* Posts by Tom 35

3040 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Ten phones for seniors

Tom 35

charging cradle

The one thing my dad had problems with was getting the USB cable the right way up, and dropping the wire on the floor while trying to plug it in, mini USB at the time, but micro is even harder to see.

It took some searching but I found a phone with a cradle so he could just drop the phone in and let it charge.

That Panasonic looks like it would have been perfect for him.

HP to take one more stab at consumer tablets

Tom 35

strategies

Will it make the stock price go up next quarter?

It's going to take a few years to really get going? Forget it, I'll be the CEO of a different company by then.

They need to do something original... maybe outsource their Indian workers to Elbonia.

eBay invites mystic wrath over ban on spells, potions and lotions

Tom 35

Re: They are just mad

They will have to sell a book or some tacky plastic "crystals" and include the magic for free with purchase, or some other scam to get around the rules. But at least it will eat into their 100% profit margin a bit.

Scientists find safer way to store hydrogen

Tom 35

Re: Why Hydrogen instead of methane?

If your just going to burn it, might as well use Natural Gas. Natural Gas cars are available, they are not great...

They are working on fuel cells for Methane but they are not as advanced as Hydrogen full cells.

Methane is currently cheap because it's mostly made from Natural Gas or coal, you can make it from rotting garbage but not enough for more then some local heating.

If you have extra electricity off peak it can be used to split water to hydrogen, when used it's back to water.

Tech hacks should admit taking corporate coin, but don't start a witch hunt

Tom 35

Just look at Game mags

Game that crashes every 5 minutes, until the 200MB patch comes out 2 months after release, then it only crashes every time you try to save...

4.5 out of 5!

Full page ad for game in the middle of the "review".

Windows 8: Microsoft's tablet-desktop still painful to swallow

Tom 35

dusting off the Windows key on the keyboard that you have never used before.

I use the Windows key all the time. Hit Windows, type the first two or three letters of the program I want and launch a program without reaching for the mouse (or touching the screen thank you very much!).

Ten apps to install on your Nexus 7 first

Tom 35

Re: If you root your Nexus

Some other devices don't need to be rooted to support flash drives with OTG USB.

I wonder who we should be asking (Google or Asus) to unlock this feature so we don't have to root our Nexus to access that useful feature?

Tom 35

Re: Keep 'em coming!

And the comments may be even more useful then the original article for finding things you might have missed.

Most often I look for an app and find about 8 that sound like they might work, 4 turn out to be crap, 2 have promise but turn out to have a major fault or two, and then I spend some time with the last 2 to figure out the one that works best for me.

With an article like this I can skip to the last 2 step most of the time.

YouTube video has NOT killed radio's star

Tom 35

Re: DJ's lie more than politicians! (If that's possible)

That's just the top hits radio stations, and it's not new.

In the 70's there were two local Radio stations popular with us kids that only played the top 40 chart songs so you would never hear anything that had not already become popular some place else. On the weekend they would play oldies... the top 40 from a year ago.

It was Disco that made me look beyond the hit machine to find there was a lot more music out there to be found.

Tom 35

Re: Missing word: "Realise"

I expect 100% of smart phones have a music player app. Most feature phones can play MP3 too.

But I don't think radio apps are all that common. I expect youtube apps are more common then radio apps.

Cloud support brings WikiLeaks back online

Tom 35

Re: A judge or jury should decide...

What are they going to sue for?

Helping defend against an DDOS attack (that Stratfor have nothing to do with of course... ) against someone they don't like? Maybe they can just plant some fake stories about CloudFare and some sheep.

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 64GB Android tablet review

Tom 35

Why? It's 1080p with a little extra at the bottom for soft buttons.

I guess they could have made it a bit smaller to up the DPI if they wanted to play I've got the biggest number.

Apple, Microsoft reveal their Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Tom 35

Re: Ummm

Microsoft has promised not to clone the iPhone or iPad. and Win8 looks nothing like an iThing. But they didn't say they would not clone the Apple business model.

Designer punked fanbois with asymmetric screw

Tom 35

Re: Punked fanbois? Not really.

You could do a power "mod"... that is change the battery.

But Glue seems much more effective then a funny screw would be.

Network sniffing algorithm could have fingered 9/11 suspects

Tom 35

Is that fudge I smell cooking?

boffins built a computer simulation of the telephone calls that could have occurred during the terrorist attacks...

By reconstructing the message exchange inside the 9/11 terrorist network...

Looks like they are looking for some of the cash that's been spent on stuff like face recognition and other stuff that only works in the lab.

Google may face grilling by MPs over 'immoral' tax avoidance

Tom 35

Re: All big companies do this

I'm sure Google is being picked on because they have not contributed to the MP retirement fund to the same extent as all the other corporations that use the same loopholes (created by the MPs) to avoid paying tax.

BMW slams ad machine into reverse, screeches out of pirate den

Tom 35

What are they talking about

They completely forgot the drug dealers and terrorists.

Google to skew search results to punish PIRATES

Tom 35
Trollface

Re: YouTube to be banned from search results?

