So often I have had pages not een load due to timrout to the midclicj ad server, I never see the add but every google search link goes through an ad server we never see
Posts by Bodestone
87 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Jul 2011
Google deliberately throttled ad load times to promote AMP, claims new court document
Windows XP@20: From the killer of ME to banging out patches for yet another vulnerability
Re: at least in XP you could easily revert to the win 2k interface
You can still get that in 10 with windows options and overlays such as classic shell. OK I mentioned it twice but just because it's the one I use and I haven't tried the others. I think it is called open shell now but it works for me in 10 and keeps my Dad happy that it looks similar to what he was used to.
Still a bit twitchy in 11 but I expect it will get there.
OK so 10 does not have the 3d button look on the taskbar but it is slill clean and clear.
My biggest gripe about 11 is the inability to ungroup taskbar icons.
Re: at least in XP you could easily revert to the win 2k interface
It always takes time to adjust to change, I started out on a BBC Micro.
I remember my first Win 3.11 PC and I had Norton Desktop (before they sold ou to Symantect) installed which gave desktop backgrounds, a workable file manager and disk defragmentationr, all introduced into Win 95.
I think previously MS have been aware of this aversion which is why Windows became so cluttered with multiple ways of performing actions by Win10. The reluctance to remove legacy options/routes.
11 has been stripped to the bone in that UI respect and I feel this is a good thing. The accumulated crud is gone and missing features most desired nay return by popular demand after time.
Back to XP though, It definitely was the biggest back end improvement since W2000 and deserves its place in history.
Vista was just a pre-pre-alpha version of 7 that was never consumer ready.
7 was fantastic after the 2nd service pack that fixed the network file transfer issues, among other things.
8 can please leave my memory at any time.
10 is solid as a rock but I still use classic shell to skin the start menu,
11 is not as bad to me as I have read but siome points irk me badly, most I will just re-adjust to.
Re: "a huge leap forward from Windows 9x"
I agree. XP ran flawlessly for me and all of my familily (barring ELFs - Elderly Lifeform failures).
Install, disable lego interface for the 2000 look and job was a goodun'
On 3 machines myself and 3 family members there was never the need for a factory reset.
WhatsApp to offer end-to-end encrypted backups in iCloud, Google Drive with user-managed keys
Interactions are definitely a possible problem
If authorities get access then can you imagine the police knocking on your door asking if you knew Dave who knew Tna who went out with a suicide bomber in 2022?
Guilt, or even the right to be interrogated by association cannot be allowed to expand. to a digital model based on social media data. At least not without review and regulation on how it is applied. I can see cases where solid evidence may lead to an investigation of contacts of known criminals, but on their own connection history, at the time, not using metadata as a predictive map.
Redpilled Microsoft does away with flashing icons on taskbar as Windows 11 hits Beta
Re: " ... make finding what you need easier."
If you are referring to me then no.
Just someone who is prepared to give something time before jumping in with "Argh, it's all different, therefore terrible"
Windows has been accumulating crud context items since '95. The approach to strip it completely down and then listen to insider screams as to what needs to be put back or changed seems quite sensible to me.
I certainly hope that more of the UI change feedback is addressed before final but on the whole it is a UI I could get used to and find easier, once I did, to navigate than 10 with a hell of a lot less clutter.
Re: " ... make finding what you need easier."
I've played about with the new settings in 11 quite a bit and while the updated navigation was strange at first I quickly got used to it.
I have also not needed to resort to the old control panel or settings popups except once when the toggle was not working in the new one for RDP (and I hear a few others) and it was fixed in the dev release after it was reported.
Overall I approve of most of the UI cleanup though am very behind some of the requested chanhes such as not combining the calendar and notifications, adding an option to remove the reccomended section from start (and search until typing begins though that is much less intrusive), re-adding the option to never cobine taskbar items and make them smaller, increasing taskbar height for portrait display modes.
I'm even getting used to only being able to right click the start menu for task manager as there are so many other useful items there.
Latest Windows 11 Preview a well-rounded update – literally
I like the approach taken in some ways but my corners are still square
Customisation and taskbar features have been stripped to the bone and I think this is a good thing as they have been accumulating and getting ever more cluttered since '95.
It's far easier to get feedback on what people really want back. No-one is going to ad feedback saying they want options they have been ignoring for years to be removed.
The feedback I have seen has, on the whole, been constructive in this respect and some has been acted on, as already as mentioned.
On the rounded corners though, I have none on my Hyper-V instance except for the start menu and clock which are custom widgety things. All standard windows have square corners and I am up to date.
