Posts by Bod

Facebook strips away a bit more of your privacy – but won't say why

Re: Once more with feeling...

I just downvote people who moan about being downvoted. Much like users of Facebook, if you are STUPID enough to post a comment on El Reg, be prepared to be downvoted.

Nintendo is FLATLY UNHINGED: New 2DS is a handful of game

Profitability

As I read somewhere else, the key with the 2DS is it's simpler and cheaper to produce which makes is potentially more profitable. It's never going to be a huge seller though would appeal to budget concious parents or even kids who've saved a lot of pocket money (or probably not that much these days). Or anyone who just wants a gadget to play fun little games on the move but doesn't want to drain their smartphone flat by playing 15 minutes of one game.

Star Wars revival secret: This isn't the celluloid you're looking for

Re: 24 fps ... bah

High frame rates just makes it like watching an episode of Eastenders on TV. Loses the cinematic feel.

Same problem with the artifical motion processing in modern TVs, and worse they tend to make some things far too smooth that it becomes unnatural.

However there is a point about 24fps on HD TVs, if they're set to 24p. There's an argument that many TVs will enhance the flicker and judder effects that cinemas tend to reduce with a double shutter. Though I'm not sold on that argument. However I have noticed that despite 24p supposedly eliminating 3:2 pulldown issues you always got with NTSC video (60Hz/30fps), it still judders but in a different way. You can just turn on the motion processing on your fancy telly though, or set the player to output 50/60p instead (as many modern TVs will sort out the pulldown issues anyway).

filters

JJ already has the lens flare filter.

Acorn’s would-be ZX Spectrum killer, the Electron, is 30

Re: 32K- the BBC Micro's most annoying limitation

"And then the BBC Master 128 had 64K RAM, 64K sideways RAM? And while you could store programs in sideways RAM, you couldn't run it from there?"

Basically a paging mechanism as I understood it. You could get sideways ram for the plain model B also. Sat in one of the ROM chips and like those it you would page it in and out of the 64K addressable memory. So one of the ROMs would have to take a back seat while you use the ram.

One thing I never got my head round though was I swore the 32K Beeb had 64K worth of actual dram chips. I remember believing they were 4K each or something and counting them up and that makes 64. I assumed it was same as the C64 then where the 32K of ROM was copied into RAM... but seems not?

Tat bazaar eBay takes a rest for 'scheduled maintenance', goes offline

Scheduled Maintenance

Scheduled sure... by NSA

Space-walker nearly OPENED HELMET to avoid DROWNING

There's a film in that

Quick, bang out a film based on it, pad it out to 3 hours, in 3D.

Still would be more interesting than just recycling every film made in the last 10 years due to lack of imagination. Though they'd then have another film to remake in a couple of years.

Google follows Amazon with auto-encryption of cloud data

Re: Encryption needs to be on the client side to be secure

Just encrypt on the client and don't process on the server then. Though you'd then need your key in the cloud to decrypt to actually make it useful off device for other cloudy services.

Encryption on cloud storage is not really much interest to me. The chances of someone nicking one of their discs and leaking the data, or some member of staff copying it off, is slim or at least prosecutable.

My concern is far more about the device when syncing my private data to the cloud.

Microsoft to fund Blake's 7 return as Xbox Live exclusive

Re: Was B7 a Fluke?...

Gareth Thomas was right to leave as the show early on lost its roots and descended into standard sci-fi fighting aliens insetad of fighting the federation. Though I still loved it despite the flaws.

I've always hoped a remake would go back to the core principles, and it should remain bleak with conflict between central characters, and possible bleak ending. So that rules out any US involvement, which means no money (given the BBC couldn't give a rats about it, not that they can afford it either), whcih means it will never be made.

I was dubious about the remake announced last year and now if it's come to this there's no hope for it. Sounds worse than a straight to video.

Re: "MICROSOFT TO FUND BLAKE'S 7 RETURN AS XBOX LIVE EXCLUSIVE!"

I'd see Microsoft as a member of the Federation with Apple as the core ('core' - geddit?) with Steve Jobs, were he still about, as Servalan / the guy from the patent office.

Google are the loose group of freedom fighters. Or maybe that's Samsung, flying around the galaxy stealing ideas for their next phone, and Avon is their lawyer.

AOL boss: Soz about that 'Abel, you're fired!' Patch showdown

Re: No such thing as bad publicity?

