Posts by JasonW

BT fibre upgrades hit full speed

Given the man-in-the-middle HTTP hijack yesterday....

The sole purpose for this upgrade would appear to be to allow people to download the spamvertised software faster.

Lords: Analogue radio must die

Not all bad...

Shipping the cast of the Archers to Guantanamo sounds like a step forward to me.

BT hijacks business browsers

I've not laughed so much in a long time

A great distraction that was - spending a half-hour in BT Business Broadband forums (which are hosted in the US for some reason - don't BT have any webservers in the UK? and run at least 4 tracking scripts - obviously for statistical purposes only and not target advertising, oh no)

Some of the crap that BT foist on their customers is legendary. Everyone should look!

Street View spymobiles invade CeBIT

@LuMan

Lebensraum is Environment or Habitat...

Save DAB! Send FM radios to Africa

Go on then, I'll bang on a bit more about DAB v FM

Here I am, in Scotland, but because I dare to live outside the central belt - I cannot get any local (or local-national) radio via DAB because there's co commercial multiplex and OFCOM refuse to even advertise for it (because the service area is unattractive). So gone is any local news or any local programming. What a great idea.

I can however get the World Service, 1Xtra, Asian Network - which between them would possibly garner a combined listenership well into double figures. In fact I'm so lucky that I can get 2 versions of all of the stations on the PSB bouquet but they're all in some crappy overcompressed format that is on a par with good medium wave or pre-stereo FM with ghosting.

For my neighbours to the south, in England, they have the same story - because they're in a sparsely populated area (mid- & north-Northumberland)

Bill Gates hits Twitter, re-opens Facebook

Dunno why...

... but every time I see his name or face I think of Kermit the Frog. I think I'll follow Kermit on Twitter instead.

Survey outs Britain as nation of tech twits

Anyone who interacts with the "Great" British Public....

... will not be surprised.

It's amazing how some of them function socially and economically to be honest.

Labour MP experiences nasty video shock horror

Borders?

Which one - I thought they all closed before Christmas...

UK etailer calls self 'the last place you want to go'

Can't fault them on the slogan

I've been saying this for the last 10 years or more - "<expletive> Dixons! That's the last place I'll go."

Still won't go there unless it's either a life-threatening emergency (and I honestly can't think when DSGi could ever help in that scenario).

I'd rather head off to somewhere like John Lewis (other stores are available) and get it for less with a better warranty and staff that have a clue what they're selling (unless there's been a step change in DSGi staff and they now know what they're selling?)

Hackintosher goes titsup

Wow! Apple force people to buy stuff?

How do they do that exactly? Hold your family hostage whilst you go and buy Cupertino-originated hardware.

I don't deny that some of it looks good and performs well, but it all comes at a higher-than-it-should-be price tag because it's got some fruit on it.

Verizon snuffs Google for Microsoft search

Who uses provider-supplied homepages etc anyway?

I've never used the default landing page provided by any mobile telco - they're full of celebutard news and the like and get in the way of (a) real news and (b) why I opened the browser in the first place - both whilst eating some of my bandwidth (that of course we get to pay for ex-nose here)

Google says ad blockers will save online ads

@AC 16/12/2009 01:02 GMT

You forgot TACO... opt you out of a heap of targeted advert networks too.

Parcelforce to drop Windows 7 compatibility through letterbox in New Year

They'll just leave a card

If ParcelFarce live up to their usual around here they'll slip a card in the door so gently that not even the dog in the hall will hear it asking you to go to a depot 25 miles away.

Mine's the one with the "we were unable to deliver your parcel" card in the pocket.

One in 200 success rate keeps phishing economy ticking over

Who are these 0.47%?

They shouldn't be left in charge of a bath, never mind a bank account.

iTunes gifts Blighty 12 freebies of Christmas

@Dennis Healey

The Cube has hit it on the nail - it's not exactly a compelling freebie...

"last year's "biggest star performers" included Katy Perry"

dear me...

"Lily Allen"

she seems to be the new Rex Harrison, talking her way through her "songs" - if I want "spoken word" I'll buy an audiobook

"and The Ting Tings"

:-s

Apple cult leader emails outside world

"we have approximately 6 million customers"

... of an app to recover from catastrophic Jobsian HW failure.

Glad I have a £20 MP3 player upon which I only have copies of files that are rips from my CD collection. If it dies, it'll be hit with an FBH* to save my data falling into the wrong hands, I'll buy a new one and move right along.

BBC iPlayer to hit Freesat boxes by month's end

Bums!

Need to run a cat 5 to the TV now... for research purposes of course :-)

Granada to start losing analog telly tomorrow

It has to take this long...

... because Arqiva don't have enough people (I refuse to call them engineers when it's spanner-wielders who probably have no engineering qualifications) to make the required changes to all the network infrastructure. In a lot of cases they're physically building replacement masts (see Caldbeck) or shuffling the transmitter position on the masts.

