The Register's entirely serious New Year's resolutions for 2016

We launched as an email newsletter in 1994, hit the web four years later and are now a multinational media entity operating on three continents. Millions of people read us every month, which is humbling. We may have missed our birthday, but did do some proper “we've turned 21 and that means we're probably quite grown up now” …

[Phil Kingston]

Good luck with the changes - they sound exciting.

And keep up the good work.

[Primus Secundus Tertius]

Praise the Commentards

Dear El Reg,

You must be doing something right, to attract the serious and informative comments on so many of your reports. Perhaaps you should regard it as a challenge to make your reports outshine the high standard of the comments (this one excluded0.

[Anonymous Coward]

we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

So, to summarise the changes, you've gone all corporate on us? The one thing most people come here for is that you aren't corporate, you're a bit disrespectful, a lot cynical, but now you want to throw those USPs out of the window, take down the red flock curry house wall paper, and paint it all beige. This of course is consistent with the "over-boarding" of several popular contributing authors over the last couple of years.

It's as if you were going to sell out. But who's going to hang around to read if the Reg is reduced to a collection of dull-as-death articles on storage, containerisation, flash, storage, containerisation, storage, flash, more flash.....?

[DropBear]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

Absolutely this. There were indeed several changes recently and I can't remember a single positive one. I also can't help but feel that you guys are seriously misjudging (and methodically abandoning) the strengths of your "brand" but hey - it's not my ship to wreck. I can get "grown up" and politically correct news coverage on whatever I want anywhere else on the net - that's not what I come here for. And if you're reporting on homeopathy, I fully expect you to mock it into oblivion and back, "science" or not. Oh, and the dockerdockerdockerflashdocker thing is dead on - do people really read all that stuff?

[JudeKay]

Re: Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

DropBear, please be assured we'll be "Biting The Hand That Feeds IT" as ever. And while the former London Homoeopathic Hospital is but a 10-minute trot away from our London offices, our Laystall St team won't be looking to diluted flower essences to mend our ills... though of course we'll be happy to refer the BOFH's victims there.

[Martin Summers]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

"though of course we'll be happy to refer the BOFH's victims there."

The BOFH's victims are usually well past the stage of treatment being any use!

[dogged]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

> The BOFH's victims are usually well past the stage of treatment being any use!

So homeopathy will be exactly as effective as actual medicine, which some insane people will regard as proof of something.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

"So homeopathy will be exactly as effective as actual medicine, which some insane people will regard as proof of something."

Then there are the people who will try to convince us that even that is not final - and that there is even physical resurrection.

[BebopWeBop]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

"though of course we'll be happy to refer the BOFH's victims there."

Ahh - so they stock Lazarus solution (suitably diluted for optimal effect) then. Good to know.

[Ilmarinen]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

What DropBear said.

And, reading the article again, it's like El Reg is being replaced by a not very good clone, but one that has been on all the PC training courses and is now attempting to crawl up its own corporate arse.

Just my 2p.

[The Dude]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

I have been a regular (daily) reader of The Reg for many years, commenting now and then. I did notice a shift in style over the past few months, and was disappointed with the loss of some excellent writers.

Not to put too fine a point on it, I do not like the changes. In fact, I have been considering removing the register from my browser. If this ridiculous "grown-up" thing continues then That's what i will do.

The Register has always been the most "grown-up" of any tech site on the web, and especially "grown-up" in its "no bullshit" approach to the industry.

One tech principle that seems to be forgotten in all of this is: If it ain't broke then don't fix it. get the good writers back, dump the politically-correct "grown-up" BS, and bring back the old register. I don't know what you expect to accomplish with these changes, but it certainly will not be the retention of loyal readers.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

As above... I read El Reg because I liked it *as it was*. I too have noticed the change, though it's nothing I could have put my finger on.

I see that my posting rate has dropped in line with my appreciation of recent changes and my eagerness to read.

So thanks for what you have been, but it'd be rather nice if you could return to the status quo ante. Perhaps you need one of these -->

[PJF]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

@ The Dude

I agree with you 100%. The last 4-6 months or so, The Reg seems to be going to the Crapper.

I've been "reading" posts for the past 3 or 4 years or so. As of late, they do suck. This is coming from a has-been, years ago, old fart, that's trying to keep up of what's "in", and why where because and the WTF of IT in the wacky-world of the US.

El. Reg. - PLEASE stop the cut-n-past from the "conservationist" It may be a Brit rag/tech/sci type of mag/site (honestly don't know), but atleast give us YOUR spin on it!

[<shakes head>]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

anyone else notice all the comments have dried up as well, that was part of the fun, and now there is less motivation to see what is on the site.

RIP

[Fraggle850]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

Exactly so - El Reg is shifting away from the demographic of us whingeing old gits, no doubt in an attempt to stay relevant and appeal to advertisers. My own comment activity has dwindled of late, due to fewer contentious articles and decreasing levels of good comment. I've been visiting El Reg for around 10 years and the recent changes have me worried: who are the new owners?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

I look forward to the first gushing report from an APPL event in Cupertino, all expenses paid of course!

[Turtle]

@Ledswinger Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

Apparently, getting rid of Worstall and Page are part of the "improvements" - which doesn't promise anything good for anything else that the Reg is also going to label an "improvement".

[BenR]

Re: @Ledswinger we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

Apparently, getting rid of Worstall and Page are part of the "improvements" - which doesn't promise anything good for anything else that the Reg is also going to label an "improvement".

Is that like when you see 'new and improved recipe' on a sticker on your favourite thing from the supermarket, which guarantees that 'new' = 'cheaper' and 'improved' = 'worse than before'?

[diodesign]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

"It's as if you were going to sell out."

I don't wake up in the morning to write and edit boring articles. There is scandal, death, cockups, lies, and firings every step of the way in technology - that's what we want to uncover. The Reg started out as the Private Eye of IT and that's what we're gonna be.

It means more stuff like this, this and this, among loads of other original writing, and less stuff like this and this.

Of course, we're still going to have fun with headlines, and of course, we're still going to stand up to corporate goliaths and governments.

PS: no, we're not doing video reports (TTBOMK) because most of us have faces for radio, as they say.

C.

[MrT]

"The Reg started out as the Private Eye of IT..."

A knowledgeable, scandle-busting starter of news stories? Just don't morph into 'Computing' with red pixels in place of blue, or start claiming that two-day old blog scrapes are breaking exclusives...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: we plan to be a big part of the prosperity

I can't say that I'll miss Worstall. For those who liked his content, he'll still have his other hangouts.

And to a lesser extent the same goes for Lewis. He'll be OK.

In fact I've only just noticed (prompted by comments on another article) the absence of those two, and on arriving here I see Weekend Edition has gone too. I'm afraid I can't even remember what was in it (did it include Dabbsy? I'd miss him a bit).

I haven't read the remaining comments after yours so apologies if this is already covered (hmmmm, how about a multipage search facility at some point?)

I had however already noticed that I'm liking much of what I'm seeing from Alex Martin in recent months (is the J important? Will I be banned for life for omitting it?)

That's my viewpoint. Amazingly, other commentards and other readers may vary. How are you going to find out (ASAP) what's working and what's not?

If you're planning to change things, can I humbly suggest that during A Period Of Transition, you reintroduce Rate This Article, so you get rapid feedback on what's popular and what's not?

Please would you also consider re-introducing proper timestamps instead of (or as well as) the "1 week" or whatever ridiculousness which was introduced in a previous round of "improvements".

A belated but sincere Happy New Year.

[AndrueC]

As long as we're still allowed to be sarcastic and cynical when commenting I should be okay. Keep up the good work.

[monty75]

"We're also conscious that the web can now host any form of content, but we rely heavily on the written word."

Please, $DEITY, don't start doing video articles, at least not without a transcript. I can scan a page of text and get the pertinent points from it far more easily than I can watch a video.

[Anonymous Coward]

While on that...

..please avoid doing a CNN and reporting tweets from random people as news.

[Phil O'Sophical]

Absolutely this. I already ignore any article which is presented as audio-only, like a podcast or 'interview'.

[Mint Sauce]

<AOL/>

I come here for the snarky humour, commentard flamewars and the fact there's stuff to _read_ in actual articles rather than tiny bits of text introducing videos etc.

I'm one of the few that use the mobile site in preference even on the desktop as it is far more text based. I appreciate I'm probably in a tiny minority in these days though.

Will continue to visit, whatever changes you make, but whether that's more or less often remains to be seen.

Cheers!

[John Brown (no body)]

"Please, $DEITY, don't start doing video articles,"

On a similar note, please ask your editors/subs to choose the option to NOT fill the screen with a "hero" image if they can't use a directly relevant one. As IT Pros we really don't need a huge photo of an RJ45 plug to introduce an article on networking. We can get that from the BBC news web site.

[ssharwood]

Agreed. If the image doesn't add something to a story ot shouldn't be in your face.

[ssharwood]

Our intention with multimedia is not to do it for its own sake. When we can take you places and share experiences, we will. Folks in suits droning is not our intention.

[TRT]

If you need a hand with those donuts, you know where I am.

[ukgnome]

Dear El Reg - adolescence should not be muted.

[BebopWeBop]

Even when, given much of the behaviour I see and indulge in, is fomented by very middle aged adolescents :-? Should we, will we, may we grow up? Other than of course getting a significantly better pocket money allowance than in our distant yoof.

[Swarthy]

RE: ukgnome

Techies (and their publications) should be obscene and not absurd!

[Gordon 10]

Better late than never

This would have been nice 2 months ago when you made the changes.

Frankly as it stands El Reg is currently a less interesting place than it was 2 months ago.

Whilst I applaud the intent and look forward to the change in direction I think you have set yourselves a big task which is made harder by the fact it seems you threw the old stuff out without having any new stuff in place.

Right now the Reg of today is a more boring place than it was 2 months ago - so you have set yourselves a fairly big task to even get back to where you were. I've even had to slink off to the inquirer the odd time to get my cynical tech fix.

[Dave 126]

Re: Better late than never

This article outlining the plan for 2016 is encouraging.

However, I also largely agree with what Gordon said above.

A belated Happy Birthday to the Reg!

[Gordon 10]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

interesting but I suspect a lot of that is purely the weekend edition on then off. whats Elexa's definition of a unique hit?

