...assuming they can prove it is indeed subsidised, of course.
Posts by Silverburn
1609 publicly visible posts • joined 24 May 2011
Page:
Rumour: Asus rejects $99 Nexus 7... rumour
McFlurry McMisdemeanour costs Welsh lass McJob
Skydiver sets date for 'supersonic' edge-of-space PLUNGE
Apple MacBook Air 13in review
Thursday 27th September 2012 08:54 GMT
Re: Next up...
I'm sure el reg could have tested within 24hrs of release had they wanted to.
But - just like the car mags - the real value comes in the long term tests, where they are exposed to real world usage. And given the stupendous prices Apple charges, you'd really want to be extra sure you were making a good investment.
Thursday 27th September 2012 08:47 GMT
Re: External drives?
Not really - unless you're planning to video edit a 1080p holywood blockbuster, or finalising that nuclear reactor design in AUTOCAD while sitting in starbucks. Which I doubt. For 90% of users, what they do while portable will not be the same as the stuff they do at their desk.
For most, the most storage intensive stuff (while mobile) will be showing off family vids and photo's and watching/listening to a few (not all) of their media files while travelling, whereas Word and powerpoint stuff will barely register. So the Authors comments about iphoto and itunes are pertinent for the majority of users.
And if you're the minority who wants more while portable, why are you even looking at the Air? Surely a fully specced retina or Win box with conventional high capacity spinning media is more your thing?
Thursday 27th September 2012 07:36 GMT
I have the same itunes/iphoto problems, with a 160gb and 560gb respectively. I solved this through setting up 2 external drives, and storing stuff there.
- for itunes stuff, I just transfer the stuff (videos/tv shows mainly) to the internal drive locally when it's needed. Plays just fine using quicktime; itunes itself is not needed.
- for iphoto, I leave it all on the external, and use the photostream feature for stuff you want portable, though it's a bit hit and miss.
- 2nd drive is for time machine.
Not an ideal setup I admit, but at these sizes of both libraries not many laptops (win or OSX) can take both completely.
No, the real problem is imovie. It's a storage bitch if you plan to be portable.
Mighty quake shook ENTIRE PLANET, broke tectonic plate
Apple weekend iPhone 5 sales miss forecasts
Monday 24th September 2012 13:17 GMT 
I know exactly how this analyst did this, because I just did it myself.
1. Look around office, and shout out "so who's getting a new iP5 then. once it's announced?"
2. Count number of responses. Count both the "yes" and "meh"'s as YES
3. Faint surprise when the "meh"'s don't buy once phone spec is actually announced
4. Rationalise the "meh" responses down to the reason that since most are 4/4S users already and probably running IOS6, there's no real reason (aka killer new feature) to upgrade for.
Where do I send my analyst invoice to...?
Pirate Party takes Mayor's chair in Swiss city
Monday 24th September 2012 12:22 GMT 
that the organization is in disarray in that country. Earlier this month, reports emerged of organizational problems – including non-payment of fees, in-fighting, and poor strategy.
Until they add "embezzlement of public funds", "moral flexibility" and "corruption" to the list, they'll never be a real political party. Looks like they're halfway there though...
Events in stratosphere can affect Earth's entire climate
Apple demands $707m more from Samsung
Climate sceptic? You're probably a 'Birther', don't vaccinate your kids
Mars rover Curiosity gets ready to blast its first rock
Friday 21st September 2012 09:24 GMT
Re: I hope JPL uploaded some more audio
Never mind the "peew, peew" bit...how about that other Holywood abomination - the entirely visible laser beam in clear air/vacuum?
In dust/smoke/gas free environments there is nothing for the laser to bounce off, so the only visible aspects at the source and destination points. Yet, without fail, (in holywoodland) laser beams are seen as solid beams of colour.
And even better, in some films you can even see the beam travel. Even though it would be impossible for the human eye to detect the light in travel.
Latest iPhone hacked to blab all your secrets
iPhone 5 tops benchmark chart
Tuesday 18th September 2012 07:56 GMT 
Benchmarks = bollox
Does IO6 on iphone5 *feel* fast and smooth? Yes = WIN
Does Jelly bean on an S3 *feel* fast and smooth? Yes = WIN
Does win8 on 920 *feel* fast and smooth? Yes = WIN
Frankly, we should all be grateful the useability can now be taken for granted, regardless of our platform allegance.
Group hugs!
Acer Iconia Tab A700 32GB HD Android tablet review
Microsoft bod dreams up 'Star Trek holodeck' games console
Got a BMW? Thicko thieves can EASILY NICK IT with $30 box
Tuesday 18th September 2012 07:26 GMT
Re: On X5/X6 it's fixed. The rest of us have to wait 8 weeks
Not sure why BMW even bothered with these. They managed to make them as unattractive as possible is every conceivable way to ensure nobody would actually want to steal them. Even thieves have some standards.
For other (true) examples: See Ford's Ka. So utterly dire than not a single UK vehicle has been stolen since production of v2 started.
iPhone 5 has 'laser keyboard, holographic images'
Boffins receive quantum key from moving plane
Apple threatens to ruin peace worldwide with voice-controlled iMacs
Monday 17th September 2012 07:18 GMT
Why voice controlled itunes will fail
1. "Play that song...you know, that one by Alanis Morriset...something, something pill. Or something."
2. "Play that song...you know, that one that goes da, da, dee, dum, da, da"
3. "Play something mellow. Maybe Jazz. Or some chilled electronic. You decide"
4. "God, I hate this one. Play something better will you?"
