoe
WTF?

Awarded for failure

They really are a different breed up there aren't they? All sitting on each other's payment committees, all setting obscene rates for their pay structures, all covering each other's asses.

While we below kill each other for scraps.

Sky gripe grounded Freeview EPG facelift

GrumpyJoe
FAIL

And yet again

I have to refresh my bloody channel list once all this is sorted out - losing all my scheduled programs. Wonderful - it's obviously the future as it's now EVEN MORE inconvenient than before, but with more flashy menus.

I remember getting excited about Channel 4 launching - how many times did I have to retune back then after than auspicious event? None? I see...

W3C reveals plan to finish HTML5 and HTML 5.1

GrumpyJoe

Re: What, XHTML is forgotten already?

The semantic web - heard of it? I'd LOVE to see the output of a C++ Compiler that was as forgiving as an html parser has to be - what wonders would be generated.

GrumpyJoe
Pint

Re: What, XHTML is forgotten already?

...but html5 doesn't have to be well-formed? You can drop closing tags etc. Which is the major WTF moment for me, but they wanted to keep the standard 'simple' for all those people migrating away from geocities obviously.

Mine's the blink tag with a marquee inside it.

Toyota kills city 'e-car for everyone'

GrumpyJoe
WTF?

Re: Alternatices

So, instead of using electricity to power the car, you want electricity to generate steam to power the car? Tell you what, lets make it even easier - as somebody mentioned above, air powered cars!

You use green electricity stored in a, I don't know, battery or something, to heat water to boiling point. This steam then runs a powerful compressor that takes in atmospheric oxygen and compresses it and uses THIS compressed air to run the car.

OR we can use the electricity to generate steam to compress air to push water through a hydrogen cracker to separate the components and push them through a catalytic convertor to generate electricity to run the car!

I'm onto something here! (Runs off to patent the electric steam air hydrogen electrolytics powered car)

Reg readers serve up bacon sarnie amuse-bouche

GrumpyJoe
WTF?

Re: So

Got my wife to try it - too crispy - but this is from a woman who, in her youth, used to eat the raw rind off uncooked bacon and loved it!

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Down

Re: I have a friend in Spain

Yes, my friend who speak the language, lives there with his Spanish wife and three kids, simply grunts.

I know I shouldn't take the bait, but left alone it's like a canker sore - either way it's leaving a mark.

GrumpyJoe
Thumb Up

I have a friend in Spain

Girona, says the bacon there isn't up to snuff like UK bacon - so he uses Chorizo instead (BLASPHEMY!). Any comment on the quality of the bacon used in any Spanish tests?

I normally put up with supermarket but dislike the white discharge (water and salts, I know). I'll get the steam up soon to go straight to a butchers and get a proper sliceage.

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