* Posts by Matthew 3

432 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Jun 2009

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Apple tackles iPhone lock-up cockup with iOS 7.0.2

Matthew 3

Re: Battery life?

Batteries do perform more poorly over time. Just pop off the back cover and replace it with a new battery.

Oh yes, Apple device. Hmm, sorry, you're stuck with it.

WHY didn't Microsoft buy RIM? Us business blokes would have queued for THAT phone

Matthew 3

I agree with your conclusion: Microsoft should have bought RIM. But in my opinion they ruled it out because it's so widely perceived as failing that they didn't want to be associated with it.

It's a shame as RIM do still have plenty of USPs that nobody else has. Personally I think a Windows Phone, with toys like BBM and the end-to-end encryption plus all of the centralised server management gubbins, would be well worth having.

Did nobody mention to them that BlackBerry Enterprise Server also needs you to buy client access licences for all the business features? Microsoft really like selling licences. I'm sure that would have persuaded them.

OK, so we paid a bill late, but did BT have to do this?

Matthew 3

Another tale of woe - that's in the customer's favour

My parents recently moved house and had BT transfer phone and broadband to the new address.

Then a 'sorry to hear you're leaving us' letter arrived. They weren't changing providers.

BT investigated. Apparently. The conclusion was that they'd been 'slammed'. But, after weeks, it turns out they hadn't. They're still with BT and always were. But all this cocking around means that nobody has asked for any money. So my parents have the wonderful situation of free telephony and broadband until BT realise that they're the ones providing the service.

A letter to the chairman's office saying 'I'd like to pay for my services' finally elicited a response but still -four months on - they won't take any money...

How to get a Raspberry Pi to take over your Robot House

Matthew 3

Re: Reg ongoing feature?

"Currently it's a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist"

As someone who is desperate for people in Sezchuan province, China to be able to use their computer to turn my lights on and off, there's a pressing need for this right now.

Holiday HELL: Pourquoi, monsieur, why is there no merdique Wi-Fi here?

Matthew 3

Re: Schiphol

Advice for you: don't follow it up with 'Get ready for a surprise!'

Are you for reel? How the Compact Cassette struck a chord for millions

Matthew 3

Re: Fascinating article

But I'm still awaiting the explanation of how every tape left in a car for more than a fortnight could mutate into a 'Best of Queen' compilation.

Behind the candelabra: Power cut sends Britain’s boxes back to the '70s

Matthew 3

Re: Indeed...

A, er, friend of mine once wanted to print a document while working at a US army base in Germany.

Ignoring the odd-looking mysterious black box next to the printer he found a spare IEC lead and plugged in the (US-voltage) Laserjet. It did actually start a self-test before the smoke started and the lights went out for the whole building.

Several scary-looking men with guns weren't impressed with me. Er, I mean him.

Boffins lay bare exotic Lara Croft meteorite element ununpentium

Matthew 3

So the Americans will either be calling it 'ununpentum' or 'elerum' then?

Nissan promises to sell self-driving cars by 2020

Matthew 3

"...25 years and legally you won't be able to go on the road without it."

Probably not, since the cost of all those new cars (let alone the environmental cost of destroying millions of old-but-still-working classic cars) would be prohibitive. There's plenty of us out there who are quite fond of some of those old-fashioned machines.

But I suspect that once the self-driving cars' liability issues are resolved it'll cost a lot more to insure a human to do the driving.

Climate change made sea levels fall in 2010 and 2011

Matthew 3

Re: I'm sure that there'l be a variety of amusing commentary here ...

"near unanimous" sounds a bit unequivocal if you're going to use that as your justification for the words "simple proven fact".

Windows NT: Remember Microsoft's almost perfect 20-year-old?

Matthew 3

I remember awaiting with bated breath the update from NT 3.5 to the (far more usable) NT3.51, on which I got my first MCSE. That was before the dumbing down of MCSE bootcamps of course. It's like they say about school exams now: far harder in the old days! ;-)

Android detective explains Bitcoin borkage breadcrumbs

Matthew 3

Re: Random numbers

This was a feature on BlackBerries. (remember them?) You used to be asked to move around the trackball-thingy™ which generated genuinely random data.

UK gov's smart meter dream unplugged: A 'colossal waste of cash'

Matthew 3

Mobile signal?

If it relies on the mobile phone network what will they do where the signal isn't good enough?

Presumably the tinfoil hat wearers will just, er, wrap the meter in tinfoil anyway to block 'them' from doing whatever nefarious things it is that 'they' might do.

Graphical front ends for PowerShell? Here's a couple for you

Matthew 3

Efficiency

Personally I quite like this way of working. I can still do most things via the GUI and the majority of wizards show the actual Powershell command that they're going to execute at the end.

Having a GUI present you with the Powershell is a great way to get a feel for it (and also see if the shell command might be quicker and easier next time). I'm no scripting expert but I'm building up a bank of scripts / commands which is, slowly, improving my skill.