I have read posts that say you need new GFX drivers or need to enable hardware acceleration to get them but if rounded corners are such a big selling point then they need to be standard from the ground up on any platform that meets the Win11 requirements (mine does). You can't have a basic OS visual experience that varies between certain hardware or settings. It's just not consistant.
Also, what is wrong with right angled corners? My monitor has them anyway. Am I supposed to see a small cutout of my desktop at each corner when windows are maximised or will rounded corners only apply to normalised windows, another inconsistancy? Will Microsoft start selling monitors with rounded corners?
Maybe they cann add a £1500 rounded stand.
That aside, and the fact that this is not really a new version but the largest w10 feature update yet, I don't feel the hate that so many do. The start menu is finally clean (once you can turn off the reccomended part). I guess my first point about the feature/customisation pruning, and that it really is a very early dev release full of flaws has led to that level of bile but these things are address by constructive feedback, not instant hatred.
Go look at the feedback hub (which has its own issues) and see the top rated feedback. Likely most of them will address the things you are most uncomfortable with. Vote them up.
I was also able to add information on a few bugs (such as the remote desktop toggle not working in the settings module (as opposed to the old system settings) by following the quests to explore the funtionality.
Additionally, the VM was initially running on spinning rust and I could hear the lack of drive hammering in 11 compared to 10.
PC owners borg into the most powerful computer the world has ever known – all in the search for coronavirus cure
Y2K? It was all just a big bun-fight, according to one Reg reader
Fantastic Mr Fox? Not when he sh*ts on your lawn, kids' trampoline and your soul
News aggregator app Flipboard hacked: All passwords reset after hackers pinch user data
Pork pulled: Plug jerked out of beacon of bacon delight
Perfect timing for a two-bank TITSUP: Totally Inexcusable They've Stuffed Up Payday
HSBC have been having issues for a while. My creadentioals for the app were wiped out on the 17th of this month.
I escalated my call and 40 minutes and a complete online credential reset later it was back.
They offered me £15 for the inconvenience so of course I was immediately suspicious it was part of a larger issue.
It liiives! Sorta. Gentle azure glow of Windows XP clocked in Tesco's self-checkouts, no less
Pebble: The brilliant stealth wearable Apple's Watch doesn't see coming
Pebble don't always listen
Otherwise there would be automatic updates for watchfaces and apps.
Otherwise have to love it. Still going strong with 5-7 days between charges on my kickstarter edition.
I too like the simplicity of design with the original. It's a nice mix of retro low tech high tech.
Microsoft's so keen on touch some mice FAIL under Windows 8.1
Look out, Lenovo! HP: We're not happy with being a 'number two'
Never again
I just had to buy a cheap emergency lappy and the best spec I could get from the only shop on the way home, PC World, was an HP.
They set their recovery partition as a visible D drive and remove all ability to delete it. They provide no physical recovery media. I need a D drive for a standardised environment.
Their support is 5p a minute with half hour waiting times.
There was no way I was waiting so had to put the BIOS in legacy mode so I could boot into Parted Magic and re-partition.
Why on earth would you make your recover partition a visible windows drive letter.?
First Samsung Galaxy S4 review leak: Stop FONDLING, start FINGERING
Mouse-over..
If the software behind the proximity works the same as the note range then hover is supported with the built in browser. I use hover menus all the time via the stylus on my Note 2. It is exceedingly useful.
It's great to see this extended to the finger if, as stated, if it works well and is accurate.
I do turn off a lot of the eye tracking stuff on my phone as it is not overly useful for me. That's not to say it wouldn't be for some however. My colleague finds the prevention of screen time out really useful for reading articles on the bus.
Bacon sarnies can kill: Official
Keyboard, you're not my type
Boffins use DVD burner to scale graphene supercapacitors
Crucial question after asteroid near-miss: How big was rock in Olympic pools?
Any storm in a port
Ask Google this impossible question, get web filth as a reward
Time has already run out for smart watches
Re: Only Apple can decide if tehy want to deliver the required info
Well, with the Pebble there is an API. You can tell it to get anything that the phone side application has permission to access. It can tie in with applications and it is the watch's phone side software which does the transmission via bluetooth.
Don't forget that these things aren't just for iPhones they are for smartphones in general. There is no way Apple can decide what information can be retrieved from and Android phone.
If apple refuse to let applictions have access to the information that would make these watches useful it is their loss. I am assuming it is possible though.
Pebble at last
At long last I have a date for the start of shipping for my long awaited Pebble.
It has been a fascinating journey following the design and manufacturing process through in the mean time however.
