* Posts by Sam Therapy

530 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Oct 2007

Page:

Zuckerberg thinks he's cyber-Jesus – and publishes a 6,000-word world-saving manifesto

Sam Therapy
FAIL

The biggest problem with Zuckerberg is...

That he's Zuckerberg.

Nokia's 3310 revival – what's NEXT? Vote now

Sam Therapy

Re: Not the compact cassette.

Not necessarily added wow and flutter, if you used a decent deck. Nakamichi springs to mind, or one of the high end Akai decks before they rolled over and died, to be swallowed up by Sony.

Having said that, cassettes were never designed for decent sound; all the improvements that happened to 'em still didn't bring them up to even vinyl quality.

Kylie withdraws from Kylie trademark fight, leaving Kylie to profit from… existing?

Sam Therapy

Oh, fucking Ada. Just when you thought people couldn't get any more stupid/vain/vapid/useless.

IT team sent dirt file to Police as they all bailed from abusive workplace

Sam Therapy

Re: An innocent question

Agreed and upvoted.

Boffins link ALIEN STRUCTURE ON VENUS to Solar System's biggest ever grav wave

Sam Therapy

I welcome our Venusian Overlords.

Thought I'd get that one in before anyone else. :)

Is! Yahoo! dead?! Why! web! biz! will! rename! to! Altaba! – the! truth!

Sam Therapy

Re: Let's hope...

Nah, Plutonium would be much, much better. :D

Amazon files patent for 'Death Star' flying warehouse

Sam Therapy
WTF?

Your washing machine will arrive in 10,9,8,7....

Aaaagh! Run away!

LAKE OF frozen WATER THE SIZE OF NEW MEXICO FOUND ON MARS – NASA

Sam Therapy

Re: Mud Then

Yup. Also the starting point for Captain Scarlet.

Sam Therapy

Re: McMars Distillery

Deserving of upvote for Protector reference.

Gone in 70 seconds: Holding Enter key can smash through defense

Sam Therapy
Trollface

Not too many penguins around here today

That's all.

Shhh! Shazam is always listening – even when it's been switched 'off'

Sam Therapy
Thumb Down

Weasel words

Taking privacy seriously is *not* the same as respecting it and ensuring it.

The problem with language, particularly English, is that it's so malleable it's possible to imply many different things by saying nothing of the kind.

Six weeks after first ever profit warning Capita does what Capita does

Sam Therapy

Nowt useful to add but...

Thought I'd join in the collective kicking they're getting here.

Having worked for 'em years back, I can confirm they're a total shower of bastards.

Yahoo! cancels! earnings! call!, dodges! hacking! questions!

Sam Therapy

The headline should be...

Yahoo! Fucks! Up! Again!

'Fappening' hacker gets 18 months in US federal clapper

Sam Therapy

Re: Surprisingly low

You'd be surprised how many people have autism, judging by your response. It *should* be used as mitigation - if - the suspect/perp/whatever has a diagnosis. OTOH, don't be surprised if others try it on as a result. The good old US of A doesn't seem to give a damn, though, judging by the way they go after overseas suspects, autism or not.

My two small children have autism, both show signs of genius, neither have a very strong sense of consequences. Despite all my efforts, I'm not going to be able to provide guidance forever so I worry about their future.

Kids today are so stupid they fall for security scams more often than greybeards

Sam Therapy

Re: It bears repeating

Good read. Thanks for the link.

Sam Therapy
Happy

Simple reason

Most people are thick. Really, really thick. There are more young(er) people online, using smartphones etc than old(er) people. The older ones who use these things tend to have some interest in what they are using because generally speaking, that's how olduns were brought up. They tend to be at the smarter end of the spectrum, whereas, at the younger end, everyone uses the kit.

So, there's an imbalance in smarts to tech ratio, which is why it's happening. Simples.

Mud sticks: Microsoft, Windows 10 and reputational damage

Sam Therapy
Happy

Staying away from 10 for as long as possible

Windows 7 Pro works just fine for me, thanks. Many of the apps I use will not run properly - if at all - on Windows 10. Some "helpful" people have suggested that it's because the apps have weird code/nonstandard this/that/t'other...

I don't give a monkey's why, or who is to blame; I just want to be able to use my apps with as little fuss and bother as possible.

Anyhow, I rather like Win7.

Facebook policy wonk growls at Europe's mass of data laws

Sam Therapy
FAIL

Creature from the planet Whinge

These whining shites must surely live on a different planet from the rest of us. Every time I read about/hear of one of these types griping, I am driven to wonder how they managed to function in a world with real, enforceable rules that aren't necessarily to their liking.

I don't find that sort of behaviour appealing in my own small children, and nor do I tolerate it. So you can probably make a good guess what I'd say to Mr Crybaby Allen.

