Posts by Mark Jan

Hollywood's made an intelligent science vs religion film?!

Saw the Film

I went to see the film based on the review I read here and I actually quite liked it. Thank you Brid-Aine Parnell - I doubt I would have even heard of it if it wasn't for you reviewing it here.

Stephen Hawking biopic: Big on romance, not so much with the science?

Big Bang

They should have used the same guy that the Big Bang Theory used.

He was excellent: looked just like the man himself.

I know they don't need the robot voice, but he had that nailed as well.

We sent a probe SIX BILLION km to measure temperature of a COMET doing 135,000 km/h

Re: Celsius?

Celsius and Centigrade agree to within 0.1 degree. So if you know one, you know the other to within 0.1 degree.

I thought it was 0.01 degree.

PEAK LANDFILL: Why tablet gloom is good news for Windows users

The Reviewer is Great

I really like the reviewer Linus, and have watched a number of his vids.

He knows his stuff, talks sense and appears to be completely unbiased with regards to product recommendation. Only this week I bought the new LG 34UM95 34" IPS UltraWide QHD Monitor - his review swung it for me.

The Sun took a day off last week and made NO sunspots

Head I Win, Tails You Lose

"Global warming" has been changed to "climate change" for a reason. Regardless of whether it gets warmer or colder, it's caused by humans. If everything stays the same, well it's only until it gets warmer or colder, then the change is caused by humans. Get the picture?

Science is not driven by consensus.

"Science isn't about authority or white coats; it's about following a method. That method is built on core principles: precision and transparency; being clear about your methods; being honest about your results; and drawing a clear line between the results, on the one hand, and your judgment calls about how those results support a hypothesis." Ben Goldacre

How exactly do "climate scientists" fulfill those above criteria?

"Precision, transparency, honesty" - anyone told The University of East Anglia that's how it should be done...?

Cheer up, Nokia fans. It can start making mobes again in 18 months

And how long before they cock it up again...?

Nokia have the know how, they have the design skills, they don't need the multi layers of management and empire builders. IF Nokia decide to make such devices again, don't cock it up, please!

MH370 'pings' dismissed as false positives

Re: It Landed

Terra firma is a Latin phrase meaning "solid earth" (from terra, meaning "earth", and firma, meaning "solid"). The phrase refers to the dry land mass on the earth's surface and is used to differentiate from the sea or air.

It Landed

This plane will never be found but not because it's lying on the seabed.

The plane landed on terra firma. Neither the plane, crew or passengers will ever be seen again.

All that is happening here is theatre.

Satisfy my scroll: El Reg gets claws on Windows 8.1 spring update

Re: Windows 9?

I guess the new paradigm that MS haven't really understood is that the market they control is ever diminishing and the market they would like to control has alternatives, and very good ones. It ain't the 1980s, or 90s or even noughties...

Windows 9?

Just wait for Windows 9 since 8 is clearly today's Vista.

PM Cameron leaps aboard Internet of Thingies

Re: Roll those eyes

the "fridge that can order you milk when it notices you are getting low".

Yup that'll be £6 each time please. £1 for the milk and £5 delivery charge. And after 2 weeks of you being on holiday, you'll be faced with 14 pints milk in various states of cheesyness and one huge shopping bill.

If the fridge is ordering milk whilst you're on holiday because you're getting low, shouldn't it be calling the police rather than the supermarket? Now that'd be an intelligent home!

Global Warming is real, argues sceptic mathematician - it just isn't Thermageddon

The Bollocks that is "Global Warming" is Slowly Beginning to Unravel

Climate change (aka global warming until observations made a nonsense of the models), saturated animal fats causing heart disease (they don't), grains being good for you (they're not) etc etc etc - the truth eventually pops its head out from amongst the throngs of vested interests keeping the myths going.

This generation of scientists and spineless politicians will eventually go and the truth will slowly come out. In the meantime, we'll have paid billions in "green" taxes at the climate change altar.

Climate change will 'cause huge increase in murder, robbery and rape'

Re: I know this one.

Not wishing to state the sort of obvious, but if it's warmer, won't more people just leave their windows open and then forget they've done so...?

BTW I think the whole global warming thing is bollocks but it tends to get warmer in the summer which is when windows tend to be opened and thieves take advantage.

Former Nokia boss Ollila: Stephen Elop was second-choice CEO

Elop was Second Choice?