[Tim Worstal]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Snigger, yes, that is very amusing. But I think Gordon 10 has it right there, it's the end of the Weekend Edition.

There's also an amusing difference between the active and passive to be noted, between "were moved on" and "decided to move on".

[Anonymous Custard]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

And on this point, should we be worried by the lack of Dabbsie lately too?

[Zog_but_not_the_first]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

@Tim Worstall

Still lurking BTL I see. Excellent (intonation a la Monty Burns, of course).

[<shakes head>]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

there is also a difference between "oh your going" and "I see now that we have moved you office to the basement next to the lift motors and given you a coax line, you have decided to go"

[Thought About IT]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Getting rid of Page was something El Reg had to do, if it was to retain any credibility. He was using it to push his ideological agenda about climate change, which was ludicrously anti-science and completely undermined every other science or technology based article which was published here.

As part of your New Year's resolution, I hope you give that issue a wide berth.

[The Dude]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Page had it exactly right on the "climate change" nonsense. Seeing the register bend over for this scam is a serious disappointment. Obviously, the pressure is on - I get it - but jettisoning a thoughtful skeptic with excellent writing skills is simply not the way to keep loyal readers. And where the hell is Alistair Dabs anyway?

[Paul Shirley]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

The Dude: "Seeing the register bend over for this scam is a serious disappointment"

Remind me what the IT angle was on his sermons from the mount?

Or why, if there was some tech aspect to the sermon at all, it was acceptable for his beliefs to always override honest, accurate critical reporting? Although it was always entertaining tracking down real expert commentary when he used to spout BS about naval affairs ;)

[The Dude]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Paul Shirley: RE:"The tech angle"

The Tech Angle of the thermageddon scam is well-known. The entire ponzi-esque house of cards is predicated on computer models that are inadequate to the task, possibly even falsified to maintain a constant flow of government dosh. Skeptics and critics are routinely censored, silenced, 'moved on' and generally given short shrift by the likes of you. When I see people being censored and silenced in that manner then I smell a rat.

Having been a programmer working on such models in a past life, I know exactly what kind of 'science' goes into them. They are interesting and I enjoyed working on them, but they are simply not reliable, and far too dependent upon various "constants" discovered in a researcher's arse. Setting government policy and taxing people or transferring wealth between nations, on such unreliable models, is madness.

[Pompous Git]

RE:"The tech angle"

There's also the general science angle. There's a quite good description of Köppen climate classification here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification

Those who "believe in climate change" are usually abysmally ignorant of the science. If you peruse the maps maintained by Peel, M. C., Finlayson, B. L., and McMahon, T. A. at the University of Melbourne, you will see that Tasmania is currently Temperate/mesothermal, dry winters, warmest month averaging below 22 °C, but with at least four months averaging above 10 °C (Cwb). A century ago, before "unprecedented climate change" it was also Cwb. If it's the same now as a century ago, how can it be an "unprecedented change"?

Three thousand years ago, the northernmost forest limit throughout North America, Europe and Asia was hundreds of kilometres north of the present. See Climate, vegetation and forest limits in early civilized times by HH Lamb, Phil Trans R Soc Lond A 276, 195-230 (1974). This would appear to indicate much warmer climates in those regions than present, yet we are told that it's warmer now than in "millions of years".

Additionally, I can find no mention whatsoever in the many tertiary-level texts on climate in my collection that include any mention of CAGW theory other than a passing reference to some people "believe" in it.

[Tom Paine]

Re: RE:"The tech angle"

being able to paste the shortened form of a journal name doesn't mean you know anything about the science, either -- in fact, you demonstrably know nothing about it, from the howlers in your comment.

[Tom Paine]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Rubbish. Your google searchterm starter for ten is "GCM skillfulness hindcast". Maybe you should have read up on the science a bit more when you (claim) to have been working on models. (Where was that BTW - Hadley, or the UEA?)

[Pat Att]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Lewis Page was terrible. Utter bias from someone without any qualification in the area. He was ok talking about defence stuff, but bad on anything else. Remember him saying how well the nuclear power stations were holding up in Japan following the tsunami? Laughable!

The positive to his articles was that I often clicked on them to see how biased and ridiculous he was going to be on that day. The negative was that it made The Register look like an amateur propaganda blog from a university politics student.

[<shakes head>]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

the comments were fun though

[codejunky]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

@ Pat Att

"Remember him saying how well the nuclear power stations were holding up in Japan following the tsunami? Laughable!"

And shockingly true. Just as his articles about wind farms failing badly were ahead of the BBC by months if not a yr (and then the BBC politely and barely noted the failure that was). His showing up of NASA when they swiftly took down their 'adjusted' graph. Exposing the MMCC science silencing at the BBC. You may not like his articles, nor like his views but he did hit some good home runs in the process. If I wanted to read the 'sanitised' versions of actual news I would read the many other sources.

[Tom Paine]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

I stopped reading El Reg almost a decade ago as I couldn't stand that Orlowski / Page conspiracist nonsense about AGW. As others have said, denying basic science is best left to the many US-based loony sites, along with 9/11 truthers, birthers, black helicopters and all the rest of it. Having dipped back once or twice in the last few months I've been encouraged to see no more of that rubbish and am now reading El Reg again, and greatly enjoying the original non-bullshit, funny sub-heads, in-jokes about Jesus phones and fondleslabs, excellent signal:noise in the comments, and all the rest of it. Bravo, keep it up, have a beer.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Thought About IT /Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

This is the very first time I ever, *ever* down-voted a comment here. ('cos I used to think the bronze-silver-gold badge scheme was due to up-votes vs. down-votes, innit).

So the dude disagreed with _you ? Whoa, get over it, this *was* the Register we were talking about, *wasn't* it ??

btw / fwiw - I was a 'warmist' until I saw this ...

arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/global.daily.ice.area.withtrend.jpg

makes ya wonder, doesn't it ?

And to the editoriat, do you really think it's better to apologise after doing something, rather than seek consensus beforehand ? Really ?? Should have listened to Disraeli - "never apologise, never explain" ... Why ? I might have been happier not knowing ... as it is, I'm off to check out the Inquirer ...

PS: that graph at Alexa says more than any of us could have done ...

[Tom Paine]

Re: @Thought About IT /Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

makes ya wonder, doesn't it ?

Only if you're profoundly ignorant of basic climatology.

[RDW]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

I read the second question on the alexa report as 'How enraged are visitors to theregister.co.uk?'

[<shakes head>]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

anyone know where they went, as I would quite like to follow

[codejunky]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

@ <shakes head>

"anyone know where they went, as I would quite like to follow"

Tim- http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/

[Tim Worstal]

Re: Page and Worstall "moved on" in the Autumn, right?

Lewis, I don't know I'm afraid. Seen some stuff in the Telegraph from him. I'm at Forbes, as I ever was, plus there's my blog at myname.com

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we have some cat videos please?

I find it very frustrating to have to keep changing tabs every few minutes.

Thanks

[Unep Eurobats]

I think that should be 'Can we haz some cat videos'.

[Chemist]

"I find it very frustrating to have to keep changing tabs every few minutes."

I find it very frustrating to have to keep changing tabbies every few minutes - shirley

[Alien8n]

"I find it very frustrating to have to keep changing tabbies every few minutes - shirley"

I do not want to know what you're doing to those cats if you have to change them every few minutes...

[chivo243]

@Alien8n

I hope it isn't like the Bear and Rabbit.

Bear to the rabbit, "Does shit stick to your fur?" Rabbit, no, "I never have that problem." The bear picks up the rabbit and wipes his ass....

[Dr Scrum Master]

Bear to the rabbit, "Does shit stick to your fur?" Rabbit, no, "I never have that problem." The bear picks up the rabbit and wipes his ass....

Then what happened to the donkey?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: what happened to the donkey?

Lewis P wrote a book about it.

[Pat Att]

When I wipe my arse, I want to use something that the turds will stick to. Otherwise it'll just remain stuck to me......

[PJF]

I find it very frustrating to have to keep changing tabbies every few minutes - shirley

"...Don't call me Shirley"

[CrazyOldCatMan]

> I find it very frustrating to have to keep changing tabbies every few minutes

I still have my somewhat procrustean tabby TYVM. Even if she is somewhat metal-enhanced as well as tail-light..

[graeme leggett]

Careful

The serious consideration of the world unleavened by levity would be a particularly dull place.

I can understand why you would want to curb adolescent excess (knob jokes etc), but a failure to include humour (whether irony, sarcasm, or punning) would mark you down as poor writers.

[Matt 21]

Re: Careful

Indeed. I'll happily put up with a few jokes that drop flat as they hit the wrong side of sexism (for example) in return for many that don't.

On the other hand a more PC approach will see me move on, which may or may not concern you.

[dogged]

Re: Careful

> I can understand why you would want to curb adolescent excess

Shit, are they sacking Lester as well?

[Anonymous Coward]

Change is not always good, as the wrecked Guardian and BBC websites attest. I admit that they look good on my smartphone but 90% of my reading is on a full Desktop GUI and they look like a cross between Hello! magazine and a child's colouring book.

I also miss the Weekend edition. It made the best use of MY resources. I suppose when you don't pay for content you get what you are given. There are some advantages to the subscription model of both web content and software.

[TRT]

You are the correct.

They hurtz my eyezes those websites now. I've stopped reading them.

[chivo243]

Re: You are the correct.

@TRT

Throw Wired in with that lot too.... I don't even bother if I see the link leads to Wired.

[Dave 126]

Re: You are the correct.

>Throw Wired in with that lot too.... I don't even bother if I see the link leads to Wired.

The only decent thing Wired has done of late is to syndicate articles from, and thus bring my attention to: https://www.quantamagazine.org/

Now I just go straight there and skip Wired.

Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent online publication launched by the Simons Foundation to enhance public understanding of science.

Our reporters focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences. The best traditional news organizations provide excellent reporting on developments in health, medicine, technology and engineering. We strive to complement and augment existing media coverage, not compete with it.

[Anonymous Coward]

as the wrecked Guardian and BBC websites attest

OMG! You're right. The Wreck of the Graun is the ghost of Christmas future for the Reg!

