* Posts by Tom Simnett

78 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Jul 2007

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Samsung's projector phone beamed up to Blighty

Tom Simnett

ICS?

Why, if it's being released in the summer, can't it come with ICS?

Google answers less than half of watchdog's privacy tweak questions

Tom Simnett
Facepalm

Surely...

... his job is precisely to provide advise to any legal entity for whom data protection in that jurisdiction is potentially a concern. Any DPA is there to ensure the rules are followed and to ensure the rules are fair to the end user. If a company or individual has queries or wants to make sure they're not going to be wasting their energy (money, time) on something that definitely won't get ratified, this is precisely what I'd expect a data protection chief to be helping with.

The Facebook job test: Now interviewers want your logins

Tom Simnett

Re: Unemployable

They don't actually. They can't even see your FB ID unless you allow access to a specific app they've built.

Tom Simnett
Mushroom

Facebook Terms

3. Safety (5) You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else.

Smartphone owners demand bigger screens

Tom Simnett

Re: Galaxy Note

I agree. I have an Evo 3D, and it's just about as big as I'd want a phone to be. Bigger, and I can't reach all parts of the screen without having to occupy both my both hands - useful when clutching my lunch in the other.

Virgin Media snags London Underground Wi-Fi monopoly

Tom Simnett
Unhappy

Paris...

Why can't they implement mobile networks like they do on the Paris Metro system. I had full phone and 3G access wherever I was at whatever level underground when I went. Trains, tunnels, stations, platforms... the lot.

This just feels like a bit of palm-crossing.

Becks offloads Posh Porsche on eBay

Tom Simnett
Coat

What happens after 9/11?

"balance of factory warranty till 9/11"

We spent how much?

Tom Simnett
Thumb Up

Farcical

A good article. A good project manager is hard to come by. We build web apps, and find that no one is particularly forthcoming with issues about their part in the build process. For instance, a third party feed we might be implementing won't tell us about the pitfalls in their platform (we had one that transcoded video, but whilst it did this, the response to a request for some XML returned a 500 server error). You have to be aware that these problems might well arise when using other systems, internal or not, and you have to account for the likelihood that they will appear. Being proactive always helps - you get the detail you need sooner. There is of course just poor judgement in terms of time to complete a particular part of the work even in isolation to deal with. Find a good PM, and you're halfway there. There is no reason at all why these projects should fail (late delivery in my eyes is failure), other than bad management.

Google shuts down GOOG-411 voice data honeypot

Tom Simnett
Stop

Hmmmm

I call bullshit

HTC posts Android 2.1 update for Hero phone

Tom Simnett
Stop

3UK users still waiting too

I've been waiting for the first part OTA and not had that yet. What gives?

Oz firm seeks talented IT developer

Tom Simnett
FAIL

Yes... lowered the bar

"Applicants must be prepared to undergo a pre-employment" ... what?!

Tax department targets IT downtime

Tom Simnett
Stop

Can they start by...

... making their websites available 24/7 instead of closing them when the last person leaves the office?

Sony Ericsson confirms Android Xperia

Tom Simnett
Thumb Up

I LOVE this phone.

One of the first good looking Android phones that hits the spec mark too!

Facebook enables apps to peek at mail

Tom Simnett
Thumb Up

While this can be seen...

...as a blatant disregard for privacy, there is an upshot too:

You'd now be able to have a facebook connector in Thunderbird/Apple Mail/etc that lets you read, reply to and create messages within the realm of your usual email client.

That's actually quite a nice thought. The other nice thing is that at least it's an opt-in per application.

Bug exposes eight years of Linux kernel

Tom Simnett
FAIL

Re: How easy to roll out, though @AC

And you're not using cfengine or puppet or another server management platform? More fool you then.

You need to build *one* kernel for each OS and arch combination, then roll that out using puppet or cfengine. You can even plan reboots and make sure it doesn't bring anything crashing down.

Shame on you for managing your server farm poorly!

Tesla speeds to $1m profit

Tom Simnett
FAIL

Stuff

@MacRat: No, it's a low interest loan. That $1m is gross profit, or direct profit on sales.

On another note, is it just me or does $20m over 109 work out to an average of $183k per car? At £100,000 per car, Xe.com suggests that works out to about $167k per car. So where does the extra $16k come from?

Nissan unveils high-tech e-car prototype

Tom Simnett

@JeeBee

Hopefully Mr Brown will be long gone from a position where he can make such decisions by the time this hits.

Apple iPhone 3GS

Tom Simnett
Stop

Shurely time for the ASA to get involved?

