Posts by Rob Moir

Clarkson: 'I WILL find and KILL the spammers who hacked me'

Some say he really is that daft

Others, that his brand of rhetoric is part of a carefully crafted image to keep people talking about him.

All I know is, he's in the headlines again.

Big Windows updates may ship this summer – and every summer

Re: Time to think beyond Desktop OS

I can't hear your claim of "subscription doesn't work" over the noise of the millions of people yelling "Shut up and take my money" at Apple.

OK they don't call it a "subscription" and it doesn't "expire" if you stop paying, but look at Mac OSX and its pattern of yearly updates at minimal cost. Apple have the majority of their users upgrading to the latest versions of their new releases very quickly after it comes out.

Introducing the Open Source Rookie of the Year... Whoa, it's Microsoft

Re: hmmm

Open "sauce" eh? *not sure if trolling or just demented*

Equally, what's the "betting" that there's an open source project *somewhere* that contains code taken from Microsoft, if you want to look hard enough? Or from another Open Source project, but without proper attributation or respect for the licence attatched to the original code? It's easy - and rather pointless -to just throw gossip around without actually identifying anything, isn't it.

So: 6,500 Win 8 laptops later, how are BT's field engineers coping?

Re: surprised at the use of iPhones.

Why wouldn't they? If the iPhone does what they need then why not standardise on it?

There's a certain benefit from standardising on *anything* that does the job, and it may be they got a good deal on the iphone for buying in bulk, or that certain apps they needed were available / easier to develop in house for the iphone, or they did a study and determined that training costs would be less for that platform than others they looked at.

It's painfully obvious you've never managed a large fleet of devices of any kind if you think this was down to a "fanboi in the purchasing department".

Windows 8

I've had my doubts, but this sounds like a good application of it.

I think that at least 50% of the benefits mentioned are simply from getting up to date kit of /any/ sort into the hands of the field engineers though, but as someone who does a bit of scrabbling around in network cabinets I can certainly agree that a tablet form factor for an on-screen checklist, diagram or whatever is A Good Thing.

Belkin buys Linksys from Cisco

Linksys were never good

I do like the idea of this "strategic entanglement" though. Someone obviously heard the old adage about how you don't make an eagle by stapling two turkeys together and obviously thought: "OK. So what about 3 turkeys"

Microsoft blasts PC makers: It's YOUR fault Windows 8 crash landed

Microsoft need to look inside themselves for this one

The OEMs are far from blameless in the way some of them build crap hardware that does no favours to the people trying to use it, but Windows 8 has plenty of problems of its own. It doesn't need help from the OEMs to suck - it already sucks enough to pull a bowling ball through a small straw by itself.

There's some very good "under-the-bonnet" work that's gone into windows 8 but it's all overshadowed by some frankly bizarre interface decisions. Even if you like metro (I'm sure someone must, somewhere) then you must still be frustrated by the inconsistent mess that's resulted by crashing that interface into the windows 7 one.

There's nothing wrong with change, even radical change, but the change needs to be a marked improvement on what it is replacing... and that's simply not the case here. I'll respect even a failed attempt at change for the better because at least it's an attempt and improving something, but Windows 8 feels a lot like change for the sake of change.

Live blog: Facebook's 'screw you' to Google revealed at last

Re: How bad can it be?

I suppose we're supposed to be impressed but surely all this means is that their privacy policy is so byzantine that even their own systems struggle to support it, and it should therefore be simplified.

Don't shoot the Windows Live Messenger, cry IM users

Re: Is it just my imagination

I dunno, for me Skype has always seemed like sucky software since day one, so if you want to tell me it's awful, I won't argue with you at all, but I'd be hard pressed to say it's degraded. when it scraped the bottom of the barrel on day one.

Far Cry 3 game review

Re: dubious

Considering they actually mention the hunting thing that you claim they don't talk about, perhaps we should ask if you read the articles on the register before 'reviewing' them in the comments.

Mmm, what's that smell: Coffee or sweat? How to avoid a crap IT job

I think one simple rule works well

Whatever side of the interview table you're sitting on, remember that an interview should be a two way process. The candidate is interviewing the employer as well as the employer interviewing the candidate.

