* Posts by Andy Watt

329 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Jul 2008

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Bad news, fandroids: He who controls the IPC tool, controls the DROID

Andy Watt

Re: How many, @SuccessCase

If nobody is being infected, why does Android malware continue to be found, even in the Play Store? Why bother writing it if nobody is getting the malware?

Could it perhaps be that a lot of android malware is caught by those who:

1. Don't run antivirus on their phone

2. Wouldn't recognise the infection if they knew there was one

Don't assume that no smoke means no fire where malware is concerned. Windows users had to learn the hard way how to get used to looking after their PCs. Android is still young by comparison as a platform, and an awful lot of landfill android users are just upgrading to keep a phone. They have no idea they're even carrying something which _has_ malware.

Complacency? I'd say so, that's classic complacency. I don't know anyone who's died of ebola.... yet.

Mobile carriers keep the promised land on an ever-receding horizon

Andy Watt

Perhaps one slight fly in the ointment... shared bandwidth?

OK, we all get unlimited data. Now we're all trying to use it, resulting in longer sessions and a demand for higher speeds.

Result? Network slows to a crawl. Urban areas require huge numbers of microcells just to keep people online as cell sizes shrink under the load (breathing). Overall experience worsens. There's only so much you can squeeze into a shared RF resource before it buckles under the load.

There are more reasons for the data cap than their profits. Think about it.

Mobile, cloud, social? Data? Nadella strings sexy words together

Andy Watt

Horrific... I fear for their future.

It's another slow-motion corporate death, Jim.

Andy Watt

Re: They want a big pile of cash like Apple

Seriously? You're going there?

Australia iOS ransom gizmo-snatch OUTRAGE not our FAULT: Apple

Andy Watt

"Apple devices are uniquely vulnerable as they are power hungry and need charging every day,"

Utter twaddle.

Windows XP market share decline stalls, Mac OS X surges

Andy Watt
Happy

I was with you until that last sentence.

Nicely put

OnePlus One equals 'killer' new mobe running CyanogenMod

Andy Watt

Lack of SD + KitKat 4.4 == good idea...?

Given Google's lockdown of the SD card (finally) and the way it can make apps which don't play well with the new handling strategy not work too well... perhaps Android should generally face up to getting rid of removable SD cards.

Like the other posters said - 95% of the population simply don't care if the SD card is removable. So the device manufacturers will make a reasoned decision to stop supporting them: another socket and mounting point you can lose from hardware designs, less on the BOM cost... etc.

Google Glass pics will BAFFLE admirers: Nudge nudge, WINK WINK

Andy Watt
Big Brother

Episode 3, Season 1 of Black Mirror

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Mirror_episodes#Series_1

Argh.

Samsung poaches Apple store guru for US retail push

Andy Watt
Mushroom

Will their stores spontaneously combust, however?

.. and will any punters caught out be faced with gagging clauses while still in their hospital beds?

Your kids' chances of becoming programmers? ZERO

Andy Watt

Why lament? We'll work into our 70s thanks to the idiots running the world...

QED - I'd rather have a job I can still do in my 70s (non physical labour, keep a quick mind) while the drug-addled, dumbed-down zombies are all staggering around Tesco trying to work out how many chickens "2" is.

Do-it-yourself Dropbox: Western Digital's My Cloud 2TB NAS box

Andy Watt

Or...

Just buy an old ReadyNAS Duo (and get the security of RAID into the bargain), set up a Pi as a VPN server... was streaming music from the NAS in the house to the south of spain 3 weeks ago, by the pool. Unlimited HSPA, and fast, too.

Firefox OS update adds performance, polish to Mozilla's webby mobes

Andy Watt

What no bias? No spittle?

Shurely a mobile phone launched without features, and with some which didn't work very well, should be roundly derided using as many derogatory buzzwords as possible?

Or is this still the register? Oh no, hang on, this piece isn't clickbait...

Fanbois smash iPhone 5s much sooner than iPhone 3s ... but WHY?

