Um
So where is the CDP, and how do you recover that if there is a problem?
If I have a problem that wipes out my virtual servers and their data centre, and the CDP is in the same data centre I'm still stuffed aren't I?
35 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Apr 2007
"Eh? Surely bollocks.
What if the next government wanted to cancel Trident?
Or the new aircraft carriers?"
Then the tories can simply order them when they get into office, so they have not been bound by the previous administration.
In this case, parliament isn't being explicitly bound by statute (as that is impossible as has been explained very well by previous posters). However there would be a de-facto binding if contractual arrangements with the suppliers were arranged so that a cancellation was ruinously expensive. This is a big issue, bearing in mind that the one of the factors for the tories wishing to cancel ID cards is the cost.
Answer is the big consultancies of course. EDS, Accenture and the rest probably can't believe their luck. After IR35 failed to kill the contract market, here is the killer blow.
I agree that the legislation was probably intended to help the low paid temps, but as always a complete lack of long-term thinking by the government is going to deliver lots of unintended consequences.
As the debacle over Manhunt 2 shows, the BBFC is not a suitable body for reviewing games. They showed that they were unable to stand up to the media pressure following the furore over the original Manhunt.
With free movement of goods and digital distribution, I would have to say that a European wide rating system makes much more sense than for the UK to stick with its own parochial and flawed classification body.
How on earth could the T1000 be sent back in time? It was made explicitly clear in the first terminator that the only reason the original terminator could go through was because it was encased in organic material?
T3 wasn't too bad in my opinion. At least it had a semi-interesting ending.
"Ok, so the thing is dead, but there are still people that *think* that HD-DVD didn't have region-coding. It did, it just was "disabled" because of the format war. Had this gone the other way, you'd find Toshiba, M$ and their siblings sending the "firmware of death" activating the region lockdowns and rendering your over-the-seas cheapo import HDDVD's unviewable."
Outright lies.
There is no region coding on any HD-DVD disc or player.
There was a working party looking at region coding, but it never produced anything that was implemented.
Why oh why do we get people continuing to push this nonsense?
From your first link.... "The DVD Forum's representatives said that the issue is still under study."
Please find me a single player or disc that uses TL51 or region coding for HD-DVD movies.
There are none.
All HD DVD players today can play all known and planned movies with all features.
Can the same be said for blu-ray?....
To the anonymous coward banging on about TL51. Can you please direct me to the press release announcing it will be used for any movies, and which means that current HD-DVD players will be unable to play them? Whats that, you can't? Oh yeah, its just more blu-ray FUD.
Meanwhile I could happily provide a list of obsolete blu-ray players that will be unable to use their much touted extra capacity on PLANNED future discs.
Andy Pellew. There is no region coding. Name me a single player or disc that has it implemented. The forum has it planned? What sort of plan doesn't contain a date for delivery? Fact : there is NO hd-dvd region coding.
Paul Brain. I own two EP30s and a PS3. I'm reasonably format agnostic, but I will always choose the HD-DVD version if I have the choice, as they are much easier to trade on ebay and other forums. Plus of course I prefer the extras available on HD-DVD with discs such as 300. I don't think that makes me a fanboy, just some exercising a rational judgement.
OK, region coding on HD-DVD. IT IS NOT IMPLEMENTED. There are no HD-DVD players with region coding, there are no HD-DVD discs with region coding. Why are you arguing the toss about shoulda / coulda / woulda. It just isn't there. You can buy any HD-DVD disc from anywhere in the world, and it will work on any HD-DVD player.
As for the profiles and extras issue. Most Blu-Ray fanboys make a lot of the fact that the format has more storage. Not much point of having that storage for extras nobody can or will use then, is there? I wish the fanboys would make up their mind which contradiction they want to stick with.
Fact is that HD-DVD spec is much more complete. Just look at something like 300 which is far, far superior on HD-DVD, and where the extras do genuinely enhance the experience. Another great example is Heroes, where the extras such as character cameos, find the helix and so on add a lot to viewing. And this is achieved with pretty much identical picture and audio quality.
So yes, some Blu-Ray owners will be happy to accept a worse experience. But doesn't that rather undermine their claimed advantages for the format?
Here we go, cue the Blu-Ray fanboys coming in.
