* Posts by Adam T

640 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Apr 2007

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Apple tablet spooks world of PCs

Adam T

@AC (Maybe)

If it runs on whatever gives it the best performance/battery life I think it'll do well. It's not about the desktop, it's about the applications.

The iPhone / iPod Touch SDK has revealed a whole new cottage industry of developers, and the App Store has proven itself a great delivery platform (even if iTunes isn't very good for discovery).

I'm quite fond of the iPhone's desktop and apps myself - it's nice to not have to think too deeply about where things are; a feeling shared by the majority I'll bet. I have my laptop and desktops for that.

If it is Touch based, the only thing I can see that will kill it for that reason is if they fail to allow background apps.

Amazon sued for sending 1984 down Orwellian memory hole

Adam T

Eggs & Baskets

I got a lovely old edition of 1984, tea marks and rustic paper smell - a must for any academia - from my local send-hand bookshop for 50p. I'm sure it'll still be on my bookcase (unless someone nicks it) for years to come.

Trust in technology and, like pride, you're setting yourself up for a fall.

Spider-Man director to helm World of Warcraft

Adam T

Patch

What no jokes about having to sit through a three hour patch in the cinema?

I'd rather see another South Park movie.

Apple sued over shrink-wrapped Mafia death threats

Adam T

@TJ 3

No, I haven't laughed at a dead baby joke.

But then I'm not a prick.

Adam T
Dead Vulture

Not funny

One of my family members suffers from paranoid schizofrenia.

He had a 10 year remission until recently, and now sees signs in clocks, hears things on the radio and TV and isn't capable of holding a rational conversation for more than a couple of sentences.

I know, it sounds amusing, but this is a real person who's living in a personal hell and with no way out. His life is completely and utterly shit.

There are genuinely funny stories out there. This article doesn't present one. It's completely infantile.

BMW to ride in with 115-mile range e-scooter?

Adam T
Coat

Meh

I'll wait for the C5.

Oh, wait...

http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/images/c5onroad.jpg

Apple ends Palm Pre's iTunes charade

Adam T

@Big Bear

"How the big question: how come iPods are allowed to come bundled with iTunes? ;-)"

Isn't that like asking, how come PCs are allowed to come bundled with Windows?

Or, if you want a free software flavour, how are PCs allowed to come bundled with Linux?

I think, because it's more useful to have it than not. You're not forced to use it, or even install it.

Adam T

@Sean Timarco Baggaley

Well put.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you like iTunes, or Apple policies.

The fact of the matter is that Palm played a cheap marketing trick by trying to sell on the back of a competitor's successful software, a practically ubiquitous brand.

They did wrong; they deliberately and knowingly misled customers. Respect -1.

Adam T

@Big Bear 13:13 GMT

I'm not too sure your argument holds much water either.

Exclusives are part and parcel of running a marketing driven business.

Because the Daily Mail puts Carry On Camping on the front of it's newspaper, does that mean it's a threat to The Independent? Of course not.

When famous, influential people and then the world+dog start referring to a brand or product to describe a category, i.e. iPod instead of mp3 player, would you propose that all mp3 player manufacturers be allowed to call their products iPods? No, of course not.

It's a free market. It's just not a free store. You can't set up a t-shirt stand in a department store and expect not to be escorted out by security. Maybe not a great analogy, but it's close enough to make the point.

Adam T

@John Taylor 1

Palm were STUPID for thinking Apple would do anything other than disable Pre compatability with iTunes.

And they're stupid for not having taken the time to create their own solution. Or maybe they just don't know how. Didn't someone mention that Palm's previous attempt at desktop software was a joke?

There was NO good sense in declaring "iTunes Compatible" in the first place. I mean really, what does it sound like other than treating customers like idiots... they knew full well what Apple's response would be.

Adam T
Go

Pot Calling Kettle Black

iTunes is a vehicle for selling Apple hardware (iPods & iPhone).

The absence of a Palm equivalent only proves that Palm don't understand what makes the iPhone a success. It's not the compass, or the touch screen, or pinch-to-zoom. It's content availability and management; music, pictures, videos, applications, podcast...the lot.

By connecting to iTunes in the first place, at best they were competing with iPods. What does that say about the value of owning a Pre? Not much, if you ask me.

And saying "If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience" is an insult to their customers, who deserve a solution from the people they gave their money to, not from the people they're trying to compete with.

Pot calling kettle black.

Samsung smartphone keyboard takes wing

Adam T
Happy

Sanitary Towel

One for the girls then...

