Posts by Dave 126
2747 posts • joined Wednesday 21st July 2010 13:57 GMT
Page:
Re: My tuppence...
>all manfacturers should put a micro USB and headphone socket at the bottom
Is a nice thought, but i can't see it happening- there is no motive for Apple, whose products are already supported, dock-wise.
The closest we can hope for is for Android manufacturers to knock their heads together, or maybe more support for 'USB Audio' - I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it is featured in Android Jelly Bean. Seems to require an external DAC though.
(A silly situation I encountered the other day was a Sony stereo system with an integrated iPod dock on top, and no means of connecting a Sony audio player with a 3.5mm > phono 'Y' cable. Still, it worked well in the iPod-owing household in which it sat)
If you think that the article might bore you, don't read it. That is what the sub heading is for, to give you an idea of what the article is about.
On occasions when 8/10 articles might be about a specific product, some blog websites (such as Engadget) give you the option to read their site with all 'new Apple product' stories hidden.
And though I've never played with it, I believe there is something called RSS that allows to you only read the stories you are interested in. But don't quote me on this.
I hope the above helps you.
Re: Vote with your Pounds - Nonsense
Does anyone remember that eighties movie where someone tries to employ the guests of a mental institution to design advertisements for Sony?
- Found it! 'Crazy People' with Dudly Moore ( and 'Burke' out of 'Aliens' as a company toadie, again)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fIIqFpZdy0
Worth watching for the advertising slogans: "SONY: because Caucasians are just too damn tall" and "FRNXT GHRT SONY GURM"
D'oh! I almost wish I had waited before upgrading, now. Though I'm happy with my new Xperia P, I am a clumsy bugger and its aluminium body is quite slippery against the fingers (nothing that a silicone case won't fix though, when I can find one that fits). Also, I do often find it running low on battery... It seems that I might have been better served by this new Xperia Go model.
As the Xperia P is my first smartphone I am far from an expert on these things.
Re ICS, the general vibe on the internets is that Sony are generally good at releasing Android updates for their older phones, even if the 'when' can be a bit vague.
Re: The IOC can piss right off
>> They have absolutely NO right to ask anyone not to use it.
Surely they have the right to ask nicely? That is what they did.
A minor's Minor confusion
As a child I read the sleeve-notes to a Chuck Berry CD and was always confused by the reference to him being 'arrested for transporting a minor across State lines', imaging a Morris car. It was also within the same notes that I first heard of Mary Whitehouse- it appears she didn't want to play with his Ding-a-Ling.
Re: When is a copy not a copy?
Don't forget that the designer of the original Sony Playstation was proud to say it is a homage to the Apple Mac (which was designed for Apple by Frog Design). His thoughts were "What would a games console look like if it were designed for Apple?", and he deliberately and openly insisted on horizonatal lines in the case.
It seems strange that Sony started the 21st centuary on the back foot- they had many MP3 player concepts and UIs- not to mention myriad Walkmen models- long before the iPod. They made so many different walkmen models that to produce a pocket-sized electronic device that doesn't look like a prior Sony device seems almost impossible. Like the characters in South Park spending all episode saying "Simpson's done it"
Tearing down your competitors models is such common practice that companies will usually send each other examples of their latest production models (along with an invoice) as a matter of course.
Re: Dystopian
>"having a nice tech-reset where all the worlds knowledge is wiped and they have to reinvent most things by reverse engineering"
Precendents:
-Asimov's Foundation.
-Herbert's Dune (okay, not all knowledge wiped out, but Herbert saves himself having to get into thinking about Artificial Intelligence too much by having all AI wiped out by pogroms in his universe's history. A theme revisited in Ian M. Bank's The Alchemist.
-Plato's Atlantis... it seems that the 'wisdom of the ancients' is a theme that resonates with us.
-Probably many, many more that I don't know of or can't remember.
I haven't read any WH40K since about 1995, though it did capture my adolescent imagination, and seemed fairly rich... no doubt aided because it was issues of White Dwarf with its pages of art (both professional and fan-drawn) that I read, not the novels.
Iain M. Bank's The Culture is his idea of a humanist utopia, though he often features characters who can't be happy living in it- any conceivable utopia would have limits and not suit everyone.
Not so much the suicide bombers... they aren't the smartest, being manipulated by those who don't blow themselves up. If there were very smart, stable and motivated suicide bombers, they would be able to coordinate their actions and blow up a plane, rather than set fire to their shoes or pants- but such people prefer to pull the strings of others from a safe distance. It would take several individuals per plane, though- combining their fluids etc.
