Posts by Russell Hancock

After Death Star II blew: Dissecting the tech of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens

I Agree...

50 years is not that long for a lot of things here... even if newer versions come along they take a while to become the "norm"...

In terms of Destroyers the closest equivilent i can think of would be the B-52 - These have been in service ~60 years already and have just been extended until ~2040 (please correct me if i'm wrong here!) although the avionics are completely new the airframe is the same...

In other transport - the InterCity 125 - originally built in 1975 (40 years ago!) they are still in use down here in cornwall and will be for at least another 10 - 20 years as they are due another refit soon!...

I can easily imagine things stagnating after (still during?) the collapse of the empire while a new power takes over - what ever that may be...

SatNad failure as Lumia income drops over 50% at Microsoft

It's a shame... I Guess

I don't like the way the Microsoft phones have been abandoned - but then there has not been a standout feature on a Lumia for a while now - The 1020 (Yes, i'm biased, i own one) had a camera that still beats everything else but then nothing else.

Why would you choose Lumia now? There are more android options or you buy an iPhone - What's the reason to get the Lumia?

I hope there is a new version of the 1020 with a new version of the camera - make it quicker, give it 4k recording (or 40k recording!). I really like Windows Phone but can't see me replacing my 1020 for a while.

The Emissionary Position: screwing the motorist the European way

Re: It's all very well

@cuddles...

One issue i have with the whole "diesels are better at hills" thing / car load / etc is... Most diesels are turbo charged and larger - i.e. 1.6 - 2.0 turbo diesels where as most petrols (in the UK at least) are 1.0 - 1.6 with no turbo...

if you take an equal size petrol turbo against a diesel turbo you will find the petrol p**s all over the diesel for speed, power, drivability, etc... have you driven an early 90s non turbo diesel? i can tell you they don't go up hills at all... Most people like the way the TURBO changes the characteristics of the engine...

that all said - i am a petrol man personally and those petrols come in V format at larger sizes... plenty of torque and up hill is not a problem - shame turbo Vs are so hard to find...

Re: Fact-Checking Needed

Interesting comment and clearly made points BUT 1 fact you should have checked...

I've not seen a petrol engine that stops at 4000 rpm in the last 15 years, most petrols happily rev to 6/7000 and I've seen some that hit 8-9000... And most are at their highest torque/power at the top end as well...

An Internet of Things music thingy? What, you’ve already got one?

Re: Chromecast

Have an up vote for the apple comment! may that would live long as a sarcastic response

ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini: The able Android smartie the company won't sell you

Mini - looks like the BMW definition is catching on...

There is nothing "mini" about this phone - 5" screen - that's not mini...

Invisible app ads slug smartmobes with 2GB of daily downloads

Re: blAndriod and Crapple

RTFA! Windows is mentioned when they break out the figures into actual $ amounts...

PEAK PLUTO: Stunning mountain ridge snapped by New Horizons craft

Science is amazing

I am loving these pictures.... from millions of miles away.... of another planet...

I really wish the UK had a space agency so I could have gone into something like this - just imagine how stressful and then relieving the days up to arrival were!

Keep it up, please, please keep it up...

RAF Eurofighter gets a Battle of Britain makeover

I agree

I agree with you fully...

Anyone know why they paint them boring grey now? Is it so they blend in with the sky over england?

Multiple fondling on the MIGHTY 12-INCH iOS 9 SLAB — so, so close now

Re: They are getting bigger......

What, you mean kinda like the "original" Microsoft surface (the not tablet / laptop thing!)

Blocking mobile adverts just became that little bit easier

Re: I've raised this point before, but ....

While you are correct - have you seen the prices for postage recently? since on-line ordering became common postage prices have risen at a very nice rate - it is almost cheaper to use a courier now for anything other than a letter (unless you are a big company where it is cheaper to courier it!)... So Royal Mail (and the Post Office by extension) are doing this...

Re: Conundrum

@Vimes - i would also be happy to pay a small* premium to have an advert free version but i would probably take it a step further...

Have a "premium" app that you can download that costs to access / download. this version can have extra features / no adverts / read offline / archive / notify me / cook my dinner and get me a pint thrown in... if the pricing was right i would happily pay as all too often O2s network is so poor i can't access it anyway and having the offline mode would be worth it!.

would also have to let me on the site without the ads as well.

What's that, the moon on a stick - OK, i'll take 2 as well!

* not sure what level the premium would need to be but i am sure that the el reg head honchos know exactly how much an average reader is worth (in my case probably not a lot!)

BT boss in shock 'bigger is better' claim as £12.5bn EE bid heats up

Re: Competition?

While i agree with your comment...

