* Posts by Giles Jones

2536 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Dec 2006

Nokia parades recycled handset

Giles Jones Gold badge

Phone can last, but technology moves on

Sure, make a phone out of metal with replaceable parts, it would be heavy, expensive, ugly and in a few years time obsolete.

Technology moves on, if we'd designed a CRT TV in the 70s that could last 40 years it wouldn't be capable of being used with digital TV. Also flat screen technology is the norm now and HD is growing in popularity.

Baylis Eco EP-MX71 hand-cranked media player

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@Chris Morrison

Look up the term Peak Oil sometime, maybe you'd think again?

Oil production isn't accelerating fast enough to meet demand, so the price of oil will skyrocket.

The future of the SIM hangs by a single wire

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Mobile operators are keeping the SIM alive

SIM locks and network locks are controls which they like.

Without a SIM we may move into a market where your phone has to be programmed with a phone number by the network, we don't want that.

Intel and Dixons raided by Competition Commission

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Microsoft

Shame they can't look into the practice of bundling PCs with Windows.

Microsoft's tactics of intimidating OEMs and asking OEMs to report people asking for PCs without Windows installed (so they can report them for piracy) are much worse than those allegedly employed by Intel.

ISPs demand record biz pays up if cut-off P2P users sue

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There's only so much money

There's only so much available money in the economy. Where do they get this ludicrous figures from?

Do they think we have £800 million between us all sitting in our bank accounts which we're not spending on CDs because we pirate them?

Of course not, if you don't buy a CD or DVD you buy something else, you spend it on your house, your car, your kids, clothes, food, booze, electronics, games consoles etc..

Therefore if people don't download then some other market area gets hit.

The music industry has devalued music by giving it away in magazines, music is everywhere, in adverts, in the background of TV shows.

As for films, there's so many bad films and so many idiots in cinemas with their mobile phones and laser pointers it's no wonder people would rather see films at home.

HTC Advantage gets a facelift

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Not an UMPC

This is a large PDA, it's not an UMPC.

It isn't a PC compatible and can't run desktop Windows.

Nokia's N95 successor slips out on web

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More of the same

N95 and the N95 8GB where very similar, this just looks like an N95 + TV.

Nothing as different as the iPhone is. Is this the best Nokia can do?

NPfIT director general hands in his scrubs

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@B Johnson

What are you on about?

The NPFIT system has been in the making since 2004 at least, maybe earlier. Vista wasn't released until Jan 30th 2007.

This system is a massive data warehouse, probably one of the largest in the world. There's no way anyone in their right mind would advocate running that on Windows Vista (which is a Desktop OS not a server OS).

Automated crack for Windows Live captcha goes wild

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Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii has a good email system implementation.

When you add an email address to it's address book it emails the address with a confirmation message. You can then approve or deny receiving email from the Wii.

Obviously this implementation is all in the client and to work for computers it would need to be part of the server implementation.

SCO details bleak future

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Stock market

It just proves what a load of tosh the stock market it.

SCO accused Linux of using their patents, there was uncertainty over ownership of the patents. They hyped up their claims, their share price tripled.

Novell announced they merely loaned the rights to Unix to SCO and this was judged to be the case. After this SCO plummeted rapidly.

People actually paid money to SCO as a form of protection against litigation. Almost like paying the Mafia.

Microsoft are using the same tactics now.

16GB iPhone to launch today

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@3G? GPS?

You won't get 8 hours of talk time on the battery with 3G. Not to mention the iPhone is very US centric.

GPS is handy, I have it on my phone. But again, Apple was after battery longevity and slim form factor.

FTC and DoJ will fight for the right to rule on YaMicrohoosoft!

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Who cares?

I don't use Microsoft's search engine, I won't use it as I know it'll be rubbish. Even if it isn't rubbish I won't use it as it's Microsoft.

Yahoo's services are largely rubbish too, I don't see what Microsoft intends to gian by buying another 3rd rate service.

eBay: 'We will lower listing fees'

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Ebay should tighten up the requirements

Confirmed addresses only, negative feedback bidders should be banned, new bidders (those with no feedback) should be limited to bidding on items below a set value.

