Posts by Jimmy Floyd 545 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Oct 2008
"Most of the complaints on forums are to do with bike distribution - either getting hold of a bike or finding any empty space in a rack near your destination."
There are some apps (some good, some bad) on Android to combat this problem. Haven't used the bikes myself but I've watched someone put their bike back and have it updated on my handset 'toot-sweet'
"The figures show that more than 90 per cent of those who planned to get an iPad-style device intend to use it for work."
How? They (meaning not just the iPhad) have very little purpose in the first place, let alone in a business sense.
Exhibit A: iPhone / Androids are perfectly good phones in their own right but for work, where the ability to tap out a possibly long e-mail on a device is essential, the BlackBerry with its keyboard beats an on-screen keyboard every time.
Exhibit B: Tablet computers don't usually have keyboards.
In summary: you need a keyboard for work and opinion to the contrary is just a way of trying to wangle a new toy.
They really haven't learnt, have they?
Android is the fastest growing phone OS because it's open, not because Google have to give approval to anything that needs to happen. If I want to download 11MB OTA then that's between my phone carrier and me, not Microsloth.
I want it to work - I really do - because competition is better than not, but MS just seem to be very good lately of shooting themselves in the foot, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and other relevant metaphors!
Very true, though it was that supposed-but-false Nazism angle which Max used to screw the NotW in the end.
I wonder what the result have been had they translated the German, realised there were no Nazi connotations, and printed something reasonably accurate (ludicrous though that sounds)? One suspects Mosley would have had a harder time winning the case. Or perhaps just used a different argument.
Mine's the old that doesn't look like a black shirt.
I also note that last week's bug is not fixed so much as duct-taped together.
If you enter an invalid password on a machine where the cookies from the previous session still exists, Facebook will continue to offer up the full name of the account holder.
It's not as serious as the original bug which displayed such information irrespective of the cookie, but it's still dangerous for those on shared or public computers. It's also completely unnecessary: in what situation would the full name of the user be useful?!
I also haven't done any research into whether the cookie that decides whether a name is shown might be forged. I'll leave that to the collective wisdom of the El Reg journos and commentards.
Because Apple consumers are the type to look at the form, not the function. The style, not the substance. Dodgy screens (iPod), dodgy antenna (iPhone) or dodgy batteries (iPhone again) are not as damaging to the brand than an admission of fallibility, which would imply anything other than perfection.
"Those are things that happen to other people," they'll think. "My toy is still shiny and perfect."
It's not the best human trait, is it?
I don't mind the government taking full responsibility in its duties to provide effective protection for the people.
Given the importance of something like national security and the uses (counter-revolutionary, military, other) terrorism can be put to I am sure there are whole swathes of the enemy wanting to monitor our habits and usage patterns (but you can trust our government).
Keep up the good work, Great Leader!
As a ps: maybe the government should do a higher spec law that conforms with higher security levels that might be immediately attractive to those who do not (yet) agree with us?
[But hey, it's just iLife, right? Or did NuLabour teach you nothing?]
As an Android convert I was initially deeply offended, but you know what? It's probably true.
I would also point out that having poor intelligence, blonde hair, big tits and a penchant for Barcardi Breezer will also get you more sex, but those with a bit more nous will realise how disturbingly unsatisfying that sex will be.
Which is how I feel when I use an iPhone. And dirty.
...38 Degrees were good for a while with a few serious campaign issues but, like other special interest groups whose special interest dries up, they have to find another. Or, in this case, lots of others. Mostly pointless. A few good ones, but usually they're drowned in the irrelevant requests for constituents to mass mail the same shit to the same MP.
I unsubscribed from their twice-weekly rants.
Hmm, this means I'm siding with an MP though I would have thought he could have created a decent filter to put all of 38 Degrees messages in one folder.