Thieves target BT cables as scrap value rises

Copper Theft

Maybe if they replaced all the copper with fibre, they could flood the scrap market *and* give us a true broadband system?

I'll stop smoking the strange cigarettes now.

Toshiba launches first domestic fuel-cell charger

Concentrated Methanol?

Seems the standard industrial grade is 99.95% pure methanol (25 litres for under £20 *retail* since you ask) - how much more concentrated is this Toshiba stuff?

Lily Allen exits Twitter, bins BlackBerry

So that backfired on him then

He should have just dumped her, give her something to twitter about.

When PCs went mobile

Laptop??? No way...

First portable PC I saw was an IBM model P70 (that's a portable Model 70 to you) - weighed in at something like 26lbs and didn't have a battery - needed mains power wherever you were. If you put it on your "lap" - as in "laptop" - your legs cooked and it was unbearably heavy too...

Kids today don't know they're born!

Microsoft sees no silver lining in Sidekick server snafu

In these parts there are 3 rules of backups

Rule 1: Back it up.

Rule 2: Back it up.

Rule 3: Back it up.

Taking backups is not rocket science. It's covering your ass in a negligence suit.

ID fraud prevention week fights UK's fastest growing crime

and to the card fraud...

... when are they going to make it illegal for card issuers to send out personalised/partially filled application forms? It might be a minuscule drop in the ocean, but I don't know anyone that's ever gone for a credit card on the back of a junk mailshot.

Kindle to come to Blighty on 19 October

Looking at the coverage maps around here...

... looks like "3" is the provider.

Small biz told to sort TV licences for PCs

@Aaron Jacobs

I've been that soldier - but took it all the way to court. When asked what evidence I was offering for my defence, I produced TV licences going back 10 years. At no point had anyone from TVL asked to see one, if they had I would have shown it.

In my case it seems to have been a cock up at the Post Office - although since we moved (and I told TVL that we had and continue to have a TVL...) because they have a slightly different approximation to my address than is on the licence, I get the letter and the licence in the same post each year (5 now).

Talking DAB and the future of radio

Another disDABified listener here

I live in Scotland (just) - can I get BBC Radio Scotland on DAB? Not a chance - that's carried on the commercial multiplex for reasons only known to the BBC (yet they carry the World Service and Asian Network - which in this neck of the woods probably have a combined listenership of about 12), if I ask the BBC when it will come they say ask Arqiva, DigitalOne and OFCOM, I ask them in turn and they say ask the other three. It all falls into a very circular argument. So I look south to see what I can receive

I can receive a BBC Local station from the other side of the border to well in excess of 20 miles to the north of here - can I get that local station on DAB? Nope - why not? Well like BBC Radio Scotland, it has to be on the commercial multiplex for reasons only known to the BBC...

I know I can listen online or via FreeView/FreeSat - but try doing any of them when in a car that's moving - because the 3G coverage around here is "limited" (nearest is 12 miles away - which is a bit limiting when you want to drive to somewhere else) and without substantial engineering the FreeView/FreeSat option is tricky too...

Then there's the bubbling mud/in wardrobe performance - I've sat 120 yards from the DAB transmitter and got it (3 different DAB receivers used) - I've sat on top of a hill with direct line of sight to the mast 10 miles away and got it, I've sat on a boat offshore with line of sight to the mast and got it...

Morrissey tells netdepressives to boycott his re-releases

I wasn't going to buy them anyway....

It was depressing enough listening to the Smiths & Mr. Morrissey the first time around without owning them.

It was a marginal thing between poking my eyes out with a stick coated in dog turd and listening to that (the only thing that stopped me was the realisation that I'd be blinded by dog turd *and* I'd still be able to hear his incessant dreary warbling).

MPs urge more action on green IT

"reducing unnecessary packaging of equipment "

That's bad news for HP then...

Aussie woman's toilet trauma prompts lav-overhaul call

If she lives alone...

why did she need to shut the dunny door anyway?

Nissan unveils high-tech e-car prototype

Why?

"The satnav’s also capable of sending various battery alerts – such as the remaining charge time – to you over the internet and by SMS."

What use is it though? So you can go and rescue your other half because she/he drove it down to zero battery life?

Tasered Oz man bursts into flames

Unnamed?

The immolated chap is named here -> http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25812982-421,00.html

Nice to see that he's also charged with "possession of a sniffing substance" (viz. petrol) - so presumably most car drivers in Stralia are also committing that offence, yet getting off whatever-the-equivalent-of-Scot-free-is-in-Australia

Mine's the one with a Drizabone hat in the pocket.

ISPs vs BBC iPlayer: Missing the point?

So...

... I pay my ISP for an agreed amount of data transfer.

If I choose to use that up on non-mainstream, insignificant traffic sources, then they have no problem.

If I choose to use it with mainstream, significant sources they want the source to pay too?

Isn't that the ISP trying it on to be paid twice for the same thing?