What with that NASA group stealing video from NEWS sites and everything...

Microsoft: It was never 'Metro,' it was always 'Modern UI'

Tom 35

Modern UI

So when the new improved Windows 9 comes out will it have the "New Modern UI", or will it become the "Modern UI" and Windows 8 will become the "Old Modern UI".

Or do we file this under who gives a crap along with what they are going to call the current iPad when the new model comes out.

OK, hands up: Who hasn't sold an iPad to a big biz?

Tom 35

RT tie in?

What tie in? It's more or less Windows Home, no domain login, no active directory... Not much different then an iThing.

You have to buy the "same price as an Ultrabook" thing if you want a tie in.

Greens wage war on clean low-carbon renewable energy

Tom 35

Re: Cost?

"Of course its worth the 'cost' to extract it, it's nearly fully renewable, endless source of steady energy, "

It's not renewable at all, there is just a lot of it.

It's not worth the cost if the cost to operate is more then you can sell the power for. If you have to use green subsidies to pay for it you are no better off then windmills / tidal / solar as a solution to the problem.

There will be some places where it will be worth while (just like wind / solar...) but it's NOT a solution that will give us cheap power everywhere. It's not cold fusion.

Tom 35

Cost?

You make it sound easy. If wernt for then there dirty greens we'd all be rich and swimming in energy.

The current hydrothermal systems (Iceland, Western US) is relatively easy and cheap and there is more of that in development but it's limited to a few locations.

The enhanced geothermal systems you are talking about are expensive, and a lot of the best spots are in the middle of nowhere so you can add transport costs. When you have to drill a hole 6.5 km deep (the depth used as a max in the current map of available energy) the energy cost ends up requiring subsidies like your loved windmills.

Even if there is no danger at all, most of the energy available is not worth the cost to extract it at current prices.

And unlike gas, the best hot spots are in fault zones so I'm not sure you can say there is no danger.

Vodafone and pals can't kick the habit of cheap mobe prices

Tom 35

Try Rogers in Canada

You get the ruinous monthly tariff, for 3 years!

If you buy your own phone, and pay month by month? Same price.

If you buy your own phone, and sign up for a 3 year contract, same price, but if you ask you can get a deal of about $2 off (wow) a month.

Ex-Goldman Sachs coder cuffed on fresh 'source theft' charges

Tom 35

This guy was an amature

Goldman Sachs board rip off more money in a second then this guy. Of course it's all ok because they are a bank.

If a person tried to run a "frequent trading system" they would be in jail for fraud in about 10 seconds.

French minister: 3 strikes anti-piracy rule a 'waste of money'

Tom 35
Joke

Re: It's very simple really

Not enough. Replace all downloads with a copy of "The Devil Inside".

No one will ever download anything ever again.

Tom 35

Re: Warning email

But isn't that the Sony music home page?

Tom 35

Re: "Hadopi has not fulfilled its mission of developing legal downloads"

Stopping people from downloading free stuff is not the same as getting them to buy stuff.

- They might be downloading stuff they can't buy.

- They may already buy a lot of the stuff they download and like. (cutting them off could reduce sales)

- They may not give much value to the download and will just go watch TV / listen to the radio / read a book.

- Warez kiddies who download more then they could ever watch/listen just to have the biggest hoard of stuff.

The number of people who would have paid for something from an existing service but didn't because they could get it for free is not that large I think.

Even if they do buy more DVDs the money will come from something else like eating out (less money to local business, more to Hollywood).

Not a good value for taxpayers money.

Samsung to probe claims of underage workers, abuse at supplier

Tom 35

So...

We will be around on 9 August to make sure there are no kids working there.

Bet they don't find any kids.

I expect they make advance appointments for the inspections all the time.

Snap suggests Apple out to 'screw' hardware hackers

Tom 35

Re: Assuming this is true...

Ford did try to patent the bolt pattern for their wheels and said they had to do it because some after market wheels were unsafe. Failed.

Even if Apple got a design patent (I expect they could given how things seem to work now) you would only need to use about 3 or 4 of the slots for a screw driver to work.

Tom 35

Ford produced an 8 point star screew

A Canadian Robertson (square) screwdriver fit perfectly.

Security screws are only useful to keep Joe Blow from messing with stuff. I bought a high quality set of screw driver bits for every version I have ever seen and some that I have not (three sided with a pin in the middle?) for $15 at the local tool shop.

Mobile dinosaurs can gain (not just lose) from Over the Top rebellion

Tom 35

You are missing another option that they have used.

Outright blocks, or where they have been told they can't do that, network management to reduce "abusive" data use.

Apple, Amazon, close password door after horse bolts

Tom 35

Banks

My Bank (TD) used to phone me to sell me crap then ask me to prove who I was by giving them personal info.

I would reply with "you called me, prove you are the bank by telling me my mothers maiden name" (and I don't even give them the real one since it can be found in public records).

I sent them a letter telling them just how stupid they were, training their customers to be marks for phone scams. It took a few months for them to stop doing that and switch to just asking for a postal code to make sure they were not calling the wrong number.