Andy Watt

Still using a 3GS now...

I've never had a phone die on me due to dropping it, and I've used:

SE brick (1998)

SE T68

SE T610

SE P900

SE 910

Several Panasonics (worked for them until 2007)

iPhone 3GS (2009-present).

I should be getting an iPhone5 tomorrow... and the first thing I'll get is a good case.

BTW, Bill, cease the "iToy" tourette's reflex. The spittle is showing at the corners of your mouth and it's getting really tedious

Smartwatch makers: You need apps to beat Apple

Andy Watt

Diminishing returns and display size

Even with retina displays, a watch is an episodic, periodic checking device at best. The angle a watch face lies at means you have to twist your arm to view content: how long before people get RSI continuously checking their SMSs, controlling their music, etc?

Don't get me wrong, I can see a market here, but apps? I'm not convinced the platform itself (or rather, the physical limits of the platform) can do useful work beyond a few notifications.

As for replying or sending messages - I can see some generics like "be home soon" or "ok" but entering any actual data? Nah, that's an on-device job.

And JIm Lewis - it's not safer to do anything if your phone chirps in the car, apart from drive!! People die lighting fags in their cars (and take others with them) - god knows what will happen if people have a permanently attached text rendering device with http access to the outside world ON THEIR WRISTS while they drive.

I forsee a LOT more accidents. GAH

Are biofuels Europe's sh*ttiest idea ever?

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

Big thumbs up to AO for this piece.

If you step back from the ludicrous oil-burning machinery for a second and take a look, the folly of dedicating vast fields to producing fuel for vehicles, etc becomes seriously obvious.

However, do we have any useful replacement for heavy fuel oil for tankers yet? We are screwed if we go back to wind powered clippers, unless we do some serious redesign to improve their speed. The global economy shrinking? Wait until the oil runs out.

AMAZEBALLS: Buy a doomed Apple TV, get a replacement free

Andy Watt
Stop

Non story disguised as ad-magnet?

C'mon, the text in this is a bit Daily Mail, isn't it? I'd echo others who have said that this is a total non-story, and you've got florid language here dedicated to spitting the usual crowd-pleasing anti-apple bile to get people displaying those ads.

Apple replaces units which don't work shocker! Register driver by ad presentation revenue!

<yawn>

Apple share-price-off-a-cliff: Told you that would happen

Andy Watt
Thumb Down

An industry standard cynical outlook

"As I said earlier, having a nice office helps you attract and retain good staff, but that wears off pretty quickly. The fact is that it makes senior management feel good. Have you ever bought an IBM xServer because Hursley Park has nice sunken gardens?"

The fact is that the Apple employees I've known were intensely proud of working for Apple. Pride can come from working in a great looking building, and remember that Apple try to "impute" - everything is done for a reason, not just the standard executive bullshit.

Don't judge how Apple behaves in the same way as Oracle, HP or Dell do, they just don't operate the same way. To suggest it is so is convenient for the purposes of this piece, nothing more.

iOS 6.1 KNACKERED our mobile phone networks, claim Vodafone, Three

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

Re: 2G / 2.5G / 3G air interface test engineer here...

Thanks for that, good info.

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

Re: 2G / 2.5G / 3G air interface test engineer here...

Good call, bazza. True nuf that if the 4S is violating the noise floor or somesuch, then it'll nuke the cell for everynoe... interesting to have seen a mobe go out which might actually do this: totally agree on the WCDMA standard being a bit "knife edge" for consumer gear, I always wondered how brittle spread-spectrum might get when manufacturers got inevitably" lazy" :-)

Andy Watt
WTF?

2G / 2.5G / 3G air interface test engineer here...

It's been a while since I did any air interface work (I was mainly L2 and above but I did tinker in L1), but this sounds like a classic interworking issue of some kind. The fact that the other networks aren't having it makes me wonder if Vodafone's push to get their RAN integrated more (less things to hook together) hasn't backfired.

