Posts by Register Reader

World needs mobile phone wallets, cries trade body

Uh, no

"So, the telcos want me to use my phone; the very same phone that can barely make a phone call without crashing, that's fails miserably to perform any function that it's advertised to be able to do, and is about as reliable as an alcoholic in an off licence (yes, THAT phone), into a "wallet" that handles my money?"

It wasn't a telco calling for this. And perhaps you should actually buy a decent phone rather than complaining, it just makes you look stupid. You are the one that chose to buy that phone.

PETA cooks up gory game in Cooking Mama protest

Eww

No wonder they don't eat meat if that's what their food looks like after preparing it. Dumbasses. I wonder how they would have survived 200 years ago..

Carphone Warehouse denies mass Linux Webbook recall

@Skyraker

Completely agree. I'm not even running WINE at the moment. Evolution is working with our exchange server, OOo is fine for all other office stuff, and I'm able to continue my perl web app development fine on Linux. Previously I was using OSX with Windows in a VM (for Outlook, office integration and some Windows only development).

Ubuntu's interface really is very good. It's probably easier to use than windows when you can just use a package manager to install and keep your applications updated. I have setup compiz 3D effects and the Avant Window Navigator to mimic the dock functionality I had in OSX. All in all it's very nice to use. Some problems with ATi's proprietary driver, but I can live with that for now. Next machine will definitely be back to nVidia (my MBP is the first PC I've owned that doesn't use nVidia graphics).

Text messaging helps kids fight the flab - study

Uh-huh

"Nonetheless, the study concluded that text messaging “may be a useful tool for self-monitoring of healthy behaviours in children”

Or, you know, you could just talk to your children instead. Did those kids noting results on paper get any kind of positive message when they were improving? What a pathetically unscientific study..

3M unrolls power-saving laptop screen sheet

Viewing angle

So now we're going back to the days of atrocious viewing angles to reduce power wasted. Well, it makes sense for laptops for personal use, but not so much for TVs

Police poison speed debate with fuzzy figures

Yeah, right

"You can opt not to fund speed cameras by simply not speeding. If you can't do that then don't drive or at least don't drive anywhere near my kids."

Or, alternatively you could opt to teach your kids common sense when it comes to road traffic. You don't have to be hit by a car that is doing more than the speed limit to get killed by it. If you jump out from behind a car at the very last moment, the driver has almost nothing they can do, and may end up steering into oncoming traffic. If your kids are going to be causing road accidents like that, don't let them anywhere near my car.

I fully agree with the current speed limits in built up areas, but most of the talk here is about speeding on motorways where a lot of the time it is perfectly safe to drive over the speed limit. There used to be no speed limits on motorways. They weren't even put in place because of accidents - they were put in place because some idiot drove his 180mph racing car down it and the government got spooked at what *might* happen. Police drivers are still trained to drive well over the speed limit, so don't try to pretend that it is always automatically unsafe to drive over the limit if you have had proper training.

If only 12% of fatal accidents happen while over the speed limit, that tells you that speed is a pretty *small* factor in accidents. What percentage of people regularly break the speed limit? I'd suggest about 15% or more since Wikipedia states that speed limits are usually set by an 85th percentile rule. Greater speed does reduce reaction time, but accidents are always caused by driver error, like taking a corner too fast (too fast might still be under the speed limit) or observation. Going slower does observation easier. If you trained people to do more observation, they naturally drive slower around town. I know I did when I did my advanced driver training and test. But if you train people to think that being under the speed limit automatically makes everything okay, they can spend more time thinking about the speedometer than worrying about what is happening around them.

People like you need to stop with your whiny "think of the children" act. People do not mind 30mph speed limits in residential areas. This is more about B road and motorway driving. Your children should *not* be playing in these roads if you have done your job as a parent.

Manhunt 2 to hit UK on Halloween

Manhunt.. bleh

I played the first game. Got bored after 3 or 4 levels. Very repetetive. No more gory or violent than many horror movies.. and nowhere near as realistic either.