Re: Oi Gabe...
there have been a few systems that have tried to use optical>electrical systems to create a workable 'obstacle avoiding' (or better) system for blind people... the question is, how do you rely this information to their brain? Some sysetms have used sound, akin to a bat. Some have used actuators on a chair, to press into the user's back... I seem to recall that some have used the tongue- evidently some of the engineers responsible have at one time placed their tongue across the contacts of a PP9 (the oblong 9v battery you stick in smoke alarms)
Pierson's Puppeteers
there was a very good unabridged audio book of Ringworld... sadly they didn't keep the same voice actor for the sequels. I'm of the Iain M. Banks generations, though.
Re: In light of this...
In light of what, exactly?
""I don’t think tongue input is in our futures..." said Mr Newell.
I.e. his company tried it and decided it wasn't worthwhile. Seems a fairly sane process to me. Did you even read the article?
A small-screened, long battery phone with 3G to WiFi hotspot + 7" tablet would be a good combination for many people, and would work out around the same price as a 'mid range' 4" Android phone. Jackets, handbags, glove-boxes.
Especially considering the trend for people to have a second 'drunk' phone for those evenings (or afternoons!) where having £300-400 device in your pocket is just daft.
Side note:
Please Reg, can you do an article on phones for older people? Emphasis on ease of use rather than strange esoteric features... calls, maps, video chat with grand-children etc. Using a keyboard (virtual, swpey, or bluetooth physical)... I have a retired teacher in my local who is after such a thing, and he worries his fingers are too big.
Re: Mine is ok
Where do you find these fanboys? Do the plague your street corners like bored teenagers, or picket the gates of your workplace? And why do you enter into conversation when you do stumble across them?
Will a single core cut it though?
Depends on which emulators you want to use. Speccy, NES, GameBoy and C64 stand a good chance! XBOX 360 less so.
this and that, maturing Android
Like many here, I suspect the lull in sales is due to many iPhone users waiting for the iPhone5. Some may feel that Android is maturing, too.
I take no sides here - I've only recently got my first smartphone, ICS update promised next month- but I had noticed that far more music-creation applications are available for iDevices. Looking into this* it turns out that that iOS has minimal latency compared to current Android versions (reminiscent of how PowerPC macs were better suited to music creation than Pentium PCs were at the time), but that it is something Google says is fixed for Jelly Bean. Obviously most people won't be using their phone or pad for musical knob-twiddling, but it seems representative of the polishing Google are giving Jelly Bean.
*source was a digital audio creation news site, interviewing developers and asking when they might make stuff for Android... the other reason they gave (besides latency) was that android tablets came in too great a variety of hardware.
Re: "Innocent" Samsung
Anyone here remember Samsung ten years ago? They were around, but not making much of an impact. In fairness to them, they adopted (not 'invented') the glossy black 'piano' finish (looks like black plastic with a shellac varnish) around 2003, before it was it was so widely used by everyone else, including Apple in their iPhone and later Macbook bezels. Consistent Samsung haven't been, with some fugly and some good looking products along the way.
I'm not saying that Samsung did or didn't copy Apple in this particular case, just that Samsung have been using some industrial design elements for years, some of which have been adopted by Apple and many others- so share and share alike. IIRC it was around 2002 that they were placing advertisements for Seoul-based design jobs in the British design press (Design Week, Creative Review).
shiny object
The 'shiny object's Covet model with Corning glass makes sense for showing ideas to clients - many of them have a habit of poking the screen with their fingers when discussing an idea.
Well spotted... a dinosaur head in profile, wearing sunglasses. On the wall on the left of the first photo.
Posted in HTC disses Dr Dre by diluting Beats deal
On a similar note...
A quick Google search for "Samsung ICEpower" doesn't return any results from the last few years... Samsung had announced around 2008 with some fanfare their collaboration with Bang and Olufsen subsiduary ICEpower, to provide Class D amps for their phones. I'm not clear on what 'Beats technology" is; I suspect that there is no such thing.
I think ASUS have more recently released laptops with Bang and Olufsen printed on them- just as Apple used to with Harmon Kardon... it just seems the easiest way to communicate to consumers that 'our laptop sounds less tinny than your existing laptop', because it is hard to communicate that message with figures, as you would say CPU performance.
Personally, I tend to lose earphones, so don't pay silly money for them. The ones that came with my Sony phone are good enough.
Re: Not particularly jaw dropping
Yeah, I was getting fed up with a Upgrade Java prompt every two days...
So I uninstalled it.
I don't visit science education sites as much as I maybe should (gravity simulators, and similar applets), so don't really miss it.
The average user is right: "Why is the bloody computer pestering me to so stuff? That is its job FFS! What the ^& does this mean? I just want to write a letter like I did on every computer since 1989!"
