Posts by Dale Richards

Two weeks 'til the internet disappears, for 58 Fortune 500 companies

Re: Headline maddness.

World Wide Web != Internet

Windows Metro Maoist cadres reach desktop, pound it flat

Re: As long as...

Finding the shutdown button took me about 10 minutes in the Win8 Consumer Preview. I'm still not entirely sure I'd found the right one, as it seemed to have been tacked onto some obscure settings pane hidden away in the darker recesses of Metro.

Hated Visual Studio 11 beta in HIGH-ENERGY colour blast

Re: Oddly enough...

Nuendo & Cubase - I'm with you on that. I'm assuming Steinberg are sucking all the colour out of their software to make it look more like Pro Tools, which has been drab grey for as long as I can remember.

Ten... Living Room Gadget Treats

No, the reviewer is correct. With Sky+ if you switch from live TV to a recording, the "live pause" buffer is erased. When you switch back to live TV, you won't be able to rewind to see the bits that were on while the recording was playing.

With Virgin/TiVo, the live pause buffer is retained when you play a recording, so that when you switch back to live TV you can rewind and see the bits you missed.

Automatic suggestions based on what you've liked and disliked are another feature of Virgin/TiVo that isn't offered by Sky+. Sky's search, series link and clash resolution are all pretty piss-poor compared to Virgin/TiVo as well.

All that said, the Sky+ remote control is an absolute pleasure to use, and the web-based "Remote Record" service is a stroke of genius. You can't beat Sky for the sheer number of channels either, and for most packages Sky seems to be the cheaper option. The online streaming service, "Sky Go", is great as well, and Sky are a bit ahead of the game when it comes to 3D TV.

Both have strengths. Each service offers something the other one doesn't. :)

Atmospheric CO2 set to soar - OECD

Re: carbon emissions

Maybe "organic emissions" would be a more appropriate term, but that doesn't sound scary enough.

Renault Fluence ZE

What

The cars you mention are either 3-door or 5-door hatchbacks - very popular in the UK, not so much in the States.

The Renault Fluence is a 4-door saloon - a popular form factor in the States but relatively rare over here. Most of the 4-doors you see here are executive and luxury saloons, but the Fluence fits more into the small family car class (dominated in the UK by 5-door hatchbacks such as the Ford Focus and VW Golf).

DIY aerial drone monitors Wi-Fi, GSM networks

Upvoters, show yourselves..

Come on... Are there really people on here who think that the mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians is morally or ethically justifiable? Will you put your name to a comment stating these acts somehow fail to meet the criteria for being described as a "ton of evil"?

'Lion' Apple Mac OS X 10.7: Sneak Preview

Hmm

Shouldn't think so. Snow Leopard and the Mac App Store both work fine on my Hackintosh, and that's pretty much all you need. A few things will probably need tweaking after the Lion install, but it doesn't sound like much of a barrier.

Apple take legal action against companies selling Hackintoshes (probably seeing them as counterfeit Macs), but they don't seem to even try to stop home Hackintoshers. It's probably Not That Big of a Deal™ to them.

Moderatrix kisses the Reg goodbye

Sarah

Best of luck with your new calling. I'll be missing you terribly.

I can't find the "El Reg is dead to me, cancelling my subscription" icon so you'll have to make do with this nonplussed face.

Yanks officially recognise the word 'boffin'

Citation

Since when is an IT blog an adequate citation for a dictionary entry?

Leicester unloses key data

Genuine answer

Genuine answer - you can't.

Presumably they've checked the "last accessed" time stamp on the files. It's very easy to avoid updating this stamp when reading a file, and it's also fairly trivial to later change the stamp to an arbitrary value.

Steve Wozniak ready for return to Apple

Re: Maybe it's just me

It's worth pointing out that Microsoft (primarily a software developer) and Apple (primarily a hardware manufacturer) are not direct rivals. They can and do work together on mutually beneficial projects (e.g. running Windows on a Mac).

Wind power: Even worse than you thought

Climate Change

Interesting point. Burning fossil fuels and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere *may* later have an effect on global climate in the form of temperature changes. Blanketing the landscape in wind turbines *will* have a direct and immediate effect on climate in the form of wind speed.

For the sake of playing Devil's Advocate, I posit that wind power is worse for climate change than all fossil fuels.

Proceed with this nonsense at flank speed

Duke Nuke teases with sapphic siblings

Re: Unicorns, Santa Claus, DNF

Not too long ago you could have added Guns 'n' Roses's "Chinese Democracy" to that list, but not anymore. DNF will probably turn out the same way - it'll get its release eventually, but after all the hype and anticipation it'll just be a steaming pile of disappointment.

Sixth Japanese nuclear reactor loses cooling

Probably not...

These events are unlikely to halt Japan's nuclear programme, in my opinion. Firstly, they don't have much of an alternative. Japan doesn't have vast fields of coal, oil or gas, and importing is an expensive business. These alternatives could also be politically unpopular (think Kyoto Protocol).