The article says as much - the same obsessive anglophone internationalisation with suitable hat tipping to cultural diversity and non-anglophone cultures, the same lightweight content aggregation, the inability to find a f***ing thing, the whole "lets not offend anybody" ethos.

All we're waiting on is a new web design, and we all know what web designers do to previously fully functioning web sites. Ooh, and more moderation of the forums, because we wouldn't want any naughty words to be set free on the web, would we?

[Known Hero]

I thoroughly Enjoyed the weekend edition, I also presume that you will be ditching Alistair Dabs then to conform with your changes, I don't think he able to be conform to your new rule set.

[Alien8n]

Not sure about the Guardian, most of what I've read on there seems well written, but the BBC appears to be written by school kids and semi-literate bloggers nowadays. The sheer number of grammatical and spelling errors I see in almost every news article is astounding considering this is supposed to be the best news site in the world.

[TRT]

@Alien8n

I''ve a collection of screen grabs from the BBC mobile App. Appallingly badly written, incorrect and generally screwed up news reports. It grows at a rate of at least one a day. The BBC mobile App rewrite made me turn off iOS app updates, and forced me to delve into the nether regions of getting older versions of apps back from the iTunes gut-store. I'm sticking with my 2011 news app as long as I can, but no doubt they'll ditch the XML stream that it hooks into at some point. It already gets balky about the aggregated headline articles for some reason.

[Julian Bradfield]

The following short Stylish entry considerably improves my BBC experience - no doubt I could do better if I could be bothered..

@namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);

@-moz-document domain('bbc.co.uk') {

* { font-size: small !important; }

div.albatross__image { display: none !important; }

div.cormorant-item__image { display: none !important;}

div.pigeon-item__image { display: none !important;}

div.sparrow-item__image { display: none !important;}

div[class='swift faux-block-link'] {display: none !important;}

}

[Lusty]

" ironic sexism"

Does this mean we'll see an end to the moronic use of "she" and "her" in articles rather than the more appropriate gender neutral terms?

[Anonymous Coward]

Quite the opposite, I suspect and fear.

Where's 80s coder when you need that headstone? --->

[breakfast]

"Them" and "their"?

Not seeing your own $segment_of_society as the default for everything is not the same as your $segment_of_society being discriminated against. But until your $segment_of_society has been discriminated against, people often don't understand that. It's called privilege and most of us who work in this field are lucky enough to be born into at least some of it - nothing wrong with that but if we assume that our $segment_of_society is the default, we exclude people who don't belong to it and we probably do that without even meaning to.

It's not political correctness, it's just good manners.

[John Brown (no body)]

Why? Some of the most high profile computer programmers are women. Remember Mel in Dr Who, played by Bonnie Langford? Surely a role model of modern time!

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget Lottie Dexter

[Dave 126]

>Does this mean we'll see an end to the moronic use of "she" and "her" in articles rather than the more appropriate gender neutral terms?

Didn't we play out this discussion a couple of months back? Just saying.

You can make a hypothetical physicist any damn sex you want, and hell, Alice and Bob stories are easier to parse for having a mix of pronouns. Example:

Andrew tripped over Bob's desk and spilt his tea over his book. Ambiguous. Whereas:

Alice tripped over Bob's desk and spilt her tea over his book.

Alice tripped over Bob's desk and spilt her tea over her book.

Alice tripped over Bob's desk and spilt his tea over her book.

Alice tripped over Bob's desk and spilt his tea over his book.

[Rodrigo Valenzuela]

I have been reading El Reg almost every day since about 2000. And what keep me coming back is the subtle British humorous tone in all the articles. Well, no so subtle sometimes.

But is not only that, with the humor you manage to pass genuine information, clear criticism and straight facts. I believe that is your essence, don't loose it.

Anyway, here is to many more years of El Reg!

R

[Adair]

Loose?

As in 'loose women'?

Or, do you mean 'lose', as in 'loser'.

And don't get me started on 'could care less'! I'm quite capable of getting myself started on that one, and I really could not care less whether you care, or not!

Should I have written all of that in capitals?

[Thought About IT]

Re: Loose?

Should of, shirley.

[chivo243]

@Rodrigo Valenzuela

Subtle, British and humorous in the same sentence! I think you win some sort of award for that!

[Lysenko]

So the new formula is:

Storage

Storage

Hyperconvergence (sic)

Clouds

Buzzword infested Guest Advertorial

Safe space for wimmin humour

Storage

Industry Mergers

Docker

Storage

...with an extra side order of, yes ...you guessed it: Storage

...all important stuff (bar the advertorials), but a pretty dull place if you're more interested in chip families, operating systems, compilers, DC operations etc.

[TRT]

Re: So the new formula is:

Hopefully better than the random story generator that the Daily Mail use.

$clickbait = array("UKIP","Immigrant", "ISIS", "Muslim", "Funniest Ever Video", "Greatest Ever", "Biggest")

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So the new formula is:

"Hopefully better than the random story generator that the Daily Mail use."

You forgot "All grown up", "paedo pitchfork waving" - displayed side by side.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So the new formula is:

You forgot to wrap it up in the cloud.

[dogged]

Re: So the new formula is:

DevOps advertorial about software nobody needs but some managers think might be cool.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: So the new formula is:

You missed out:

Articles re-published from The Conversation

[PCar]

Re: Articles re-published from The Conversation

If El Reg continue with that stupidity, they should balance it with re-published BishopHill articles.

The time I spend here reading articles resembles the previously posted Alexa:

http://oi65.tinypic.com/2lcsdbl.jpg

ie it has nose-dived since Lewis was dropped as Editor - who is the new editor?

[PJF]

Re: So the new formula is:

@ Dr. Syntax

"Articles re-published from The Conversation"

+ "you win the internet"

T.Y.!

[Mark 85]

@Lysenko -- Re: So the new formula is:

You forgot one.... reprints lifted from "The Conversation".... <yawn>

Edit... Doctor Syntax beat me to it... oh well. Mayhaps someone will read the comments and tally my displeasure at those articles.

[hugo tyson]

Getting "across" the news

(you) "can get across a day's news quickly" - if you're dropping the sexism, you can use correct English and say "keep abreast of the day's news" without sniggering, rather than that revolting neologism. Or even just "catch up" ffs....

[ardubbleyu]

Where's Dabbsy?

See title...

[Known Hero]

Re: Where's Dabbsy?

I am also concerned !!!

*Sherlock for the detective work, not the phrase provided on mouse over

[chivo243]

Re: Where's Dabbsy?

@ardubbleyu

I think he's retreated to the round rubber room and he's looking for the corner. Or maybe his absence is part of The Register's new PC, notice I didn't say El Reg... I think those days are gone. Yep, those bygone halcyon days of yore.

I will continue reading The Register as I do not do any FB or LI or Twitter or IG or that sort of rubbish. However, when it becomes too stale and dry to read, I will retreat to back under my rock.

Coat as that may be how it ends...

[JudeKay]

Re: Where's Dabbsy?

Dabbsy's on his holidays. You can set up an alert for any article with his byline here: https://account.theregister.co.uk/edit/alert, though I expect we'll run a SFTW this weekend.

[Known Hero]

Re: Where's Dabbsy?

sounds like a coverup to me !!!!!

[Zog_but_not_the_first]

Evidence based criticism

I'm happy to give you a "fair go" and see how the changes pan out, which I think is only reasonable.

One request - can you have a look at your mobile site? I don't think I've ever had a trouble-free browsing experience on it.

[Roger Varley]

Re: Evidence based criticism

There was some talk last year about a re-design of the mobile site being underway. However, I fear that the task has been sub contracted to the same guy who is dealing with LOHANs FAA application.

[JudeKay]

Re: Evidence based criticism

Are you talking about m.theregister, or our app?

[getHandle]

Re: Evidence based criticism

Sorry to hijack the thread but it would be great if the comment voting buttons on m.theregister didn't reload the page! My standard usage is Home page -> article -> comments -> vote -> vote -> vote -> back -> back -> back -> back -> back -> article...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Evidence based criticism

"[...] didn't reload the page!"

That's annoying on the desktop version too. Inhibiting duplication of a page's URL in the browser history is usually fairly easy to do.

[Zog_but_not_the_first]

Re: Evidence based criticism

Are you talking about m.theregister, or our app?

Sorry - the app.

[Anonymous Coward]

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Still hysterically hating on MSFT though?

[Phil O'Sophical]

Re: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Well, they do have some principles to uphold.

I bet Apple still won't talk to them, though.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

MSFT? Microsoft bought The Financial Times?

[Anonymous Coward]

*cough* HTTPS *cough*...

As a fan of the security stories here on El Reg... it would be nice to at least see HTTPS become the norm here too...

I must say I will miss the shoutiness... Hopefully that doesn't include stories where you talk!About!Yahoo!Like!This!

[Thecowking]

Re: *cough* HTTPS *cough*...

The! Yahoo! Exclamation! Mark! Went! Last! Year!

There was even a comment about it from Drew I think (which I can't be bothered to google).

It's feeling a lot like I'd prefer to bung the Reg a fiver a month for something like a subscriber area to give me access to the weekend edition and the other good stuff we've lost.

I suppose after PARIS and LOHAN we'll be following "NEUTER" and "INOFFENSIVE" now.

Rhubarb, rhubarb, hate change, cancelling sub, etc.

[davemcwish]

Subscription content

@Thecowking Yup and SPB.

[Mark 85]

Re: *cough* HTTPS *cough*...

I'm waiting for the Paris icon to disappear in the hailstorm of political correctness... nothing but tears.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: *cough* HTTPS *cough*...

Yes. I pay subscriptions for, er, specialist content (inc The Times). Happy to do so for the weekend edition.

[Anonymous Coward]

So political corectness has come to the reg, finally.

So political corectness has come to the reg, finally, which is a shame! I want sexism, jokes, shouting and cynicism! I wan't science articles that clearly takes sides!

If I wanted political correctness, were the first aim is to offend no one, I would go and read regular news papers.

These changes sound horrible to me!

[MyffyW]

Re: So political corectness has come to the reg, finally.

El Reg, I'm no great fan of sexism, but I do understand irony and I'd rather you didn't self-censor. I'm perfectly capable of getting all huffy in the comments section if you overstep the mark. Better that than some bland corporate rag.

