Posts by David Barr

Samsung mocks Apple lawsuit in SuperBowl teaser ad

Good casting

Everybody loves the Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad, smart move to cast him as the lawyer.

Even if it doesn't connect with people about the Apple lawsuit stuff, all the same it's entertaining.

NY Museum of Modern Art embraces 14 video games

Eve Online but not Elite

Perhaps Elite is coming later.... or is putting Eve Online in there giving enough of a nod to Bell and Braben? I suspect they'll be console centric on things as usual though.

Amazon makes BEELLIONS from British customers, pays pennies in tax

Only half the story...

Companies pay tax in the country they have their Headquarters, it's very easy to move the profit to that country. Loads of companies choose to pay tax in the UK on profits generated outside of the UK. But of course there's no half witted journalist reporting that because there's no army of morons clambering over each other to be outraged.

Corporation tax is in a race to the bottom, and eventually there will be none, governments will raise money from taxing at the point of sale, or taxing individuals, or wealth etc.

Man the floodgates! David Cameron takes to Twitter

Becca and Tom

Perhaps they're the sneering twats he was talking about on the radio.

Climate sceptic? You're probably a 'Birther', don't vaccinate your kids

The science is fine.

And really. The science is fine. It's the 'research' that cherry picks from other bad research. It's the news articles written by gibbering morons, it's the catchphrases that do gooders spread, it's the well intentioned nonsense that teachers fill children's heads with that I have a problem with.

The true parts of climate change are not an issue. The rubbish that has surrounded it is.

iPhone 5: UK pay-monthly tariffs compared

Finance

I expect eventually the government will rule that mobile phone contracts are loans and force APRs to be shown. Not that it'll make much difference as the people who would ignore the APRs are the ones who will take a phone for 'free' on a 50 quid a month contract for 2 years.

That aside I think it'll be 12 month contracts for me from now on, and I'll steel myself to view anything over a tenner a month as a debt I'm repaying. I'd rather it was always cheaper to buy it outright, but while it isn't always the case, I guess I can tolerate having a contract and having to do the sums on it. When the SGS4 comes out I think I'll do the sums and end up on a contract again...

Ten... PC games you may have missed

JA2 : Back in Action?

Sadly it's better off missed. The Jagged Alliance games, along with Laser Squad and UFO : Enemy Unknown (X-COM) and Lords of Chaos are part of a wonderful genre that didn't see many games, but has a multitude of fans.

JA2:BiA is a disappointment. It feels like an unfinished fan remake. JA fans are better off missing it and not knowing that it existed, that way they won't have the roller coaster of excitement which leads to disappointment after an hour or so of play.

Ten... celeb headphones

Really Reg?

So, was this a can't be bothered I'll just make up some ratings piece, or were you paid for these reviews?

Boffins tout solar efficiency boost

Great News

Another 20 or 30 discoveries like this, plus a reduction in manufacturing costs and solar power might be suitable for actual real use...

Half of Apple fanbois would bank with the iPad titan

They don't need to go full retail

Plenty of people dabble in financial services. There's no reason why Apple can't sneak into it by, for example, not using someone else's credit card behind near field communication payments.. just insist appletards use Apple's own 'virtual credit card' and if they want they can then start issuing plastic cards to go with those accounts. They can then start financing people advances so that they can take an upgrade to their next iPhone - if they could cut mobile phone operators out of the picture and just have them do line rental then it's another locked in step of profit for Apple. Once they've got basic consumer lending sorted, they can start taking deposits - regular saving type accounts so that people can save for their next Apple. Once that's done, and most of their hardcore sycophants are using their iPhones to pay for everything then it's not much of a step for them to start doing their bank accounts too.

The two big problems for them doing mainstream banking are that the profit margins are nowhere near what their other stuff cuts, but the main one is that appletards love showing off their iPhones and feel it's a status symbol. Would an Apple debit card really do the same?

Free iPhone 4S deal tempts Chinese fanbois

3 year contract?

That's got to be a stupid move... take a bad contract to get the latest iPhone and tie yourself in for 3 years...when after 6 months or whatever the next refresh is it'll no longer be the latest iPhone.

eBay scam nets suckers on both sides of the road

eBay Merchants as victims?

I think not. They're doing the equivalent of buying stacks of fake £20s. There's no way they shouldn't reasonably expect the TVs to be legit. Greed leave them out of pocket and I don't feel any sympathy.

Apple stores getting close to overload

It holds with everything else...

The staff are happy to work hard for Apple, the customers are happy to buy their overpriced shiny objects... all because it's some kind of modern religion.

What happens though in 5 years time when Apple products aren't as fashionable as they are now, when margins are slimmer, when people don't want to work for Apple on purely ideological reasons?

Jobs: 'I'll spend my dying breath destroying Android'

Exciting!

I wonder who is going to win this duel to the death!

