Posts by RichyS

Regent Street blocked by iPad fanboi swarm

My experience

Went to work yesterday. Got home. Pre-ordered iPad was waiting for me.

Queuing. Why?

Ye olde London comes to the iPhone

Because

Because Android users don't leave their parent's basement to go outside. </flamebait>

UK.gov issues death warrant for ID cards

Byeeee

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

HMRC mails wrong private info to 50,000 taxpayers

Don't you mean...

Different government, same incompetent civil servant feckwitts?

Windows 3.0 turns 20

Very very close

Actually, I think XP was v5.5.

Which in the comparative stakes, means it's a whole 0.4 better compared to Win2k than Win 7 is compared to Vista.

Or something.

I have XP (forced) and OS X (choice) anyway...

Solitaire?

Minesweeper FTW!

School IT quango to be expelled

You don't sound very clever

I mean, 'Durr, thick move'. Are you getting your insults from 4 year olds?

My wife is the ICT coordinator at her school, and is very glad to see the back of BECTA. The 'advice' they give, the nonsense ICT Mark they encourage you to spend money to get, and the non-existent discounts they allege to have achieved are worthless.

The PCs they recommend are just no good for the type of multimedia work (primary) schools do. A basic 'office' PC will not suffice. So, my wife has a schedule for machine replacement that she can budget against. Three types of PC: computer lap, classroom and staff laptops. Each PC within a type is of a standard build. They're a bargain from whichever reseller is cheapest. As for support -- with the money saved from BECTA's recommendations, she can buy 2-3 extra PCs to use as swap in replacements. More complex stuff (and any tricky server admin) is done by a small local support firm. Which benefits everyone in the community, not Dell or similar.

Yes there's a bit of extra paperwork; but with proper planning it's only every 2-3 years (the PC 3 types are on a different replacement cycle). She isn't scammed because she knows what she's doing, and the support is from a local supplier (and her school isn't in Bali) who are unlikely to scam her because it'll hurt them in the longer term. They give a shit about her business. Would Dell/HP/whomever?

As for open source, well they use OO on Windows. Linux (for now) is a step too far.

The iPad, news saviour? Murdoch may have something here

True

True... but there's a big difference between 'get for free' (legally or otherwise) and 'be arsed to get for free'.

If someone can put together a proposition that is of value to me -- usually by taking out some of the effort of doing it myself (e.g. I could tile my own bathroom -- done it before when I was poor -- but I can't be arsed now, so I'll pay someone), then it's worht it.

I know I _could_ get most of the news (though maybe not the informed comment -- which is why I normally buy newspapers) for free. But it takes time and effort. Time that I'd rather spend doing something else (like commenting on El Reg).

If a newspaper app can give me a good user experience, and get me the news and comment I want when I want, I'd pay.

Siphon Wars: Pressurist weighs into Gravitite boffin

Pounds? Inches? WTF?

I'm going to ignore this bloke until he learns to use SI units.

Adobe declares 'LOVE' for Apple

Been there, done it.

Last time we tried this, we came away with India...

Grenade, obv (though I don't think the East India Company had access to grenades!)

I think H.264 is a standard

I think H.264 is a standard, in that the specification is open and published. It's just not a 'free' standard (under certain circumstances -- it's free like the NHS is, rather than free like speech/beer, delete as applicable).

H.264 is not a current web standard; though may be when HTML5 is finalised (I think the debate right now is whether to choose H.264 and/or Ogg Theora as the standard codec for web video).

Flash, however, is completely closed and proprietary. Some people have tried to reverse engineer it (in the same way that OpenOffice will work with MS Office files). But that's down to a lot of hard work; not by having access to the standard.

Me? I think Flash sucks and can't wait for it to do. The transition period will be a bit painful; but then it was almost as painful when world+dog stuck Real Audio on their website. In those days I refused to put a Real Audio player anywhere near my PC for similar reasons to disliking Flash.

Exam board deletes C and PHP from CompSci A-levels

Totally agree

El Reg readers would be the first to complain when school children aren't taught 'word processing' or 'spreadsheets' but Word and Excel.

How is teaching the use of a specific language any different.

Education is there to teach the concepts and principles behind computer science, so that they can be applied anywhere, to any language. Not how to write simple Java programs.