Secondly, what's happened here is a meltdown of a handful of reactors, some of which were reportedly approaching retirement anyway. This is a *long* way off any kind of large-scale nuclear disaster like Chernobyl. I understand at least one plant worker has lost their life, which is always a tragedy, but compared to the death and destruction elsewhere in North Eastern Japan it seems these nuclear plants might statistically be the safest place to be.

Finally, the Japanese know better than anybody how quickly technology progresses. There can't be many people who believe that a 40-year-old reactor design is the pinnacle of what they can achieve now. If anything, I predict this natural disaster will spark *more* investment in nuclear power in Japan.

Japanese nuke meltdown may be underway

Title

Despite the disproportionate media coverage, I suspect that the Fukushima nuclear failures are relatively insignificant compared to the damage caused elsewhere by the earthquakes and tsunamis.

There seems to be a great deal of hysteria wherever the word "nuclear" is involved. I'm sure a couple of core meltdowns will necessitate an expensive decommissioning operation but there's very little risk to life, and its economical impact will form only a small proportion of the overall cost of the earthquake disaster.

Antennagate Redux: Consumer Reports condemns Verizon iPhone 4

Thither morons

...and as any fule kno, if "Chas" hasn't had a problem then no-one has!

Buy the damn iPhone. Not that big of a deal, etc.

Winamp advises forum password reset after mystery hack

Winamp

Still using Winamp here. Despite all the AOL crap they've bolted onto it, it's still the best music player for my needs.

YMMV, etc.

Ecstasy doesn't make rave-goers any stupider - official

Legalise Ecstacy

Sounds to me like that's exactly the point Dr Halpern is trying to make.

Radiohead goes out on a limb with 'newspaper album'

Yep

I probably wouldn't mind paying £30 if it was 12" heavyweight black virgin vinyl, but this 10" clear crap is just a gimmick. Am I the only one who still buys vinyl with the intention of actually playing it?

Ford Focus 2011

@AC

"There's nothing to say you "should" be signalling to overtake a cyclist, in fact more often than not you shouldn't."

That seems to be a common misconception, but section 163 of the Highway Code clearly states you should always signal when overtaking *any* vehicle. In the latest version this section is even accompanied by a picture of a driver overtaking a cyclist with the right signal illuminated.

"use your mirrors, signal when it is safe to do so, take a quick sideways glance if necessary into the blind spot area and then start to move out "

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070314

Naked cemetery man was simply photographing orbs

Title was required

Did he definitely say he was photographing orbs? Maybe he was photographing Orr.

Xmas kicks off on 2 August

Re: There should be a law

> Posted Monday 19th July 2010 11:45 GMT

> Christmas cannot be mentioned until 1st December.

He said Christmas! Stone him!

So long then, Windows 2000

Re: Not quite a clone...

* Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings and choose "Adjust for best performance"

* Tick any features you want to keep ("Smooth edges of screen fonts" can be handy) and hit OK

* Control Panel > Display

* Change theme to "Windows Classic"

* Hit Appearance tab and change "Color [sic] scheme" to "Windows Classic". OK.

* Control Panel > Taskbar and Start Menu > Start Menu

* Choose "Classic Start menu". OK.

It only takes a minute ans should be enough to satisfy most Windows 2000 hold-outs. For the really hardcore, there are further tweaks you can make, but it depends how much time and effort you want to put into it.

NHS loses massive Microsoft licensing rebate

Well shit the bed...

Who'd have known the only software you need to run a national health service is a basic office suite?

Apple MacBook mid-2010

PC

I believe that in this context, "PC" refers specifically to IBM PC compatibles rather than all personal computers.

There was once a time when the Mac really did run on a different architecture to IBM compatibles, so it was fair to differentiate between PCs and Macs. Since the move to Intel, however, the Apple Mac is simply a brand of PC with a custom OS.

But don't tell anyone at Apple Marketing.

Life on Earth gets wiped out every 27 million years, say boffins

Great, great, great, etc...

Should I take it from the number of generations you mention that you and all your descendants are planning to have your children at the ripe old age of 47,244 (on average)?

Apple bars radiation nanny from App Store

Idiocy

"These days, when they can ban segways from the pavement because of the accidents that "might" happen, yet allow virtually every member of society access to a device which could potentially damage their long term health, you've got to wonder if the lunatics are running the asylum."

The problem is there's no reason to suspect that mobile phones could be dangerous to your health. The simple fact is that drinking mineral water *could* cause brain cancer, eating bread *could* cause liver failure and owning a cat *could* cause a rectal prolapse.

I'm sure plenty of water drinkers have had cancer, and the livers of many bread eaters have packed in. I'll bet a certain percentage of the cat owning population has pink-socked at some point as well.

I wouldn't fret too much about a piddly little 1-2 Watt phone anyway. We've been using 1-2 kilowatt hairdryers for decades - they emit huge levels of non-ionising radiation directly at your cranium, and I'm sure they heat up your brain tissue at least as much as using 2000 mobile phones simultaneously. Until the "death by prolonged hairdryer use" reports start coming in, I'll sleep easy. With my phone next to my head.

Most new 2009 EU powerplant was wind oops, gas

Re: No, you should check the facts

"You're utterly clueless aren't you."

