* Posts by BrownishMonstr

535 publicly visible posts • joined 22 May 2011

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Crowning glory of GOV.UK websites updated, sparking frontend upgrades

BrownishMonstr

Re: If they *really* want to improve the experience....

The website could just be a wrapper for some archaic, legacy system.

Moving to Windows 11 is so easy! You just need to buy a PC that supports it!

BrownishMonstr

Re: It is easy

This Ars article goes into it a bit more, but it seems to be more for security:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/why-windows-11-has-such-strict-hardware-requirements-according-to-microsoft/?comments=1&comments-page=1

BrownishMonstr

Re: It is easy

Mate, you're telling this to old folks who don't like learning new things and stuck in their ways.

BrownishMonstr

In all honesty, the Ribbon exposed features to users, which were previously hidden behind menus.

"Wait, you can superscript a font? I was creating textboxes and placing them where I needed them" --- A teaching assistant 18yrs ago

On the ribbon, it was on the home tab with the rest of the "text/font" group.

That said, I did not like it on Autodesk. I think whether we like it or not depends on when we started to use it. For me, I was about 15/16 when the Ribbon came out, so it was something I got used to pretty quickly. But if I had to relearn it now in my 30's, I can see the learning curve be more difficult to climb.

Oracle is hiring two new teams to build its cloud faster and stronger

BrownishMonstr

The database king

Down with the King.

Lukewarm reception for Microsoft's Copilot Pro amid performance, cost grumbles

BrownishMonstr

Re: Copilot for SSMS

When you install SSMS it installs Azure Data Studio.

I think it's obvious that MS want to push ADS over SSMS, probably easier to create extensions for, too.

Microsoft braces for automatic AI takeover with Copilot at Windows startup

BrownishMonstr

Re: Trapped In An Abusive Relationship?

We're a bunch of luddites, here, mate. You'll just be downvoted to oblivion.

Copilot, in my opinion, could be a wonderful addition and can be useful to get you that presentation 70%.

Share your 2024 tech forecasts (wrong answers only) to win a terrible sweater

BrownishMonstr

The Register moves its head office to USA.

Microsoft is forced to sell Xbox & Games Division. And Cloud Division. And OS Division.

Author hopes to throw the book at OpenAI, Microsoft with copyright class action

BrownishMonstr

Re: Zzzzzzzzzz

Perhaps in a few years, Books will have different licenses for the intended purpose.

That is, for reading it's fine, but for training LLMs it's not.

Microsoft promises to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for next decade. Sony believes it

BrownishMonstr

Exactly.

I'm not saying they're not doing it for money---all companies want more.

However, MS's focus is on cloud gaming, which makes CMA right in not wanting to stifle competition, but it's still early and a few players have entered and left the cloud-gaming arena. I don't think MS buying ABK would stifle competition in cloud gaming, but it would open the opportunity for another developer to take ABK's place. Why?? Because typical MS buys companies and kills them off.

Boss fight cleared: Europe approves Microsoft's Activision takeover

BrownishMonstr

Fair ruling, I agree

I think there are a few things the EC needed to address:

1) Is this going to allow XBOX to gain greater dominance against Nintendo and Sony?

XBOX is third in sales behind Sony and Nintendo and is very unlikely to close the gap by much.

2) Is XBOX going to gain greater dominance on Windows over competitors?

This is a possibility.

3) Is Microsoft going to gain an uncompetitive advantage on cloud gaming?

Cloud gaming is too soon to tell, but very few competitors have invested much in it. Google have abandoned Stadia, too, so GeForce Now seems to be the only other competitor. Microsoft has promised a ten-year deal to other cloud gaming providers, so the competitors see this has helping them. Microsoft could abuse its position as a cloud provider, but then the EC are going to start looking into Azure, funnily enough.

Storing the Quran on your phone makes you a terror suspect in China

BrownishMonstr

Re: Quote from the religion of peace...

To be even more fair, what they quoted isn't actually from the quran.

BrownishMonstr

Re: Quote from the religion of peace...

LOL!

That isn't what it says:

https://quran.com/27?startingVerse=63

Is this where you got it from? The author himself said he took verses from the bible and added "Allah" to it. A few people seem to have believed this to be the truth, too.

https://www.skeptical-science.com/religion/top-5-worst-verses-quran/

I am happy for you to share verses that you think are problematic. Some things can be interpreted in different ways, too, but I am still happy for you to share problematic verses.

