Sure. I personally find Android's mix of Apps and Widgets, combined with customisations from manufacturers, means I need to spend a good 15 minutes customising Android handsets so the interface is to my liking. And my liking is for a very consistent and clean experience.

That's NOT me saying everything should behave like iOS. Rather it's a statement that I feel Android is a little untidy and inconsistent.

Dear Mangrove,

I chose to discount overseas students in order to test Dalton's assertions under the most favorable possible circumstances (for Dalton).

But I agree - anecdotally plenty of overseas students stay on, or return.

On the matter of "there are X students, that proves our teaching is awesome", I wasn't saying our teaching is awesome. But it is good enough to attract 18,000 people to spend at least a year here and pay tuition of a few tens thousands a year. If we assume 18,000 students each pay $20k a year, IT education is a $360m a year industry. Which is a rather nice sum.

S.

Re: Why are you so sure that they are scheming?

Andy, I wasn't trying to suggest that Microsoft is being evil or devious or even merely naughty.

It just seemed odd to me that with free desktop virtualisation software out there for the taking, it's chosen a paid package for this promotion. Sure it makes a better incentive. But it also means Microsoft doesn't nourish any serious competitor, given Parallels is such a small outfit in the virtualisation world and hardly a threat to anything Microsoft does.

Simon

Re: "concentrate on building great products that really help in their lives"

You're commenting what I'm thinking - I use reader every day. I always wondered why reader had no ads. Would they kill it if it did?

Re: obviously the negative associations

I wish a Google search had been possible: Hansard's search is very comprehensive and goes back a very, very, long way, but is one of those finicky EDM-driven searches that frustrates and delivers in equal measure.

Re: It's not that crazy you know...

One of the entrepreneurs behind those shocks popped up a few years later as a "oooh look, social media can help you sell stuff" motivational speaker. In a past journalistic life in small business I found this quite amusing.

Don't forget US sales tax adds around seven per cent when calculating that comparison price!

Actually it's pretty good by the standards of most press releases. It is short, contains little fluff, no major errors (one I received today said 'mother's are worried about' something or other) and at least raised a smile.That puts it well ahead of most we receive at Vulture South.

Re: This is news?

Hi Willie, no PR involvement in this one mate. I met a VCDX at a function, investigated and here are the results. VMware PR helped with some data, but this story was NOT pitched to me by VMware.

We called it Scrotus Pokes, to invoke the pain of using it.

Re: Maybe I missed it

Veronika didn't work on Sherlock, but the same game engine was used.

Re: Routers and routers....(was Silly Con Valley reporting in ...)

here in Australia, "root" means the same but is a little ruder than ,"shag" is in the UK. So "rooters" is out and "rowters" are in.

Re: The Interface Formerly Known As Metro

Studley, you do indeed seem to have coined TIFKAM 9 days before I used it in this yarn http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/23/classic_shell_gives_windows_8_a_start_button/

You'll have to take my word on this, but this was a Newton/Leibniz simultaneous co-invention-without-prior-Knowledge thing, but I am happy to cede the honours.

Re: there's a serious danger here though

Don't laugh.

I recently bought an e-book here in Australia. It's sequel is not sold as an e-book in Australia. The third in the series is.

I bought the second in the USA, ON A PLANE using free Wifi access to Amazon.

So yes, it seems some perfectly normal files aren't suitable for Australian use, thanks to the moronic nature of territorial copyright.

It's even worse in NZ, I understand, as it is such a small market publishers can't be arsed prepping stuff to e-publish there.

Alex,

we got the post-launch launch video up as soon as we could find and process it. FWIW the NASA embed code didn't play nicely with our CMS, so the few minutes it took to get it into YouTube (NASA offered a download link) added to the amount of time required to get you the best possible content after the launch.

Re: "The antipodean nation has also recently tabled data retention proposals..."

I'm in Australia (and from here) and down here "tabled" means "to put on the table" aka to propose.

Re: Eh?

Speaking as that random guy, you're right: Cambridge folk know more about this than I. Not sure why that is relevant, or how I am random.

Re: hmm

Bad Taste is indeed magnificent. I liked the brains best. The sheep was pretty funny.

His next project, IIRC, was a Muppets parody called "Meet the Feebles." The student 'paper I worked on at the time interviewed him and asked if he would like to work with puppets again. His answer was yes he would, but puppets have said they won't work HIM again.

Here all week ....

Well played, Sir.

Re: Five or six?

Martin,

sloppy writing by me - I hoped the illustration would explain it.

There are five horizontally-mounted cameras in the pentagonal thing on top of the stalk, plus one more at the top.

I should have explained it better.

Note to self: do better.

S.

Re: RTFM

Thanks for pointing out my error, MadMalc. It was an editing mistake. I've made the changes to the text.

And FWIW IBM says density was 100 bits per linear inch http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_1415bx26.html. A 1200 foot tape therefore had 1,440,000 bits, or about 175k by my reckoning.

I find it easier to file stephenson under sci fi. Feel free to offer an alternative characterisation

I'm reading The children of the sky ATM. It is very fine.

Re: a fart by any other name ..

Just this once I tried to be classy.

I shan't make that mistake again ;-)

Re: How quaint

Well played, Sir. Well played.