Posts by Saucerhead Tharpe
157 posts • joined Friday 10th August 2007 15:11 GMT
Much better is "Lo Pan Style"!
Based on "Big trouble in Little China" it even tells the story of the film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xiAbDkXDgg
Re the usual two snarky comments
Firstly "Leaves on the line"
This is not an indication of the rail company being surprised by Autumn, but that there are cutbacks on track side maintenance. They used to clear overhanging trees, that was deemed to expensive, so they are not.
Expected results, leaves fall, tracks get slippy. Better answer, cut back trees, no leaves
Secondly "wrong kind of snow"
Not a surprise at winter. SNow in the UK is usually formed of big, wet flakes. That year it was artic snow, very fine and powdery. It got in the points, jamming them and shorted electrics too. Snowploughs not as effective.
Now you may be none the wiser, but you are better informed
Thanks Ratfox!
I had looked for it and missed it. Old age and crap vision getting to me!
Nothing about Apple losing their suit against Motorola with prejudice?
I would have thought El Reg would have been all over this, another case where Apple has shown contempt for the legal process
Posted in Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review
Damn me for buying too early
I have a Note which I love. The size is, as said, good for making calls.
The handwriting recognition is weird. It works, but seems to interpret cursive better than plain script.
Snazzy as it isl I don't see myself upgrading unless a rich uncle I never knew about suddenly popped his clogs, but this is a desirable thing.
separate keyboards
I have an iPad and am on my third google phone, this time a Samsung Note
I have done a lot of serious work on the iPad, but being used to keys with a lot of travel, my initial work featured me hammering the screen until my hands got sore, so adopt a lighter touch. All in all though, I got a bluetootch keyboard and am retirning the iPad as a writing devicce for a second hand Acet 3690 that I just bought a replacement battery for.
Google keyboards are no worse than the Apple one, some incarnations are better. I wish I could use the IAWriter keyboard with the rest fo the Apple apps, but no dice. It's typing on screeen that bothers me about tablets, which is why I was waiting fo rthe ASus Transform and Slider. I wish I had been a bit more patient
Re: If he can make swordplay realistic..
He had a kick starter about it with either a test rig or a mockup and yes, he means it, though it seems to be single sword rather than, say, sword and main-gauche or sword and shield
In LEnsman a "computor" is a person, not a thing
It's someone trained to do numbers really fast. The Display tanks are the results of caculations by mortals, not displays for devices
Pissed off with this riip of device
Not only does it not come with retina display monitor, power supply, keyboard, mouse or storage device
But when I tried to load in Uncharted 3 there was nowhere for the DVD to fit in
Neither can I play my F-Zero SNES Cart
Disgraceful. They have £30 or so of my heard earned pounds for this !
Disgraceful
Re: "surface" has been out for months ffs....
Get a series 7 slate?
OK, I'll do thet.
Dum de dum de dum, £1,300
No. Maybe I won't
Posted in Ten... Freeview HD 42-47in TVs
I've avoid the Philips
We have a three year old Philips 37PFL.
Last weekend the power button went inside the casing
A phone call to Philips revealed that they had no interest in fixing it and, even if they did, they'd charge £120 for an uplift
having nothing to lose, we took the back off. the offending bit is a flimsy, springy plastic fork that retains the switch, causes it to bend and trigger a microswitch. It is not fit for purpose and I have to assume they think you will keep it on standby when not in use. Googling proved it to be a known design flaw
We switch the thing on, restraining the switch and put a through power switch on the power cord. That was £3
Lesson learned, don't buy Philips
Posted in Ukraine file-sharing site disappears
Register still using same epithet for copyright infringers as Linux users
Never mind the ethics of using any derogatory comment based on the word "retard" as applied to a person
Ah fuck it
If The Reg had a subscription I'd be cancelling mine
@anon coward re Win 7 and IE 9
And back when security was a joke, Microsoft's position was "We're the only game in town, tough".
It was only the rise of competition that led to them improving IE and Windows (via a blip on Vista, which did get a little better after the SP)
@Dave's Jubblies - What planet are you on?
"If YOU choose to buy a laptop from a shop, first off, you DO have a choice, usually Windows or OSX. At least with Windows you get a far greater choice of config."
USUALLY? OSX or Windows?
That word usually
Kind of implies a fairly large selection of "other"
But that's not true is it?
When there was another OS, back in the early days of netbooks, Microsoft moved heaven and earth to kill the CHEAP part of that market, and managed to undercut "free"
People speculated you were a Bell Pottinger style shill before, I think this works as an element of proof, that you would make such a patently ridiculous and untrue statement, suggestign that the market is free and level
It's a tax
I want a new laptop, it's probably going to have Debian on it, or perhaps Arch, but not windows.
I go to a shop, I ask for the laptop, it comes with Windows, which is factored into the price. I cannot have the machine without Windows, so I am forced to pay the price.
It is a tax, and one of the reasons that I, who remember DOS 3.3 with fond memories, which is way too much drink will do to you, won't touch the WinPhone.
I don't like the way MicroSoft do business. The behaviour destroying a Standards body to try and thwarf ODF was vile, and that's only ONE of their practices over the years
I don't buy from Murdoch, why would I buy from MicroSoft?
