Oh Sweet Irony!
Sweet Swet Irony!
Posts by dervheid
1194 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Dec 2007
MS showcases Red Ring of Death Xbox 360 at expo
Official: Toshiba discontinues HD DVD
Forth Bridge painters to down brushes in 2012
Tuesday 19th February 2008 08:54 GMT 
Putting it into perspective...
for our American cousins. When a new gas loading terminal was being built on the Forth near to the bridge back in the early eighties, one yank "engineer" was apparently giving the standard "We built this, we built that, bigger, better yadda, yadda, yadda" speech to some of the locals. One large Fifer, puts his arm around the yank and pointing at the Forth Bridge says "See that, well WE built that while you were still fighting the f**king indians!" Bragging session OVER!
The big difference in the paint job this time, unlike the last 'high-tech' paint job, is that they're taking the structure (cast iron) back to bare metal, not just slapping it over 100 years worth of 'red lead' paint. When they did that, back in the 90's (correct me if I'm wrong Mark M!), they sealed in all the moisture and the bridge started rotting under the paint, with some fairly large bits falling off!!
As for the 'lifespan' of this latest paint job, I'll just wait and see.
One question though, is the 20 years being measured from when the first sections were completed, or the last, as there'll be about a 10 year period between the two?
Mine is the "Craig & Rose" red one!
Xbox 360 console failure rate forecast at 16.4%
HMRC blows £1.4m on two-word slogan
Panasonic preps Wiimote-proof TV
Monday 18th February 2008 10:37 GMT
Well they would...
If they were looking at the same picture of the Wiimote that's posted with your article! That's one big ugly mother of a Wiimote, not to mention the HUGE connector for the nunchuck.
That said, it's not a BAD gimmick, but it's still a gimmick. Just like the Wiimote jacket produced by Nintendo!
I'm just waiting for the Heath & Safety Nazis trying to ban the Wii as being too dangerous, just like conkers!!!
Mine's the big padded silicone rubber one, hanging on the rubber safety hook!
US may shoot down spy sat to safeguard tech secrets
Wednesday 13th February 2008 13:41 GMT 
Probably...
costing more to make sure that no "security sensitive" parts fall into the 'wrong hands' (ie anyone except the US of A) than it cost to build the damn thing in the first place. What was that, it didn't cost anything? Ah, the good ol' "Black Budget".
(Are we actually allowed to use that term these days, or should we be using the term 'African American Budget' or 'IC3 Budget'. I'd hate to offend anyone, well, at least unintentionally!!)
Microsoft takes a back seat as Orange goes for the eyes
NEC goes Back To The Future with XP for biz users
Tuesday 5th February 2008 12:18 GMT 
Never Gone...
to Vista, personally. Seen it in (in)action often enough to be (un)impressed. I agree that XP is bloated, if not quite as lardy as Vista. I'm not advocating XP as a de-facto standard (God forbid!), but 'Micro'$oft need to take an OS back to basics. By all means, provide all the knobs, bells and whistles, but as OPTIONS, not as integral parts of the OS. Let's not forget that "OS" is SUPPOSED to be the OPERATING SYSTEM.
I accept that the vast (and I do mean VAST) majority of home PC users want a system that gives them all they (think) they need 'out of the box', but the (corporate, in particular) business user wants a more streamilned, customisable OS. Let's face it, it's (almost) always going to be easier to add something(optional) in, than to take something (integrated) out.
I dread to think how bloated 'Windows 7' is likely to be. Probably make XP (if not Vista) look like the proverbial 'Racing Snake'!
Tuesday 5th February 2008 09:48 GMT
Advice...
...to Microsoft.
The hint is in your own corporate title. "MICRO". We don't want any more lardy-arsed OS's porking out on our system resources. Surely it's not beyond you (well, maybe it is) to produce a leaner, faster more frugal OS that doesn't need 2Gb RAM to function at an acceptable speed. Oh, sorry, I forgot. You did that already (XP, well, sort of!). Couple that with cutting your EXTORIONATE pricing (yes, I KNOW R&D costs a bucket of $), wouldn't it be more effective to produce said slim OS at a low retail price (below 'pirate' profitability margins) and actually GIVE THE CONSUMER WHAT THEY WANT, not what YOU think they SHOULD HAVE!
NO?
Thought not.
ps. Vista is a dead horse. Stop flogging it.
EU to ban the patio heaters that ate the planet. Not.
Sunday 3rd February 2008 11:11 GMT
The patois...
of hysteria. Typical, knee-jerk reaction from the biggest collection of jerks on the planet. If we could harness the pure hot air being generated by MEP's, I believe we could heat half of Europe for free.
It'd be (vaguely) interesting to know just what proportion of these numpties have said offending article(s) themselves!
I'll fetch my nice, warm, baby seal fur lined coat for the patio.
