Posts by Dale Loyd

Earliest ever recording of computer-generated music is restored

I thought I remembered this audio...

Auntie Beeb reported on it back in 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7458479.stm

FCC starts running from cable box rip-off kill-off

Bring back ClearQAM then...

If the FCC can't get rid of cable boxes, at least give us back local OTA channels as unencrypted HD ClearQAM channels, reversing their own 2012 decision that removed them after Comcast's lobbying. That at least gives some SMALL consideration back to the public. I live outside of Chattanooga in a hilly area, so antennas can be hit-and-miss. The basic cable "service" ($10-20 in my area) includes a cruddy little Comcast QAM box that only outputs SD over an RF connection.

Comcast repeatedly crams modem upgrade demands into browsers

No thanks, Comcast...

I too have had the repeated robocalls and snailmails. I haven't seen the ads due to adblockers in every browser on every computer, I am supposing.

I've made sure to tell my missus to ignore the pleas to upgrade the modem. I don't want their easy-target all-in-one boxes in the house. We're getting the full speed of what I'm paying for (I test it every weekend), and the promised increase in speeds are for tiers that I'm not part of (Performance Plus and Blast! tiers got a boost, the rest did not). So there's nothing in it for me. I put a bit more trust in my Netgear boxes running DD-WRT, and they're fine for the foreseeable future.

Still running IE10? Not for long, says Microsoft

A serious browser question.

@RNixon - tried PaleMoon, the fork of Firefox from around version 27 or 28? It has the old Firefox UI and still supports most FF extensions.

Why has sexy Apple gone to bed with big boring IBM?

Overly redundant (again and again)

"Apple’s iPad is 36 per cent of the tablets with the iPad."

Run a server on your Gb/s Google Fiber? OK, fine, fine ... maybe a small one

Or you can look at someone already doing it...

in Chattanooga, Tennessee. $69.99/mo for gigabit fiber to your home, no throttling. Available for business too: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/09/17/how-chattanooga-beat-google-fiber-by-half-a-decade/

Gmail de-goodened by contact list glitch

Older Gmail version to blame?

I've always used the 'older version' of Gmail because it was quicker and less pop-up-y (poopy?). I had a bookmark of the old version's homepage that took me straight in. This afternoon when I used the bookmark as I have for yonks I repeatedly got " -736 error. Try again in few seconds." I then tried going in via the usual Gmail URL to see if the newer version was still working. It was, but with the contact list buggered as reported. Wonder if ditching the old version of Gmail has also ditched something else....

Home Office hands over £50m for police mobile devices

My big question is...

whatever the new technology is they'll get, will it work on the London Underground? Features like that may save another innocent's life.

Canadian toddler dies after VOIP 911 call

Ever heard of electronic billing?

Direct debit, etc? You don't have to have a bill for a service snail-mailed in order to see what you're being charged for and pay. My gas and electric bils are online PDF files if I want a hard copy.

I don't think there's any 'blame' here, just unfortunate circumstance.

Amazon sues New York over Amazon Tax

Doesn't matter what El Reg thinks...

Different states in the U.S. have different sales tax rates, set by each state's government. And there's variances like taxes on foodstuffs (one state taxes all food, another won't, another might tax only 'hot'/served food served in restaurants and not 'cold' food bought in supermarkets). Opening up the door to try to get big AND small businesses to know each state's tax laws and particulars in order to collect the correct rate on applicable items is never going to work.

'We could wake up smarter' - Ballmer hints at Win XP reprieve

@ Matthew

XP Service Pack 3 is only currently available to TechNet subscribers, allegedly to be released into the wild on April 29 according to this link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/0a5b9b10-17e3-40d9-8d3c-0077c953a761.aspx

Rebit: This is your grandmother's data backup

Errr, just one possible hitch...

Agreed, most newbies to computers have no idea about partitions, but don't some pre-packed computers/laptops (ie Dell, HP, Compaq, etc) come with separate system and data partitions and named so, or am I dreaming that up?

Point being that if this is aimed at newbies, and newbies buy a computer with a single drive that's already partitioned when they buy it, this product will fail them.