See, I detest Apple's philosophy as a company (centralised control, dictatorial attitude to the users, massed ranks of people praising the Great Leader ... all basic Communist-party stuff) but I have no problem admitting that Macs are pretty damn good. I wish I had the chance to use them more. And few people are going to stand up and say "Hey, aren't Microsoft great?"
Thing is, those adverts are just plain weak. I quite like PCs but all of those arguments just make me cringe and want to install something else .... most likely Ubuntu, though!
Well done pointing that out; it hadn't registered but of course that will be the case.
Since 9/11 it hasn't been possible to change planes in the US without officially entering the country. I did this at LAX a few years ago, pulling up to the gate in one aircraft (which was, incidentally, right NEXT to the aeroplane we were about to get on) and then jumping through hoops just to end up back at the very same part of the airport.
We had to go through passport control, get our bags, check in again, go back through (comically inept) security and the whole process took an unnecessary hour-and-a-half.
"How long have you been in the United States?" asked the bored and tragically stupid passport checker as she looked at my still-wet entry stamp.
"About half an hour," I replied, deadpan.
"And what was the purpose of your visit?"
"To stay in the airport and avoid seeing any part of L.A."
I did at least get a wry smile for that...
I disagree about Rough Guide (and, for that matter, Lonely Planet which I usually find excellent).
Rough Guide is just that: rough. When I went to New Zealand on a world tour their book about the country included some trendy colonial-bashing articles using historically inaccurate evidence about the relationship between the British and the Maoris. It might have been seen to be 'cool' to bash the native-beating British but accurate it wasn't. The edition was also peppered with adverts. If I get adverts I expect the book to be free (or else I'd be a Sky subscriber!).
We had been using Lonely Planet for the previous five months of our travels through China, SE Asia and Australia, and we went straight back to it afterwards. Got a trip next month though for which we've bought a LP, so I'm hoping I don't end up eating my words (or the book).
When I were a nipper, computers were for the geeks and mathematically-minded only. In the late 90s, with the introduction of the Internet as a mainstream phenomenon, more people become interested because it was seen as good way to earn money.
(I remember my University lecturer asking how many people were studying Computer Science primarily because they thought they could earn lots of cash. At least 50% put up their hands...)
Now computers and the Internet are ubiquitous, and for the young generation coming through neither are particularly special; they're just utilities like gas or electricity. You might as well as why more kids aren't interested in becoming a sparky or a plumber.
That's my tuppence worth, anyway.
"...the 'you should update flash right now' link took me to adobe's website."
Same here. I was shitting bricks a moment ago but am fairly certain mine did the same. So hopefully OK (but I'll be checking up on it anyway).
I had also, in comparison to the image shown in this article, recently upgraded to 3.6.8; just that minute in fact. Perhaps that's where the hackers got their idea though?
...it was once explained to me that supercomputers are, due to the nature of the way they operate, very difficult to compare to 'standard' computers because it isn't just a case of counting the calculations per second.
In fact, as it was being explained to me I realised that I didn't understand a word and had to stop them, but maybe some other more sympathetic commentard could help?
Having just booted out of office a spin-obsessed UK government hell-bent on overspending and jumping on the latest bandwagon ... I can sympathise with Australia's situation at the moment.
At least they had the good sense to off-load their Prime Minister when it looked like he was going the cost them the upcoming election (eh, Gordon?). If it doesn't work, expect the new party to start cutting off silly-bugger schemes like this forthwith.
Got it last week for my T-Mobile-branded Hero. It's pretty good and a definite improvement.
Unfortunately it coincided with what appears to be a world-wide spannering of Facebook for HTC Sense, so my contacts don't match my FB friends. As yet, not much response from HTC, Facebook or T-Mobile on that one.
Does The Register know anything, I wonder?
The "self-direction" comment is interesting.
I suggested to an iPhad owning friend that he must have voted Labour, since he prefers to be restricted in what he does by someone else and that nanny looking after him is better than finding out for himself.
He wasn't impressed (in fact he got quite upset), largely because he fits into the category of wealthy, educated and appreciates power. He is though, to be fair, quite friendly.
