* Posts by IsJustabloke

881 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Dec 2010

Nikola Tesla's greatest challenge: He could measure electricity but not stupidity

IsJustabloke
Trollface

Yes it should...

"Let's start by programming vehicle AI to more accurately identify country & western singers"

Then it can change channels

While everyone coos at the promise of 5G, UK network Three asks if it can tempt you with 4G+

IsJustabloke
Thumb Up

Interesting...

I have to say I've not got any complaints about Three. I generally find their signal and data rates to be spot on. There are a couple of places around where I live that no operator seems to get a signal in.

of course, with Three I also get the added benefit of using my phone abroad as though I'm at home. I travel quite a lot so that's important to me

Sensor failure led to Soyuz launch failure, says Roscosmos

IsJustabloke
Trollface

Re: spacecraft design

"I don't think there is really another alternative layout for a reusable rocket launched winged craft"

Well Gerry Anderson would disagree!

Mourning Apple's war against sockets? The 2018 Mac mini should be your first port of call

IsJustabloke

ummmm....

"over-priced peddled trash"

over priced... possibly

trash...I think not.

if it's not for you then that's fine but I don't really get why you're so angry that some people like their kit.

The Chinese are here: Xiaomi to bring phones to the UK next month

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: If this was five years ago...

"I bought a Sony Xperia.. never again."

I know we can only speak as we find BUT...

I had an Xperia Z1 that suffered premature battery drainage problems after about 15 months. I contacted Sony to see what it would cost to have it replaced. The website told me it was still under warranty, here's a shipping label, I sent it off as per instructions , it was returned to me repaired within a week. At no point did I talk to an actual human. I couldn't fault any part of the service. Pretty sure I could have walked into a SONY shop and got equally good service.

Amazon is at this point a money-printing cloud machine with a grocery store in the parking lot

IsJustabloke
Trollface

Re: "Possibly Pay TV should not have exclusives on live sport"

"And there's no constitutional right to free football or whatever."

'm pleased its behind a paywall , makes it easy for me to avoid

Sorry friends, I'm afraid I just can't quite afford the Bitcoin to stop that vid from leaking everywhere

IsJustabloke
WTF?

Re: Racist?

in what way?

I honestly can't see anything racist about it. Are scammers a "race" now? I

Yes, Americans, you can break anti-piracy DRM if you want to repair some of your kit – US govt

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Some justice is still available for The People

The country you're talking about never really existed.

try watching "The Vietnam war by ken Burns" and you'll see it was just as insane 50 years ago.

Leaked memo: No internet until you clean your bathroom, Ecuador told Julian Assange

IsJustabloke
Meh

yes but...

"he'd be a free man by now"

he'd also be a forgotten footnote in the history of twats.

And he'd never be happy with that.

The new Huawei is going upmarket, but the old Huawei still threatens

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: The real challenge for Huawei

Innovation is not now and never has been a strength of the Chinese.

They are however excellent at taking an existing product, making incremental tweaks to it and producing it at a prices considerably cheaper than the inspiration.

Chinese companies play to these strengths superbly.

Huawei's Watch GT snubs Google for homegrown OS

IsJustabloke
Happy

Hmmmm....

I really liked my Huawei watch... it did all I wanted it to do plus a bunch of stuff I had no interest in.. (making a phone call from it, play music with it) but in the time I had it (2 months) wearOS updates broke it twice. The last time permanently nothing I could do would repair the phone integration. The Huawei stuff like fitness tracking all worked brilliantly and the companion app was superb as well.

I've got a Garmin Vivoactive 3 and have found it to be flakey as fuck in comparison. I might take a look at one of these.

Huawei Mate 20 series: China's best phone, but a pricey proposition

IsJustabloke
Thumb Up

Re: Painting lasers on Samsung

"Has the P20 been getting monthly Google security updates"

My P20 Pro has been

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

Oh dear...

I bet it's rubbish"

There speaks a bloke who knows literally nothing about photography despite knowing the word Bokeh.

If you think all mobile phones produce rubbish images you're not using it right, still if you ever learn to get out of auto mode you may begin to understand.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave me tea... pigs-in-blankets-flavoured tea

IsJustabloke
Trollface

Sprouts Are little green globes of gorgeousness!