Hackintosh maker rises from the dead

Adam T

Not A Monopoly.

Apple is a hardware company. That's where it's money's at.

The software, including OS X, is a vehicle to sell hardware. The same goes for App Store drives iPhone & Touch sales.

This is also why OS X and other Apple software such as iWork is so much cheaper than MS equivalents. Sell the software cheap, and the hardware at a premium.

Can you have a monopoly on your own product? No. You invented it. It's yours. If you can protect it, then you should.

Apple grapples with wave of filth

Adam T
Alert

No Surprises

Human ingenuity is matched only by it's capacity for cruelty, as someone once said.

It doesn't matter what you do, if you want free flowing information then you're going to come up against this sort of thing. The internet itself should be perfect proof of that.

All you can do is stomp it out, but also hope that someone has the sense to follow up and chase down the people responsible (which is unlikely to happen, at least in public view).

Owners say iPhone 3GS is a scorcher

Adam T

No so hot.

Gets no hotter than the previous models.

I'd prefer to have the metal case of the 1st Gen anyway. Makes it much easier to hold (and less likely to crack if you drop the damn thing.

An American Werewolf returns to London

Adam T

Daybreakers?

Yeah and Daybreakers doesn't sound like a rehash under a different name either. *cough*legend*cough.

Palm Pre developers told to read a book

Adam T

Re: SDK development

"Let's just say that when Apple say they're not doing (or going to do) something, a lot of time they are"

Very true. And as Matthew points out, the level of polish shows more than a simple year's worth of good word. The iPhone SDK is still, to this day, one of the finest development kits around, thanks in part to XCode and tools such as Instruments -- these are things that not even Microsoft can compete with.

Still, the great thing about the iPhone (and the App Store & SDK) is that it's bringing things like the Pre out - would we see the same picture today if Apple never released the iPhone?

Adam T

Re: Summer?

Shall we use the Mayan calendar?

Mars projected to collide with Earth

Adam T
Black Helicopters

Nuke Mercury

I'm sure the US military is already exploring scenarios.

America always saves the world, it's their duty! :)

iPhone 3G S in the UK: what you need to know

Adam T

Compass

I got a little plastic compass from a christmas cracker last year. It's in good working order and you can guarantee you won't get mugged on the tube for it.

I'm willing to part with it for £29.99 or £2/month for 24 months.

Apple patents all-seeing display

Adam T

Re: Missing the obvious

I'm with Claus.

There are too many things wrong with this, but at the top of the pile is resolution, and resolving a reasonable image, and light fluorescence: The idea of turning the brightness of a display up to act as a lightsource sounds neat in a classroom, but light bleeds - ask any amateur astronomer. Surface materials can minimise the bleed, but at the scales (pixels/even subspixels) they're talking about the impact would surely be substantial.

Besides which many people like webcams that can be moved around, pointed elsewhere. Not everyone appreciates their face-on profile.

Fox terminates The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Adam T
Thumb Down

RIP

Gone the way of Firefly and Invasion (although not as good as either IMO). RIP.

To be replaced no doubt by another CSI knock-off.

Apple bars 2.0 code from App Store

Adam T

@Paw

If you mean me, I was unaware of your sexuality and don't actually have an opinion either way about it - just as you neither know mine, nor would have an opinion.

Just because someone employs a word which has more than one meaning doesn't mean they're talking about you - or in fact, a person or type of person. The word has been in common use for the purpose I used it for a lot longer than the nanny state mindset, and was used I do confess with complete disregard for any political correctness, to which I don't subscribe.

And it is NOTHING like comparing racial insults or deragatory terms. Don't put yourself on that pedestal, it's reserved for people with real cases who have suffered more than a petty self-inflicted dictionary definition.

Adam T

@Dave++

Touché

Bear with me though, from the iPhone Dev Center (you have to log in and hit the SDK 3.0 button):

"iPhone SDK for iPhone 3.0 beta can not be used for submitting iPhone OS 2.2.1 applications to the App Store."

I've misinterpreted that already (it's not a blanket <3.0 for starters), so if you do know what it means, I'm all ears.

@Clyde: See skeptical's post.

Adam T

Doesn't mean anything new

You can release applications built for 2.0 et al, they must simply now be QA'd as compatible with 3.0 - this in no way is forcing people to upgrade to 3.0 (i.e. iPod Touch users).

This is merely Apple reminding everyone to keep up with the Jones's, and making sure 3.0 gets no nasty surprises (or fewer than it could otherwise).