What's the state of play, vodafone? Are you having growing pains? Or is this genuinely an iphone software issue?

In either case, the issue must be in the infineon (is that the chipset in the 4s?) "modem" side, rather than the apps processor, as my 3GS on 6.1 and my wife's iphone 4 appear to be fine...

All smells a bit fishy to me. Vodafone's network quality has been deteriorating since they stopped doing all their network business / maintenance with Ercisson exclusively, IMO.

Samsung laptops can be NUKED by ANY OS – even Windows: new claim

Andy Watt
FAIL

This, the exynos Galaxy ram device security hole debacle...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/17/samsung_exynos_flaw/

Any more?

Do Samsung indulge in software quality at all? Tch. "release and be damned" appears to be their mantra...

Microsoft blasts PC makers: It's YOUR fault Windows 8 crash landed

Andy Watt
FAIL

Petard - hoisted on, see "own"

End of story.

Bad news: PC slump worse than feared. Good news: It's Friday

Andy Watt
FAIL

"has gotten more difficult"

YUK.

Samsung mobes pwned by ANY APP, thanks to chip code hole

Andy Watt
FAIL

Lay-zeee....

What's the betting the access flaw here is a product of "just get it out of the door, for god's sake" style decision-making?

Not impressed, Samsung, not impressed at all. pwn-capable from inside the Play store. Gah

Samsung's smart TVs 'wide open' to exploits

Andy Watt
Mushroom

"do you know what and (sic) an Android stick or media box is?"

Get a grip - you actually manage to infer here that a granny would know what an android stick is. Grab a mirror before you throw troll insults around. Or read his original post again and then take a deep breath.

Andy Watt

Re: If it looks like a computer....

Beautifully put. The Reg is full of people who think everybody thinks like a security-conscious followed of all tech trends, and have fingers specially adapted for command-line work.

Major £30m cyberheist pulled off using MOBILE malware

Andy Watt
FAIL

Re: Funny how almost every malware issue ...

Chicken / egg. If google had ensure sideloading was harder, and made the UIX on security prompts intelligible to your average idiot, they wouldn't be in the shit now.

The "it's the biggest platform" argument doesn't stack up, because they didn't secure from the start - it was even less secure a whil back.

Andy Watt
FAIL

"Besides, no operating system security can survive a dumb user."

No, but a company which values the platform can at least try to account for them. There's no arguing with this, I'm afraid - smartphones are used by non-geeks because the UI finally got easy enough for them to use. Geeks know about security, non-geeks don't even care. Google have failed miserably to secure the platform, and are now scrabbling for purchase on a slippery steep gravel-laden slope.

It's exactly what happened to microsoft, and it needn't have been. Higher barriers to malware would have improved matters.

Andy Watt
FAIL

Android: Mo' numbers, les' secure...

Like the fella above said, the sheer weight of android numbers, plus the lovely little "please let me install malware laden crap on my phone" switch provided by Google, plus the occasional purge of a few tens of malware threats from the actual Google Play store (see El Reg passim), equals:

"Android is a less secure platform than other mobile smartphone OSs".

Seriously, it's not arguable: the steaming, frothing, spittle-flecked android guys can get in line to try - android is less secure, because Google "did a microsoft" and forgot to think about this in advance (e.g. Microsoft not thinking the internet would ever catch on, therefore windows painful, gradual march towards a secured OS).

Arctic ice panics sparked by half-baked sat data

Andy Watt
Mushroom

Ah, I thought as much.

I heard this yesterday on the radio, and the way they reported how the predictions had seemingly shrunk by vast amounts over less than 5 years of estimations of the shrinkage didn't ring true.

Well, this'll certainly help give climate scepticism a shot in the arm. Well done, idiot scientist trying to show off his own project.

Bucks muck chuck muck-up leaks 840 email addresses

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

On the plus side...

They now have a ready-made mailing list to galvanise efforts against the draconian policies of the council...