Regardless of whether or not the OP is "utterly clueless", could you be more specific on what's actually wrong with his claim? I'm not taking sides here - I'm just interested.

6music wins possible reprieve from BBC Trust

Re: Not Auntie

If "operately" wasn't a word before, then I'm making it one.

Not Auntie

This statement is from the BBC Trust, rather than the BBC itself. The BBC Trust is operately relatively independently and plays the twin roles of the angel and the devil on the BBC's shoulders.

It is still very encouraging to see the Trust are actually doing their job and acting in the best interests of licence fee payers.

Motorola advert revels in anti-iPhone schadenfreude

Not Steve

Of course it's not Steve Jobs. His Jobsness doesn't waste time with such lengthy prose. You'll know it's him when you see the post:

"Buy the damn iPhone. Not that big of a deal."

Jobs tells iPhone users to get a grip

Brownie points

Brownian points?

'Toothed' condom hits rapists where it hurts

TV Licensing

This product protects against rape the same way TV detector vans protect against license dodgers. If you can put enough FUD into the minds of rapists (or license dodgers) then even if the toothy condoms (or detector vans) don't actually exist then they can still have an effect.

Feds block sale of crooks' favourite messaging client

May I be the first to say...

Uh-oh!

Ah, all this talk of ICQ is sending me on a big nostalgia trip. Those were the days!

Google's Wi-Fi sniff probe reveals 'criminal intent' - PI

Re: Perhaps Google should counter-sue

"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

Mail my printer - I'm busy!

Print 2.0?

Sounds more like reinventing the fax machine to me. This just makes things cheaper for the spammers.

6Music: Dead man walking?

Re: Really...

It's posts like this that make me remember why I love the Bee so much. Thank you.

If the BBC kill off 6Music they'll be pissing on their own strawberries. With one hand they're trying to force DAB radios down people's throats, and with the other they're taking away the only good reason to get one. Who cares if the listener figures are unimpressive? That's the BBC's remit; that's the whole point of the BBC Charter - to cater for the markets that can't be provided for by commercial stations.

Let the commercial stations worry about listener figures. The BBC is there to provide everything else.

Most browsers silently expose intimate viewing habits

Slashdotted?

Has the demo site been slashdotted? I can't get it to load.. :(

US boffins synthesize self-replicating bacteria

Smiley icon wearing safety specs...

Like this?

The internet, as imagined in 1965

Video wallpaper

Maybe he's talking about the wallpaper you actually put on your walls, rather than the wallpaper you put on your, er... desktop.

F*ck you, thunders disgruntled fanboi Apple user

Windows and Linux should..

Jump off the plane. Not that big of a deal.

Facebook starts random application shutdown

Norton Commander for Linux...

Try Midnight Commander!

Internet abuzz with BitTorrent bypass code

Private internets

I would expect that private internets are internets that can't be accessed by the general public. Something like a darknet...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_%28file_sharing%29

Twitter to auction off words

Web 2.0

"Twitter will have to tread very carefully to avoid offending its fickle customers"

As with Facebook, MySpace and all the other Web 2.0 bollocks, the "customers" are the advertisers. The poor souls who use the services are the product that's being sold.

Labour shock pledge: 16.8-meg broadband for ALL by 2012!

Don't forget...

In a recent speech, Gordon Brown announced how proud he was to be working with Tim Berners-Lee, best known for being the "inventor of the Internet"...

M-Audio Pro Tools Recording Studio

M-Audio

I've been looking at this package as a cheap way to get a friend onto Pro Tools so we can exchange demos. It's worth mentioning that the Fast Track 2 is now available, which fixes some of the flaws of the Fast Track and also adds phantom power. It still includes Pro Tools M-Powered Essential and still retails for £79:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrack.html

I've been using an M-Audio FireWire 410 for nearly 5 years now, with Pro Tools M-Powered, and I can barely say a bad word about it. The mic preamps are impressively clean for the price range, the routing options are flexible and the whole thing is wrapped in a sturdy metal case that's stood up to its fair share of knocks.

The 410 cost me around £250, so for £79 you can hardly expect the Fast Track reviewed here to live up to the same standards. I also use an M-Audio MIDI controller which is pretty shit though, and I had a shitty pair of M-Audio monitors for a while. However, it's not fair to say all M-Audio gear is shit.

Thumbs down, becaise the thumbs up still has jaggy edges.

Firefox plans fix for decade-old browsing history leak

Re: Once more, for the record

...and just to really annoy the rabid Opera evangelist(s), you can also do that in Internet Explorer - forbid JavaScript globally (Internet zone) and allow for specific sites (Trusted Sites).

Tinfoil Condition Red! LHC 7 TeV mega-blasts today

Pull yourself together

"We are toying with the fabric of the universe and no one is really sure of the outcome"

If we were sure of the outcome, there wouldn't be any point doing the experiment. This is the very nature of science. Without experimenting with the unknown, there will be no progress.

Man could face prison over six second 'extreme porn' clip

RE: Reg readers rock ;-)

Thanks, Clair. Keep fighting the good fight!