Posts by Andrew Cawte
10 posts • joined Friday 22nd June 2007 15:44 GMT
Quick! Trademark every possible pair of words...
"The Fact That Mainstream Dictionaries Do Not Have a Definition for the Term APP STORE Supports a Finding that the Term is Not Generic."
I don't think they have a definition for "fish market" either. Or "sh*t sandwich".
Posted in Best Buy trumpets UK store openings
The price isn't the problem...
Never mind a price war, how about a customer service war?
Posted in UK punters scowl at webmail ad targeting
Oh goody
If they scan the contents of my inbox, they'll end up thinking I'm absolutely fascinated by penis pills and counterfeit watches - and presumably try and sell me more of the same. What a shame that this technology can't be used to ensure I see _less_ advertising :(
Posted in Scareware package planted in ITV.com ads
How come...?
OK, dumb question time...
Given that all an advert needs to be is a static image, or maybe an animated one, how or why is there any code at all, of any kind, associated with it?
Seems to me that, in a desire to see who can out-annoy who, otherwise legitimate ad serving organisations have opened a can of worms that simply didn't need opening. Given how easy it is to just install ad blocking software, I'd have thought webmasters would be falling over themselves to see who could produce the _least_ intrusive ads, in the hope that people wouldn't just switch them off altogether.
Amateurs...
If they were at all serious about it, the rules would state that:
- at least three of the cables would have an end attached to a fixed point at floor level
- one of them (attached at both ends, of course) is deemed to be carrying critical data, and must not be disconnected. Breaking this connection results in disqualification.
- the entire competition takes place with competitors on the floor under a desk
No surprise at all, really
I was in PC World looking for a laptop a few weeks ago.
For starters, every single one comes with Vista. So if you don't want Vista, that's too bad - you have to buy elsewhere.
Worse, though, is that half the machines were running a password-protected video (advertising Blu-ray or something), so you can't even see the desktop. So, you can't even type something into Notepad to see if the keyboard feels comfortable, or access Device Manager to see what hardware you're actually getting. How I'm supposed to compare and contrast different models to actually choose one is anyone's guess. (And no, I'm not going to spend hundreds of pounds based on advice from PC World staff).
So instead, I left, spent a while with a glass of wine and Google, and ordered one online. It arrived the next day, pre-installed with XP, and I know the hardware is compatible with Ubuntu.
I'll admit to buying the odd hard drive or network card from them, using the collect-in-store feature of their web site, but how they stay in business at all is a mystery to me.
At risk of stating the obvious
I'd happily buy music on USB provided:
- it's encoded using a lossless, portable, non-proprietary format (read .WAV or .FLAC), and
- price is no higher than CD, and
- *NO DRM*
Right now I'm guessing the labels will manage to score 0 / 3...
If they really cared...
...they'd abolish the tax disc entirely, saving all that paper, electricity and expense.
It used to show policemen and traffic wardens that the car had, at some point in the last year, insurance and an MOT. Now both of those are held on an electronic database to which the police (presumably) have access, so that function is completely redundant.
As far as raising revenue and encouraging fuel economy goes, we have fuel tax already - which is actually both fair and easily administered. But, of course, the anti-4x4 lot don't like a scheme that's actually fair... :(
Not just yesterday's tech... but....
I had one of these almost a year ago and, for the serious photographer, it's a great product. But what on earth has taken this long to get a review out?
OpenOffice...
...sounds like the obvious answer to this one. If what's needed is access to word processing and other tools, who ever said they need to be Microsoft tools?
I can understand businesses being reluctant to roll out OpenOffice across their organisations, but charities using old PCs sound like ideal candidates to me.
