Posts by Matt Smart
49 posts • joined Tuesday 11th September 2007 13:22 GMT
Posted in Ofcom coughs 3G coverage maps
@Eponymous Cowherd
The pdf does say that it was dated December 2008. That said, I can't see the coverage will have improved much by then.
Seriously shocked by o2. May think twice about moving to them...
Posted in Samsung ML-1640
@kissingthecarpet
Yeah, should have mentioned. Works native in Ubuntu (~ debian) without any fussing. Compared to my last printer, I was amazed.
Posted in Samsung ML-1640
Worth mentioning
...that the predecessor of this printer, the ML-1610, does have a cover for the paper tray, and it's almost identical in specification. And it's cheaper. And I can vouch for it being bloody good for the price I paid.
Posted in Homer Simpson speaks out on satnavs
Hmm.
I acquired a pack of voices a few months ago and one of them was (a very poor) Homer. This is tempting now that it's real. Too expensive though. Wonder how long before it'll appear on <your torrent site of choice>.
Posted in Facebook to offer vanity URLs
Hmm
Have to say I'm quite surprised they didn't charge for this. Seems rather a good idea.
Posted in HTC's third Android spied online
Seriously
What is it with the little bent lip at the bottom? It's fugly! Phones should have a flat form factor!
Nice, but...
...couple of problems. One, it's on Vodafone (terrible signal for me) and two, it does need the hardware keyboard. That said, the up-and-coming Samsung android mobile is much prettier (so much so that I could settle for a virtual keyboard) and the Pre... well, that's what everyone's got their eyes on at the moment, methinks.
@Jolyon
Surely, "Ready Cell-ted" would be better...
Posted in BlackBerry advert sticks it to Apple
@Ian Davies
I believe "lol" about captures my response. Oh yes, and "I rest my case". But you're right, perhaps "Appletards" and "iPhoneTards" would have been more apt.
Posted in BlackBerry advert sticks it to Apple
Hehe
I love this. And it's really funny to see the mactards getting wound up. I refer Ian Davies to many other adverts that don't feature the product - take the Cadbury's gorilla advert, which massively increased sales, for example.
Don't get me wrong here, though. I don't like the iPhone (why bother explaining that?) but I also think the Storm is a bag of crap which should have had a lot more production/refining time. Shame, because it could have been a competitor, given how good the Bold is.
@ Pete James
(Again, non-Stourbridge folk, sorry).
Pete, a friend of mine has done some research (!) and found it's on St. John's Road. Which is (you guessed it) the little caravan on the ring road. Can't believe it, I've always avoided the place! Will certainly be going there to sample it now.
Incidentally, For my "quality" "local news" I'll rely on the Chronicle;) (although I'm Halesowenian now).
Wow!
I come from Stourbridge! That's great. I feel almost starstruck. Saying that, though, I can't work out where Bob's Big Bite is - can anyone shed light?
Posted in Cocaine now cheaper than lager
This "crack"s me up...
I'm leaving, I'm leaving! (Yes, I know they're not quite the same...)
Posted in Yes! It's the cardboard PC!
Wow
I really want one! More specifically I want the case... this thing is very cool.
Sounds...
...'ear'-ly good. Sorry. Mine's the one with the dictionary of puns.
Sigh
Come on Google, where's the Linux version? Surely it makes more sense to get the browser out for all operating systems at version 1 before working on version 2... oh well.
Posted in Register Hardware revamped
Nice
I'm sure there will be a plethora of comments saying "I hate what you've done in this, this and this bit" from granddads who don't like progress. So let me be (hopefully not) the first to say I really like it; well done.
Posted in 130,000 inflatable jubs missing at sea
I'm sure...
...that the bloke responsible for this "feels a bit of a tit right now".
Mine's the one with the... meh, I don't have anything in my pockets.
Posted in Dixons plunges to loss
@AC
My personal vendetta against PC World, Dixons et al. is that I used to work for The Link, and if you know much about what happened with Dixons offloading The Link, you'll understand my general dislike of DSGi. So personally (whilst I wish all of the poor employees of PC World etc the best for the future), I hope DSGi goes under, and fast!
Posted in Sky channels return to cable
About time.
I'm a big fan of Sky (not so much of Murdoch but I try to block that part out), but they were being incredibly childish on this one, so I'm glad a deal has finally been reached.
Posted in UK confirms e-voting death
@Francis
Actually (although I partially agree with your point), one of the big problems of electronic voting _is_ identifying people. One has to be sure that a voter is who they claim to be (to prevent ballot stuffing, etc), whilst also ensuring that the voter's vote remains anonymous. The only way to guarantee that a person is who they say is to have a reliable identity infrastructure. I'm against national ID, but let's face it, in the current system, you don't have to prove who you are in any way. Rubbish.
Incidentally, actually counting the votes is one of the easier properties to solve...
Posted in UK confirms e-voting death
Sigh.
I'm actually a little disappointed. This is the field I work in, and I'd like to see the government giving some actual thought to it. The problem is that the currently in-use systems (cf. Diebold) are dire. There are so many protocols for e-voting which would do a fantastic job. Oh well! As people have said, I guess it comes down to having a good, secure digital ID. Until that happens we're stuck with the (abysmally insecure, traceable) voting scheme we have now.
@Aristotles...
Yes. It really is just you.
Although I hasten to add, the G1 is a little ugly. Can't wait to see what they put android on next. Also, I'm sure the axioms about early adopters apply... wait until the next release!
Posted in Windows Mobile on iPhone a cruel joke?
Just because you know you want to know...
"Welcome to sonic emotion, the 3D sound experts.
Others talk about a soundfield, we create it!
Wheter you look for a professional sound system or a license for your consumer products, sonic emotion offers the right technology."