What staggered me the most was Ollila's admission that Elop was that high on the list!

Second? It surely must have been a short list of two!

And as for the rest, it's such a tragic shame that despite foreseeing the market and preparing for it, Nokia completely f***ed it up.

Scientists to IPCC: Yes, solar quiet spells like the one now looming can mean Ice Ages

So, what one of the world's leading experts on the subject was saying was that the sun has some effect, but not as much as CO2.

It's just a shame that the models and reality don't agree and have never agreed!

Apart from that inconvenient truth, "one of the world's leading expert's" argument is sound!

I was listening to Radio 4's "Tle Life Scientific" recently Professor Joanna Haigh (27/Aug) who specialises in this area was very clear - The sun's output does affect the Earth's temperature, but she would never suggest that the sun's output was anything like as important to global warming as CO2.

In that case just do a thought experiment (no computers / simulations required). Imagine the sun turned itself off for a week or two. Would the CO2 (or anything else in our atmosphere for that matter) keep us warm for any length of time?

Nokia tears wrapper off Lumia 1020 monster imaging mobe

Re: Replace N808

My mistake - just checked the specs again and the 1020 does have USB on the go.

I'm sure it wasn't on the spec sheet yesterday!

Replace N808

I have the N808 and was half considering replacing it with the new EOS or 1020 as we now know it's called.

BUT, my N808 takes a micro SD card, has USB on the go / out, HDMI out, FM transmitter etc.

And it uses an OS I actually like with a decent battery life.

I don't think I'll be changing - sorry Nokia, you should have stayed with being masters of your own destiny.

Re: Fantastic work on slimming it down

I've had the N808 for about a year and I disagree, it's not unwieldy at all. It's actually positively svelte compared to, for example the iphone wrapped in the "protective" case most people wrap around theirs.

Ex-HTC execs launch UK-based smartphone maker Kazam

Re: Phone for grown ups

Just about any Nokia over the past 5-10 years running Symbian would fit the bill then.

Scientists investigate 'dark lightning' threat to aircraft passengers

Shame Kodak Went Bust

Shame Kodak went bust, just when they could start selling their photographic film again!

Living with a 41-megapixel 808 PureView: Symbian's heroic last stand

Re: Love the thing

I've had my 808 for about a year - from when it was first released and I've also been amazed at the frequent updates it has received, better than lot of "modern" OS equipped phones.

I want an excellent camera on my phone. I find that I can do without most of the apps that other people can't seem to live without. I just need a robust phone and a camera which is available to me all the time. Just this past week I video'd a birthday party with the 808. Despite recording in challenging lighting and next to 1000W speakers, the results were excellent. I know that any other smartphone would have had massive audio distortion and dark images, but the 808s results were fantastic.

Coupled with the best sat nav on a phone on the market, the two main criteria I seek (excellent camera and sat nav) are on one device. I wouldn't swap it for anything else at the moment.

MYSTERY Nokia Lumia with gazillion-pixel camera 'spotted'

Re: The best camera

I have the 808 Pureview and it's a great phone and camera.

As the article said, I'm amazed at the regular software updates the phone gets.

For example only yesterday it received 6 such updates.

There have been some issues on it appears certain networks / 3G at certain times. I've experienced such issues but only on Vodafone, not for example T-Mobile. Could be that the frequency of the networks are an issue. However, yesterday's updates (one of which was for 3G) have apparently sorted it. In those areas where I previously had a non-existent signal strength, today I have 4 bars!

Considering Symbian is supposed to be defunct I'm amazed that so much time and energy is being devoted to it. Well done Nokia or should I say Accenture!

It's a shame that the world leading tech that Nokia had / has in imaging is still showcased in a phone that's a year old and in an OS that is supposed to be inferior to what they have now!

New Lumia 925: This, loyalists, is the BIG ONE you've waited for

Re: Not what I was waiting for

Me too - I was expecting a true Windows Pureview phone and naturally expected it to be superior to my current 808 Pureview. Prior to the 808 I had the N8.

Nokia pushed Symbian to be extremely usable (and I'd say - still - superior in many ways to Android and iOS) in its latter phones such as the N8 and 808.

I don't have an irrational "hatred" of MS, but based on the recent hype expected a true successor to the 808 from an OS that is still I think, a beta or incomplete (for a 2013 mobile OS) product.

