Posts by David

Gordon 'to sacky' Wacky Jacqui

Vote Extremist ?

Good riddance to the woman.

So who do we vote for now ? Some are worried that we will vote for extremists as a back-lash, but I think we already have the extremists in power. Complete with an unelected Prime minister. I think its a complete waste of time to vote for the 'fringe' parties, we simply would not land up with a government capable of 'fixing' the current issues. We COULD land up with some very nasty people in power --- way beyond those already there !! We NEED a strong government and boy will they be under the microscope ! So no place for the racists, environmentalists, independents. The only way to fix things is for a consensus and that means a strong party with MPs working FOR the policies and voting for GOOD IDEAS even if proffered by their enemies !

To those who reckon that the protest is to decline to vote, I would say this. You can have NO COMPLAINT --- YOU GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING --- and YOU open the door to admitting the 'extremists' by default --- YOUR deFAULT !! They are talking about making it possible to SACK an MP, but, to make that work, you can't have more people voting for the sacking than voted for the election. In fact, surely ONLY those who voted for that particular MP can participate in a vote to dismiss them ? Or would that be too close to fairness and common sense to be acceptable ? For that to work, we could no longer have a secret ballot. So, fail to vote and WE WILL KNOW WHO YOU ARE, so shut your face and drink your pint --- close the door when you leave !

The British (read GUTTER) Press have set themselves up to print innuendo, rumour, hints, nods and winks as though they were utterly factual. Indeed, they have taken upon themselves to be judge and jury. I agree with a free press, but with freedom comes a responsibility to behave in a decent manner. Bring the matter to the public attention and I applaud you for that --- go on the pillory people you don't like because you found some vague hint that they aren't squeaky clean, then I won't buy you rag. Character assassination based on rumour is right down there in the mire. Seen the behaviour of the press photographers ? If one of their 'victims' pulled a machine gun from under their coat and simply sprayed in a 360 degree burst of fire, I don't think I could find them guilty of anything other than creating litter --- and I might let them off with a £10 fine !

Maybe that's a bit too extreme :)

Army officer tossed laptops into the sea

Computer rights v Human rights

Seems to me that you can toss your laptop into the sea if you like, as there is no such thing as 'computer rights'. On the other hand, what about the human rights of those who ambush British soldiers ? In my opinion, when you choose to ambush a British soldier, you choose to surrender YOUR human rights at the same point, therefore expect to be dead soon !! If the soldiers kill you slowly, it can only serve as a warning to others that these guys won't pat you on the head and tell you to do better next time !! It's not his fault, he was raised as a Bin Liner and is full of shit !!

For me, this also applies to my home. You enter my home for some illegal reason and without proper invitation, you leave your human rights outside on the pavement. I WILL hurt you severely and if you die, I will simply float you down the river and let the next town have the problem of sorting out who you are !

Not PC, am I. But, it has all gone too far. Time to wipe the shite off the arse of humanity!!!!!

'World's Worst Banker' joins Lads from Lagos

rate of exchange ..

$20,000,000 that's about three-and-six in old money, isn't it ?

For some reason my email address seems to attract this type of scam email by the dozen, but I haven't had this one yet. We should pick someone to forward all of them to ... maybe Gordon Brown ... anyone care to post an email address for him ? He seems to be able to print BILLIONS at the drop of a hat, so he could well manage to send money to ALL the scammers .... errrr ... isn't that exactly what he's doing already ?

SIR = Stupid Irresponsible Reject.

Google's DoubleClick spreads malicious ads (again)

just block all that crap

@Eddie Johnson, Kanhef, Stephen Sherry and RW

I agree with most of what you guys have said!

Block EVERYTHING other than the information you are actually looking for. Don't give me the info unless I turn on cookies ? -- okay scumbag, I'll get it from somewhere else ! The internet should be a great source of information of all kinds, easily accessible to ORDINARY people without degrees in data protection. It should NOT be about spying on ordinary people going about their legal use of a great international facility. 'It helps to taylor things for a better user experience' BOLLOCKS !! It tells YOU the scum what WE the FODDER might be thinking about buying !! I would have them hung, drawn and quartered !!!

