* Posts by JasonW

180 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2007

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Samsung Android 4.0 smartphone priced for Blighty

JasonW
WTF?

Closed minds at work?

>>Neither, of course, will the LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus, since there are no commercial LTE services in Blighty yet.

People from Blighty have been known to travel, I've heard, beyond the oceans to lands where LTE is available and they might wish to use it...

Gartner: Acer's glory days may be over

JasonW
Thumb Up

Acer had glory days?

Who knew?

Although my experiece is that 3 years is optimistic in the extreme for Acer. Not counting the ones that were DOA.

Belkin Conserve

JasonW
Thumb Up

According to the consumption meter I coupled to mine, it consumes a small fraction of a watt in standby - a big win compared to the 16W the original - now binned - Sky box used in standby (17W in operation - really what is the point?).

As for by cable laying - I lay mine carefully out of site and flush afterwards.

As for appliance cables, they're all carefully out of sight like the sockets they plug into. I'm as much of a geek as the next man but cables are not aesthetically pleasing things to have draped around the place. SWMBO moans and groans as I install the concealed cabling but is secretly pleased with the result. I can tell by the sigh.

Where am I going tomorrow? My electric car charger wants to know

JasonW

And when there's an unplanned trip?

When little Jimmy manages to bang his head and need taking to A&E (which thanks to NHS cuts is now 15-20 miles away) you jump in the car and it announces that you're not supposed to be there?

Part of the whole car owning thing is about the ability to make a trip on a whim, unplanned. This would appear to be trying to regiment everyone's life into their online calendar (who else can see it? no doubt the plod & the like want to know what you're planning)

This whole battery-powered car thing is an evolutionary dead end, alternative fuel (hydrogen is promising) is the answer.

MS kills, un-kills kills Zune player line

JasonW
Happy

Never mind have one...

... I've not even seen one in the flesh and now I probably never will.

iPhone 5: Apple 4S, pundits 0

JasonW

Ignoring the subject for a moment

Surely this is the risk one takes when one reports on speculation rather than news.

Now back to the plot - not that a corporate press release (as the subject is) is actually news.

UK punters happy to pay £3 to top up e-wallets

JasonW
WTF?

Let me get this straight...

... people are willing to spend up to £3 extra so they can spend their own money in selected outlets?

No doubt these same people would complain if they asked for £100 at the cash point and it only dispensed £95?

No wonder consumer debt is so high in the UK.

Firefox devs mull dumping Java to stop BEAST attacks

JasonW

Same here - I think I've had one occasion in the last 12 months that a site demanded Java (well it did in the big print but had a non-java version available too)

Rogue toilet takes out Norfolk server

JasonW

"Powerful poo pops PC power"

or perhaps

"Just the jobbie"

Gaps in the apps mean shops miss out on sales

JasonW

OK...

... I can buy into the fact that XYZ missed out on an online sale because their site/presence/system wasn't up to snuff, but the fact remains that there are a fixed(ish) number of consumers looking for a fixed(ish) number of items - so the only way XYZ is going to get increased share is by taking it off ABC (or cannibalising their own physical presence).

At the same time, I have walked out of more than one physical store without purchasing because the store staff/presence/system wasn't up to snuff.

Newzbin2 pirates prepare to sink BT web block

JasonW
Facepalm

Oh, surely one would just use the inbuilt PPTP VPN tunnelling available in most devices (at least in my phone, tablet & PC)?

So better close all the shops and businesses that facilitate piracy by selling devices with this functionality built in.

And the manufacturers that allow it to be sold.

And the carriers for carrying the packets.

PayPal to move into the shop - without cards or NFC

JasonW
Coat

Folding money and a choice of debit or credit card for me.

Mine's the one with plenty of unoccupied pocket space...

Got a non-iPad tablet? Weirdo

JasonW
Go

2 slabbettes de fondlage and 3 smartphones here - none of them fruit-based and never even considered it. So that must make me about the oddest person in the country (which the missus would wholeheartedly endorse)

End of UK local dialling in sight as numbers run out

JasonW
WTF?