I think that's a good rule... if an employer resents you "interviewing" them then walk away if you can... you're just trying to figure out if you and they will be a good fit, which is beneficial to you both, and if they resent that then it's never going to be a good place to work. If you're the interviewer and a candidate shows no interest in the job then either they didn't want to be there in the first place or you've already failed their interview... and either way it's probably not worth doing anything other than ending the interview as gracefully as possible for both parties.

Ay caramba, Ubuntu 12.10: Get it right on Amazon!

Re: A PR failure?

There's at least two issues here

Firstly consent - things like this simply should be opt in.

Then there's what you're opting in to - the Amazon search Lens gives poor results because they don't share *enough* information with Amazon to get decent recommendations back for the user.

So what they've ended up with is the worst of both worlds. Even if the only issue you think is important is "helping Ubuntu via Amazon's donations" then the fact is that they've cocked that up.

Anonymous turns on 'one man Julian Assange show' Wikileaks

Re: Uhm...

You're kidding right?

While I don't agree with everything they've done by a long way, I'd much rather be "associated" with Anonymous that Wikileaks. "An honest villain is a cut above one who smiles and smiles" and all that, after all.

Skype worm chats up victims - then holds PCs to ransom

Re: Not surprsing

Nope. Not to excuse Microsoft's responsibility now that they've been stupid enough to buy it, but Skype has always been a buggy bag of shite.

Re: How devious

This isn't about technology, it's about the number of break points at which someone might stop to consider "hey, would my ex-gf from 6 years ago who I forgot to delete off this, and my boss who I thought was on vacation this week anyway and who has the computer literacy of a potato, actually both be sending me an archived executable that was a picture of me along with "Lolz is this ur profile" out of the blue.

Yes people do make mistakes. And Yes any of us who work in IT should be trying harder to make those mistakes less of a problem. But people have to start thinking a bit more about their actions too.

BYOD cheers up staff, boosts productivity - and IT bosses hate it

Re: Responsability

"Your are not there to serve your interests but those of business and the users."

No. Both myself and the users are employed to serve the needs of the business.

If you create more value for the company using a BozoPad on your FanPhone, then you should be challenging the business as a whole, not just IT or HR or whatever to make it happen. Because just as its ignorant for people to ignore the potential benefits of BYOD, its equally ignorant to ignore all the potential costs.

Bitcoin Foundation vows to clean up currency's bad rep

Re: money laundering and tax avoidance

Notice how the emphasis on banking regulation has gradually shifted from protecting the customer against banking rackets to policing the customer?

It's not a binary thing. It's possible - and I'd suggest desirable - to police both sides of a banking transaction is it not? If we expect our bank's dealings with us to be honest, and want that "policed", then they have to expect the same from us customers.

Famous thesps tread boards on smart TVs

The Bard's play

Well yes, but I imagine the writers consider their articles part of their performance, after all didn't someone once claim that "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players"?

the scottish play

... worried that your comments section might be cursed with witches instead of trolls?

Hipstamatic axes most of staff to focus on art, creativity

"Hipstamatic was founded as a lifestyle and culture brand that happened to make software."

I don't find anything funny in people losing their jobs but I have to highlight this quote - it's everything that's wrong with this and many other recent web2.0/app businesses in a nutshell... if these people can't take their business seriously then why should anyone else?

IEEE admits its MS-DOS history revisionist is in Microsoft's pay

While failure to disclose a potential conflict of interest is a serious matter in itself, I've not seen anything that suggests he wasn't playing with a straight bat on this issue.

EA sues Zynga over ripping off Sims Social

Re: Pot / Kettle / Black?

"Software. Patents. Are. Bad. Simples."

Whenever I see someone end a statement with "simples", it nearly always means they've just said something that shows a total lack of understanding of what's being discussed. Why is that?

Re: Zynga

"There's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism and I suspect Zynga have crossed it."

Indeed. A good rule of thumb is that if amoral leeches like EA are able to claim the moral high ground against you then you've *really* fucked up.

Nexus Q preorders halted, price dropped to $0

Re: Disappointed?

Free crap is still crap.

