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* Posts by Richard Austin

11 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Jul 2007

BBC should not pay for fibre, Ofcom tells MPs

Richard Austin
Coat

What is needed...

is a publicly owned telecommunications company that would look after the infrastructure for the whole country.

Then it could lease out the fibre lines to any company that wished to provide internet service.

As a public concern, it could be non-profit making and be totally impartial to who leases the equipment/lines.

We could call it something like Great Britain Telecommunications company or maybe British Telecom for short ;P

Just a thought :D

In addition to this, they could charge householders to have fibre to the home at an install cost of say £200. Then they reduce the burden on BT. This of course could be optional so that only people who wanted FTTH forked out but they would be the only ones able to connect to high bandwidth apps. Therefore removing the problem of overloading copper lines.

Mines the one with the carrier pigeon in the pocket.

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'Virtual strip search' arrives at JFK and LAX

Richard Austin

Sounds ok...

I for one wouldn't mind this at all. I would much prefer this to the adding of my personal details to a DNA database, profiling etc etc.

I don't believe in losing liberty in the name of security - some pills we have to swallow to be allowed so called freedom, but I don't believe that a beefed up x-ray is a bad thing for ensuring air traffic safety. I would rather have a man sat next to me who we know can't be carrying a gun, than one who we can identify by his DNA but can't tell if he is carrying a weapon in his jaxi.

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Pirate Bay offers uncensored, ad-backed blog hole

Richard Austin
Coat

Freedom?

Whilst the idea and application of this is all good, what makes me sick to the stomach is that it is at all necessary.

The western world is supposed to have the freedom of speech. Every year some new law or precedent is set that erodes that little bit more.

A forum I frequent has now banned the naming of companies in case somebody utters a bad word and they get sued.

These freedoms should be a basic right - our forefathers fought for them and we are slowly losing them again to our own governments.

Mines the tin foil one.

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Nokia confirms 'iPhone killer' handset in pipeline

Richard Austin

N95 with a facelift - Here's hoping

If this is what I'm hoping for, we could finally be getting a winner.

I would love the iphone if it had a decent camera, connectivity and didn't tie you to one operator for 2 years.

I love my N95 and if this can expand on that to include a touch screen. I for one will be one very happy geek.

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Kent council approves 'cleaner' coal-fired plant

Richard Austin
IT Angle

What about biofuels?

I am no expert on this, so please correct me on the intricacies of my over simplified idea but why can't we use vegetable oil to power generators?

It operates in a car at similar economy to diesel. What is the barrier to using this on a wholesale level?

It is infinately renewable as supplies can constantly be regrown all over the world.

I'm sure that certain types of oil giving plant can be grown in many different climates therefore lending use to previously unused land.

This would create some wealth for the areas producing and reduce dependency on any one region. If not all could be produced locally.

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Microsoft spits out final XP service pack, beta version

Richard Austin

Vista vs Linux

I'm a network administrator and have worked with Windows systems for about 6 years now so have always liked the latest and greatest OS on my desktop. I bought Vista 64 bit on release and I've had no major problems with it at all but I just wasn't happy and couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I've since installed Fedora 8 on my main PC with my vista drive as an alternative boot option. I think I've booted Vista once in the last month.

I finally understand all the evangelism that seems to follow Linux. Granted when you want to do anything 'fancy' it can get complicated but my wife and 2 children barely even noticed I'd changed over for what they use. They still found the internet, managed to locate 'Word Processor' and manage to find my NAS server and play music.

I've since reinstalled the laptops in the house with Ubuntu and there hasn't even been a whimper from the 8 year old - just started to use it and off he went.

Now why should we be lining Bills pockets again?

Oh - well I suppose for the games on the 360 we are still making sure he can still afford socks.

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How much does El Reg cost the global economy?

Richard Austin
Thumb Up

Actually working

In my contract of employment - it actually specifies "keep up to date on new issues and developments" as a key performance indicator.

So by reading your articles I am increasing my worth to my company.

As Alex says above, this is a great place to find out about new technologies. It's also amazing how the odd story filters through to radio and tv a few days after too.

Thank you EL Reg.

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Linux desktops grow and grow and grow

Richard Austin
Go

Nice to see.

As a recent convert to linux as my main operating system, this is interesting to read. Windows really does have such a stranglehold on the public, but its time that this was relaxed.

Driver issues really are a pain and could do with being simplified to enable end users to be more at home with using the alternative.

As I'm still a new user myself, being told that I need to recompile the kernel to make a driver work, then to be told I don't have the libraries required is frustrating. For somebody less masochistic, this would be a nightmare.

Well it's a step in the right direction and I, hopefully like many others will not be turning back.

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ISP bosses told to get real on broadband speeds

Richard Austin

Last Mile cost.

Why doesn't the customer who wants fibre to the door pay for the upgrade?

I would happily if given the option, pay the extra to have fibre.

I live in a small village with no hope of LLU or cable so BT is our only option. The green box is only 100 metres away so the distance limits will be eradicated when 21CN comes into play.

Ofcom needs to let BT rake the costs back in and stop the greedy LLU companies cherry picking the most profitable areas - This is what stifles progress.

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Police cuff 77 in fake cheque crackdown

Richard Austin

Blame the victims.

Why not throw some of the blame back at the suckers who fall for this sort of scam in the first place.

The old saying "You can't con an honest man" comes into play here.

It is pure and simple greed.

If the police started arresting members of the public for attempted fraud, I'm sure reported cases would soon diminish.

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British customers miffed at email response times

Richard Austin

Customer Service Shake Up

Emails in this day and age should be dealt with as quickly as possible.

I don't think 2 hours is too long to wait for a response, even if it is as simple as "I am the person dealing with your query and will endeavour to have it resolved by 8pm/tomorrow/whenever"

We are in dire need of a wholesale return to values for customer services in general.

I try my best to stay using companies who give local support and have knowledgeable staff. The funny situation is, it's these companies that have fewer issues.

Like Cris says above, nothing worse than having to pay a premium to complain or resolve an issue.

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