Paris Hilton scoops triple Razzie dishonour

Paris is for looking at

Paris is a beautiful young woman and the envy of most of the women I know, so they decry her for all kinds of unreasonable reasons, but when were women ever reasonable?

As for acting, well, does it matter ? We already know that all the women voted against her because they couldn't bear to have her up there in front of us men ... and it would alsop remind the women of their own shortcomings (not that we men actually care, we love them just how they are ! ). The men voted against her because their wives told them to --- and warned them about what they wouldn't get if they did !!

I think she's great --- no computer scientist --- not a mathematician --- not an actress, but a lovely young lady who is just so easy on the eye.

Norway mobilizes against IE 6

Microcrap spies on YOU !

They call it internet 'EXPLORER' ---- well, it doesn't know its way around, so it calls home !!

For Explorer read SPY !!

The reason that it seems to be the most popular browser is because it is foisted onto people with the operating system and they are often scared to change anything.

Almost anything is better --- Mozilla, Firefox, Opera ... to name a few.

MS stuff is such bloatware ... and I don't like that it calls home !!

Paris Hilton celebrates 28

Happy Birthday Paris

I for one simply wish her a Happy Birthday.

I dislike the negative jibes, usually made by the uglier members of our sickish society. Paris is a beautiful girl and suffers more from the jealousy of the holier-than-thou brigade and the lesser intelligent dirty-minded little bastard of low brain cell count, pretending to be more intelligent than her. She is just a girl of beautiful appearance who likes to live her life in her own way.

I raise my glass to her, I think she has done well ! She has certainly done a lot better than anyone that I ever heard making comments about her, that's for sure.

Apple fights iPhone unlocking (again)

... another gallon of crap

The comments about the use of non-official car parts and 'side-street' mechanics are illustrative up to a point, however, I prefer to compare this to the car maker telling you to use Shell Diesel and the woman driver who goes and fills it up with petrol instead of diesel. Can we sue the car maker because she was able to do this ? Also, should I be jailed if I fill up with some other brand of diesel ? Take the case of a petrol powered car --- to save money on fuel tax, I fill it half full of paraffin and top it up with petrol. Off I go using this fuel which is actually an abrasive !! The engine coughs after a few thousand miles. Would I not be told, its your car -- you chose to fill it with crap -- the failure is yours, not the car makers. That is unless you want to buy from Nanny Apple. Nanny Apple knows you are an idiot and just wants to protect you from yourself !! Right --- got it. Tell you what, I wont buy one -- there, smoke that !! Its just too much of a jobbie, Nanny !!

Harry Potter Lexicon published after judgment-guided edit

@coalescence

"Slam my cock in a car door..."

Hey stupid, it ain't long enough. My Biro has a bigger tip !!

Who cares if you don't like a book or books. The point here is that someone infringed an author's rights to the copyright of material published in their name. What would you do if that happened to you ? Ah..oh .. sorry, I forgot, you can't write !

I bet you have a ring in your ear/nose ... sure as hell it ain't in your foreskin ... which we all already know is too small !!

Scotland's porn laws: Can we talk about this like grown-ups?

United we fall !

So, looking at many comments above, I am left with the view that many (mostly English) WANT Scotland to be 'theirs' as in, England is such a small country on its own, we NEED Scotland to make us BIGGER !!!

Well, Scotland is delighted to be part of the unitary state that is the United Kingdom. Would that the English (in general) felt the same !

We Scots do all that we can to help our less able English friends. We give you sensible laws which you can copy if you wish --- you usually decline because they are Scottish and go on to pass some stupidly complex shadow of a bill which requires rapid and frequent amendments. Scotland's educational system is second to none and has been for centuries. In the 60s, those first year university students from Scottish schools attending Scottish Universities had to REPEAT what they did in their last year at school BECAUSE the students coming from the English system had not yet covered that work !! You should have heard the comments from the ones who went south to an English university !! Is that still the same, I don't know, but I could hazard a guess !!