They also make excellent substitutes for Ferraro Roche chocolates when wrapped in the carefully removed wrappers from actual Ferraro Roche choccies and given out on Halloween :)

I find the parents think it's hilarious, the kids not so much but there's nothing in the rules that says my "treats" can't also be "tricks"

Uncle Sam gives itself the right to shoot down any drone, anywhere, any time, any how

IsJustabloke
Trollface

Re: "Credible Threat"

"How exactly do you shoot down a drone, with a pistol?"

Hollywood shoots down all kinds of shit with a pistol

Perfect timing for a two-bank TITSUP: Totally Inexcusable They've Stuffed Up Payday

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Dosh Recovery

@Ac

The problem is that there are fewer actual banks to go into, those that do have very limited amounts of cash to hand and in a lot of cases the staff don't actually have access to the cash

I want to buy a coffee with an app – how hard can it be?

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

Re: In view of the site preferences

@Daedalus

down voted for the use of "no problemo"

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Try travelling with First Bus and their (cr)app

"I just dredged up enough change for the return ticket I wanted."

I had to get off a bus I'd hailed recently because there was no way for it to give me change. :/ It would be fair to say I got several dirty looks as the bus drove away

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Try travelling with First Bus and their (cr)app

The fact that you have to pay a higher price and that it continually fails at their (presumably) busiest time leads me to believe that behaviour is by design.

Developer goes rogue, shoots four colleagues at ERP code maker

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

Remember folks - You can and should form an opinion from facts

Well, the *fact* is I read headlines about mass shootings taking place in the US considerably more often than I do of mass shootings in other countries.

why do you think it is?

IsJustabloke
Stop

Re: A gun is involved in every single mass shooting.

"The US has a problem with violence and mental illness"

Just stop right there.... the vast majority of people that have mental health issues do NOT and are not violent.

I don't have a gun, I don't know anyone with a gun, none of my neighbours have guns.... none of their friends have guns... how many gun deaths do you think there were in my neighbourhood?

It really doesn't matter how you try and justify it the US has a problem with violence and a ready availability of guns. full stop.

Man cuffed for testing fruit with bum cheek pre-purchase

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

It's a bum rap, copper!

"A loss prevention employee"

FFS...

They probably can't spell "security guard"

Amazon probes alleged bribery of staffers for data on e-tail platform

IsJustabloke
Thumb Down

Amazon...

perhaps they could consider paying their staff a proper wage and treating them as actual people adn then this problem would mostly go away.

NHS smacks down hundreds of staffers for dodgy use of social media, messaging apps

IsJustabloke
Stop

Re: Policing private life?

I got the impression that these were groups setup specifically for use as a communications tool for work rather than Nurse Gladys' private facebook page

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

Re: deeper than that

"I can't see how that passes the confidentiality test"

don't really see how that's an issue unless they're posting things like "Look at this picture of Valeyard with a wotsit up his bum!" lolz

Trump shouldn't criticise the news media, says Amazon's Jeff Bezos

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

well....

@RobertLongshaft

Yes, he's President but doesn't mean he isn't a Racist, sexist misogynist

World Cup TV sales offset dip in computing demand says Dixons Carphone

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Going forward....

"in the absence of a World Cup"

Or possibly they'll be boosted by European Cup? And there'll be an Olympics in a couple of years too.

I suspect they're all very traditional times for people to upgrade their TVs.

Software dev-turned-councillor launches rubbish* chatbot

IsJustabloke
Facepalm

Re: FFS

"Which neatly brings us back to why councils should stop encouraging the fly tipping in the first place and simply reinstate the services we're all still paying for but no longer receive. Weekly rubbish collections and open access to the tip / recycling centre."

The vast majority of fly tipping is by individuals claiming to be "commercial enterprises" (at least round my way it is and everyone knows exactly who's responsible for the "do as you likey") that offer cheap clearance to ordinary people, the reason it's cheap is because they don't pay commercial rates for disposal at the local tip.

The problem would go away (as with a lot of issues) if people were willing to pay the going rate and were always asking to see the carriers licence but they're not (mostly) and as long as that is the case no amount of "local council doing this or that" will make any kind of difference.

I don't know where you live but there is no restricted access to the tip round my way (beyond normal business hours) and they operate 12 hours a day / 7 days a week. I'm actually spoilt for choice there are 3 state of the art recycling centers with easy reach of me.

I still get weekly bin collections, alternative weeks are for different types of rubbish but there is a weekly collection.

