* Posts by HMB

638 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Oct 2010

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Back to the ... drawing board: 'Hoverboard' will disappoint Marty McFly wannabes

HMB

Great Scott!

My hat is off to them. I am almost tempted to get me some copper sulphate and start electro plating!! :P

So MFA maglev, that really going to be possible then? Can we expect a working production train before either HS2 or the perfection of Nuclear Fusion?

I'm not cynical really, I love my tablet, my phone and my computer they struggled to imagine in 1985.

Google: Hey kids, dump all your files over here with us!

HMB

Re: Not a one horse race

You've side stepped the issue that Mega is a paid for service after 50Gb and a certain amount of monthly transfer.

Sure you could trust no one, like in the X-Files, but:

1) So you wont be using cloud storage at all then?

2) If Mega does get caught betraying it's users, the business and the political capital that Kim Dotcom is working to build all goes down the toilet, along with the subscription users concerned about privacy too.

Fundamentally the percentage of us who have the skills *and* time to review code to ensure security is nominally 0%.

So what would you do? I presume you think Edward Snowden's idea of encouraging all developers to use encryption is pointless because we can't trust anyone.

HMB

Not a one horse race

Other services already offer 50 Gb for free and even include client end encryption so there's less snooping. Google is convenient, but not the best.

I'd take Mega's 50 Gb indefinitely over Google's unlimited for a bit.

Apple to unveil new iPads, iMacs and OS X Yosemite on 16 October, claim sources

HMB

I Do Care

I get excited about the prospect of some more innovation, some interesting new features and maybe a few surprises. Granted, it seems like there are less and less party tricks each year, but it's still entertaining.

The big question is though, will they bend? :P

Huawei prez: A one-speed internet is bad for everyone

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Net Neutrality Debate is a Symptom

The whole Net Neutrality Debate is a symptom of a much bigger problem. Capitalism has always required regulation and competition. Regulation stops companies from harming customers, competition keeps companies motivated to offer the customer a good deal.

It appears to me from what I've taken in over the debate that effective monopolies in ISPs are rife in certain areas, covering a very substantial number of people. Competition has been eliminated in some areas and no regulators seem to be up in arms. Of course when you find out the head of the FCC is a former lobbyist for the cable companies it's not a long leap to imagine that the regulator is corrupted.

One of the safeguards appears to be completely gone, that being competition. Now the other safeguard, regulation appears to be under attack.

My TIGHT PANTS made my HUGE iPHONE go all BENDY!

HMB

Re: Is that a phablet in your pocket?

I've carried around a Nexus 5 for almost a year that's only 20.2mm shorter and that's had a few knocks and it's fine. 137.9mm tall instead of 158.1mm (iPhone 6 plus).

4K-ing excellent TV is on its way ... in its own sweet time, natch

HMB

Not Just 4K, but HDR Video

I've been waiting for HDR video for a while, to hear more about it going with 4K is very exciting. I think 10,000 nits HDR will have a much larger wow factor when people see it than the 4K resolution. Good to see things coming along.

As a note, when I talk of HDR I'm not talking about the stuff you see in tone compressed photos, but displays that are capable of showing a much larger colour gamut. It would make things like sunsets and fireworks look far more realistic on display screens.

A SCORCHIO fatboy SSD: Samsung SSD850 PRO 3D V-NAND

HMB

Clickbait

While it's true I wouldn't have clicked the link if I'd have realised the core speed of the drive is pretty much similar to what I already have. I don't need The Register to point out that (not the device itself) RAM is fast. Cheers guys.

Seems a bit like crying wolf to me. Please resist the urge to do this in the future. I like The Register.

Phones 4u slips into administration after EE cuts ties with Brit mobe retailer

HMB

Alternatively, it's online retail with it's much lower costs that has forced high street retailers into a race to the bottom on customer service. Greedy councils and expensive town centre locations are bad enough, but giving customers money back when mistakes happen and employing helpful and knowledgeable people (and paying them enough to keep them) is a lot more expensive than box shifting at a warehouse where anyone thinking of returning something has to be willing to wait on a phone for 15 minutes and pay money to post the item back.

BBC Trust candidate defends licence fee, says evaders are CRIMINALS

HMB

Crap > Distinctive Programming

"BBC produces quality TV that the market can't [comrade]."

Having watched some PBS stuff on Netflix it seems clear to me that it's unfortunately true that the BBC does excel in certain areas. The PBS stuff was good, don't get me wrong, but no one on the PBS documentary about Nikola Tesla tried to explain that shooting power wirelessly through the sky would be an RF nightmare, let alone the possible damage caused by the energy leaking from the system. I'm sure the 'beeb' would have.