Tesco in unencrypted password email reminder rumble

"The tone and severity of criticism against Tesco would be justified had its systems had actually been hacked and the passwords exposed - as has happened to other and still more prominent organisations in recent times - but this doesn't appear to be the case"

-- so what's wrong with people trying to persuade Tesco that prevention is better than cure?

If you're doing something stupid and dangerous, the fact that you've not hurt someone else *yet* doesn't make what you're doing any less stupid or dangerous. It just means that at least you're lucky as well. And any sensible organisation would realise how lucky they'd been and fix things up instead of defending the indefensible.

Apple will only reinstate mute kids' app if makers win patent case

Re: Sounds like an opportunity

So instead of the store you'd distribute it via a website and domain name?

What a good job that people who think their patents are being disturbed wouldn't be able to go after a normal website or domain name registration too.

Oh wait...

Ballmer welcomes Yammer to the Microsoft family

Is it just me? I can honestly say the first time I've heard of this "Yammer" was when Microsoft acquired them. Am I that out of the loop or are they about as much good at marketing as OS/2 or Vista was at being useful?

Larry Ellison buys island 1000x bigger than Branson's

well

Ellison's transformation into a real life version of a James Bond bad guy continues.

Advertisers slam Microsoft over 'Do not track' decision

Re: Software Company

"Microsoft doesn't care about best serving its customers, it is solely concerned with best serving its own ruthless goals... Occasionally these two aims line up, but often not."

This applies to any corporation, not just Microsoft, not just Apple, not just Google, etc. While it is wise to remember that these corporations are not our special friends, at the same time that is no reason not to take advantage of the times when their aims and ours *do* line up.

Re: Could it be?

Franklin - of course you're right, but I see no reason why that makes their decision a bad thing for their customers. Something about gift horses and mouths.

You only want me for my BYOD

Re: BYOD - for the lucky few

I don't mind the job not being easy.

What *I* don't like are your childish cries of "empire building" and passive aggressive "If anyone downvotes me..." when people disagree with you. For someone that claims not to be bothered by this stuff you sure do complain a lot.

A successful discussion on the benefits and risks of schemes like BYOD require an open mind on both sides.

(And FYI, I work in education, where we *do* support BYOD in the sense that staff and students can connect their own devices to our network as an enhancement to, not a replacement of, the systems we offer)

How I went from Unix engineering to flogging Google apps

hype

All this talk of "cloud" is marketing nonsense. Essentially its just a way to outsource the provision of certain apps to a managed services provider, along with a few tweaks that make that more attractive. And lets be honest, it *can* work very well for some situations.

Like anything else, there are times when this will make a lot of sense and there are times when it will not. And attaching buzzwords to the process and pretending those buzzwords are somehow meaningful in their own right won't change things.

Keep out of the Olympics' way, earn a haircut from TfL app

1. ReRoute appears to suck

2. To hell with the olympics. The sooner this nonsense is over and done with, the better.

Google KNEW Street View cars were slurping Wi-Fi

Re: This

The likes of Apple and Microsoft are what I would term "Honest Bastards". They're not hypocritical enough to run around shouting "Don't be evil" while engaging in practices that would have Mr Burns shaking his head in combined disgust and admiration.

Google G-drive app leak sparks 5GB file vault riddle

Re: This is news?

If by "platform specific" you mean "computers or mobile devices, rather than on packets of cornflakes" then I suppose you have a point. If you meant something else then its nice to see someone who doesn't let the facts get in the way of their opinion.

Windows XP support ends two years from now

Re: No Problem

"In two years time Linux based system(s) will be a fine replacement for my XP."

Ahh the fabled "year of the Linux desktop". It's like Charlie Brown believing that this time Lucy really will let him kick the ball, honest.

Apple has 7.85in 'iPad Mini' in its labs

"In the lab"

Companies have all kinds of things in "the lab". Any company that produces any product, any hardware or software, will have several prototypes on the go at once.

Doesn't mean they'll all become actual shipping products. Doesn't mean they won't either. But the idea that Apple have prototype iPads "in the lab" isn't really news, is it? Next you'll run an article on how Microsoft have "pre-beta" versions of "Windows 9" in their labs or that Apple have iOS 6 or a version of OSX after Mountain Lion in R&D.