I thought they died when they stopped filling my bin with CDs

Despite Microsoft Surface RT debacle, second-gen model in the works

Re: Yeah.. right..

I used Thunderbird for years as a substitute for Outlook when I was too cheap to have Office at home (and you need the premium versions to get Outlook usually these days anyway).

I liked Thunderbird but it was never quite all what Outlook was. And it didn't even have a calendar out of the box! You had to use a plug in, and even then it didn't integrate well. Thunderbird always needed some fiddling to get it working the way you wanted or worked I found.

Contacts, calendars, scheduling meetings and general office type features that go beyond just email is where Outlook excels, and in the latest versions it's pretty good now, hooking up with Lync in office environments, and Hotmail/Facebook/Linkedin and a whole load of others generally.

I get the whole Office suite now as part of a subscription I use for my contracting work, and wasn't going to bother with Outlook, but tried it and it does everything I want with ease and can't say I miss Thunderbird or feel it would be better.

That said, a cut down Outlook for RT is fairly pointless.

Who's the market?

Home users - Outlook is no killer app for them.

Business users - Outlook is only an option if it's the full Outlook.

And are they adding back in domain support? If not then what's the point of Outlook for business use if it won't hook up with an AD domain? And on a tablet you want Lync support too especially for meetings.

Re: The killer feature would be x86 emulation

"So the porting process is just a case of switching the compile option from x86 to ARM"

Lol! I really wish it was that simple. I really do.

The only things that will in theory be easy are those in byte compiled languages such as Java and .NET, but on the RT the underlying framework is just not there. .NET is only a small subset implemented and Java is non existent.

Runtime environments for C/C++ etc - again just not there. Microsoft didn't implement full Windows on RT. They implemented a subset of it, or rather an approximation of something looking like Windows that just runs Windows Store Apps, and nothing more.

No point in high level languages if the low level is not there.

And at the lower levels - the APIs are still not there, and then you're getting into major architecture differences even between ARM and x86.

Chrome, Firefox blab your passwords in a just few clicks: Shrug, wary or kill?

Never used the 'feature'

First time the option was added to a browser to save passwords, might have even been IE, I disabled it. No way I'm trusting a browser to passwords for every site I visit.

It forces you to actually remember the passwords also. More so if you disable the cookies on those sites too, though it's become more inpractical the more sites depend on cookies and the wealth of sites that use centralised authorisation through Google, FB, etc. Though at least if you're going for one password to store all your other passwords like in Firefox, then better to have a cookied auth via your Google account to authorise that site as your Google password isn't stored, only that your session is authenticated and that expires from time to time and have to log into Google again, or you can log it out yourself / revoke access to one or all sites.

HALF of air passengers leave phones on ... yet STILL no DEATH PLUNGE

It's not about safety, it's about annoyance

The systems aren't going to crash with mobile signals about, but the comms systems can get interference. Probably not so that the crew cannot hear anything, but enough to make them pissed off.

They do know about phones switched on. I've been on a few flights where they have announced that they are not moving until whoever it is switches off their phone. On one they even somehow tied it down to a section of the cabin where they knew it was and started opening the overhead bins to turn the thing off. I've no idea how they managed to pinpoint the location though.

Internal US flights yes often have wifi. Though it's on a different band and I wonder if they shield the cabin so signals aren't going to get onto the deck. Seems a bit advanced, but maybe possible.

The main reason I see for sticking your phone on flight or turning it off personally is it's pointless having it sat in high power mode struggling to find a signal and draining the battery. Then again if everyone else did that at least they'd have a dead phone on landing and I wouldn't have to listen to hundreds of phones receiving "welcome to the country" text messages and them phoning their friends/family/taxi-driver. It's not going to make a difference if you call them 1ms after landing given you'll be sat in bag reclaim for the next hour (or if Heathrow, more than that including time to fill in the lost luggage forms).

Beam me up? Not in the life of this universe

Cloning

It would probably be better to concentrate on some form of rapid cloning. You just need a simple DNA copy then and a machine that can grow a copy in minutes at the destination, and then transfer the memory into the copy.

Re: Trekker alert!!

There was a short story or something based on this. Magic boxes people stepped into and were transported to the destination, until it was revealed the boxes made copies and the original person was killed.

"The art of flying is to launch yourself at the ground and miss."

Funny enough, that was how planetary orbit was explained to me by my science teacher. Well, to launch forward with enough speed that you always miss the ground.