Netflix announces UK debut

Two Things

One apps in TVs/set-top boxes - they need to be prolific and good.

And the content needs to be extensive too.

Let's hope they manage it.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs is dead at 56

Sickipedia says...

Steve Jobs isn't really dead, the nurses are just holding him the wrong way.

Deep inside Intel's 'Ivy Bridge' chip

Re:Kaned

They can be relevant without having the performance crown. AMD chips are pretty good value for money through their range, and with BD the range will extend further up, it seems likely to about the 2600K level.

For most enthusiasts the 2600K is overkill, it's only really high end users who are content to spend way ahead of the price/performance curve that will only have Intel to choose from, so this whole "AMD isn't relevant" argument is bunk.

What matters is the sweet spot, and at that point Intel and AMD compete, which makes for cheap computing for everybody.

Star Wars fans offered Blu-ray deals and previews

Original Films?

Or re-remastered so the new CGI doesn't look tacked on? Han shoots first...

Still buying it, not that bothered really, but I'd have prefered a remaster and clean up etc, rather than the extra stuff that added little, and the slight changes.

Who'd buy a fake battery?

Talking about fakes

Anyone recommend somewhere to buy real, proper genuine, not fake mobile phone batteries?

Adobe outs un-Flash web animation tool

I for one welcome our HTML overlords

I'd much rather things were rendered in HTML. Be it media rich sites, or adverts or whatever. At the moment Flash is by far and above the least stable, least secure thing that runs on websites (nobody uses Java), so by taking the rendering engine away from Adobe and making it part of the browser, are we not instead going to get a safer, more stable web? And perhaps in time it'll be conceivable to not have flash running and still enjoy all of the web?

Paying for software

Erm...

What you're saying is that companies are trying to make as much money as possible, and don't exist with the goal of making the world a better place? That their new innovations aren't designed to cannibalise what they do already?

Facebook dangles cash rewards for bug reports

Swallowed a Spider to catch the fly...

And they're now going to have to deal with literally millions of reports all from people trying to earn a quick buck reporting the same errors, or errors that don't exist etc.

HTC delays Evo 3D release

In the UK at least

When I've looked at prices, it seems to be always cheaper financing the phone with higher line rental than paying for the phone up front.

I don't want it that way, but there doesn't seem to be any SIM only contracts for x number of months, only 30 day rolling.

One-third of US consumers will buy an iPhone 5

Survey is questionable

However it's clear that iPhones are still very fashionable. I wouldn't want to be holding any Apple shares when they suddenly turn into last years fashion. A great deal of the share price is based on the perception that Apple will still be churning out world killing phones in years to come. I suspect it'll all come crashing down eventually.

Apple unveils 'World's First Thunderbolt Display'

Thunderbolt is pretty good

At least the way it is used here. Normally I'm hating teh mac... But in this case it's pretty well designed. You have a monitor, which becomes a docking station so when you bring home your Mac you can just stick the cable in and everything is connected, USB devices, LAN etc, and with plenty of bandwidth.

It doesn't seem too expensive either. Sadly it offers nothing for PC users, unless you can get laptops with a thunderbolt port.

Netflix Europe debut set for January 2012

Re : Boethius

Double you, tee, eff?

Netflix type service is the way forward, and if they can do a good service in the UK for £20 or so a month then I'm sure there will be lots of happy customers. Hopefully Spain is just another step closer.

Aussie retailer accuses UK shops of HDMI 'scam'

Unconvinced

I've found that my megaexpensive Monster cable produces a much more defined picture and if I was to try to describe it I'd say it was warm and fuller. I'm now putting my fingers in my ears and I'm going to say lalalala and make sure I can't hear you because one step worse than wasting my money on a placebo cable would be admitting I'm dumb enough to get scammed. I'm now going to advocate the cable everywhere I can.

Mobile providers less trustworthy than bankers, say punters

Vodafone fit the bill...

At the moment Vodafone are attempting to resolve my complaint by responding to my emails with answers that don't attempt to answer the question.

I think they're trying to see how long I will pursue a complaint before I just give up. I'm quite sure that will save them a lot of problems when people complain about being missold.

UK man charged with attack that shut down SOCA site

Re: Geoff

He's really not done very well though... as far as poachers go he's probably the Elmer Fudd.

Brit CompSci student faces extradition to US over link site

A LibDem/Conservative Coalition

Should be the perfect government to turn around and say "Fuck off, y'all" to America. Wish I had faith in the government to do the right thing.

LucasArts Day of the Tentacle

Remake Maybe?

Last weekend I finished Monkey Island 2. I grabbed the remakes of both on Steam for not very much. Perhaps Lucasarts intends to remake all of their classics, meaning that we might see Day of the Tentacle appear on Steam.

