I'm 5 minutes walk from Deansgate in Manc city centre. I can only get 2.5meg because the exchange is about 2 miles away.
Posts by Alexis Vallance
246 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Apr 2008
ISPs failing 13m Brits on broadband speed, claims consumer group
Apple's GOLDEN BLING MOBE still the top selling US handset
'Microsoft Word is a tyrant of the imagination'
New iPhones: C certainly DOESN'T stand for 'Cheap'
Apple: iOS7 dayglo Barbie makeover is UNFINISHED - report
The UK's copyright landgrab: The FAQ
Re: Live concerts
"a) no one can object to their registered work being licensed at a fee set by a central body - even if they disapprove of the advert/political use it will promote."
Copyright still belongs to the original owner though. This doesn't alter.
b) a bootlegger can claim copyright to an unauthorised recording/photograph - and publish it. A digital search will always show no official original as they will be unregistered by the performers. Even an official recording of the same event will have a different audio/digital signature when compared to contemporary bootleg ones. What rights have the performers to effect a "take down"?
By claiming copyright he would have to demonstrate due diligence in attempting to locate the original recording or photo.
If you make a copy, or near copy, of someone else's recording, you will still have breached copyright. The only exception would be if the original owner could not be located and you could demonstrate due diligence in your efforts. I suspect this would only apply to very old recordings, not a rip of a JLS performance you've made.
Plusnet's 'Everyone's a winner' claim is a plus-sized whopper
iPhone 5: skinny li'l fella with better display, camera, software
HSBC brands EVERY Apple iPhone 'an insecure PC'
Second win for Apple as Galaxy Nexus sales banned in US
UK websites: No one bothers with cookie law, why should we?
Tsunami Trojan: First Mac attack based on Linux crack
BT gets 14 days to block Newzbin2
Linehan turns IT Crowd off but NOT on again
Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Blu-ray disc set
Ten reasons why you shouldn't buy an iPhone 5

1. No Swappable Battery
Personally I don't need to swap the battery and it would mean replacing the glass back with some crappy plasticky hatch.
2. No Memory Card Slot
Ditto, 16Gb is fine for me.
3. Buying iPhones Encourages The Walled-Garden Business Model
I really don't care what impact buying a product has on the industry as a whole.
4. Not Actually That Great As A Phone
This doesn't even make sense. As a 'phone' for making calls, or as a 'smartphone' ie. as a computer?
5. Scarcely Marks You Out As One Of The Cognoscenti
If everybody drove Ferrari's would you still not want one?
6. Stephen Fry Likes It
I assume you had this when you were scraping the barrel at 10, but moved it to 6 to try and hide it?
7. Very, Very Expensive For What It Is
£99 and £35 a month (on 3) isn't expensive. It's not 2007 when the 1G came out any more.
8. Antenna is Badly Designed
I honestly have never ever had any problem with the antenna. I'm not left handed, where it might be an issue, but it's not an issue.
9. You Don't Get Much Screen Considering How Big It Is
True, but the resolution is so high, it doesn't feel small.
10. If You Must Buy One, For Pity's Sake Not Now
Who cares though? If you really really want one, just get one. It's not a fridge-freezer purchase.
BT bitchslapped for misleading 'Join now' Infinity ad
Sky wins TV riot battle
Mac Trojan uses Windows backdoor code

@ cap'n
"People with Macs are curiously proud of their stupidity in paying three times as much for a machine largely based on it being a bit shinier than the standard market fare. "Look how shiny and beautiful it is!"
The thing is though, it seems I am considerably richer than you.
As for Fortune 500 companies, nobody is going to sign off $100,000 of kit when you can get cheap PCs for nowt. You'd also need new staff who are trained in how to use OS X. Where are you going to find them?
By your logic, you'd have to say Rolls Royces were crap because DHL don't use them for deliveries.
Sony PlayStation Network vs MS Xbox Live