Sony and Panasonic plan 300GB Blu-Ray replacement for 2015

Re: Sony... Oh well.

"Sony have developed a lot of good formats."

MiniDisc... oh wait.

SACD... oh wait.

Proprietary Memory Stick, that's a great idea too ;)

Re: First news story for the Playstation 5?

"HD-DVD was slower, had less capacity"

Transfer speed made crap all difference for video use. It plays movies at the correct speed. Job done.

My HD DVDs also all load *way* faster than it takes my Blu Ray player to chug away loading a pile of Java code for the menus. Just let me skip the thing and play the movie. Can't I just uninstall Java from it? ;)

Capacity was a non issue. Never had an HD DVD movie that was split over two discs. Extras might be on another where they could cram them on one Blu Ray, but so what. I'm bored with extras these days anyway (though I'm bored with movies too. Barely buy any on optical formats now).

Someone mentioned not as tough. The other way round. Blu Ray was vulnerable because the data layer was closer to the surface. They had to implement a fix putting a protective hard coating layer on it. HD DVD was just the same as any DVD and while no protective layer, it was more tolerant due to bigger laser wavelength / bigger pits on the surface (hence the smaller capacity). In fact my one only 'HD' format disc that is non playable is on Blu Ray. There's a very tiny scratch there almost impossible to see. I've got big scratches on HD DVDs like on old DVDs and they play fine.

Re: Seems Irrelevant

and MP3s... yes, the vast (and I mean vast) majority don't really give a crap about the quality, they just want the music. Passing some kids the other day walking through the local park and they were happy listening to whatever autotuned crap it was on their mobile phone speaker. Mono speaker, truly awful quality. Oh whilst on a call to someone and letting the person at the other end listen to the music fed back from the speaker to microphone and over the network. Even worse. They all enjoyed it.

Same with the millions of iSheep and clones with terribly fitting ear buds that clearly are poor quality because it's leaking so much sound, but they don't care.

Sad for those of us who do, but we are the minority.

Re: Seems Irrelevant

"Let me know how downloading a 300GB movie works for you"

Let me know when the average consumer not only wants but could even see a blind bit of difference in a 4K set up anyway, let alone afford it.

Non starter for the consumer.

Hell, most of my friends and family still use DVD and having seen HD stuff, their reaction is yeah it's nice, but they're happy with their little 26" telly in the corner of the room and would not be able to tell the difference. And I agree. My folks have a smaller telly, only 720p and they play DVDs on it and standard def Sky. It looks great on that size telly. HD is a high cost for them and really only marginal benefit, and they're only really interested in watching the show or film, not how good it looks.

You've got 600k+ customers on 4G... but look behind you, EE

Number of 4G subscribers != Number of people actually using a 4G signal

Let's have the real figures. Those with a 4G signal.

I'm a 3G subscriber effectively. 80% of the time when on the move I get GPRS, EDGE (yes, EDGE!) or no signal at all. 3G is a luxury.

Comet ISON seen eructating 300,000km-long methane and CO2 BELCH

CO2 and Methane...

... Oh no! It's obviously all our fault.

SkyDrive on par with C: Drive in Windows 8.1

Re: ?

"I have near-on 1TB of photos"

Isn't David Cameron going to put a stop to that? ;)

BBC abandons 3D TV, cites 'disappointing' results

Sky 3D

They've already changed it so you can watch it if that programme is on one of your subscribed channels rather than paying extra. Not that it makes me any more likely to watch it even though I have the 3D kit (glasses have barely been out of their box).

Re: It was "stereoscopic", not "3D".

"Lightfield cameras have no greater application in 3D than stereoscopic cameras. The only advantage they would give is the ability for the viewer to adjust the focus at the time of viewing, rather than it being set by the director/cinematographer in a way intended to direct the attention of or evoke the emotion in the audience. In other words, completely subverting the artform."

Which is the core problem of "3D". People can find it difficult to watch because the focus is controlled but the brain wants to focus on what its looking at. This is far less of a problem with a flat 2D image even if that itself is focused on particular points of a real world scene.

I find it nothing more than a curiosity like the old stereo ViewerMaster. They were interesting but very unreal as elements float around the scene disjointed at different depths. I get the same effect with 3D on my TV and then as motion is involved there's horrible points where you can no longer focus your eyes on something moving close by and go cross eyed.

