Posts by Ian Halstead
79 posts • joined Tuesday 14th August 2007 12:42 GMT
NGC 1365? Pah! – rename it
I suggest Campbell or Mandelson as alternatives.
Definition...
Surface - that thing you slowly sink beneath when your barnacle encrusted vessel becomes unseaworthy.
Posted in Apple makes Cocoa with Porridge
And in the former 'classic Mac OS'
Was buried the phrase...
Help, help we are being held prisoner in a system software factory.
Re: As long as we get CHEAPER premiums for being good drivers!
Not sure of the speed, but he was accelerating at 9.8 m/s².
Lukk- I kan spel funny tou.
Pity he didn't hack into the offices of the Oxford English dictionary.
Posted in UK lags US in online content spending
Now what's that phrase...
... oh yes, 'rip-off Britain'.
Re: Satire
Indeed. Never have the possibilities been so cruelly dispatched by the actuality, since Michael McIntyre.
That money pit...
...is no doubt lined with polished meteorite.
***Shock horror - apple user (me) almost has sense of humour***
Just wondering....
.... how techeye.net is doing?
"It will come....
.... whether the public wants it or not."
Like everything the banks and large retailers do then to 'enhance our experience'. A little enhancement on the number of bank counter staff and on till check-outs would be preferable, but hey they'd have to employ people wouldn't they?
I have not voted for this. You are infringing my freedoms.. etc etc...
Young drivers eh? Also include this...
....a device that disables the sound system whilst any windows are open.
Only one rule to remember
You wear a real Rolex?
You are a fake human being.
On the subject of battery technology - continuous extrusion
Interesting piece on Radio 4 recently about Leeds Uni having developed continuous extrusion lithium polymer gel batteries that are safer than typical lithium batteries using liquid electrolytes, and extrusion means a continuous manufacturing process and just chop to length. This could slash manufacturing costs.
I don't suppose for a minute that there's a UK based manufacturer who's licensed this....... is there? Be nice if there was.
Posted in Bury council defends iPads for binmen
All a bit bi-polar really
It's when you come down afterwards on using a Windows box – that's when the illness really bites.
Didn't HAL....
.... have transparent memory banks in 2001?
**Runs off to find if it was first described in the original book or just in the film**
Gotta love those ale containing memory modules.
But...
Will this wind be so mighty as to lay low the mountains of Mars?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJQ18S6aag
Anyone got a bag of large nails to hand?
That looks like one very big mountain bike tyre heading this way.
Awesome?
That'll be the 'awwwww' sound we make when something dies.
Posted in Moderatrix kisses the Reg goodbye
Mwah?
For a minute there I thought you were going to be posing with a fretless bass. Good luck all the same. Your successor has a tough act to follow.
Sue him now.
Rip off of your 'Paris - Graphic Revelations' box ad image. That is your logo projected onto the moon isn't it?
Posted in Ten... over-ear headphones
Grado - the unsung headphone heros
I have to agree about the Grados - prices range from £90 to £1,600 (yes, really) but they are all imbued with a degree of effortlessness and clarity without an artificially boosted and lumpy bass end found in so many other designs. Bass is solid and extended, and the degree of clarity throughout the sound spectrum range puts others to shame. Highly recommended.
Deserve everything we get?
An extraordinarily easy to use and implement server that doesn't require a techie to get it up and running. For small shops like us it's been utterly cost effective - we run Mac OS X Server on a 6 year old old bog standard G5 Power Mac, rather than a dedicated X-Serve machine. For corporates buying X-serves by the dozen however, then yes, you may have a point. In that situation it would have made sense to go with the mainstream unless you had some very niche requirements.
Sanity also involves checking alternatives with an open mind.
But will the design allow for...
a doubling of boiler and furnace capacity every 18 months?
Crumlin? Pot Noodle factory?
Wasn't the Pot Noodle developed at Porton Down? Does Hans Blix know about this? He needs to be sent to Wales to investigate.
Is it....
... some sort of IQ measurement?
That capsule...
Looks like a cgi of a Playmobile scene to me.
Posted in Queuing for an iPad? Why?
PowerPoint? Eh?
You wouldn't run it even if you could - would you? Keynote shows up PowerPoint for the hopelessly unintuitive mess that it really is.
Nice to see all these people who have actually tried an iPad for a reasonable period of time making valid comments that are not just based on guesswork or preconceptions.
A clear case of...
...being up before the beak then.
But...
Michael Palin called and wants to know if they are crunchy, and can you cross the Andes on one?
Paris? Frogs - Paris, Paris - frogs... oh never mind....
Posted in Jesus descends to Google Earth
Did Leonardo da Vinci ever visit Hungary?
Has elements of his style about it, and he was known for the odd practical joke. Where's Brian Sewell when you need him?
Steve? When are we going to move on to likenesses of Steve Jobs I wonder?
OK, where do we start on this one?
Firstly, colours nailed to the mast. I buy and use Apple gear at home and work, and personally think I'm better off for it, and would probably endlessly gripe at having to use Windows (for a few days anyway) ... BUT...
... we really don't need Apple supporters like this. I could understand the reaction if you'd just published an unquestionable paper bringing down the whole edifice of sub-atomic physics or something and people were attacking you personally, but THIS unreserved gloat; all over a choice of computer?
Please don't live your life judging YOUR worth solely by how others on whom you pin your faith are doing. It demeans humanity for a start. And yes, Windows users are included. Some of my very best friends use Windows, and we get along fine. Life's too short.
Bill? To show that an Apple fan can put that icon on their post and not suffer any detrimental..... hang on... why's my skin shrivelling up and going green.... I can only see images of Ballmer through my three eyes... must resist...
Hmmmm... disabling a satellite the fun way.