Ouya Android games console to ship April 2013

Andy Watt
Stop

Re: Cubes are not a good shape for most people.

Well, that's my coffee screwed. Oh no! Wait! I'll have those poncey sugar lumps.

Andy Watt
Stop

Cynical stuff...

The fact they've got enough cash from backers on Kickstarter tells me it's a good enough idea, with perhaps better execution than previous attempts? Sales channels and word-of-mouth will do the job, if they get their media strategy right and get some names on board. You can't get off the ground without some positive thinking, otherwise... well, what's the point of starting anything?

63,416 Backers. $8,596,475 pledged of $950,000 goal - I'd say there are plenty of people who have an open mind, unlike yourself. How do you replay a colonoscopy interactively? Nifty.

You should stick to not writing poetry. http://www.poetryshared.co.uk/about.php

Oooh-la-la! 'iPhone 5' bares all, strokes tiny nano-SIM in pics

Andy Watt
FAIL

Genuine no-bullshit multi-tasking == crap battery life

Read it and weep.

Andy Watt
Flame

Re: "Can you jailbreak an iphone with a pair of scissors?"

Hehe! I see pointing out the semantics of the original message has caused many downvotes. Trolling for trolls is always fun on el reg. No comebacks? Come on...

Andy Watt
Stop

Re: "Can you jailbreak an iphone with a pair of scissors?"

OK, so which networks don't / won't provide micro SIMs?

As for "blinding detail", which part of

"Of course it does. You can make a micro-SIM by cutting down a regular SIM. ***This allows people to jailbreak iPhones*** and use them with networks who aren't paying Apple for the privilege of being able to flog their products."

says you need to jailbreak it with the appropriate tool? And doesn't say you jailbreak it by creating a micro SIM?

Seriously, get over yourself. Just another hater, spittle-flecked mouth corners and negative bile emanating from every port.

Andy Watt
FAIL

Ummmm... no.

"Yes, they're special Apple-branded data packets, you see. Would you like me to apply that on your account? Hello? Sir?"

My iPhone doesn't run an iPhone tarriff and never has. They're not locked to the damn SIMs. Several other manufacturers are using Micro-sims.

Go and polish your tinfoil hat with your bile-laced spittle.

Oooo, I swore I wouldn't stoop to standard El Reg commentard standards...

Andy Watt
Flame

Re: "Makes perfect sense in an Apple-world I'm sure."

"You can make a micro-SIM by cutting down a regular SIM. This allows people to jailbreak iPhones and use them with networks who aren't paying Apple for the privilege of being able to flog their products"

More half-baked idiocy. Can you jailbreak an iphone with a pair of scissors? H8rs gotta h8...

Rackspace profits from cloudy transitions

Andy Watt
FAIL

" was bragging last week that it had finally went live with OpenStack..."

OUCH.

Meet the company that wants to destroy Twitter. It's Twitter

Andy Watt
Paris Hilton

Re: Twitter may not know, but users do

Well argued. I've used it for a while, and the other good thing about twitter is "Block". Anyone who posts banal drivel receives it, which stops you following the tedious bastards as well. Since you only see messages from people you follow, the banality (or otherwise) of your timeline is directly related to your own preferences (i.e. who you've followed).

So do all these geeks who slag off twitter only follow people like Paris? Tut tut, gentlemen, you need to find better users to follow.

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

Nice analogy.

Web advertising / personal info repackaged as useful ad data input == repackaged subprime mortgages. Both stamped as AAA investment opportunities, inflating their own value.

Nice work.

Climate change behind extreme weather, says NASA

Andy Watt
FAIL

Hot air...?

I'm a firm believer in one thing: In human societies, when large groups of vested interests line up against each other (especially if one side has a lot to lose), the likelihood of something actually being done to alleviate a perceived negative impact is directly proportional to the clout of the protesting side.

Human societies have to fall completely for something to change. I'm afraid we're doomed, it's built into our power structures.