Good luck with your "ch-ch-changes". Happy New Year :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So political corectness has come to the reg, finally.

Huh? What sexism? I honestly haven't noticed any overt outright sexism (as against humour making fun of sexism IYSWIM) in El reg articles, and trust me, if I spotted any, I'd complain about it.

Whilst a very few of the commentards here seem to occasionally have a problem with those of us of the superior gender, I can't say as even they've caused me any bother, and I'm a dyed-in-the-wool-mainstream feminist, always have been.

Whatever you do, for gawds sake please don't go too 'politically correct' - it's just as insulting as being offensively sexist (something which some of the overly PC types fail to recognise even when it's pointed out to them, sadly.). I love the humour here - it's one of your main selling points, as it were (and, as I've also remarked several times, if money's the problem, I for one would happily pay a reasonable sub to read El Reg ad-free). It's good to know that you're trying to make sure that you haven't stepped over to the naughty side of the line, Uncle Reg, but trust me - you havent, IMHO.

Keep up the good work!

Esme (High Priestess of Ikabai-Sital)

[TheProf]

Because that's how science works.

" science coverage that allows you to reach your own conclusions "

Sigh.

[silent_count]

About bloody time!

Because I'm sick to death of these snooty science nerds banging on about how their 'evidence' stuff is more important than my opinion.

[JeffyPoooh]

Re: About bloody time!

SC: "... snooty science nerds banging on about how their 'evidence' stuff is more important than my opinion."

You may mock, but Einstein took the same approach and at least one of his 1905 'opinions' (derived from his assumptions) was ultimately proven to be correct; whereas the latest experimental 'evidence' was later shown to be incorrect.

Science is self-correcting. That means some of it is still wrong. Always.

[Dabooka]

Re: Because that's how science works.

@TheProf

I'm reminded of an episode of Big Bang, where one of the fleeting characters chimes 'That’s what I love about science, there’s no one right answer.'

Sums it up nicely!

[Annihilator]

Hmm..

A more serious version of the Register? Isn't that what the Inquirer is for?

Seriously though, who are the writers that have moved on and what are the changes made to date? Can't say I've noticed much? But I can take from this that the Yahoo! headlines! will! stop! having! exclamation! marks! now! So that's an improvement anyway :-)

[Gordon 10]

Re: Hmm..

A small list of movers-onners :

Definite :

Lewis Page (was editor so that makes sense)

Tim Worstall (confirmed by posts by him on here including this thread!)

Possibly:

Lucy Orr (no article since Sept)

That bloke who was the anti-Lewis who wrote 1 too many sensible climate articles but was a bit gushingly pro-apple. (long gone in fairness)

Since most of them are probably freelancers its makes it hard to determine what's natural turnover vs what's deliberate.

[viscount]

"more modern and global cultural touchstones"

Whatever that means, I don't like the sound of it.

[chivo243]

Re: "more modern and global cultural touchstones"

"more modern and global cultural touchstones"

cough*bullshit*cough I've got bullshit bingo!

It really sounds like maybe El Reg was starting to turn a small profit and some new manager has great new ideas to take El Reg to new heights! Web 3.0?

Personally, I liked it when El Reg plumbed the depths, and reached an all time new low. I remember wiping the tears out of my eyes and pissing myself while reading some great articles here.

"We'll continue to Bite The Hand That Feeds IT, a phrase we understand to mean considering information with studied scepticism informed by long experience, not negativity or cynicism." Really? I don't think bite is the correct word any longer, this whole blurb sounds like "kiss the ring of IT."

Karma Dude! Karma...

[firu toddo]

Re: "more modern and global cultural touchstones"

Touching Stones? FNARR!

(While I still can!)

[Captain Hogwash]

Re: "Whatever that means"

The recent scent of joss sticks and the sound of whale-song around the offices of The Register?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "Whatever that means"

The rancid scent of joss sticks and the sound of whale-song emanate forth from the orifices of The Register.

There, Reg'd* That For You.

*Or Former-Reg'd, as the case may be :-(

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: "Whatever that means"

I may have missed the phrases "going forward" and "hit the ground running" in the article. Or maybe the writer miraculously managed to to avoid them?

[Quortney Fortensplibe]

Re: "Whatever that means"

"...I may have missed the phrases "going forward" and "hit the ground running" in the article. Or maybe the writer miraculously managed to to avoid them?..."

I was similarly disappointed not to be "reached out to" by the article.

[nijam]

Re: "more modern and global cultural touchstones"

touchscreen tombstones, presumably

[Kirk Northrop]

Oh. I was wondering why this place wasn't as fun any more. Now I find out it's deliberate.

I've been reading since 2001. When you used to do a few small articles a day, it was as much worth reading. I've always seen El Reg as the Private Eye of IT news. The plucky, funny and not-afraid little upstart.

Please don't lose this. Most of us who come here come because it's a different place to the other sites. You can't do serious news as well as they do (or haven't so far) so please don't try!

[Trollslayer]

There good serious articles just not too many.

[Sir Barry]

Courtesy of Barry White

Don't go changing, trying to please me

You never let me down before

I don't imagine you're too familiar

And I don't see you anymore

I would not leave you in times of trouble

We never could have come this far

I took the good times, I'll take the bad times

I'll take you just the way you are

[Matt Siddall]

Re: Courtesy of Barry White

I don't want clever conversation

I don't want to work that hard...

[Darryl]

Re: Courtesy of Barry White

Was that a whooshing sound as something went over my head, or wasn't 'Just The Way You Are' Billy Joel's song?

[ssharwood]

Re: Courtesy of Barry White

Billy Joel, surely?

[Sir Barry]

Re: Courtesy of Barry White

Barry White did it first....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPumYk2_Lzo

Song starts at 1:30

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Courtesy of Barry White

"Barry White did it first...."

Only if he invented a time machines too... He covered it a year after Billy Joel.

[Sir Barry]

Re: Courtesy of Barry White

Bugger, that's for me ------------------------------------------------------------------>

I stand corrected.

[Trollslayer]

Balance

Sometimes El Reg has gone too far but not often.

For those who think Big Bird of IT is selling out, read the article properly.

I hope to keep seeing more of Dabs and Worral plus the occasional serious article.

BBoIT will continue to poop on those who deserve it.

[MrWibble]

"Expect less SHOUTINESS"

Woohoo, about time - it always seemed a bit gutter press seeing all those random words capitalised.

Edit: and if "We'll revisit the site's design on all devices" includes scrapping the "hero" image, I'll be your happiest reader. For at least a week.

[Anonymous Cowherder]

Thank you el reg

Without intending to win the sycophant of the year award this early in the year (if indeed at all), it is rather scary to think that I have been reading your content for most of the time you have been churning it out so thank you.

You must be doing somethings right for myself and many many others to do so. I've lost count of the times you have been the source of useful information at work, discussions and actions leading out of emails containing a single blue line - a link to a reg article...

Thank you for being you </barf> Keep it up, keep up the text content and leave videos to youtube and, er, other sites. I would like to see a little more in-depthness across stories that warrant it and when you are going to make changes please adhere to the change process and give us good notification!

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Thank you el reg

Although I agree with everything you say <barfs on the super sugar rush!>, there does seem to be a LOT more stories with "Originally published at....blah" than there used to be.

<cynic>Maybe El Reg got into profit by buying in stories instead of paying expensive meat sacks to report and write directly?</cynic>

[Intractable Potsherd]

Re: Thank you el reg

"... I have been reading your content for most of the time you have been churning it out ..." Doing a quick calculation, so have I (I was reading and occasionally posting under different names for some time before I invented this one).

"You must [have been] doing somethings right for myself and many many others to do so" - correction deliberate. There is a worrying whiff of the current attitude of "loyalty means nothing" about the plans. That so many people have been coming here for years, and being part of a sort of community, yet new people have been joining as well, suggests that the old scheme was very successful. The number of comments on here already are testament to the loyalty of the readership. Unlike some others, I liked Lewis Page, and used Tim Worstall as an insight into the Dark Side (incidentally, I regularly visit his blog - I'd do the same for Lewis if I knew where he went), and their leaving has reduced my enthusiasm for the articles, but I'll still come back as long as the comments are not moderated to death to satisfy some SJW's idea of correctness (as I've said many times, there is no right not to be offended).

I'll stick with things for a while - it is always silly to judge anything in a transition period - but I will be looking out for similar hangouts if the mealy-mouthed bollocks turns out actually to be the way things go.

[Tom Paine]

Re: Thank you el reg

(as I've said many times, there is no right not to be offended).

You weren't the first, dear heart, and you're unlikely to be the last. And El Reg has no right to be read, either, and if boreish sexism and the like alienates the readership to the extent that it starts to lose audience, it's the publisher's right to refactor the codebase until the right answer ("Profit!") comes out. There may be more "SJW"s (I read that as "non-bores") than you imagine.

[Quortney Fortensplibe]

Nice Mission Statement!

... What does it mean? I kept thinking "I'll just read one more paragraph to see if they get to the point... " and then realised I'd arrived at the end of the article none the wiser.

BTW —for the first time ever, reading the commentardery, I find myself in agreement with almost everything those before me have said and minded to give everyone an upvote.

I do hope this sensible debate isn't another symptom of the proposed changes.

Where's Jake when you need him to chip in: recounting how he once founded a successful IT website built entirely upon sexism and racism and wrote all the articles in morse code whilst parachuting into occupied France on his way to assassinate Hitler?

[andy 28]

print icon?

Do we get the print icon back?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: print icon?

Do we get the print icon back?

I doubt it. We were promised a review of icons last year (or before), but nothing happened, despite a range of epic suggestions in the comment sections.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: print icon?

"a range of epic suggestions in the comment sections"

Intrigued. Wee linkie?

[Quortney Fortensplibe]

From Our 'Moon on a Stick' Department

"...Do we get the print icon back?...

You've probably got more chance of that than I have of ever seeing Markdown supported in comments.

[Fink-Nottle]

It's a scientifically proven fact that New Year's resolutions never last through January.

Don't worry folks, El Reg will be back on the booze, fags and dodgey jokes before you know it!

[Anonymous Coward]

We hope!

