Posts by James

Ballmer reacquaints Microsoft with its PC past

Ballmer is clueless

@Bill Gould. I could find no efficient way of sorting through the thousands of rebuttals I had to your post. Clearly you are deluded / deranged / work for Microsoft so I'm not going to bother.

I had an open mind about vista but that product finally convinced me that, as soon as possible, I will have nothing to do with Microsoft ever again. Alright I quite like the xbox.

The Microsoft philosophy has always been: "extract money from customers first, give them what they actually need / want later (if ever)". I *loved* the MS patent application for a system that charges users hourly, pay as you go, to use applications on their own desktop. What ****ing planet are these guys on??

The philosophy works when you have somewhat of a monopoly and consumers have no choice. But this is changing dramatically in the desktop world as the definition of 'desktop' itself changes with RIA and the plethora of alternative clients.

Ballmer is clueless, has absolutely no vision and will drive Microsoft into the ground. Happy days!

Virgin Media in talks to trial three strikes regime against P2P

They'll never do it

Shop their own customers that is.

What does VM get out of this? Clearly it's not money from the BPI.

The broadband market is unbelievably competetitive in the UK. It's *really* not going to be good for business the first time a story hits the press that a 13 year old school-girl was imprisoned / handed a £20,000 fine because VM handed over her details.

This is the usual waffle from the BPI. It would be a huge risk to Virgin with no conceivable benefit. Why would they do it?

Porsche to challenge London CO₂ penalty in court

@Tony

Actually I'm a man with a van. You're right that I don't spend very much time on public transport because I spend all day every day driving around London.

It is ludicrous to suggest that 4X4s are safer for pedestrians. I am not an expert on road safety but the physics are very straightforward and rely on the conservation of momentum:

M1v1 = M2v2 . 2000kg car going at 10 m/s will send 100kg man flying at 200m/s.

A 1000kg car will send him flying at 100m/s. Which would you prefer to be hit by?

This is the same argument used by people to say that 4X4s are 'safer' (despite alarming propensity to roll). They are 'safer' because the survival of their occupants is in inverse proportion to survival of everybody (pedestrians included) else on the road.

You can't have it both ways.

Hahaha

The best thing about the Ken Livingstone and the congestion charge is the entertainment value you get from watching the wailing and moaning from the 'we're going to kill the planet / pedestrians / other drivers and don't give a fuck' brigade. I really like the way he *really* fucks off the Evening Standard, too.

A few facts:

- The congestion charge has reduced traffic levels by 20% since 2002.

- Travel times in Central London are about the same due to traffic calming measures.

- On the other hand pedestrian fatalities have fallen by **40%** (of course the 4X4 owners, by definition, don't give a fuck about this).

- Cycling in London is up 43%

- Any *Londoner* will tell you that the buses and tubes are have been immeasurably improved.

- Most *Londoners* (i.e. the people that live here) support the congestion charge since the majority of Londoners don't even own a car.

The timing of this announcement (three months before the mayoral election) is not an accident. The congestion charge is a vote winner with the people of London who don't own a 4X4 (say about 95%).

I look forward to the increased wailing and climate change denial.