Posts by Joseph Haig

New Van Gogh pic discovered using German atom-smasher

Re-used canvas.

"Mr Van Gogh, have you got any second hand canvases that you can use for a new painting?"

"Yes, I've got one 'ere."

Mine is the paint-stained overall.

Asus blames lack of Linux Eee PCs on Atom hold-ups

Respond to demand

Perhaps they could recall some of the XP Eees and re-install them with Linux. Doesn't this make more business sense?

Microsoft pledges to fight Vista 'myths'

Crescendo?

"This campaign will reach a "crescendo" in the next couple of months, with Microsoft dominating the airwaves, we were promised."

"Reaching a crescendo" doesn't make sense, as 'crescendo' is the increase towards a climax, not the climax itself. When you "reach a crescendo", you have not actually got anywhere but you have the intention of moving towards something in the future.

Actually, this is Vista we are talking about, so maybe they are aiming to "reach a crescendo" after all.

Almost half of malicious sites tied to 10 networks

10 networks?

I'm glad I stick to 192.168 networks.

Manchester's congestion charge: pay-to-leave

Vote them out

We need to respond in the only way that politicians will take notice, by voting them out.

Oh wait, we already did:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1048139_jones_to_carry_on_with_ccharge_crusade

Microsoft urges developers to tag sites for IE8

Cart before the horse.

"The tag is designed to ensure millions of existing web pages currently working in IE 7 will not break in IE 8."

Hey, here's a better idea. Why don't you fix IE so that existing web pages written in standard HTML and CSS are not broken by IE?

Boris Johnson bans boozing on London transport

@ Sarah Bee and Bill Fresher

"'Just for the record, I didn't vote for the berk.'

"I didn't vote for a berk either... I didn't vote."

Just for the record, I voted against there being a mayor in 1998.

BT bundles MS Office with Linux laptop

@AC (re Prehaps they are also shipping crossover office?)

I thought the same, but as far as I know Crossover Office doesn't work too well with .Net applications, including more recent versions of Office. Microsoft Office 2007, which is what is shown in the picture, is "known not to work" according to Codeweaver's compatibility chart.

Ubuntu man Shuttleworth dissects Hardy Heron's arrival

@Various people

I can use a real Linux distribution (Redhat, CentOS, SUSE, Debian, Mandrake, Gentoo, Linux From Scratch, Knoppix, tomsrtbt and probably several others I have forgotten) and I like Ubuntu. Is there something wrong with me?

Microsoft beta tests Office subscription software

Microsoft Beta software

Will beta testers also get access to Vista? After all, Mr Balmer said ...

Evil Bill icon because there isn't an Evil Steve one. Well, there is, but ...

El Reg celebrates 10th birthday

IT angle?

A group going out for an office binge? Where's the IT angle in that?

Oh, happy birthday. Yes, I'll pick up my coat on the way out.

Windows Vista update 'kills' USB devices

@James Pickett

"Just keyboards and mice - nothing too crucial, then..."

Clearly, they are trying to target the server market.

So what's the easiest box to hack - Vista, Ubuntu or OS X?

Re: Soft Linux target

"I would have thought that Fedora running SELinux would have been the harder Linux target."

Agreed. I have enough trouble running things normally with SELinux installed. I wouldn't even know where to begin with a remote exploit.

... and my coat is the one next to it. The one with all the sleeves and pockets sewn up.

Free voice and video firm plans April 1 UK launch

Oh yes?

April 1st? Oh yes?

Tell me again on April 2nd and I'll believe you.

BBC calls DRM cops on iPlayer download party

Why?

What happened? Did all 400 Linux users start using the hack at the same time?

Windows better off closed, says Microsoft

Re: Documentum

It is true that many open source projects have poor documentation but to suggest that this is the case for all is not true. The documentation of Lilypond (http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.10/Documentation/) is amongst the best documentation I have seen anywhere. To be fair, though, this is one project run by musicians first and geeks second.

What really happened

(Developer shown Windows code)

"Aagh! My eyes! Show me no more!

IE8 to follow web standards by default

Compliance vs compatibility.

"IE8 will have three rendering modes: one that reflects Microsoft's implementation of current web standards, an IE7 standards mode, and a third based on rendering methods dating back to the early web."

Does it also have a leap-year bug to maintain compliance with Excel?

I would like to think that Microsoft will be doing it properly in IE8, but "interpret web content in the most standards compliant way it can" sounds too much like a get-out clause for when it turns out that IE8 standards compliance is as bad as every previous version.

How to speed up Windows Vista: official and unofficial tips

Defrag?

Defragment your hard drive? I thought that had gone years ago. Is NTFS still not able to control fragmentation sensibly?

Clash of the compacts: Eee vs Air

@Matthew Johns

"But you can buy five Eees for the price of an MacBook Air. No contest."

... and then you could set up a beowulf cluster!

Oh sorry, this isn't Slashdot, is it?

Beeb confirms iPlayer streaming dominance

25 minutes?

"... people are watching an average of 25 minutes ..."

Wow! What a coincidence. That's about the length of most programmes.

Microsoft warns on Home Server bug

Samba?

Thank heavens Microsoft have agreed to disclose technical information to the Samba team so that they can produce a reliable alternative.

Dell to fit laptops with Flash drives

Dell to fit laptops with Flash drives?

... not with dodgy ones they found in the local car park, I hope. (cf http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/25/usb_malware/)