Posts by DJ Particle

Are you experienced? The Doctor Who assistants that SUFFERED the most

Re: I want closure!

She eventually got back to contemporary times and started a charity called "A Charitable Earth"

This was revealed at the end of one of the Sarah Jane episodes, "Death of the Doctor" - notable not only for the Doctor's appearance, but also the return of Jo Grant.

Other revelations from that episode:

Barbara and Ian resumed their jobs, and later became educators at Cambridge U, but strangely haven't aged in nearly 50 years.

Tegan became a spokesperson for aboriginal rights in Australia.

Ben and Polly got married and run a home for orphaned children.

Harry is no longer alive, but played key roles in medical research.

And, of course, Jo is still married and traveling the world with some of her family for various environmental causes. :)

Android mobes outsell iPhones, but Apple gets MORE PROFIT THAN ALL

I actually MADE money off my new iPhone 5S purchase.

Cost of new iPhone 5S w/contract: $215 after taxes

Sale of unlocked-by-carrier iPhone 4S: $250

And before you fun me for being locked into a contract, I've been a satisfied Cingular/AT&T customer for the last 9 years (with the same phone number all that time). I have no issues locking myself into another contract with them.

New blinged-up 'iPhone 5S' touted by Jobs FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

"But with shareholders concerned that the fruity firm has stopped innovating....."

**looks at Apple's stock prices the last couple days - sees highest prices in months**

This is stockholders being concerned??

Researcher hacks aircraft controls with Android smartphone

Doing (b) won't do anything... the hack uses the internet. Don't need to be on the plane to attack it.

Re: Sky's the limit

"Assuming the handset would need to be in proximity to said aircraft"

I read nothing that said the handset had to be in the aircraft. It looks like this is being done over the internet. Banning devices on the plane would do nothing to stop this if it gets in the field.

BlackBerry CEO: iPhone past its prime

The irony kills me! :)

It begins: Six-strikes copyright smackdown starts in US

Re: Availability?

iTunes may not be DRM'd, but most of the other places still are, and then there's the fact that not all music is available in digital format in the first place.

And as far as I know, there is nowhere that one can legally download popular video free of DRM, at any price.

iOS 6.1 KNACKERED our mobile phone networks, claim Vodafone, Three

6.1, AT&T, 4S

No issues. Is this strictly a Vodafone problem?

Sheffield ISP: You don't need a whole IPv4 address to yourself, right?

Re: The days when everyone ran their own servers are long gone

Even if the server is a low-power Mac Mini that only moves files?

Apple 'slashes iPhone 5 screen orders', tight-fisted fanbois blamed

The math just doesn't add up...

http://bgr.com/2013/01/14/iphone-5-analysis-component-cuts-291307/

Just sayin'...

Facebook to debut auto-play video ads in 2013

Apparently Facebook isn't learning...

There's a reason people stopped using MySpace...

Musos blast US copyright bods: 'ARTISTS MAKE LOUSY SLAVES!'

Re: The way to do it...

Worked for Jonathan Coulton (song-a-week project)...

Belgian finds missus was born a MAN after 19 YEARS of marriage

Well the surgery must have been amazing...

In the case of male-to-female: yes, with the right surgeon, they often are.

Automatic Facebook couple pages: Nauseating sign of desperation

If you're on FB...

All this really is.. is just the "friendship" page for you and your partner. You'll find you have "friendship" pages between you and ALL your friends. If you ever saw a "see friendship" link, that's what it is. This just happens to be the one between you and your partner, is all. I don't see the issue.

Lawyer sues Microsoft rather than slot an SD card into his Surface

Re: Wait...

Unless he has the full Windows 8 version. Win 8 install is larger than Win RT install.

Two scam apps stink up iTunes store, pulled thanks to Reg reader

Awww... and I was wondering if the NFC app allowed you to input your own radio stream presets ;)

Hacker sentenced to six years – WITH NO INTERNET

Re: @ That Awful Puppy

Manga Carta

Okay, now I'm thinking of the Magna Carta drawn as a Japanese comic! You did it! You brought the evil here!!! *heh*

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria review

Banned for a lost job and more playtime?

Why would that get you a ban?

Blizzard pwned: Gamers' email, encrypted passwords slurped

Mobile Authenticators

As soon as I heard that mobile auth'er info was compromised, I changed the serial number on mine. A lot of battle.net users don't realize you can do that.

Surface slab WILL rub our PC-making pals the wrong way – Microsoft

Re: As If

Everyone I and my partner have introduced to Ubuntu or Mint loves it. And these are standard everyday end users, from football jocks to the elderly, not "Linux geeks".

It's probably more of a risk for MS than you think.

Mac malware Crisis as Apple lets slip its Mountain Lion

Another "stupidity test" trojan....

So, for Macs, first you need to actually HAVE Java in the first place. Macs do not have this by default, so most end users likely won't have it, and they are weeded out.

Say you *do* have it installed: Then when it tries to run, you get a "bad certificate" warning regarding a program called "WebEnhancer". That's another red flag.

Only when you click through THAT, are you infected.

You need to be REALLY stupid to go THAT far....

Intel, AMD financials: Bad news for Obama campaign

Re: Bane Capitol

And that is why Romney needs to be kept out of the White House, in a nutshell. Bain Capital's entire schtick is buying up companies and outsourcing and dismantling them. Bain took control of Burger King, and within a few years they shuttered half of them. Bain took control of Clear Channel, and now they're laying off more and more local talent for syndi-jocks. Why are they trying to save money? To pay the debts they accrued *by* buying all these companies.

That's what Bain *is*. They are a private equity firm. That's what they do. And Romney is one of the people who created the company in 1984.