It basically doesn't work and is unnatural. Entirely opposite to what they try to sell it as. "ah but 3D is so much better because it's like real life!"... but that's the point, it isn't!

It was a fad in the 50s to boost audiences. It's the same fad now.

As a footnote... nothing wrong with 3D TVs though. They're generally the better panels for 2D ;)

Apple files patent for 'Waze-plus'

"which if granted"

"which if granted" - of course it will be granted! This is the USPTO.

Patent officer is an idiot... tick

Patent applied for by Apple... tick

Granted.

At last: EU slashes mobile roaming fees

How about roaming within the UK?

Local breakout overseas to use another operator is fine, but how about giving us that option within the UK?

I don't even mind if there's a small surcharge if I'm not on my home network.

The main issue I find is just sticking with one network leaves you with massive coverage holes, especially with 3G. I have a work and personal phone and one is on Vodafone, one on Orange and travelling on the train, in the office, at home, and in the countryside I find one has good coverage in some places while the other has none and vice versa. All we need is either open up all the towers to all networks or allow phones to roam within the UK to boost signal availability.

That Microsoft-Nokia merger you've been predicting? It's no go

Sad

It's sad to go past Southwood every day and see the big multi-story car park entirely empty. Emptied by Elop the day the burning platform memo went out and subsequently all the Symbian staff were kicked out.

Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle

Re: If they touted these at IT pro's

" It is not an environment where you could write an application of any great size."

True. But comms and sharing documents with colleagues on the team, tweaking the odd file perhaps direct in an online repository (git etc), with suitable apps you could do some lightweight development while on a train etc, and then there's Remote Desktop.

For those who just need access to fiddle with servers, to use as a portable console, it would be quite handy.

But then an Android slab would do all this too.

My interest in a Win slap is for Win apps... that don't run on RT.

MPs demand UK rates revamp after Google's 'extraordinary tax mismatch'

Double standards

What gets me is the rants about Google, Amazon, etc, and yet the gov has been quite happy to provide massive tax breaks to Hollywood to encourage them to shoot the likes of the new Star Wars films and yet that is effectively a sanctioned tax avoidance scheme as after all they're not paying their so called "fair share" are they? ;)

Obligations to pay tax

MPs can jump up and down all they like (though they're only doing it due to public/press pressure). You only ever pay the tax legally required and have no obligation to do anything otherwise. What is legally due *is* their fair share, not what people think you should morally pay. HMRC is not a charity and you are a fool to volunteer tax that is not due, not to mention damaging shareholder's interests. I'd quote Lord Clyde yet again, but I'll leave that to a Google search.

They just need to propose a change to the law, and it should be simple, open and fair, applying to everyone equally.

Oh wait, that mean's they'll get shafted in their own avoidance schemes ;)

Online music world on iRadio: Apple, imagine our concern

Re: Lawsuit ahoy!

More like iRadio.ie will get their ass sued.

Just did a quick search and I can't see iRadio trademarked in Ireland, though that was a very quick search. In which case Apple just trademark it and because the two are now in the radio business they can sue for infringement. iRadio.ie need to trademark the name pronto (as Apple haven't yet in Ireland it appears).

Re: Dateline: Cupertino, CA

and a multitasking operating system too. Don't forget that. I mean, wow!

Apple at WWDC: Sleek new iOS, death of the big cats, pint-sized Mac Pro

Re: Innovation?

I think Microsoft and Nokia lawyers will be getting ready on this one. They need to get patents out though on what they've already produced, but I'd assume Apple have already got them having just copied it all and will proceed to sue MS, Nokia et al as usual.

Manufacturers with square corners need to be prepared too ;)

"LOL at the "Made in California" motifs being splashed everywhere - why not just add "Unlike that EVIL Samsung" to the monicker?"

Suppose it's better than "Made in California so we can stop getting pestered about all that Chinese slave labour and death alegations"

The pride of it being made in California isn't in any way the primary reason for them doing it.

Police 'stumped' by car thefts using electronic skeleton key

Re: Sonic Screwdriver

Need to make the lock out of wood.

So, who ought to be the next Doctor Who? It's up to YOU...

Re: Andrew Buchan

"OR

They are going to keep it underwraps till the final moments of the episode on Xmas Day"

Fat chance. BBC can't keep a Doctor Who secret for more than a day, especially where The Sun is involved.

MYSTERY Nokia image-mangling mobe spotted in public

Re: I've been waiting a long time for this.

"A hybrid microkernel based design would be a good start..."