And also a staunch Tory. That's probably what upset him.
Reading this article, I've come to the conclusion that I would detest Apple not nearly as much were it not for this 'magic' label. I know it was placed in the title ironically, but when confronted with users who really believe that their latest iThing is truly a gift from God, I am filled with an overriding sense of righteous indignation that means I must ... MUST strike down their naivety.
If public opinion of Apple was that they made very pretty gadgets that work very well for what they do, but also come with the technological equivalent of training wheels and a lease (for you to wear) that significantly reduce their capabilities, then I'd accept them a lot more. Perhaps that's why I respect the Mac - because you have a lot more freedom than with the iPhone / iPhad.
This constant PR spin to label them as special, however, I have come to realise is the root cause of my unquenchable desire to rip apart the façade. But, of course, that veneer of magic is The Enabler of Ludicrous Prices.
It's not a computer. It's a lovely, shiny toy - nothing more. It's a way of showing off and amusing oneself, not for achieving anything productive. It's crippled (or defective, depending on your perspective). What it does it does very well but what it doesn't do is just as important, and it doesn't do a significant number of things.
I was despairing of the human race and its clear stupidity in buying these restrictive devices, until I had an epiphany: they aren't computers and shouldn't be compared to them. Maybe that means Stevie J has invented a new paradigm - fine, good for him - but including it in a survey of portable computers is just attention-seeking.
If you include the iPad, you need to include the iPhone. And that would just be silly.
Ironic that Oxfordshire might be turning off their cameras, but then given their bureaucratic vacillations a few years ago perhaps it also isn't surprising.
In short: Oxfordshire decided to re-assess the speed limits on all of the county's roads based on a blanket set of criteria. So some roads which were at the national speed limit of 60mph were overnight dropped to 30mph (because they were within 50 metres of a lamppost, or something). Some junctions had a 30mph speed limit installed around them on otherwise 60mph roads, leading to cars slowing up for all of ... oooh ... 200 yards before accelerating again.
If they'd been gradually downgraded (you know, via 50 & 40mph) based on the accident rate then it might have made sense - but they weren't - it was just an exercise in putting up signposts. Then later, when they realised how daft it was, an exercise in taking them down again.
Paris, because Oxfordshire County Council were really quite blonde.
... the bastards!
OK, perhaps that's a little severe. However so far this month I have had e-mails to addresses which I set up to receive e-mails from particular companies (one being a now defunct electronics retailers - I wonder who earned a bit of extra cash flogging those mailing lists?).
It's pretty clear they were originally from those organisations: like many techies I have a domain with specific mailboxes which I use to track how they got my e-mail in the first place (i.e.: The.Register@acme.com).
What's also needed is deterrent for the marketers themselves. Common-or-garden Russian spammers are one thing, but homegrown organisations should be clear on where they source their data from, and how it was harvested.
"...you pay a £1 a day to access the scheme and then pay again to hire the bike - charges start at £1 for an hour, although the first 30 minutes are free."
Whereas in Paris they pay €1 per day or €5 per week. Brilliant. And embarrassing.
Who is going to use these things? Not Londoners, as they already have their travel itinerary sorted and will see no reason to pay the same price as on the Tube to power themselves (and know that cycling in central London is akin to playing Russian Roulette in terms of safety). Not foreigners, because it's too damn complex.
So an otherwise great idea will be scrapped in a year because it wasn't popular, having obstructed most barriers to entry. Genius.
So that's Jack Straw, the minister who fought tooth-and-nail against an inquiry into the Iraq War in which he played a significant part and member of a party which came up with the Digital Economy Bill, complaining about a lack of transparency and decisions being rushed through Parliament.
Oh dear God...
"...if AdMob can't get this fixed it's going to make Apple's iAd an increasingly attractive option."
