Posts by Nicholas Moore

Microsoft targets Barmy Army with Silverlight

Urrr...

Just so you know, this year's IPL isn't actually being played "on the subcontinent" this year - due to the elections in India and the high likelihood of violence, they're being held in South Africa...

Telegraph explains 'Why Heath Ledger will blow us'

@AC

<pedant>Would help if your Google search could actually work - the site: bit has to be at the end of the search, else it doesn't seem to work. For instance, re-arranging your search brings up this comment page!</pedant>

Microsoft flogs subscriptions to the unwary and confused

Re: Office for students?

Making graphs - OpenOffice really sucks at making graphs (especially if you want to do anything complex - which is what my Physics and Maths friends are doing usually). Whilst Writer and Impress are fine for most uses, Calc is seriously lacking for anything technical.

Dell touts Windows XP to 2009 - and 'likely longer'

@AC

"This isn't really news. Microsoft have always allowed OEM purchasers (in this case Dell) to buy the previous version of Windows to "downgrade"."

Whilst that in itself isn't really news, the fact Dell are actually taking advantage of this scheme is certainly news. I'm pretty sure it's unprecedented. Although I do like the fact they are shipping a Vista CD with the box, just so MS can get their Vista sale :)

AMD launches external graphics card box

Bandwidth

I don't think there's enough bandwidth across PCMCIA for an external graphics card (I've seen 20MBps quoted - the adaptor ATI have made apparently has a theoretical max of 4GBps!). So honestly, the external card will only be good for new laptops, not old ones.

NetBeans extension makes simple work of PHP

Memory thing

Lets you know how much memory Netbeans is taking up at that time. Clicking on it makes Netbeans run the garbage collector - very useful indeed!

The new version of Netbeans seems pretty fast, especially compared to my installation of Eclipse. As for PHP - I've always written it in gedit/vim, but for larger projects, I would be tempted to try Netbeans from what I've seen so far whilst playing with it...

So in general, I'm impressed. Could be a contender for my IDE of choice...

Security gumshoes locate source of mystery web compromise

@Sarah Bee

I shall remember to use apostrophes for possession.

I shall remember to use apostrophes for possession.

I shall remember to use apostrophes for possession...

And as Mark correctly pointed out, it was punctuation karma biting me on the arse :) (aka "Pedantry to the rescue!")

Twelve Monkeys

I love the way John has linked to a page all about the film, yet still manages to misspell the films title!

Google sneaks under standards radar

Limitations of KML

I'm not sure what the limitations of KML are based on the linked URL. What that page describes is the limitations of an implementation of a application which uses the specification - nothing linked to any limitations of the specification itself except the fact it uses a single map projection - not exactly "shocking" and certainly changeable if ever desired.

Now, I'll be the first to say Google isn't the "great, do-gooding" company it sometimes likes to pretend it is, but to claim this is at all like Microsof's OOXML application would certainly be pushing the boat out. Did you even understand why many open source people weren't happy with OOXML?

Official: O2 and Carphone Warehouse to slash 8GB iPhone price

@Chad

Whilst it does seem you're right about the data limit - there doesn't seem to be one - it does surprise me to find this: "You may not use your ... iPhone to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content"

So iPhones can't use (or should I say, aren't supposed to use) YouTube? That's a surprise.

Mozilla CEO blasts Apple for putting security of the internet at risk

Why worry about competition?

Most of the people I know who use Macs use Firefox as their main browser. I doubt Apple will win that much share of the market by forcing Safari on their iTunes users.

Though it is just another example of Apple giving out unwanted software in their updates. A few years ago, I was trying to install only Quicktime (no, I don't know why either) on a Windows PC. But for some reason, Apple was convinced I wanted iTunes as well... In the end, I went for Quicktime alternative!

Firefox 3 beta is live

@Ken Hagan

<quote>...perhaps I should echo Neil's point that Alex referred to Vista's service pack, which *is* free.</quote>

So I can download Vista SP1 and have Vista fully installed on my PC, even though I don't own Vista?