Sawing off someone's head with a Wiimote would be a pretty strange though I have to admit, I could certainly see it 'inspiring' people who were already disturbed to begin with, like that kid who was obsessed with Manhunt and went out a'murderin with his hammer or whatever it was..

Japanese call on deities to discipline wayward PCs

Err..

"C'mon. Who the hell in IT HASN'T thought, at one time or another, that computers are possessed of malicious spirits who want only to destroy your will and send you gibbering out of the computer room?"

Me, for one.. I'm that IT Manager you're talking about of course.

Boffins dismiss claim violent games turn kids into killers

Correlation, causality, etc..

*sigh* like the kids who aren't interested in violence even *want* to play violent video games?.. another waste of time study

Lip-like loudspeaker touts the pout

35mm jack?

Impreshive. Mosht impresshive.

Sony to pump ¥22bn into OLED production

Missing something

Yep, you are probably missing the fact that you can use TVs as monitors.. they're basically just the same thing, but TVs have decoders and usually speakers too..

MS showcases Red Ring of Death Xbox 360 at expo

Another reason to feel smug

For avoiding any MS product like the plague (where possible.. stupid work..)

How to downgrade your Apple TV software

Hmm..

I think the title of this article should be "factory reset resets piece of hardware to factory settings!". Truly sensational.

Thigh-drive phone charger put through its paces

@@lopsided

"It may reduce the energy absorbed by the knees, but only because it absorbs that energy itself, rather than because there is less energy to absorb."

From the sounds of it, it really would make you use less energy, the energy it's extracting is from the power of gravity pulling against you, which you usually have to counteract yourself, but this assists in the counteracting. Walking is hardly a very efficient system for travelling compared to other methods such as wheeled vehicles which don't directly fight against gravity (unless they're going up a slope).

Microsoft fast-forwards Surface launch

Not very ergonomic

It also forces you to bend over the top of the table if you want to do anything - you can't even slide your legs underneath. Apple's idea of building a webcam into an LCD screen by having sensors next to each pixel is probably a better way of doing something like this. It's a nice idea, but a very poor implementation.

Text-to-pee service launched

Uh...

I can imagine this going down well with the pervy crowd in Finland - wait for a hot chick to go to the loo, text 'open <insert-number-here>', camera at the ready... *snap*

AMD adjusts three-core Phenom roll-out plan, moles claim

@Edison Asuncion Jr.

I hope you never run a business, you may find that you're not very good at it. Intel only stick together 2 dual core processors, which have a higher yield rate than they'd get if they made quad core processors. Nobody gets 100% yield rate. AMD are just being sensible, and I certainly wouldn't consider 3-core processors trash, I'd be quite happy to buy one if the price was significantly lower than the quads.

PS3 capacity boost claims are claptrap, says Sony UK

Why not..

just put in a bigger hard drive yourself? That's what I'm going to do..

Sensory jacket simulates the speed experience

Hmm

Wouldn't your have to apply a force to your front to simulate braking? When you accelerate in a decent car you feel the force in your back, and when you brake the seatbelt pushes into your front.

Nintendo Wii said to 'attract cockroaches'

Roaches?

Have never seen any roaches near my Wii. In fact I've hardly ever seen any in Scotland, full stop.. :P

Anyway if they want to have a bit of a go at Wii Sports while I'm sleeping, who am I to complain? Greenpeace might not be too happy though.

Blu-ray widens US disc sales lead

:p

As long as they are still selling even one more unit per month, they widen their lead. Even if they both sold the same every month from now on, blu-ray would still technically be "in the lead"

AMD tri-core Phenoms due February '08

Thermal envelope..

Surely it would be cooler if they just left it exposed to the air, rather than keeping the chips in an envelope?

Sony pops cap on lippy-like music stick

Maneuverable, drip proof

Obviously just ergonomic, and splash proof.

