Posts by John Bailey
381 posts • joined Thursday 7th June 2007 19:00 GMT
"And this why you can't find The Anarchists' Cookbook on the Internet!"
Yes I can,and in fact, just did. Amazon sell this fount of disruptive knowledge, or 1001 ways to do yourself a serious michief.
Want a link?
Fully Working Gun less Ammunition = ornament.
Re: @sjsmoto
"If GIMP is fine for what you need to do, then you ain't doing much."
Funny thing is.. Neither are many of the most vocal Photoshop fanboys. They want the same software the pros use, but are unwilling to pay for it.
I'm ordering a really big bucket of popcorn.. And going to delight in the anguished cries of the entitled.
Gimp is fine as what it is. A quite capable bitmap editing application. It is not, nor has it ever been presented as such by anybody with the authority to do so.. A Photoshop replacement.
Re: We told you it was shit
"So cluttering the UI with options that I set once per install of the OS is supposed to be an improvement?"
Nope.. It's an excuse.
It's t here, it's different to the old version, so it is an improvement.
They have to figure out something that they can use to justify ribbonising stuff, so they are trying desperately to come up with stuff they can claim is better, but is really just different.
Kind of like when Vista was being criticised, and some tame reviewer did a "top ten reasons to change to Vista" list. One of which was a free MahJong game.
Posted in British bookworms deem Amazon 'evil'
Re: What sort of cretin buys a Amazon Swindle anyway?
"I can't help thinking that the majority of people who buy into a [closed / walled garden / DRM-saturated hell] type device will be perfectly happy with it. It's only us techies who expect to root our devices who might be unhappy, or those who are miss-sold devices on a false basis who will be unhappy."
Absolutely..
Look how delighted the Plays for sure people are.. They got to buy their favourite music all over again.. squeeeeee!!! Lucky them.. They are "supporting artists" even more.. and other PR based reality twisting nonsense.
And the Sim City people must have been positively jumping up and down with glee at the sight of the game they bought not being able to log on to the servers..
To anybody actually paying attention.. DRM works just fine so long as you use it within the confines of what it's owner allows.
The problem comes when you stop using it as you are told, and try to use it as you want.
I can't help thinking that the people who claim DRM is not a big deal, must have a vested interest. Such as a lot of media that is DRM crippled, and if not enough people use it, it will be dropped, and they might lose what they already rented.
Re: Why do people put forward the idea that iPads are good for art?
"I tried painting on an iPad - turned out to be load of Pollocks!"
Well it would do.. It takes practice. You must use it Dali.
Re: I prefer this...
Ohh.. I can see it now..
" I canne give ye moor power.. the engines are bein held wrrrong.. !
"I spy an ideal targeted-ad candidate for "How to Make Friends and Influence People (2nd Ed.)"."
Or a Dignitas leaflet?
Re: It's all down to the Ads:Content ratio.
"If they're complaining that people aren't willing to pay as things are, how is increasing the ad:content ratio going to help things? I can only see things getting worse."
Same as Hollywood's answer to being bled dry by pirates.. Make more expensive movies.
Seriously though. I think the idea is to put them in there in a way you don't notice. Or in a way the advertising industry thinks you will put up with.
err, I think you have the wrong end of the stick in thinking that physical objects of a purely non decorative functional nature fall under copyright.
Re: Care-o-Meter hovering at zero
<quote>But what if consumers are only prepared to pay a price that is less than the cost of producing the item?</quote>
Then the item ceases to be financially viable. A concept often missing from the whole market forces rants. Sometimes.. consumer says no.
Re: Me right
Not to mention awkward, when Elisabeth and Tracy find out about each other.
"What on earth are we coming to when a court flat out says it doesn't trust a large (supposedly responsible) corporation."
Reality?
Re: Joe Public
It's Miguel..
Severe Diva syndrome.
But even he had to finally admit that Microsoft were never going to call.
And the moral of the story..
Never send a roomba to do a T1000's work.
Re: CoS
You may laugh, but the .PNG is mightier than the sword....
Re: Does
Nope.. I'm afraid its just you. I suggest you bring your own lube. Supple Steve is a bit forgetful these days.
Mine's the one with the the Fedora 18 install disk on the pocket.
They have their uses. But agreed.. despite the fanboy howls, a tablet is no replacement for a proper computer. And if you don't do stuff that tablets excel at, then what use are they to you.
"I'm pretty sure these are the sorts of OEMs who would rather not receive loads of support issues from Linux newbies complaining about XYZ not working."
To which the tech support Muppet replies..
"I'm sorry sir, we only support the originally installed OS on your machine". End of call. No further action necessary. Problem solved.
"The whole "designed for Windows" sticker regime seems to suggest that is their thinking."
Is that like Vista capable?
Re: Fantastic
"Now - how do I convince my finance director (wife) that this is an essential house purchase? :-)"
Option 1. Find something she is interested in, and tell her how you can print them for her.
Option 2. Go to one of the printing services and get her a little personalised printed thing.
Option 3. Count her shoes, and promise to never count them again, in return for permission to get a printer "for the family"..
Re: Prior art ?
Two lines of devotional spots, an aisle down the middle.. All they need is a pulpit and an altar. And an organ at the back.
Hey.. they could call the staff area the vestry...
Well.. A sudden diet change can lead to a bit of a gippy tummy. Perhaps that was the terrible ordeal he had to expereince. Although constipation could explain a lot about Jobs.
Re: What did I just read? @Irongut
Not easier.
More proactive. Which is what open source is all about.
It's like the people who buy locked down Amazon tablets because they think they are getting a fantastic deal with a lower price subsidised tab and the ability to hack a proper version of Android on it.
Not understanding that what they are really doing, is encouraging the sales of locked down company owned gear that will keep getting harder to hack as the years go by. When they could pay a few quid more for an ordinary tablet, or get one a few months later, and have the same power, but with an untarnished OS, and a wallet vote for user access..
It's about making choices. Not about making the easy choice.
Canonical is trying to monetise Ubuntu.. Not a problem. I wish them all the luck in the world. I really honestly have nothing against Ubuntu.
Canonical is trying to isolate Ubuntu users.. Problem.
Different desktop.. Slightly different file structure. Soon, more and more paid software that will be non transferable across OSs..
The question to ask yourself is..
Are you the frog that has noticed the funny metal puddle getting a little too toasty, or are you the one holding onto that frog's leg, because it isn't that hot yet.
Personally, I've had more than enough lockin products. So I go out of my way to avoid them these days.
Re: PR
No..
But there is no guilt, so less need for counselling once one gets rescued.
Re: Journal of Mass Media Ethics
With 100% advertising for other publications. And a huge pile of those little slips of paper that fall out of American magazines.
Re: Rhyming slang
No.. Nominative determinism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism
Re: Further details emerge:
Gasp..
You mean it could have been a criminal genius?
Re: ...and they last for XXX years...
CFLs regularly last years for me. But then I have a nice stable power supply, and they tend to be on or off for long periods. Constant switching tends to be not so good for them, and obviously they do not react well to dimming.
My kitchen fluorescent tubes have lasted 5+ years each.
I have 3 incandescent bulbs left in my home. All in places where they will be on for minutes tops.
So the companies that cut their throats by selling long lasting light sources seem to be quite common.
Re: Bored of Blue LED now!
Anything with blue LEDs is by definition cool. You obviously just need more of them.
Re: US vs other countries
"My theory is people who actively choose a smartphone mostly choose iPhone"
And mine is that iFanboys are desperately grasping at straws as Apple inevitably head back to niche status.
Never mind sweetie.. Just say that market share is meaningless. And tell us again about Apple's market cap..
Re: Always have contracts
No.. More likely, Jobs would demand full payment, and then claim he left him the boat too, but forgot to put it in his will.
Not quite.
11% of survey respondents said they were interested in doing some missionary work to the stats.
Apple fanboys, when presented with an Apple product will talk it up no end. Despite having absolutely no use what so ever for it.
It mentioned an Apple something, so maximum positive response hat on.
It has to be a bargain. A thing of this amazing quality for this price.. Only twice what one would normally pay for a standalone unit as a plug in module that kind of works on an iThingy.
I saw people who had only the vaguest idea what an oscilloscope is, defend an over priced USB scope that was so low sensitivity, that it was near useless, trying desperately to compare it with several grand state of the art units that practically serve pizza to the user while they are working.
I actually saw them trying to use the stock "but this is an <insert thing> for ordinary people, not geeks". canned response. FOR AN OSCILLOSCOPE!!!
Re: Just goes to show
Well.. Except she didn't do either. Did she.
Failed to download the song.
Did not pay the demanded extortion. Her dad paid half of it. And I seem to remember, they ended up buying the song before being accused of piracy.
And please.. No "poor starving artists" bull. The artist was apparently not pleased about this either. The copyright enforcement group apparently enforced the fine against their wishes.
Piracy is not killing the media industry. Profit driven manufactured "artists" are.
Re: I will have to revise my numbers as well.
Nope.. Just realists. Sorry to inform you .. Any criticism can not be countered with an accusation of fanboys or haters. Some things are just crap.
Windows tablets offer very very little that other already established tablet OSs don't.
Name three things that a Surface can do that an Android or an iPad tablet can not (excluding the obvious "run Windows", or "run Windows store apps"). Important things. Not corner cases that might sell a few units to a couple of corporate buyers who have just been bought an expensive lunch.
The ARM one does not run x86 software. the Intel one will, but with a touch interface, low power, low storage, and a smaller screen than one is used to.
Android undercuts them. Apple out poses them. What market do they have left exactly for a not particularly practical device that is quite expensive?
Re: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
No it isn't.
Theft is still the act of taking something without the owner's permission with the INTENT to PERMANENTLY DEPRIVE them of the benefits of the item. Intent is a vital part of criminal law. Intent is the difference between negligence, manslaughter, and murder.
Copyright infringment is not theft. Nor a criminal offence for that matter. Still wrong, but still not theft, no matter how blue your face gets, and how many times you say it.
Infringement is what is being discussed here. So please skip the emotional daily mail crap. It isn't the law's fault infringement is not as emotive a word as stealing.
And actually, you are accidentally correct. According to UK law at least, you described taking and driving away. Not theft of a car. Because the intent to deprive is next to impossible to prove.
Take a car, and bring it back, not theft. Not legal either, so you will still be up in front of the beak, but not for theft.
Re: Good stuff.
Well done him. And I'll bet he had to argue with his fitter to have the cosmetic covering left off. It's a problem we amputees face every time we get a new limb made. Prosthetics companies are so fixated on emulating the organic, they can't really comprehend the concept of us being quite happy to appear a bit robotic, or surreal.
Seriously though. Given a choice between say a carbon fibre shell, and mannequin pink plastic, which finish would you prefer on a prosthetic limb.
Re: Stupid, stupid move.
"Do you think Google would be any better? of course not. They're being investigated for monopoly abuse."
Actually.. Yes.
In the past, when they have been found to be in the wrong, unlike Microsoft with it's epic EU case, or Apple with it's various hissy fits, Google actually obeys the court, and stops doing what ever it was caught doing. And doesn't spend the next few years in endless appeals.
They are being investigated for anti competitive behaviour.. Key word being "INVESTIGATED". Not have been found guilty.
Someone made a complaint, the competition commission and others are charged with deciding if there is any merit tot he accusation. And if sufficient misconduct is found.. then they will be taken to task over it. If not, case never brought.
Re: But...
Yep.. Pretty much SOP.
Funny how the county court paperwork showing up makes people very reasonable all of a sudden.
Re: Windows 8 promises to be a disaster in offices.
Then for a small consideration, I'll set fire to your office.
Re: How long before
You forgot the singing.
Every cast member will burst into song at key moments Later released as a limited edition CD every 7 years.
Re: FFS - Does anyone know how to do math?
Shh.. Someone will explain laps to him in a minute.
Re: Colour
Charge then with contempt of court, and extract penalties directly from their bank accounts.
Stop them selling magical products until they stop mucking about.
Close down the Apple stores.
You seem to imagine that courts are somehow powerless. American?
Posted in Windows 8 and the ‘Dad test’ stunts
And another vote for the "wat the hell you smokin" award.
Punter buys a shiny new PC from PC World.
Brings it home, unpacks it. Plugs everything in, bangs head on table, swears, turns it on, plugs the power cord in, and remembers the monitor cable this time, and turns it on again.
Sits down at the table, and answers any questions as best they can. Usually a software serial number at most.
Then they are ON THEIR OWN..
The smart thing would indeed be to get a mate who knows a bit to give them a quick run through, but this does not actually happen. People don't want to appear stupid, so they make guesses. They do NOT ask questions. That's cheating. And people you ask use computer talk anyway, so what is the point.
Updates.. Stop annoying me. And amazingly, these will be turned off. Especially if it reboots while said punter pops to the kitchen to make a cuppa, and comes back to a login screen. Irritation is a great way to get something done, and a nagging PC will always be reconfigured to stop it nagging. EVER.
Firewall.. interferes with P2P.. Outa here.
Virus scanner.. It's free innit.. Keeps screeching about a 3 month demo, but the little picture is right there in the corner.
And now.. "To the internet!!" not for tutorials, but to download software, to surf porn sites, to watch Youtube and update your facebook page to "new computer set up and pretty damn fast so far".. Yes.. I suppose I'd better click ok for this virus scan what popped up out of nowhere.. See.. Told you the demo one worked just fine.
This is reality. When faced with a warning box, they look for the OK button, because if you don't read the writing, anything that happens is not your fault. Common sense.. I didn't see nothin, I didn't do nothin, I wasn't even there. Amazing how grown men and women regress to 8 years old when faced twit a tech problem.
And in six months or so, when it takes a half hour to boot, they will take it to a mate, or take it to a shop, and get it drenched in digital pesticide, so it's good for another six months of abuse.
Defragging.. HAH..
Malware avoidance.. You gotta be kidding me.
Reading, or following a tutorial.. BWHAAAAAA!! If they know which version of Windows they have it's a miracle.
This is the real world.. Not the Reg offices, where everybody has been using computers all their lives, and have picked up a thing or two on the way.
And no. Outside computing hobbyists(who can and do figure out how to operate an new OS properly by themselves), people do not read computer magazines. Any more than computer shopper publishes articles from Plumbing today monthly.
Ever wonder why people like web based email so much? Oh.. you thought it was because you could access it from anywhere..
No..
They like it, because all they have to do is put in a user name and password and it's up and running.
The only unrealistic thing that is in those "Dad uses new Windows" videos is the lack of swearing and shouting, and blaming the kids for mucking the computer up.
Re: "Press harder"
Not sure about all. I think a few of this year's models use capacitive touch.
My Kobo uses the beam method too, and it does work quite well. There is a knack to getting some buttons to work though, but after a while, it becomes unnoticeable.
butbutbut..
Are they not all working for slave wages at Foxconn then???
How is one supposed to maintain a perfectly good xenophobic myth when things like Chinese people getting rich make the press?
I mean.. Next we'll be hearing about people working outside the computer and electronics industry.. Chefs, builders, engineers..
Can't somebody please think of the protectionists, the racists, the free market capitalists, who liked globalisation much better when they were the main beneficiaries.
Mine's the one soaked in sarcasm..
Re: so...
"The snapper here should probably have sued the library but hey it's Apple (or rather their Ad Agency) who has used it so lets sue Apple and get some free publicity."
No..
The snapper should sue the GUILTY party. The ones who did something wrong.
The objective here is to get the artist fairly compensated for their work. Compensation paid by the person or organisation that used the image without permission. Not to find an arrangement of references, anecdotes of limited relevance, and omission of fact that make Apple look like the injured party.
Re: It's a sad day for religion
How about we hurl the lawyers at the zealots?
Hurl fast enough, and two problems solved.
Yep. For as long as you allow them to.
Re: detail work at sub-millimeter accuracy
Yes.
And for the really tricky stuff.. The electronics, Pick and place machines are used. They have to be. The parts are so small, it is physically impossible for a human to hand solder them these days. Big robotic electronics assembly machines.
Imagine trying to solder a resistor that is abotu half a mm long on a near microscopic solder pad. Not possible for human eyes to even see the things unaided. Much less to manipulate the hot end of a soldering iron finely enough to do the job.
The workers are there for the stuff that is too non uniform for a machine to do the job. Assembling the PCB into the casing, plugging the ribbon connectors into sockets, gluing down the front and spitting on it before packing.
Robots are good at unchanging repetitive movements. But humans still out perform them in situations where putting part A into part B and then plugging part C into another part at a funny angle comes into play.
Sounds to me like Apple have made a difficult to assemble product, and now also expect workers to work faster with more delicate components.
Does not bode well for the fruity ones.
Perhaps they need to go old school.. Both hands and a flashlight app.