I was extremely disappointed that I was unable to buy the Meego powered N9 in the UK (or anywhere other than Timbuktu or the dark side of the moon) and that Nokia abandoned what was a very promising platform.

I wonder where Nokia and its ecosystem would now be had Meego not been abandoned.

Master Beats: Why doesn't audio quality matter these days?

The Output Can Only Be as Good as the Source

When (young) people these days consider mp3 to be "music" then that's where the problems (through ignorance) begin. When the output audio generated by a typical mp3 encoded track (constrained by sample frequencies, discarding of "unheard" frequencies, error correction etc inherent in any digital recording) is listened to, no headphones can ultimately correct the sound.

I feel sorry for an entire generation who have been led down a "pure digital perfect sound forever" path., particularly mp3.

EE: Of course we're going to get 1m 4G users by the end of the year!

I Left T-Mobile last month

I left T-Mobile last month after many years of lethargy and stopping on the same (now legacy) SIM only rolling monthly tariff.

My request? I asked to be put on the same deal as a NEW CUSTOMER. They refused, I left.

It seems that they don't understand how much more it costs to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Opera joins Google/Apple in-crowd with shift to WebKit and Chromium

Re: It's a Sad Day

I sort of do care what's under the hood and one of the main reasons is security.

I have trusted Opera in this regard for many, many years.

And one less browser developer on its own, makes it a sad day.

It's a Sad Day

For all the reasons mentioned before, it's a sad day.

It was always on the cards but I thought that with Opera's superb mobile browsers and success in the embedded market, cached servers etc, they'd survive as a standalone, independent and innovative company.

An (99.999%) exclusive Opera user (and fan) for over a dozen years.

'Boson' Higgs: Yes, CERN has seen the coming of the God particle

Lee Dowling

There aren't many people who can say "I was right all along", referring to 40+ years ago, and sound both despondent and humble about it.

What about just about everyone's parents?

SECRET 28 'scientific experts' who Greened the BBC - Revealed!

How Can The BBC's Actions Be Justified?

It's unbelievable that the BBC could change their "impartiality" stance on "Global Warming" (because that's what it was called in those days until actual measurements and observations began to not correlate with the models) based on this meeting and the "experts" in attendance.

The infiltration of the BBC by those with a left wing, green agenda is slowly becoming exposed not just in this, but other stories currently affecting the Corporation and the chickens are resolutely coming home to roost - and it's about time.

New science: seas will rise due to CO2 ... but not for centuries

Lewis Page for President!

Lewis Page for President / Prime Minister or just in charge of IPCC!

Scientists: 'Castration is the key to a longer life'

Politicians Should Live Forever

Based on this, UK politicians should live forever as none of them have any balls, Margaret Thatcher excepted.

Has Nokia bottomed out? El Reg drills into the detail

Meego Write Down - Hardly a Surprise!

"It will write down €220m worth of components which can’t now be sold in phones. Since this includes Lumia, Symbian and Meego handsets, we can’t infer that Nokia had overestimated the appeal of Windows. Not without more information."

Now there's a surprise (having to write down components due to go into Meego phones)!

Since it only marketed the devices in Timbuktu and the dark side of the moon, it's hardly surprising Nokia has components left over. After all, Meego outselling Win7 would have been pretty embarrassing for Elop. Far better to effectively strangle it at birth, regardless of how good it was.

Nokia flogged 4m Lumias, still bled €826m this quarter

"... as Nokia tries to weather the storm and emerge within a few years as a very different company."

Yeah, subsidiary of Microsoft!

Nokia: 'hybrid' mobiles will save us

Re: @ Mark Jan

What are you talking about?

Nokia have everything to gain, by selling lots of phones, and not going bust.

Of course they do - that's the business they're currently in (as well as pursuing IP claims).

BUT, my position is that this MS strategy will ultimately lead Nokia to failure.

It isn't MS hatred, just logical, straight talking common sense based on years of seeing what MS does to companies with which it enters into such "partnerships", as well as the most important verdict of all from the phone buying public. That verdict has fail written all over it.

Re: Dear Jorma :- I am curious.

It's what will happen purely based on Microsoft's past form and events as they are unfolding.

Nokia has everything to lose and Microsoft everything to gain.

Plus, Nokia did see the smartphone revolution coming!