With one bound, Apple is free of 54 security bugs

@TeeCee

"Cue flaming Linux fanbois!"

The Linux 'fanbois' are too mature to be bothered, because they are saying "I know, I know" too. They know that patches are necessary to fix vulnerabilities (vulnerabilities caused by the fact that to err is to be human, and therefore to be human is to err, and all sufficiently complex software will have issues). It's pathetic for the Windows users to be flaming Mac users when they obviously have no clue about computers themselves. I know plenty about computers yet I still enjoy using Mac OS from time to time, in the knowledge that it is a lot less likely to be compromised than Windows is.

Testers give iPhone virtual keyboard the thumbs down

Meh

I hate studies that point out the obvious :P I love my slide out qwerty keyboard, and I aint moving to no iPhone unless it gets a hardware keyboard too..

TomTom tackles traffic jams in HD

Sweet!

So if you want clear roads, buy a few thousand vodaphone mobiles, leave them on in the back of your car and everyone else will avoid the area thinking that it is heavily congested!

Manhunt, mods and maddened mothers

@Joe Cooper

Oh FFS. So should real life be banned because it's possible to hit women? Grand Theft Auto is not all about hitting women, but you happen to be able to shoot and hurt people, some of whom are WOMEN!! :O Just the same as people can use women models in deathmatch games. The game itself is about taking out a dirty cop and drug dealers, etc etc.. if you'd actually tried playing any of the missions or enjoyed the driving around and stuff rather than trying to kill everything (something I rarely do in the game, I enjoy the driving, cycling, plane/helicopter flying and skydiving rather more) you may have noticed that.

Laggard Apple lets Leopard virtualize

Huh? Microsoft Shill alert?

"Sadly, there's one Vista feature that Apple seems totally unable to copy.

Quality."

Methinks you are a little confused.. o_0 Microsoft have always been the company copying Apples ideas. Duh.

Wii broke my ribs, Zelda finished me off

Hmm

You have to have pretty poor coordination to punch yourself in the rib while making tennis movements???????????? <_<

The sarcastic TV

Ack!

It's like the doors from HHGTTG and the toaster from Red Dwarf.. it has started..

Intel 'Nehalem' design completed, boots Mac OS X

why

waiting over a year to build your new computer? By which time they'll be talking about 16 core parts, etc etc. Just do it now.. or at least only wait until November for that other processor that they mentioned

iPhone unlocking for pleasure and profit

When you realise that the poster sounds like he's on drugs..

And is only very mildy related to the article.. you look up.. and yep, it's amanfromMars!!! I wish again that we got email notification whenever someone else posts a comment in these articles because I don't go back through them all to see any replies. At least I haven't seen any Kevin Hall flamefests recently..

Apple slashes iPhone prices

Hmm..

Guess I'll just be sticking to slashdot for my IT news for the moment. The Register used to be great, but like a lot of commenters have said, this is just childish bullshit. It was kind of funny when I read it, but thinking about it, this site is becoming a waste of time. I'll still be reading BOFH of course.

Apple unveils larger nanos

@"sue"

"Whether these things should be free or not, those people you call "not so bright" are at least honest. Besides, the money for R&D has to come from somewhere right?"

Did you get paid to say that? Exactly how much R&D does it take to chop an MP3 down to 30 seconds? Do you have any idea how overpriced iPods are in the first place compared to their equivalents? *sigh* 3 years ago I got an iRiver that had twice the battery life of an iPod, record capability, an FM radio, all for cheaper than the iPod with an equivalent sized hard drive.

Cadbury bows to 'bring back Wispa' net campaign

:o

"There has been no Machiavellian plan, I can assure you."

I believed it until he said that. Only an evil genius would use such language.

Storm worm authors switch tactics

tbh..

This has been going on for like a decade. This is just a certain group using a very cliched method

Boeing touts feeble Hummer-mounted raygun

wowee

"Maybe they use an array of weak lasers, focused on the same spot..."

with that kind of insight, you should be working at NASA!!