Ultimately you should end up with the flexibility of both systems - GUI and shell - and hopefully the skill to use whichever is most appropriate.

Are driverless cars the death knell of the motor biz?

Matthew 3

Smokers...

...will still want their own car, where the Health & Safety people haven't (yet) prevented them from practising their vice.

Universities teach us a thing or two about BYOD

Matthew 3

Re: Eduroam, and similar

"I suspect that the reason is management. The institutions are clearly in the hands of the academics, and the IT people are clearly expected to provide a working system"

You're right that it's down to how it's managed but it's primarily because most academics respect the skills and experience of their IT staff just as we're expected to respect their knowledge in their field.

Out in the corporate world IT is seen only as a cost that reduces profit margins, rather than a crucial part of the infrastructure.

Matthew 3

Eduroam is an amazing achievement and it's nice to see it getting some well-deserved kudos.

Microsoft to switch off MSN TV

Matthew 3

Sad way to learn

...that this service existed by hearing of its demise. Seems to be happening a lot recently.

Hitch climate tax to the actual climate, says top economist

Matthew 3

Re: Fine in theory. Crap in practice

We're already paying climate-change taxes in the UK.

With this idea you could at least be sure that the taxes you're asked to pay are directly linked to the outcome of the activity, rather than the current arbitrary government-decided number.

That's why they won't change to this system.

Mastercard and Visa block payments to Swedish VPN firms

Matthew 3

Time for a new credit card firm?

They could even resurrect the name 'Access'. Several shops around here still have that logo in their window.

The future of cinema and TV: It’s game over for the hi-res hype

Matthew 3

Re: orly

If you'd like to see the effect of alternating current on a filament bulb take a look at The Slow Mo guys' video. Well worth a look.

Julian Assange: I'm quite happy to sleep on Ecuador's sofa FOREVER

Matthew 3

Re: His legal status.

More importantly does his current status explain why the trademark on his name has lapsed? I'm sure that every previous El Reg article quotes him as Julian Assange™.

Flash flaw potentially makes every webcam or laptop a peephole

Matthew 3

Re: Let's get, err ...practical

Good question and one I'd like to know the answer to.

Chrome and Firefox are planet-wreckers, IE cuddles dolphins

Matthew 3

Re: A few points:

I've used lots of browsers over the years and not one of them has asked for a prick measurement. Are you sure that you're visiting the right websites?

The only Waze is Google: Ad giant tipped to gobble map app 'for $1.3bn'

Matthew 3

Not strictly accurate

"Waze offers nothing more than the text messages sent by people stuck in traffic to local radio stations for the DJs to read out"

That's not quite right - by capturing the data about the current speed at which a Waze user is travelling on a road it can display that as accurate realtime travel speed for others. Waze users do have the option of reporting a holdup but that's not required for Waze to collect beneficial data.

I've found it to be very accurate at reporting what speed I can expect to do on a particular rush-hour road.

Doctor Who? 12th incarnation sought after Matt Smith quits

Matthew 3

...

and more jelly babies.

My, my Pi, did it spy ya? Bye, bye Pi, did it go higher?

Matthew 3

Re: Air traffic safety

I know the associated story has been debunked by Snopes but, still, I have to add:

"Thaw the chickens first".

Oi, Google! Stop LIBELLING us Germans, fix your autocomplete

Matthew 3

Re: "online nutritional supplement and cosmetics company"

...one must assume we're dealing with a small aquatic bird from the anatidae family.

Your Flying Car? Delayed again, but you WILL get it, says Terrafugia

Matthew 3

Re: Trouble is ...

"...my airspace"?

When you're on the ground do you drive an Audi by any chance?

ZX Spectrum cassette player lost? There's an app for that

Matthew 3

Re: Cause to dig the speccy out I reckon

"I still find the screechy white noise comforting in a way."

I was startled to realise that my kids had never heard dial-up internet either.

Plans for fully 3D-printed gun go online next week

Matthew 3

Mixed up with toys

At the moment a plastic kids' toy gun is obviously not the real thing. With these out there it might become a bit harder to be certain what's what. I predict that someday a young kid will be shot for playing with a toy gun, just in case it isn't.

Matthew 3

Re: Keep calm and carry on hysterizing!

"... there had been 33 mass shootings from 1983-2013, IE more than 1 a year."

That browser has a lot to answer for...

How did something so small and pink cause so much trouble?

Matthew 3

Re: Drifting slightly OT ....

There was a similar story posted by Bill Bryson about a chap who couldn't get the US authorities to understand that he only had nine fingers. The 'system' wasn't equipped to cope with less than ten prints.

Plusnet's 'Everyone's a winner' claim is a plus-sized whopper

Matthew 3

Re: [sic]

Shouldn't the footnote be 'sic erat scriptum'?