[Anonymous South African Coward]

Yay for less SHOUTING

Always come back to El Reg for my newsies and BOFH fixer-upper. I don't know (and can't remember, and don't care anymore) on how I stumbled on El Reg way back, but it is one of my favourite sites barring Simon not writing for long periods of time.

And more On Call!

Keep up the good work!

[45RPM]

More of Lester Haines. More Worstall. Less Page. And don't forget the post pub Nosh and space articles. Get that right, and you've got it made - whatever else you may do.

[dogged]

Actually, I thought Lewis' MilTech articles were excellent.

[PNGuinn]

"Actually, I thought Lewis' MilTech articles were excellent."

Somewhat controversial, deliberately, I thought. And obviously written from a RN perspective. Definitely not puff pieces for the defence industry.

That made them thought provoking and triggered a good commentard response. That in itself here is valuable.

He was equally hard hitting on "climate" issues. Trouble is, that's hitting hardcore religion, which is now definitely not PC, and many converts understandably got more than a little upset.

Diddums.

Personally, I miss the articles, and the comments.

I've always felt elReg to be a mature adult site, which did not fear to tread gently on a few toes. An intelligent adult commentardiat (I hope that's most of us) helps to keep the balance.

If you believe that there's no more to IT than just technical innovation you have live in a very boring and unreal rut.

That's why it's so important that we get good articles on the EFFECTS of all this technology, and the implications for all our lives, like security, surveillance and freedom. And that means that sometimes they are going to be more than a little controversial, and some people will get a bit upset.

We live in a messy world and mainstream modern journalism generally is failing us. I seriously wonder how many of us come here for the IT per se? I suspect that we're here for the wider picture.

The fact that many of the commentards are probably far more knowledgeable in their specialist fields (which are not necessarily their work specialities) than the journos who produce the articles and are prepared give time to discuss and comment on them is in fact a credit to the journos concerned, and one of the reasons I hang around here.

El Reg - don't become all PC and stuffy - you'll loose more readers than you'll gain.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "Actually, I thought Lewis' MilTech articles were excellent."

... and readers do so hate being loosed

[chelonautical]

Pros and Cons - 2p from me

As a reader for the majority of El Reg's 21 years, I feel like I've grown up alongside the site. For what it's worth, as a software engineer, the things I like about The Register are:

1) Insightful analysis, especially where it points out the discrepancies between marketing and reality. Bringing in knowledgeable people to comment on issues and cut through the hype is very useful.

2) Light-hearted tone and lack of concern about upsetting corporations. Maybe I'm quite a cynical person, but I like my IT news a little bit on the sarcastic side: it's a welcome antidote to the reams of corporate BS I have to wade through on so many other sites. Certainly scepticism and humour are very good things. That said, I'm not so keen on adolescent humour (e.g. knob jokes) and sexism (unless ironic) - these are things I have outgrown and I don't mind if The Register grows out of them too.

3) Broad range of content. Although it probably lacks some of the very in-depth technical content you might find elsewhere, The Register provides a good balance of IT industry news. There are not many places I can find news on (for example) cryptographic algorithm flaws, food recipes, corporate mergers, economic theory (goodbye Mr Worstall!) and storage techologies. I like coming here because I feel the broader content helps to put some of the technical stories into a real-world context. Although there are times where I'd like a bit more technical detail in the articles, the links provided are usually good enough for my needs.

4) The comments section. It's not perfect but, unlike most other sites, every time I read the comments section here I learn something genuinely useful and interesting. The bottom half of the internet is usually so full of idiocy and trolling that it's often best avoided for the sake of my blood pressure. However, The Register does very well to maintain a comments section which is actually worth reading.

Things I'm not so keen on:

1) Articles which read like a press release without any added analysis (cynical or otherwise). Sometimes these sneak into the site, although mercifully not very often.

2) Large graphics at the top of each article. I'm more open-minded on the desktop site, but for mobile devices they hog limited bandwidth and screen space.

3) Some of the adverts have been rather screen-hogging and obnoxious. I know adverts pay for the site and I realise that most people aren't weirdos like me who would gladly pay a subscription fee not to see them. Some of the ads on this site have been too distracting.

I'm enjoying seeing what other people here like/dislike too. Hooray for the comments section!

[IsJustabloke]

Well that explains that then....

For a long time... at least 7 or 8 years... a visit to The Register was a daily event in my working life but I find that I can go days without visiting now because its full of the same stuff that all the other sites are.

I found I missed the distinctly British feel/humour to the place. Its become a generic / US feeling place these days. shame.

Still if the powers that be feel the need to change *shrug* and at least you've explained your reasoning, I guess its working for you otherwise you wouldn't have legitimized it with an announcement some two months after the changes had been made.

I'll still dip in and out but I expect there will be fewer and fewer visits because I rarely find 1 article per visit to read these days.

Good luck!

[quattroprorocked]

Can we have

Comments directly under articles? El Reg has a much better class of comments than most sites.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Can we have

Can we have comments directly under articles? El Reg has a much better class of comments than most sites.

If I might suggest, the two things may be associated. The hard of thinking that seem to infest most web site comment sections probably do so because they can see their own words on the same screen as the original article, and that's a form of reinforcement of their own (often flawed) opinions.

[Antonymous Coward]

Re: Can we have

" Can we have comments directly under articles?"

No.

We had a featured top three splaffs thing for a while (remember that?) which I thought was an excellent compromise. Fun, engaging, informative, balancing, etc. It was quashed by the new regime. I imagine the infomercializers found the hoi polloi objectionable while the new painfully satire-shy management was dismayed and embarrassed. This latest proclamation sounds like an announcement that the rot will deepen. Someone, somewhere, is dreaming of lots of happy wealthy advertisers... and of enjoying their patronage of their newly bland de-beaked Reg... and I'm certain those advertisers WILL enjoy it immensely. That advertising'll be dirt cheap when no-one's reading it... AND all that annoying pecking will have gone away.

Quite sure old Reg is being embraced, extended...

I hope I'm proven wrong... but if not, would the last commentard out please remember to turn the light off.

[Anonymous Coward]

@AC - "...would the last commentard out please remember to turn the light off."

No worries. I'm sure by then it will be an IoT light, and someone can hack in remotely to turn it off.

[Antonymous Coward]

Re: @AC - "...would the last commentard out please remember to turn the light off."

Good point. Thanks for setting my mind at rest.

[Dabooka]

Re: @AC - "...would the last commentard out please remember to turn the light off."

Oi! The pair of you!

This is no place for IT related humour

[Steve Button]

How about improving comments?

I don't like the way the first comment (however dumb) sits at the top, you could do something more like Slashdot and have useful/insightful comments bubble up to the top and even hide the dumass ones. Having said that I rarely visit slashdot these days. Actually I rarely visit The Reg web site proper, but I always check the RSS through feedly. (usually right after checking JobServe if it's coming near to contract renewal time)

It would be nice if I could somehow see fewer stories that don't interest me, and more that do... but I don't know how you'd make that happen.

Keep up the good work.

[Sean Timarco Baggaley]

Re: How about improving comments?

"It would be nice if I could somehow see fewer stories that don't interest me, and more that do... but I don't know how you'd make that happen."

It's doable, but it does require some kind of user login system. Most news aggregation systems let you hide topics that don't interest you, allowing them to fine-tune the front page to your personal preferences. Even YouTube offers up "Recommended for You" lists of videos on its landing page, where you can dismiss suggested Channels to help it work out what sort of thing you prefer.

This would require some more back-end server work on El Reg's part. I don't know what CMS they use -- I suspect it's an in-house one -- so I have no idea how much work it would need to make it happen.

[Quortney Fortensplibe]

Re: How about improving comments?

"...I don't like the way the first comment (however dumb) sits at the top..."

If only it were as simpe as that. Comment ordering is probably my single biggest annoyance with this site.

The first comments appear in chronolical order. Then replies to each comment appear pseudo-threaded under each of those individual comments [but with nothing like indentation to show what is an 'original' comment and what is a reply to a comment]. Then, there are comments which are held back for moderation, which are added in after vetting and so [if a reply to an earlier comment] then appear after all the non-moderated comments which have been submitted in the mean-time.

This makes for some very disjointed reading –especially if you return to a story later to see if there are any new comments to read, as [if replies to previous comments] they will be mixed in with ones you've already read, with no indication whatsoever as to what's new and what isn't.

The only comments system I can think of that's even more idiotic is Disqus, whose default setting [which 99,9% of site owners never change] is to show newest comments first, which must be great for people who like to read their books backwards, but is beyond retarded in my opinion.

Oops! –sorry, Forgot El reg is going PC: %s/retarded/differently able/g

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: How about improving comments?

"...I don't like the way the first comment (however dumb) sits at the top..."

Then downvote it. Simples?

If everyone agrees with you it'll quickly be hammered to the point where it either disappears or becomes amusing. If they don't, then it's you wot's "dumb"

[graeme leggett]

Re: How about improving comments?

Also, the first commentator to get in with a good comment will get their fair share of upvotes.

The first to open their metaphorical mouth without thinking will get their just desserts of down votes.

I'd be annoyed if I had to scroll to the bottom of the comments to put my own down arrow boot in rather than meeting the comment in its true chronological location.

[Michael Thibault]

Re: How about improving comments?

>The only comments system I can think of that's even more idiotic ...

has to be 'Most popular' first, the default on e.g. CBC.ca; in case people weren't already sufficiently sheep-like, here's a mechanism to expose site users to 'popular' thought(s)--which they can reflexively 'like' with barely so much as a twitch, reinforcing the lop-sided-ness of such perspective on the given topic. Unthinking, yet insidious, design.

Relative to anticipated changes to the site: "It is always appropriate to use the abbr element for any abbreviation, including acronyms and initialisms." (Tried this in this post, but it seems not to have taken.) Such use will reduce the number of head-scratchers like "SFTW", "CVE", and so on, and--for such use within articles--make IT a bit more accessible to readers at the margin, where growth occurs.

[chivo243]

Re: How about improving comments?

@Steve Button

Not sure how you view the comments, but on the regular web version, you can sort by oldest, newest or thread. Or has this functionality been depreciated?

[Steve 39]

"...and a recognition that attempted self-aware hopefully ironic sexism is almost always indistinguishable from actual sexism."