Universal tests DRM-free future

Interesting

I never usually buy MP3s, just CDs, but I may buy some of these just to show the fact that I hate DRM! I almost bought Amy Winehouse's album the other day - if the price for this is competetive to paying £8 or so for a CD album, then I'd buy it.

Pentagon chief: no more oil for blood, man

Biofuel..

Biofuel is people!!

Meng cops plea in CHIP-ICE 'ware espionage bust

Interesting

So it would actually be illegal for GWB to help improve the government in Iraq? That could explain a few things

False positives run amok in Vista anti-virus tests

Hah..

The thing is that the 'developer tool' probably meets the definition of spyware.. if they add it to a 'clean list', then what happens if someone manages to take over that file, unless it checks the file against a hash, which it probably does..

Also funny that security firms are complaining about the OS being more secure, making it more difficult for them to hook into the underlying system..

'They threw my laptop into the atmosphere'

Not to mention

Them throwing out their fridge out last week.. 1 in 5000 odds of someone being injured by a 35lb superheated glob of metal/ammonia when burns up on re-entry!!

US wants trucks mounted with frikkin' laser beams

An artists rendition of what this weapon could look like..

http://www.hiptechblog.com/wp-images/optimusprime_01.jpg

To aid maneuverability, the truck will be able to modify its configuration to achieve bipedal motion.

iPhone becomes phisherman's friend

Oh FFS (getting to be a common sentiment for iPhone articles on the Reg these days)

So now they're complaining because you can't see a full URL while browsing (valid I guess, but isn't that the same for any phone because of the small screen?), and complaining because you can dial phone numbers easily. Because *gasp* some of the phone numbers may be premium rate!!!! I have the same thing on my PC where it links to Skype. If I'm dumb enough to dial up a premium number then that's my own fault, not a design flaw..?

And also they're saying that people may try to copy the iPhone interface on a website to dupe someone into .. doing.. something...??? How is that any different to Windows where a popup pops up and says "OMGZZ!!! j0-00 have a v1ruz0rz1nfection1!!!111!!zzz!!" (sadly, people do actually fall for it, I've seen it happen -_- )?

Social engineering attacks are not the same as actual exploits/bugs. Things can be done to reduce the likelihood of them succeeding, mostly those involve user education..... either that or seriously restricting what the users can actually do.

Wave goodbye to your TV... literally

Hmm

Well they already mentioned the obvious problem with unintentional gestures, but I don't believe that they will manage to filter them out. I can just imagine someone waving to their mother as they enter the room, and this thing switching to a porn channel and maxing out the volume. Hmm.

Second Life gets its first copyright law suit

IANAL but..

"Did he even bother to register his "copy-right" by proper legally recognised means? Sorry making something in of itself is not a guarantee of registering copyright or a patent. Smells to me like lawyers wanting to make money out of something so minor. What next clerics being sued for failing to heal you?"

You don't register for copyright.. you have copyright the moment you create the work. It's patents that you have to register for.

Dodgy anti-virus update bunfight goes to court

Well..

Who wouldn't think an application from 'Rising Tech' isn't an application attempting to send out v1@gr4 spam? :p

Zune DRM stripped

WTF..?

"Anyway it's not a bad little player. It does the RADIO, and that was a feature that was missing in the i land of players. Battery life is 4 hours of stored music files and 6+ of radio time."

My iRiver did radio when I got it 3-4 years ago, and had 16 hours of playback time (all for cheaper than an iPod - I don't really ever use it since I tend to always have other ways of playing music to hand, but I still have it and it still works), not a piddly 6 hours.. that is unbelievably pathetic.

(I really wish we got notified of future comments, as I never check back to see if anyone replies :P )

China aims artillery for a blue-sky Olympics

Wow

Couldn't they just build a roof? Or have a retractable canopy? -.-

Trojan creates bogus webmail accounts to punt drugs

Huh?

I'm a monkey, and I only have 7 toes - you insensetive clod!!