Surely the answer is starng us in the face?
Buy Russian kit
which seems a damn sight more cost effective for our needs than the Yank kit Mr Page is usually a fan of
Might even be able to buy an Carrier off them, or the Ukranians
Yes I've seen the Hidden Fortress.
It was OK
I once had to show Harlan Ellison around Glasgow
He seemed amazed by a simple act of human kindness, like an optician (and a pricey high level one at the time) fixing his glasses, giving him spare screws and not charging him a penny
His mate Norman Spinrad was slightly nicer, if more easily confused
Not a movie, a mini-series but .....
"Tutti-Frutti" by John Byrne, about a bunch of almost were's joining up with the younger brother of their former lead singer for a come-back tour of scotland
Funny and Sad and with some music here and there
When you do your mini-series version, this should be in there
Maybe I missed what I was being told
But I got the feelign that the end of the last series had the Doc (i.e. Steven Moffat) promising a return to low key adventures rather than giant Galaxy condensing musical number arcs
If so I look forward to it
Though I liked Alex Kingston. Once again I could fancy a woman in Dr Who and not think "She's young enough to be my daughter"
Problem with Rose's mum (Camille Coduri) was remembering her as the Cute Young Thing in Nuns on the Run
Sorry, where were we?
Posted in Lemmings
I was just about to get rid of my A500 and A1200
But,I feel the need to play Lemmings now. If I do that, then I feel the throwing out may never happen!
And Goldeneye was the name of Fleming's house, and a duck
I wonder if this Skyfall is in ay way vaguely related to the Harry Harrison power satellite story of years ago
Any apologies from Ian Johnston?
Way to go Hugh
Posted in Star Control
Amiga version for me
My wife and I played many a game on the Miggy
I cabn't believe how long it took for me to cotton on to her "lure the Dreadnaught onto the planet with the Shofixti" strategy
Gods I'm dumb sometimes
Having played a commercial version of SpaceWar in a Motorway servvice station as my first ever video game sometime in the mid to late 70s, I prefer the original melee game to the strategic ones, and what fun they are
Posted in Ten... budget Android tablets
Linux tablets and Archos
Firstly my wife's Archos 70 with Android 2.2, google apps and 250 gig hard drive works not too bad as a media machine, with web and email thrown in
Even plays Angry Birds
I looked long and weary for a Linux tablet last year and early this tear. Coarse I came was either vapourware or an Italian Ekoore tablet PC
I think there s a view sonic tablet that does Windows 7 from Maplins, you could maybe install Linux onto that. Maybe
@Graham Bartlett - The Eagles
The Hobbit is a different beast lightly revived to fit LoTR
LoTR could do with a bit of revision according to the Silmarillion, but that is by the by
The Eagles have other reaons for not directly interfering,
1) None of the Wise thougth of that or, if they did, they envisaged it as being a bit obvious
2) The Range of the Eagles is limited. They live in the Mistly mountains and turn up at thwe battle of the Five Armies, the top of Durin's Stair and from their to Rohan
The journey to Mordor is longer and might well be a multi-day or one way journey, requiring a rest, thus making an aerial trip unfeasible
3) The Eagles were already doing other things, seeking information for Gandalf as requested, and they could not contact them
4) They were all on their holidays and had the mobile phone switched off
Some of you are missing the point
Firstly the end of RoTK. One of Tolkien's points is that stories never end, at least not cleanly, people drop in and out of them. One of his other points is that experiences change people, possibly a view he got on the Western Front and the aftermath. Frodo may have succeeded, but there was no 'home fit for heroes' for him, he probably felt a failure and his injuries stopped him having a peaceful life.
The ending WAS cut down (no Scouring of the Shire) but it is essential to the story that Frodo gets some kind of resolution, there is no 'Happy ever after' for him.
As to the Eagles, as emissaries of Manwë ( effectively an Angelic Spirt) such an act would have been counter to a 'non-interference' policy. What the eagles did was close enough
Posted in Nokia X7 Symbian Anna smartphone
Never mind the OS
the phone design has a certain 70s chic about it.
Wouldn't buy it, especially with my Android fanboi Elop hating to do in my spare time
But if you have a dodgy old Italian supercare from the Seventies then this looks like the phone to match it, if only it came in a weird lime green or bright yellow
Umm Yes I do
"You don't buy a PC and then 1 year later when a new OS comes out expect it to be perfectly up to scratch."
Why wouldn't I?
Posted in Dam Busters dog dubbed 'Digger'
Merrill's Marauder's was Jeff CHandler
It was Objective Burma that has Tasmanian Errol Flynn in it.
It was banned from the UK until 52 for being American in a Commonwealth conflict, but the story is really a "Roger's Rangers" story from the French and Indian War, transposed to Burma
Card Games?
Did you do no research?
SJG was at the time, an RPG Company. Illuminati was more of a boardless board game
I despair of the lack of geekiness on an article about SJG and IO.com
And to be ignorant of the SJG vs the FBI to such a degree, in a tech journalist who used io.com
mindboggling!