But you are really just sharing misinformation, which can be dangerous to people like yourself who are happy to believe stuff they read but don't question it. I am also like that, but usually just when it comes to companies, stuff that doesn't make any difference to anyone. But when it is vilifying a group of people, then I try to find the truth.

Microsoft cries foul over UK gaming deal blocker but it's hard to feel sorry for them

BrownishMonstr

"MAKING THE BEST PLATFORM":

w.r.t the platform, I understand your reasoning, but I don't think that always works, otherwise Windows Phone would have done better. I recall MS offering incentives to devs to create the apps, but without the users few devs could bother. Without the apps few users could bother switching. Likewise, I think without the content the users won't come, and without the users few devs would be arsed to port games over. I think Good Old Games offers something amazing (games, particularly old, without DMA) and it's quite niche.

Not sure about Epic or Steam, tbh. Please can you explain more about these? Steam was something I saw as windows-specific, but they also have their own steam deck stuff.

"10 YEAR PROMISES":

I understand what you are saying and I agree Microsoft can't be trusted, but the 10-year promises are something they thought would satisfy the market authorities because of Sony's concerns. I also think Balmer-era MS is different to Nadella's, as we can see from the way MS has reacted to Open-Source. I don't believe this is any charity from their side, but a business decision for increasing profit/reach/influence, but I can't imagine .NET core would be a thing under Balmer's influence.

Degradation on other platforms

Yes, this is a concern, and I don't know what the solution is. But as we are talking about Cloud platforms the only concerns are bugs, lack of DLC, and difference in cost on other platforms, assuming they are still forced to offer their games on other platforms. However, I still cannot see Microsoft these days employing the same practices they did before---especially since they're not as loved as before and won't be able to get away with mich.

Activision Blizzard

I dunno. Perhaps I'm not really into gaming as much as when I was in my teens, but this company has come under so much bad press that I don't think they're all that important as they once were. I don't think it would be good for gamers but only because I think, like in the past, Microsoft gobbling up a company kills it off. AVB would essentially just end up producing terrible knock-offs of its own IP, giving the opportunity for another company to take the place it once had. Microsoft taking AVB under its own wings and smothering it can only be good.

BrownishMonstr

I am in two minds, here.

On the one hand, I understand CMA's decision as Microsoft are far ahead on Cloud gaming, and this merger could prevent or hinder other cloud services from ever taking hold.

On the other hand, cloud gaming could be an expensive investment so the only players would be the big ones, really. Microsoft should not be punished for investing early into cloud gaming, I see them as trying to ensure content will be available on their platform. Otherwise, like Netflix and Windows Phone, a lack of content could really hinder their own platform.

I think the right decision would be to allow the merger, but force Microsoft to develop these games on other big cloud gaming platforms, when they arrive. Microsoft should also be forced to allow anyone they have done deals with to use alternative service providers other than Microsoft (Linux servers, Azure cloud, etc).

As a gamepass subscriber, I would like the merger to go ahead, however I rarely play games these days so I don't have that much skin in the game.

Microsoft suggests businesses buy fewer PCs. No, really

BrownishMonstr

It makes sense

MS are moving to the cloud business, so that's where they want to orientate their future products.

XBOX now has cloud gaming, although I personally found it to be a bit subpar. They also have dev boxes in the cloud for software development.

This probably works for allowing remote workers to use better hardware without it being physically present.

This won't work in all use-cases, and I don't blame MS for trying. Sometimes you have to risk failure to try new things.

How the Internet Archive faces potential destruction at the hands of Big Four publishers

BrownishMonstr

Re: I don't feel too sorry for the publishers

Shit, I've been doing it wrong

The Shakespearian question of our age: To cloud or not to cloud

BrownishMonstr

The benefits of cloud, for me, is the ability to scale up/down, have better availability than on-prem, being to create new test environments, and have less dependence on other teams in our IT. There are also other cloudy features, such as feature flags and SignalR (with scaling up/down & being load-balanced) that could suit me very well.

Yes, these can be done on-prem, but it took our IT team a good few months to get another test environment up and running. They are busy AF, we are busy AF. Company does not want to hire more people, so cloud might be the way to get around it.

UK arrests five for selling 'dodgy' point of sale software

BrownishMonstr

Re: And Turkish Barbers where I live.

Sorry, I am afraid to say you have got me lost, prophets?

Microsoft's $69B deal to buy Activision Blizzard under investigation by EU regulators

BrownishMonstr

Re: This is getting old.