But then, it also produces shows that seem to just be re-jigged variations of commercial formats. Why are we all being forced to pay for those?

Seems to me like the BBC is trying to give us just what the market does and then some extra good bits on top. Though when it comes to rationalising this crazy payment system that goes against the core belief of our nation of operating a free market economy, only the extra good bits on top get used to defend the BBC.

I'm sick of being treated like an idiot by these people.

As if to prove my point, I find myself reaching for a BBC clip to prove my point! (Have I Got News For You clip)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRyW6n5699Q

Ericsson punts superfast picocell... for indoor not-spots

HMB

Re: How About

I did sort of get what you said, but I did refer many times to my WTF stock response. I found DAS COW really tipped me over the edge. :P

All I ask is that you flesh it out perhaps a wee bit more for those of us not specialising in back end mobile telephony. :)

And now ... pre-recorded from London: It's the NEWS!

HMB

Not going to be Sycophantic

OK, I'm not going to be sycophantic. I thought that the visuals were pretty poor, but just listening to the audio, it was kind of interesting.

I know one shouldn't take oneself too seriously, but if you make yourself too much of a joke, then no one will take you seriously at all.

Don't be disheartened though, keep the innovation coming. Get that humour / real news balance right and you could end up with gold.

iPHONEY: Fake iPhone 6 images splattered over Chinese internet

HMB

Re: I hope for Apple it is a fake

When the iPhone 4 came out I did feel that it was a beautiful thing. I never bought an iPhone, I felt that the screen was too small. I think the screen size is a large improvement, it's what the market wants, but I can't help thinking that the new iPhone looks like a bastard lovechild of Apple and HTC. To me it's lost it's sexiness in design.

When Apple, the people who really got this party started, when they start imitating their cheaper competitors, what happens then?

This one's going to be an interesting one to watch.

Best reason to buy Apple as far as I see is that they have much more stringent app store 'curation'.

Best reason to buy Android is the exceptional bang for buck on offer and the huge variety of choices.

Best reason to buy Windows Phone is.... erm.... hmmm. To 'think different'? :P

We need less U.S. in our WWW – Euro digital chief Steelie Neelie

HMB

Re: Get your own toys

Well at least in theory, governments are supposed to represent their people. Are you saying that the majority of users of the internet (i.e. not US citizens) don't deserve a say in how they use it?

I sympathise that governments often do a crap job of meddling, but what else are you suggesting, anarchy?

The U.S. has done a wonderful job of creating the internet. CERN (Centre for European Nuclear Research) has done a wonderful job of creating the world wide web.

It's time to grow up and share your toys boys.

Top Gun display for your CAR: Heads-up fighter pilot tech

HMB

Re: So many things to consider.

Good point about refuting.

Pilots have lots and lots of training. They don't have other aircraft jumping out in front of them or traffic lights turning red suddenly as they fly along.

Neither do they have the potential for a facebook app to interface with their HUDs.

Whether it's an improvement or not really depends on what software gets used. If we look past the novelty of it being a HUD, what we're really looking at is buying another smartphone to pair to your smartphone that has the sole job of doing all the things your smartphone could do, but doing them in a way better thought out for driving.

My google voice recognition works well in quiet environments with short requests, but becomes unreliable either with too much background noise (like a motorway) or if I say too much, so if I try and write a text with it. It's for this reason I really don't see Navdy working like you'd hope it would for text messages.

BAD VIBES: High-speed video camera records your voice from trash

HMB

Rolling Shutter FTW

Using the rolling shutter from a regular DSLR at 60fps was both inspired and amazing, very impressive result.

NASA tests crazytech flying saucer thruster, could reach Mars in days

HMB

Re: Is it patented?

I don't think so, but I expect it's already covered by Apple's patent for 'magical effects produced from a shiny metal something'.

UK data watchdog broke data law, says UK data watchdog

HMB

Re: Stop press

"To be fair, being either public or private seems to be absolutely no barrier to being utterly clueless"

Fixed that for you :P

EE rolls out London bus pay-by-bonk app – only fandoids need apply

HMB

Smartphone NFC rocks, but not so much for payments.

I've used a phone to pay by NFC and I've used a debit card to pay by NFC. Honestly, I'd much rather take out my cheap, easily cancelled, easily replaced debit card out my wallet than start tapping my smartphone against payment terminals.

