* Posts by Tom

264 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Aug 2007

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US, EU seize counterfeit computer goods

Tom
Pirate

I've seen some of this crap.

Take a cheap no-name memory module (<$20 retail), add some fake CORSAIR stickers and put two into a fake CORSAIR matched pair kit packaging and it now looks like an $80+ product.

Anything where you have cheap no-name and expensive name brand is ripe.

I've seen fake network switches, they fake the case to look like a well known name brand and use the board from a cheap no name inside. Crap no name DVDs labelled Taiyo Yuden...

Wal-Mart blogger claims retailer will ditch HD DVD

Tom

Toshiba to exit HD DVD, end format war-NHK

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1627196120080216

"TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is planning to stop production of equipment compatible with the HD DVD format for high-definition video, allowing the competing Blu-Ray camp a free run, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.

Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business, Japan's NHK said on its website..."

Tom
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beginning of the end?

"it could mark the beginning of the end for HD DVD."

Beginning? At best it's the middle of the end. More like a nail in the coffin.

LG says laptop batteries safe despite 'billion to one' blast

Tom

unusual temp and pressure

That's not the cause, they might as well say the laptop failed due to unusual flame and smoke.

US may shoot down spy sat to safeguard tech secrets

Tom

That's not it...

They just don't want anyone to see that they put the battery in backwards.

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

Tom
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What do they mean pay?

The whole purpose of this new system is to make some one else pay, do the work, and be the boogy man. Pay? Don't be silly.

Teen hacker re-unlocks Apple's iPhone

Tom

Then it will be just 'simpler' to get the iphone with a contract from your local provider.

Or buy a different phone that's not locked down.

Quite a few of the unlocked phones are in areas where you can't buy one. They are not available in Canada but I see quite a few on the street.

The 'blem wit' error messages

Tom

I've seen some odd ones

But "Keyboard Bad, Press F1 to Continue" is still a classic.

MPAA admits movie piracy study is 29% full of @$#%

Tom
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If they pull all the raw data out of their ass...

Do we care that they can't add?

Latest Vista SP1 tweak open to everyone with a week to spare

Tom

They call this a RC

And yet you have to stand on your head and whistle Dixie to get it to install? Can't wait until I see Joe 6pack with this...

SMBs grasp Vista nettle

Tom
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tested or implemented

Useful bundling tested and implemented in the same stat :P

Just about everyone using XP should have tested Vista. The ones who have not even tested it have their heads in the sand.

But I don't think there is anything in that bundled number to say who is actually using it. I had to test Vista before our sales people and certain managers come asking for it because it's new and shinny. Once SP1 is final I'll have to test it again.

California to snatch control of citizens' air-con

Tom

There is an opt-in program like this in Toronto, Canada too.

From the Ontario Ministry of Energy website.

"peakSAVER Air Conditioning – the program's residential and small business/commercial version – gives Toronto Hydro the ability to remotely “cycle down” homeowners' central air-conditioners, water heaters and pool pumps when the electricity system is stretched."

They offered us a wopping $25 to let them install the switch on our AC.

Canucks kill second attempt at 'iPod tax'

Tom

Only in Canada eh?!

This has been going on for years, they just try and expand it every year.

2007 rates. http://cpcc.ca/english/currentTariff.htm

Audio cassettes of 40 minutes or more in length 24¢

CD-R, CD-RW, CD-R Audio, CD-RW Audio and MiniDisc 21¢

Proposed 2008 http://cpcc.ca/english/proposedTariff.htm

3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the levy rates shall be

(a) 29¢ for each audio cassette of 40 minutes or more in length;

(b) 29¢ for each CD-R or CD-RW;

(c) 85¢ for each CD-R Audio, CD-RW Audio or MiniDisc;

(d) for removable electronic memory cards in the Secure Digi-

tal, MultiMedia, and Memory Stick formats with more than

256 MB of memory, $2 for each card with no more than

1 Gigabyte (GB) of memory, $5 for each card with more than

1 GB and no more than 4 GB of memory, and $10 for each

card with more than 4 GB of memory;

(e) for digital audio recorders, $5 for each recorder with no

more than 1 Gigabyte (GB) of memory, $25 for each recorder

with more than 1 GB and no more than 10 GB of memory, $50

for each recorder with more than 10 GB and no more than

30 GB of memory, and $75 for each recorder with more than

30 GB of memory.

ADDENDUM: Effective June 8, 2007 the CPCC has withdrawn Sections 2(iv) and 3d) concerning removable electronic memory cards from the proposed tariff for 2008-2009. ...

*****

So they backed down on memory cards (for the second time) and the courts kicked out the iPod tax (for the second time) but they are appealing.

Also some record companies are in court to get the whole thing scrapped because it makes private coping legal. They also don't like that they only get 15% of what's left over after "expenses" (not much). CPCC do have VERY nice offices here in Toronto.