Paul Brain, why bother with 7 movies that you'll watch a couple of times? Good point. Why bother with any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players at all, since you'll only watch the movies a couple of times? Oh yeah, thats right. Blu-Ray is inviolable and holy. Never mind its region coding, its pathetic standalone players, or the absolute mess that is the BD profiles.
Lets face it, at £120 with 7 free movies this is an absolute bargain. It is almost worth it as a plain DVD upscaler, but with the HD capabilities and the free discs it is a total bargain.
How do you count the PS3 though? It isn't bought purely for movies, it is only a percentage that use it for that. Clearly PS3 is why that format is winning (as only an idiot would buy one of the half-arsed standalones), but the attach rate including PS3 is pretty poor.
I have a PS3, and am yet to acquire a single Blu-Ray disc. It isn't for lack of trying - I'm a regular trader on various websites for discs. It is just that there aren't that many available, and where they are available there is the problem of region coding.
Meanwhile for HD-DVD I can go onto any forum anywhere, and have complete confidence the discs will work on my player.
[Excised by Reg moderator.]
1) Yes, the disks are about the same price in the UK.
Of course with HD-DVD it is a much safer bet to import as they are all region-free. I have a number of import disks that came at much lower than UK prices.
But look at the cost of players. HD-DVD has always been much cheaper here, and it seems that Toshiba is determined to keep things that way. Thats the whole point of this article isn't it - if the cost isn't much more than a decent DVD player, why not pay the slight bit extra to get access to proper HD?
2) I have a standalone and a 360 add-on. Haven't come across any disks that don't play yet.
e.g. Children of Men plays fine on both, although I've read reports of problems.
But at least I know that any player I have will play all features of all disks.
But if we are talking about problem disks, why don't we mention Blu-Ray rot? Aha, thats why not. Because you are physically incapable of acknowledging that there may be any issues with Blu-Ray.
3) Region coding has not been implemented for HD-DVD. It is that simple. You can bitch and moan about what might have happened all you like, I like to stick to the facts.
And yes, I'm aware of the fact that BR disks are currently outselling HD-DVDs. Similarly, I am aware that HD-DVD standalones are selling much better than BR standalones. Mind, that is hardly surprising due to the planned obsolescence of so many of those BR standalones.
OK, so you Martin didn't actually say anything about old BR players being unable to play discs?
No, existing BR standalones are just un-upgradeable and people who have them will be unable to access the premium features on future discs.
Why oh why does BR inspire such rabid fanboyism for a format that is region locked, more expensive, does less and screws its early adopters so eagerly
What did Martin say that was incorrect? He did not say that existing players were useless, or that they would be unable to play the movies.
I'm just more surprised to find sheep trying to defend Blu-Ray on this. Why on earth would otherwise sensible people be trying to defend a more expensive product that offered less functionality and no future proofing?
Or put another way, what would you as a BR fanboy be saying right now if it was the HD-DVD camp that were screwing their early adopters in this way?
That is why it is only £99.99! Remember we are talking about the mainstream here. I only have 720p capable TVs having bought into HD relatively early, and as mentioned I will only be buying one of these for the 26" 720p capable HDTV I have in the bedroom.
Want better, then pay more. It is still only £180ish for the HP-EP30 which does 1080p and 24fps if you want it. Plus the 7 free HD-DVDs.
The Toshiba Outlets are selling the HD-E1 HD-DVD player for £99.99
Not much more than the £60 for an SD-DVD player someone quoted earlier.
And for that £99.99 you get a number of free HD-DVDs, an HDMI cable, and an excellent up-scaling DVD player.
It would be daft NOT to buy one. At this price point, I intend to buy one for the bedroom.
As Tony alluded to in the article, this is a smart move which will attract mainstream customers.
IMHO this war is far from over.
Are you one of those fun people from http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=25697 ?
Because your FUD sounds very much like the crap you get there.
Regarding your point on the 51GB HD DVD discs. Do you have a similar comment to make on profile 1.1 / 2.0 and potential problems for early Blu-Ray adopters?
You say all the major movie studios support Blu? Not true as you well know. Paramount, Dreamworks and Universal are HD DVD exclusive.
And you feel sorry for poor people buying bargain basement HD players. Personally I feel sorry for BR and HD-DVD fans, as there is more to life than being caught up in the idiotic fanboyism around little silver discs.
I prefer being fan of movies.
