Posts by auburnman
521 posts • joined Thursday 28th July 2011 21:58 GMT
My tablet
Came with a browser, youtube and Facebook apps. It also shows my pictures and movies with the software it came with just fine; I don't know about other folks but that's 70%+ of what I wanted the tablet for. It doesn't really leave the house (yet) so games don't get much of a look in as they're competing with the PS3 and PC. All this combined with the difficulty of discovering new stuff means I very rarely bother with the market unless I have a specific need like an eBook reader or Wifi file transfer (and even then the Tab probably had those, I just wanted a specific app I had used before) or a specific app recommended by a friend or trusted site.
Anyway, my point is my tablet already does all this cool stuff and I use it loads. To say few tablets are in use based on the figures of Androids on the store is daft.
Re: Green Cross Code
Why shouldn't kids be looking at porn? I seem to remember jazz mags doing the rounds in my days. Am I a damaged deviant now? (Don't answer that one.)
Seriously, has anyone ever challenged the Government to defend WHY images of boobies and willies are such a menace to society that I will have to be added to a list if I want to keep seeing them on the smut-pipe?
Re: Disappointing
You consider 8MP measly? I'd be more than happy with that to capture life's little moments. I still have photos of my friends snapped on 1.3MP or even - horror of horrors - VGA cameras. If I'm going to a Wedding or something I'll take a dedicated camera.
Re: Downvotards amaze me
d) Automatically downvoting someone who complains about downvoting
Re: what i cannot understand...
Maybe they're hacked off that they're still locked into contracts and jealous they can't upgrade to the S3. I stuck by HTC on my last upgrade and while they've been pretty good to me, watching my mucker on his lighter, thinner, larger screened S3 does make me envious...
The British Government firmly believes in Homeopathy...
...They've massively diluted the amount of jobs, disposable income and well-run services in the UK in order to make them more effective.
This was supposed to be a joke but now I want a stiff drink.
Re: Luddite
I would trust it as a virtual wallet system, where the maximum that comes out of it is what I've put in. I would love to leave twenty quid 'in' it for train/bus fares, vending machines etc. All the little things where I would either need exact change or would like to pay in a hurry. I would NOT touch it with a barge pole if it had a direct link to my bank account.
Re: Ironic really
It's too late for me, it's all I can see when I close my eyes now. Thanks AC...
Re: accidentally find smut
I get your point, but If they're going to look for smut online then they need to accept that they may occasionally stumble across some awful awful stuff* - that's just a fact of the world today and I don't think something ChildLine has the power or the duty to stop beyond giving advice. What gets me is Rantzen using it to support the opt-in nanny state crackdown. After all fifty calls a year is less than one a week - but THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!
*And becoming interested in nudie pics and looking for smut is a healthy part of growing up in my opinion. Cracking down on relatively safe access from the privacy of the home could well do more harm than good.
I thought ChildLine was supposed to be there for abused children who are in fear for their safety or their lives. Is Esther seriously now saying that part of their time is being taken up by "a big rise in calls from disturbed youngsters who had encountered smut when surfing the web" ? I find it very hard to believe you can "accidentally" find smut on the internet. If you find it then you were already on the shady side of town. I wonder if these calls are simply convincing pranksters like the little gits who dial 999.
Re: I think...
"I'm just amazed at how quickly devs have come up with an answer to the problem we all see for windows 8 desktop users"
Working around Microsoft's decisions/unsupported software is becoming a growing industry. Look at the Office extensions that 'fix' the Ribbon and those chaps who offer a way to run IE6 dependent Legacy stuff in later IE versions.
Posted in Ten Androids for under 100 quid
Re: Vivacity is now £39.99
Bloody Oath that's decent. Anyone know if you can unlock it from T-Mobile with the Rooting kits you get online, or if you need to bung a note to one of those guys down the market?
Re: It's a numbers game
One worries two much; Three shall come forth, after all, they want to own more than a fifth of the spectrum.
Posted in Ten Androids for under 100 quid
Re: T-mobile Vivacity
I wouldn't call it crap, it's obviously one of the better phones in its price range from the review. Apple obviously haven't come knocking because they don't care about people who want to spend £100 or less on a phone. Thumbs up for the review btw, been looking at cheapo smartphones for the parents and I had my eye on the Galaxy Y until I saw the lacklustre praise here.
Re: Impartial Jury.
I think if you stuck 12 El reg readers on the jury you'd have a toss-up, a booze-up or a punch-up. Or possibly a combination of all three...
Re: The cookie law
Fair arguments. My point is that for a number of legitimate websites (I presume neither of us has statistics to hand so we can hopefully agree to disagree on the 'vast majority' bits) the designers have passed the buck to punters rather than have a good long think about whether they could do their website without cookies as default.