Ten... Premium Android smartphones

Galaxy S (not II)

When I bought mine I also bought 2 spare batteries and a wall charger for the batteries. If it wasn't for those the phone would really suck. Wtih them and a 32GB SD it's pretty great.

No smartphone has a good enough battery yet, and until they can manage a week of normal use then none will. Until then I'll be buying extra batteries when I change phone, because of that the only big issue with the Galaxy is not such a big issue. I'd highly recommend it to folks!

Supreme Court: DNA database retention regs are unlawful

Hmm.

I have less problem with everybodies DNA being held on file, if it really would help solve crimes (would it?). However there seems something wrong with only people who have been questioned being on file.

Looks like it's time for the plod to format those drives.

David Davis: Jobless should dig trenches for fat UK pipes

Sounds Good

Being productive would help their self esteem. It's a worthwhile task and it'd give the unemployed a chance to experience the working week - which really isn't as bad as people make out.

This page has been left intentionally blank

Offended?

Looks like a bunch of housewives have nothing better to do that watch TV and try their hardest to get offended. People making complaints like that should be politely told that nobody is interested.

Renault readies sub-£7000 e-car for Blighty

False Economies and Marketing...

Seems they're trying to make the lack of doors - which you just simply need - to be an advantage. Where ever you take the thing, assuming it's too big to pick up and put in your pocket, you'll want to close, lock and secure it.

Surely for car purchases people aren't daft enough to just see the headline price and can see the real cost of it.

Even if they are doing battery rental and taking that hassle away from the consumer, which is welcome, they should be including a years battery rental in the price.

MicroSkype: Andreessen settles accounts with Ballmer

Skype Seems Worth It...

It seems to me that within a generation Skype will replace landlines/mobiles. We'll all have one telephone number each, which will direct to the home unit (connected to broadband) if it can't connect to the smartphone (connected to wireless broadband).

Telephone line rental, and call costs etc etc will all just vanish. Premium adfree Skype will become available - there's plenty of room in people's direct debits for it with telephones gone.

For 100 years there's been telephones over telephone wires, but the writing is on the wall for them, Skype is the replacement and it's going to be a massive industry. If Microsoft don't cock it up (they have the reverse of the Midas touch these days it seems) then this aquisition will be enormous.

Reg ed rattles the Red-Headed League

Ginger Bashing... last resort

I've felt ginger bashing has become the last resort for people who want to bond with others by shunning others, where they would previously bash races or religions all that's left for them to bash is gingers. It wasn't always this way, but when I see it done now on TV and in person it seems to have a rather nasty tone to it. I don't think it's the most serious problem society faces, but I'm quite happy to be "PC" about it.

Mentally ill file-sharer had 'low self-esteem'

I'm in two minds

I'm pretty sympathetic if they level the - Those 30,000 tracks cost the music industry £xx,000. At the same time though when copyright apathetic people stop doing it, then it'll open the door for more media types, competition in the market place and everything will get better, so I accept that prosecutions have to be done.

I hope though that she got no more than a light slap on the wrist, as really society doesn't view her crimes as particularly bad, and it's clear that she wasn't going to buy all those tracks anyway.

The industry has put those laughable warnings on things for years that piracy will put you in prison and costs them billions etc etc. They've cried wolf so much that people ignore their warnings, so it's not reasonable to start slapping massive fines on the very few people who are caught.

Steve Jobs unveils iPad 2

Stench of Fail

Apple is on the brink. They don't seem to have realised it, but like Burberry and other blind fashon labels before them they've peaked.

In their right minds they should be cashing in as much as they can - they're headed back to minor player soon - nobody is going to buy their products in a few years time "because they were decent about it|".

Virgin Media to issue firmware update after Superhub slows to crawl

Doh!

They come tomorrow to upgrade me from 20meg to 50meg. My Tomato router is going, my virgin modem is going and the 'orrible Netgear I bought to replace the Tomato but just ended up using as a gigabit switch is going. I wonder if I should be doing an Admiral Ackbar...

Memo to iPad mimics: No one wants a $799 knockoff

Load of nonsense

For Android to beat IOS there needs to be phones that beat the snot out of iPhones at a similar (higher or lower) price, as well as mid range, capable phones.

People read reviews of the high end stuff and buy the mid end stuff. It's the same all over with cars, cpus, phones, whatever.

So Android need both this tablet pissing all over iPads but they also need a poor mans iPad which does most of what an iPad does, almost as fast for a fraction of the price.

Microsoft gives Kinect SDK to 'academics, enthusiasts'

Re: Bro

It's not mentioned because it doesn't matter who it was.

Apple iPad vs... the rest

Samsung should have held back

They should have waited for 3.0 and launched something with a higher spec than the iPad. Now the Galaxy brand will be forever tainted with a half size poor iPad knockoff.