Ten free apps to install on every new Mac

Handbrake

Another vote for Handbrake here. You need to install VLC for it to work fully, but once that's done, it's fantastic.

Handbrake can rip from DVDs or transcode from most other video formats. Where it scores over MPEG StreamClip is in ease of use. In particular, the presets will give you great quality output for iPods, iPhones, Apple TVs, whatever in a single click. With MPEG SC you have to know a bit about what you're doing.

There are certain things that MPEG SC is useful for (which is why I have it too), such as joining two H.264 movies into a single .mov or .m4v container (without hours of transcoding). Plus, a few MKV or other source files will crash Handbrake but work with MPEG SC. But, outside of these rare occasions, I use Handbrake every time.

I'd also pair it with MetaX for correctly tagging (including chapter names) your TV and movie files. They integrate quite nicely (and your Mac moos when it finishes -- what more could you want?)

Man sold EverythingEverywhere domain for 'nominal sum'

Everything Everywhere?

They'll have 30 million minus one customer after this name change.

Everything Everywhere. Except where we don't have coverage. Which is a lot of places. Damn.

L'Orange and T'Mobile: Together at last

Staff

So, are we really to believe that Orange have over twice the UK staff as T-Mobile?

Clearly all the extra staff aren't in customer services. So, where are they? Feeding the racoons?

80% of devs chafe at Apple's App Store cash split

Really?

In other news, 80% of developers delusional of their own worth.

Apple iPad

Seems a very carefully chosen list...

Sounds like you need a laptop then. Or, perish the thought, you're deliberately trying to be provocative. Now, I'm sure 'The Internet' has invented a term for that...

Me? I have a bunch of use cases for which the iPad is perfect. That's why I've ordered a 32GB 3G version (and another 20p for a sodding Orange SIM!). Can't wait for it to arrive.

Now all I need is for the Dodocase to be available in the UK without a $25 shipping fee.

Some possible evidence...

Here's an article quoting a few 'experts' on eye strain from screen reading.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/do-e-readers-cause-eye-strain/

Personally, I don't read for hours at a time, and rarely outside (and certainly not in direct sunlight). I do use a laptop screen for large portions of the day though, and don't find that it causes eye strain.

I would say that the low contrast of eInk displays that I've seen would give me cause for concern. I have no evidence to back this up!

As with most things, I suspect there's a fair element of user preference. I'd be perfectly happy with a good quality LCD, but I can understand why other people wouldn't.

World smartphone sales: Apple closes on RIM...

Nokia

The problem with these stats is that every Nokia Series 60 phone counts as a smartphone. The reality is that's very far from the case. Most S60 phones are just glorified feature phones, and do nothing more than a similarly price Samsung or LG.

Only a few N and E series phones from Nokia can truly be considered smartphones. I wonder what %age of sales these make up? How would RIM, Apple's and others' market share look then?

Microsoft to extend Silverlight for Mac?

Agreed

Letting Silverlight have access to the USB ports and the like on my Mac fills me with dread.

Not that I have Silverlight installed. Or see any need for it. IIRC the only site I've seen that uses (or did use) Silverlight was Channel 4's 4OD service; and I've never really felt the need enough to want another Flash-u-like to be installed on my computer.

Pre-election budget targets politics, not policy

Well, quite crazy

So, by that rationale, if Labour stuck an extra tax of, ooh, let's say, 200% on IT equipment 'to bring it back to the same price in real terms as the mid 80s', that would be okay too?

The fact is that Labour have been spunking money up against a wall for years, forgetting that the good times may not keep rolling...

Chip maker to take on iPad with $99 tablet

$99. Really.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Flat-pack plug designer wins top award

Easy solution

You don't need a special safety key. Those wooden stirrers from Starbucks (other overpriced coffee shops are available) work perfectly! My German (former) colleagues use them all the time.b

WTF?

If you find that complicated, then you're the arse.

JFHC.

Fecking Schtudent

He's a student. All student houses look like that.

Why?

Care to elaborate on why it's unsafe? Or are you just jumping to massive conclusions because the plastic looks a little bit thin in places?

Very Cupertinean

Nice that he designed it ready to go for Apple. They won't have to change anything to fit in with their 'house style' for their power adapters.