Two or three thrust reversers fitted over carefully chosen nozzles should do it. Just a little nudge before you leave would be all that's required.
When my beer...
... starts paying for itself, I might think again about ID cards. Not until.
PS there's an avenue for a bribe there if anyone's listening. (And they probably are).
Thankyou. Damned by your own gob.
I won't be voting Conservative.
A few choice words and phrases that did it for me:
"Leveraged" What's wrong with 'used'?
"Cloud computing". Cloud thinking. Means nothing without explicit context.
"empowering" You mean giving the illusion of power.
"...government datasets to be manipulated and presented by others..." Manipulated is the operative word, Governments are the experts. I can see the excitement of lunatic fringe groups with all the grasp of statistical analysis of a typical slug. "Hello I'm from the Wool Safety Council and want to know how many died in horrific knitting accidents last month. None you say? Same as all the months before?"
Headline: Horrific knitting deaths still at record levels.
I think I know what he means but it's the way it comes over... A simple "We'll release all government data that's safe to be in the public domain" would be a start. At least we might get a debate about the word 'safe'.
Oh well, at least no-one said "going forward".
Is there a party with someone who knows of what they speak, when forming and explaining IT policy?
Posted in DIMENSIONAL PORTAL INCURSION AT THE LHC!
This 2m blue door...
My Great Uncle lost a 2m peacock blue circular door when serving on USS Eldridge in 1943. I'm putting a claim in.
Good point
Good point, although the larger x-height of the lower case characters means that the point size can be dropped without affecting legibility. This should more than make up for increased line lengths.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_height
Arial has been described as Helvetica without the style. Ouch. (Hence Bill, as MS helped to popularise it)
Posted in Intel Labs unveils PC power plans
Just for a second there...
... I thought the headline read:
Intel Labs unveils PowerPC plans.
I might need to go to the pub to calm down.
Posted in For sale: One des res nuclear bunker
In the 80s...
... I'd planned, on surviving any conflagration, to get hold of some oxyacetylene welding gear and do a good job of welding up the doors of any bunkers I came across. I knew where most of the the local ones were.
Imaging the faces if you will, after the two weeks of self-imposed isolation is up.
"At last we can get out of this hell-hole and build a future, a bright future worthy of our position and importance. I declare this bunker now open..... What do you mean the door's stuck Carruthers? God damn it man, let me have a go.... OK chaps, anyone know how much food and water we have left?"
Were you...
...in Dubai recently by any chance?
Apple - root, admin and user
Apple include a root account in Mac OS X, but this is effectively an invisible account to both administrators and users, requiring it to be activated as it doesn't run by default.
An admin account can install software, create/delete users and effectively manage a Mac day to day without impediment, but can't get down to system level stuff that requires root access. A password is required to install software or make changes that affect other users.
A user account requires an Admin user name and password to install software, and to make changes that affect other users.
Call the lawyers.
"... it really ticks me off when I have to confirm what I want to do twice or more on things."
Oh oh.... looks like the Reg has infringed a Windows patent.
Posted in Swindon twins with Walt Disney World
The last time I visited Swindon...
... was to see my g/f from nearby Wroughton. While I was there Elvis died. Do you suppose if I went again, Ant and Dec might cop it?
Ah, the 'socialist' word
Let's assume you are from the US. The US has an army. Run by the government. From taxes. It isn't private is it? No. It's a socialist organisation that benefits the state by being able to defend that state. It's for the greater good. Socialist in nature. OK, it sometimes needlessly attacks other states as a by product, but there you go.
Well in Europe we've taken this idea to declare a war on health and education, and have armies for that too. Paid for by taxes in most countries of the EU, just like you pay for your army. Not that different really are we? You see all you are frightened of is a silly word.
Chortle...
Another decisive blow for the Reg Sub-Heads writing team. You make the Sun look decidedly amateur guys.
Dear Eric...
Knowledge is power. Power to obfuscate. Power to target. Power to subvert. And all of it to my data. This power means a loss of control on our part Eric. You should only give control to those you trust. Why are you bent on destroying any last vestiges of that trust?
Imagine wearing a special headset Eric. One that targets, obfuscates and subverts every conversation you have.
One that boost the audio level of certain target words, leaving others inaudible.
One that leaves out some entire phrases, whilst boosting others.
One that substitutes some words for others.
One that talks to others' headsets and mutually alters their behaviour further.
One that does this without the wearer really knowing how or why.
Are we getting there yet Eric? Has the penny dropped? Or just your guard?
Posted in Icon design for dummies fanbois
Keep it simple
Like all design, icon design looks easy. It isn't. The best icons are understood in an instant, accentuate the function and are not separate from it.
By all means get the function of your application working perfectly - this should be done as a matter of course anyway, but making a great application is all about attention to detail, and this includes the icons. They are not design 'fluff' to be added as an afterthought.
Pint? Form and function excellently combined.
Easy explanation.
During the postal strike I nipped to the local sorting office to kick a few parcels around for myself, as this vital service was being neglected. There were these large heavy packages lying around that made a great sound when kicked on one corner...
Aye lad...
.... app'n we might.
That's a pint of Websters by the way. Or if you are even older, a pint of Ramsdens.
It's a NASA trap...
NASA will invite the heads of Microsoft to be the first to land on the red planet. They'll give them a few days on Mars and then announce someone forgot to fuel the return stage. "Sorry, a problem with Outlook calendar reminders and Windows 7 apparently."
Oh, if only...
Spot the odd one out...
1. DARPA
2. Microsoft
3. Lockheed
DARPA – for all the crazy ideas they have, some actually get to a state of useful fruition.
Lockheed have a track record with the odd stumble along the way.
And lastly.... Oh.
Errrr... can we have a tumbleweed icon please?