Typical half-assed OFCOM

Why not do it everywhere? Then again I have all the (full, including code) numbers I call programmed into my phone anyway so makes no difference to me...

Dixons predicts Olympics will boost sales

JasonW

That's probably...

... where most of the 3D sales come from - people buying a new TV and "oh look, it comes with 3D" (and never use it)

Slow broadband blackspots mostly in south, not north

JasonW

So...

... there are more slow users where there are more users. Amazing insight.

PETA to launch .xxx smut site 'to help animals'

JasonW

Poor Peta 23 from Essex...

Hope she wasn't planning on launching a site.

Tottenham MP calls for BlackBerry Messenging suspension

JasonW
FAIL

Sure shut down one service...

... and they'll all move to another. Really it's a sticking plaster over a gaping wound. Doing something (ineffective) for the sake of doing something (at all).

12% of UK don't carry cash

JasonW
Happy

I discard all my coins...

... into a litre Maß at the end of the day and use the contents for the "fun fund" - as it usually has about £250 in it when full that translates as a rather splendid day/weekend out (or some techy wizard gadget).

Agree that pennies & twopences are pointless though, they dilute my litre of money :-)

Speaking Clock to celebrate diamond anniversary on Sunday

JasonW
FAIL

Diamond 75?

Someone better let her Maj know - she's planning to have a Diamond Jubilee next year for 60.

'There's too much climate change denial on the BBC'

JasonW
Boffin

Isn't the real problem with science reporting...

... that they send clueless journalists (mostly I imagine with non-scientific/non-technical backgrounds) with no idea of the basics of science to ask the questions?

If you parse through the science, technology etc reporting in most (if not all) of the mainstream media, there's an awful lot of lazy incompetent reporting - mostly based on press-releases with no mention that it's the case (and sometimes even reporting the content incorrectly because they don't understand what the words on it mean in context).

News of the World TO CLOSE

JasonW

Who says they're being fired?

More likely that they'll simply change the name above the door - keep the same staff.

It was a toxic turd, now it's a toxic turd with a new name.

I see incidentally that thesunonsunday.co.uk has been recently registered as a domain.

Do we really want 100Gig Ethernet?

JasonW
Boffin

... the woefully inadequate 10 meg of bandwidth on offer at the time ...

Yes but also at the time there weren't any widely available or more importantly affordable servers capable of handling more than about 3MBps throughput without slowing the rest of the server down considerably due to servicing the interrupts on the NIC (remember - they were pretty much all ISA NICs back then - running at 6 or 8MHz)

Schmidt sees NFC terminals everywhere

JasonW
Facepalm

I see NFC terminals everywhere too...

... and not long after they appear, lots of sheeple will start appearing on Watchdog/similar moaning that their bank account was drained through it.

NFC of me using NFC connected to my bank account or credit card (*maybe* on a stored value system so I can limit my exposure/loss)

UK operators band together for NFC revenue

JasonW
Boffin

I still don't get this....

... Right now I have a pocket that optionally contains cash, debit card(s), credit card(s), etc...

I can manage my money (or debt) by choosing to pay with any one of them in any given circumstance.

With NFC, presumably I get to only pay one way and everyone wants a piece of the transaction cost.

Where's the "win" for me?

PARIS team to tackle the ultimate post-pint snack

JasonW

A Geordie Lass?

Clearly a tourist in Middlesbrough. Which reminds me of this description of a Victorian occupation, long-since consigned to the annals of history....

"*Dung Boy..

This was the lad who swept up animal manure off the streets using a pan and brush. He then slung it into a bin. Locally, these bins were taken to a spot near the coast where they were shamefully allowed to pile up higher and higher. In time, the mountain of stinking ordure grew so big that some bright spark in Whitehall decided to give it County Borough status and call it Middlesbrough."

TalkTalk serves up website blocking to users

JasonW

What about the cost to content providers?