I think the spirit of the law was good in the vein of protecting identities online, I just think it's main aim (which I presume to be an internet that does less tracking) has been neatly sidestepped without any real progress. A better solution in my book would have been to get the major browser makers to cooperate on having future browser releases disable cookies by default; that would have prompted better designs in my opinion.
Hella long form...
I wouldn't like to fill that out even if it was only my opinion that decided the answer, I pity the poor sod who has to corral an entire jury into agreement.
The cookie law
Has been defeated de facto. Nice idea in theory but in practice the vast majority of websites have mandated that cookies must be allowed to view them and/or continued usage of the site denotes acceptance of cookies. They are too integral a part of the structure for many legitimate websites, and I don't think anyone would cry out if the law was repealed.
Re: Common sense be damned
If I were to ever be trapped in that loop I'd be thankful that my phone lets me yank the battery. Better to recover from a bad shutdown than let who knows what on board.
Re: Non-FB user question
I don't remember the specifics off by heart but I think the Data Protection Act would trump most of the terms in the contract. At the very least the 'irrevocable' bit would be out the window. If they are using your mush then that's personally identifying information, which (theoretically) has strict controls on usage.
Re: You're slipping, AMFM
Looks like the Ultimate Warrior is off his medication again...
Posted in Ten phones for seniors
Missed the bit in the middle
Okay, we've had android phones at about £200 and feature phones for people who want a reliable regular phone. What happened to the roundup of £100 androids? My mum needs a new phone and while I think she'd get the hang of using a touchscreen when I'm not there to help I don't fancy dropping 200 bar before knowing for certain (and of course she flat out refuses to let me get her a phone at that price.)
Is there a review of the min-spec androids in the works from anyone at el reg?
Meanwhile in America...
a number of generals and admirals all have suddenly raging stiffies for no reason they can fathom...
Re: Who do you believe?
PSN wasn't brought down by a hack, Sony took it offline while they investigated what happened. I look at it as a sign that Sony were serious about fixing the weaknesses despite the growing furore in the media. A weaker company might have bowed to pressure and put access back up before completing their security review.
Hack doubtful.
If there's one company that SHOULD have security tighter than a nun's chuff habit, it's a company that's been embarrassed by their laxity in recent memory like Sony.
Interesting to hear they're now doing Windows to go, though this could come back and bite them in the arse; If it lowers the inconvenience of having a non-Windows OS on your main system when you can kick up a Windows build at will from USB when you really need to then we might see another few (little) dents in their massive market share.
Posted in US appeal dismissed in Dotcom case
Re: "...in his or her ability..."
Kim is an asexual name, if the Judge hasn't been looking at the media circus he or she probably doesn't know Dotcom's sex. Assuming that this is what the Judge has been doing, kudos for properly maintaining impartiality.
Oh FFS...
I don't know or care if he's innocent or guilty, but the waste of public resources is starting to get on my tits at this point. Have security cameras covering the Embassy exits, then withdraw all the police outside and return them to their normal duties. Let him stew in the Embassy grounds and scramble the blue lights if he's caught leaving. Put him on a no-fly list and in the unlikely event the Ecuadorians successfully smuggle him out of the country, punt their ambassadors back home.
Swiftkey lasted a minute...
Before getting kicked off my Tab. Once I'd done the setup, I opened a document to test the keyboard out. After failing to type "testing" 5-6 times in a row (It predicted something like ssstwss - wtf?) and only showing me the prediction instead of what I'd actually typed, the backspace key suddenly decided that it would only delete the last few letters and refused to go any further back despite repeated taps and holding. Avoid.
I think the biggest takeaway from this article is the Revelation from Richard Lloyd above that Adblock Plus is available on Android. Come back Firefox, all is forgiven...
I've worked it out...
"Both satellites were insured, Telkom-3 for 225m rubles ($7.13m, £4.55m) and the Express MD2 for 1.17bn rubles ($37.08m, £23.66m)"
Insurance fraud. It's not like Direct Line can inspect the rockets to make sure the satellites were aboard, is it?
NASA will surely be getting antsy with all the recent hiccups at Roscosmos. I wouldn't be surprised if they throw more money at SpaceX to accelerate the return of US space capability.
"Click this link, type your Steam login details"
"Bollocks, what's my Steam login? I haven't had to type it in six years. Do I even still have that email address?"
Re: 2500 Apps in their app store
I wouldn't want steam to do a Linux version, we don't need any more fragmentation. What they should do is 'anoint' one Linux flavour as the version they will ensure Steam runs on, and assist the community with what they need to get it running on other versions. Then send some of their extra programming resource to iron out the kinks in Linux.
Oh, and Half-Life Effing 3 please.
"ISS this is control, some mail has just come in. Who was in charge of the vehicle last August? They've got a speeding ticket."
What I don't get is...