(Not trying to be arsey - I just googled your Latin quote as I'd only ever seen it as [sic] before. That's what I was offered as a correction)

One of the world's oldest experiments crawls towards a fall

Matthew 3

Re: Save Time - Turn up the Heating!

Or just wait. Global warming will do the job eventually. I would add 'if you're patient' but in this instance that would be pretty much mandatory.

Climate-cooling effect 'stronger than volcanoes' is looking solid

Matthew 3

Re: Green Tax Refund

If you look a little more carefully, the distribution costs have gone up. By quite a lot.

It's almost as if there was a need to run pylons and cable to all sorts of out-of-the-way places to connect up wind turbines... By creatively allocating that cost to 'distribution' - without explaining why the cost has gone up - they can make it look like it's nothing to do with green policies.

Factor in that bit too and it's a lot more than ten percent.

Web minister Maria Miller: UK WILL hit 2015 broadband target

Matthew 3

Some self-help options

As someone who suffered with a mere 0.5Mbps (surely a breach of fundamental human rights these days?) there are some things you can do yourself to improve things. I managed to get up to the heady heights of 3.5Mbps by moving my router to the BT master socket and disconnecting the redundant bell-wire from my phone extensions. A better quality router did the rest.

If none of those help my council are saying that rural locations with a school have a higher priority and will get fibre first (because of the high cost of their existing connections). Might be worth bearing in mind if you're moving house in the next twelve months.

Ready for the car 2.0? Nvidia preps UPGRADABLE car system

Matthew 3

Hacking/viruses?

Exciting though this is I really hope that they've thought about security. The idea of needing antivirus/antimalware in my car is a scary prospect.

Are biofuels Europe's sh*ttiest idea ever?

Matthew 3

Re: Another carbon reduction failure

"out of single-occupancy motor vehicles and onto bikes, public transport, and car-pooling."

Living in a rural area with a long commute, none of those work for me. What we need are employers who accept that encouraging working from home is a sensible idea. It would reduce congestion, reduce carbon emissions, saving time and energy. But the mindset that you're somehow skiving is what needs to go.

Matthew 3

Worries me too

When lead was removed from petrol there was supposed to be some kind of similar proviso for older engines which couldn't cope with unleaded fuel. Using the availability of that as an indicator I think I can see what will happen here too.

Antarctic ice sheet melt 'not that unusual', latest ice core shows

Matthew 3

Re: Forty three feet! Golly.

If they're bright it will be a floating HQ. But it better be a long way away from the French if it is.

Remember Streetmap? It's suing Google in a UK court

Matthew 3

Re: Streetmap is superior

"Google also insisted the hotel I sought was in a nearby street, whereas both the others took me to the front door."

Are you sure you're thinking of Google? This sounds a lot more like Apple.

Matthew 3

Re: I remember streetmap...

For my purposes Open Streetmap is better - and more accurate - than Google or Streetmap.

Being popular doesn't allow you to sit back for the rest of eternity. Even Google may be outfoxed one day.

NASA-backed fusion engine could cut Mars trip down to 30 days

Matthew 3

Re: Astonishing and nice!

"We might become a rep-Warp civilization in under 200 years, maybe even 100..."

We have to have it done by 2063. Someone with the right surname needs to get busy and make sure there's a lad called Zefram around at the right time.

French spies do a Barbara Streisand over secret nuke radio base

Matthew 3

Re: Listen very carefully

I'll concede that it's possible that there is a Machiavellian agenda behind this action. But bitter experience and a combination of healthy cynicism and scepticism suggest otherwise.

I can think of plenty of embarrassing governmental revelations that no amount of effort have been able to suppress. A US President couldn't even manage to hide a clandestine BJ from an intern for heaven's sake!

Documents revealed after thirty (or more) years of being blocked don't generally reveal successful plots either. Think of corruptible civil servants, deliberate leaks and lost laptops. Add in prospective whistleblowers, if the plot is against the public interest, and there's an awful lot working against secrecy.

German boffins aim to burn natural gas - WITHOUT CO2 emissions

Matthew 3

Re: That's FLÜMBLAR, please!

We don't like umlauts because they roll off and cause unnecessary punctuation.

Egyptian navy captures divers trying to cut undersea internet cables

Matthew 3

Re: An alternative is to tell fishermen to ...

#HashtagsDon'tDoAnythingHereExceptShowAnAbsenceOfSpacesBetweenWords.

Swedish linguists nix new word after row with Google

Matthew 3

Re: huh

So 'Heroin' lost trademark status because Bayer stopped protecting it?

Reg man goes time travelling at iconic observatory

Matthew 3

Brian Cox?

I seem to recall a comment from him clarifying that he was inviting someone "...TO Jodrell Bank, not for A Jodrell Bank"

Stephen Fry explains… Alan Turing's amazing computer

Matthew 3

Tommy Flowers

Glad to see you mentioned him. There's a chap who deserves a damn sight more credit than he gets.

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