Who are now serving the content twice - once to the original requester and again to the scanner?

HTC Facebook branded, buttoned phones appear online

JasonW
WTF?

Call me an old stick in the mud...

... but why do I need a Facebook button? Is it so difficult to have the facebook app/widget on the screen?

Mind you I'm probably not the target demographic - not having a facebook account.

Everest climber finds 3G signal, sends Tweet

JasonW

Twitter via SMS?

Surely you could send a Twitter update on any device capable of sending an SMS... even an old Nokia 2110?

Supermarkets trounce telcos on mobile services

JasonW
FAIL

Nor...

.... is cost the be all and end all.

I could easily go for a Tesco phone here - but signal would be zero, so while my mobile would cost less to run, I'd be pumping a lot of 60ps into call boxes. Same for anyone piggybacking on O2 in fact.

I have now had a phone with each of the networks and 2 supermarkets. Leaving aside coverage issues none of them are customer-focused and none communicate well - they're all universally crap at it - which is simultaneously galling and amusing when they're trying to be communications providers.

Which? I prefer Andrex - it's more absorbent (and a better read).

Nintendo blames puzzled public for 3DS sales shortfall

JasonW
Coat

I have a DSLite...

.... better half has a DSi, son has a DSiXL. We've tried the 3DS in hand and the buttons aren't in the right place for any of us.

3D is not compelling in any shape or form and especially not at nearly 100% premium in price...

Mine's the one with the well-played DSLite in the pocket.

TalkTalk claims wooden spoon for highest level of broadband gripes

JasonW

Actually....

That was Pipex that bought Nildram, then Tiscali bought Pipex who were in turn bought by TalkTalk.

I quit Nildram (who were astoundingly responsive and great after BTOpenwound^H^H^Hrld) when Pipex came to the party and things took a downward spiral.

ICO says it doesn't need to use its 'big stick'

JasonW
Boffin

So...

... if I happen to be a customer of one of the organisations fined, I get penalised for their incompetence, because you can bet that the board won't do the right thing and bear the penalty themselves (as they should as custodians of the company/body). I'm almost OK with that if it's not a monopoly (like a council or a water company) because I'm free to clear off to another. Where it's a monopoly though I have no realistic choice but to pay (you have to move to another council area to escape, or another region if it's water...) for the incompetence.

Surely the sensible thing to do is to institute criminal proceedings against the entity and upon conviction, jail the appropriate member of the board/executive - and pursue them for the costs of incarceration. I do not see why the consumer should pay for the negligence/criminality of a body of whom they're (often reluctantly) a customer.

Channel VAT loophole shrunk, not shut

JasonW
FAIL

Then explain how...

.... it can be dropped to a radically different level to every other EU country?

All other EU members the value is €22 (which was translated as £18 when it was €1.22/£1) - now it's €1.15/£1 it should be going *up* not down.

JasonW
Coat

Eh?

OK, but we are now inside the EU and the Channel Islands are outside... from the rest of the world the limit into the EU before VAT is assessed is EUR22 (£18). Now from the special case of the Channel Isles it's reduced to £15

Does that mean that the Government is unfairly penalising "our dear Channel Islands" compared to the rest of the non-EU world?

Wi-Fi body wants hotspots to override 3G

JasonW
FAIL

No thanks...

... I'll stick to the 3G on the phone and/or the wifi hotspot in my pocket... I like to know whose network my data is travelling on.

Won't be long before some ne'er-do-well piggy backs onto this type of behaviour to fleece the unwitting/witless punter - then there'll be an outcry in the Daily Fail.

Three to drop mobile smut shield

JasonW
FAIL

Not just smut etc...

also b3ta is filtered out, even with the smut filter deactivated. Somehow they think they're going to stop users of b3ta in their tracks with their (chargeable) adult services - even if they were off to b3ta for the latest meme-du-choix

Idiots.

Of course changing your APN from three.co.uk to 3internet side steps it without any mucking about proving how old you are or anything, which is nice.