Of course, without us England would grind to a halt. Most successful companies in England have Scotsmen (and women) at their heads --- chairman -- directors --- shit, even 'YOUR' government for Christ's sake !! So shut it with the Scotland isn't s separate country. It IS a separate country which chooses to be within a United Kingdom and a United Europe.

Of course, the more the EU becomes integrated, the more likely Scotland becomes to dump good old England in favour of people who are more appreciative of what the Scots have to offer. Like, we gave the world Penicillin, TV, Tarmac roads, Antiseptics, Anaesthetics, and a whole arm-long list of other stuff in your daily life !! Now, let me see if I can match that with English achievements --- I need to be strictly fair and unbiased here !

Ah .. porn .. right ! .... yup ...now I understand !!

Tiscali pulls plug on 186K

.. ten minutes to get through to your ISP ?

I was with Tiscalli years ago and I dumped them for BT --- even WORSE !!

BTs 'unlimited' broadband decided to limit me for using too much bandwidth in the evening, so my 8meg was cut to 2meg for several weeks as 'punishment' --- just about the time they started to sell TV through the network !!! BT = bloody terrible ---- Big Turd ---- Better Terminate !!

Now I am with Be and I have only had to get through to customer service twice in almost three years. I have NEVER waited more than TWO minutes to speak to a human ! Also, they solved the problem there and then, with no fuss. With Be, UNLIMITED MEANS UNLIMITED !!

My comment about Be is that their DNS servers are poor --- and they are filtering stuff out --- just like some other ISPs ---- its the highest level of NANNY service !! The solution is to find public FREE DNS servers and link to them instead of the ones provided by your ISP. Works for me !!

As for dumping people. Well, I would cut off supply to a customer who failed to pay on time. Also, in future I wouldn't give them credit because they don't deserve to have it. To provide credit to ANYONE who doesn't pay is the same as making all those who do pay, pay more ! If anyone fails to understand that, I will be happy to explain in more detail. :-) Not for even a moment am I suggesting that this is the problem here !! hahahaha

Gome appoints new chairman as police continue investigation

I too read 'Gnome'

I need new glasses !!

Pierre, when you mention 'bankers', I feet sure that it is now spelled with a 'w' !!

Honda shows off Insight hybrid

MPG

My Honda SR V easily returns 45mpg on the open road traveling at the legal speed limit (hey ! this is in print !) and without any particular attempt to get more out of it. Around the city where I live (UK) it consistently gives 34 or 35mpg, but I admit to being light-footed in urban driving. I don't see the point of racing some guy to the next red light ! This is my second SR V and it drives like a dream. If I have one complaint, it is that their satnav system is the worst I have ever used. Hard to program with a silly paddle thing and it doesn't take full post codes. Everything else about the car works perfectly and I have to say that I have never come across anything better. We can argue about the shape, the colour, the leather on the seats, but take it from a previous Lotus driver, this is a well built car which drives smoothly and is very responsive. Oh yes ! .. AND ... it is wholly built in the UK ! :)

As for their new offering, well, I will look forward to a test drive when they invite me -- then I'll pass comment.

Another miserable quarter for Dixons

The X in their name stands for FAILED !

The keyboard failed on an PC which I use only for music software attached to my Yamaha Clavinova, so not too urgent, but, thought I, there is a sale at PCWorld. This was Boxing Day, so I headed off for my bargain. The car park was full and they were queuing to get in. WOW !! I only want a keyboard, so maybe I'll come another day. I sat across the road for about ten minutes talking to my son on the mobile phone, watching the mob fight their way into PCWorld. Slowly it dawned on me --- they are almost killing each other to get in --- and coming out empty-handed !!!

I drove half a mile to Maplins where I was greeted by name (I shop there quite often) by staff who know what is in the store and how it works. I got a nice keyboard for the purpose and it cost me so little that I wasn'y even tempted to ask for a discount. Maplins have an excellent after sales service and the guarantee IS worth the paper its printed on. Trouble is that they don't sell everything 'technical' that I want, or they could easily become my number one port of call.