Tom

The iPod tax was in effect

When the courts tossed it out the first time the price of the iPod mini I was looking to buy dropped $25, the larger models dropped even more.

They also wanted to tax blank DVDs.

Malware hitches a ride on digital devices

Tom
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DIE autorun

This is why I always kill auto run on any new Windows install. Between CDs and DVDs that want to install crap, or software that runs the installer every time I put the CD in, it's a pain I can live without. And that's just the "legitimate uses" add virus and trojan crap and it's another BAD Microsoft idea like hiding file extensions and activex that trade security for ease of use.

US laws restrict computer forensics to gumshoes

Tom

@ AC

If "A dude who got an online private dick's license in 4 months" can get one that easy I would think the PHD should not have much trouble getting the right paperwork and at the same time maybe learn about court evidence.

It's the type of cowboys the RIAA uses that create the need for this type of law. It's too bad they will mostly end up with a law that just makes more paperwork without fixing the real problems.

Toshiba remains upbeat about HD DVD

Tom
Coat

Toshiba remains upbeat about HD DVD

I'm not dead!

I'm getting better!

I feel fine!

I think I'll go for a walk.

...

Office update disables MS files

Tom

File types are not unsafe

Office is, it's not like it is active X it's just a data file...

It's just easier to kill off an old file format then to fix the buffer overflow or whatever hole is in the Office2003 file import code.

The protection's off, as Warner commits to Amazon

Tom
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If they could just get past the silly US ONLY crap.

I can buy (and have) a DVD from Amazon.com, .ca, .co.uk, .co.jp but I can't buy a MP3 because I live in Canada?

Don't say "it's because of the licence" because THEY wrote the licence.

QVC debuts Venturer HD DVD player

Tom

HDA3?

It looks like the same as the Toshiba HD DVD Player - HDA3 with a different name suck on it.

Click here to turn your HP laptop into a brick

Tom

It stems from security flaws in an ActiveX control

Oh that has never happened before... ActiveHex would be a better name.

Facebook takes the Captcha rap

Tom

I don't get it...

"Optical character recognition can stumble on as much as 30 per cent of the words it encounters."

If they don't know what the word is... how can they filter it?

Western Digital drive is DRM-crippled for your safety

Tom
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Better workaround

Don't buy one! Buy something else.

Codemasters sets legal dogs on file-sharers

Tom

@Coward

"if you look at the gets on torrents some games are into the 100,000's so multiply that by £40 and you have a large amount of lost revenue."

Bullshit, if the crappy copy protection worked do you think they would all buy a copy? Nothing was "LOST" since they didn't have it in the first place.

You lot might as well say copying is murder.

Transformers director blames MS for HD DVD/Blu-ray format war

Tom

HP?

"major tech companies like Intel and HP"

Intel as in WinTel?

HP? Backers of the Windows Mediacenter PC Brick? If you look at the top drive available it's a Blu-Ray burner, HD DVD reader. So what are they really backing.

Counterfeit Vista rate half that of XP

Tom
Pirate

Don't give people a choice...

Microsoft has to give co-op funds to the pirates to get them to only install Vista the way they do with Best Buy, if they want to get the Vista numbers up in this market they need to stop the bootlegging of XP and force the new users onto Vista...

Frontline Wireless matches Google with 700-MHz bid

Tom
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to operationalize open access?

Someone please smack them with a copy of the complete Oxford Dictionary.

Huge jellyfish pack slaughters 100,000 salmon

Tom

Anyone know if they're edible?

Just convence the Chinese that they work better then Tiger piss. That should take care of the problem in short order.

Tosh to tempt laptop buyers with free HD DVDs

Tom

Toshiba and Hollywood will be happy to hear...

that AnyDVD support HD DVD. Not because it's better, but because the copy protection is crappier then Blu-ray's protection.

"6.2.0.1 2007 11 20

- Note to people considering to invest in HD media: Please buy HD DVD

instead of Blu-ray. HD DVD is much more consumer friendly (e.g., no region

coding, AACS not mandatory, no BD+). Don't give your money to people,

who throw your fair-use rights out of the window."

Crime-busting gator kills Florida fugitive

Tom
Joke

@ Anonymous

"Is it possible that someone could be digested by a reptile without being killed?"

What do you do if your swallowed by a reptile? Run around and around until your all pooped out.

MIT sues architect for crap computing-dept campus

Tom

So MIT have finaly noticed...

That the emperor has no clothes?

SaveTheInterneters to save the internet from Comcast

Tom

It makes sense to prioritise other traffic ahead of P2P applications?

You think so? I think they are prioritising their profit. You think a phone company is going to prioritise Voice of IP? Will the cable company prioritise streaming video?

Honda offers FCX for '08, bitchslaps Google

Tom

You can already buy a kits to convert a Toyota

You replace the lead acid battery with lithium ion batteries. Some claim to use new safe types, but some use the standard exploding cells.