I mean really... O2 have gone too far this time with their concept of "unlimited". Why can't they just say you have X00 MB per month and if you want more than that, then pay an additional fee and get XGB. Likewise to all those rogue ISPs out there.

I wouldn't mind so much, but if it says "unlimited" on the box, I don't expect it to be an outright lie when I open it. Isn't that what the ASA is supposed to protect us from?

The STOP sign, because this madness has GOT to end!

iPhone surfs to mobile web domination

Tom Simnett

This doesn't say very much

Any idea as to browser usage? Given that Opera is cross-platform, except the iPhone, it would be interesting to see if non-stock browsers are being used, or if people are downloading other ones to use. Clearly this fails with the iPhone lock-down, but it'd be useful to see...

Ryanair trades blows with 'idiot blogger'

Tom Simnett
Coat

@Ryan

Ryan Air air hostesses don't have frills? I'm disappointed :(

Shuttleworth gets cloudy with Ubuntu 9.10

Tom Simnett

@Robert Long

If you want that, buy a Dell with Ubuntu pre-installed, with the DVD codecs already set up and running. Simple really.

Tom Simnett
Stop

Re: Wow...

And it's not silly that Microsoft are calling their next version of Windows "7", when in fact it's 6.1... Nothing silly about that at all!

Windows goes Mobile 6.5

Tom Simnett
Unhappy

BSOD included?

Oh, and which version of Windows? I don't want no Vista on my 'phone!

Samsung's Omnia touchphone goes HD

Tom Simnett
Thumb Down

@AC "That"

Not necessarily. Windows Mobile can be effectively hidden, especially for promo shots like this one. Even in reality you can bypass using the Windows UI for most things. I somehow doubt they've gone for a different OS here. Shame, but there you go.

GM Volt to get regular software-style updates

Tom Simnett
Stop

Updates, not software updates

To me, you're all missing the point. They're saying that over the period of time in which they manufacture the car, there will me small updates that improve performance, handling, battery longevity etc. These are *not* software updates, but akin to them. Heads on chaps and chapettes. I know it's Friday, but still!

Mozilla comes out in support of Brussels IE on Windows findings

Tom Simnett

I don't disagree

but shouldn't someone be saying the same of Apple? Or are they the darlings of the EU because they couldn't possibly do anything wrong.

Wrong kind of winter brings England to a halt

Tom Simnett
Black Helicopters

It's the Russians

Has no one considered that this "snow" is coming from Russia? The Kremlin have clearly realised that traditional methods of terrorism and killing the banking system have had little or no effect on the economy, and the only way to destroy it is to create a large snow cannon from which they can fire snow at various countries...

Black helicopter...well because it's obvious!

LG X110 netbook

Tom Simnett
Thumb Down

Re: Windows XP?

You might find a little thing called bribery involved here.

Microsoft: "Can you install WinXP on these here netbooks?"

Manufacturer: "Of course, but we have to pay for Windows licences and then the product becomes more expensive. Linux is free..."

Microsoft: "What if we give you WinXP?"

Manufacturer: "We still have to put better hardware in which makes it more expensive"

Microsoft: "What if we discount your licences on your other products more than we already do to make it cheaper?"

Manufacturer: "That might work..."

Gov stumps £4.3m bee health funding

Tom Simnett
Flame

Isn't this...

...more than they spend on Human health? 'Nuff said.

G1 app stops drivers from texting

Tom Simnett
Coat

Perfect for Britain!

You should know by now that the average speed in the UK is about 7mph, and that trains don't run, and that buses are slow. Therefore, the app is useful only if you're outside of the UK....

Mine's the one with a tube map in the pocket. Because that's a surefire way of stopping you using your phone for anything.

Vodafone next-gen 3G trial hits 16Mb/s

Tom Simnett
Unhappy

Can we have copper that does this first please?

And in the real world too, not just theoretical, VM!

Sun revs VirtualBox desktop virtualization

Tom Simnett
Thumb Up

VirtualBox is fast

I use VirtualBox. It's blisteringly quick when compared with any of the competitive products.

I can run it under Linux, and it's faster than VMWare, I can run it under OS X and it's tons faster than both Parallels and VMWare Fusion, and under Windows, it just works too. Both Linux and Windows guests here.

Thumbs up from me on xVM VirtualBox - it's a definite fighting contender for the marketplace, and a worthy one at that.

Brazilian hackers blamed for aiding Amazon deforestation

Tom Simnett
Thumb Up

Nice to know...

they're using the "correct" system of measurements, as defined by El Reg!

Brits not turned on by mobile internet

Tom Simnett

Who would though...