Line up for full-windscreen satnav

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Nice idea but...

It looks nice, but in reality the heads up display will lag behind. Almost all GPS chipsets I've used have had a 1 second refresh rate, your car can rotate quite a lot in one second and this renders the heads up display useless.

It's official! DVD plus/minus war ends in a draw

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Meet up in future

These DVD formats (as well as HD formats) all need to meet up and agree standards.

The take up rate and potential profits are maximised if one format is launched and consumers can adopt the new format quickly.

Taking sides and promoting very similar products helps nobody.

Apple's iPhone numbers do not add up

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Depends

If they're talking about shipped to store sales or sales of the phone to end users.

Gizmondo co-founder to revive ill-fated console

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Give it up

There's simply no market for a handheld games device that isn't made by one of the current games console giants.

Make something else, media player with Java or flash game capability, a phone, anything but another rubbish game console that will hemorrhage cash.

If Nokia failed, how can the revived Gizmondo stand a chance?

I'd love to see this idiot pitch the idea to the Dragons on Dragons Den, he'd be laughed off.

Will Microsoft parachute Windows 7 in early?

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XP

"I don't understand this. If Vista doesn't sell surely MS makes money on XP. So why panic? $$$ is being earned anyway."

It's called return on investment. If you blow billions on a product that fails then it's pretty serious. Especially when the competition surges ahead.

Bad for Microsoft's reputation too.

I don't think at this time that you can play Blu-ray or HD-DVD under XP? I thought that was one reason for Vista, the limitations on graphics cards and monitors. Secure channels only.

Software pirates put sizeable dent in UK economy

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Prove the figures

Who is to say that if they were forced to that they would pay the full price anyway?

If someone has the choice between photoshop and GIMP they'll go for Photoshop. If someone is forced to pay for Photoshop or use GIMP for free they'll most likely adapt to using GIMP.

All this "we're losing money to pirates" is all estimated. The money not spent on the software gets spent elsewhere. There is only so much money in the economy and where one industry gains another loses.

Microsoft prints get-out-of-jail card for Vista Home

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Windaz 7

Given Windows 7 is out next year it seems like Vista really will be the unloved version of Windows just like WinME.

Remembering the Commodore SX-64

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Commodore getting it wrong even then!

There were a few business apps (remember Mini office) on the C64, but marketing the SX64 as a portable business machine was a joke. It was a home computer and largely a games machine.

Peeved HTC smartphone owners offer bounty for driver fix

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Lazy HTC

Their phones seem to be designed on a production line with little or no love or thought for the end user.

The fact that they seem to announce a new model every month which has one or more features different to the last model suggests they don't spend anywhere near enough time on the device software. It's partly to keep the operators happy and give them choice.

I'm not surprised they don't bother to support the ATI acceleration. Writing the driver would take time. They'd sooner use tried and tested generic drivers.

It's a shame as the HTC Typhoon and Tornado phones were great.

It's fairly easy to see how Apple revolutionised the industry. Have one well designed, well performing and desirable product with a good profit margin. No need for 20 different models.

Apple to charge $20 for iPod Touch update

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Don't like paying? don't pay then

When you buy a product you check to see what features it has and if it doesn't have them you don't buy it.

You shouldn't expect firmware updates to do anything but address bugs and performance problems.

Apple are adding features here, while nothing spectacular it still involves development and testing like any other commercial software.

If you don't like it, don't buy it. It's that simple.

The iPhone is a different market, you're on a service plan.

US boffins create GM 'supercarrot'

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Industrial scale farming

The quality of much of the produce on the shelves is poor, organic produce tastes better and is more nutrituous.

Rather than mess around with GM, how about the EU subsidises UK farmers to make the transition to organic farming? (the transition requires the land to be left for a period of time).

SMBs grasp Vista nettle

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Vista costs too much

Cost of retraining normal and admin staff, new computers, replacing incompatible hardware, therapy etc...

Microsoft hit by two more EC probes

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IE issue only applies to XP and earlier

With Vista Microsoft removed dependancy on IE for the File Explorer and Email clients.

So it should be possible to remove IE.

