Posts by Philip Cheeseman

BT Sport scores own goal with £897m Champions League footie rights deal

Yay - More value-added content I don't want

Can't wait to move to another provider. Shame they are all so bad... (Still miss my 14Mb O2 ADSL service - more reliable than the 30Mb Infinity connection I have in my new house.)

Digital radio may replace FM altogether - even though nobody wants it

I don't expect it'll ever happen

If they had forced car manufactures to have DAB radios and made FM radios hard to buy I could see it happen but without that it stands no chance. After all why would I pay for a new DAB radio for the car and buy a new alarm clock/radio just for the chance to listen to stations I can already access via FM.

Unlike Freeview I just don't see the need for digital radio. It just seems like a solution looking for a problem! If it wasn't for the government looking to sell off unused FM bandwidth DAB would be dead already.

BT doles out measly 2GB to customers in Dropbox-alike BT Cloud

Its in the same category as all the other value added services BT offer with my infinity connection - Unused. Wish they'd drop all this stuff and just concentrate on better connections....

BALLMER TO RETIRE FROM MICROSOFT

About time. Maybe the new guy will start listening to the customer rather than a committee (or should that be ego). Sad to know we'll have no more chair flinging stories...

Shack in flat-pack bric-a-brac lack flap? Whack on this 3D flat-pack app

Agreed. Unlike most flat pack suppliers Ikea instructions are easy to read and follow plus the finished product is half decent. Wouldn't touch argos/tesco etc flat pack with a large barge pole. You can't beat ikea for furnishing a house on the cheap.

Sky falling: 119,000 Brits flee O2, Be after Murdoch broadband gobble

I went when I moved

I recently moved - told sky/o2 I wouldn't be taking their service with me. Didn't seem to interested in fighting to keep me once I said I had no wish to deal with them. Took out BT infinity as ADSL was only ~4Mb - not massively impressed - o2 was more reliable using iplayer at peak times. Hoping for a small FTTC provider to emerge once my 18 months are up...

Seven snazzy smartphones for seven sorts of shoppers

Re: One-handed operation is key to Many buyers' needs

Must have really small hands. I can use my 5.3" note 1, one handed all the time and its absolutely fine as long as I don't need to touch a tiny <1cm square on the top left corner (which you really don't need to touch when texting, calling etc). I have distinctly average man hands and soon got completely use to it...

Murdoch hate sparks mass bitchin', rapid evacuation from O2, BE

I'm going

I'm going once I move. I'd have gone already if I wasn't just about to exchange contracts for the house move. Just wish I was moving somewhere with decent alternatives but it looks like its bt infinity, talk talk or sky so guess its BT infinity as the best of the worst....

NEW ITV Player app IS HERE ... for Samsung fandroids only. Ha ha

Works fine on my ASUS tf300

Not sure why they have limited it to Samsung via the play store - Works fine for me on my ASUS tablet. Just had to copy it over from my Galaxy note... (Wife wanted to watch some 3 part drama earlier in the week)

M&S shoppers make quarter of a million NFC payments a WEEK

I use NFC at M&S all the time

Really useful when buying sandwiches etc. Never thought I'd like it but its just so damn convenient (even more so than cash). Just wished more stores supported it!

ISPs: Get ready to slurp streams from Murdoch's fat pipe

I'm leaving

I won't support Murdock - I'm due to move in the next 2 to 3 weeks or I'd have moved ISPs already. Seriously sad how few ISPs are left. My last ISP freedom2surf was taken over by talktalk and suffered too.

3 million Freesat receivers now out there, and boxes to get YouTube

I'm still waiting for working iplayer...

Got a Sagem Freeview HD box a while back. It got a single update to support iplayer but its never worked (It always skips forward during replay for no reason). Sagem seem to have given up with it. I thought 'freesat' where supposed to be tightly controlling of hardware released with the freesat logo... I guess the software part is more flexible however. I'm not holding my breath my box will ever support youtube!

Plunging BT sales hit every branch of the biz on way down

Just wish BT would stop trying to sell me the same service once a week!

I get calls from BT on an almost weekly basis trying to sell Bt Infinity. When I explain I am not interested (as I'm trying to sell the house so don't want a fixed term contract) and could they not call again with the same offer they apologise, promise not to call again and hang up. This same pattern has been repeating for months. They did the same thing when I had line rental from a different firm. They really need to learn to listen. Can't wait to find another option (that isn't virgin media).

Microsoft to give free TV ad to top-voted Windows Phone 8 app

How about spending the $1B on reducing the prices?

Wouldn't a $1B discount on Surface not be a better idea? People aren't going to spend more than an ipad on the surface - Its clear from sales - So why not use that cash to push the price of buying one down to android tab prices? Might get some market share then and then mind share might just work...

O2 refuses to deny plans to offload home broadband product

Damn

Been with O2 for a while. Been really good - I'm still on unlimited and get 16Mb download. Not looking to switch to FTTC as I'm planning to sell my house soon so don't want to be stuck in a new contract. Just hoping it doesn't get sold until I move!

Microsoft notices Xbox gamers actually slack-jawed TV fans, adds 43 new apps

I guess thats why my 360 is gather dust then....

I get BBC iplayer for free on my bluray player and netflix free on my tablet (which has HDMI) so why would I pay MS for the privilege? Can't believe people pay for Gold.

SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec finalised

What next?

USB 4.0 SuperDuper Speed USB?

USB 5.0 UltraSuperDuper Speed USB?

USB 6.0 MegaSuperSuper Speec USB?

Do I need to continue?

Rebellious BT computers refuse to take orders

I hate BT

I really hate Bt. I hate there services, there poor customer support, the adverts and the we're so good why don't you want to use us attitude. Unfortunately the only alternative is the extremely uselss Virgin media so I guess I'm stuck until we get some competition!

Anon as I don't want them having any excuse to make my service worse!

Coat as I want to leave their services!

Marathon poker game begins over fate of Fujitsu Siemens

Shame if it goes

My sisters had a Fujitsu Siemens laptop for over a year and its been really good. So good i recommend a similar model for my brother for when he starts uni. It'll be sad to see them go.

Microsoft confirms 60GB Xbox 360

Why bother with the arcade anymore?

If one with a HD is £10 more, who'll buy an arcade?

MS takes Windows 3.11 out of embed to put to bed

Memories

I've still got two or three sets of 3.11 on Dell branded floppy disks (and DOS 6.22).

I remember fixing problems by extracting files manually from the install disks to replace the corrupt files on the hard disk. Vista really doesn't like you doing that.

Also I can remember it being far easier to install than Redhat 5. Those were the days (And I'm only 27).

(Pirate flag - No stupid licenses keys to lose!!!)

AJAX browser vote exceeds 'wild' expectations

I can I just add to the call for IE6 to die

Developing for IE6 is hair pulling irritating - Please can MS just kill it off and force everyone onto IE7 - At least that supports XmlHttpRequest as is. Hopefully (although I'm not convinced) IE8 will at least be comparable to FF2 in terms of standards compliance.

And I have to agree with the previous comments - Doing something that should be simple just takes an age to complete in IE.

Vauxhall launches virtual backseat driver

Home made signs?

Whats to stop people putting up home made signs to get people to slow down outside their house?

People paying attention would know the difference but I bet many people will just stick to fake speed limit - The 'Computer says no' mentality...

UK developer trio accused of game plagiarism

Having grown up in Maidstone

I can quite believe this story....

Biggles battles Yanks for right to sport tash

Three cheers for Flt Lt Chris Ball

And a cup of tea on me...

OLPC and Microsoft punt Windows-only XO laptop

Bye bye XO laptop - We barely knew you

With the EEEPC (and lots of similar machines) doing so well (And selling with Linux) and the main selling point of the XO gone. Its days are seriously numbered.

AVG revamps free security scanner

AVG helps me smile

Whenever I see a PC running Symatec or McAfee it makes me smile knowing I have a far better free product.

Final beta of Firefox 3 available now

I'be been using it since the first alpha

And its only crashed 3 or 4 times. Using IE6 that IT requires for intranet is like pulling teeth.

Ofcom says yes on more TV ads

Mythtv

Good old mythtv - auto strips adverts for me.

I almost cried when it broke for a few days and I had to endure adverts again.

Mozilla reaches stage 4 of Firefox 3 beta endurance test

Been using Alpha's for months

Been using Alpha and Beta's of FF3 for ages. FF2 been sat languishing on my PC's since the first Beta was available.

Why I downgraded from Vista to XP

Should have waited for SP1

Having used SP1 for a month or so (Got via MSDN subscription), it makes Vista a lot more responsive!

I no longer use XP on my home PC. I don't know why people love the out dated interface of XP.

In 5 years time we'll be having the same argument about Vista's replacement verses Vista.

P.S I'm no M$ fanboy - I'm a Linux developer with a ubuntu powered mythtv box.

HMV blames rival for PS3 PlayTV pre-order puzzle

Its no good

The majority of PS3 only have a 40Gb hard disk. As someone with a myth tv box with 120Gb hard disk I can tell you the recordings will take up to much space.

Also my myth box has only cost me £80 with dual tuners - I can connect to it over the internet and backup recordings to DVD. Why would I want to spend £99 on this thing?

Tiscali boss faces board showdown as sell-off rumours swirl

Can't sell it to anyone who would be worse

After my broadband connect was acquired by tiscali (f2s > pipex > tiscali) the service has been abysmal at around 6 o'clock each night for the last week.

Never had a problem for last 4 years I've been with F2s. Needless to say I won't be renewing when I move house at the end of the year.

Nokia unwraps bendy nanotech phone

@Martin Lyne

You need a Nokia N series. You can sort messages in many different ways. You can also backup texts to a PC as Chris said.

I just hope android is as good or even better!

Redmond puts key Vista update on ice

SP1 works for me

Got SP1 from MSDN on Tuesday. Works fine on my PC.

Firefox 3 beta is live

I like FF3

I've been using FF3 since the earlier Alpha days and I love it. Its been both stable and fast. I particularly like the new address bar that has a fantastic history search built in.

Go give it a try before putting it down.

Tiscali executes stealth LLU migrations

Hope F2S isn't too badly effected

I've used F2S for about 4 years. Been great (reliable and cheap). However if my service does suffer I can tell you I won't be continuing with them when I move in September.

I am Legend hints at Batman-Superman movie

Looks like AMD are still going too

I'll get my coat...

Hundreds of US fighter aces reassigned as drone pilots

How many lives do you get?

What happens when the first gamer crashes a drone and asks where their next life is?

Eee PC: better with Windows?

Or just install it on a USB HDD

I've had my EEE over two months now. I use Linux for most things but if I want Windows (or to use the more versatile Ubuntu) I just plug in my USB HDD and away I go. Fully powered by one USB port.

I've got to be honest however - Windows for me is just for games.

Video games blamed for England Euro flop

Lewis Hamilton

If thats the case how come LH is doing so well racing in F1?

Blu-ray discs outsell HD DVDs almost 3:1 in Europe

Bit early to judge

Its still way to early to judge Anon Coward. You've still got to wait for Joe public to start buying, and for that crowd HD-DVD means something.

I expect 99% of these purchases are early adopters and PS3 owners - not representative at all.

Mozilla hits back at Firefox 3 quality slur

Been using Alpha's for months

I've been using the Alpha's for months (Posting this with Alpha 8). I know its not recommend but I haven't had a crash or bug that I know of and I tend to leave it run 5 days a week.

I think the Mozila Devs just have a really high quality outlook which is causing them to rate bugs higher than needed.

Asus Eee PC 4G sub-sub-notebook

Had mine for more than a month

Just got to love Taiwanese purchases! This machine is a must for any Linux hacker. You can also run XP on an external USB HD if your feeling brave.

Those looking for a case can I recommend a £15 case logic portable DVD player case from currys?

The Champions heads for the silver screen

I love this show

About time. Just don't chop and change the script about like you did with Avengers Hollywood (The original script was fantastic from what I've read).

Newegg serves up Asus Eee PC to US buyers

I've got one

And I love it. Every who sees it is jealous - especially when I tell them I got it for £185 in Taiwan and it'll cost them £230 in the UK.

Asus prices up Eee PC sub-sub-notebook for US

Got one from Taiwan

And I love it. Small, cheap and fairly rugged. And as an added bonus no windows tax.

It'll take a while for the Linux community to remove the silly limitations ASUS/Xandros have put in (software choice and simple interface) but the works half way done. See the www.eeeuser.com forums.

Asus launches tiny PC

@ truetalk

That asuslaptop deals bad. Its only the 256Mb version - clove do the 512Mb version for roughly the same price.

Ballmer: All open source dev should happen on Windows

Facebook

If they buy facebook - I'm never using it again. Probably stop supporting Firefox (I really like their pro-FF stance).

If fact I can see it turning into that whole MSN/Windows Live lump of web nastyness.