That said, I do enjoy sharing webpages, contacts and the like just by touching my phone against some of my friends phones. It's an exceptionally easy way of sharing data.

I like smartphone NFC, but I don't like it for payments, having actually tried both my phone and my debit card in that role.

You, Verizon. What's with the download throttle? Explain yourself – FCC boss

HMB

Re: A sternly worded letter?

Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing.

"Naughty Verizon! Now say sorry and promise you wont do anything like this again."

Boffins spot weirder quantum capers as neutrons take the high road, spin takes the low

HMB

Re: Great attempt at explaining the unexplainable

I can't say it better than the great man Douglas Adams:

“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”

BitTorrent launches decentralised crypto-fied chat app

HMB

Re: Whenever toast be a croissant and one be loving the COFFEE.*

Ergo, vis à vis, concordantly, something about the Matrix.

Mmmmm croissants.

Robot cars to hit Blighty in 2015

HMB

Re: Unaffected by new laws

Don't get me wrong, most motorists commit speeding offences so they're no angels, but at least most motorists don't drive around at night with their headlights off or drive consistently on the wrong side of the road for no good reason. I even saw some police cycling without proper lighting recently!!

When I was cycling I wasn't perfect but I did bother to put lights on my bike front and rear.

I realise I'm sounding like a cliché.

BMW's ConnectedDrive falls over, bosses blame upgrade snafu

HMB

Re: Confession time

I really hope you're trolling there Natalie Gritpants.

I've always felt that using the motorway properly, keeping to the left and using all other lanes as overtaking lanes, genuinely makes for a more interesting drive. If I were to keep in one lane constantly and was not required to pay a lot of attention to other traffic I think I'd find motorway driving quite dull and tedious, as it happens there's always plenty to overtake and plenty of bad habbits, absent indicating and dick manoeuvres to bitch about. I don't have dull motorway journeys.

THUD! WD plonks down SIX TERABYTE 'consumer NAS' fatboy

HMB

Re: Storage cost

Around 12 years ago I had a dream of a crazy RAID setup at home that would give me 2TB of storage. I'm going loosely off memory here, but I think it would have been around 8-10 250 Gb drives.

The advantage it offered me was to allow me to erm... record many more TV shows from my TV Capture card.

I thought about the prospect of spending around £1,500 on the exciting and exotic setup before realising that actually, I really didn't need that much data storage and it was a really expensive way of saving TV shows. I also reasoned that it wouldn't be all that long before that sort of capacity was available in one drive.

I'm glad I spent my money in more useful ways now.

Oh girl, you jus' didn't: Level 3 slaps Verizon in Netflix throttle blowup

HMB

Re: Verizon can STFU & FOAD, Kthxbai.

WOW! All of a sudden Bastard Telecom, I mean British Telecom, I mean BT, possibly BT Wholesale, maybe BT Openreach...

They don't look quite so bad after all.

Cops nab suspect using CREEPY facial recog system

HMB

Re: Sorry about this..

I think AC's understandable confusion is around why anyone, guilty or innocent would want to agree to something like that and perhaps a concern that the police might use some sort of coercion to get people to agree.

"Ok Mr Criminal, do you mind if we save your photos?"

"Yes, I do mind, don't do it please."

"Oh come on! Go on..."

Personally if someone's walking round with the name of Mr Criminal I think they're asking for trouble.

This whole scenario makes me think of another one Eddie Izzard raised.

"Cake or death?"

"Cake please."

HMB

You're right about witness testimony, but human eyes are very impressive optically. It's taken a very long time to develop display and recording technologies that are as good as they are and we're still some way away from fooling a TV viewer into the notion that the images on their TV look absolutely real.

I'll agree with you on your other points though.

Don't panic! Mega cloud biz group says NSA just one among many threats

HMB

No Mega?

I was honestly thought there was going to be something about Mega from the title. I know mega.co.nz runs on trust in their code, but considering the founder got illegally raided by the US it would seem he has motive to produce good code.

I like the idea of my data in the cloud not being completely transparent to the companies running the cloud service.

I suppose if I wanted to attack Mega I'd work on getting the private key in the SSL and subverting the software sent to a client with a man in the middle attack.

If I can think my way through a possible attack on the most secure public service I know, it really doesn't say much for the integrity of cloud infrastructure.

Live in the middle of nowhere? CONGRATS. Some of you can pay EE for 4G

HMB

Re: Top Tip

Mobile networks : Make 1G work first.