Perhaps if the ISPs that are struggling to deliver what they've clearly oversold, they should try realigning their retail prices to their costs rather than all leading the race for the bottom of the sewer. By judicious choice of ISP, you can actually get what you pay for.

A parting thought paraphrased, from the mid-19th century, for those in the beancounting department and marketing departments of the whining ISPs: Income 20 shillings, expenditure 19 shillings and sixpence result happiness. Income 20 shillings, expenditure 20 shillings and sixpence, result misery & ruin.

Designer pitches flat-pack power plug

Hasn't he been to South Africa?

British plugs aren't the biggest... in South Africa, they use BS546-style 15A unfused plugs - which are larger.

Mine's the one with a universal travel adaptor in the pocket.

Beware 'mobile elbow', sawbones warn

Nerves??

Nerves are part of the circulatory system now? When did that change?

Blood doesn't "flow through the nerves" - Science has known that for centuries, why doesn't the Torygraph? and much more importantly why doesn't Dr. Leon Benson?

Downing Street on Phorm: 'Meh'

So in two stories....

On the petition response, Government says: ICO is an independent body, and it would not be appropriate for the Government to second guess its decisions. However, ICO has been clear that it will be monitoring closely all progress on this issue, and in particular any future use of Phorm's technology. They will ensure that any such future use is done in a lawful, appropriate and transparent manner, and that consumers' rights are fully protected.

Then the Government says this in response to the Lords' surveillance criticism: The Government has refused to extend to the private sector the power of privacy regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to inspect public bodies' privacy and data protection systems. It would only say that it would "listen" to the arguments for extending that power.

I could be wrong, but that looks to me like they are saying the ICO is looking but can't do anything about it.

Ford shows off e-van concept

FAIL!

70mph is 112km/h not 131 as stated in the article. Does nobody at El Reg have a clue?

Hertfordshire drivers endure 200-year roadworks

@alan

From 6 December 2001 to 10 December 2201 looks like 200 years and a couple of days to me, but then I'm old enough to have a proper O-level in maths.

Romeo 419ers take Canadian women for $300k

"You think you're smarter than [the crooks], but you're not. It can happen to anyone."

Cobblers - it can only happen to the desperate and gullible. Should be jailed for her own safety (at her expense of course).

Amazon unveils Kindle 2.0

I'll stick to the tried and tested

500 years of printed books can't be that bad. With a £250 price (yeah right - we know it'll be £ = $ on the pricing) tag on it that's nearly 40 books I could buy and have something to show for it at the end (or to sell to a second hand bookshop)

Arizona Super Bowl fans cop eyeful of todger

Surely...

... it's just replacing one lot of bollocks (Superbowl) with another set (Grumble flick)?

Purely coincidental that one of the companies involved is "Cox Communications" :-)

Paris, because she's only seen a cockatoo

First Windows 7 beta puts fresh face on Vista

"Vista with bells on"

Didn't they used to put bells on lepers?

Nuff

Young Paris knows all about bells - well certain parts of them.

Take a hammer to your hard drive, shrieks Which?

@Ash (del*.*)

The witch from Which? is on the radio now and has not mentioned any secure erase process - only the delete key. So it might well be that opening the recycle bin and "restore" would work.

These idiots need to find real jobs.

Paris - because she knows all about protecting her information.

American Express web bug exposes card holders

@AC "Express Hacking"

I find my Amex card is good for scraping frost from the windscreen. At least it's one of the few cards I carry that has no other discernible function - so if it gets mangled I don't care :-)

Lord Lamont joins Phorm board

I'm singing in the bath....

Perhaps Norm will be reliving the day the pound crashed out of the ERM when Phorm crashes off the face of the planet. I trust that YouTube will block videos of him singing in the bath as he apocryphally did that day as extreme pornography.

DVLA under scrutiny over penalty notice dating game

@Neil

If you'd read further you'd discover that anyone could have entered the draw to win the car without acting online to SORN or re-tax.

I did and taxed mine at my local threatened-with-closure Post Office whilst simultaneously sending 24 packages to all corners of the globe to cause maximum annoyance to the crinkly customers.

Mine's the one with a large collection of "proof of posting" notices in the pockets.

Dawkins' atheist ad campaign hits fundraising target

@Mike Crawshaw

Nope you are not alone. Persons attempting to ram their beliefs down my throat are given short shrift by me, often quoting back from their holy book of choice as a counter argument to their own point of view.

BT's Phorm small print: It's all your fault

So I email them...

... what is Kent going to do with my email address?

The cynic in me thinks he's about to sell it on to his spamming mates.

Microsoft waves updated Maps, Hotmail at customers

Updated?

Aerial Photos at least 5 years old, mapping even older around here - judging by the progress on the street in which I've been resident for the last 3½ years

Microsoft starts stoking hype for Windows 7

@Fluffykins

It won't need *a* Cray - it'll need at least 3