Posts by Anthony Hulse
109 posts • joined Thursday 26th July 2007 20:54 GMT
Takes me back
Back to the Comp Sci lab at uni, running Mosaic off an HP-UX machine from a Mac LC. I seem to recall the Web was just university pages and Star Trek fans sites back then.
Happy days :-)
Avon to Liberator, two to teleport
Do we get to talk into our wrists then?
Great idea
When one of them inevitably flips out and kills the other they can also use this method to store all the dismembered body parts.
Posted in SimCity Classic
Funny how you remember this sort of stuff...
My donuts used to be on a 5 blocks high by 4 across layout. Each donut would be made up of either all industrial or a mix of commercial and residential blocks and have either a police or fire station in the middle surrounded by those little park squares. Three squares distance would separate each donut, with the centre square of the three holding a railway which only touched each block once to connect it. A gap would be left somewhere in the donut to connect the fire or police station. Lots of gardens in the rest of the space if it wasn't forest already, to keep the property prices up.
No roads, which meant no traffic problems and low maintenance costs, allowing the city to grow quickly. Worked really well. The river/coastline bit gave you the space to put your airport, stadium etc. without interrupting the repeating pattern.
Very addictive game that. Once I even stayed up all night playing it, then fell asleep on the bus on the way into town a couple of hours later :-)
Anyone smell a bubble?
The analysts are pumping this stock way beyond its actual value, at which point the traders will dump it in one session. Only a fool would compete in that game. Stay well away.
140? I can reply to the Pope in eight characters
Four letters, a space, and three letters more.
Posted in Populous
Preferred the sequel myself
Tidal waves and volcanoes in that were much cooler, and nothing beat the feeling of giving your opponent masses of trees only to torch the lot (along with half his cities) with one firestorm attack :-)
Re: maps.google.co.uk
iOS Safari even allows you to make a Web app out of that link once you're there. I'm sure that one day Apple Maps will be a decent alternative, but in the meantime it's not that hard to make a Google one.
Re: And what if...
Flow around I suppose. The ship inside the bubble is outside of normal spacetime.
I wouldn't want to be on the asteroid when they test that theory though.
@Turtle: The right verdict
Apple offered Samsung a $30/handset price to license all patents in October 2010. Samsung refused the price, refused a reduced offer of $24/handset which included some patent cross-licensing, then used the ideas covered by the Apple patents anyway. That was presented as evidence in the trial.
Re: I find it very odd that...
As I understand it that patent is related to a part that is manufactured by Intel, and because Intel have licensed the patent from Samsung the jury decided that Apple had already paid to use it by using Intel's parts.
Which probably means Intel will be jacking up the price they charge Apple on the next contract negotiation, and who can blame them eh? :-)
Re: 'tis
If that happens it would be a good thing. Tech companies leapfrogging over each other and making competitors products obsolete is exactly what drives the whole user experience forward. Why copy a market leader when you should be concentrating on bringing out the product that kills the market they dominate?
Re: The right verdict
This was really about the method of working, the interface, and the look and feel, not the actual physical device (although that part has been very convenient for Apple....stupid stupid Samsung for making their case so easy). Samsung completely ripped off the iOS GUI and stuck it as a skin on top of Android, that's why they got targeted and the likes of HTC didn't. Had Samsung developed the same physical handset but the software had looked dramatically different Apple wouldn't have had anywhere near as strong a case.
Looking past Samsung other Android manufacturers will now end up paying Apple license fees, all because Samsung's copying was too damn obvious and a legal precedent has now been set. Including most likely the aforementioned Sony, who won't be particularly happy about Samsung's stupidity.
You can hardly blame Apple if another company effectively gifts them bags of cash by being so blatant.
The right verdict
Android fans might not like it, but Samsung did blatantly copy the iPhone. They ought to have just paid the offered license fee per handset. They happily paid out to Microsoft for their patents, so why not Apple?
As to those that think Motorola's patents should now be used against Apple in retaliation, it would be quite stupid of Google to use Motorola's stuff in any way other than to defend itself. Even the Motorola acquisition doesn't give Google the war chest they would need to start that fight.
Re: 110 employees a store??
I don't think Apple have got to the stage of insisting their retail employees work 24/7.
They save that for the factory workers.