It's PC gone mad!

[RDW]

Now that Lewis Page isn't listed as the Editor, does that mean he will no longer be able to use the Reg as his personal climate change denial blog? Just curious.

[Sean Timarco Baggaley]

"The Register on Sunday"?

Instead of killing off the Weekend string entirely, why not set up a sister site specifically for it?

I only ask because it seems the Weekend articles were doing their job of attracting readers over the usually dead weekend period. This also gives you an outlet for some "Weekly Round-up of [INDUSTRY SECTOR]" pieces, which would be helpful for people like me who are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-increasing torrent of headlines on the front page.

As we get older, we find our free time tends to shrink due to other commitments, so some weekly summary pieces would be a good fit for your older readership. You've been around for over 21 years now, so those of us who started reading El Reg in our early 20s are in our forties now.

This might even be a sufficiently attractive carrot to work as a subscriber-only feature. You can still have ads as well. (The BBC is almost unique in the West in being a license-funded public service broadcaster with no third-party advertising in its home nation. Italy's RAI, and many other similar public-service national broadcasters, all have license fees *and* advertising. If it's good enough for them...)

*

A "Sunday Edition" might also be a good place to try out multimedia content, though I agree with the other comments on this: keep the focus on the words, not pictures. (It's illegal to watch a video in the car anyway, and most commuters on public transport would prefer to listen, not watch, while travelling to and from work. Otherwise they're likely to keep bumping into things and falling off platforms in front of trains.)

Some of those weekly roundup pieces might be good fodder for a weekly "Register on Sunday Podcast" -- there's no need for video unless you have something more interesting to show us than talking heads -- but please, Codd, do it properly. There's no shortage of "bunch of friends rambling on boringly about stuff on a sofa"-style podcasts. There's a bloody good reason you don't hear this crap on Radio 4: it's seriously dull to listen to, unless your mates happen to be professional comedians, are great raconteurs, or have natural wit. Chances are, none of your friends is a closet Peter Ustinov or David Niven.

You have professional writers: use them. Prepare the piece. Script it. Rehearse if possible, or at least have a read-through before starting. Record it properly and professionally. If you're doing video, then, for f*ck's sake make better use of it than the usual tedious talking heads, otherwise you might as well go audio-only. Put some graphics and simple animations in if you're trying to illustrate a complex subject. Otherwise, don't bother. Radio has way better visual effects than television could ever afford.

Finally, edit it down ruthlessly, even if it means you end up condensing five days of pieces on cloud storage into thirty seconds. If I wanted to spend hours ploughing through multiple articles on cloud storage technology, I wouldn't be listening to a "summary" podcast in the first place.

I would be willing to put my writing and editing skills where my mouth is, but I'd be surprised if you don't have at least one person on the team who can do it too. It's not that hard to learn.

[Anonymous Coward]

In 50 years in the IT industry I went from being an "enfant terrible" to an "elder statesman". My behaviour didn't change - it was just that my track record proved me right to take some critical stands against mindless corporate conformity and fashions.

El Reg - don't be like the BBC's Radios 2, 3, and 4. They are each trying to dislodge their existing long-established listeners in order to try to increase their ratings with a less discriminating demographic. It doesn't work - those demographics already have loyalty to their own niche suppliers.

[Phil O'Sophical]

like the BBC's Radios 2, 3, and 4. They are each trying to dislodge their existing long-established listeners in order to try to increase their ratings with a less discriminating demographic.

Hmm, just like the Labour/Tory parties, and look what that's doing to politics.

[Individual #6/42]

Is this humour?

Because sufficiently post ironic corporate speak is indistinguishable from actual claptrap.

[Sean Timarco Baggaley]

Impressionist and comedian Alistair McGowan...

...pointed out in a recent podcast interview that he realised there's an entire generation today who literally have no idea who some of the people he was doing impressions of are.

It's become clear that there is increasing knowledge fragmentation in the sciences, with some branches barely even acknowledging the existence of the others. But McGowan pointed out that pop-culture has the exact same problem: People specialise more, and content producers have become ever more focussed on those specialisms.

20 years ago, we (in the UK) had just the four TV channels, while Sky and cable TV were still relatively niche outlets. *Everyone* got the Spitting Image jokes about John Major and Steve "Interesting" Davies, because the news and the snooker were practically impossible to avoid entirely.

Even people who'd never willingly choose to watch Coronation Street or EastEnders would get references to them because, despite their best efforts, they'd still occasionally bump into both programmes on occasion, simply because there was usually bugger all else on.

Today, audiences are *much* more specialised, and so are content producers. Snooker fans can watch snooker any time they like on Eurosport and its ilk, but those of us with no interest in the sport wouldn't be able to name a single one of the current generation of players. Ditto for football, or any other sport. Gone are the days when a BBC 2 programmer would be shunted off to the middle of the night because a sporting event has overrun.

Similarly, there are those who watch reality TV shows religiously, while others avoid them like the plague and wouldn't know who Mary Berry was.

It's therefore not surprising that many pop-culture references are increasingly falling flat. There aren't enough hours in the day to watch "X-Factor" and "Downton Abbey" and binge-watch "The Walking Dead". Hell, I've yet to see a single episode of "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones". The same will be true for many, if not most, of your readers.

Your writers will have to be funny the hard way.

[Phil O'Sophical]

Re: Impressionist and comedian Alistair McGowan...

That's an interesting point, and it demonstrates how much damage multi-channel TV has done to general knowledge. 30 years ago I'd sometimes go into the sitting room and find my Dad watching Horizon, or some similar program, because there was nothing else of interest on. He had little interest in the detailed science, but he wasn't stupid and picked stuff up, even if it just allowed him to hold his own in the golf club bar when someone mentioned "black holes" etc.

If he were still around today he'd just be zapping channels until he found reruns of Last of the Summer Wine or somesuch. He'd be happier with his TV, but perhaps less well-informed in general?

[graeme leggett]

Re: Impressionist and comedian Alistair McGowan...

I'll go with your thinking. My son can find a childrens channel devoid of any non-entertainment content rather than being occasionally confronted by the real world (albeit repackaged for younger minds) in the form of Newsround and Blue Peter as I had to in my youth.

Equally, neither he nor I have seen a 6-o'clock news in a long while because my wife can find Friends/Big Bang/Simpsons on another channel.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Impressionist and comedian Alistair McGowan...

@Phil O'Sophical - have an upvote from me. I realised a few weeks ago I've been doing much the same thing for months without realising it (and I only get what's on Freeview) - a lot of the time my TV is on Dave or Yesterday, with the occasional switch to BBC or ITV for particular programmes. Which means that when there isn't anything new that I particularly want to watch, I've been seeing reruns of Top Gear, Time Team, David Attenborough and QI rather more than is likely good for me, and I have NO idea what the rest of the world is watching nowadays. Just recently, I've been turning the TV off rather more often than I used to and doing something constructive instead (so there's at least that positive from it).

[Doctor Syntax]

It sounds as if someone needs to fork the original elReg. Yes I DID mean fork.

[John Brown (no body)]

...there seems to be a relativity large cache of ex-writers and editors to start such a project :-)

[Intractable Potsherd]

True - and on that note, what has happened to Verity Stob lately?

[Florida1920]

more adolescent behaviours

That's much of what makes El Reg so charming, IMO. You admit to having millions of page views, so that behavior isn't hurting your credibility. Change for the sake of change is rarely successful. Best of luck!

[Anonymous Coward]

Vague feelings of unease

It all seems OK and may be just minor changes to move with the times, yet it does leave me uneasy - as if I feel a faint disturbance in the Force.

I guess I've seen so many sites become just plain awful once the modernizers have been set loose on them (BBC for one) that even a small change in direction makes me fear the consequences for El Reg.

Why be bothered? Because The Register is, to my mind, one of the best technical sites on the internet. That is because of the nature of the topics that are covered and the way that topics are covered. There is a refreshing lack of obeisance in El Reg reporting that I would hate to see disappear.

And if the articles go down the tubes then for sure the comments will follow, and that would be a shame : I learn a hell of lot from other commentards' contributions.

Finally, if this all leads to another style revamp which follows the modern trend for making everything 'mobile friendly', then it's goodbye, regardless of the quality of the content.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Vague feelings of unease

Taking one commentard's advice to read the article properly, I gave it another go. Everything up to the following seemed OK and not much to worry about:

In that and in every other area we cover, The Reg will crunch the numbers, reveal the gotchas and try to keep the wool off your eyes.

Good stuff.

Re-reading everything that followed I began to experience feelings of dread. Summarising - 'more focused on business readers', 'smartening up the language', 'evidence-based', 'making it easier to see the day's news', 'pushing for new readers' etc.

These portend a significant alteration in style and content which to my mind would make it impossible for El Reg to also satisfy those who already find it to be the top (or thereabouts) tech site.

Whoever is behind this, I suggest El Reg send them back to wherever they came from (BBC was it?)

[GarethJ]

Standards

If you are going up market, what will become of the Reg's standards?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/vulture_central_standards/

I don't want to see the Bulgarian Fun Bag, go the same way as the lb.

[Bbbbit]

Please don't go more corporate

I do not have much more to add as I feel my fellow commentards have covered it admirably. In a nutshell; I come here for knowledgable, wide and entertaining coverage of the IT world but most importantly it is the irreverent, humourous style in which this is delivered. You will not do yourself any favours by morphing into the bland, vanilla, offend-no one, anonymous sites that are so widespread in this sector. Like Videodrome, if you have a philosophy then that makes you dangerous.

Not all change is bad so I will reserve judgment until they are in place.

[Doctor Syntax]

"We'll revisit the site's design"

Does that mean space-wasting irrelevant pictures will be dropped?

[chivo243]

@Doctor Syntax

"Does that mean space-wasting irrelevant pictures will be dropped?"

I don't think we've read the same article? I think there will be more pictures, more videos, and your adblocker will be working overtime, just like BTO ;- }

[Joe Harrison]

Don't listen to them

This thread seems to be full of idiots begging you to lower the editorial tone to a predictably dire schoolboy humour level.