Everybody who isn't Apple needs to get rid of their inferiority complexes and try to create something better than anything out there rather than trying to create something cheaper.

A few hundred squids for a gadget like an phone, tablet etc isn't much money really. Not everybody is not buying Apple because we don't have enough money.

Amazon: 'iPad LCD tablets no threat to Kindle'

Pearl

The latest screens - Pearl - have contrast similar to a paperback. That means I can use my Reader 650 anywhere that I could read a paperback book. The previous model, the 600, had both a reflective touch screen and a display with less contrast, now that they've fixed both of those it really is just as easy to read as a paper book. I did have a light for my ebook, but I rarely use it now, unless I'm in bed last thing at night the ambient light in the room is enough, if I'm in bed then I have a bedside lamp which I aim in the general direction of me and that suffices. Reading a backlit screen isn't pleasant for any length of time.

Coca-Cola fizzes over pornforacoke.com

Re : Alain

I can assure you it's very drinkable indeed. I'm enjoying a bottle of Coke right now along with a turkey sandwich.

While I don't think Coca-Cola would be right to enforce copyright on this, I'm pretty sure they could lawyer bash it down if they wanted, I don't imagine pornforacoke has a great big legal war chest.

That said if they do go to court and lose, I hope they get lines.

English Defence League membership list stolen

As much as I don't like them...

I'm more concerned by anti-democratic silencing of political groups, however nasty they are. I'm just as worried about the ultra-left wing fascist thugs as I am the ultra-right wing fascist thugs. One thing we shouldn't do is silence them. Get Nick Griffin on Newsnight as often as possible, the more people see how hapless he is and won't vote for them. Get the anti-capitalists on TV as well so people can see through them. But let's not persecute people for their beliefs, let's ridicule them.

iPad media apps: Stealthed hobbits thwart Google's flaming Eye

Interesting and feasible

Would you install an smartphone/pad app that preloaded headlines and text for El Reg so that when you were on the move it didn't have to transfer as much data... thus making the app significantly faster and a better experience than using a browser? I would. Travelling on a train and browsing the web on 3G and losing/gaining signal etc doesn't make for a snappy browsing experience.

I can see myself installing an app for several newspapers, and tech sites. I can't see it on the home PC though, because browsing is painless there... not unless the app made the experience better.

But is all of that impossible to deliver through a browser? I would have very much thought not. As others have said you can do it on www aleady to prevent content aggregation.

News sites want to entice traffic to come to them, but they want to ensure that a content aggregator doesn't swipe their content and stop the customer coming to their website. I'm noticing more and more when I do searches on Google I'm getting the content aggregator hits first, and in the most case they're just stripping the text out of where I want to be, and presenting it in their own format. Aggregation isn't really what they're doing, it's more like content piracy.

So I suspect instead of what the author said we will see something similar. We'll see content being obscured from search and aggregators. Then we'll see that getting more sophisticated so that people find the search results, but only part of the article is shown until they visit the site. Perhaps we'll even see the payway failing at the Times and them going for something more along the lines of the FT (you have to log in after a few pages, and you need to subscribe after a few more).

Whatever it is though, it's important to note that it has to work. If it doesn't work then something else will be tried.

Apple iPhone 4 vs... the rest

re : AC

Galaxy S is not riddled with bugs - I've not come across any that are specific to the phone. However Samsung's 'orrible Kies software is another matter for some people.

The plasticness isn't an issue. I'm quite happy with a thin plastic back on it (it's actually quite sturdy) because it means I could put an extra 32GB of memory in, and keep a couple of spare batteries when I'm flying to the states.

The Super AMOLED screen is better than the retina screen in some cases, it's far better outdoors.

There's no flash on the camera, but in moderate lighting (e.g. a pub at night) my phone takes better pictures without a flash than someone elses iPhone 4 with a flash, if I get the settings right.

I just wish my Galaxy S had cost more. I'm stuck with it for another 12 months, and I would not have minded it coming with far more GB of storage, a bigger capacity battery etc. An extra couple of hundred quid wouldn't have made much difference over 18 months. iPhones are far more expensive than Android phones, I don't understand why some manufacturer doesn't spec up a powerful bit of kit that's the same price as the iPhone. Instead they seem to just try to copy the iPhone but cheaper.

Imagin IMEB-5 colour e-book reader

Made of Fail, sadly.

There's two reasons for this device to be useless. First of all it's LCD and not electronic ink. Having used electronic ink for 30 months, and LCD/CRT for most of my life I would never, ever go back. But the battery life is horrific too.

If you took the Amazon Kindle removed wifi and put an LCD rather than a Pearl eInk screen in then you would expect it to come out cheaper than this device.

The Kindle is as cheap as it goes right now, that's the bottom of the market. A no name Chinese manufacturer can't churn out anthing cheaper than Amazon is doing with the Kindle without crippling the device. Which is what they've done here.