Death to Office or to Windows - choose wisely, Microsoft

Re: erm, docking stations??

What's interesting is that pundits have been predicting the end of the desktop. I think there's a chance the desktop could still remain important (albeit polarised into high end workstations and possibly lower end "all in one" machines) and the laptop could be the device most under threat from a more capable tablet.

A good office product (whoever makes it!) on your tablet might not stop you needing a desktop machine (or 17" semi-portable "lap"top) at home for some specialised tasks or other but it might very well stop you carrying a laptop around with you.

Brits turned off by Smart TVs

As you say, a lot of other devices do this already.

And I think that any of us who want to watch youtube or iplayer or whatever via our TVs already have a device plugged into it that allows us to do so.

Currently connected to my TV I have

DVD player

Tivo

XBox 360

Mac Mini configured as a "media centre".

The bottom 3 all allow me to go online to all these various services. I think that anyone who cares about advanced TV services will have at least one of those 3 (or their equivalents) already. Frankly, I'd rather buy a TV that had a few less "smart TV features" and a few more HDMI ports.

Duke Nukem Forever dev slams unfair reviews

While you raise good points about the problems with games reviews in general, I really do thing in this case the reviewers said it was a bad game because it was... well... a bad game.

Sometimes things are just what they are.

Stallman: Did I say Jobs was evil? I meant really evil

Stallman? Evil? I've have totally gone with overbearing bore with an overly well developed sense of his own self importance and an underdeveloped sense of the real world, but "evil" seems a bit strong to me - I'm willing to ascribe things to stupidity and await actual proof of intent before reaching for the "evil" branding iron.

Three questions that could put out Amazon's Fire

Absolutely. But Amazon give you several chances to avoid being snooped on - starting with whether or not you purchase the device, they make it clear enough how their browser works, and they give you an improved service in return.

I'd say that's somewhat different to the phorm model, myself.

Fretting Googler retracts anti-Google+ rant

There's probably the makings of a snark about how google's privacy model for G+ is so complex they can't even understand it themselves in here somewhere.

Flashback trojan targeting OS X shuns virtual machines

It's arguably being caused by poor security in Flash in the sense that updates are released very frequently and in an extremely unstructured manner, making it both a habit to install adobe updates all the time and also rather difficult to tell whether something is genuine or not (for example, if you go to a flash-heavy site like youtube with an old version of flash installed then you'll be prompted within the flash components on that site to install an update just by "clicking here". How does that possibly help end users learn about good security habits?

Amazon accepts Kindle Fire will be rooted

Actually you're comparing the cost of the ad supported model in the states to the non-add supported model we're getting here.

But do carry on, why let facts get in the way of your opinion?

HP dumps Apotheker for Whitman

I know what you mean. She may turn out to be fantastic for the job, and I hope so because they need some stability there, but the idea that she once purchased a lot of computers on, i mean for Ebay isn't much of a justification.

Maybe she'll buy skype from MS. How is HP's comms portfolio?

Malware burrows deep into computer BIOS to escape AV

CIH and the BIOS

Just to be clear, CIH didn't attempt to "infect" a computer's BIOS, just trash it.

This might sound like "much the same thing" to some people, but in reality its very difficult. Being able to infect the computer firmware with code that will execute and infect files on the hard disk at each boot has always been one of the virus "holy grails".

Microsoft cites 'security' for TechNet suspension

ranting

Sounds more like another reason for a Linux fanatic to rant about how evil windows is to me. It isn't like your complaint has any relationship with the article.

Help! My Exchange server just rebooted

Fair enough

but as a point of interest, I've had the exact same amount of problems with exchange corruption.

The point, from my experience, is not that exchange is especially unreliable or prone to corruption but that no matter what product you prefer, no matter how carefully you set it up and manage it, sooner or later weird crap can and will happen.

Firefox web 3D engine fosters image theft bug

Read the article carefully

Microsoft didn't find the vulnerabilites - they produced a "general" report suggesting the tech would be vulnerable. Someone else found the actual vulnerabilities.