From what I've gleaned from friends who are forcing themselves to read it (they are aware it's dreadful, but they are ploughing on in the name of science to find out exactly when, where and why it is dreadful so they can't be dismissed for not having read it) the 'fantasy' male basically treats the girl like shit. I also seem to recall from a review - which I can't find the link for atm - that the protagonist is almost sexually assaulted by one of her male friends and this is just glossed over and forgotten later in the novel.
Women are mental.
Re: virgin (but not the producer)?
Off topic, but I think developed societies have grown to the point where we've bypassed 'survival of the fittest.' It's all downhill from here...
Re: The internet is vital.
I love the way you assume I live in the countryside. For the record I live in a city*, I just happen to believe that internet access should be a universal British right for the quality of life it affords. I am arguing that is an essential, please don't compare it to upgrading your "shitty, tiny little garden". As an essential it should be subsidised by all.
However I was specifically NOT arguing for an "economically unviable" broadband network, I was arguing that it should be looked at even if it is commercially unviable. The difference being a company will walk away if there is no way to make meaningful money off the investment. What I would like is for the government to order the network extended to (almost) everyone at a reasonable cost which they write off as money spent improving the country. I am not advocating building fibre to Orkney regardless of the cost; but there needs to be an acceptance that universal access takes priority over profit.
"Like city dwellers you made the choice to live where you do knowing full well the pros and cons"
Again, I live in a nice cosy city flat, but we've covered that; what irks me about this comment is the 'choice to live where you do' bit. Are you seriously suggesting that families should have to choose to leave behind the friends and communities they grew up in if they want proper internet access? And what about children, as you mention? They don't choose where to live, but proper internet access could growing up could change their life.
*incidentally, has it occurred to you that if the countryside had more amenities, then more people might live there and it might have an effect on the overcrowding and high rent in the cities?
The internet is vital.
The fact is internet access is almost a de facto essential utility nowadays. The sheer - well - utility of it leaves those with no or substandard access at a significant disadvantage. If you agree it should be a utility alongside water and power, then it is practically a right of the people and efforts must be made to provide a decent service across the whole of the UK regardless of commercial viability. If you don't agree it's a utility then I challenge you to live without it for a month. I would hazard a guess that some of El Reg's contributors would struggle to maintain a job writing for a website for example.
Where the report does wander into nutter territory is where they suggest killing of TV though.
Don't forget "Participation Medals" so no-one goes home empty handed.
Humbug indeed!
I also seem to recall that good drivers were failing the test by spotting the hazards before the video 'expected' them to do so, and then lost points by clicking on the hazard outside the 'correct' time window.
How do those penalties
Stack up against those for selling booze/fags/porn to underagers? An unlimited fine just smacks of laying the foundations for trouble to me. Judges are fallible people too!
Re: Bloody wonderful, dont idiots ever think first?
"Why dont ID-10-T folks ever think first, all he has done is give governments a reason to regulate 3D printing."
That's what I was thinking: Well done dickhead, now it's going to be almost impossible for the masses to get their own 3D printers. Having said that, the governments of the world were probably planning to come down on these anyway.
Isn't "owning the means of production" a phrase from Communist ideology? Can't see that playing well in the USA.
Re: jury selection delay
Mmmm. Delicious, helpful pedantry. Wish I could upvote again for the Holly Harper reference.
You obviously haven't seen the S3. My pal got one just recently, and comparing side by side with my HTC and another friends iPhone it is significantly thinner and lighter than either. I am well jealous, and I think Apple are too...
Note to the reporter...
I had to go to the PDF to find out where in the world this latest turn of events happened (The US if you're wondering.) Please don't forget this brawl is taking place in jurisdictions all over the globe...
cash in before the wheels come off
At the end of the day, why not? If I were in Zuck's shoes right now I'd be looking for a way to bailout with as much cash as I can hold in my greedy little claws that doesn't involve getting my tits sued off. At least he made a thing and was freely given some money for stakes in the thing he made (assuming the allegations of book-cooking are false.) That's a hell of a lot more accomplishment than a lot of the rich elite, so more power to him if he rides of into the sunset weighed down with bags of gold.
People still take computers in for repairs? I thought we had completely divided into the "able to fix it without help" and the "chuck it in the bin and buy a new one" groups.
Re: Doesn't even make the top 10
Good list. I would rate corruption higher though as that can catalyse almost everything else on the list apart from bad weather.
Re: easy
I am still of the opinion that a service that simplifies (1) enough that the non-IT masses can do it and adds in 2A) Allow your friends who have similar websites to post on your news feed automatically when they post news on their website (with some form of authentication obviously) Will be the next Big Thing. After all, Facebook is basically a collection of blogs under a common interface that simplifies sharing. This interface has been done before, but not as well as FB does it I don't think. Once FB loses it's lead in that area all it has left is the momentum of having a pre-existing userbase, and the cracks are already starting to show there.
