* Posts by Andy Taylor

368 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Jul 2007

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Hell Desk's 800 number was perfect for horrible heavy-breathing harassment calls

Andy Taylor
FAIL

Re: Dunno about phone calls but ...

On a similar vein, I had a supplier send us a box of CD-ROMs containing their full catalogue in handy HTML form. The dev who had built the catalogue had forgotten to change the URLS properly and they all contained the name of his PC, which was Jessica.

Not a problem, you'd think, but at the time Netscape was the browser of choice and it would helpfully add www. and .com automatically to URLS which were not FQDN.

No prizes for guessing what kind of website could be found at www dot jessica dot com...

New MacBook Pro beckons fanbois to become strip pokers

Andy Taylor
Gimp

Re: Typical views from those want to buy but don't like the price.

Who plugs their iPhone in to their Mac any more anyway? I certainly don't.

Apple’s macOS Sierra update really puts the fan into 'fanboi'

Andy Taylor

Re: Iseless Technology

What if you are unable to interact with it in any other way? Far from useless.

Andy Taylor

Re: 105% and Why upgrade?

Yep, 100% = 1 core running at full tilt.

Running

yes> /dev/null&

a few times in the terminal will also exercise the CPU.

Smell burning? Samsung’s 'Death Note 7' could still cause a contagion

Andy Taylor

Re: Samsung PR need to think outside the box

Do you not remember your Chemistry lessons? Lithium reacts with water exothermically and produces Hydrogen gas.

Apple to automatically cram macOS Sierra into Macs – 'cos that worked well for Windows 10

Andy Taylor

Good.

Now that the OS upgrades are no longer chargeable, it's about time Apple stopped discriminating between minor and major updates. Hopefully this will mean fewer people being blissfully ignorant of the new software because "it didn't show up on updates".

McAfee-the-man wants McAfee-the-brand, Chipzilla says no

Andy Taylor

It's quite hard to tell the difference between

"McAfee" and "John McAfee Global Technologies"

but then I wouldn't buy anything from either company.

BBC detector vans are back to spy on your home Wi-Fi – if you can believe it

Andy Taylor

All you need is

A wired connection and get_iplayer_downloader.

It has long annoyed me that it is perfectly legal to time shift viewing using an off-air recording device, but iPlayer was limited to a finite time (first 7 then 30 days), not to mention all the programmes that are excluded from iPlayer for "rights reasons".

I use get_iplayer_downloader for >95% of my BBC viewing and I get to keep the recordings for future enjoyment.

Private moonshot gets the green light from US authorities

Andy Taylor
Coat

Surely that depends if the Moon is closer to the Sun or further away when they visit.

Milk IN the teapot: Innovation or abomination?

Andy Taylor
Stop

What if you don't drink milk?

I'd say milk *in* the teapot is just plain rude.

In my experience, any particular blend of tea tastes pretty much the same regardless of how it is made.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's tea method is genius though.

Lester Haines: RIP

Andy Taylor

Sad news. Condolences to all.

Apple to kill off Mac OS X?

Andy Taylor

Re: Apple have a mountain to climb

All the Apple OS versions have common core components.

Bletchley finds Hitler plain text war machine on Ebay, buys for £10

Andy Taylor

The teleprinter is of a widely-used design, manufactured by the Lorenz company under licence from a US company. From the eBay listing and its single photo, it wasn't clear how old or what type it was.

My colleagues at the museum didn't realise it was a German WW2 vintage military teleprinter until after they got it back to the workshop for cleaning and found the Reich Adler stamp on it.

Ultra-rare WWII Lorenz cipher machine goes on display at Bletchley Park

Andy Taylor

Re: "at the The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC)"

NMOC is the National Maritime Operations Centre.

Andy Taylor

Re: Tunny

The Tunny machine was a logical equivalent of the Lorenz. It was based on Bill Tutte's analysis and an essential part of the decryption process. With the machine set up correctly, the encrypted message could be input and the output would be the plain text German.

The Heath Robinson and Colossus were used to find the start positions for each message.

You can see a working rebuild at TNMOC.

Science contest to get girls interested in STEM awards first prize to ... a boy

Andy Taylor

Re: Be careful what you wish for

At the National Museum of Computing, we also have an entire gallery dedicated to women in computing. The early programmers were certainly not just ticking boxes and punching cards.

Dead Steve Jobs owed $174 by San Francisco parking ticket wardens

Andy Taylor

How did they give Steve Jobs tickets?

As Jobs famously drove cars without a number plate (thanks to local laws regarding new cars and registration), how did they know it was him?

Bleeping Computer sued by Enigma Software over moderator's forum post

Andy Taylor

Re: Anticompetitive

In my opinion, this is a highly dodgy approach from a somewhat dubious vendor. :)

Andy Taylor

Re: Anticompetitive

Enigma's specific complaint is that Bleeping Computers has affiliate links to Malwarebytes on their site. Enigma say that not including affiliate links to Spyhunter as well, Bleeping Computers are anticompetitive.

Drone-busting eagles to darken Blighty's skies?

Andy Taylor
Coat

Who knew

that if you play Hotel California at them loud enough, drones just fall out of the sky?

Reminder: iPhones commit suicide if you repair them on the cheap

Andy Taylor

Re: I mention a similar trend a while back...

Why would a Genius ask if you had dropped a Mac in the toilet and why would you expect them to support non-Apple software? Does Microsoft provide support for Photoshop?*

Having seen my fair share of liquid damaged iDevices, there were plenty of iPods and iPhones yet remarkably few iPads and Macs. Could this be because iPads and Macs won't fall all the way into the bottom of the pan?

*No.

Reg readers battle to claim 'my silicon's older than yours' crown

Andy Taylor

Re: Nuclear Power Station...

Our TAC project lead is already working on something along these lines.

I did get the dates slightly wrong, the TACs were in continuous operation from 1968 to 2004, I still think that wins :)

Eighteen year old server trumped by functional 486 fleet!

Andy Taylor

Marconi TAC

I mentioned in the other thread, but it is worth pointing out again -

The National Museum of Computing has one of a pair of Marconi TAC machines that were in continuous operation at Wylfa nuclear power station from 1968 until 2004. That's 36 years or double the original article's 18.

Server retired after 18 years and ten months – beat that, readers!

Andy Taylor

What about the TAC?

At the National Museum of Computing we have one of the pair of TACs (Transistorised Automatic Computer) from Wylfa nuclear power station in Anglesey. These machines were in service between 1963 and 2004. Following a relatively light restoration, which included swapping some circuit boards for unused original spares, our TAC is now working.

We are now looking for a nuclear power station to control with it.

Amazon, Azure and Google in race to the bottom ... of cloud storage pricing

Andy Taylor

Is it sad that

I instantly recognised the track from Real Racing 3?

I have you now! Star Wars stocking fillers from another age

Andy Taylor
Coat

I can't believe you missed

Angry Birds Star Wars (1 and 2).

The Police Chief's photo library mixed business, pleasure and flesh

Andy Taylor

Re: Keyboards

I can go one better than that. One of my users once glued the accumulated felt back on to the mouse rollers thinking it was part of the roller.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Star Wars Special Editions

Andy Taylor

Correct order to watch the other films?

there's 1,2,3,4,5,6

there's 4,5,6,1,2,3

there's 4,5,(1),2,3,6 (so-called Machete order)

and the correct order: 4,5,6. Original theatrical versions.

Are you the keymaster? Alternatives in a LogMeIn/LastPass universe

Andy Taylor

1Password for me too

nt

Apple pays two seconds of quarterly profit for wiping pensioner's pics

Andy Taylor

A Ridiculous Decision.

Whatever happened, and I'm 99% certain he didn't listen to the FRS or Genius, the user is at fault for not backing up their data. There are multiple ways to do so.

Also, the "15 years of contacts" claim is obviously total rubbish - where were they stored before he got an iPhone that's only been around for a maximum of 3-4 years?

Reg readers show Blitz spirit at Computer Museum lecture

Andy Taylor
Megaphone

Come and visit the museum for free this weekend

As part of the Heritage Open Days scheme, there are limited free tickets available for the museum this Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Advance booking is essential - you can find out more here:

http://www.tnmoc.org/news/upcoming-events/free-entry-online-bookers

See you there!

UK.gov loses crucial battle in home-taping war with musicians

Andy Taylor

Re: format shift?

It doesn't matter if you are copying from CD to CD, tape, mp3, wax cylinder or paper tape, you are supposed to pay.

No one worried about it before the law was changed apart from Gordon Brown who famously had to delete the Beatles off his iPod because at the time they weren't available on any digital delivery service.

No one will worry about it now.

Love-rat fanboi left bobbing for Apples in tiny Japanese bath

Andy Taylor

Re: his beloved collection of overpriced blahware

I'd like to see you try running Windows on a PowerBook, you need an Intel CPU for Windows.

Trading Standards pokes Amazon over 'libellous' review

Andy Taylor

Why has the seller not commented on the review?

I found the 1* review in question, there are no comments on it explaining the functionality. If I was the seller would be leaving a comment or emailing the commenter directly, his email is on his profile.

Snakes on a backplane: Server-room cabling horrors

Andy Taylor

Wading through cables

When I joined a large charity some 13 years ago, the server room patch panels had cables that spilled out all over the floor. When I finally managed to get someone in to tidy it up and replace the network switches - a weekend job, they decided to start on Thursday morning identifying each cable. Friday lunchtime came and went, at which point the cutting began.

In my current job, I am slowly replacing the mess with lovely 20cm cables to join switch to panel. My cabinets are as neat as I can make them.