1) Vodafone?

2) big bride? good typo!

Cheers

Mozilla to whack HTTP sites with feature-ban stick

why, why, why... what is the point?

I understand that certain content needs to be secure but why all content? Why do my seaches on ebay for parts for my car need to be secure? When I look on auto trader and area about owning an Aston martin, why does that need to be secure? BBC News? Tide times? Weather forecasts?

Why the hell does any of that need to be secure?

In the last week I have looked at all the following, please someone explain why they need to be secure...

Haynes motor museum

The Register

BBC News

BBC iPlayer

Gig guide

Weather

Ebay motors search

Auto trader

Tesco

Ebuyer (did not purchase)

Amazon prime video

Opening hours for a couple of local shops

Why?

UK exam board wants kids to be able to Google answers

how do you know which is correct though?

if you google something and it 50 / 50 on correct / incorrect answers and you haven't learned the correct answer (why would you, just google it) - how do you know which one to choose?

In several areas of interest to me the top 10 google results are all incorrect - mainly because people remember wrong and post things online - what do you do then?

Apple Watch HATES tattoos: Inky pink sinks rinky-dink sensor

Re: Hardly a bug, is it...

Whilst tattoos and not my favorite things, what he does with his body is up to him!

The issue here is more around if Apple know / knew about this issue before his purchase and if it was made clear to him (if purchased in person) or stated somewhere (if purchased online...) if it was - his problem - Read The Product Description, If not... i have not seen anything about this before this article but then i have no intention of buying an Apple Watch...

Steely wonder? It's blind to 4G and needs armour: Samsung Galaxy S6

Re: Android 5 bugs?

I think you are all the evidence needed...

"Any MORE buggy" - i.e. it has all the same bugs, i.e. it is buggy... Now however if you had said "i notice some of the old bugs have been fixed and i've not noticed any new ones...." that would have been a different story...

Operation Redstone: Microsoft preps double Windows update in 2016

Re: One eye on OSX development?

They did this as part of the 7 -> 8 / 8.1 update... 8 runs quicker on the same hardware...

(i am ignoring all the other bits of 8/8.1 as they are Marmite features!)

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge: A side swipe at smartphone design

other "edge" panel ideas

They need to create one for simple conversion to Reg standard units... there should also be one that only shows a count down until the next BOFH is available then flashes at you until you read it!

Bad movie: Hackers can raid networks with burnt Blu-Rays

Re: "... avoid playing Blu-Ray discs from untrusted origins ..."

Can you advise a TRUSTED source please? i don't trust any of the major publishers!

Mégane Renaultsport 275 Trophy: Hands-on gizmo-packed motoring

Re: Oh dear

i have owned a megane with all the tricks and by the time the gear box blew up (100,000~ miles) half of them did not work any more, unless it was a even day, in an odd year, and the sun was in the correct alignment with the moon, and probably jupiter too...

auto close windows, check (apart from rear drivers side that would open instead of close, then refuse to close, generally when raining in a car park)

auto wipers, check (apart from when it rained, then they would either be off on on at full speed, it never needed intermittent)

auto unlocking, check (apart from the drivers and rear doors, so boot and passenger doors were fine, just have to always put something in the boot)

auto headlights, check (apart from when it was dark, or you went into a tunnel in the day they came on correctly then did not go back off until you "turned it off and on again")...

the only electrical thing that did not fail was the auto dimming rear view mirror - i do miss that as my new car does not have that but i really don't miss anything else!

How many Watches will Apple flog? 20, er, 18.5, no, five, wait, 50 million!

MMS? Installable apps?

Jaguar F-Type: A beautiful British thoroughbred

Re: Cars on a computer site?

Glad to hear...

I, on the other hand, like cars and like reviews of cars so me happier...

Or, for the IT angle, this car probably has more computers in it than your house... Keyless entry, dynamic engine modes, auto gear box, etc...

HELP! Windows Phone update 8.1 broke my Lumia

My 1020 is fine as well, thankfully. Having said that my HTC One X always updated fine, as did my Nexus 7, iPad Air, Galaxy Tab 7+, etc... Amazingly I never seem to have any update issues...

(And yes, i do have access to all those devices, and more, but then i develop apps for all of them...)

@AC - 2 down, 2 to go :)

Boffin the boffin and his boffinry pals in double dwarf super-prang alert

Re: how did they resist

The headline is good but still... Such restraint is not something I expect in articles here... That's half the fun. (the other half being the comments :) )

how did they resist

A coauthor called Dr Boffin and not one Joke, not one....

I feel strangely disappointed in the el reg team...