Motorola poised to offload mobile biz
Veggies a 'perversion of nature': Official
Online advertiser pays $200,000 for deceptive claims
Tech support gets religion
Tolkien-inspired oil painting 'immortalizes' Silicon Valley rich people
Thursday 31st January 2008 10:19 GMT
Surgery...
required, surely. Clearly she'll be setting herself a nigh on impossible task to produce this 'work of art' with her head so clearly lodged up either her own backside, or that of the prospective 'marks' for this scam, oops, sorry project.
(comma between "sorry" and "project" optional, dependant on your interpritation)
That'll be the "Emporer's New Coat" type coat, please.
US Navy to test fire electric hypercannon
Top secret UK data network goes live two years late
Sociologists: Studying engineering turns you into a terrorist
CCTV must not record conversations, warns new guidance
MPs slam costly war-tech projects at MoD
UK.gov on Galileo: We can't stop it, just sign the cheque
Tuesday 29th January 2008 10:23 GMT 
More Orbital crud
If we continue to put ever more satellites into the sky around this planet, by the time we develop any sort of useable deep-space technology, we'll be screwed because we won't be able to get off this rock any more.
on the plus side, since it's EU Farming subsidies that are going to be used, at least the French farmers will know EXACTLY where they are in their tractors, in their latest summer road block.
Thing about sat nav is, it doesn't matter if your equipment can figure out where you are to the nearest millimeter, or how far your going to the nearest mm/sec, if the maps/database that it's being related to are SH*TE, then so is your sat nav.
Dallas man accidentally shoots self in head
Tuesday 29th January 2008 10:04 GMT 
Oh Dear.
It's amazing, really. One incident. One poor (possibly drunk) young half-wit with a gun manages to terminate his exisistance with an act of stupidity and before long we're all dragging up the national stereotypes and historical animosities (going all the way back to the American War of Independance, some people know how to hold a grudge!).
People with Guns DO NOT make the world a better place. Not now. Not then. Not in the future. Not here, there, or anywhere.
We need to deal with our inability to control our anger, and our total intolerance of any other opinion than our own, which are the biggest problems I think we face. I've just heard about a forty something father who has been killed over some (stupid) argument about a FOOTBALL. A FOOTBALL!! Reality check required all round.
T-Mobile sells more than 70,000 iPhones
Spy satellite to slam Earthside
Monday 28th January 2008 12:43 GMT
Spys 'R' Us
It'll have more missiles tracking it than any other object known. No way will the good ol' US of A allow as much as a single rivet from that to come into "enemy" hands. If it don't fry coming into the atmosphere, it'll be 'fried' pretty damn soon after.
Hard hats all round to go with the coats
New Bond film title voted a 'Licence to Thrill!'
Bank turns London man into RFID-enabled guinea pig
Sunday 27th January 2008 12:02 GMT
Another Example...
...of banks taking liberties with customers and their accounts. My Bank (Lloyds TSB) are in the process of changing "partners" on their credit cards from Visa to Mastercard. No consultation, one announcement, then new cards delivered superseding the old ones. (don't know if they're RFID'd or not)
Of course, LTSB have taken care of all the "front end" processes in setting up the new accounts (done without my permission!) but the customer has to do all the donkey work when it comes down to setting up any on-line payments, or existing regular accounts, including setting up a new recipient so I can pay the damn credit card via the on-line banking.
I shudder to think what the possibilities for error in "universal" non-contact payment world are likely to be (not LOW for sure). Hard enough to prove fraudulent use as it is, never mind the possibility of your 'chip' being tracked everywhere you go!
This madness must stop.
Man stumps record £375k for number plate
Scottish Government to block wind farm plan
Friday 25th January 2008 15:14 GMT
In The Dark Soon...
Will any future visitors to Scotland kindly bring the following on their trip;
(Even more) warm clothing.
Candles.
Firewood, (Coal if ye prefer)
Matches.
Batteries (for ony electronic items you really CANNA dae without during your stay).
Paraffin (for the lamps, ye ken)
It'll be like that if these government numpties dinnae get their act the gither.
Nae nuclear. (Well, no on Wee Alec's watch)
Nae wind power. (frightens the grouse!)
Nae wave power (they only last a wee while!)
Nae coal power (nae mair scottish coal!)
Water power? (nae enough tae gan roon)
As Private Frazer wid hae said, "We're A' Doomed!"
DfT magicians conjure a nation of car sharers
Friday 25th January 2008 10:43 GMT
Who foots the bill...
"There are Lies, Damned Lies and then there are Statistics"
...for this drivel from the DfT?
That'd be us. Again.
People don't car share because;
It's not convenient.
Neither is the apology for a 'public transport system' we have in this country.
Maybe the DfT should pay more attention to that.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