However we're all business people here and I'm disappointed in any such move to incentivize your value add. Let's please see you roll out your effort to launch a new community-killer site which will taper the playing field vertically. Moving forward, it's time to act with game-changing ideation and close the loop with a robust and sustainable reporting of industry transformation and recontextualization. OK?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Don't listen to them

Fine stroke Sir

[Dabooka]

Re: Don't listen to them

Don't forget to realign the paradigm

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Don't listen to them

Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow while you're at it.

[Mark 85]

Re: Don't listen to them

What? There's no "maximize share-holder value"?

[PNGuinn]

"time to act with game-changing ideation and close the loop with a robust..."

Que??

Please can you tell us what you were smoking when you wrote that so we can all avoid it!

I presume that was either sarcasm or irony....

[Alistair]

Re: "time to act with game-changing ideation and close the loop with a robust..."

@PNGuinn:

Joss sticks.

You must be new around here.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Don't listen to them

We certainly need to de-socialise the aggressivisational behaviour traits in the per-resource feedback space. Let me sharepoint that for you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Don't listen to them

Having run this redesign idea up the flagpole to see who salutes it, the answer has come back as 'yes - with two fingers'

[A. Coatsworth]

I think the best way to deal with sexism (real or sarcastic) is tracking Sarah Bee back, and unleashing her on commentards and writers alike. Sheer fear will sort the problem.

Other than that, I don't really know what to make of this announcement. It is vaguely worrisome, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully El Reg won't lose the teeth needed to actually bite the hand that feeds IT.

[Fading]

New and improved?

So we've been putting up with old and inferior all these years. Scepticism, sarcasm with a healthy dosage of irreverence (and irrelevance from time to time) is why I keep reading El reg, would be a shame if it morphed into just another tech news website.

One thing though; "peer" review isn't a gold standard and is heavily weighted by the journal it is published in (the nonsense that gets in "Nature Climate Change" for example) - and retraction watch should be compulsory reading for any article writers relying on "peer" review for "evidence based" stories.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: New and improved?

Also waiting on peer review would have caused us to miss the extremely amusing NASA temperature 'modification' gaff that (shockingly) page had great fun with. I do miss the casual writing of Worstall although I cant get into Dabs's articles (certainly not his fault and I can see why he has a following, just not my taste).

As an older and wiser publication, we've also come to realise that some of our more adolescent behaviours are starting to look a little inappropriate. Expect less SHOUTINESS, an evolving sense of humour, more modern and global cultural touchstones, science coverage that gives proper prominence to peer-reviewed, evidence-based research and a recognition that attempted self-aware hopefully ironic sexism is almost always indistinguishable from actual sexism.

Words which sound like PC speak for PC speak. And now I hear Billy Connolly talking about 'beigeists'.

[amanfromMars 1]

Re: New and improved? = Revamped and SMARTR Organised for Beta Virtual Use ....

... Anonymous InterPlanetary Action

So we've been putting up with old and inferior all these years. Scepticism, sarcasm with a healthy dosage of irreverence (and irrelevance from time to time) is why I keep reading El reg, would be a shame if it morphed into just another tech news website. ... Fading

Methinks engaging commentards can ensure that such a failure does not come to pass, Fading.

It is not as if some readers have nothing of note and newsworthy to share with populations, is it? Some posts are real eye openers/hearts and minds stealers.

[WaveyDavey]

Do a BoingBoing redesign ...

... and I will come down and widdle through your letterbox.

So there.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Do a BoingBoing redesign ...

...or worserer, a Bong! redesign hot from the Silicon Roundabout.

[Doctor Syntax]

Serious suggestion

Voting on articles, not just on comments.

It would guide you as to what we want & don't want. To some extent the number of comments is indicative but these can be distorted by a good OT diversion.

[Thecowking]

Re: Serious suggestion

We used to have that, in the before time.

Someone (my ur-mind says Orlowski, but my conscious brain isn't sure) stated emphatically that it wouldn't be coming back a year or two ago.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Serious suggestion

We already vote on articles, by reading the ones that interest us and ignoring the ones that don't. Granted a creative headline can get us to read an article we otherwise wouldn't, but unless there's a "that headline was clickbait" vote in addition to thumbs up or thumbs down, it would deliver exactly the same information.

[andrewj]

At the first sign of a shitty website redesign for mobile, it's buh-bye from me.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mobile = shitty

I think you have hit it.

It is self evident truth in the website creation industry that websites have to be redesigned on a regular basis otherwise there wouldn't be any work for website designers to do. The modern approach is for "responsive" designs. These are single websites that attempt respond to the type of device viewing them and then adapt. I say "attempt" deliberately because so far everyone one I have seen is worse than that which it replaced and many are pure crap.

One characteristic is the loss of written content compared to pictures. It is an unfair prejudice to say that pudgy fingered smartphone or tablet users can't or don't want to read and only like pretty pictures or YouTube videos, I think it is more the case that the screen area available on smaller devices limits what can be displayed and pictures win out. Once you prioritise presentation over content the presenters determine policy.

The BBC website is a classic. You need to go through several link layers to get to the words. The index pages are now almost devoid of anything but pictures.

I can but hope that El Reg will stick to its well honed page design even if it attempts to become all serious and grown up (BTW what is wrong with SHOUTY? When someone does something stupid you need to shout at them; either to warn them of danger or hurl well deserved abuse). I fear however that the plague of web designers will be upon us.

[Zippy's Sausage Factory]

In other words

Character is out, blandness is in.

Broadening people's horizons is out, retreating back into out comfort zone is in.

Talking to intelligent people is out, making sure we never offend anyone is in.

Being different is out, being yet another IT publication is in.

Who's made you an offer of lots of money to merge with El Reg then? CRN? Ars? "Just that small matter of being different from every other IT news site out there to sort out first"

Hmmm....

[ssharwood]

Re: In other words

No offer. And no on all fronts. We'll still be the reg, full of snark and scepticism. Still telling it like it is in colorful language with cracking headlines. And more depth and broader horizons.

[The Dude]

Re: In other words

If the last few months are an indication of what is in store with the changes, it won't work. The register has gone from being a 30 minute/day read to about 60 seconds. Without Dabbs around, less than that.

Maybe we could get the real reason(s) why Worstall, Lewis and Page are gone? Inquiring minds want to know.

I know... maybe Alistair Dabbs will explain it, in his usual thoughtful, mature, educational, non-shouty and humorous manner. I don't see him lasting much longer anyhow, with the new regime.

[beboyle]

I looked for Alistair Dabs throughout the holidays without finding him. I was hoping to hear he'd just had some time off. I truly hope you haven't let him go. He is the essence of what I come here for.

There's a reason I've been reading The Register first every day. If you become another ComputerWorld I'll just read ComputerWorld, thanks.

[Anonymous Coward]

what???

"an evolving sense of humour, more modern and global cultural touchstones"

What the fuck does that mean?

And you are doing away with the weekend edition?

Something tells me you are getting too big for your own boots as in "you will enjoy what we publish because we know what's best"

Next thing you will be telling us to stop eating bacon and eat more salads...

Cheers

[Mark 85]

Re: what???

If the bacon goes, so will most of us. Besides, two rashers of bacon a day will ensure that you won't be a suicide bomber. I'll get my coat for that.

[AegisPrime]

Ars?

Isn't the sensible IT stuff/real journalism's what Ars Technica's for???

Paris because she may not be with us for much longer...

[Anonymous Coward]

So do we have to do ALL the puerile infantile stuff now?

Might I suggest polling readers BEFORE "revisiting the design"...any UI changes for this demographic (all demographics, really, but El Reg's in particular) will be met with bitching on a grand scale. On a purely practical note, if you poll first you can at least say "well that's what you asked for" and -who knows- the polling itself may well suggest better ways of doing things.

Something else you might want to revisit is your aims regarding cynicism...in these days of shiny, tweety, lowest-common-denominator, where every bastard is trying to move you to the cloud/sell you something "as a service"/both; I would maintain that cynicism is a very good starting point. Possibly you're not being cynical enough.

[theOtherJT]

What did I just read?

There's a... voice... to the Reg. When it's on form it feels like a lesson from that one slightly elderly teacher who knew damn well that the world was changing but didn't have to like it. The one that was going to go on doing things their way because they were too good at their job to get fired for it. The one possessed of an acerbic wit which everyone feared getting turned on them, but loved to see directed at others. The one that could pour scorn with the very, very best of them and knowing that made any praise received so much more valuable because you could be utterly sure it was sincere.

On your best day 'Reg, collectively, you sound like that.

This, on the other hand... well.

I see the author is marked as "Team Register" which feels apt for something that reads like it was actually written by committee. A committee that was a bit reluctant to... well... commit. It feels like the sort of press releases you get from a really expensive PR department when they have something unpleasant to say but have no choice but to release it. Sure, the message is in there, somewhere, but the purpose of the statement was to obfuscate it not to promote it.

In short, I've read this twice, and I'm still not entirely sure what you're trying to tell me, only that I don't think I like the tone of voice I'm being told in.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: What did I just read?

Sorry, only one upvote to give. Very well said.

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one

Hope you don't poll readers about changes. That's a recipe for disaster. I have to consider the possibility that we commentards are actually a small minority when it comes to page views, and perhaps quite unrepresentative.

I'll probably get heavily downvoted (but given my observation above, that might be expected) but I do feel that Worsthall, Page and Dabbs had a certain amount to say that was relevant (and I have enjoyed and learnt from their articles) but they are not professional columnists - and that's a good thing, because when we look at ones who are like Hopkins, Littlejohn and co. it is hard to avoid a technicolour yawn. Unfortunately they are difficult to avoid outside their lairs.

And remember - the definition of a Conservative is someone who thinks he has always believed what he told people was complete rubbish twenty years ago. Change is needed.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I for one

Not going to downvote; but I suggested polling for *UI changes* (before doing any, more specifically). Not polling about any political/back-office stuff that is going on; so sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Commentards are a minority of the site's heaviest users, so aren't completely irrelevant...plus there's a fair amount of expertise tucked away in there. I like to think of the comments as a sort of RAID backup for the main story...you get different spins on it; bits the story may have missed; updates from other sources; interesting tangents; plus quality abuse and terrible puns. Makes the total "story experience" more complete and informative (not to mention fun)...and I think that El Reg would need to take great care in changing any aspect of that.