The mobile web has been available on most handsets for years now. It's still rubbish on them. 3/4 of people don't have nice fancy phones with big screens that make browsing the web make sense. That'll probably be why... along with the fact that latency over the mobile networks is painful!

Mandy preps list of UK businesses to save

Tom Simnett
Stop

The new Doctor Beeching, methinks...

'Nuff said

Adobe pinballs 64-bit Flash Player 10 alpha into Linux orbit

Tom Simnett

Full screen and wmode transparent

These both work in the 32bit version of Flash for Linux. I've been using it since it came out and rather happy about these! Just the codecs to go, and we're all done on 32bit! :)

OpenOffice 3.0 - the only option for masochistic Linux users

Tom Simnett
Thumb Down

You've clearly not heard of the PPAs

There are Ubuntu packages, with the Gnome save dialog etc etc at:

https://launchpad.net/~openoffice-pkgs/+archive

Maybe some investigative journalism might be in order...

London consumers trounce corporates in wireless security

Tom Simnett
Stop

Hardly news...

Most ISPs in the UK now provide wireless routers pre-configured with a key. BT's are all WEP, and i'd imagine many of the other big ones are similar.

High-speed train toilet attempts to eat Frenchman

Tom Simnett
Coat

Re mephistophelean motors

At least in that article, we were fore-armed. Not so in this case, clearly!

IGMC.

NASA projects IBEX heavenwards

Tom Simnett
Linux

Shuttleworth was right...

It really is an Intrepid IBEX. And there's the Linux link.

Belts tightened in push email

Tom Simnett

RE: Push Email?

Dave, Cyrus doesn't use PUSH. It operates using the standard IDLE extension that means the connection stays open and a notification is sent back when there is new stuff to do. The client then goes and does a full fetch (folders, email, flags, the lot).

By contrast, RIMs system precisely pushes the email to the client. There are, IIRC, advancements in development to IDLE to enable additional information to be sent back regarding what precisely needs to be fetched when there are changes. This would behave much more like RIMs PUSH system, but still isn't the same thing.

BT's 21st Century network, er... isn't

Tom Simnett
Stop

Re: Simon Hobson & @Tom Chiverton

NAPT as the specification is called was designed to overcome the 32bit limit in IPv4. It's a hack. Simple as. Just like Simon Hobson says.

Fossett aircraft contains 'minimal' human remains

Tom Simnett
Coat

Strikes me that....

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html could explain some of it...

WebKit passes third Acid test

Tom Simnett
Stop

Mozilla/Microsoft

There is a difference however, in saying "It isn't our goal to comply" and "We don't want to rush fixes in and risk breaking other things. We'll do it later"... Which is which, do you think?

First Merc hybrid first to use laptop battery tech

Tom Simnett
Flame

No need for fuel air bombs in Mercs any more...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6252276.stm if anyone remembers it...

Ubuntu lovers slap Canonical over Firefox EULA

Tom Simnett
Stop

Ice-weasel...really?

Come on guys, Ubuntu want to be seen as a popular distro with popular packages. People know about Firefox. Most users don't have a clue (bearing in mind they often don't come from a Debian background) about a browser named Ice-weasel.

I'd imagine this is what is stopping Shuttleworth and co from just using the Debian stock package here.

Think before spewing your guts everywhere please. There are always two sides to the argument.

Logitech V550 Nano wireless laptop mouse

Tom Simnett
Unhappy

@ Christian Berger

You mean a little bit like the Acorn Stork prototype of 1996?

http://acorn.chriswhy.co.uk/Computers/Stork.html

Sad face, because there was only one innovative computer company and they're gone now.

Judge slaps Fasthosts for rubbish kit and support

Tom Simnett
Boffin

@Darren Poulson

Err, yes they do. Try going through the order process and choosing the operating system on even the pre-selected Dedi.

Apple, O2 to release PAYG iPhones this month

Tom Simnett
Jobs Horns

OK, now it's getting a little ridiculous...

"Unlimited Wi-Fi is included for the first 12 months after activation too."

So you lose Wi-Fi after 12 months?!

'Malvertizement' epidemic visits house of Newsweek.com

Tom Simnett
Thumb Down

@ Jodo Kast

Interesting solution, but your final comment - "Where did they find their web developers?" - doesn't really fit here. It's not usually down to the web developers to decide on a network strategy, and it looks like NewsWeek have decided to use separate servers, or clusters of servers, (not in themselves accessed via a proxy) to deliver images/css/content.

Talk to the network guys if you've got issues with this. Not the web developers.

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