More seriously, hopefully we'll be able to buy these soon as it's a real pain fitting a standard UK plug into my laptop bag.

Dell bars Win 7 refunds from Linux lovers

Not just Dell

My wife's school purchased a load of MSI Wind all in one PCs. No-one builds these PCs and sells them without Windows, so the 'buy from somewhere else' argument falls through.

Now, the problem here is that the PCs come pre-installed with Win 7 Home Premium. Fine, except you can't join a domain with HP. The PCs don't come sold with a preinstalled Pro version. So, my wife's school had to buy a copy of Win 7 Pro for each machine (a site license would have cost even more, as you have to declare every PC in the school, regardless of whether you want to install Windows on it -- all the other PCs have legitimate OEM copies of Win XP Pro). Now the school has paid Microsoft twice for each PC. No wonder their sales figures are so fecking good.

Naturally, the EULA on each PC was rejected (so Pro could be imaged). On asking the retailer (CCL) for a refund, she was told that the PCs were sold as a package, so no refund was possible. Thanks CCL, that's a few books you've stolen from the school.

Just to be bloody minded, I think I'll take this up further with them...

WD adds 1TB portable Mac drive

Agree, sort of

Indeed. Having said that, I was looking for a 750GB external drive with Firewire 800. The only ones I could find were all labelled 'Mac'. I think I got an Iomega of some description. Whatever it was, it came with sockets for FW800, 400 and USB2 (and cables for each. Handy).

Anyway, the key point is, your probably better off getting an external drive that does FW800 as it's much faster than USB in most situations (especially sustained data transfer -- my particular use case as I store all my 1080p HD video on there). They usually come with USB for more basic machines (though the HFS+ can be an issue -- so pretty much a few thousand MacBook Pros before they put FW back in).

Oh, and it was silver too!

Sky gets Five HD

Yup

Yes you can. Same sat too, so no need to realign your dish.

ITV HD World Cup matches to be shown on Sky, Virgin

Already watching ITV HD

Sky viewers can already watch ITV HD by adding in a custom channel that picks up the Freesat ITV 'red button' feed. Okay, so it's a little bit of a hassle, and you don't get the nice planner view; but then it's not like ITV have much worth watching anyway.

If you can't wait until April 2nd, just Google it.

Jesus Phone to exhibit holy gift of bilocation

I think Apple may have heard of this little British company

I think Apple may have heard of this little British company, after all, Apple and Acorn both set up ARM Holdings as a joint venture in 1990.

Panasonic DMC-G2

Not really a competitor

And costs about a grand more for the body only (assuming G2 prices are similar to current G1).

Having said that, the 550D looks a decent alternative for not much more. A lot bigger and heavier though...

Microsoft's dual-screen booklet shows 'face' on web

Dear god

If the final product (if and when it ever ships) looks anything like that, I'll be amazed.

And, just how usable is the UI for anyone who isn't a pointless interior designer? Like the other 99.9% of us. How about some more likely use cases MS?

Releasing stuff like this is only going to disappoint people -- in the same way that real cars never look like the concept cars on which they're based; the end result for Courier will no doubt be just like most other tablets, just with a really annoying spine in the middle of the screen.

Anti-binge drinking ads add to binge drinking

Weird

Oddly enough, after reading that article, I feel the need for a bowl of corn flakes.

Can't understand why.

Oh, and a pint.

NASA flying car engineer shoots down Reg coverage

Turtles?

There's a wider group of Ninja Turtles?

Murdoch promises WSJ on the iPad

Not really the same at all...

I think likening the iPad to early CD-ROM multimedia PCs is akin to comparing a modern paperback to a book hand written and illuminated by Monks.

VGA resolutions on large clunky CRT displays and underpowered PCs were never going to change the way we read. The content may not be terribly different to that envisaged for the iPad, but the method of delivery is light years ahead.

Similarly, while I could go to the local cathedral to have a look at some of their chained books, it's not very convenient. Or cheap (in terms of getting the content into a readable form -- those early multimedia PCs weren't cheap either). Paperbacks, on the other hand, are pretty cheap, easily portable, can be produced quickly and easily in vast numbers. Even though the actual content is largely the same as the handwritten book.