I think they have it as right as can be for now. Rather than try and emulate phone functionality on a colour screen that lasts a day tops if used with the phone it is designed as a watch with interaction features. One that you can swim lengths with as well.
Facebook invites users to vote away voting rights, some privacy
Re: broken
Looking for where to actually vote reminded me of Hitchhiker's.
"But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months."
"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."
"But the plans were on display ..."
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
"That's the display department."
"With a flashlight."
"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."
"So had the stairs."
"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"
"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."
Chinese student fails job interview because of iPhone
Who's using 'password' as a password? TOO MANY OF YOU
Is it Verified by Visa?
That has a very specific 8-12 characters for the password.
Every single time I am forced to re-generate a password because I can't remember the last one and therefore have to enter all my identifying information in all over again. I'm assuming other people write them down and keep them with the credit card.
Way to increase security.
Help-desk hell
I have blacked out most of the details
Really, the worst 2 hours on the phone I have spent was trying to talk someone not overly technically literate through mail merging over the phone. When I say not overly technically literate I mean that I had to explain which bits of the screen and program were which.
I'd not used MS Word mail merge functionality for a couple of years so was re-learning on the go.
The worst part though was that I only had access to office 2003. She had office 2007 and I had never seen it before.
The funniest tech incident was relatively recent.
A farmer who needed to send us photographic evidence was savy enough to have used a camera phone to take his pictures. His know-how ended there and he then popped the phone in a jiffy bag and posted it to us.
He'd not bothered with any cables either and all the ports were proprietary but luckily it was new enough to have bluetooth and was not locked. The office was giggling all morning.
WANTED: Actual HELPFUL info on price-comparison websites
Re: Well, duh.
You mean the way google will tell you a product is listed from £50 and when you drill down the cheapest is £55 and most of the times delivery is listed as free it actually isn't for the product you selected but the shop happens to offer it somewhere, or only on the second Tuesday of the month for people who's name begins with X.
Reading their guide..
"The OFT's 2007 market study into internet shopping estimated that if consumers used price comparison websites as effectively as they could they would stand to gain additional savings of £150m - £240m per year."
Wow. I could save millions per year? What a useless piece of information to put on a page designed for your average consumer. How the hell does that number relate to how much I could personally save?
Saying that, it is useful to know that there are accreditation schemes for comparison sites.
Just what you needed: A cell phone with a remote control. No, really
RISC OS comes to Raspberry Pi
Ofcom probe into telcos jacking-up charges halfway through contracts
Hmmm
"As it stands, Ofcom's rules state that mobile, phone and broadband providers have to give their customers a minimum of one month's notice regarding any major change to contractual terms. Subscribers can then cut loose from the contract without being stung with a penalty for walking away early. "
So, if a mobile provider informs you it is raising prices you can end the contract without paying the fee?
That is interesting. Especially if they do it a couple of months into a contract you just got a really expensive phone with.
Slideshow: A History of the Smartphone in 20 Handsets
The N-Gage, really. I remember the device being a complete flop so they made the software a pladform added to other phones. The N95 on the other hand.
And yes, the SIII is awesome but what about the one that went from niche curiosity to kick starting interest in the large phone market as more than a niche. I speak of non other than the Note. I shall be sad to see mine go but the consolation will be all the shiny in its replacement.
Before it does go I am going to try an experiment since I still have all of my others.
I shall use the camera on my Nokia 6230 to take a photo of my first mobile (S.E. T29s), then use the Nokia 3250 to take a snap of the 3250 showing a picture of the t29, then the N95 of that then the N900 (seeing a pattern there) . Then of course my Note can take the Goodbye Nokia pic followed by the Note2 of the Note.
A lesser-known new feature in iOS 6: It's tracking you everywhere
Pair face £250k fines for spamming mobes with millions of texts
Sophos antivirus classifies its own update kit as malware
Dreaded redback spider's NEMESIS: Forgotten Captain Cook wasps
Firefox, Opera allow crooks to hide an entire phish site in a link
Password hints easily snaffled from Windows PCs
Hint indeed
I agree. I never bother with the hint, though I suppose if you had a password locker on your phone that had an ID field you could hint 1, 2, 3 etc.
I just use moomins.
Then again, I worked for a company that provided a service for IBM so we had to have annual security reviews. Mine was one of 2 passwords the consultant could not get after a 3 day brute force from within the domain.
I can't use the one I had at Uni any more because of these restrictions that you must have numbers and letters and or mixed case etc. Well, I could but they also say between X and Y characters and "yellow flavoured doors" is a bit outside the max length of most.