* Posts by Shingo Tamai

73 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Jul 2008

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HMRC accused of not understanding its own IR35 tax reforms ahead of private sector rollout

Shingo Tamai

Re: PSC my ass...

It's not about the name, it's about the liability in relation to the tax code.

A limited company is a limited company, regardless of the number of shareholders.

HMRC are treating limited companies with 1-2 shareholders differently, and are trying to squeeze more taxes out of them, in a dangerously retroactive fashion.

Effectively they are enforcing double standards, and a different interpretation of the tax code. On the other hand, they seem to be happy to let jobs go to big consultancies that do not pay taxes in the UK at all.

Microsoft takes a pruning axe to Skype's forest of features

Shingo Tamai

Re: I need to see multiple conversations at once

> (Links to Skype 7: Windows and Mac, Android)

The bloody bastards removed the ability to disable auto updates from version 7.41.0.101 (the one available from skype.com).

Sega’s Out Run: Even better than the wheel thing

Shingo Tamai

Remakes

If you feel nostalgic, you should try these two unofficial remakes: Final Freeway and Final Freeway 2R (they are essentially the same game, with the latter seems to have better fitting graphics).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd89Jpx56YU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvTnVxKykYk

They are available for both iOS and Android.

Apple MacBook Pro 13in

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

>> If you're a power user, it's nice to use an operating system that plays well with unix-y OSs, open source, and also has an attractive and unobtrusive user interface.

>So, one of the Linuxen then.

Yeah, you can choose between Gnome and its moving panel icons in the top bar (a 2 years old unresolved bug) or its overlapping icons on the desktop (1.5 years) or the dumbed down Gnome 3.

Or maybe you like KDE and its and its "I'll give you the option to change this as well" philosophy.

Oh, oh and let's not forget the spinning cube... :)

Shingo Tamai
WTF?

It's not about the price...

I am writing this from an HP NC6400 which is now 5 years old. It is a wonderful business laptop, but after five years it started developing cracks on the case near the hinges, not to mention the various creaking noises on the top fascia.

You mentioned you could buy a Dell for less money? Good luck wit that too...

I've bought a Dell M101z which I have carried around like a sacred relic, yet the plastics around the bezel cracked in 6 months.

When the laptop came back from the outsourced repair service centre, the arse in charge of the repair managed to break or chip every single piece of plastic on the laptop, almost perforating the back screen panel after using the wrong screws. The webcam module was also destroyed, and the screen assembly was poorly... reassembled.

The end result was so sub-standard that Dell sent a technician onsite (not a standard option on this class of product) to replace the whole case and screen (the only original pieces I was left with in the end were the keyboard, and the inner electronics and hard drive).

Even if you do not want to consider Apple's build quality, after all metal does not disintegrate after 6 months of light usage, you may want to consider that some users, me included, would very well spend 150£ more just to be able to run OS X over the bloated Windows 7. Apart from the fact that I dislike Lion because of features like "autosave" and "versions" (I also own a Mac Mini late 2006 which I have updated to Lion and later downgraded back to Snow Leopard).

Exploit writer spills beans on secret iPhone function

Shingo Tamai

Cisco doesn't sue...

...because Apple licensed the iOS name from them.

PlayStation 3 code signing cracked

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Well done Sony!!!

Removing OtherOS was really the way to go (to involve the only one that was best not to piss off).

Channel Five to air Walking Dead

Shingo Tamai

Booooring

Two episodes of action and entertainment and four episodes of pure boredom.

I hope the second season is going to be better than the first one.

The year's best... laptops

Shingo Tamai
Stop

The M101z...

...is not a netbook.

The dual core CPU wipes any Atom processor away.

Blu-ray barely better than DVD

Shingo Tamai

Casino Royale

Funny thing is that the Quantum of Solace DVD is degraded on purpose to push the HD version.

Dixons warns of tough Christmas

Shingo Tamai

Put some lipstick on it.

But a turd with lipstick is still a turd. :)

Calls for US nudie perv scanner 'opt-out day'

Shingo Tamai
WTF?

RE: Give us a break #

Scenario 1: put your son/daughter into a potentially dangerous machine and risk their health

Scenario 2: have a total stranger touch their breasts and genitalia

Which one do you prefer Tony?

Rethinking the iPhone

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Don't forget...

...to put the $149 you need to pay for the MI-FI device into the equation.

Not to mention that the ridiculous monthly fee.

Disguised impostor clears international flight

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

Next time...

...go for "The player" mask, it comes with matching gloves.

Look for SPFX masks and look for yourself.

Clive Sinclair unveils 'X-1' battery pedalo bubble-bike

Shingo Tamai
WTF?

Are we still in the sixties?

No, seriously...

Obama consults Steve Jobs on making America great again

Shingo Tamai
Jobs Horns

And Steve replied...

"Our goals do not include helping you(r people) get a good grade. Sorry.

Please leave us alone."

Hands on with the new Apple MacBook Air

Shingo Tamai

None of the other 11.6in notebooks on the market have a Core 2 Duo inside.

Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T

To be read as: not all the notebooks are available in the UK.

Apple signals disk free notebooks way to go

Shingo Tamai

1K325 to be read as...

K325 Dual 1.3 Ghz

Shingo Tamai

Yaeah, Let's compare...

Dell M101Z

1K325 Dual 3 Ghz

4 GB RAM

11.6" 1366x768 LED display

It does not come with a SSD but with a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive.

Anyway since it costs 618EUR including 3 years warranty, I guess you could buy a decent SSD and still spend less.

The MBA is a nice machine, but boost the RAM, boost the SSD and you will spend slightly less than buying a MBP 13".

11.6in sub-notebooks

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

Why?

What is the reason for mixing sub-notebooks with netbooks?

Dell Inspiron M101z 11.6in notebook

Shingo Tamai

Point is...

>Yes, the fan is going, but it's not noisy, certainly not audible above the clack of keys and the hum of other computers

When you are on the couch on in the bed the fan suddenly it's there.

If you are in a quiet environment is audible as well.

The HP NC6400 I am using at the moment in comparison is silent, with the fan that spins up when it's needed, changing speed if it is the case and then going almost silent when the job is done.

The CPU runs at 50-55 degrees on idle.

If I have to buy something that is half as powerful, I would like it to be at least on par with the noise, otherwise I would be buying something with a core i3/i5 with an extra £100/200.

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

Avoid

I am returning mine today.

- The fan runs constantly even when the system is idle.

I would say at 2500RPM since during reboots/diagnostic it spins considerably faster

On the plus side, even maxing out the CPU the fan did not spin faster.

Since I use it in a silent environment this is an annoyance.

- The touchpad is unreliable.

No matter how I set it up using the synaptic manager, there are always problems: cursor is jumpy, tap does not register

- Vertical vieving angles are a problem

Put it on a table you will have lo move your head like a pigeon. The screen cannot be tilted at will because of its design.

So, 85% is really unrealistic.

This guy returned his because of the noise.

From "maybe":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEC52sDB5DA

To "WTF" in one week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_OSjCdts4

Undiplomatic tweet from French diplomats

Shingo Tamai
WTF?

Every country...

has the right to expel unwanted people.

The UK could expel and ban anyone as "undesirable", so I really do not understand what te fuss is all about.

You want to stay in a place? Get a job and pay taxes and apply for citizenship.

If you cannot sustain yourself or if you want to be a parasite living by illegal means you are not welcome. Since you are NOT a french/british/italian/german citizen, SURPRISE, you are sent back to your own country.

Dixons to do app stores

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Because...

...selling hardware at ridiculously high prices is not enough.

Spammers latch onto Ping to pump iPhone survey scams

Shingo Tamai
Flame

Simple solution

Ban India and the problem will solve overnight: same happens on Linkedin.

Dixons sales ain't all that

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Dumb as ever

In "RipOff Ireland (tm)" they sell Dell laptops with inferior specs - compared to Dell website - at 90-120 euro more a piece.

Then they complain that sales are flat. :/

Nonsense.

HP hires headhunter to replace Hurd

Shingo Tamai
Headmaster

@kain preacher

Oh, and by the way it's PEDANT, not pendant.

See how many things you can learn on "the internet" ?

Shingo Tamai
Paris Hilton

@kain preacher

Still the real person was called VLAD, not Valid, Vilad, Vladi, Ganesh or James. <This is humour btw.

Paris because she likes to be impaled by her friends herself.

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Not even the basics

VLAD the impaler, also known as Dracula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_III_the_Impaler

Mozilla Thunderturkey and its malcontents

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

Bugfixing is slow

Some time ago I wrote a detailed report on a regression related to spam filtering.

It was severe (data loss) and needed to be fixed as soon as possible. Even if I was reporting the problem at every milestone release, and even if the bug report contained everything needed to reproduce the bug, it took the developers NINE FRIGGING MONTHS to agree on what to do and fix the damn thing.

There is also this philosophical matter where your own email gets hidden if your own address is in the address book and the To: field gets changed in "To: you".

This would enable someone very smart to usa a recipient like "The idiot <user@domain.tld>" without you noticing.

A report for this was onoened 1.5 years ago. There are new discussions oone week on and one week off, but NOTHING has been done.

I have identified another bug that leads every time to data loss, but this time I will use my time in a more proficient way, like not giving a shit about reporting it.

Ballmer's 'lost generation' note finds resonance

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Windows WAS familiar

Windows 2000 is familiar, Windows XP is familiar.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 are too different, too flashy and, IMHO graphically painful to use.

There are some good things, like automatic drivers download, better support for sleep and hibernation, you can rename a file without affecting the extension, but...

- The GUI seems to target idiots and people with sight deficiencies (I cannot explain otherwise the need for an 80 pixel tall icon in an alert box that says "Do you want to delete this file? OK/CAncel")

- The control panel is huge and you need to search what to do (problem is that you do not know what to search for)

- Handling files is slow by design. Windows 7 must "discover the files", and think about it for several seconds before actually starting doing the action you wanted to.