5. "Play that one from the British Airways advert, with some burd singin' on it"
Haynes Build Your Own Computer book review
Wednesday 12th September 2012 13:26 GMT
Re: Not really building a computer, is it?
Building or "assembling" a PC isn't about slotting any old components together and booting it up...we can buy an off the shelve item for that.
It's more about the attention to detail, from choosing the components you have researched to death to provide the optimal performance (for your chosen budget) to the quality of the fitting and routing of the cabling/piping, to the build and optimisation of the OS and drivers.
You don't finish a proper PC thinking "ok, it's done". A properly built machine will be a work of art. In your eyes at least, because you know what went into it.
Wednesday 12th September 2012 11:37 GMT 
Pfft. Amateurs!
Look at that...as if anyone actually uses a anti-static strap anymore...
And there's no mention at all of the most important tool you need - swearing. Nor the answer to the important question of: "is the motherboard supposed to bend like that?". The answer is YES btw. In my mind.
Information is the UI in Windows 8, says design guru
Ultimate bacon sarnie scrap starts to sizzle
Microsoft preparing for diskless Windows 8 PCs
Wednesday 12th September 2012 08:06 GMT
Recovery partitions are alright...
*IF* that partition contains a vanilla install, and *if* the partition size is sensible (eg don't have a 20gb partition for a 4gb install image).
However, what it normally means is it's filled with bloatware, desktops etc from the off, so you spend the first hour post-install getting rid of it all.
Everything Everywhere swept away by its own 4G hype tsunami
Tuesday 11th September 2012 11:42 GMT
Looks like another marketing department has disappeared up its own arse again.
Real world:
- 50% of actual coverage delivered, and really patchy
- actual bandwidth is nearer 20% of quoted figures
- It's flaky as fuck for the first 3 months
- costs are higher than expected = higher monthly contracts
Intel contextual awareness: 'We know what your wife is up to'
Tuesday 11th September 2012 11:31 GMT
Ignoring the moral question, the practical questions remain:
- how do you apply logic to the hard sensor data?
- how do you distinguish between useful soft data and the junk data, given you're actually relying on people using calendars, and in a consistent manner? (tip: only the truly anal will keep a domestic calendar).
- how do you overlay soft data with hard data?
Want to avoid another cookie law mess? Talk to EU bods next time
Tuesday 11th September 2012 08:38 GMT 
Banning "evil" cookies on legit sites = a ton of work
Evil sites not hosted in EU = completely ignore this, and continue to use "evil" cookies
Ergo: law penalises the legit orgs and annoyy the user with cookie warnings, while the "evil" sites the law aims to target continue as normal. Joe Bloggs continues to have no idea what cookies are.
End result? See icon.
Dredd movie review
Apple urged to defy China's one child policy
Thursday 6th September 2012 09:43 GMT
Hear, hear.
What the idiolistic tree huggers seem to have forgotten is the China *had* to introduce this; it's projected population growth was way outstripping it's available tech and resources at the time and it was a ticking timebomb.
Frankly there are some lessons (unpleasant though they may be) to learn here for other countries with population issues.
Nokia apologizes for faking Lumia 920 ad
Online bank punters tricked into approving theft of their OWN CASH
The world's first Windows Phone 8 hands on – what's it like?
Thursday 6th September 2012 08:27 GMT
Hmmm
Normally I wouldn't give these a second glance, but this time...hmmm.
- big screen and HD too
- good camera
- better mult-tasking
- better tiles
This could be in with a shout come xmas, when I'm due for a replacement...and for once all three OS'es are pencilled in:
- Lumina 920 (win 8)
- Galax Note 2 (Android)
- Iphone 5 (ios)
Not bad eh? good time ahead!
China and Japan face off over Pacific Ocean rare earth rights
You'll be on a list 3 hrs after you start downloading from pirates - study
Microsoft claims Windows Server 2012 is 'first cloud OS'
Apple confirms 'surprise' September 12 event
Organic food offers basically no health benefit, boffins find
Tuesday 4th September 2012 12:06 GMT
Re: Efficiency vs Etthics
They do, but tractor diesel is only a fraction of the total oil-based material used in agriculture. A lot of it actually goes on pesticides and fertilizers, neither of which are used in organic.
Note: I'm not claiming organic is better produce. Just that it uses less petro-chemical materials.
Tuesday 4th September 2012 09:23 GMT
Organic = better
...but not for the reasons you normally think off. Personally, I can't taste the difference, and don't really give a shit.
However, I do know that Organic farming uses far far less petro-chemicals in its production. This becomes important when talking about "peak oil" etc. We can replace oil as a fuel and even as a material (plastics) but we're not doing such a great job removing it from agriculture. Also, there is evidence to to show "soil fatigue" which is considerably reduced by going organic. The reduced yields could be compensated for by using high productivity GM crops.
So I say ignore the health bollox. Just go organic to go save money, reduce oil dependence and save the environment. Errr...sort of.
Boffins create super-muscular 'Hulk' mice: Humans next
Tuesday 4th September 2012 09:13 GMT
Re: Only relevant to genuinely healthy diets; the Type 2 Diabetes suggestion is hilarious!
Corn flakes are bad???
Nooooooooo...
One of life's little pleasures is a bowl of CF in the morning, using a new bottle of cold milk (with all the cream on top), and some sugar sprinkled over.
And now you've ruined it. You bastard.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