AT&T to crush copyrighted network packets

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Climate change

Just think of the increased processing power that will be required to enforce this, is it really worth emitting yet more CO2 just to pander to the dinosaur execs of the media giants?

People copy stuff, get over it. Just because it's more visible it doesn't mean it never used to happen.

Sony, Nintendo sued in console controller patent clash

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Prior Art

Hardware IDs are used in Wireless networking.

Hardware IDs are used in Wired networking.

They're used in bluetooth as well.

The only reason this case hasn't been thrown out is it mentions "game controller" in the patent.

It's pretty bloomin obvious that if you have a wireless controller that you'll need some way of identifying which one is generating a signal.

A patent on the obvious should be thrown out.

Apple fans hope keynote holds news of sub-notebook

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Villain?

He doesn't look like a villain, he looks like someone from Kraftwerk. Looks like one of their robots.

Microsoft demos Surface multi-touch user interface

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Re: Surface came first

If the iPhone was released after the Surface computer, show me where I can buy a Surface computer today? what's that? nowhere for sale? of course not, it's just an R&D toy.

R&D is one thing, actually perfecting the product and managing to make it into a saleable product is another thing.

OpenMoko preps Linux phone prototype

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Dev hardware

The dev hardware has been available for ages. This is the next hardware version which is deemed to be ready for the consumer.

Polish teen derails tram after hacking train network

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Encryption

It's do to plonkers like this kid that we have DRM and encryption.

Microsoft backpedals on Blu-ray for Xbox 360 comments

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Re:Microsoft Takeover

Why would Microsoft do this? they would inherit an organisation with even bigger problems.

Not to mention there would be resistance (they are rivals) and the fact that the anti-trust lawyers wouldn't like it.

YouTube biker clocked at 189mph

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Re:Nothing dangerous here

Nothing dangerous? what if you get mechanical failure? Not to mention our MOT inspections and car insurance rates are based on us doing 70MPH max.

Anything mechanical has the potential to go wrong. If the bike fails and you fall off the bike could end up in the middle of the road. A car driver or HGV driver would have to swerve to avoid it or the debris would cause a blow out. The result would be very dangerous.

Amiga explains AmigaOS 5 AmigaAnywhere

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Seperate the Amiga and Commodore

The Amiga was largely finished before Commodore bought the company (Amiga Inc) that designed it.

The Amiga would probably have never been designed in any large computer company at that time. Amiga Inc were a small startup with some very gifted designers.

Once Commodore took control there was no way the original talent was going to hang around and they largely didn't. Aside from incompentant management and other issues, this is another big factor in why there was not another big leap in the Amiga's hardware.

Compatibility plagued any major changes to the hardware since many software makers would bypass the OS and bang the hardware direct. Don't forget games were the main market for the Amiga and upgrading to find all your favourite games wouldn't work was a major drag back then.

HP to reduce PC energy consumption by a quarter

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Simple

Fit a better power supply unit with a more efficient transformer. Not sure it will gain you 25%, but if you use other higher quality parts you may get there.

Revealed: USB 3.0 jacks and sockets

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Bus power!

I agree with the other posters. It's time USB provided a decent amount of power.

BUS power is the next big thing and it avoids having so many power adapters.

Firewire provides something like 30 volts, not sure about the amp output, but it's certainly better than USB's 5V.

GPS is killing children

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Rubbish

It's only "killer" when it's fitted into a 4x4 with their flat high bonnets which knock kids flat down and flatten them (with a car they get thrown onto the bonnet and stand a chance of survival).

Not to mention 4x4 drivers feel invulnerable and so don't take as much care, plus drive over speed bumps really fast as their wheels can straddle many of them.

Gates kicks off farewell tour in Vegas

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Microsoft innovate again!

Gates talking about how great multitouch software is going to be when Apple has a product using this technology already in the market.

Typical Microsoft, miss the boat and then hype up the technology.

Gates made a similar gaff when talking about the future of games technology, saying how future consoles would have new control mechanisms and how you would be able to wave the remote around. When told the Wii did this already he denied that was what he was talking about.

Bill needs to get out more, experience what is out there instead of sitting in his Microsoft dream world.