Boffins invent LUMINOUS PIGS again, glow-in-dark bacon sarnies presumably imminent

HMB

It's not a launchpad, it's an impetus applicator... interesting. :)

Microsoft: Here, we'll make it easy for you Gmail lot. Meet our Outlook.com movers

HMB

Re: Change of address

"Perhaps using IE instead of Firefox would help but who would want that?"

Hey, did you know they've released newer versions since IE 8? Have you actually tried them, or is that sort of statement like a reflex reaction?

I use IE10 all the time to watch 4oD when it fails to work properly on Chrome because of some weird issue with Chrome's built in flash. I find it a fast and competent web browser with excellent rendering speed. I'd switch to IE11 but I'm a bit annoyed at Microsoft for having removed simulation of old browsers from IE's development tools.

That's right guys, web developers don't all hate IE any more.

It's a brave new world.

BlackBerry rejected Justin Bieber as brand ambassador

HMB

Funny Story But...

It is a funny story, but it's an amusing side anecdote. Marketing only works when the product does too. They may well have caught up, but.... perhaps too late.

It's like my Nan quotes from Shakespeare:

"And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard their Currents turn awry, And lose the name of Action."

It's very unusual she quotes from Shakespeare, I guess the quote must have particular resonance for her.

Three offers free US roaming, confirms stealth 4G rollout

HMB

Re: [Why do I ever want 4G - can someone remind me?]

Nifty did a great job, but I'll put my twopence in.

4G is a higher capacity shared medium than 3G. Whichever way you cut it, that's more reliable, harder to congest and faster. What's not to love about that?

4G has been designed for much lower latencies for a snappier, faster experience even if you only had the same bandwidth as with 3G. Why would anyone not want a lower ping? I love quick response times.

I can't wait for 3's 4G rollout.

HMB

Re: 5GB for £26/month

Quite.

If you were able to get EE's doublespeed 4G with their starting allowance of 500 Mb for £21 a month (SIM only) you could burn through it at top speed (60 Mbps) in 66.6 seconds before empty.

60 Mbps = 7.5 MB/s

500 MB / 7.5MB/s = 66.667 s

It's such a shame Kevin Bacon never starred in Gone in 60 Seconds.

At least the 5GB will last you 10 minutes :D

Personally I want more than 10 minutes of data a month.

HMB

Re: There is a reason why it's free...

You know what, you're kind of right. Do I choose between great customer service over the phone, or a great network without data limits?

Hmm.... What will I be doing the most of?.... Support calls or using the service?

I'm going to pick the better network! Wait... I already did!

In my experience 3 run a cracking network unless you're in rural Scotland, then it gets ropey.

I think they're the most competitive network so long as you don't need hand holding too much. I keep my dealings with their support to the minimum.

They also seem to be the only network not seeing 4G as a cash cow, but as a way to really strengthen their product. They seem to realise that a stronger product will lead them into a stronger position. I like their style. It's seems to be engineering lead rather than marketing lead.

Bitcoin value breaks $1,000 barrier in FRENZIED HYPEGASM

HMB

Ending In Tears?

I love bitcoin, but it wasn't a finalised production piece of software, if only in distribution. Maybe that's changed now, anyone can feel free to update me, but when I was using it, the windows download was an unsigned executable. There are big chinks in the guarantee of the software's integrity on the client side (not disputing the impressiveness of the cryptography, but it's only as strong as it's weakest link).

I think the biggest currency theft in history is not a question of if, but when.

Serious concerns.

Microsoft releases wonderfully loopy experimental GIF-jiggler

HMB

Re: HTML5 ?

"You mean, there is equivalent animation processing technology in HTML5 standard?

Wow, I'm impressed. Wonder what next will W3C standardize - voice control perhaps?"

There doesn't have to be, you can do your own implementation with canvas and javascript.

MY EYES! Earth engulfed by BRIGHTEST EVER killer gamma-ray burst

HMB

Re: > so bright ... because it was so close to Earth

"Indeed. And the actual event happened over 3 billion years ago :D"

This is true.

Come on reg! More up to date reporting please!

Wintel must welcome Androitel and Chromtel into cosy menage – Intel

HMB

Cheap as Chips?

Intel don't sell their latest chips cheap. If the Nexus 5 had an Intel chip, it might have been £395. Look at how much they nobbled the atom platform (Netbooks limited to 2GB RAM) just because they were afraid of their low price experiment cutting into the desktop share.

China bets the house on LTE TDD

HMB

Re: Gives the standard momentum??