(note the typo).
Source: http://www.sonicemotion.com/ch/index.php :)
Hmm
Although this is rather impressive (despite the research behind it having been available for a long time), it's not really "quantum cryptography". It's using quantum physics to distribute a value. The cryptography used is still the same rsa/dsa/shared key/whatever. Thus surely it's still susceptible to the same attacks - if quantum computers "make it", then brute-force attacks on ciphertexts become simple.
Of course, the problem is lessened by using the keys as one-time pads, but still, cracking messages is possible, surely.
Sigh.
Apple are shooting themselves in the foot here. Like the guy who wrote the rebuttal said, are they inferring that any educational institution with an apple-like logo is infringing patent? The school apparently uses exclusively apple machines - why deliberately lose that business?
One of the suggestions is to change the leaf angle. Seems fair to me.
Posted in Asus sexes up Eee line
Tsk
Bit of a poor effort with the copying and pasting of the new Eee onto the hot Eee Girl, kids - I can see white edges and everything!
(As an aside, the thing looks considerably bigger than before - less likely that you'd just pick it up and take it to the beach!)
Ugh
It's hideous!
The Old Eee-ve Ho?
...love it. What I _don't_ love is the new (boring, schoolmarm-y) Eee bird. Bring back the old one.
Posted in Carphone Warehouse Webbook
@AC
Actually, it's not £600. You're paying £25/month, of which £15/month is for the internet dongle, which orange sell on its own. So actually, you're paying 24 months x £10 = £240, which is a little less than retail value for the laptop.
Not that I'm saying £15/month for mobile internet is a good price, of course - it would have to be closer to £10 (with a much better guarantee of reception).
Damn
I was rather hoping the highly covetable Touch HD would appear with Android on it, but no sign of that at the moment...
All of this gets me thinking. Shouldn't we have devil/angel Sergey Brin/Larry Page icons?
@Richard
I see your point but... iPhone 3g? Subsidised?
Posted in Microsoft dumps hilarious comedy duo
Am I the only person
...who actually thinks these ads are funny? They're enjoyable to watch. Who cares if they don't relate to anything? They're clearly building up to something. It'll be interesting to see what comes next.
Eugh!
My God, it's bloody horrible. What's going on with that hinge? And not even 3g? Get with the times, RIM...
Posted in Apple channels Pandora with iTunes 8
Pandora
I really hope Apple aren't going down their usual path and ripping off a great idea, like (in this case) last.fm - it's a brilliant service (as was Pandora) and to see it suffer because iTunes copies it would be a great shame
Also, @James Dunmore: Spot on. Although I'd recommend Amarok - much, much better than iTunes. For one, it has an "enqueue" function. Surely that's pretty simple to implement, Apple? No? (don't go telling me to use the stupid party shuffle tool, people)
Posted in Dixons Group still suffering
Can't wait...
...until Best Buy opens here. Anything that will give PCW (/currys/etc) a run for their money has got to be good. Best Buy have alluded that they're much more worried about Tesco's buying power than PC World's high street "monopoly". The sooner DSG pack up and leave, the better!
Wow
I'm quite surprised... as of the time of writing (9 posts), an Apple fanboi hasn't yet appeared to describe this as a convenient feature which all phones should have. However, give it a few hours and I'm sure the page will be full of such comments ;)
Posted in Orange sees broadband subscriber exodus
@Gerard
...it may also have something to do with the shocking price. Until this month Orange charged a compulsory £30 connection fee. If you don't have a monthly contract with them you pay what is basically a really high price for a really poor service.
...And then, you've got the £7 extra or so per month if you're not "in an orange broadband area" (hah). Yet still customers buy it! I'm with Sky broadband, and I'm happy to admit the speeds are disappointing and the uptime is poor. But I'm paying £5/month for basically unlimited downloads. I can't complain!
Posted in Sub-£100 Eee rival ship date slips
Disappointing "Friend"
Dear me, Elonex. She's really not a patch on the eee girl. I mean, she's not even on a beach!
As a side note, that machine looks seriously top heavy...
@AC: DSG remaining in business
To be honest, PC World are still open because the general public simply don't know that there are alternatives, and it seems a better idea to get "help" (cough) from a physical employee than to save money and go to ebuyer (other sites are available).
Apart from Maplin (who, let's face it, aren't that approachable), there isn't a chain store which people associate with computers and parts. It's a shame really, because like you say, PCW employees generally know little about PCs, and they're a rip off. The situation isn't quite as bad with Currys, but what gets me is that both now sell each other's products - PC world selling TVs and sky? ugh!
(I'm just bitter because I used to work for The Link until DSGi sold us out...)
Posted in Asus launches second-gen Eee PC
re: XP Home worthless
In fact, I'd imagine the XP version would be more expensive anyway, due to the cost of the licence (perhaps this is balanced by the size of the hard drive - less storage, but xp = same price). Slightly annoying that the 20Gb version will be the only one offered with Linux though - I'd happily have a 12Gb Linux install.
Perhaps this version will work by default with WPA2 Enterprise (damn my workplace)...
Posted in BBC to launch iPlayer for Wii
@Mark Fell-Crook
Afraid so... mind, that's only £3.50. Granted, it's £2.50 in the states (sigh), and the Internet should be free, etc etc, but you're paying for the ability to browse the net whilst sitting on your arse in front of the TV. Money well spent to me!
Tux because I too would like to see a Linux iPlayer...
Posted in Oyster card evolves into OnePulse
oyster readers
Yep, oyster works by radio (contactless smart card), so it won't damage the strip. But what a great cock up if it did.. ;)
I don't even live in London and I'm tempted to get one (call me sad but it's my field of research).