Webcam stripper strikes back at vicious 4Chan trolls after year of bullying

Sam Therapy

Good for her

It's her body. How she chooses to use it is no damn business of anyone else. The ones posting insults to her - and others who do similar - are gutless cowards, plain and simple.

Buy a household 3D printer, it'll pay for itself in months!

Sam Therapy
Go

And, oh yeah...

I use a 4 blade razor. Not overkill with my manly stubble. Best shave I ever had. Two blades just don't cut it. Pun very much intended.

Sam Therapy

I want one

But not yet. When the tech gets better I' want to be able to print out my 3D models and make my own custom minuature Daleks.

Yes, I could use Shapeways but I'd much prefer to do it all myself.

Stephen Hawking nixes Intel voice upgrade plan

Sam Therapy
Thumb Down

Re: Ugh.

You, Sir - or Madam - are a tit.

Apple asked me for my BANK statements, says outraged reader

Sam Therapy
FAIL

People are forgetting the most important aspect of this story...

You don't like Apple's T&Cs? Don't damn well buy from them, then! Simples.

If everyone took that attitude, they'd change their policies pretty damn quick when they see their sales flatline.

Furious Stephen Fry blasts 'evil' Reg and 'TW*T' Orlowski

Sam Therapy
Happy

Poor old Fry

I don't dislike the bloke but he really should grow a sense of humour. The reported story makes him seem like a complete tit. And a whingeing ninny. :)

Infinite loop: the Sinclair ZX Microdrive story

Sam Therapy
Happy

I never bought a Microdrive

A friend had a couple of 'em and used to back them up to his Sony Betamax tapes. The drives themselves were really twitchy, though; whenever his wife switched on the washing machine, they'd go bugfuck. Seeing him frantically scrabbling to unplug the Speccy, take out the cart and try to retrieve the tape was enough to convince me to stick to cassettes.

Then I got my first Amiga but that's another story.

Ten affordable mid-sized Full HD monitors

Sam Therapy
Flame

Keeerapp!

My ancient Iiyama happily displayed 1600 x 1200 before it rolled over and died. Why the actual fuck would I want to spend money on something that's worse?

Right now I'm using a naff Philips monitor somebody gave me, until such time as I can get the readies for a decent new monitor. The article itself was useless; the comments were a damn sight more help.

Could do better, El Reg.

Texan schoolgirl expelled for refusing to wear RFID tag

Sam Therapy
Happy

Re: Christ (oops!) bloody religion again???

Or Mary Visconti, as she was at the time.

Higgs boson chasers: Now only 1-in-300 MILLION chance we're wrong

Sam Therapy
Happy

So what are the chances...

Of being killed by a shark that has the same birthday as you when there's a goat behind the door?

Capita ITS asks to-be-axed staffers to pose for marketing pic

Sam Therapy
Thumb Down

As stated by many others, Capita really are a shower of bastards

My wife was treated disgracefully by them when she became seriously ill and needed major surgery. She then sued them for unfair dismissal but they tried every trick in the book to get her to back down. Threats, intimidation, and finally, a feeble token payment offer to make her shut up and go away.

I'm pleased to say she won her case outright and Capita had to fork over a fair bit of readies. She signed a NDA which bars her from discussing the matter. I didn't. :)

Sting in the tail was, they then made life for me so bad I had to quit. I'm glad to be out of there but not in such a way.

Pints under attack as Lord Howe demands metric-only UK

Sam Therapy
FAIL

Ermm, yes they do

Several brands of beer are available in Pint cans and bottles. Wife beater, for one, can be bought in pint bottles.

Sam Therapy
Unhappy

I hope they don't change guitar string sizes to metric

A .009 - .042 set is easy enough to remember but I'm fucked if I can remember what the metric equivalents are, even though some brands have 'em printed on there.

Pirate Bay struggling to get on feet after DDoS to the knee

Sam Therapy
Unhappy

Still MIA from here in sunny South Yorkshire.

Even through a German proxy.

Biscuits of arse.

US Judge says IP addresses don't identify pirates

Sam Therapy

Here's hoping

Someone points our set of fucking idiots in the direction of this judge.

Queen unveils draft internet super-snoop bill - with clauses

Sam Therapy
Unhappy

Re: Question

Privacy should be "on" by default, with an option to snoop only in exceptional circumstances*. The proposal is to set privacy to "off" by default.

* Granted, every government writes its own terms of meaning for "exceptional circumstances" but the right to privacy should be there first and foremost.

Basic instinct: how we used to code

Sam Therapy
Thumb Up

Ahh, BASIC

For all its shortcomings, not a bad at all language. My first contact with it was on my Spectrum back in 82. Had the dead fish keyboard version first, then the hard keys Speccy + (just a re-cased 48k Speccy) when the first one blew up.