I think it will hurt Sony, and in a way it is doing so right now---they are very upset, so it's hurting them.

On a more serious note, COD has had early releases to PlayStation, which is why Sony is not incredibly happy, as Microsoft would stop that from happening in the future.

Parody Elon Musk Twitter accounts will be suspended immediately, says Elon Musk

BrownishMonstr

Re: I've managed without Twitter this far

I find it quite annoying.

My wife and I both quit facebook some time ago, but she had to sign up to get those not-so-relevant-but-nice-to-know updates from our child's school.

Qualcomm: Arm threatens to end CPU licensing, charge device makers instead

BrownishMonstr

Re: Non-transferable license ?

Is this because Rolls Royce and Bentley were one and the same?

New measurement alert: Liz Truss inspires new Register standard

BrownishMonstr

Re: Delighted ...

Pretty sure it's because he's brown--one LBC caller even said as much.

FBI: Looking for Biden's student loan forgiveness? Watch out for these scams

BrownishMonstr

Re: Gotcha : at least one typoe.......

I think they're Biden their time before they fix it

Infosec still (mostly) a boys club

BrownishMonstr

I kind of agree men and women may have different interests, but yes, the comment section here is worrying.

I wonder how many downvotes I can get...want a race?

No, Apple, you may not sell iPhones without chargers

BrownishMonstr

Twenty dollars?

It'll cost peanuts for Apple to add a charger The cost in manufacturing, packaging, and transporting it will be less than that if it was included with the phone. It will cost the consumer more to buy it separate, plus more packaging going into the bin.

Plus, I don't buy a phone every year, so a new cable I can keep on to, in case one of my other ones break, would be nice.

To be honest, were Apple to supply decent cables I probably wouldn't have as much of an issue.

Pakistan politicians label government cybersecurity team 'incompetent'

BrownishMonstr

Re: Yet another American English / British English difference

> Given that El Reg used to be British

Is that why I have started to find El Reg to be more boring than a few years ago?

Is the Apple car real? These patents suggest yes

BrownishMonstr

Re: Apple car

> Rounded corners: check

**Checks date** Yep, it isn't 2008 anymore.

> Recharge twice a day: check

My iPhone 8 plus only needed charging twice a day after 3 years, at which point I replaced the battery, so a nightly charge was all that was required.

>Osolete within 2 years: check

I had my 8 plus for four years, and it was still receiving updates every few months. Could have kept it longer, but wanted to upgrade to a fancier, new phone. My Samsung tabbie stopped receiving updates after 2 years.

>Very expensive: check

Yep, they are. But I also don't have the time, nor can I be arsed, to fiddle with my phone or tech anymore. No more going into the settings like an excited teenager. I just want the stuff to work.

BrownishMonstr

Re: I like Apple stuff

It would be nice for Apple to make a car.

I wouldn't be able to afford it, but it's good for companies to break into the field with clever ideas, it might encourage competition.

Apple Pay bags Cupertino another antitrust lawsuit

BrownishMonstr

Re: Don't get your hopes up.

Aye, but don't forget Google are also more interested in selling data, so it might have some other benefit to them.

One of the arguments I read in the Verge's article is that Apple "also don't allow the fees to be passed onto the customers". So, if Apple was okay with companies passing the fees onto the customer, this lawsuit wouldn't have even been brought up in the US.

UK.gov threatens to make adults give credit card details for access to Facebook or TikTok

BrownishMonstr

Re: Dead Cat

Are you sure he wasn't sharing it via Infrared?

Software engineer jailed for 2 years after using RATs and crypters to steal underage victims' intimate pics

BrownishMonstr

Re: "had been recently diagnosed with autism"

I have an honest question. In a previous job, a colleague, who after the event I learnt was on the Autism spectrum, asked me what my favourite thing was. After thinking for a few seconds, I said watching TV.

When I asked him what his was, his response was "Sex". I told him "I was going to say that, but I thought it's a bit inappropriate in the workplace" and his response was "I don't find many things to be inappropriate".

Is his behaviour normal for someone with ASD? I know it is a spectrum and not all on it will suffer the same, I

Not looking forward to a greyscale 2022? Then look back to the past in 64 colours

BrownishMonstr

Re: Angel Delight

Strawberry Angel delight with pieces of Chocolate Log is quite nice, especially when the cake is moist from the pudding.

The inevitability of the Windows 11 UI: New Notepad enters the beta channel

BrownishMonstr

Because it's one higher.