Assange's cop chaperones have cost £10 MEEELLION to date

Hi Richard,

I live in the UK and have had to deal with the police several times and agree that they don't do much when it is a "someone broke into my house" claim.

If however i said "someone broke into my house, his name is Julian, he lives at this address and here is the video evidence clearly showing him in the act" i am pretty sure it would be a different matter...

The ONLY reason this has dragged on is because he is in an embassy. If it was any other property the door would have been smashed to pieces in a dawn raid and he would have been arrested there and then.

The guy is just a coward who will not face up to the accusations against him.

i can only disrepair of the future my kids will grow-up with in this country if this is the attitude of the "people" - ohhh no, it's too expensive and too hard, lets get back to doing nothing

So what you're saying is that justice should only be served up to a specific cost level? if so GTA becomes real:

I can run someone over in my car and as long as it costs more than £xxx i am free to go? should beating someone up cost more or less £? what about breaking into someones house, cheap or expensive? i am sure it would be easy to make it cost "too much" and be forgotten...

idiot

This guy just needs to face up to the charges... If he is innocent then he will be fine and the Swedish police / courts will let him go free.

Of course he is now guilty or breaking his bail terms and will (or at least should) spend time in a uk prison. I also think he should be made to repay all of the costs we have incurred to date.

Satya Nadella, Year One: Has Microsoft's new CEO cut the mustard?

One can only hope.

Carmakers DEFLATED by AIRBAG FLAW as US watchdog recalls TWO MEELLION vehicles

Re: How Long?

@Ledswinger - thanks for the clarification points, glad I am not going mad (well, maybe not completely mad anyway). That still means that most of my cars will have questionable airbags as I tend to stick to older cars so I don't care when I cover it in sand / salt...

How Long?

Genuine question here - what is the "recall" period for cars in the US? these cars are 15 years old and are having defects fixed as part of a recall...

Also i was always lead to believe that the "ignition charge" that deployed the airbag (no idea what it is really called) we only expected to last 10 years anyway? have things changed, do i miss-remember?

Anyone know the answers?

Let's be clear, everyone: DON'T BLOCK Wi-Fi, DUH – FCC official ruling

Re: what about places that should have blocked signal?

3 down votes but no explanations?

@Charles 9 - yep, they could set-up Faraday cages but then what happens during intermissions, when cleaners are in, rehearsals, etc when there is no valid reason to block signal. i am not saying that the signals should be blocked throughout the building - it is almost essential at the ticket office most of the time - only at certain times in certain locations where it can be justified...

what about places that should have blocked signal?

While I agree that hotels, cafés, etc should not block signals what about places that they should be blocked, I.e. Cinemas, theaters, operas, maybe even quiet carriages on trains?

I know I get annoyed when sat watching an over priced film at the cinema and someone starts talking on the phone... Maybe the ban should have had a few minor allowances?

'People ACTUALLY CONFUSE Facebook and the internet in some places'

facebook IS more important than portugal...

Because it keeps the "people" who are so obsessed with having 10,000 friends stuck on their phone / laptop / tablet / tv / whatever and away from real people in the real world thus making my life more pleasant. :)

Please use TWO HANDS to access AdultFriendFinder

Re: www.therefister.co.uk

Sorry, not done that one - mine is always theregsiter.co.uk - and that's even with two hands! heaven knows what it would be with one hand!

Sony looks at unpopular Google Glass, shouts 'ME TOO!'

Re: No video camera. really?

While i can't say that it is definitely not a camera it could be a cover for a light sensor - allowing the device to avoid blinding you in dark areas / get brighter when (if) the sun ever comes out?

on the other hand - it could be an NSA / GCHQ spy device, who knows anymore?

Let's wait for release and then see what it actually is?

Suffering satellites! Goonhilly's ARTHUR REBORN for SPAAAACE

Love porthemmet

But be careful, don't want to spoil it for the locals! (sure it is porth though, not port)

ESA sends back PRE-LANDING COMET CLOSE-UPS

This sir, this is why I read el reg...

Trickle-down economics works: SpaceShipTwo is a prime example

Re: Space isn't orbit

I agree with a bit of what you are saying but I see it slightly differently...

Beating the car analogy to death - as cars became a commodity the rich looked for faster, more comfortable, more enjoyable, larger, whatever versions of them so they can have the next thrill. This is the way I see this evolving, the suborbital trips will become common place but companies will look how to make them last longer, be cheaper, more comfortable, go further. this should (in theory at least) lead to advances in all of space travel - cheaper heat shielding (yes i know that full orbital flight generates a lot more heat) better slowing methods, etc.

I had not thought of the "launch in London land in New York" idea but that could very well the way this evolves, who knows? we all have different ideas, could this not spawn soimething that none of us have thought of yet?