I can't say that they are wrong.
What more do people want from a pocket device?
When mobile phones first became ubiquitous, the features were much the same between the cheap and cheerful and the fancy- the distinguishing factor was size... the 8210 was tiny compared to a 3210, the 6210 merely offered better ergonomics, a bigger phone book, compatibly with the cradle you already had in yourJaguar and the possibility of upgrading to Bluetooth with a new battery.
That a mobile device should be able to fetch you such info as train timetables and weather in a non-fiddly manner is a no brainer- such services already existed in a ring-up-a-person-and-ask-them way.
But... now what else could be wanted from a phone? I asked my mate why he stuck his Galaxy SII on eBay just to get a SIII and he wouldn't / couldn't tell me.
@Frank 14
Go back to the top of this thread and read the comments. The first poster is rabidly anti-Apple, the second wouldn't mind but has reservations about their business practices... then we have a bloke who says that he will probably get one because he thinks it work as well for him as previous versions have... then a we have a bit of back and forth about system 'lock-in' and Linux...
Exactly which one of these posts was by an 'iSheep', pray tell?
If you do have a valid point, for example about the effect of screen-stroking upon social interaction, then please phrase it in those terms. People may agree or disagree with you, but at least you will have stated your reasons.
Posted in Canon debuts EOS M compact system camera
Re: No custom settings?
Canon will probably release another CSC camera body more aimed at 'DSLR owners wanting a more compact backup camera' in due course... this would appear to be their 'Compact camera owner wishing to upgrade' offering.
Posted in Darth Vader is a pansy
UV light...
...makes ABS go yellow, not just nicotine. Something to do with it releasing bromine. That is partly why the original Sony Playstation was a slightly purpley shade of light grey, so that inevitable yellowing would look less noticeable.
Posted in Darth Vader is a pansy
Re: 80's black on black hifi
80s black stuff...
I also like the way 80s stuff was black with primary or pastel-coloured text and lines, denoting the functions of buttons and the like.
Re: Please don't insult OS/2
OS/2 sightings...
2008, Puno, Pero, cash machine. I watched it reboot, hoping it would spit out my cash card... nope.
Posted in Cockfighting Reg hack cursed with cancer
Re: MEAT
or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: Coalition for the Liberation of Itinerant Tree-dwellers.
Posted in Valve to raise Steam for Ubuntu
Re: Platform meaningless without games
It's the Steam DRM that allows games developers to actually consider Linux worth their time.
Re: A few practical issues
Just about the erogonomics:
Yep, using a separate keyboard and monitor is best for your back whilst writing a doc. But then being able to vary your posture (perhaps by proof-reading on a 'Surface' away from your desk in a different chair) is even better.
For reviewing a document, who here hasn't printed out a hardcopy and sat back with a red pen?
Re: But Can You Use It To Write Documents?
Fair play... Its not the ribbon per se, but that
1, I can't find anything on it. There was no interim product with both menus and the ribbon, where selecting a menu item would show you where the same item was located on the ribbon. (just as how, in older versions, menus would teach you the keyboard short-cut.)
2. It takes up space. In Solidworks, for example, it doesn't matter so much: the location of the Ribbon-like 'Command Manager' can be changed or turned off, along with with other toolbars- and for that sort of work your workspace doesn't necessarily have to be tall (like a text document does, 80% of the time). In CAD, having large pictograms can be useful.
It is worth noting that Solidworks and its competitors don't force any command-selection method upon you- you are free to use a menus, context menus, pie-menus, a tabbed command manager, toolbars or even a command line, should you wish.
It seems to me that Office was good, mature and fit for purpose at the turn of the century- around the same time CAD was coming down off the mainframe and onto the Windows-based workstation. So in the last ten years it is in the CAD sector that I've seen more development of User Interfaces, usually for the better.
I have no point to make, other than to say that looking at how other software handles its UI can be instructive, but different UI elements work better for some tasks and in some circumstances than others.
Re: Incomplete article
>And really; a round 'dial' pop-up menu ?
AKA a Pie Menu... apparently they are only in OneNote at the moment, but may be in other Office applications in the future.
In CAD software, Pie Menus can be very good, adding very quick access to eight tools without getting in the way of anything else. You still have a normal R-mouseclick context menu, the radial menu is hold R-mouse and drag.
I'm not sure how much pie menus would add to Office (common tasks already have well-established keyboard short-cuts) but they can't do any harm, since they don't get in the way of other functions.
reminds me of Samantha from I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue...
Samantha has been helped by some archivists to compile a report on sexism and chauvinism in the work place. The archivists wanted no payment for their services, it was reward enough for them to see her crack up through the glass ceiling.