Long ago Dixons was a camera shop. They pretended that professional photographers bought from them, which they didn't!! The guarantee in those days was five yards beyond the front door or five minutes, whichever came first --- hmmm --- hings haven't changed as much as I thought !!

As an employer, Dixons is right at the bottom of the heap --- way below ASDA, Sainsbury, et. al. 'you'll be paid what we choose to pay you, you'll sell what we tell you to sell, and you'll lie like we tell you to lie --- the customer doesn't know what he wants, we do, so as long as we can extract something from his plastic, who cares if he can feed his kids !! Maybe make some half-hearted 'caring' noises whilst you ram a 42 inch Samsung up his arse !! '

------ thanks for the info on who else they own, I now know where to avoid !

US woman says Ubuntu can't access internet

Hmm ... I bet she lights her farts with matches !

So, first signs of a stupid uncaring person is to buy from Dell.

Clearly the first requirement, even for an idiot, is to have windows available if you want to study at technical college (idiot farm) to be a window cleaner. Windows are unsuitable to do rocket science because they break too easily ! Although, being full of holes to start with, windows might be useful to a Swiss cheese maker !!

On a serious note, Ubuntu is better than windows XP. It has a nice desktop and user interface which takes only a few minutes to become familiar enough with to run most things. It comes with some first-class software applications and the net is full of more, most of which are free !! Open Office can open Word docs and can save docs out in Word format, so where is the problem ?

Ah !! ~Yes !! Not everyone is of the minimum intellectual fitness to attend college, or to be allowed to use matches !!

Apple to push Nokia into smartphone second place

What about the 'HOORAY I'M AN ARSEHOLE effect ?

I have ALWAYS had Nokia phones right from the start. I find them reliable and I can make telephone calls, which is what the thing is for. I love my Apple MacBookPro and my iMac, but I don't want an iPhone ! Why? Partly because all of those who need to show off in the kind of coffee bar I wouldn't be seen dead in, have one and wave it around so that you can see that they have one !!!

How GOOD is it as a phone ? ... I tried one and it is NOT as good as my Nokia N95 8GB, which does MUCH more than anyone could ever need from a phone !

How GOOD is it as a camera ? .. SHYTE !!

How good is it as a computer ? ... Sinclair Spectrash comes to mind !!!!!!

How good is it as a media player ? ... VERY VERY EXPENSIVE !!!

If I had one, I would have to use it in secret because I don't want anyone to think I am one of those 'look at me, I'm great' arseholes !!!

I try to use my phone discreetly, so I don't want some flashy thing which shouts out 'look at me'. I just need a phone which can store numbers, make calls, from which people can hear me clearly and on which I can hear people clearly ... that's it ... my TV is 42 inches, so why would I want an iPhone --- unless maybe my dick was only 4.2 inches !! ?? :)

Dell shuts Limerick factory and scraps 1,900 jobs

..... further comments

re: David's comment

By VulcanV5 Posted Friday 9th January 2009 12:51 GMT

Great stuff from David, but I'm wary of any argument which includes the phrase "morally supportable". Posted Friday 9th January 2009 12:51 GMT

Thank you VulcanV5 for the nice comment. Maybe I could have worded my comments better and avoided the use of 'morally', but the point is that the incentives are paid by ordinary peoples' taxes and that most execs and shareholders AVOID paying tax through the use of 'professional advisors' and therefore can't even claim to be taking back some of their own money ! I think Microsoft is a different argument, but my company doesn't use their products either ! :)

By MahatmaCoat Posted Friday 9th January 2009 17:57 GMT

"The huge incentives paid out by Ireland" were actually the subsidies from EU net contributing nations:

Absolutely !! As I said above, money from the little person ! Almost like being a serf back in the Middle Ages --- I supose a touch of the forelock is going a bit far --- or is it ? :)

I am reminded of 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall !! Or, the richer they are, the more they'll miss it when it evaporates. I simply believe in fair pay for fair work and, whilst I think that those who start companies should be paid a little more --- maybe their house was put at risk to get the finance, etc. --- I don't think the differentials seen in business today are justified by any stretch of the imagination ! In the UK we have a legal minimum wage which was brought in because some employers were simply exploiting their workers. If the employers were as decent as I wish they were, the thought of having a MAXIMUM legal wage simply wouldn't cross my mind --- but it does !!

They tell us that the major cost in manufacturing is labour. Okay, so move to Poland and reduce that cost to a TENTH of what it was. Will the price now reflect that difference, or will the Execs and shareholders milk the money cow ? Remember, labour is a MAJOR cost in production, so I am looking for a HUGE DROP IN PRICE !! Am I seeing that ? Maybe its me ! Am I getting too old to see something that I am missing here ?

Buy a Dell and support Greedy Scum

My company was offered various incentives by official bodies in Eire to move our operations to Ireland. These included VERY generous incentives including NO INCOME TAX for company directors for a number of years. As a Scorsman, of course I love the Irish. We are Celts.

I didn't take up the offers as I owned the factory I worked from and my employees had family and friends in the area, so wouldn\t have wanted to move. Anyway, the deal was to provide employment in Ireland, not to take your workforce to live there. So it wasn't for me.

I feel fairly sure that lots of execs would have taken the deal and moved on when it expired. As someone at the top end of a company I have to meet and deal with all sorts of directors and managers. I grade them in the following way:-

Bottom --- wouldn't let him into my office -- see him in reception --- don't want to trade with them

.

Lower Middle --- Five minutes in the office -- count fingers if shacking hands is unavoidable -- don't give credit..

Middle -- Typical type -- self-interest and greed written on the forehead -- avoid giving any special incentives to purchase -- consider carefully before giving credit -- not really too good for our company if people know we deal with them.

Upper Middle -- Happy to deal with them -- don't want them as friends -- probably give credit.

Lower Top -- They can have my mobile number -- they are welcome in my office -- delighted to do business with them and consider them to be 'pals', so, yes, would be pleased to have dinner with them in a restaurant.

Top -- very few of these --- I invite them to my house for dinner -- I like having them as friends -- they treat their employees properly and they don't pay themselves obscene amounts of money --they pay the tax they owe without bending the rules -- they ALWAYS pay their suppliers ON TIME.

What would I say about Dell ? Anyone who cares about their Irish workforce and the huge incentives paid out by Ireland to get themselves screwed by the greedy should now ask themselves -- if I need a computer, is it morally supportable to buy a Dell ? I think that the answer from anyone who would be invited into my house is a loud and clear NO !

Lenovo ditches 2,500 employees

We have all bought them already !

It takes a moron to think that the market for PCs will expand any time soon.

Most of us who want one, have one ! Unless some magical major improvement comes along, or the one we have falls over with a death rattle, we are unlikely (especially during a world-wide recession) to rush out and buy a new one just because we have the money and nothing else is trying to burn a hole in our pockets. I suppose there remains some market to the game players who always want the latest and fastest hardware to be able to play the latest game, but, as they are paid off from their source of income, can they find the price ?

I update my computers every few years. More frequently if my business is having good times. Right now I have a full compliment of excellent machines (all Apple now), so I have no need to go computer shopping before 2012, unless something gets damaged (unlikely), or I expand the business, highly unlikely right now !!

As for cutting exec payments by only 40 to 50%, so much for the classless society in China ! My experience of the Chinese people is that they are decent hard-working and caring. Capitalism has had the usual corrupting effect on those who find themselves in charge, as did communism before it.

My sympathies lie with the ordinary working men and women who are being screwed !!

EU raids smart card chipmakers

They can afford the fine !

It seems to me that any company which is able to pay these multi-million dollar fines, has been overcharging for its goods and services. A decent company provides excellent products/services to its customers, pays its suppliers on time, pays its employees decent levels of wages/salaries and makes a decent profit for its shareholders. I see every good reason for wanting good companies to make sensible profits, it is in everyones best interests. But, you might ask, what about the management of the ones who make obscene levels of profit, well, I think they are a bit like the Christmas tree lights I found in the loft --- most of them don't work, they are almost impossible to fix and they would look much better hanging from trees !!