'Fry-OS 8' iPhone BLEW UP MY PANTS wails roasted Johnson

Andy Taylor

It's incredibly rare

In four years at the Genius Bar I must have seen fewer than 5 "hot battery" incidents which had led to smoke and/or flames. In most of the cases, the phone had previously got wet.

There were a fair number of expanded batteries in both phones and MacBooks, but this was usually down to the battery reaching the end of its useful life.

Air gaps: Happy gas for infosec or a noble but inert idea?

Andy Taylor

Re: Air Gap

Have you ever tried to get a decent mobile signal inside an Apple store? The stainless steel walls work pretty well as a shield.

Parts for Brit proto-mainframe EDSAC show up in USA

Andy Taylor

Re: Hmm

That's a picture from the official launch event. A large gauze was hung in front of the EDSAC rebuild and a photo of the original was projected onto it. The gauze dropped to reveal the rebuild.

There's a video here, the unveiling is at 2'50"

http://www.tnmoc.org/news/edsac/video-opening-edsac-gallery

Ghosts of Christmas Past: The long-ago geek gifts that made us what we are

Andy Taylor

Getting somewhat misty-eyed here, I had most of these toys in one form or another.

Angry Birds to angry words: Rovio flings 14% of its staff out the door

Andy Taylor

Tiny Thief is great

Lovely little game, keeps my 5 year old engaged for ages.

VINYL is BACK and you can thank Sonos for that

Andy Taylor

Re: Vinyl introduces a lot of failings - Laser Turntable

So you ended up with some very clean LPs with no labels?

Eye laser surgery campaigner burned by Facebook takedown

Andy Taylor

Re: i don't want to sound unfeeling, but..

Coherent. Very good, not everyone will get that :)

PEAK APPLE: iOS 8 is least popular Cupertino mobile OS in all of HUMAN HISTORY

Andy Taylor
Boffin

Short of space? Plug it in

If you use iTunes to update, there's no need for the free space shuffle, it just overwrites the old version. It's a lot easier than deleting all your apps.

CBS goes OTT, releases EVERY EPISODE of Star Trek EVER MADE

Andy Taylor
Coat

Trekkies?

I thought most Trek fans prefer the term "Trekker".

What's the difference? Well, a Trekker wonders what sex is like in zero gravity. A Trekkie wonders what sex is like.

iPad AIR 2 and iPad MINI 3, 5K iMac: World feels different today – and it IS

Andy Taylor
Boffin

Of course you can, for only £1999. Includes free Mac.

From the Apple Support pages:

"If you have an iMac with Thunderbolt, any other Mac with Thunderbolt can use it as a display. The iMac will play both the video and audio from the other Mac.

Connect the Thunderbolt cable to the Thunderbolt ports on each computer.

Make sure both Mac computers are turned on and awake.

Press Command (⌘)-F2 on the keyboard of the external display Mac.

If you want the external display Mac to play audio as well as video from the primary Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sound, then click Output. Select the external display Mac in the list of devices."

How the FLAC do I tell MP3s from lossless audio?

Andy Taylor

"Kit is everything - I blew a stack of cash on top end kit (10 Grand), and I could tell the difference between a bought CD and a CD-R of the same album - the difference was tiny, but I could tell every time. 320K MP3 is good enough for most situations"

How is this even possible when the CD and CD-R are bit for bit identical?

Apple 'Genius': iPhone 6? We've had NO COMPLAINTS about our BENDY iThing

Andy Taylor

Re: I'll bet this is a non-issue like "antenna gate" and all the rest

Actually, the design did change between 4 and 4S, the 4 has a visible gap in the aluminium band at the top of the phone near the headphone socket which is not present on the 4S.

Oz carrier Tiger Air takes terror alerts to new heights

Andy Taylor

Re: Something missing in this article

Read the original article, it clearly says this gentleman was sitting writing in his book and a fellow passenger called a flight attendant over to see what he was writing.

I'd like to hear from an independent witness to be sure, but it is totally plausible in a world where you can't get on a plane while wearing t-shirt with a drawing of a gun on the front of it.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/man-threatened-with-arrest-at-heathrow-for-wearing-transformers-tshirt-6875154.html

Radio hams can encrypt, in emergencies, says Ofcom

Andy Taylor

RAYNET still exists? Who knew?

My recollection of RAYNET was that they had a disproportionate sense of their own importance.

I'm more than surprised they are still in operation, I would have thought that the advent of alternative means of communication rendered the whole concept as inefficient and outdated.

Data entry REAR-END SNAFU: Weighty ballsup leads to plane take-off flap

Andy Taylor

Re: old EE Q Next up: flying in circles

Why did the Warsaw flight crash?

All the poles were in the left half-plane

<pedant>

Shouldn't that be in the right half? Left half poles = stable system.

</pendant>

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