So really your argument really doesn't stand examination and simply saying "local council deal with it!" is a bloody stupid argument in the first place because we all pay for the services supplied by our local council.

Apple leaks rekindle some hope for iPhone 'supercycle' this year

IsJustabloke
Thumb Down

Re: I've said this before

"As it is, the flaw - the compromise - of "top up battery during day if near desk or car, else use battery pack" is one that a lot of people find preferable to the alternative compromises."

Is that right?

My Xperia Z1 lasted 1.5 days no problem, in a time when most other phones barely made it a day. I got nearly 2 days out of my Honor 8 and I get 2 days out of my P20 pro. I don't sit at my desk with it on charge, I don't get in my car and immediately plug it in... and I definitely don't plug it in when I'm at home because it's hardly a "mobile phone" if it has to be tethered to a charger at every opportunity.

I do all the things with my phone that others do... web, mail, take pictures, make calls. I don't compromise my usage in anyway. It's entirely possible.

Unpicking the Pixel puzzle: Why Google is struggling to impress

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: (whispers) Google aren't a very good product company ...

it's equally fair to say...

"Apples idea of "marketing" is clearly "This is what we sell. Now buy it.Don't like <feature> ? Tough. That's how we do it.""

So I don't think your point stands. The reality is that people associate Google with "free" (as in beer) and being asked to pay a grand on a phone doesn't make sense to them.

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Conspiracy theory.

@Loud Speakers.. indeed.

It's the same reviewers who cry out in abject horror that device A is 1.2mm thicker than device B and immediately state that device A is shit and unusable as a result but then complain about battery capacity in the same review

Connected car data handover headache: There's no quick fix... and it's NOT just Land Rovers

IsJustabloke
Meh

Since Mercedes-Benz is not always aware that the vehicle is sold

I think that's bollocks.

I've said previously, that FIAT always seem to know when I've bought or sold one of their cars (FIATS and Alfas) the FIAT Security register is always updated with the correct details.

EU wants one phone plug to rule them all. But we've got a better idea.

IsJustabloke
FAIL

Re: EU Standard plug

"The new wiring mandates that a spur must be connected to a trip switch and contain no more than three to eight wall sockets"

Whereas here in the UK a spur can have no more than one socket attached to it unless the spur is itself fused.

IsJustabloke
WTF?

WTF do you people do with your cables?

In all the years I've been using various flavours of USB cables I've *never* had one fail and I've never had a *charging port fail. WTF are you doing to your **cables?

* I know this means all my cables will fall apart tonight

** I have no experience with Apple cables

Ad watchdog: Amazon 'misleading' over Prime next-day delivery ads

IsJustabloke
Megaphone

Re: The Prime Directive

to date I've had 5 "prime trials" I see no reason not to make use of the benefits if they're willing to give them to me for free, I stat the trial and immediately cancel it.

In exactly the same way that I see no reason not to make use of "interest free periods" , I have the money right now but "they're" willing to wait 6 months for it *shrug* I decide it's better off in my account than theirs. I set up a calendar reminder and always pay before the due date

Wasted worker wasps wanna know – oi! – who are you looking at?

IsJustabloke
Happy

Re: / Smug

@ cornz

I've no doubt it *may* happen sometime but so far (touch wood) I have avoided it. My cousin had some kind of reaction to a wasp sting... his forearm and hand swelled up most alarmingly :o

I, of course, made off with his pint.

IsJustabloke
Thumb Up

Re: How High?

I believe drunken Deer are a real problem in the highlands and the west country. They eat apples which ferment in their bellies thus getting them pissed :D

IsJustabloke
Thumb Up

/ Smug

I have *never* been stung by a wasp or a bee.

I put it down to my calm nature when they approach... I simply put a had over my beverage and use gentle wafting motions to move them away.

I do so enjoy the comedy moments when people run around, screaming while waving their arms about.

I have also observed that if you kill a wasp in a very few minutes another of the stripey bastards will turn up and unerringly approach it's fallen comrades body before checking out the group to see who it thinks is to blame!

Phased out: IT architect plugs hole in clean-freak admin's wiring design

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: "NEVER assume the architect knows best!"

"My building inspector told me I had to get an "Architect" to do lots of complicated maths to work out if my garage roof trusses were strong enough."