Wi-Fi security befuddles clueless home users

JasonW

I like the ones...

.... that have security set up, but you can work out the key from the SSID and on those ones the default admin passwords are never changed.

Chicken Little report: Sat-nav dependency spells DISASTER!

JasonW
Coat

Mark I eyeball (perhaps a pair of them) and appropriate charts/maps

Oh and the ability to use both in conjunction with a compass & clock when necessary.

Is it really so hard? If it is, then you probably shouldn't be driving/riding/sailing/flying in the first place.

Mine's the one with a rolled up Admiralty chart & compass in the pocket.

Whitehall to puff punters: 'Hide your fags'

JasonW

Legal challenge from industry coming?

They passed near enough identical legislation in Scotland in 2010 - but the tobacco industry has lobbed in a legal challenge... net result is that the plans are delayed by at least 12 months (maybe further pending appeal). I'd have thought it more likely than not that a similar storyline awaits in England.

Clear Channel turns digital billboards into 'store fronts'

JasonW
Thumb Up

... and another reason ...

... not to take up NFC.

O2 tries to explain its new prudish nature

JasonW
WTF?

They find out the address?

Surely they found that out on the contract in the case of those on contract - if not, that would appear to be a bit of an oversight.

Also in order to take out the contract one would presumably be "of majority" in order to do so - or once again an oversight by the operator (or their reseller agents).

BT fibre-to-the-premises trial takes 7 hours per install

JasonW

Come to my house...

I will dig the trench myself & supply as many cups of tea and chocolate hobnobs as it takes to get me FTTP. By the time 21CN gets here (remember that?) the rest of the UK will be on to the next-but-one big thing.

Android phone to replace shop till

JasonW
WTF?

NFC won't be replacing my wallet any time soon...

... I carry my debit card, credit card, work charge card and actual folding money... using each of them depending upon what I'm spending the money on., and I don't think I'm alone in that.

Will I need an armful of phones with NFC on now?

First details on EC data protection action against UK revealed

JasonW
Boffin

No, not fines...

Jail time for the board members responsible (if they were aware, they deserve it; if it happened on their watch and they weren't aware they were negligent and deserve it) - fining BT corporately simply gives them yet another excuse to jack up prices that the consumers pay.

HBGary 'puppets' FAIL to convince

JasonW

Reputation management?

Top tip: Why not run your business/personal life in a manner that is beyond reproach and avoid the need for reputation "management" which seems to me to be a euphemism for something else entirely.

The cost of beating Apple's shrewd screws? £2

JasonW

Can't say I agree with the slot screw comment

The only screw heads I've ever ruined are Phillips - because you can't get enough "drive" on them... probably because pozidriv & supadriv fit them "quite well" but not properly - whereas with a slot screw only the thickness of the blade is a limit.

Oh and security screws of miscellaneous types - as others have said widely available from just about any decent tool outlet.

Who are the biggest electric car liars - the BBC, or Tesla Motors?

JasonW
Boffin

Cheap electricity for cars? Tcha! Right.

Anyone deluding themselves that when the gubmint loses the cash cow that is hydrocarbon duty, it won't lash up the price of electricity for transport is deluded. We'll either end up with spy-in-the-sky roadpricing or astronomically priced electricity (or knowing the British government - of all hues past, present and future - both).

Can't wait for the tales on Watchdog of Mr Smith from Luton who took his electric car to France and discovered he needed an adaptor which costs £500 then went to Belgium and discovered he needed a different one, etc...

Facebook boobs over breastfeeding page... again

JasonW
Flame

Did I miss something?

Aren't the "Leaky Boobs" in question not *used* pretty much exclusively by under-13s - they've seen them before, even touched them.

OMG! Someone think of the children scarred by this outrage!

Video games go off quicker than tomatoes

JasonW
WTF?

Which? Stating the obvious (and charging you for it) since 1883

Maybe not 1883, but they do have a habit of doing it and recommending some bizarre things as "best buy" (make sure you've been to the toilet before reading their broadband package reviews)

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