Real world advantage of is?

Modern doesn't always mean good.

My view of the mobile space is it's got obsessed with cramming heavy layered, resorce hungry, desktop derived OS into mobile devices and relying on manufacturers to beef up component performance enough to cope.

While Symbian had on top of it a weak UI until the latter days, it was designed entirely to provide an efficient and resource light OS for mobile devices. They were finally getting on the right track when Elop decided a bloated and inflexible OS was more suitable.

Doctor Who? 12th incarnation sought after Matt Smith quits

8th series could be something very different

With enthusiasm flagging over the quality this season and BBC seem to be getting weary of the show judging by their lack of enthusiasm for the 50th anniversary or even producing an 8th series (still no sign of episodes going into production and The Mill have quit doing effects, so what chance of episodes any time before the end of 2014?), I suspect a reboot or big reset button at least and we could be looking at a different approach to the show. Maybe not even a 12th (13th if you count Hurt) Doctor. Maybe a total reboot back to the 1st. Maybe not a regeneration as we know it, or maybe jump back and do the time war. Could even just kill The Doctor and launch a new series of adventures following another character (gives them more excuse to go with a female obviously).

Though, I'd still go with Hugh, but he'd cost too much and is too well known.

http://aardvarkian.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/doctorwhohouse.jpg

Re: Pull the plug

Bunch of yanks are supposedly remaking Blake's 7 yes, though high probability it won't make it past a pilot if even that, and even if it was made it will be utter crap.

Re: 12th?

The limit was lifted in a comment on one of the Sarah Jane Adventures as I remember. Basically said he could regenerate hundreds of times now.

Tim Cook: Wearable tech's nice, but Google Glass will NEVER BE COOL

Re: Cook says:-

"If you have to wear glasses to read your email or look things up then you (a) can't look cool in shades and (b) wear your usual glasses."

I'm sure they can still look cool, but besides that... people wear watches to tell the time, if you have to use a watch to read emails or look things up then, you'll get a lot of cramp in your arm ;)

Not to mention look like a kid from the 80s who still thinks "digital watches are a pretty neat idea".

If you've bought DRM'd film files from Acetrax, here's the bad news

Re: Thank god I bought VHS

VHS had a few forms of copy protection over the years. Macrovision being the common one. Thankfully better quality VHS machines coped with it. It was really basic just relying on a fluctuating weak signal that was strong enough to watch but weak enough for a second machine to be affected when copying. A good quality machine, especially those with S-VHS and good connectors didn't have a problem.

DVD rippers were even crippled by making them identify copy protection such as that and any hidden signal stuff. Redundant now no one has a real need to rip from VHS of course.

At least however it's not DRM in the sense of restricting your ability to play the original where you wanted, unless you were a worshipper of Sony and bought Betamax and couldn't therefore play VHS tapes ;)

It's also a rip that Ultraviolet rights expire quickly. I don't usually use it but on the occasion I think it might be useful to take it on my latest portable gadget, the deal has long since expired.

Or you buy a DVD/Blu Ray that's been in stock for a while and the date has expired.

Re: illegal download sites

I've had companies refuse registered letters when trying to cancel or complain about something, or at least they "lose" them and RM has no evidence they were ever signed for. Company denies all knowledge and continues to bill or provide crappy service.

So you want to be a contractor? Well, here's how it works

“where do you see yourself in five years time”

Yep, I've had that one in a contract interview. Couldn't believe it.

Honest answer came back, running and growing my business supplying solutions for clients. Wasn't what they were expecting. Think they were just having problems getting permies anyway and were advertising for contractors to hook in as permies.

Re: Ltd Co. ?

A Ltd Co is there to separate your personal affairs from your business affairs and protects you to a degree.

Some agents and indeed clients insist on only working with a Ltd Co. anyway.

Who is Samsung trying to kid? There will NEVER be a 5G network

Forget 5G, 4G doesn't really exist...

...for the majority and won't be available to most people probably until the same time, 2020. If ever.

Hell, 3G for me is virtually non existent most places I go. I barely even get a signal on my daily commute on the train, even 2G, and it's through the towns of the heavily populated South East. Zero signal at all in the countryside, 2G only at home yet in a big town. Barely 3G at the office (drifts between 3G and no signal, battery draining like mad as a result).

Re: haha tw@ts

Yet when Apple patents 5G (and they certainly will try), you'll be wanking all over it.