AmigaOS 5 surfaces... sort of

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Hate to say it

But the Amiga is long dead. People are just using the brand and following it had as a brand to attach to all sorts of rubbish technology.

Look back at the technology the Amiga had at its launch and to be called an Amiga now you'll need a computer that could render hollywood quality graphics in real time and have a truly amazing OS.

Let it die with dignity.

Neo1973: long-distance contender to Apple and Google?

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It's a largely open platform

It's a largely open platform, there's two platforms that run on it. OpenMoko and Qtopia.

Qtopia has been around for quite some time, the fact that it's been ported across with relative ease shows you the advantage of having as much documentation and open hardware as possible.

Google's platform looks fairly ordinary and it's only there because Google generates a lot of hype, it's a well known brand.

Nintendo Wii set to beat MS' 17.7m all-time Xbox 360 sales tally

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In use

How many 360s are in use though?

There's quite a few XBox 360s sitting around on shelves, but stocks of the Wii are very scarce.

Shipping consoles to retailers is one thing, selling them to end users is a different thing.

USB 'compact cassette' promises 1980s nostalgia, home taping

Giles Jones Gold badge

Do yourself a favour

Get one of these not a stupid case for a tiny USB stick:

http://www.firebox.com/product/1700

Or one of these is you don't have a Mini tower:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=220602&source=1&DOY=28m12

The Electric Car Conspiracy ... that never was

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Electric motors are strong

Make no mistake, electric motors are strong. Fully engage a large electric motor and you'll snap any driveshaft.

The point is, why refine the combustion engine any further when in a few years there will be very little oil to burn?

Peak oil is coming and if scientists and engineers spent all their time looking at fuel cells and electric power then we'd be making more progress.

QVC debuts Venturer HD DVD player

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Still CRTs out there

There's still a lot of CRT TVs out there. Only when CRTs are extinct and everyone is HD compatible will the formats take off big time.

The quality of DVD was noticable even on CRTs, but you need a HD LCD, Plasma etc to make HD DVD or Blu-ray worth it. Not just any old LCD or Plasma, one with a 24Hz mode or slow panned shots won't be very smooth.

Celeb spills beans on new Apple notebook

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Eeepc

Will be hard to be smaller than an eeepc and still be useable.

If the price is about £500 that would seriously upset Sony and other makers of UMPCs.

Tories offer NHS IT rescue plan after major patient data losses

Giles Jones Gold badge

Who says it's the new system?

Computers in NHS organisations are nothing new. Any leak that's NHS related is blamed on the new system, this is not proven.

The new system has safeguards, you only get to download the data for your organisation and you download it over the NHS network. There's no CDs posted (unlike the old system). There's access restrictions when viewing patient records, you have to request access to patient identifiable data.

So if any data is being compromised it's systems at PCTs and practices. Not the NPFit system.

Plunging player prices to reveal Blu-ray vs HD DVD winner?

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HD DVD will win

The most technically advanced solution has never won format wars as far as I can remember.

Minidisc beat DCC despite DCC sounding better.

VHS beat Betamax and Video 2000.

HD DVD offers less storage, but there's still plenty of storage available. The discs can be made more cheaply as you can retool an existing DVD plant easily.

Both are too similar for their own good, the winner will be decided on price and title availability. HD DVD is cheaper and people won't risk investing in a premium format if it may be the loser.

Vista sets 2007 land-speed record for copying and deleting

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Microtrash

It seems Microsoft have gone backwards. Vista seems more like the days of 3.11 and 95 than the company who gave us Windows 2000 and XP.

Windows 2000 was the peak of the Windows experience, it's all been downhill since then.

I love Vista though, not because it's good but because it's so bad that it will finally give people the confidence to try something new.

Monitor maker aims s.book sub-notebook at Asus Eee PC

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Looks naff

Off centre screen with dodgy keypad, what were they thinking?

The screen is the crucial component and the laptop is bulkier and still has the same screen.

You're never likely to want to do much CPU intensive stuff on a small laptop, so the CPU speed isn't important.

Size and weight is crucial, the Eeepc is a compromise in features which many people are prepared to make.