Argggh
XBox Live is the worse service I think I've ever come across.
Let's start from the beginning.
I use a PC for games. Therefore I use Games For Windows Live.
I buy new machine and put Windows 7 on it. I install F1 2010.
• I get a box asking for my WindowsLive ID.
• I put my details in and the game installation closes and a browser window appears showing XBox Live
• I put my email and password in the box
• I get given a new gamertag tied to my existing email address and password
• Result: F1 2010 says I can't use it because my CD key is ties in with an account I CAN NO LONGER GET INTO
• I try to get on the Games For Windows Live forum.
• I go through a multitude of pages - one minute it's Windows, the next minute it is Games for Windows.
• Cannot get on the forum because it says I have no gamertag (I'm logged in at the top)
• Following the instructions just takes me to XBox Live crap
• I fine other people on the internet have the same problem.
• HOW CAN NOBODY ON THE GAMES FOR WINDOWS LIVE FORUM NOT NOTICE NO NEW MEMBERS HAVE BEEN ON FOR THE LAST 6 WEEKS? NOBODY CAN FEKKIN GET ON.
• A moderator on one of Microsoft's million other forums helpfully states that you should post on the VERY FORUM YOU CAN'T GET ONTO how to get on the forum
So I try calling them.
• I go on the Games for Windows page.
• I get a phone number and call it.
• It is the XBox number. The person on the phone is completely confused when I talk about Games for Windows Live. She goes to get a manager. She says she can't help. I ask who should I talk to? She says she has no idea.
I post my problem on the XBox forum and Windows Live ID forum
• I get told to call the number again
I call the number and pose as an Xbox user.
• The person cannot find my gamertag EVEN THOUGH I CAN SEE IT ON THE XBOX PAGE AND I CAN BEFRIEND IT WITH ANOTHER GAMERTAG
• They suggest resetting my password. Doesn't help, just creates a whole new gamertag.
In the end I give up AND JUST BUY ANOTHER COPY OF F1 2010 JUST FOR A NEW LICENCE KEY.
Anyone know the best address in the UK to sue Microsoft? I want to file a MoneyClaim.gov online claim. There seem to be two main addresses in the UK - Manchester and Reading. Which one should I go for to try and reclaim the £29.99 I had to pay for a new copy?
BT shields gentle customers from Min of Sound pirate raids

IT'S A SCAM
Send out letters demanding a make-believe figure and sit back as 30 or 40% of people fall for it and send off cheques.
It's no different from private parking company scams, except instead of the DVLA providing addresses, it's ISPs.
Considering it costs £30 to bring a small claims case, MoS would have to cough up £750,000 just to instigate action against these internet customers. And that doesn't include costs.
They would then have to prove demonstrable loss, which would be about £5 for a CD. Nowhere near their £350 figure, which is arbitrarily plucked out of the air.
Much easier to just send out threatening letters and make some cash in a little scam.
If you get one of these begging letters, simply ignore.
Second piracy threat lawyers withstand DDoS attack
Extreme porn law on the ropes
Terence Conran slams 'appalling' Olympic mascots

Unrefined
Fair enough they didn't want a furry animal, but they just look really unrefined.
The single eye doesn't work - even less so when the pupils are so small, as if they're having a light shone at them.
Don't mind the idea of a drop of steel from the stadium, but the resulting characters just seem a bit amateurish.
Normal Human Being™ reviews the iPad
O2 claims win in UK mobile broadband speed test
Google chief: Only miscreants worry about net privacy
Idle wild: how Intel's mobile Core i7 speeds up to slow down
Ageing Google supersizes its search box
Xbox 360 'least reliable' console
Apple-apeing Microsoft spins out retail store prototype
Microsoft apes Spotify with ad-stuffed tune streaming
NHS Direct gets to be number one, one, one
Orange UK exiles Firefox from call centres
Not a 'fine'
"I'm pretty sure companies are legally not allowed to "fine" their employees, or even to threaten them with fines!"
No private company has any power in law to issue fines. They can only recoup actual losses.
Whether they could prove fixing any problems would cost the me £250 would be a problem for them. They certainly would not be permitted to remove it from salary.
Not sure what damage installing Firefox could do anyway.
Microsoft distances self from IE 8 puke ads
Speculation mounts over AVG plans for OS X client
Europe won't pay more for Windows 7. Really!
Pirate Bay sells out to Swedish software firm for $7.7m
HSBC online banking goes off the wall
Is your cameraphone an oxymoron?
Brits can't tell their heart from their elbow

Disturbing
"I can't think of any day to day reason why i'd *need* to know where my internal organs are. Although i have a fair idea from school. I don't need to tell a doctor i've got a pain in my kidneys, i tell the doctor where the pain is in relation to things i do know and they tell me what's causing it, thats what they're there for."
That's disturbing. It's a life skill knowing where at least some of the important organs are located.
Regarding kidneys, it's pretty obvious when they are tender, often because you're dehydrated. In your case, you'd be trudging off to the doctors, pointing out where it hurts and being told to go home and drink more fluids.
Windows 7 boss predicts 'modest' initial shipments
Apple takes Snow Leopard for walk
eBay wins French luxury counterfeit case
Intel says new PCs will cost you nothing
Apple slices retail staff as sales slide
Darling points at silver lining, floats investment in broadband
Businesses will postpone Windows 7 rollouts
Retraining?
"This too offered nothing to corporate users because not only does the new interface require vast investments in new hardware but it requires that their users (users who have spent 5+ years using XP and have long forgotten how to adapt to new interfaces) will require retraining."
To be honest, I'd expect someone who works with Windows all day to pick up a new UI pretty darn quick. That was the problem with Vista ironically - it's actually so similar to XP, you're left feeling shortchanged. £200 for a reskinned XP isn't good value for money.