That is not an Architects job... that is the job of an engineer. I would not step foot in a building that had it's engineering specs drawn up by an architect.

Space, the final Trump-tier: America to beam up $8bn for Space Force

IsJustabloke

Re: Which is worse ...

@imanidiot

I agree, I would add that the US marines in particular are a traditional "expeditionary force" rather than say, the UK marines who are more commando / special forces.

Traditionally, marines were stationed aboard ships to protect against boarders and then more recently to "project force" as part of an amphibious assault

A US marine and a Royal Marine are very different beasts.

Second-hand connected car data drama could be a GDPR minefield

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: What about the manufacturers' rights to the data?

"If I buy a secondhand car, how does the manufacturer know the owner of the car has changed"

I've driven a lot of FIAT group cars over the years, only two of which were bought from main dealers, yet somehow, the FIAT security register has always been aware of my ownership so somebody somewhere is connecting the dots as far as car ownership changing is concerned. I've never told them directly.

Android ain't done until Samsung won't run? 9.0 Pie borks Gear watch app

IsJustabloke
Meh

WearOS

I was until recently using an Huawei watch that required "WearOS" there were 3 updates in the 9 weeks I used the device and each and every update broke something fundamental. no amount of fiddling / unpairing / re-pairing would make those things work again. Thinking my watch was faulty I had it replaced, twice. nothing, the bog standard, least I expect I expect functionality of a smart watch could not be regained.

a lot of google stuff is excellent at what it does... WearOS is not one of them.

You want to know which is the best smartphone this season? Tbh, it's tricky to tell 'em apart

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: At disgustedoftunbridgewells, re: fingerprints.

"At least here on this side of the pond the courts have ruled that a merely biometric means of unlocking a device"

As it happens my Huawei requires the pin every so often regardless of whether it's the correct fingerprint or not. It always requires a pin upon restart, both to unlock the sim and another to unlock the actual phone. I'm one of those strange people that never starts his mobey until he's out of the terminal building.... I'm willing to take my chances with uncle Sam's operatives, they do seem to enjoy searching my luggage But then so do the Kiwi's and the Diggers. Weirdly the only place I've never been searched is Hong Kong

Some of you really don't want Windows 10's April 2018 update on your rigs

IsJustabloke

Re: Why so traumatic?

TBH I've never really experienced any of the problems that many on here complain about. I think the only real problem I've had was the "Black Screen of Death" that was associated with an Intel video driver update delivered via windows update.

Rights group launches legal challenge over London cops' use of facial recognition tech

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: Donated

"Corbyn and his deranged followers"

There have been charges of antisemitism against the labour party for far longer than Comrade Corbyn and co have been in charge.

Wearable hybrids prove the bloated smartwatch is one of Silly Valley's biggest mistakes

IsJustabloke
Meh

yes...

except that if your supermarket of choice is anything like mine , they swap things around on a regular basis for that very reason.

I don't use a shopping list always found them more hassle that they're worth.

Crumbs. Apple has tweaked the MacBook Pro keyboard

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: ffs why so little RAM?

"What do you run that needs more RAM?"

Well, I'm often running lightroom, photoshop and various other tools running and I'll be working on image files that are several gigs in size each... my PC has 32 gig of ram and uses it all sometimes.

I do wish people would consider that *their* use case is not *everyone's* uses case. It's the same with people who scream that people should switch to *nix. That's a no brainer for me the software I use on a daily basis simply isn't available on *nix

'Fibre broadband' should mean glass wires poking into your router, reckons Brit survey

IsJustabloke
Meh

I'm not sure why...

The reg has taken a snarky attitude to the Cityfiber bods.

What ISP's get away with in terms of advertising is scandalous in the UK and they mostly amount to "we can say what we damn well please, providing we use a bit of weasle verbiage"

PC shipments just rose, thanks to Windows 10

IsJustabloke
Meh

Re: I purchased a New PC this year...

"after an update it has several times reset his document and picture folder shortcuts to the default C:/users location when these had specifically been moved to D:/xxxx"

can't say that I've experienced that but as I say I accept that others may have had a different experience to me.

I'm sure you've considered this BUT on my PC the "users" folder presents as "C:\blah" but is physically located on "D:\blah"

IsJustabloke
WTF?

Re: I purchased a New PC this year...

"Thanks for the input Bill and all the best with your foundation work."

what a bizarre response....