@slider5634 - The developer email states that 3.0 is imminent (Summer release, i.e. June)

Apple power brick sparks lawsuit

Adam T

Re: Design for purpose

A good post.

I've not had any melting cables yet, but then I've only had my Macbook and Macbook Pro for going on three months.

That said, I haven't failed to notice the worrying kinking of the rubber sheath where the cable bends near the adapter - on both machines it has to bend based on the location of the laptops and the nearest power socket/extension.

I've had my Dell XPS Gen 2 for nearly five years now, and it has none of this, sporting a decent heavy duty power lead as it does.

Form over function again. It's easy to fix, but I bet Apple don't do it the proper way (provide good solid cables), as they're obsessed with size-zero everything.

Wacom Intuos4 L

Adam T

Unimpressed

Honestly I'd expected loads more than a flipping LED display, OLED or not who cares.

They're missing the boat by not improving upon, and lowering the prices, design and bulk of their Cintiq models.

Maybe that's to come, but if these things are still £400 then I can't see the prices of Cintiqs coming down.

So much for Moor's Law eh.

Apple cracks down on rogue app stores

Adam T

@Richard Cartledge

Enterprise is still covered by the new clause.

iPhone 3.0 beta reveals mixed blessing

Adam T

Publish Video

You haven't mentioned the changing of "Publish Picture to MobileMe" to "Publish Video"

iPhone developers gifted lovely free extension

Adam T

Complete BS

It's made quite clear that the $99 is for 12 months access at sign-up. Add to the fact that it's plastered all over the dev portal.

When you click "I have read the Terms and Conditions", you should bloody well make sure you've read them. Idiots who don't shouldn't be in business.

Bill Gates bans progeny from iPhone Nation

Adam T

Re: You see...

"Not saying it doesn;t happen, just saying the problem is made to look worse than it is, same with a lot of ms products due to teh hatred out there for them."

Yes, $1 Billion worth of worse than it is? Or are you thinking that's normal on the "Day in the life of AIG" scale?

Blind Idiot.

Here, step out of the closet:

http://criticalstudiesofgames.blogspot.com/2008/06/rrod-cost-microsoft-one-billion.html

"[Microsoft] relied upon its own processor-architecture knowledge in designing the graphics chip to save "tens of millions of dollars", then went directly to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to begin immediate production of the 360's GPU. This shortcut proved to be a costly mistake for Microsoft. The faulty GPU ran too hot, warping the motherboards, unseating chips, and disconnecting heat-sinks in the console."

"While Microsoft initially claimed only 3% of the original wave of consoles suffered from the RRoD, in reality, up to 80% of the 360s from the first production runs fell victim to Microsoft's costly error. "

Pirate Bay prosecutor tosses infringement charges overboard

Adam T

Imprison farmers

Do you lock up landowners for hosting car boot sales, in which dodgy goods are sold?

Third-gen Apple iPhone in development?

Adam T

blah

I hear the hardware is the same, they're just waiting for the Cut'n'Paste patent to go through.

Apple gets censory on iBoobs'... ass

Adam T
Paris Hilton

wtf??

"He did, however, make it clear that Apple would prefer to see the company rethink their promotional video"

I'm practically speechless at that.

If they managed to get their own heads any further up their arses, they'd probably create a space-time paradox.

Paris, because she loves boob videos.

Microsoft cuts 5,000 jobs - but Ballmer's hiring

Adam T

Re: Taking the opportunity

True that hard times are a good opportunity for pruning unwanted excess or individuals, but you can't make staff redundant purely on the basis of the outside economy - there has to be an accountable impact on your business, whether concurrent or an immediate-term forecast.

For a large entity to shed 5% of it's workforce, that's more than just trimming a few loose branches, it's a real attention grabbed - not all of it desirable I should imagine.

Adam T

Only 90,000?

Just been reading that Apple employs 134,000 (didn't know it was that high). Telling times indeed. Maybe people are finally getting wise - heck BBC Watchdog this week had two old pensioners who knew they were being approached by a conman rather than a legitimate businessman because he was using a hotmail address :)

Microsoft is already a shadow of it's former self... does Moore's Law apply in reverse too?

Apple joins campaign for real breasts

Adam T
Thumb Up

Excellent

This looks like a great masturbation aid.

Every schoolkid should be given an iPhone; maybe it'll help stem the number of teenage pregnancies.