WP8 app

Re: Offline reading?

Does that explain why you can't see comments on the WinPhone app? every time i try (3G / 4G / WiFi) it always says "I'm Sorry, I was unable to retrieve the comments. Please check your connection and refresh"...

This has happened for a couple of weeks now (roughly).

I do understand about the lack of users though...

Offline reading?

Hi Reg,

With the Win Phone app (and others probably) is there a way you could add a "read offline" mode? that way i can download a load of stories to read on the train while i have not signal to get them in real time...

i don't even mind if you save you adverts offline as well as long as it works without signal!

Xperia Z3: Crikey, Sony – ANOTHER flagship phondleslab?

Re: Bought the Z3 Compact

Have to bite - i own the 1020 and the photos are amazing (well quality wise anyway, they haven't made me any better at framing the shot)...

Would be happy to compare to a Z3 as that was the other phone i was after (well the Z1 compact, but same camera)... probably be pretty close quality wise if you could be in the same spot at the same time with both in the same position!

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro Ultrabook flexes new 'Watchband' BENDO hinges

Re: Agreed

I have the Yoga 1 (IdeaPad) with an i7, 8GB and TWIN SSD - had it nearly 2 years now (i think) and it was £949 when i got it... Still going strong and used on a daily basis. Battery is still in the 5 hrs mark so happy there...

I don't like the look of the new hinge, it just looks to "in your face" for my liking and not sure what the weight / size differences are but everyone who has held my yoga has been amazed by how light it is.

Having said all that i would love to up the screen resolution of mine to match this one.

Antarctic ice at all time high: We have more to learn, says boffin

Re: Antactica is melting too

This sounds plausible but (big but) what evidence do you base the assertion that Antarctica is melting on? i have not see this mentioned anywhere before but i may have missed it so can you expand so we can check?

Is it not possible that the currents in the southern ocean have changed slightly (i.e. as per the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic) and this means that less warm water is swirling around? that the swirling is further out to sea, leading to calmer near shore water, leading to more ice?

I think the stated "we have more to learn" is the best answer at the min...

Ingredient found in TASTY BEER is GOOD for your BRAIN

Re: 3,520 pints a day?

You would have to start the day before! 3,520 a day is 2.44444 per minute every minute... i can't drink that much beer a minute... challenge failed!

EU operators PLEAD for MERCY, may get roaming rates cut ‘reprieve’

Hi James,

Some good points but i guess the problem is that they are trying to push a "EU wide free market" from one side (cap roaming costs, termination costs, etc) and then restricting it on the other hand (spectrum licenses, no favourable rates, etc). That is the problem... if the cost of entry was "buy a cell tower (pico, micro, whatever) and provide back haul" you would see a lot more people entering the market and with all different business models...

I know I can provide some services cheaper than competitors but i am more expensive for others - different business models, different costs, etc this would be the same in phone markets *IF* they changed the spectrum licensing model - i.e. you pay per sq ft of coverage (i.e. no one owns all of the spectrum in one band) but this would need a new standard as i do not think that current software / hardware would support this...

@Terry Barnes

A couple of good points there and i *think* we are generally of the same opinion but disagree on a couple of finer points...

While most (some, none?) of the networks don't have international connections what i am saying is that this is easy to fix - that is how the Internet works - bi directional traffic agreements.

If it was not for the "limits" on market entry (spectrum licenses) i am sure we would have already see more international calling... The point i was trying to make all along is that the reasons for maintaining high roaming charges are "fictional" - it is technically possible to do it, it is done in other markets, so why is it so hard for phone companies - the answer to that is "we don't want to and we don't have to"...

@Coward

I take it you work for a network provider...

Do you pay more to download a web page from another server in another country? No, oh no, the world will end with "EU-istan" taking over... how about from Australia? no, what, that can't be right...

At the end of the day most phone calls are back hauled over the "Internet" (private or public) between cell towers so it makes NO difference what country that second tower is in. The network knows the start and end point (or how does it route the call properly?) so it is not rocket science - it's software development and i happen to know quite a bit about that.

Guess what, people use skype, whatsapp, etc etc - they do the exact same thing so why can't the network providers? well, because they want to make as much money as possible because the gov charged them as much as it could to have the spectrum... we already pay through the nose whichever way...

going to take some medication and lie down now as i am starting to rant...

@jonathanb

I did not know that about Vodafone not being able to offer favourable rates to other "vodafone" group subscribers. That is a bit daft, any company should be able to charge any other company what they want (unless they are a monopoly) so it should be up to companies to do deals - Three have a roaming deal that gives you the same in other countries - why can't they all do that?