Accessing interactive books via an iPad, however, is convenient, and can be cheap (hopefully the publishers won't get all greedy on us).

The printed word didn't take off until it could be reproduced and distributed cheaply (thanks Gutenberg and Caxton), and the population sufficiently literate. Similarly, multimedia in this form (and eBooks in general) will not take off until they can be reproduced and distributed cheaply and easily; and the population is sufficiently (technology) literate.

UK.gov IT minister makes open source gaffe over browsers

Really?

She got her knickers in a twist? Really? She's MP for Basildon and Thurrock, and like any good Essex girl, she isn't wearing any knickers to get twisted

Adobe Photoshop celebrates big 2-0

There's an App for that (sorry)

Have you thought about Adobe Photoshop Elements? Dirt cheap, and does the important bits of Photoshop that your average consumer (i.e. not the people who touch up models and make them look even more bizarrely thin and contorted) is likely to want.

Apple to take iPad orders this week?

£323. If only

If only the iPad could start at £323. Snag is, you'll have to add on VAT (the US prices are always quoted without sales tax -- a pain, but I suspect due to the fact that it varies by state). That brings us up to around £379. Then there'll be the usual UK markup for anything gadgety.

So, my guess is that the non-3G 16GB iPad will sell for £399 in the UK. Or about the same price (without all that bothersome inflation to worry about) as my first computer -- a BBC Model B. Isn't technological advancement great... (and is there a port of Chuckie Egg in the App Store?)

BBC clambers onto iPhone bandwagon

WTF, indeed.

Er, what's wrong with the existing iPlayer website? Works a treat streaming H.264 (sans Flash) to my iPod...

Archos 9

WTF?

It has an optical 'mouse' and mouse buttons? WTF? This is why a desktop OS has no business in a tablet.

FFS, Archos couldn't even put multi-touch in there.

Frankly I'm amazed you gave this thing a mark as high as 65%. It seems it fails at pretty much everything. Too heavy, too slow, too short a battery life, too clunky a UI, too fragile (with an HDD). Too useless.

Apple ambushed in Barcelona

It'll fail, as usual.

Like all other inter-operator schemes, this one will fail. All those vested interests to deal with, and 'lowest common denominator' solutions will see to that. Whatever comes to market (in about 4 years time) will be a crippled, clunky, badly integrated excuse of a store.

I can't see Jobs losing any sleep over this one...

Moto shows off eighth Android 'andset

Versions?

Why the hell are all these Android phones coming out with different versions of the OS? Can they be upgraded out of the box to 2.1 (or whatever it is that the Nexus One is running)? If not, I can imagine that it's a pain in the arse to develop for Android.

Microsoft erases Windows 8 optimism

Re: Perhaps

Exactly. Microsoft have cried wolf too many times.

Does anyone believe them anymore?

Researchers rip iPad apart to reveal Apple's profits

Gah!

I don't know where to begin with the pointlessness of this story.

iSupply did not rip apart an iPad. They've speculated on the parts involved, and the typical price for these to come up with a Bill of Materials (BoM).

Now, unless Apple can get all their R&D done for free, marketing for free, everyone works for free. Free electricity, water and rent. Indeed, free everything else; the margin between the BoM and selling price is not profit.

As for Bill Gates? Why can't he just let it rest? His concept of touch, pen and keyboard tablets have been around for nearly 10 years now. And hardly anyone wants one. Bill, you concept failed. Get over it. Let's see what happens to Apple's take on the tablet...

Toshiba commits to Freeview HD

Not a biggie.

My fairly ancient Sharp Aquos has only one digital input (DVI, though it is HDCP compliant). I get around the problem of multiple digital sources by using an HDMI switcher box. They can be had for under 25 quid these days... Works well enough.

Buster's World gives Guardian Professional balloon-sized headache

Grauniad

<quote>Guardian Professional’s head of digital agency Tom Jackson told The Register that the firm’s “usual rigorous checking failed on this occasion”.</quote>

That'll be the same rigorous checking that the Grauniad is famed for then.

Oh wait...

Asus Eee PC 1005PE

In summary

Netbooks are still shit.

ARM boss forecasts mass migration to netbooks

ARMed and ready

Woo hoo. Time to dust of my RISC OS floppies...