And what's wrong with all you nay-sayers? Did you never get a whoopi cushion as a kid? Or look at porn? Typical geeks.

Apple unveils 17in MacBook, iLife tweaks, Tony Bennett

Adam T
Paris Hilton

Battery Arguments

I don't care about either argument.

If I'm paying £2k+ for a laptop, I want the bloody CHOICE.

Not only are Apple expos getting boring, but the products just defy logic.

I don't know about Steve's physical health, but all indications are he definitely needs a head doctor.

Paris, cause even she has use for removable batteries occasionally.

Nikon D90 digital SLR with HD video recording

Adam T

Reg + Cameras = DUH

As already pointed out, the 5D MkII was the first to market with HD video.

Seriously, all the Reg camera reviews are canned trollop. This is a specialised area, even for real hobbiests... stick to IT, eh?

City of Heroes fingered in MMO patent lawsuit

Adam T
Stop

Prior Art: Meridian 59, 1996

Nuff said.

http://meridian59.neardeathstudios.com/

Apple tells Mac users: Get anti-virus

Adam T

Virus Free Living

Well, I've been using PCs and Macs since 1991 and I've only ever had a virus once, when my dumbass girlfriend of five years ago snooped my inbox while I was in the shower, and opened a mail attached called "ourpics.rar", and proceeded to unzip it and run the enclosed .exe

Fortunately she had the sense to confess, albiet sheepishly. She was lulled by the body text in the email, which read something along the lines of "i thank you for last night it was amazing and i send you pictures to remember me by always", bad grammar et al.

So all these years an no viruses, worms or maliciousness. How? I don't click on shit I don't want, and generally know where to get what I do want without trawling through unknown waters.

And condoms only offer 99% protection against unwanted pregnancy.

Apple sued over Jesus Phone 'hairline cracks'

Adam T

iTwats

Don't sit on your phone, and blame the carrier if your reception sucks.

Seriously, I'm married to a yank and she's embarrassed daily by some of the stuff that comes out of the states. What a bunch of moaning gits.

Adam T

Re: Perhaps a useful analogy

You're comparing a house to a mobile phone? LMAO.

I find that some brands of toilet paper let wet poo soak through more than I'd like. Perhaps I should sue them too?

Someone sells you a dodgy house, yes you should take action.

Someone sells you something that you stick in your pocket and it gets a few cracks, take it back to the shop. No wonder the economy's in a mess, bloody idiots pissing so much money away on frivolous lawsuits. Talk about unbalanced.

Barack Obama will be president

Adam T

President or Puppet?

When Barack finally makes his first appearance as White House resident, and starts talking in short, stinted sentences (oh so similar to his forbear), then you know the puppet masters have him under their control...

We're damn lucky it's not McCain anyway. That one even walks like a puppet.

The world sighed in relief.

The iPhone App Store - a classic protection racket

Adam T
Flame

Wtf crap is this?

For heaven's sake who decided to publish this crap?

As everyone making mobile software - he'll let's broaden it to all commercial software - 30% is bloody amazing.

Oh no they might raise their cut. Please, grow up and get over yourself.

Apple takes wraps off rumour-matching MacBook Pros

Adam T
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BOLLOCKS

Glossy display ONLY...

9600M...

Even the bloody new 24" Cinema Display is Glossy...!

WTF drugs are they taking? Clearly, the much touted 'transition' period is the transition from Professional systems to Consumer (while still branding them 'Pro').

APPL is tanking nicely...serves them right. Idiots.

Apple rattles legal sabre at Canadian tech school

Adam T
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A is for Anal

nuff said.

Asus admits Eee Box mini PC shipped with virus

Adam T
Happy

McCain camp infected?

Shocking, but there could be a silver lining.

Referring to http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/mccain_laptop_theft/

What are the odds of the McCain lot being infected? :)

Adobe preps Jesus Phone Flash Player

Adam T

Re: Virtual Machines

As mentioned by James, above, Apple won't allow virtual machines to on iPhone.

Apple are (rightfully perhaps) determined to put a cap on anything that will consume battery, heat up the device and provoke instability.

For this reason alone, Adobe are wasting their time, but you can add to that the fact that the SDK doesn't support 3rd party "plug-in" apps. Maybe in the distant future, but definitely not today.

Kentucky commandeers world's most popular gambling sites

Adam T

Agree with WeeDom

Ludicrous that anyone would even consider allowing such an action.

Perhaps we should shut down all the Channel and ferries and Eurotunnel to stop french people from visiting.

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