Interesting conclusion. I'd venture to suggest that Average Joe doesn't know or care about the wranglings in the advertising business, and that this sort of things would reflect more on the iPhone - or even smart-phones in general - than it would AdMob.
"...the firm that up to now hasn't really made any notable inroads into the mobile phone biz."
I'm not sure that's entirely true. WIndows Mobile 5 / 6 had a not insignificant market share; it's just that they underestimated the importance of the UI and lost out to the iPhone and later Android.
I kind of hope Windows Phone 7 actually makes inroads, but it's hard to see it happening. The company has really lost the plot since Billy G left.
Easynet were the one thing I liked about Sky. They may produce mind-numbingly shite television, 'news' and sport, suitable mainly for the inept, inbred and downright retarded - but unfortunately their broadband was (is?) pretty good.
Now I may comfortably detest the entire organisation without restraint. That makes life much simpler.
I was thinking the other day that coding for mobile phones these days requires a bit more thought than for full-size computers, and how healthy that is.
My old Computer Science teacher (using Pascal, co-incidentally) used to put good coding practices at the heart of everything we learnt, and I confess that my skills had grown rusty through years of being lazy and getting away with it.
Ha ha. Well guys, what I realise isn't noted in my earlier post is that I think you do a fantastic job that can't be easy - and that you should be recognised for it. My one issue was just that: a once-off, and shouldn't detract from the 95% of times you get it right..
More than once have I thought how tiresome it must be wading through reams of often utterly turgid, borderline-illiterate shite 'contributed' by your tech-savvy-but-socially-inept readers (or maybe that's just me) simply so people may comment in the Web 2.0 stylee, all the while balancing lively debate with legal paranoia.
So, genuinely, I would like to thank you all for the work you do.
Now to make a truly libellous comment and liven up your day. :-)
I'd have to side with Peter Gathercole on this. Ultimately, everyone has to accept that their comments are subject to moderator approval. However, it really would help us for a little feedback now and again. Journalists surely get that when they "have their articles spiked?"
I've had a couple of posts rejected when the contents were clearly inflammatory and potentially libellous. Fine. Good work that moderatrix. On another occasion I've had a post criticising an article (fairly I felt, but perhaps with an edge to it) rejected. I toned it down but the post was still rejected (in that case I was pointing out gaping holes in the evidence for that article - and I was taken aback at why commentary on them was denied). That only reflects badly on El Reg and the journalist in question because either or both appeared to be ducking fair commentary on their work.
Obviously, we don't see what system you use but I'd image a setup whereby you have a button marked 'Approved' next to a number of buttons that reject, but with pre-defined reasons (as suggested above). One of those could be 'You've already been told' or words to that effect, thus stating why you aren't getting into a debate with the poster, no matter how 'right' they may be.
The danger, although obviously this applies to a minority of rejected posts, is that the Reg might otherwise gain an Apple-style reputation for moving the goalposts as it sees fit - and in that case no-one benefits, least of all The Register.
Crikey, it was easier before everyone was allowed to stick in their 2-pence worth, wasn't it?!
So that's why my 20-word, single-sentence description of Peter Mandelson didn't get through. Understandable really (though I doubt he would have sued ... and I felt it was entirely accurate).
I will attempt to keep my insults to people who don't exist. Like Harry Potter. The swine.
(And thank you for the pointers, Reg).
"would be a happy one for European consumers"
Because the quality of our TV and radio would be determined by market forces? Yeah, for example American television leads the world in quality, happiness and "fair & balanced" commentary. Don't they?
I do love how critics of the BBC licence fee often point towards a market-based system as the better way. More expensive than the licence fee, with lower quality, and subject to whatever political whims Rupert Murdoch wants you to believe today. SkyFox: coming soon to a media oligopoly near you. First up on the new channel: "Why The Newspapers Owned By The People Who Own This TV Channel Are Great."
I mean, who in their right mind pays a subscription fee to watch adverts? Sky customers, that's who. And people with that sort of logic don't inspire confidence in their decision making capabilities.
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