Posts by Paul Harrap

Totes AMAZEBALLS! Side boob, binge-watch and clickbait added to Oxford Dictionary

clickbait

The addition of "clickbait" is certainly apposite.

Aliens Blu-ray disc set

Close ...

I'd put it to you that Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a commercial and critical success of a sci-fi film. And so was ET.

Or are you limiting the list of "breakthrough" films to sci-fi action movies?

US air passenger cuffed over low-flying pants

the offensive trousers were not the offence

having your trousers half off -> polite request from cabin crew to please adjust your clothing.

tardy response to polite request from cabin crew -> firm request from cabin crew.

mouthy and violent response to firm request from cabin crew -> plane makes emergency landing, passenger is escorted off by police.

resist arrest -> jail.

I have no idea why any respondent to this story thinks he was arrested or jailed because of his trousers. The same thing happens to drunk and disorderly passengers all the time, and it has nothing to do with trousers and everything to do with people not doing what the cabin crew tell them to in an aeroplane.

Popular gamers 'should play for free' – Valve boss

not quite

The idea is to punish trolls, sociopaths and asshats and reward helpful friendly people, encouraging a better atmosphere in-game.

The last high-profile attempt to encourage a better atmosphere in-game was Blizzard's plan to remove the cloak of pseudo-anonymity off everyone. It was not terribly popular.

Firefox 4 gets yet another final test build release

Open in New Tab

I'm still thoroughly annoyed that they've arbitrarily flipped the positions of "Open Link in New Window" and "Open Link in New Tab" on the right-click context menu.

Fukushima is a triumph for nuke power: Build more reactors now!

That one already happened

You mean like the Banqiao dam which broke and killed 100,000 people?

compare

compare and contrast that to banqiao.

Starbucks' iPhone barcode app easily scammed by screengrab

In similar news

People who steal my phone can earn me clubcard points, too.

Liverpool forward faces possible grilling over 'joke' Twitter pic

Manchester United ban players using social networks

They did?

Some one should tell http://twitter.com/#!/rioferdy5

Windows 7 really was some girl's idea, rules ASA

Oh please

"I'm a PC" was an obvious - and I think successful - attempt to counter Apple's advertising. It went a something like this:"Hey folks! Apple thinks that everyone who uses a Windows PC is a dork. You use a Windows PC. Everyone uses a Windows PC. Do you like it that Apple thinks you're all dorks?"

I thought "Windows 7 was my idea" was fairly obviously an attempt by Microsoft to brand Windows 7 as "the new Windows you want" and position themselves as "listening to customer feedback" after the public image disaster of Vista, which was the new version of Windows that nobody wanted.

Anyone who takes adverts so literally as to complain about this round of Microsoft advertising will be absolutely *gutted* to learn that you can't wear trainers in space, that you can't cheat death by bribing John Malkovich with coffee, and meerkats are not indigenous to Russia.

Prince Wills and Cameron push England World Cup bid

Climate Change

Snow-based travel problems are unlikely to be a factor in June/July 2018.

Unless climate change is coming more rapidly than we thought.

Government abandons benefit-cheat lie detectors

you tell me: am i telling the truth?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the last Labour government would've gone ahead anyway.

ACS:Law's mocking of 4chan could cost it £500k

missing option

Or a stupid 4channer?

(oh. bugger. don't hack me bro)

Dell Streak causes user fury

"literally" :-)

@Asphy: "people are literally FIGHTING to get answers to their problems."

Literally?

I am not furious

No, you're not the only one. I've had it, loved it, and upgraded it without problems.

Dell bids high for 3PAR, gets a 'yes'

Maths error?

Your article appears to be mathematically challenged. It claims that an offer of $23.4 per share is 30 cents better than HP's offer of $24 per share.

Prof pooh-poohed in pig-v-whale hippo genealogy brouhaha

Pooh-pooh

Lewis is a military man, so he should no about the dangers of pooh-pooh more than us civvies. I quote one of the more reknowned military thinkers of the Great War:

"If there's one thing I've learnt from being in the Army, it's never ignore a pooh-pooh. I knew a Major, who got pooh-poohed, made the mistake of ignoring the pooh-pooh. He pooh-poohed it! Fatal error! 'Cos it turned out all along that the soldier who pooh-poohed him had been pooh-poohing a lot of other officers who pooh-poohed their pooh-poohs. In the end, we had to disband the regiment. Morale totally destroyed... by pooh-pooh! "

- General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett