Posts by Ian Yates
770 posts • joined Tuesday 12th June 2007 08:17 GMT
Re: People who
"Only when you go to paedophile does it suddenly become a word to describe an offender"
Not true - "phile" just means loves or likes. The fact that (an adult) loving children (too much) is illegal (in some cultures) is indifferent to the meaning of the word.
Another example of an "illegal" one would be necrophile.
Posted in LOHAN's mighty orb launch live NOW
Well, I say...
Congrats to all involved and their hard work.
Doesn't look like it went 100% to plan, but a max altitude of over 27k (and down again) is still pretty impressive.
Looking forward to the debrief. Enjoy your pints!
Re: Deep thought ...
The Reg will be a far calmer place once the different warring (bickering?) factions can ignore each other... I'm not sure it's a brave new world I'm looking forward to. I always enjoy the rabid and pointless arguments ;)
Re: This is going to take some getting used to
I may be on my own, but I think UI design for media managers hit its useful peak years ago.
The number of use-cases for them is pretty low and most people just want to access a song/album/artist/playlist/genre quickly.
Even my original Nomad Jukebox Zen (how I miss thee) had an entirely usable interface with just a clickable scroll wheel. I could build playlists on the fly back in 2002, a feature that went missing from many subsequent products.
On the desktop, I'm still a WinAmp user. Sure, I don't get to see the album art while browsing (though I could), but I've just always found it quick and easy to browse my music collection and sync a playlist to any device.
Eh? It didn't.
They coded it; they released it; the users testers spotted it; they fixed it.
Re: Karma
Rubbish! Just look at the innovation that has gone in to this patent.
They filed this in 2002, which everyone knows is before "mobile phones" were able to be used to transmit your voice, hence the idea they had to add a microphone to the headphones. Genius!
Or maybe the innovation that the USPTO care about is being innovative enough to file for a patent that no one else bothered to?
Re: 5 better then 3 ?
Probably true. I'm possibly a little short-sighted in that the environments I've worked have either weighed on the stable-cheap-large side (where my gut says three platters would be best) or the get-it-fast side (where we've had the budget to build large SSD arrays).
I've not personally bench-marked on the performance difference in the number of platters, but you've piqued my interested to have a look around.
Posted in America planned to NUKE THE MOON
Re: Note on Sagan
Surely, the important point is that if it has proven to be impossible to record/measure such supposedly major effects (i.e., curing cancer) of something that appears to be undetectable, does it even matter?
Lump it in with psychics and homeopathy.
"WD's three-platter 4TB SATA product now faces competition from Toshiba's [...] five 800GB platters"
Err... unless WD's drives have a large failure/corruption rate, I don't personally see that as much of a competition.
Even if Tosh's prices are significantly lower, the power and heat reduction are normally enough to convince those with the PO-power.
Re: Ironic
"based on contribution record" and thus how little time you spend doing your real job ;)
Posted in Ten Linux apps you must install
Re: Sad
Pff! GUI? CLI? I hand etch the binary on the hard disk, as God intended!
Posted in Kobo Glo illuminated e-reader review
Re: Obvious flaws
"I can feel my eyes relax when I put my screen down and pick my book up."
Agreed. I stare at a computer screen all day and definitely notice the difference between then reading a book/e-reader in the evening over reading something on my phone/tablet.
It's not so much that your (or mine, at least) eyes feel more tired reading on LCD, it's that they feel less tired when reading non-LCD stuff.
Re: So Full of It (and not IT)
Agreed.
The _only_ solution is to ask for anonymous briefs on what the speaker will discuss and pick from a shortlist.
Of course, this doesn't work when you want specific people to talk on a subject that they are well known for, as is probably the case here. But screaming "diversity" and getting such a conference cancelled helps who, exactly?
Specifically picking a female or minority speaker to replace someone from the original line-up is (IMO) more racist/sexist than not even noticing you'd done it to begin with.
Re: Duke Nukem Forever?
Is that a threat?
"leave when you arrive"
Sounds more like London's bus system to me. I arrive at the bus stop in time to see the bus leave (with a wry smile on the driver's face).
Re: *chunder*
<StretchingAnalogy>
I was in a massacre once, but it was rubbish so I got out
</StretchingAnalogy>
Re: At last!
I strongly recommend you try out Universe Sandbox, for some extra functionality.
Though this experiment is very good.
Posted in Kobo Mini 5in compact e-reader review
I especially liked the low-quality jpeg showing how good text looks on the screen.
Re: Wish I hadn't
"other users don't have access to apps already installed and need a google account to use the tablet properly"
While I haven't actually used it, this review specifically states that users don't need a Google account, assuming they don't want to do things like use the Play store: http://blogs.computerworld.com/android/21327/android-42-multiuser-support
Seems sensible to me, since you can set up an android device without one, if you so choose.
Also, "If one user goes into the Play Store and installs an app that another user has already downloaded onto the tablet, Android will "install" the app for the user -- basically making it available to her -- but won't actually redownload it".
I agree that it would make more sense to have a list of available apps that you can show/hide, but at least it isn't downloading dupes.
Though, how would you do this if you didn't associate a Google account?
I'm looking forward to putting this on my Transformer: the idea of an open "Games" account for guests is great.
Re: OK so you agree with the analyst then.........
"anything from the ONS"
Damn straight. I read their report the other day that 80% of statistics are just made up! What do we pay them for?!
Nah!..
He was a mole. He started in 2009 and spent the last three years building an OS that would destroy them, before running back to his "real" employer.
So, the question is who would benefit from MS' demise? ;)
Posted in Apple iPad 4 Wi-Fi only tablet review
"he is constantly having to tinker to get it to work"
Then I can only assume he has either a defective phone or is an utter moron.
Re: Theresa in the Dark? ....... Let there be Light
I struggled to read the first paragraph three time before worrying I'd lost the power of comprehension... and then I saw who posted it
Re: Utter ballcocks!
Contrast this with her comment about not reading the email content.
Today: "We have to decrypt the whole thing, but we only read the header"
Tomorrow: "Well, it was already decypted, and we were suspicious. Oh, and the legislation said it was fine."
"Sales only mean more people buying content, whereas the iPad Mini has justify its existence."
Which sounds like a logical argument until you realise that the only official way to use an iAnything is through purchasing from Apple's store, where they take a pretty cut from the revenue.
The profit margin on the device is massive, but they know that (within reason) the masses will still buy enough to make it a commercial success.
Posted in Valve taps testers for Linux Steam
Re: This is going to be funny
Stop feeding the troll!
He clearly hasn't kept up with Linux since the late 90's.
Re: Piss off
My issues are that it pointlessly throws all standard usability out for no obvious gain.
Metro just seems to be an annoyance to me (I can see no use for it, personally), and there's no way to turn it off.
Luckily, I have Classic Start. But why should I need third-party software to make my purchase* work for me?
* Hypothetically
Re: Windows® 8™ TIFKAM™
Magic corners are one of the strangest decision (well, after the whole of TIFKAM).
To paraphrase a well-known UI guidelines document, all user actions should be obvious and recognisable.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa468595.aspx
Sections 1, 2, and 3 apply here
"friend's home"
I'll have you know that I have more than 1 friend!
I do! Really!
Re: Piss off
"If Windows 8 is a failure it won't be because of the OS, it will be arsehole commentards on various tech websites blowing minor learning points into deal breakers."
No... it'll definitely be because of the OS.
Re: How do I distinguish bugs from features?
Wow... really?
Re: But why would you want to?
"stop charging £300 for an OS"
The prices are right there in the article, and you still spread FUD.
Yeah, but...
It requires installing Origin... perhaps EA figured that was a high enough cost?
Re: Well now I've seen everything!
"we the public benefit from having DNT on"
I do kind of agree with the sentiments of "Apache man" (the world's worst superhero). Having it on by default dilutes the purpose of user's choice in the eyes of advertisers.
It would be like everyone in the UK automatically being enrolled on the original TPS list, which (until this year) had no penalty for companies breaching: everyone would just ignore it.
Unfortunately, his logic falls down in that if you followed his advice and asked every user on the first run, I'm willing to bet at least 95% of people would still enable it (depending on wording), so you'd get the exact same result.
TL;DR: DNT is a bit of a joke.
Or what it should always have been called "please be nice and honour my request that you do not track my activity" - PBNAHMRTYDNTMA for short
Published in the Daily Mail with the headline...
"Cancer Ray Invented"
(to be revised in 6 months as "Electricity Gun Cures Cancer")
"The USPTO lets past many patently false claims"
I see what you did there
Re: All this and the Open Source community...
"Did I say that Closed Source\Commercial software was never abandoned? Did I say that they were saints who didn't upgrade at will and never provided you with a situation where you had to upgrade or be left behind[?]"
Wait, so you're argument is that open source should be ignored for "business critical data" because it might be abandoned, but you weren't then implying that closed source (the only alternative to open source) is a better choice?... So what is your point? What would you use for business critical data?
Re: "The app benefits from Microsoft's new minimalist approach to GUI design"
It's an interesting point: interfaces are expected to be intuitive, with interactive elements being visually distinct from non-interactive ones. The time-honoured tradition of 3D elements has always helped emphasise the "you can press this bit" paradigm and making everything flat and samey raises a whole slew of possible usability problems.
Re: All this and the Open Source community...
"If you were using [FOSS] as an integral part of your business you have no assurance of ongoing development or even if these fights are going to cause issues going forward with the actual use of the product. If you have to switch to another fork or whole different DMS who's going to undertake the work to get your data across and ensure it's validated?"
Yes, because that's an issue only with free software. You certainly never hear of commercial software being abandoned when the next version appears with an incompatible file/repository type.
Re: A solution in search of a problem
Because having more than one person crowded round a 4" screen to watch a movie is no one's idea of fun
Without a wide angle shot, just looks like erosion to me...
Posted in Assange calls for help from … Quakers?
Re: Flogging round the fleet
"bring down on our heads everything we hold precious about civilization"
Not the sneezing cats on YouTube?!
Re: I would care...
I'm not even sure his comment is the worse thing about this budget-deprived and poorly written... "comedy" (I assume that's what the canned laughter was meant to imply).
I was more offended by the enforcement of stereotypes and I cringed more when the token Asian couple "have the code to fix it"...
I can only hope that the average attention span of the target audience mean that they only noticed the pretty colours and points when they were expected to laugh. Is this clip typical of USA kids TV?
Re: We have had to destroy this rock..
I love the idea that all of the time, money, and effort for this mission was spent to burn a hole in a small rock ;)
Re: Bits are bits
"the fact tethering doesn't work at all on the iPhone ... is one factor in my planned jump to Orange"
How is changing carrier going to fix your iPhone; unless you're getting a new one, I suppose? I tether through GiffGaff without any problems.
Re: All I want is ...
I can't say I've ever seen that option. TelCo's seem to assume that if you want unlimited data you aren't using a phone so they should then charge more for the data.
It's some kind of weird paradox.
In the end I went with GiffGaff's £10 offering, since I was the same as you and only interested in the data.
Re: What about...
+1 for MX Player
I also use BubbleUPnP for network streaming, but Skifta does look like it's improved since I last tried it.
Re: Standards
Because that's the wonderful thing about them, there are so many to choose from!
Re: The real Apple screw is being patented elsewhere
They've already done it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentalobe
Reusable tamper-resistant screws are a mythical creature.