They just pissed about going from pillar to post whilst everyone else executed well thought out management plans.

Vodafone agrees to Cable and Wireless buy

C&W Should Have Done Better

C&W have for years been run by piss poor management in a sector generally run by piss poor management. I can't help but feel that for want of better direction, they wouldn't now be selling themselves off to the highest bidder who will ultimately (as we already know) sell off the unwanted bits to the already circling vultures.

Nokia, you're next.

New fake anti-virus shakes down frightened file-sharers

Malwarebytes

Maybe Malwarebytes is just very good at what it does (it is!) and the people behind it are very good at what they do (they are!)

And it's free!

Symbian smacked by Windows Phone

Re: Time for a Change of Plan, Nokia ..?

I agree with you. Symbian was (and still is) the most optimised mobile OS. People confuse the underlying OS and the GUI. Overlay a decent GUI and a "dreadful" experience becomes great, eg any of SPBs offerings.

I've never really understood how a third party company without Nokia's resources can take a Nokia phone and create a far better user experience...

Nokia's browsers do indeed suck, but just download Opera.

Elop must be proud...

So, Elop jumped off the burning platform into the inflatable WinPho lifeboat after having tried to extinguish the flames with a few hundred gallons of petrol. Trouble is, the poorly designed lifeboat leaked air from the start and Elop is now having to tread water. I wonder how long it'll be before MS throw him a lifebuoy and pull him back to shore...?

What's left of the smouldering Nokia platform will be easy to dismantle...

Lumia sales fail to set world alight

N9

Why not sell the N9 in markets other than Timbuktu and the far side of the moon and let's see how a "proper" Nokia smartphone sells!

(I have the white N9 on order)

Nokia lightens Dark Knight with Batman blower

Robin?

Robin wouldn't be seen dead with one!

Nokia exec: Young fashonistas 'fed up' with iPhone

Different?

So, according to Nokia, people are fed up with the "sameness" of Apple and Android.

How in that case is Nokia going to differentiate themselves from the "sameness" of Windows Phone across different manufacturers' devices?

Now, had Nokia kept Maemo/Meego (especially looking at the superb N9) then they could genuinely claim that theirs was a truly unique offering.

Chrome is the most secured browser - new study

Opera?

It seems odd that Opera was omitted from the tests given that Opera's proponents often claim that theirs is the most secure browser.

Maybe Google wouldn't have liked Accuvant's results had Opera been included...

Nokia promises not one but two Lumia 800 power fix patches

And so it starts... Nokia once the mobile phone paragon of battery life and power efficiency reduced to reliance on MS for patches.

Cracked emails again deployed against climate researchers

The Science is Settled...

...but despite all the, "science is settled" the earth has cooled.

Of course it's bollocks

The politicians know global warming's bollocks but it's the best tax raising scam ever invented. So what if the earth has cooled when it should have got warmer, just call it climate change and carry on as before.

The scientists also know it's bollocks but when it's a sure fire way of getting funded, why upset the apple cart? And when your mates all belong to the same club and share the same belief, peer review's not going to be a problem is it?

Shame the computer models can never get it right, but hey, just blame it on the computers and ask for more cash for better ones!

Nokia still in the red in Q3 sales bloodbath

N9

Elop's medium term plan is to slowly suffocate Nokia to the point of death, then rescue it by the MS knight in shining armour coming to its rescue with a buyout for a fraction of it's worth had Nokia been managed properly. Elop's ONLY answer is Windows. He can't allow even the possibilty of any other strategy to succeed, hence restricting sales of the N9 to Timbukto and the dark side of the moon!

It's Sendo all over again but this time there's a lot more expertise, IP and hardware for MS to gorge themselves on.

Nokia axes another 3,500 jobs

RIP Nokia

"While Nokia has put its eggs in the Microsoft basket, its Redmond-based partner has not returned the favour."

And that is supposed to surprise who exactly?

Just wait until Nokia has all its eggs and the kitchen sink with Microsoft!

Motorola hints at Microsoft deal

Remember When Motorola Shat on Psion?

Psion, the company which developed EPOC, which subsequently morphed into Symbian was shat on from a great height in 2001 by Motorola, when Moto pulled the plug on their joint venture.

Had that defecation not happened, Psion would be a very different company today, as would Motorola and I suspect, Nokia as well. And none would now be selling their souls to MS.