Posted in HTC Flyer 7in Android tablet
Looked at it, have had 2 HTC Droid phones
But nah, I can't even watch Return of the Kings on it before the battery dies.
At £300 I'd maybe have lived with that and Gingerbread, but not for the money
Solar powered, would a rotor ship not be a better idea?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_ship
Use the solar to power the rotor motor, let wind do the rest
Another difference between iOS and Android
1) Tetherable Android phones don't seem to cost extra, iPhone can tether now, but it costs
2) Some iOS apps seem to exist to cover function of websites that Mr Jobs doesn't want people using, whereas on Android you can just use the site, hence no need for an extra app
Posted in Radio 4 bumped off Freeview by Gaelic TV
Not a Gaelic speaker
And don't just watch it for the football
The folk music programmes are good too
Rather keep R4 and Radio Scotland and dump Radio4 extra mind
In far off Scotia..
Where such super-injunctions do not apply
We spoke about the injunction briefly, that is the story, where two consenting adults stick things seemed of little relevance
So now you have a situation where many know who is involved, but no one talks about it publically (except for viewers in Scotland)
I'd reckon this is salightly worrying
Posted in Steve Jobs screws my wife (out of $944)
Writing stuff
If you don't care about formatting then IAWriter is a decent text entry bit of softrware and you can sync it to Dropbox. You might need to move stuff to your public folder using the Dropbox app mind
All I need to do now is to send my cheapo bluetooth keyboard back and hopefully get a working one and that means the iPad is a decent netbook replacement
Posted in Apple iPad 2
I saw no reason for a tablet but ...
Like others I have a smartphone, a Desire which replaced a G1, and I use Linux at home, save for my games PC.
I would have been intrigued by a Linux or Android tablet that could be hooked up to a keyboard, but the 2.2 or earlier tablets won't cut it, and the only Linux one I could fins was from an Italian company or a German company and would work up pricier than an iPad.
I loathe the lock-in and cultish nature of Apple users, but my Laptop had a burned out screen and would always burn out its screen since it dumped the head from the Graphics card into the screen.
Result, I got a cheap iPad before the iPad2 came out. Yes it is restrictive and hard to expand, but it serves the main use I put my laptop to, web, email, films and writing.
Not son good for downloading ISOs from the MSDN site, or downloading from iPlayer, and I do miss Flash, but as a text entry thing for stories and articles it proves wonderful, and handier than a laptop.
If the Asus EEE Note could do handwriting recognition, or of the Reg had published the pre release info for the EEE Slider a week earlier then I could have resisted, but now I have a fondleslab I definitely have a use for it
And that is what we, as IT hacks are supposed tontell the punters, only get one if you have a use, otherwise don't
Posted in Nuance Flext9
I miss Graffitti
And the ability to do some proper writing on these things
It would be nice if someone reinvented the Palm Pilot
Posted in God-game creator granted Bafta gong
I wish Original Populous was still around
Or even Pop II at at pinch, nice, simple God Game without too many fusses
Very playable
Posted in One-third of Aussies 'are pirates'
So FOSS folk are pirates in El Reg's eyes?
If FOSS folk are "freetards" and priates are "freetards" then El Reg, which should know better, equates the two.
Never mind that any ouse of "retard" or modiifcations of the same is puerile in the extreme, figures such as these are often dubious, and a journalist would actually attempt some fact checking.
But why do the work when you can go for a lazy slur?
hmm, that looks like a Zboard
Like what I have with the Battle for Middle-Earth keyset.
never did like the round keys
I wonder how the mnouse would do with LoTRO, the Zboard is gey handy for the movement
Posted in Jackson's Hobbit movies back on track
@Graham Bartlett - Where were the Elves and Dwarves in the War of the Ring
Hi
Tolkien covers this, and Jackson nods to it.
It is in the Appendices to the books
Basically Lothlorien, Mirkwood, the Lonely Mountain and the Iron Hills as well as the human kingdom of Dale were all attacked during the War of the Ring.
So the reason that there were no Dwarves of Elves at the Black Gate was that they were busy, IIRC still fighting after the Ring was destroyed.
There are some stirring scenes in there, I can recommend rading it
My mate from Madrid
Says that the jabalí are just trying to meet their relatives in Barcelona, but he's a Réal fan so he is his being naughty
A Boar Spear would be better for a good kill, but bloody dangerous for the hunter
Should get the extreme sports fans into it
Yeah, the subhead was gigglesome
see subject
The guy has previous and committed the offence in 2007
This has been analysed on wargaming sites I read
it has been pointed out that this offence was comitted before the big collapse, and that he has a conviction for a previous, similar, offence.
One thing that this story has let me analyse, mind you, is how much similar the Reg text is to the press release I read elsewhere.
You forgot Tsolyani
And the various other languages created by M. A. R. Barker, possibly the most obsessive philogist for fantasy language after Tolkien
Rodenberry was up front about it
no need for a "never crossed his mind", it was done for budget and story telling reasons. He talks about it in one of his books
Pagan
Actually a Pagan is simply a person who worships outdoors.
So early Christians count, as did later Christians like the Covenanters
Pedantically yours