RIM, Samsung thrash Apple in UK fondleslab sales growth

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

Re: Playbook

Bundled with a phone? Holy cow, that's a good deal for a 64GB tablet. Nice play.

Andy Watt
FAIL

"idiot tax"

Aren't you the charmer. Has the crass insult become the humour of choice on El Reg?

Nexus 7 and Surface: A bonanza for landfill miners

Andy Watt
FAIL

Try using a tablet for a while, properly.

All these posts sneering "it's just a content delivery device" - "you can't do anything serious with them" - "tablets, what's the point"...

The iPad I'm typing this on does the following (note, I have a Bluetooth keyboard for big typing) - and I use them all on a regular basis. Seriously.

- HTML edits

- all corporate email

- TeamViewer remote control access for support work (which works beautifully over 3G)

- Codea for a little programming fun

- blog work

- music studio (2, nano studio and GarageBand)

- instrument (several, including analog synth emus and drum machines)

- network diagnostic tool (some ping utils, etc)

- eBay, PayPal, etc

- soundcloud

- VNC

- mind maps for creative thinking

- cocktail lists (diffords #8)

- Skydrive, SugarSync work

- FTP, WebDAV clients

- several office compatibles for doc and spreadsheet work

- remote controls (intelliremote rocks)

- telnet work for servers

And loads more.

I daresay all this is possible on a droid tablet too - so stop sneering and see what you can do with the resource. Positivity wins out every time, in my book.

Girl Geek Dinner lady: The IT Crowd is putting schoolgirls off tech

Andy Watt
Coat

Maybe women are just more intelligent.

I don't know about you, but as an IT worker sitting in front of a bloody TV for 8 hours a day pushing electrons around hasn't made me any happier. Maybe women have more inteligence than "not working in IT" suggests.

Good luck to them. If you can make a living doing something you like, and you realise that early, go for it.

Mine's the one with an open university course enrolement in the pocket

Cameron's F-35 U-turn: BAE Systems still calls the shots at No 10

Andy Watt
Stop

"It was quite a shock to hear someone from the BBC defending this government."

Wake up and smell the coffee. Watch or listen to any BBC news programme at the moment, you'll hear they appear to be trying to continuously lick the government's arse.

I've been shocked time and time again by the regurgitation of government stats, half-truths and outright lies recently, to the extent that I've stopped watching even the BBC news. If it's not depressing it's constantly trotting out the government line on just about everything.

What I can't decide, as I don't monitor my opinions on this matter or keep a diary, is if the BBC is constantly sycophantic to any government regardless of party colours. Any comments?

Microsoft SkyDrive

Andy Watt
Thumb Up

It's helped me rediscover SkyDrive...

1. Went to cousin's wedding

2. Took some pictures, wife took Canon EOS and took pictures too.

3. Uploaded all to SkyDrive from PC (the web interface for SkyDrive photo upload is *outstanding* now - hats off to Microsoft, it even pops up a progress window for uploads which you can add to on-the-fly while it's uploading - excellent for large numbers of files, left it working overnight, did the lot)

4. Started messing with pictures on iPad after downloading from SkyDrive using app (PhotoForge, InstaGram, etc...)

5. Uploaded to SkyDrive from photo gallery, sent links direct from SkyDrive app to bride, etc

I _attempted_ to do this using some iTools for Picasa, and was simply stunned by how awkard a) the web interface was and 2) all the tools for iPad / iPhone were.

I'm genuinely impressed, and have started using SkyDrive again as a result. And I'm not usually a Microsoft product recommending kind of guy.

Bought a new Mac Pro? 1-in-100 chance it'll destroy your data

Andy Watt
FAIL

Re: Customer service

I'll add my voice to the "you've just met one" brigade - iPhone 3GS replaced after GPS issue, no quibble, applecare does the job. Next machine's a Mac, in part thanks to their attitude towards the consumer.

The trolls in here really are miserable and haughty, aren't they?

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