ISTR GOTO was frowned on but GOSUB was considered OK. In any event, I learned my first steps in programming on the Speccy. After that I did COBOL and later, taught meself VB. Yeah, I know but VB isn't all that bad really. It's dead easy to code and understand and for the most part, documents itself.

Once I had Speccy BASIC down, a mate taught me Z80 assembler. Was considered really funny that C5 in Z80 means "Push BC". Think about it, Sinclair's C5 was around at the time.

Programming and I went our separate ways some years later when computers finally became good enough to do serious graphics work and I went back to my first love of art and graphic design. Anyone remember Deluxe Paint? Very good app, that. Prior to that, I developed Speccy graphics using The Artist, which was arguably the best graphics app for the Spectrum. The writer, Bo Jangeborg (I think) was also the writer of a very popular Speccy Game, Fairlight. Later, he developed a graphics app for the Sam Coupe, which had a Spectrum compatible mode but could also display much better graphics, more on the lines of an Atari ST. The graphics app he wrote for the Coupe was, sadly, lousy.

Oh well, better stop me wittering and get back to doing some work.

CD: The indestructible music format that REFUSES TO DIE

Sam Therapy
Happy

Not so strange, really

Many of the lower cost CD players, amps and headphones use cheaper components than their more expensive counterparts. The higher end stuff tends to use higher spec tighter tolerance stuff, quite often military spec chips and hand soldered boards and wires, headphone manufacturers use Kevlar reinforcement in their cables, plugs and sockets have gold contacts and many of the components are hand assembled and soak tested. All of which costs.

A typical OEM factory will use lower tolerance components, substitute metal parts for plastic and automate as much of the assembly process as possible, or use relatively unskilled labour in sweatshop conditions. The products are housed in flimsy cases and are generally made to be thrown away, rather than repaired.

So, while it's true you can get a decent sounding CD player for next to nowt, you won't get a very good and durable one for the same price but, what with inflation and that, a £300 CD player now is in real terms quite a lot cheaper than a £300 one back then.

I got a superb deal on a CD player, speakers and amp about 15 years ago and they are still going strong.

Court shuts down site that circumvents Pirate Bay blocks

Sam Therapy
Headmaster

Why not...

spell check, grammar check and stop shouting?

You give us Freetards a bad name. Er, oops. :)

Feds: Apple, Google, Adobe, Intel, Pixar had wage-fixing no-poach pact

Sam Therapy
Thumb Down

Civilised?

To create an artificial situation in order to keep an employee's wages low?

You Sir, are a tit.

Crossley cops two-year suspension

Sam Therapy
Happy

Hey Mr Crossley

How's your coffee now, you twat?

Just trolling: It's OK to poke fun at Christians, says ASA

Sam Therapy

Wrong!

Read it twice. Once, when it was first published and last year when I received all my father's books after he died.

Twat.

Sam Therapy
Unhappy

Sounds like a typical night out...

in Rotherham.

Sam Therapy
Coat

Every religion should be mocked...

...religiously.

Mine's the one with "A Brief History of Time" in the pocket.

Mysterious sat-pic China desert markings - EXPLAINED

Sam Therapy
Happy

You're all wrong

It's China's failed attempts to hide itself with Dazzle.

You numpties.

Swearing doesn’t help pain if you do it too much

Sam Therapy
Happy

Swearing is great

I only ever do it deliberately, though. I'm more likely to say "Oh dear" if I clout meself with a hammer.

Eleven - if you will - rocktastic music movies

Sam Therapy
Thumb Up

Cracked Actor, anyone?

Yentob's feature on Bowie's uprooting to the USA, his change of musical direction and the increasingly apparent drug use makes a superb documentary.

Another vote for Anvil, too.

Upcoming EU data law will make Europe tricky for Facebook

Sam Therapy
Happy

"Upcoming EU data law will make Europe tricky for Facebook"

Good. About time, too.

UK Border Force chief walks in passport checks row

Sam Therapy
Paris Hilton

Hold on a minute...

So if he didn't implement or authorise the changes and May didn't authorise or implement 'em, who did?

Paris because she's as clueless as those two.

UK.gov digital boss defends ID assurance scheme

Sam Therapy
Alert

Oh, great!

Sounds like a fantastic idea. What could possibly go wrong?

BT gets 14 days to block Newzbin2

Sam Therapy
Thumb Down

Arse

Whack a mole or not, it's - as stated above - a classic example of function creep and a clear cut demonstration that our current government is every bit as bad as the last lot of merkins when it comes to personal freedom.

Assange brings down British justice system

Sam Therapy
Headmaster

6 Fingered?

Does he have 5 on one hand, 1 on the other, or 3 on each, or some other permutation? Or do you mean he has 11 fingers?

Anyhow, he's probably Hannibal Lecter.

Page: