Posts by Andy ORourke

Windows 8: Is Microsoft's new OS too odd to handle?

Re: I'll pass on this one

Maybe the OP was actually posting in a tocuh screen with his "stonking great finers"?

Sky support dubs Germany 'Hitler's country'

Re: That's a Turing Test failure

must be outsourced then as we dont have any "indians" woking over here.................

Miniature Baumgartner jumps from 128,000ft

Awesome

That is all..........

Copper-obsessed BT means UK misses out on ultrafast fibre gold

Re: False Economy

@ Mark Wilson,

I just moved into a new estate where there is a little ISP (See the light) who have a bit of a monopoly going on. Fibre to the house, good pricing, no need for a phone line

So I dont think it's true to say ALL new estates are built without fibre provision, it just might not be from the usual suspects!

Microsoft plans midnight launch for Surface

Re: Shhhh! - you'll ground the suspended disbelief!

You got my favourite timing fail right there, the number of times I've turned up (thankfully just on a conference call) 24 hours early. I always try to schedule my jobs for 23:59, you always know which day you are talking about!

Facebook's CHAIR sat on by 1 billion people ... bitch

Is it just me?

Or did that advert look like a concept ideagasm that Perfect Curve (2012) would have come up with?

Microsoft's Bing bods exploit fanbois' Apple maps misery

There is another way......

I know, I know, the maps app is shite, the phone is useless, Apple is evil but if you happen to be the proud owner lumbered with an iphone then "around me" is quite a useful app and I like NavFree for navigation (although to be fair I did pay the 99 p to get rid of the adverts)

And, if you really want google maps just use maps.google.co.uk in Safari

I know, we shouldnt HAVE to do any of these things and I know, it's our own fault for buying something you android / Blackberry / Winpho boys wouldnt wipe your arse on but hey, we all have choices to make, I made mine, you made yours now can we just agree to disagree and get on with our lives??

Zuckerberg loses $8bn in Facebook IPO fiasco

Re: My mate Vince reckons that my ability to burp popular music anthems is worth a good $10bn

Don't knock Groupon, I just got a message from them offering me a Brazillian Blow Dry :-)

Apple slip-up slows iOS 6 upgrades

Re: 20 hours

I think the Windows file copy dialogue guy must have gone to work for apple:

Estimating download time

Time remaining 6 hours

Time remaining less than 1 minute

Time remaining 4 hours

Time remaining less than 1 minute

Time remaining 3 minutes

Time remaiing less than 1 minute

Time remaining 16 hours

Actual time start to finish 15 minutes, Actual feelings when surveying the latest greatest iOS - MEH

Phone is now going to the bay, Huwawei Ascend G300 (£60 from Tesco) here I come

Governments block YouTube over that video

My thoughts exactly Andrew

I respect other people's right to believe whatever they want so long as it doesn't cause actual harm to anyone.

in fact the world would be a nicer place if we all got along with one another but for that to happen these things would have to come to pass:

1. An android fan would have to utter the phrase "the iPhone, yeah, it's not too bad"

2. An apple fan would have to admit that there may be more advanced smart phones than the latest iPhone

3. A Linux user would have to admit that they tried windows 7 for a bit and they quite liked it

Unfortunately I see the unification of all the worlds religions happening before those 3 come to pass

Apple iPhone 5 hands-on review

I think you mean.....

The galaxy S2 looks like the iPhone 5?

Windows 8: Never mind Office, it's for GAMING

Re: Newell

The XBox interface has been metro-like TIFKAM for some time now, I think that's the aim for Microsoft, everything windows uses the same interface?

Ding dong, the Ping is dead! Apple brings in Facebook for iTunes

Re: Is their going to be an option in FB...

Probably not, i am getting worried that my wife has a gambling addiction since I get updates about how much she likes Paddy Power every day and my daughter must have an eating disorder as she seems to live in Subway yet is as thin as a rake..............

Re: Can anyone....

Thanks for that, FOOBAR looks interesting, the one thing I truly despise on my PC is iTunes, it just gets in the way of everything!

iPhone 5: skinny li'l fella with better display, camera, software

Re: As a non phone gadged freek...

Look, since you don't come here too often, it's like this:

Window$ (Winblow$ or some other representation which must include non alphabetic characters) devices are, without doubt the very worst things in the whole world and NO ONE in the commentary section can understand why anyone would EVER use them (even though these same devices keep many of them employed!)

Apple Lovers are sheep who will buy whatever Apple Sells (no matter what), have more money than sense and are only concerned with looking cool at Starbucks

Crapple (see, humerous spellings are a must here) haters are of the opinion that ANYTHING Apple have ever done was stolen from the phone / laptop / desktop / server that they used to program in assembly language 25 years ago

Andriod Lovers are technical demi gods who get their new phone / tablet / whatever and then take great pride in compiling their own custom ROM because, well, just because you can

Fandroid (see, there's that whit again) haters think that all android users are like that weird guy in their IT department, you know, the one in the far corner of the office with the beard and sandals and the questionable personal hygiene

Such is the diversity of the El Reg comments section that I can guarantee that even though I flag this as a joke there will be downvoters and outraged commenters aplenty, it's just the way the (El Reg) world works. I commend your optimism but there are generally only polar opposites in the comments section of the latest IOS / Android / Winphone reviews section

(Disclosure, the iPhone 4 is going to eBay to be replaced by the Huawei G300 or whatever it's called, the tablet is stopping at iPad2 and the desktop is staying Windows 7 so you can see, I'll be hated by all three factions!)

One more try: Metro apps are now 'Windows Store' apps

A Suggestion

WAPS maybe?

The iPHONE 5 UNDERMINES western DEMOCRACY: 5 reasons why

Jai, I agree but with this qualification......

Of all the PHONES i've owned, i've never, ever, had a need to swap the battery

Intel to turn Ultrabooks, all-in-one desktops into giant tablets

Re: Sheep, all I see is Sheep - AC101

Don't forget Mini-tower

There is life after the death of Microsoft’s Windows 8 Start button

I too found after some use

That what I originally thought was going to be an awful experience turned out to be not so bad, I mean it's a departure from tradition sure and it does take a bit of getting used to.

Also I still can't see why (OK, I can, it's all about metro / ModernUI / Touch / App store) Microsoft can't allow you to install one or the other (or both) interfaces during a custom setup.

I gather the Aero style was a bit old hat and the flat, bland tiles are the new design paradigm but I rather like my Win7 desktop, you can keep your dull, flat, lifeless tiles thanks

I won't be rushing out to buy Windows 8, I simply have no need of the new features but equally I won't die if I was forced to use it

iPad no flight risk says Federal Aviation Authority

Re: Presumably........

Wow, Just Wow, look, my original post was meant as a joke, some of the follow up's also seemed to me to have humerous intentions so why the outrage and downvotes?

Presumably........

The iPad (or other tablet device) given to the pilots will ONLY contain the documentation it's intended to replace?

I mean, you wouldn't want them playing angry birds when they're supposed to be doing the landing check lists!

Also, what's the betting that they still have to take the paperwork along "just in case"?

Fox to release movie downloads weeks before discs

I Second that

When will "they" learn that we live in a connected world and people on this side of the pond are tired of being treated like second class citizens? I mean if a film is released that I'm going to buy then why can't I have it at the same time as my American cousins?

Like you say, if there is ANYTHING designed to encourage piracy (I know, it's not right) it's staggered regional release dates, it's not like there is anything delaying them launching worldwide is there?

CIOs urged to take BYOD pleas with pinch of salt

Re: @Andy ORourke (was: Sustainability)

Jake,

You are right, of course, I phrased my post quite badly, I simply meant that I didnt have to connect to the corporate network at the time I required the content.

The PDF had been sent via email from an external company who were coming along to do a presentation and a foot note on each page to say it didn't contain any commercially sensitive information (it was just marketing bumf really)

I had already read the PDF prior to the meeting so I'd have an idea what questions to ask..

Sorry I upset you so much, chill man.

Sustainability

I'd agree with this point - "promote sustainability by saving a few trees’ worth of paper"

Was at a meeting the other morning, must have been about 60 people, each carrying the 36 page document we'd been urged to print out and bring with us (which, in the end we didn't need!)

I sent the PDF to drop box, opened it in note taker HD & so saved 18 pages of paper (double sided printing) , multiply that by all those people having all those meetings and a business does have the opportunity to save a lot of paper without compromising security.

I didn't need to connect to the corporate network and the document didn't contain any sensitive information.

As usual, common sense is required and I suspect this is where BYOD will fall down.

Home Sec to decide Gary McKinnon's fate by 16 October

You sure?

I agree that McKinnon should answer for what he has done but he should not be put on trial the US, he should face his peers in this country.

Well, in this cyber world we live in, the place where you are and the place where you commit the crime can be two countries can't they? Ultimatley he broke into a computer system in America ergo the "crime" was commited in America.

I guess if an American hacked into a UK system then the Yanks wouldn't hesitate to extradite him to the UK (oh, wait, sorry, the treaty is one way isn't it, forgot!)

The world's first Windows Phone 8 hands on – what's it like?

Re: @FordPrefect

Hi Andy, since you must be new to the register forums.

ANYTHING made by Microsoft is total rubbish, no need to research it, see it or use it, it just is OK.

Stuff made by apple, well they just stole everything from <insert the first mobile phone you ever owned>

Android & Linux are perfect and anyone who doesn't use these is a retard of the highest order

You're welcome

PCs get touchy ahead of Windows 8 launch

Re: Err?

Really, it's sat in a docking station next to my External monitor, right behind my keyboard & mouse

Windows Phone 8: What Nokia and Microsoft must do

Re: @AC

I can see what kind of weather is around me by looking OUT of a window

Huawei picks Android for new tablets and smartphones

Re: Sounds good

Is the ascend any good then? I saw the reviews but you can't really trust a Journo can you (sorry El Reg)

I'm considering eBaying the iPhone so long as I can find a 1/2 decent phone that I can tether the iPad to occasionally.

Not much point carrying a £400+ phone round to make a few calls, send a few texts and do a bit of tethering

Your mini-review would be appreciated :-)

Publishers pony up $69m in ebook price-fixing settlement

The point about "agency pricing"..........

I often wondered why, in some cases, the kindle version of the book cost MORE than the paper version so I wrote to Amazon and asked them, got some nice speil about it (Amazon) not being able to set the prices, the book's publisher set the prices and if Amazon wanted to sell it they had to do so at that price.

I'd agree that at first sight there are "no" production costs but when you think about it they have to format it for the different devices etc, tru, nowhere near as much as "traditional" publishing so I really don't understand why publishers want to gouge the emerging eBook market (Oh wait, I just read that and realised how stupid it sounds!)

VMware desktop virt refresh lets you run Windows 8 everywhere

Ah, but what happens.......

If you type "Google" into google on a VM running inside a VM!!

Lawyers: We'll pillory porn pirates who don't pay up

Re: arab nations

Fnar, Fnar, you said "fingered"

Investor pulls out of Facebook, pumps cash into pork-printing joint

Don't you mean......

Soylent green

AT&T defends FaceTime price gouge

Re: Compare this to Utility companies

Lets just hope no one from a utility company gets to hear about this........

Hunt vows: 'UK will have fastest broadband in Europe by 2015'

Re: So many questions...

In answer to your question 2:

Tier 1 cities are where the MP's live (only those in his party, obviously)

Tier 2 cities are where all the mates of those in Tier 1 cities live

Want a Windows 8 Start Button? Open source to the rescue!

Re: Can't really banish Metro thou

Ah, Just read my own post and then realised I'd replied to Barry, sorry about that, didnt mean to waste everyone's time

Re: Can't really banish Metro thou

I thought that was one of the advantages of this, taken from the article (you did read it didnt you?)

"There's even an option to load up Windows 8 without ever seeking the TIFKAM screen, while the app also happily disables the “active corners” features that invokes the tiled interface."

I thought I'd hate windows 8, I downloaded it, slapped it in a VM and actually USED it (now there's a radical approach)

Anyway, would I go out and buy it? Not right away now

Could I use it if I HAD to? Sure, no problem, it's really not the end of the computing world as we know it

Would I like it if it had a "classic Install" option or even a "default to desktop" option right out of the box? Sure

Download it for free, download a VM app for free, install them and try it, it really isn't too bad. Sure, Microsoft is "forcing" the new interface on you (Assuming that it is "forcing" you to do anything at all, like buying it in the first place, I mean it's not like you XP , Vista or 7 install is going to stop working as soon as Win8 is available to buy is it!) So don't buy it

Ubisoft: 'Vast majority of PC gamers are PIRATES'

Re: Ummm nope

You got a link for a hooky copy of that?

"What about all the people who pirate and then go and buy the full game?"

These are the same people who use P2P networks to only download Linux distro's

Apple's patent insanity infects Silicon Valley

Re: Matt Asay is such a troll

Agreed, wouldnt it be nice if we could all just get along and agree to disagree. I mean seriously, I really don't care what phone or tablet you CHOOSE to use, it's your decision and presumably they do the things you require of them.

My phone / tablet isn't better or worse than your's it's just the one I CHOSE.

Where would the fun be though, the foaming mouthed rants at least make me smile from time to time :-)

Everything Everywhere to be Nothing Nowhere in rebrand

A good start though..........

Maybe shorten it it S3?

Ten Androids for under 100 quid

Re: If you don't mind the Vodafone crapware

Thanks for the input everyone, I am assuming tethering is a feature of the Android system, is it dependent on carrier? are all android phones able to be used as a hotspot?

Re: If you don't mind the Vodafone crapware

I really like the look of the Huawei Ascend G300

I couldn't find it on the Tesco website, is it available as pay & go anywhere,

Was considering eBaying my iPhone 4, I just something simple with enough "features" (like making / receiving calls, sending text's and tethering the iPad to) that I don't really care about dropping from my pocket!

Apple now most valuable company OF ALL TIME

Re: Correction:

Although I did hear on radio 4 this morning that inflation adjusted IBM was much larger than Apple so they do at least try to build in some balance.......

Apple, Samsung brass hats' patent spat chitchat falls flat

Re: Idiots shooting themselves in the feet

I think they should lock them both in a room to "sort it out"

Two enter, only one can leave

Windows 8: Microsoft's tablet-desktop still painful to swallow

Re: A simple review

Like I said, I may have been doing something wrong (I confess I didn't read any documentation) and its running in a VM but for me at least, the windows key (when pressed in the desktop) just took me back to the start screen, the "L" key opened up a search box but that left the L in there, it's probably me, I'll keep on trying and might even RTFM!

A simple review

Some disclosure first:

Choice of home pc OS - windows 7 64 bit

Choice of tablet / phone OS - IOS

Works with all manner of (proper) unix systems

Ok, so like all windows fanbois I thought I would hate windows 8 but after trying it I find I am left wondering why they (Microsoft) just didn't release two versions, classic & touch?

I installed the enterprise 64 bit trial on a VMWare VM and gave it a single processor & a gig of RAM, fired it up, installed win8 and got to "work". The NewUI wasn't that much of a problem for me, after all I'm a tablet user so using the tiles, apps whatever you want to call them wasn't such a big deal.

I added an app (mahjong, if you are that interested) from the app store and its here I felt a bit cheated, I got a message along the lines of "mahjong has been added to your start page" (or something like that) and, yes it had, I thought "that's quick" unfortunately, it had just been added to my start screen, when I clicked it then it went off, downloaded it, installed it so the speedy install I thought had taken place was just a bit of a con!

I then took a look at the desktop, seemed a bit flat to me, no aero etc. and yes, I noticed the lack of a start menu but then I realised I don't use the start menu a lot, mainly to find that program I installed ages ago that I can't quite remember the name of so I can browse through the installed program's in the start menu. No big deal, I just pinned the program's folder to the explorer icon in the task bar, not as nice but it's a workable work around (for me at any rate)

So, you have a desktop, slightly different, not as "shiny" but still useable for day to day work and you have the NewUI which seems to be OK for its intended market - touch enabled devices. My main question then is why not let me choose which one I install? On my daily use machine I have no use at all for NewUI, I'll probably never use it on my non touch laptop so why install all the files and stuff I'll never use?

Pro's - for me, personally there is nothing here that will make me spend money on an upgrade and that's from someone who's gone out and got the latest version of windows (yes, even Vista!) whenever it became available. The biggest "pro" from my point of view is that if I HAD to use windows 8 then I could get it set up and working how I want it to and probably never have to use the NewUI.

Con's - when using the desktop I'm used to pressing the windows key, type in a few letters and run the program of my choice, it's going to take some time to remember that the windows key just takes me back to the NewUI start page! I tried pressing L and searching that way and it seemed to work ok so once I've got used to it, shouldn't be an issue (although I did notice when I pressed L to get the search menu windows seemed to leave an L in the search box, I'm putting it down to me using a trial version in a VM, or me doing something wrong, if this is a design "feature" then it's just plain annoying!) when using the NewUI I found arranging the tiles (or whatever they are called) to be very annoying, again it might be me not doing it properly but it seemed if I got the top row looking how I wanted it then moved a tile from the bottom to the middle (by dragging it up) then one of the middle tiles jumped to the top and the displaced top tile appeared on the bottom row!

All in all it's just minor niggles, the biggest of which is WHY? Why install a touch UI on a non touch PC and vice versa, what's the point in having the desktop installed on a touch screen enabled device? I have a pc I use to DO stuff and a tablet to USE stuff, both are perfect for how I want to do things.

Summary

Will I rush out to buy it? No

Will my life be ruined if I HAD to use it? No

Does it work? Yes

Does the missing start menu make it unusable? No

Overall rating - Meh

I would urge all the doubters to give it a try, you might still hate it but at least you'll see it's not the end of the world as you know it!

Optical Express 'ruined my life' gripe site lives on

Re: Yet another positive anecdote for optical express

"The steroid eyedrops taste foul."

You did put them in your eyes.................