The Dixons Effect
This is what you get when you let a DSG guy run the retail side of things. I give it a year before Apple Stores have stacks of printer boxes piled up at the end of each workbench too, with SALE signs all over the place.
My guess is Steve Jobs is beginning to slowly rotate in his grave...
Transparent
No, Jeremy Hunt, this does NOT mean the Sky bid can now go ahead!!
I've seen this show...
Do you think he'll bring in polar bears and creepy science guys?
Posted in YouView: You're delayed - Sugar
Another nail in the coffin of Homechoice
TalkTalk TV, the rebranded Homechoice service, has been tied to this dying attempt at mass market IPTV for the past two years, whilst the userbase has drifted away thanks to lack of ADSL 2+ support, HD channels, Red Button services and all sorts of other bits and pieces that Sky, Virgin and even BT Vision users have taken for granted for years. The best IPTV service the UK had is now all but dead thanks to YouView, since TalkTalk themselves have closed the service to new users until YouView appears. Now this deadline is passing it's time to just close the doors.
Great planning TalkTalk guys. Seriously. Everyone give yourselves a big pat on the back.
Idiots.
Sigh
BYOD does increase costs to IT, but the idea is these get more than compensated by increased productivity amongst the rest of the departments in the organisation.
I'm not surprised this pronouncement comes from the public sector, where IT departments still see themselves as separate entities to the people they support. 10 years behind the curve....again.
Posted in Amazon Kindle Touch touches down early
Re: Touch easier?
Not everyone is going to use a Kindle the same way. For the way I need to use an ereader touch is a far better interface than the traditional button based approach. As I posted above I like to read in landscape rather than portrait format, meaning the forward/back buttons would be in awkward positions. I also add a lot of notes and bookmarks as I go. So the touch interface does make things easier for how I use it.
If, however, you would rather stick to the traditional way of doing things there's the Kindle 4. Aren't Amazon great for offering everyone an option to suit them? ;-)
**cue moaning from the ePub-only crowd**
Posted in Amazon Kindle Touch touches down early
Re: Amazon Kindle Touch touches down 2 years late
Touch most definitely makes an eReader easier to use, especially when in landscape format. Also a lot quicker to do many functions, such as zooming in on pics, using the Kindle Store, adding notes or moving quickly from book to book. I'm chuffed to bits that I waited until the Touch was available. It's a big improvement over the standard Kindle.
Don't care much about the Fire though. There's only one tablet worth buying at the moment IMO, and it isn't made by Amazon.
Re: Tablet effect?
Oh I don't mean tech-savvy as in fluent in C++. I just mean those that know enough to consider changing their desktop browser from the default option.
Tablet effect?
Let's face it these are desktop market share stats. Could it just be that enough of the more tech savvy types have jumped to surfing on their tablets to create this default-choice IE surge?
Landscape support
Here's hoping that the launch coincides with a firmware update allowing landscape support, as on the Kindle keyboard and Kindle 4. It's the one feature that is obviously lacking from the Touch.
Ah, so this explains
why I can't watch iPlayer HD content without a pause every few seconds. Looking forward to it getting fixed.
17Mbps O2 broadband.
Posted in Ten... IPTV set-top boxes
TalkTalk TV
The old HomeChoice service, which was subsequently purchased by both Tiscali and now TalkTalk, is far superior to most of the current offerings. On top of being a FreeView PVR it includes a whole raft of IPTV delivered subscription broadcast channels, including Sky's One, Two, and Sports channels, all the UKTV stuff, Sci-Fi, MTV etc.. plus VOD films, TV shows and music.
The catch? Although the service is still up and running it's closed to new customers until TalkTalk launch their YouView variant, and has been now for over a year. TalkTalk have the best IPTV system in the UK and they so misunderstand its potential they can't even market it.
Posted in Barclays axes 422 UK IT staff
Bank of evil
Why is anyone surprised? Barclay's is truly hateful, even for a bank.
Posted in Best-selling games of 2011 revealed
Forgot a category
Mac Best Sellers
1. Half-Life
2. Civilization 2
3. Lemmings
4. Pac Man (recently reduced to only £104!!)
5. ........er that's it.
The Mothership has landed
Jobs' last homage to the old school Mac users maybe, who used to refer to the company as The Mothership. Personally I wonder if music plays if you tilt it to the south.
Aging myself...
Wasn't that the house that Katherine Wentworth killed Bobby Ewing in front of?
Posted in Apple shouldn't bother with TV...
Well...
...if they come out with something that supports BBC iPlayer right across the range they're already ahead of bloody Panasonic.
Take it as a compliment
When Ballmer starts slagging off your products Microsoft are running scared of them.
It's a shame really. Gates's Microsoft would have at least been able to compete in the phone market. Ballmer's Microsoft hasn't got a chance. Too unfocussed and inconsistent.
Posted in iPhone 5: Apple 4S, pundits 0
Those of us who read (or write) tech blogs are a lot more immersed in this world than the general public, who generally don't care about specs as long as the thing works. Apple will advertise this on telly, it will sell by the bucketload, and the sky will steadfastly refuse to fall.
Worth an upgrade?
From my 3GS yes, but if I had a 4 I'd probably not bother. Still, my contract term is up and it's all tax deductible so why not eh?
I take it we get it in the 14th October batch of countries?
Ballmer
I really cannot understand how this man is still in his job. How far towards obscurity does Microsoft have to fall before the board wake up?
I'd rather he stopped shouting about stuff that doesn't concern him...
...and instead fixed his poor excuse for a railway. South West Trains are an absolute joke. Maybe a site telling the world what a terrible company Stagecoach are would be a better top Google result.
Yet another reason....
...why I'm glad I contract directly with the clients rather than through an agency. Twunts!
The return of the Stylus!!!
Finally a use for the old Palm one I still have stuck in a drawer.
Posted in RUPERT MURDOCH HIT BY PIE
Staged?
This and Rebekah Brooks helping up a fallen photographer (on camera) are rather convenient events aren't they?
These "brand" names say to me...
Fake Sanyo and Fake Minolta. Chinese knock off shop tactics. IMO they're worth One Zimbabwean Dollar each and not a penny more.
Get rid.
IR35 has been a complete waste of time and resources. When HMRC compliance inspectors have to keep retrospectively changing the goalposts to try and catch people out in order to justify doing the investigations in the first place it's obviously not a workable guideline. I wonder how much money all these worthless audits have cost the taxpayer over the years compared to how much IR35 has actually raked in.
Honestly, I know this is HMRC and HM Government we're talking about, but is a bit of common sense and clarity a bit too much to ask for?
Posted in Enough with the Apple App Store apathy
iOS App Store ≠ Mac App Store
Whilst Apple do have lock in on the iOS side there is no such problem on the Mac. If an app isn't approved on the Mac App Store the user who wants to purchase it simply buys it elsewhere and installs it.
Some commentators seem to have this idea that the Mac App Store has somehow limited Mac users ability to buy software in the ways they previously did. Just to clarify, that idea is wrong. You can still buy and install boxed copies, you can still download and install software from other sites including Sourceforge. If I really want Sony eReader for Mac (if that even exists) I will go to sony.com and get it.
So does this win a Non-Issue award? What would Paris say?
How middle class?
Daniel and Victoria from Hampstead were building up their son Oliver's word bank? Something tells me they read the Guardian and listen to Radio 4.
What this shows us primarily is...
...we're all far too dependent on US based companies for financial transactions over the Net. Maybe it's time for a European or even Swiss based alternative to start promoting itself.
This sort of thing......
....is why I hate Twitter.
Man, why so much hate towards it?
Whether or not the Bondi iMac jump started anything it's still a significant piece of computing history. I had a Performa at the time and it was slow as, yet waited until '99 when the iMac came with a DVD-ROM before jumping in (a green one, to match the curtains :-) ). There is no denying that this machine completely changed the landscape, even if you are more concerned with hating it because it's Apple rather than being objective.
Glad I got the DV model though. Even taking it to bits to upgrade the hard disk was easy compared to what those pictures show. Ouch.
Posted in iPads improve image of IT industry
LOL. Michael Dell?
Seriously? Does anybody even know what he looks like?
Project or Visio for Mac? No need.
Since the EU very kindly forced Microsoft to publish the file format details the compatibility of Omnigroup's Mac-only alternatives to Visio and Project has massively improved. OmniGraffle Pro is a much better Visio than Visio itself, and OmniPlan's logical GUI consistency makes the MS Project interface look like the piss-poor thrown-together mess it actually is.