Tom 35

Re: Really?

If they are taking your phone for the data the first thing they are going to do is remove the SIM. Same if the cops take your phone.

I lost my last phone some place on the subway (no remote wipe unless someone found it and took it outside, still powered on) and I just called the phone company when I got to work and reported it lost to block the account.

Jimbo Wales: Wikipedia servers in UK? No way, not with YOUR libel law

Tom 35

It takes a particular kind of entrepreneurial genius to fail to make money from web filth.

Really? If it's so easy then whey isn't everyone doing it?

Your saying he had to be stupid to not make money, but I expect it was more likely that he was not scummy and underhanded enough to compete in the porn market.

HP must throw its PC biz overboard to survive, says analyst

Tom 35

UBS Investment Research

Make the stock to up so we can make a killing.

Then it can go down, and down and we can make another killing.

Apple patents shopping lists

Tom 35

Money?

"lack of any obvious way to make money out of such a product"

Just like the restaurant / home reno review sites you just blackmail the stores for a good rating on the system.

Office for ARM will lack features, report claims

Tom 35

So they can cripple the intel version of "Office Home and Student" then they can say that the RT version is the same as the intel version.

Apple: Samsung was in 'crisis' over our iPhone awesomeness

Tom 35
Happy

Re: HeHe...

No, to produce something better then the iPhone and put Apple is in 'crisis'.

France's biggest Apple reseller shuts up shop

Tom 35

Re: hmm

It seems to me that Apple is strangling independent Apple dealers anyplace they have Apple Stores. There were two near here that have been around since the Apple II days, but they are gone now.

New product comes out, they have to agree to buy a large number to get the price they need to compete. But they don't get any until the Apple store and Best Buy (who have lots of stock) have saturated the market.

Scrunched Street View spymobile spied in India

Tom 35

spectacularly

"I'm a little disappointed, if I'm honest, but oh well."

I was expecting something like what you see in an old movie...

Through the guardrail, down a steep embankment, driver jumps at the last second before the car goes off a cliff (it he is the good guy), bursts into flame, crashes into the rocks at the bottom, then explodes, and explodes a few more times just to make sure.

This was hardly spectacular.

Oz regulator tells telly-makers to mind their language

Tom 35

Toshiba in Canada

Put the USB dongle in the box.

So it is WiFi ready, you just have to plug it in. And configure it, and download an upgrade, then find out it's totally useless anyway. But at least you didn't have to pay $140 to find out it's crap like Samsung/Sony and the others.

Microsoft dumps Metro from Windows 8

Tom 35

Re: it's irrelevant

"But did you happen to notice the live tiles?"

Active Desktop 2.0?

The things they just told everyone to turn off in Win7?

Just as useless on a win8 desktop.

Tom 35

Re: They should do it the Apple way...

Metro is also a supermarket in Canada

http://www.metro.ca/index.html

Tom 35

Windows Phone 7?

So it is still a Beta/Alpha release?

Code name? Nice try.

UK judges quietly declare text chat can be obscene

Tom 35

Re: Yes it will

No that's not how it works.

If it's someone with power/friends they will decide there is not much hope of a conviction, tell them dads waiting outside and off you go.

If it's someone they don't like... bang, off to the cells you go.

1. Make it so everyone is breaking the law* by breathing.

2. Use selective enforcement to deal with people you don't like.

*Make sure to use the law first on scum bags that no one will defend. Once the law is established you can use it on anyone you don't like as long as they are not "important".

Oi, missile boffins! Stop ogling web filth at work - Pentagon

Tom 35

Re: Do porn sites still carry malware?

It's more malware sites carry porn.

-Lift some porn from another site.

-Post it on your malware loaded site.

Spam links to free porn, get a few stupid people to install "flash / codec / free stripper on your desktop"

Amount of CO2 being sucked away by Earth 'has doubled in 50 years'

Tom 35

Re: Quote of the week - the FULL quote

You sure it's not ...

"Seeing such variation from decade to decade tells us that we need to observe Earth's carbon cycle for significantly longer periods in order to help us understand what is occurring, but in the meantime, please buy that new Land Rover to create jobs, and crank up the AC it's hot out there!"

The we need to study it more before we do something is the Oil company line, not the Al Gore line.

Licensed to kill: Amazon revamps Cloud Player to take on iTunes

Tom 35

Canada?

Amazon.ca will not even sell us an MP3 (stupid record companies carving up the world) so you Brits are ahead of us Canucks at Amazon.co.uk.

itunes.ca has been around since 2004 so Amazon has a way to go.

Analyst says Surface could hurt Ultrabook, Windows 8 tablets

Tom 35

cannibalise the market for ultrabooks

What market?

The over priced, crappy screen, no one wants one market?

Microsoft RTMs final Windows 8 and Server 2012 code

Tom 35

a new world of scenarios and experiences...

how Windows 8 is Enterprise ready by design...

Next they are going to ask anyone still listing if they want to buy a bridge.