If other countries decided to use it too? You mean like the UK? You're looking for the unpaired 2.6Ghz slot in the recent 4G Auctions.

I find TDD intriguing, I just hope it's efficiency compares well against FDD when links are loaded and that upload doesn't become too much of a second class citizen.

Brit graphene maker poised to go public: Yes, wonder stuff WILL float

HMB

Re: That's not graphene!

I think we might be venturing into the 'little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing' zone.

I'm not a graphene expert, but I imagine that graphite is a lot more of a patchy sandwich of small 'graphene like' pieces. Also if in graphite there are occasional stray carbon to carbon bonds, it will change the structure of the carbon 'sheet'. Layering graphene together could have radically different properties to graphite.

Also at this level, intermolecular forces will keep the layers stuck together (just not with a huge amount of strength).

Decades ago, computing was saved by CMOS. Today, no hero is in sight

HMB

Re: DRAMA!!!!

Dear stu 4,

Until you started swearing, I found reading your message in a Sheldon Cooper voice worked quite well for me.

Software quality is often something you could contrast sharply with say, the quality of bridge engineering. I think if you assume software engineers are all idiots, you have cast yourself perilously close to the label you are so happy slapping on other people.

I feel that a more enlightened, less aggressive approach to the subject might simply be to realise that the economic decision by managers of what is "good enough" dictates the entire culture of an engineering discipline. The balance between cost and product quality is determined by people trying to get a feel for what customers will accept.

Software that crashes occasionally but allows productive work to be done is somewhat tolerated. Bridges that fall down occasionally killing hundreds of people are frowned upon.

Getting it right on the second attempt: Sony Xperia Z1

HMB

Re: Zoom?

Did you just criticise it for having a high megapixel count and then say that you understood why the Lumia has a high megapixel count?

London businesses to signal UNSWERVING LOYALTY to capital with .london domain

HMB

Re: For me, a good sign

I rather like the idea that every country (yes including you America) get's it's own TLD and then decides how it wants to do things after that.

Placenames as TLDs are going to work real well right up until someone realises that there's a Birmingham in Alabama as well as England. There's a Sutton in Surrey and one in the West Midlands. All of a sudden that meaning behind the TLD becomes a bit more vague.

TOQ of the TOWN: A second screen for the second screen. Third screen?

HMB

Didn't Get the Memo

Nothing ruins a sleek, neat design like a logo. There's a reason you don't see an apple logo on the front of an iPhone or the Google brand on the front of a new Nexus.

Brit ISPs ordered to add more movie-streaming websites to block list

HMB

The Big Five

I've always found it being the big five who are asked to do these blocks quite fascinating. It's a really interesting decision. I certainly don't want to knock it in any way, but it somewhat amuses me that the most determined freetard™ will simply seek other ISPs such as plusnet.

"Judge encourages ISP market diversity by blocking certain sites from the most popular ISPs" - Just an amusing notion.

BROADBAND will SAVE THE ECONOMY, shriek UK.gov bods

HMB

Short term gain, long term pain

"Frankly, all this hand-wringing about BT having a monopoly on rural broadband is utter bollocks."

LTE may challenge that somewhat, but I can't think of any other providers in rural areas. I'm with plus.net (owned by BT) who can't offer me anything other than ADSL 1 because of decisions made by BT Wholesale who supply the service.

I hear what you're saying. You want broadband and you don't care if you have to play tonsil hockey with the devil to get it, but history teaches us that monopolies don't work in favour of the consumer. If you don't believe this I'd suggest you look into it. It's not just you affected by these decisions.

Short term gain, long term pain. Yay!

BT jabbed by ad watchdog AGAIN over fibre deployment fibs

HMB

Legen.....

(Wait for it)

I remember I tried to get regular FTTC Infinity once, after the engineer who was already hooked up across the street came round to install the line, I was told that it wasn't in my area (after a month or two of back and forth). Then BT tried to bill me for a cancelled contract to the tune of £576 or something. Ended up getting Virgin in the end, took them a week to get it working without trouble.

....dary .... Legendary.

Bless you BT, bless you.

Cisco: We'll open-source our H.264 video code AND foot licensing bill

HMB

Google Chrome Undead H264 Support

Ladies and Gentlemen....

Once again, for your amusement I present the fabulous, undead, zombie for your fascination and curiosity....

Chrome (on Windows at least) still hasn't stopped supporting H264 without any drama:

Quirksmode HTML5 Video Test

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