NBC, Fox target YouTube with Hulu dance

Tom

Not only clips

They say there will be full episodes.

Good - I don't see anything about it being US only.

Bad - They talk about a player, just what I need, more crappy software.

Microsoft racks up best quarter since 1999

Tom
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@Abdul

"Vista is the future here today.

But don't take my word for it.

Just look at the sales figures."

Ok,

"Sales figures for boxed copies of windows Vista are significantly lagging behind those of the predecessing operating system. According to a report by market analysts, NPD, Vista units sold have declined 59.7 per cent compared with XP, during each products first six months on shelves. Revenue is also down by 41.5 per cent."

http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/28708/Vista-sales-lag-behind-XP

That's for people who want Vista, not people who are stuck with it when they buy a computer at Best Buy etc.

- Early XP sales were not that great.

- A large number of the Vista Business sales reported are for new computers that are upgraded to XP SP2 the second they are out of the box.

Tom

@ Coward

"It's too easy to knock Vista, just as it was too easy to knock XP when it first came out"

True, because they both suck. I took a couple years before XP was any good (worth upgrading from 2000) and I expect it will be the same for Vista. I don't see much new in SP1, it seems like something they are rushing out for all the companies that said they were going to wait for a service pack... maybe they should call it Marketing Pack 1 :)

Transformers director favours Blu-ray Disc

Tom

Could have been 400,000

"As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is,"

If Blu is outselling HD-DVD 2:1 as reported they could have had 400,000 sales by now...

Record industry pushes ISPs to cut off file sharers

Tom

Some ISPs might like this

They can drop P2P traffic and when people scream just say, "we had to do it, they made us, it's all their fault.

Fight malware by upgrading to Vista, urges MS

Tom

Like preventing forest fires with a flare gun

They say Macs/unix... don't get attacked because no one uses it.

but

No one uses vista, but it's not attacked because it's more secure. Wait another year and see how it's standing up then.

North American cities go green under LED street lights

Tom
Go

LED Street lights

At least for Toronto they are talking about traffic lights at intersections (The Red-Stop, Green-Go, Amber-go-like-hell things) not the white general illumination, I don't think LED is ready for that yet! (still use stuff like HP Sodium for that).

LEDs replace hands in bonkers Japanese watches

Tom

For a geeky watch go all the way

If your going to get a watch with a bunch of LEDs on it you might as well go all the way and get a binary one. They are kind of expensive for a gimmick watch though.

http://www.binaryledwatch.com/

Universal recruits enemies for Total war on iTunes

Tom
Stop

Have they been drinking shoe pollish or something?

This has to be the stupidest thing they have come up with yet!

$5 monthly subscription? So it's going to have some kind of DRM (Windows I expect) and not Apple's DRM (and US only no doubt) . So it's not going to affect iTunes at all, people who like iPods will not be able to use it. Will people buy some other player just to get the "free" music? Well that "free" music is just going to be added to the price of the player. A SanDisk 4 GB is about $100, and iPod nano 4 GB is about $150 at best buy... now if they add the cost of a one year subscription to the price ($60) by the time the store markup it's going to be about $200 for the SanDisk player, like that will sell!

How long will the vendor keep paying?

If they want to put the boots to Apple there is only one way. Sell MP3 tracks that will play on anything including iPods. Sell for equal or less then iTunes, and don't have stupid US only limits.

This emergency alert has been cancelled by Hotmail

Tom

Not so Hotmail

The standard is 100 per email, not 10 per hour.

Even if it's some "joke of the day" email or The Register daily headlines it should work if you only send out 100 recipients at a time.

iPod Nano in airport trouser conflagration horror

Tom

One good thing...

At least he didn't get a ticket for smoking in a non-smoking area...

Tom

It was on the TV news...

It was the 1st gen (square sides) black iPod. There is a photo here...

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14271878/detail.html

Apple have offered to give him a new ipod, but he could always sue Apple for 65 million for his pants.

Clap-controlled TV consigns remote to bin of history

Tom

Remote control?

How long before they add claps to TV ads to turn up the volume on your TV? ;)

Kim Jong Il: dictator, gnome, and now 'internet expert'

Tom

we all know who invented

He said

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

At least he could spell potato(e).

Computer glitch nixes death row appeal in Texas

Tom

@Daniel

"but a man DIED because his attorneys were 20 minutes over the deadline"

No he died because he was convicted of committing a murder. His victim never had a chance to file an appeal.

Best Buy adds disclaimer to 'secret website'

Tom

Print out the webpage

Last time they had an online sale for something I wanted I checked in store stock from the website, then printed the page and took it with me.

They had to get the managers ok to match their own price, and they acted like they were doing me a big favour.

Conservatives cock-up over pound again

Tom

It just went 404

Looks like someone noticed... :)

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