Microsoft and Apple: 25 years of couples therapy

..... Just some observations

My first 'personal computer' was a Commodore PET which launched in around 1976/77/78 at the same time as the first Apple computer. I picked the PET because the screen, keyboard, tape machine and the motherboard, power supply etc. were a single integrated unit, whereas the Apple consisted of several individual components. Although, the Apple was certainly a better machine.

Previous comment above about PCDOS and MSDOS needs the addition of DRDOS. Throughout the 'DOS period', MS were playing catchup with DRDOS which was always a version ahead and lo-and-behold, the next version of MSDOS would have all the features of the previous DR DOS.

I was told a story about DRDOS and MSDOS. BOTH were in the running to be the first DOS for the new IBM PCs. DRDOS (Digital Research) quoted an honest time until their OS would be ready for market. MS quoted a shorter (but less honest time) and were appointed as the supplier, although failing to make their promised deadline. How true all this is will no doubt be known by those who were involved and if any of them read this, I would love to know ! :)

An interesting thing about running 'Word' on my iMac and MacBookPro, it runs better on an Apple than it EVER ran under 'windows'. Complex formatting always 'changed' between writing it, saving it and reloading it under all versions of 'windows', yet on the Apple, it does as it implies and works well. I have to say that I have dumped MS for anything that happens in my company because glass breaks and I have frequently suffered from shattered windows !!! Like others, I enjoy messing around with various versions of Linux and BSD, but for serious computing where being up-and-running ALL THE TIME is important, as in business, the price of Apple hardware is well justified, as is their OS (Tiger and Leopard) which compared to Micro$oft's 'arm-and-a-leg' pricing, is very reliable and is as cheap as chips !!

If there is something that you can only run under windows, my advice is DO NOT set your Apple up to dual boot. Windows is like Swiss Cheese (full of holes) and will fall over regularly --- leaving you with the task of reinstalling. Better to run VMWare which gives a virtual PC and runs plenty fast enough for most purposes. The advantage is that your windows installation is simply a file, so you can 'install' windows and then copy the file out to a backup drive. When windows falls over (as it will if you use it at all), click/drag/click and you are back with a fresh copy of windows. Also, you can drag-and-drop between windows applications and Apple applications.

I need to get out of here and do some work !! Apple is the longer established of the two, is run by a MUCH nicer guy and employs people who are not just helpful, they are knowledgeable about the products they sell. If I have one complaint it would be that they try too hard to sell me stuff by email. I am already sold, so WHEN I need something new, I will go and buy it from them.

Happy New Year to everyone at the Register. I wish for you everything you would wish for yourselves.

Mac Tablet/Mega iPod Touch due fall 2009 who knows when

Tablets, is it ?

The only thing to do with tablets is to take two with water when your head hurts from searching for the buttons and keys which you can't find ...... shyt, you have to switch it on .... I know, but the ON/OFF switch is virtual and only appears AFTER it is up and running.

I think I'll stick with my MacBookPro ---- if I need to work with a pen, I have a Bic (4 pence each) and a note book --- if I need to sketch INTO the computer, I do it on paper and simply scan it !

Anyway, the thing understands English, so I can speak and tell it what to do --- leaving my hands free to play with myself in front of the sexiest thing ever to come out of a cardboard box !

Walmart's Jesus Phone no better, no worse

just imagine some more .....

Lidl is German (as is Aldi, the other 'wear dark glasses before leaving your car, supermarket) and we all know that the Germans can't do ANYTHING without a drawing -- not just any drawing, but the latest and properly approved drawing. Drawings take too long to make and now that anyone can make one on their Apple MAC (or PC if Noah had a pair on board !), most drawings have errors. This means that your eyefone from Lidl comes with pregrems and ipplukations which don't werk !