- The file manager sucks badly

- UAC is still a pain in the ass with added problems with files ownership

People are generally happy about Windows XP, they are used to it, so why not just build on that without radically changing things?

DTrace co-creator quits Sun, hits delete on Oracle

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Oracle is like Midas

To bad they have the rare ability to turn things into shit.

Apple releases multi-touch 'magic' trackpad

Shingo Tamai
Flame

The magic charger...

@RichyS

...isn't that magic at all.

Note how they avoid telling you what the batteries capacity is and how much time you actually need to charge them.

http://www.apple.com/uk/battery-charger/

Oh, and it's "only" 25 quids...

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Magic carpal tunnel syndrome for everyone at "just" 59 quids.

If you thought the mouse was bad, try to move your hand for 5 minutes on a raised block-notes and see how much strain this thing is going to put on your wrist..

Apple denies iPhone 4 antenna glitch, blames inaccurate signal bars

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

With a body made of glass...

...why the hell didn't they put a frigging large antenna panel INSIDE?!?

Dell Streak Android tablet phone

Shingo Tamai
WTF?

About the price...

...WTF?!? For 400£ I could buy Apple stuff.

Firefox's oldest friend dumps it for Google Chromium

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Clueless...

@Pascal Monett

>stopped when I got to "so-called social web browser" and understood that this Flock thingy is just another "social network".

No it is not.

In the same way as Google is not "the internet".

Shingo Tamai
WTF?

What is the problem people?!?

It's a browser for users that are into social media.

It provides access to social media and collaboration sites "on the side" of regular browsing, without the need to have 1 tab constantly open for facebook, 1 for flickr, 1 for twitter and so on.

It was nice to use for me, but I did abandon it because support to extensions was limited at the time.

Instead of criticising it without knowing what it is all about, try it. Maybe you will like it.

Apple MacBook Pro 15in

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

General Pance

Actually...

- Canon does have software for Macs

- There is a right click

- Still lighter than an Acer

Mozy backs up cloud backup with hard-drive storage

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

CrapPlan

If you decide to backup your entire hard drive, CrashPlan will hash all your files on a regular basis trashing the hard drive.

Also every removable file will be "infected" by several index files/BDs.

Not really nice.

Getting your head around mainstream mind mapping

Shingo Tamai
Unhappy

Doesn't work for me...

I need to write something on paper in order to have access to visual memory and remember it.

Drawing balloons or lines just creates a mess that cannot be re-organized.

Some time ago my manager was thrilled by the idea of having a document expressed through mind maps. The result was the usual: doubled effort compiling the actual document AND extrapolating a mind map for him to be happy.

So, not for me.

Double-Take takes on Citrix and VMware

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Short sigthed...

Cost or the re-installation of the system : £150

Business cost related to the above activity: £35000

Business cost related to data loss and lack of backup: £2M

Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx: A (free) Mactastic experience

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

Gnome/KDE have the appeal...

...of a transvestite.

You can take a look at the inconsistency of the GUI since the first boot clicking on the envelope and on the IM icons on the upper right and... surprise, same options!!!

Britain's bingers out-boozed by Irish

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

That's because...

...in other European countries - for instance during xmas - there are no huge queues of people "assaulting" off license stores struck by the fear that the place could close before they had the chance to buy 36 cans each of whatever booze is left on the shelves.

Or in simpler words: not all the European countries are obsessed with drinking as Ireland and UK are.

And the cherry on top weas an idiotic question by a colleague of mine while we were working in paris for a couple of weeks: "Hey, isn't it strange that it is friday and at 3PM I haven't seen drunk people yet?"

Software engineer demands source of his speeding collar

Shingo Tamai
Stop

Doctired code

What about it they provide a patched source code but the software installed in the radar is faulty?

Airport scanner staff object to vetting

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

What pisses me off...

ONE idiot straps a bomb to his ass on a US flight and as the result the rest of the world is forced to harass and stress travellers to make the US government happy.

Also now we are in a situation where any terrorist could just collapse economies all over the world by just opening a door of going past a security check without folliwing "the procedure" and without the need to kill anyone.

Imagine the Newark accident happening every single day in any western airport one day on and one day off...

Pathetic.

LG releases Android smartphone

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

No SW upgrades

I foresee 90% of probability that this will never get a firmware upgrade.

LG never cares about fixing anything in their mobiles.

Mozilla's SeaMonkey 2.0 exits cryptobiosis

Shingo Tamai
FAIL

WTF?!?

Firefox and Thunderbird were created because the developers said that the Mozilla Suite (that offered a browser and an email client in a single executable) was too bloated and unpleasant to use.

I really do not understand the reasons for going back with a project like Seamonkey.

Unless it is like for the soap for the washing machines where one year they sell you the one "just for the whites" and the one "just for the colored" and then they sell you the one "for the whites and the colored" one year on and one year off.

Apple dumps Sun's ZFS

Shingo Tamai
Thumb Down

Re: Do Apple Inc sell servers??

Yes they do.

http://www.apple.com/xserve/

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