Apple wins Epic court ruling: Devs will pay up for now as legal case churns on

BrownishMonstr

Re: The difference between Apple and 3rd party payment options

I don't think anyone would give a toss, really, if Apple allowed users to install other App Stores. But they don't, so it's either pay that 30%, or don't have access to iOS users.

In my opinion, it is wrong and Apple should be forced to allow users to add other App Stores. I am happy using the App Store, but the option should be there.

BrownishMonstr

Re: Epically wrong.

I, sir, am a proud iPhone user and awaiting delivery of my new shiny-shiny iPhone 13 Pro Max , since I felt like upgrading after four years of using my 8 Plus.

But, fuck me, does he chat shit.

If you find yourself on a cesspool called "Reddit", which I am now a frequent user, you'll find a lot of people defending Apple and their recent win of "Not allowing other App stores" on iOS. The small number who argue this is bad, get downvoted to oblivion.

Which makes me think, I wonder how much Apple Inc have donated recently, they're getting a lot of wins.

Foreign Office IT chaos: Shocking testimony reveals poor tech support hindered Afghan evac attempts

BrownishMonstr

Re: It boils down to your way of running things

Give it some time, the Tories will insist the FCO needs to be outsourced to their pals.

BrownishMonstr

Re: Disgraceful ...

This is the Tory way. They do not care, except when there's a chance to load their pockets.

Another example is Ms. Patel, whose family came over to seek refuge, but due to their big, big pockets, they're one of the good types, so are in no way refugees.

Computers cost money. We only make them more expensive by trying to manage them ourselves

BrownishMonstr

Re: Apparently there is no middle ground in this debate

I can see renting and the cloud being good for startups, who need to deploy websites but don't want to spend a lot of money up-front.

Project Union: Microsoft releases Windows App SDK 1.0, developers try to puzzle it out

BrownishMonstr

"If they wanted it to look pretty, they'd hire someone to make it pretty. You don't get the engineer to design the car, do you*?"

*The sexy design, not designing for manufacturing, assembly, and aerodynamics.

UK Space Agency wants primary school kids to design a logo for first Brit launches

BrownishMonstr

Re: You can guarantee

Don't forget, lasers shooting from the front. Or maybe something else, that will fall off to the side, due to gravity, like milk.

Desktop bust and custom iPhone 13 Pro made from melted-down Tesla car for the Elon Musk dork in your life

BrownishMonstr

Re: Caviar aren’t *that* unknown

How much bigger does this make the phone?

Does one then have to buy custom phone cases, at a cost of 100k?

BrownishMonstr

I imagine they report how many times you raise your middle finger, pick your nose, or sing Winny the Pooh.

India backs away from digital services tax after US pressure

BrownishMonstr

Sanctions, you say? It would be sad if we were to block your companies from trading in our country.

Apple sues 'amoral 21st century mercenaries' NSO for infecting iPhones with Pegasus spyware

BrownishMonstr
Joke

Re: There are other options.....

Apple and I agree, that's why I get a brand-new spanking iPhone every year.

Chap who campaigned to oust Nominet's CEO and chairman and reform the .UK registry is elected as non-exec director

BrownishMonstr

Sounds like not everyone was on the same Page--those that weren't left.

Microsoft slows Windows 10 release cadence to yearly. If they're all as dull as the November Update, this is fine

BrownishMonstr

Re: Windows 10 / Windows 11 should transition to the Red Hat / Fedora model of releases.

W11 is installed on my personal laptop, which is only used for gaming these days. I've yet to install it on my work laptop for various reasons, mostly I think it will affect my productivity.

That said, I like the new context menu when you right-click on files, the Copy, Paste, Rename buttons are all on the first row, shown vertically. Unfortunately, the hot-keys no longer work and I don't think it shows any extra menus from other stuff installed.

The UI of W11 is starting to look less "Windows-ey". It reminds me of using Linux Mint for the first time.

Zuck didn't invent the metaverse, but he's started a fight to control it

BrownishMonstr

Do we need passports? What's the rules on immigration, and asylum seekers from other metaverse?

More importantly, will our passports be blue and produced in France?

Reg scribe spends 80 hours in actual metaverse … and plans to keep visiting

BrownishMonstr

Re: Second Life

I would upvote you, but I like how your upvote has hit 18.

New year, new OS: OneDrive support axed for old versions of Windows from 1 Jan 2022

BrownishMonstr

I still preferred when it was called "Sky Drive"

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