Come on Tony, that is ridiculous.
You are rowing back on what you originally said.
"Region Coding is an established part of the HD DVD specification and has been for some time, so this is likely to become just as much a problem for HD DVD owners as Blu-ray Disc buffs."
An ESTABLISHED part of the specification is very different to an ad-hoc group working to DEVELOP a specification. Your further comments on whether current disks were region free or not only confirms the position you were taking, and which other posters have followed on from.
Why not do the decent thing, and admit you were wrong. HD-DVD is entirely region free. It might not remain so, but right now ALL HD-DVD players and discs are region free.
Depsite the obvious attraction of the name BLU-ray, more porn is available on HD DVD. After all, it is cheaper to produce the disks, and they are all region free, which would appeal to the porn studios.
As for those calling the format war won, get a grip. HD DVD and Blu-Ray are both losing badly to ordinairy DVD. We will only be able to call a winner (if ever) when one of them overhauls DVD. This is a typical tactic of the blu-ray trolls to call victory at every opportunity. I'm certain that on some forums right now, there will be links to this story and calls for people to get over here and 'show those HD DUD morons who is boss'.
I'd love to see El Reg do a feature on fanboyism. It is a pretty strange cultural phenomenom that has moved on from silly school boy arguments to ridiculous lengths. I've seen posts from people on some forums saying they hang round in electronics shops purely to try and convince people to buy their format of choice.
I'm 6'3, have a 50" chest, and yes I'm a *bit* overweight, but not excessively so. I go to the gym regularly and do weights, so I'm very broad, reasonably fit, and carry my weight well.
Due to legroom, the people sitting in front of me cannot recline their chairs as my knees are invariably wedged against the. For the people next to me, I usually sit with shoulders almost touching.
Not pleasant for anyone, least of all me.
And people believe that I should pay more for this level of discomfort???
Even if I lost that weight, my chest and shoulder measurements are going to be about the same, and therefore my impact on the people in front of and next to me will be the same, and my discomfort will be the same.
I think a point has been missed that people are getting bigger all-round - not just in weight, but in height too. I really don't agree with the sentiments that larger than average people should pay more. Not everyone is large because they eat too much. Some are large because they are tall, naturally broad shouldered, go to the gym, etc.
I'd much rather see plane seating plans revised to take account of a physically bigger population.
"'More to the point, he admitted the argument was largely symbolic - the two sides are fighting for the prestige of winning rather than because of any significant technological superiority.'"
These guys always choose their words carefully.
If you deconstruct this, then it seems they are conceding the possibility they won't win. For anyone involved in the format 'war', this is big news.
I see that we have a couple of the Sony fanboys out in force with the usual "inferior" format, and pushing the Sony line that Blu-Ray is the true next gen.
No comment on the drawbacks of Blu-Ray though? Increased costs, region coding, an unstable specification....?
Both formats have their pros and cons. BD has a bigger capacity, HD-DVD is region free and cheaper to produce (both disks and players).
The market will decide which is best.
AndyB, you made comments such as "How about a game where the object is to rape as many women as possible?
What about a game where the object is to brutally and sadistically murder children and babies (as opposed to adults)?"
And what would be wrong with those as games? Other art forms exploit such topics. Even highly respected literature such as Lolita could be seen as paedophilia.
The only difference here is that it seems to be accepted that adults can make their own minds up about the internet, books, music and films. But when it comes to games people can't seem to get past the preconception that games are only for children.
So long as nobody is hurt in making these things, then let adults make their own decisions on whether to enjoy it or not.
You are not quite comparing like with like Gavin.
For £280, you would get at least one bundled game with your console, probably more if you shop around.
Wireless adapter - not required if you have a physical cable connection or an existing wireless bridge.
Play & Charge Kit - again not required. You can use normal or rechargeable AA's, you don't HAVE to use a play and charge kit.
Xbox Live for £40? Better deals are available if you shop around. It would also be churlish to point out that the PS3 equivalent is far inferior, but I've no problem with being churlish. The PS3 equivalent is far inferior to Xbox Live.
But of course the biggest difference is £120 for the HD-DVD. This is all about choice. If you WANT to play HD-DVDs, then this is a cheap option. You are not FORCED to pay for it.
It is amusing to see someone defending the cost of the PS3. Sales would seem to show that most do not see it as value for money.