The 'statement of intent' could go either way - it's a bit bland and obscure. Could be a genuinely needed update or it could be "new broom" management who have things done their way...bitch; looking only at the money and fuck off with their golden handshake before it hits the fan.

[Will Godfrey]

Hmmm

Very much Hmmm.

In fact, on a Hmmm-ness scale of 1 to 10, this manages Hmmm 11.

I shall be watching closely. I've not been all that impressed by the changes so far.

[David 132]

Oh dear.

an evolving sense of humour, more modern and global cultural touchstones

{...wavey lines as we segue to the Editor's office, 6 months' hence...}

"Dabbsy, thanks for coming in. It's about that article you wrote. Great article, great stuff, lovely, super.

But I wonder if it's sensitive enough to global cultural touchstones?"

"Um..."

"Lovely, super. But we have to ask ourselves, what would an itinerant goat-herder in Mongolia make of this? Is 10 Things I Wish IT Suppliers Would Stick Up Their Arses really relevant to the needs of a Single Womens' pottery collective in Dhaka?"

"Err..."

"Lovely. So re-write it with less emphasis on cis-gender white privilege, there's a good person. And try to throw in more references to the Ethiopian Tewahedo belief system while you're at it."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Oh dear.

Have an upvote for the references alone

[Mark 85]

Re: Oh dear.

You're actually Alistair and I claim my 5 pounds!

[AdamWill]

big thumbs up

"Expect less SHOUTINESS, an evolving sense of humour, more modern and global cultural touchstones, science coverage that gives proper prominence to peer-reviewed, evidence-based research and a recognition that attempted self-aware hopefully ironic sexism is almost always indistinguishable from actual sexism."

This is great news. Might even start reading regularly again. Thanks, El Reg.

[bon_the_one]

The Furture... I've taken my shades off...

I'm with most of the comments here, I have been reading El Reg for YEARS (some of us can still do shouty!), and came here for brillliant, intelligent articles that were basically Clarkson-esque at times. Superbly informative, but in a sublime way that gave you information but in an amusing, entertaining way. I'm wondering if a certain previous editor got in to a fraquas...?

I stopped reading the main site after the God Awful redesign with header pics (of a Cat5 cable for Network articles as another commentard pointed out! WE KNOW WHAT A CAT5 is!!!). Fortunately someone else on comments pointed me to m. and I have been able to read El Reg again.

This article just made me think El Reg has brought in Perfect Curve (Please refer to the BBC Sattire series 'W1A' if you have not seen it). I also found it quite ironic I read this article on the day 'BBC Three' re-branded as 'BBC Two!'.

Now, where are those Joss Sticks and that Whale Song CD...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, yes, I forgot to add, re those UI changes

"We'll revisit the site's design on all devices and for those of you who read through aggregators. We're also conscious that the web can now host any form of content, but we rely heavily on the written word. Indulge us in an experiment or three as we explore how to use the medium."

If you're going to muck about with the look and feel of the site, please don;t forget about those of us with odd visual problems. For instance as a result of being a fan of Kerbal Space Program, I recently found out that I have Scoptic Sensitivity Syndrome. I'd previously had to describe myself as having a problem with certain types of patterns, don't like too much contrast (ever tried finding the LOW contrast option in any OS's UI? Do let me know if you find it, I tend to have to fiddle incessantly with random individual bits of UI becasue whilst those needing high contrast UIs tend to be catered for, it seems UI designers have never thought about the converse) and can't handle glare well. (one of my main criticisms of most of the web is that there appears to be no way to turn all that white to something more soothing like green, or even yellow. If fellow commentards know of a way, I'm all ears) As a result of which I have to take frequent breaks from reading most sites, due to the glare. I digress...

When SQUAD changed the games forums recently, their forums went from being relatively easyand pleasant to read to something that has a very clean design, I can recognise that - but all the same, it feels deeply disturbing, somehow, so much so that I'm reluctant to visit very often now. Even knowing that it's something to do with how my brain processes the visual information, I just can't cope with that design. And it's a type of 'clean, flat' design I;ve seen in many places of late - MS's UI's included (Office 2013? It now not only annoys me with its foibles, it's actually hateful to look at now. I avoid whenever possible, but locating emaisl I need to work from is definitely much harder than it was). With the current design (I read El Reg only from desktop PC's btw) the only thing that bugs me is the glare from all the white space. I can live with that.

And in case anyone thinks otherwise, no, I'm not expecting El reg to tailor their site to my particular needs, just asking 'em to bear in mind all of us with odd visual disorders and that 'clean design' of a UI isn't the only thing that's important. I'd also add that I was bemused by the BBC's last site re-design. It looked fine to me previously. Now it looks bland and less interesting, and rather as if its trying to hide lack of in-depth content behind a flashy GUI. It doesnt set off my visual disorders though. Neither does El Reg's current UI.

[GrantN]

This enquiring mind would like to know what has become of Page and Worstall since their departure from el Reg. Lewis wasn't everyone's cup of tea but I enjoyed his articles very much, and also found Tim's economics articles to be really interesting. They may not be writing for the Register anymore but I'd be most interested to know if they have put their talents to good use elsewhere on the www.

[Ilmarinen]

@GrantN

Worstall has a blog and links to other stuff he writes: http://www.timworstall.com/

Don't know about Page - anyone?

[PCar]

Re: @GrantN

Tim also writes for Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/

and The ASI:

http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/

He sometimes writes for other new sites inclding The Gruniard

However, the articles there are sadly never as long or in depth as his articles here were.

Lewis Page - also no idea. Anyone?

I would really like to see them both writing here again.

Their articles were, for me, the most interesting, informative and thought provoking.

[Quortney Fortensplibe]

Glare of Publicity

"...(one of my main criticisms of most of the web is that there appears to be no way to turn all that white to something more soothing like green, or even yellow...

How about something like f.lux? I use that on laptop and desktop, to subtly tint the screen as evening approaches, so that white takes on a creamier hue.

On my Android devices I use Twilight which, while not quite as polished, is the nearest equivalent I've been able to find.

[cd / && rm -rf /]

I really hope this doesn't mean Lester's knob-jokes and post pub nosh menus aren't being given the boot.

[Anonymous Coward]

Care to explain what we're supposed to make of the double negative?

[SniperPenguin]

"Our overall resolution is to become an even better business tech news publication"

Translation - Our advertisers want us to be more corporate in return for larger, more cash-rich marketing campaigns.

When will you guys realise that we read you because you are *NOT* Techtarget, or any of all the other bland template-based "tech-websites" that just quote from each other's articles and vendor press releases.

You are popular because your are independent of that bulll*****, You have the BOFH, good articles from Chris, Alisdair and Trevor (amongst others) who write things here that would likely be edited out of existence on other sites.

Lose that, and you lose your readership base - Your call.

[Dabooka]

Re: "Our overall resolution is to become an even better business tech news publication"

I don't like the 'more business tech' slant.

Sounds obvious, but if you think about it a bit a lot of the content is relevant to users and consumers as much as anyone else. I often link to articles for my non-techy friends, often because the articles are very accessible.

[Mage]

cultural touchstones

Umm... I'd like an Irish Tablet. If I could read Irish.

[Ilmarinen]

Paging Page, Worstall, Orlowski

Somebody earlier suggested a fork of El Reg, away from this current 'ere thing and back to wot we know and luv - let's put it to the Commentardiat...

Ayes - upvote

Nays - downvote

[Mellipop]

Oh please forget your resolutions

"more modern and global cultural touchstones, science coverage that gives proper prominence to peer-reviewed"

What cobblers. What piffle. If that came from some CIO's press release you'd rip into it.

We are mostly British, some were transported and fewer still managed to get back to Blighty. We can VIEW the world's activities but from the peculiar perspective of a bunch of warring tribes that live on this rain-soaked island. We don't really care what American's think; we get that rammed down our throats incessantly.

We want irreverence, understatement and indiscretion. Have the commentards so embarrassed you with their effing and blinding?

I wish we could bring back TG@H.

<img src="http://www.viewdata.org.uk/galerien/Gnome/1a.gif" style="width:304px;height:228px;" >

[Tom B Tek]

Umm...Well...I'll be off then

Like BlackAdder, Wimbledon FC, and the company xmas party, all good things must come to an end.

Never commented much, but visited near daily for the last 10+ years.

Mine's the one with the memories of what El Reg was in it.

[Tail Up]

55 73

and, of course, amanfromMars (see amanfromMars1), Reg's cult philosopher and commenter, would scarcely keep his own consulate in a dull and dusty village, but founded it here, on these humble pages. A Shakespearean, representing an idea of an electronic personality, one of the most sophisticated and mind-breaking ones, which one could meet in the Net.

Top stuff w0rdplay that deserves own page on a regular basis. I would type 55 73 with a special pleasure tonight.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 55 73

My recollection from much digging around on a previous occasion is that Graham is an HonourableGentleman with an axe to grind re the Symantec web. Or maybe I meant semantic web. Who knows what he meant...

[Chris Robinson]

Lose the Big Picture

That big graphic at the top of each article is annoying and demeaning. It's a waste of space and bandwidth. When you first introduced it with your other changes a few months ago I felt sure there would be a strong negative reaction and waited for it to go away - or at least reduce in size.

Now I just use Firefox "Block Images".

[Jeffrey Nonken]

Checking... checking... Nope. Still unhappy that you drop-kicked Worstall.

[Bbbbit]

What we are looking at is...

https://vimeo.com/44568228

[aelfheld]

Irrelevance beckons

"[...] less SHOUTINESS, an evolving sense of humour, more modern and global cultural touchstones, science coverage that gives proper prominence to peer-reviewed, evidence-based research and a recognition that attempted self-aware hopefully ironic sexism is almost always indistinguishable from actual sexism."

That appears to be, in effect, a complete surrender to the fundamentally irrational notion that subjects can be ruled unfit for discussion.

[Anonymous Coward]

We've loved The Reg for many years. Don't give up your opinionated quirkiness and don't lose the puns we've come to love & hate!

I'm not so keen on the infobyte. I like print and in-depth. There's too much pabulum in the world already!

[Anonymous Coward]

That would explain THIS abomination.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/02/t_shaped_developers_are_the_new_normal/