I didn't think so.

You (generally) buy a product because you expect it to be supported (at least in the short term). Whilst I don't have a problem with Microsoft releasing public betas (in fact, I'd encourage them to), there is a large difference between a product you've paid for releasing betas and a product that is released for free.

I can certainly see why some people would expect a product, which they've paid a substantial amount for, to have it's patches tested properly, by professionals prior to public release.

Feds working round UK gov in BAE slime case

Well done those Feds...

I, for one, am glad that America picked up the torch on this one. I was surprised and disgusted by the Government's decision to ignore what was clearly turning into a serious case against BAE. I hope they get what's coming to them...

Call recording on the iPhone... or other mobiles

Nokia E61

I know the Nokia E61 does - I keep on finding random recordings of calls when I've accidently hit the "record" button (which I do frequently when trying to change the volume of it).

Axe hangs over UK town's analogue TV signal

@andy gibson

You've been misinformed mate. I'll quote from the TV Licensing website:

"You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, set-top boxes, video or DVD recorders, computers or mobile phones to watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV."

If you're not using it to watch a TV program, you don't have to pay or even register.

Battery firm: iPhone could melt your brain

Re: I propose a ban on the phrase "snake oil"

Whilst Chinese snake oil may have worked, due to it's high content of "EPA", it is widely believed that the variants that were sold in America during the 1900's didn't contain the same EPA, and therefore were "Snake Oil".

http://www.it-observer.com/articles.php?id=1219

Ubuntu chief bids for prima-donna status

Pidgin/Gaim

Whoever keeps on using Pidgin/Gaim whilst they are doing the podcast - please, turn off sounds. You have no idea how many times I've searched my computer during this podcast to try and find the Pidgin process...

Otherwise - good stuff.

Convert LPs to CDs... without a USB turntable?

Yes, but...

You should be able to convert them, however, be prepared to spend quite a while working on it (not that the USB turntable doesn't take a while!).

Firstly, you'll probably have to find an adaptor for a 1/4" jack to a 3.5mm plug that your soundcard uses. Most decent music hardware shops should stock these or you can get them online for as little as a £1. Then you'll want to plug your LP player's output cable into the input plug of your soundcard.

Once you've done that, the fun starts. Now, there are many commercial applications out there to help you convert your LPs. There is also an Open Source program called "Audacity". Basically, you set Audacity up to record from your soundcard and then once you've got the song, convert it into MP3/whatever format you like. But, you have to do this for each track on the LP (unless, of course, you want all your albums in single MP3s).

How can I widen my wireless network?

Wireless Range Extenders

What you need there is a wireless range extender. There are several on the market, but it's probably best if you could find one made by the same people who made your router (they usually play better together, in my experience).

A single extender shouldn't cost more than £30. Some companies even offer small, wall-mounted extenders (about the size of the average plug), if you don't fancy having an extra normal sized router lying around the place.

Online casinos hit by bot armies

@Joshua Sugarman

"The sites are Governed and ensured that the algorithms indeed are completely random"

I'm going to presume you meant "pseudo-random" there. Unless the poker industry knows something most Computer Scientists/Mathematicians don't, of course.

Oz cops cuff Darth Vader on his 30th birthday

Not very good?!?

"Episode IV was followed in 1980 by The Empire Strikes Back - arguably the best of the bunch. The subsequent films have attracted criticism for not actually being very good..."

I'll have you know that Episode VI was in fact the best. I won't have it bundled together in the mediocrity of I, II and III!

Exam papers tagged to deter cheats

Response to response

"I have never met, nor heard of a student going from an E to an A in the time of their mock to real GCSE exam"

I confess, I only went from a D to an A in my GCSE Science mocks, but still. Whilst that may be because I never took any mocks seriously, I wouldn't want the exam board investigating me because of it.

Swedes battle to name daughter Metallica

At Durham University...

...there is a lecturer called Mike Hunt. Apparently he doesn't understand the implications of it either (although on his door he has Michael Hunt, so it could be worse, I guess).