Re: Could you put ...
IIRC, you had one - not an Apple Store, but a University's new library featuring a glass floor. However, the architect had been touchingly naive in thinking that it wouldn't get scratched by people's shoes.
Me confused re optic cable
The article says the SeaFox might be dropped from a helicopter... how does that work with a tether?
Does the 'copter hover about in the vicinity til the sub finds a mine?
Re: Give me proper menus back...
It was flipping retarded of them to introduce the ribbon, especially at the time when most screens shrunk in height.
Why not introduce a pie-menu instead? (hold L Mousebutton and drag N, NE, E etc, giving very rapid access to eight functions)
Re: I expect it will remain shrowded in secrecy
> I know theres no chance of the ribbon going until it's replaced by something more ridiculous.
The 'Knot'?
Posted in Reg hack bumps into Cockfighter
Precedent
If its good enough for Kris Kristofferson...
[Me And Bobby Mcgee]
Posted in Reg hack bumps into Cockfighter
Re: Having not seen this, the poster has made me curious...
I miss airbrushed (I do mean airbrushed, not photoshopped) movie posters of the '70s and '80s.
National Lampoon's Vacation is a favourite, though it is taking the piss out of the medium.
Check the image on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon's_Vacation
Yeah.
Re: Agreed
The fault would seem to lie with a country that allows firearms for 'home defence', even though far more family members are harmed by said guns than intruders are. Children are more drawn to adult items (phones, watches, spectacles) than they are to toys, in my experience.
One English woman, living in the US, reported a burglary... the second cop to turn up managed to shoot another cop who had already arrived at the house... fortunately the police force in question bought her a new carpet.
Posted in Tablets, copycats and Weird Al Yankovic
Wasn't there once a judge who asked 'Who are the Beatles?'
Posted in Tablets, copycats and Weird Al Yankovic
Some adults don't have the inclination to learn about the technology, but they keep reading about these newfangled iPad things in the Telegraph, and they have the ready cash in their back pocket (unlike most youngsters)... They don't buy one because they are 'cool' but rather on the assumption that if lots of people have one, they must work without too much hassle.
My old man uses his Tab 10.1 for precisely three things:
-looking at photos from his camera, via SD Card adaptor.
-Google maps (but only on the continent)
-watching videos of Adolf Hitler being told things his doesn't like.
Posted in Tablets, copycats and Weird Al Yankovic
Lead time
There is very little lead time if all you are doing is putting a different colour of plastic pellet in the hopper of your injection mould.
Posted in Tablets, copycats and Weird Al Yankovic
Re: Relative Worth
>Young people (Apples primary market)
Evidence please? You may be right, but it sounds like an assumption. Cheers!
Re: Careful guys
@Jean-Luc
Okay, we'll give you the benefit of the doubt... but could you identify which bits of the article you fiind biased towards Apple?
All I read was:
a/ 'Ultrabooks' selling miserably. MacBook Airs are doing alright.
b/ That photograph of Intel's Ultrabook was 'inspired' by an Apple image - it features the same hand!
Could you point me to the bias I missed?
Re: Not as good idea as it sounds...
Yep, I had one of those 'spring kit' things to. Worked well, until I tried modifying a circuit from the instruction book, and a component gave off a whiff of brown smoke. Ho hum.
On the subject of good books for basic electronics, my mechanic has always sworn by Forest M. Mims III... I've just this moment read his Wikipedia entry, and he's an interesting man. - worth a read.
Re: Yes / No
I would imagine that a radio network engineer would require at least a good basic grounding in geography. It's not implausible that teenage pupils will find something boring, only to develop an interest in later on. If the subjects I had studied had been completely up to me, I wouldn't have the skills I do today (even though I have forgotten many of them)
Regarding history, it has been the trend to use it as a course in critical examination of sources and documents (arguably a 'transferable skill') centred on disconnected periods, such as Henry VIII and Adolf.. rather than actually teaching them a rough overview of how we came to be where we are, from the dawn of Mankind to the 20th Century.
Re: Pieminister?
They do have an outlet in Derby.
I first played The Incredible Machine when bulletin boards were all the rage (in the US)... Now in these more interconnected times, something that Rovio might do to extend the concept would be a level editor so you can create puzzles for your mates and the wider web, a la Little Big Planet.
Even if the game is mediocre, the name 'Rovio' will make it stand out from the crowds of similar games.
Looks like The Incredible Machine... a sort of Heath Robinson / Rube Goldberg / Tom and Jerry Mousetrap simulator.
Was lots of fun on the PC, and seems well suited to a finger-driven UI.