With that kind of financial record, what makes people think he'll fix the economy? He knows how to make short-term profit, but he does not know or care about the effect his financial policies have on the everyday citizen. Fixing the economy means bringing actual industry back to the USA, which means less profit for billionaires. We know he won't do it, because, when faced with similar circumstances in the private sector, he *already* didn't do it.

Obama is not perfect, but although job creation growth has slowed, at least it's still *growing*! Romney's policies would kill that growth dead and head it in the other direction again. This is why it's far far more important to vote *against* Romney than it is to vote *for* any other candidate.

Google plants rainbow flag in anti-gay countries

Re: Legalise Love

Adultery isn't actually "illegal", it's just simply evidence for divorce in a court case if the couple chooses to pursue it.

Apple silences mute kids' speech app in patent blowup

If I read the family's blog correctly, it seems they tried to get their daughter interested in PRC's device first. She didn't like it and made it clear she wouldn't use it. The iPad solution literally is the ONLY option for her.

If PRC's patent is ruled valid, then what they SHOULD do is re-market the app under their corporate label. Otherwise, PRC could be setting themselves up for an ADA lawsuit later.

550,000-strong army of Mac zombies spreads across world

Eh, after I found out about the exploit weeks ago, I turned Java's interaction with my browser off until the patch came.

Best Buy shuttering 50 stores, laying off staff in $800m cost slash

I predicted this would happen for years...

Back in 2001, Best Buy, with the help of the government of Richfield, MN, evicted dozens of people and a few businesses (including a 5-star Buick dealer from a prominent big-local-money company) so they could build their corporate campus. (Google up "7601 Penn Ave S Richfield, MN" to see the monstrosity)

Nowadays, the building sits mostly devoid of its intended purpose. Yeah, Best Buy is still there, but after all the layoffs, the building just isn't as full of them anymore. They could probably move back into their prior HQ (near Eden Prairie, MN) and be comfortable again.

So all those people who were displaced a mere 11 years ago: Yeah, likely feeling pretty pissed off right now.

Paris, because even she knows when she's screwed over.

Republicans shoot down proposed ban on Facebook login boss-snoop

@blem wit: You don't need new laws

Problem with killing your FB is that it's increasingly being used to look for jobs in the first place. For many jobs, no FB = not knowing jobs exist *to* get. It's a nice little Catch-22

New Mac OS X: Mountain Lion roars at unauthorised apps

There's also the fact that even if the settings are turned all the way up, it will still allow you to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Facebook shoves your face into creepy 'sponsored stories' in 2012

Not as bad as it sounds...

It seems to me that this is what FB is trying to do:

Say FB user "John" links via FB to something involving "Blammo Cola". He decides to "Like" a fan page for "We like using Blammo Cola for ice cream floats!".

John's action appears on his friends' feeds, with a link to Blammo Cola.

Or, say user "Jane" RSVPs to a ribfest event hosted by "Bob's Ribs 'n Tips".

Jane's action appears in her friends' feeds, with a link to "Bob's".

It sounds like you actually have to interact with an event or story in order to trigger the ad.

Not exactly enamored with this new feature, but it's not as bad as the headline makes it sound.

iPhone 4/4S 'self combusts' in airliner inferno

@Tom Reg - I was wondering that as well, many of the fakes look exactly like real iPhones, right down to the writing on the back. You see videos showcasing them (comparing to the real thing) on YouTube all the time.

Sherlock - because this mystery needs solving before we blame Apple.

'Apple's iPhone 4S ate our SIM cards'

What I want to know is...

Why every time someone reports a "widespread" problem with an Apple device (at least since MacOS 10.0 - everyone knows Classic was a crash whore), I never see it?

I have owned 5 Macs, 3 iPods, and 2 iPhones since MacOS X first came out in 2001, and every time I hear about a "widespread" problem, it never materializes on any of my equipment over these last 10 years. The only problem I ever ran into was a bad RAM stick in my 2007 Mini, and it was an isolated incident easily fixed.

Every time I hear about a software update going sour, no problems.

Antennagate? Nope

Battery woes? Not a one, not even on my current 2007 model iPod Classic.

You'd think I'd have run into at least ONE of these issues? Nope.

So what gives?

iPhone 4S is for failures who work in coffee shops - Samsung

If you want people to switch...

...you don't insult your intended audience. That's Samsung's biggest mistake with this ad.

That said, I had a 3GS, upgraded to the 4S.

I've seen numerous Android phones, and have yet to see any with the dpi resolution of the iPhone 4/4S screen (though I'll admit, in polls, most people tend to care more about physical screen size than pixel depth, so Samsung has, from a marketing standpoint, the "right" idea hyping their physically larger screen - end result is they have a pitch point that plays on their audience's ignorance).

Some brands lock you into a specific version of the Android software with no upgrade route (whereas Apple will let you upgrade as many times as the phone is capable). Some brands are heavily DRM'd (at least Apple will allow you to load any video or song you wish). At least you know what you're getting with an iPhone.

Rumoured iPhone 5 'will have 4in screen' against Jobs' wish

People won't care about Jobs' worry...

Basically there was a study a while back that said people will always take the larger screen, even if it means less DPI. Screen size counts more than resolution in the eyes of the general public.

iOS update woes prompt gnashing of teeth for Apple fans

No errors!

About 30 minutes from start to finish. I didn't even lose my battle.net mobile authenticator serial number.

...what? Why are you looking at me like that?

Mac malware uses Windows-style PDF camouflage ruse

I've run into similar before on Mac...

And what happens is that before it runs, MacOS detects the application and put up its standard warning of "[xxxx] is an application that was downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to run it?" Easy way out? click "no"

Windows 8 secure boot would 'exclude' Linux

Here's why MS'plan would never work....

First let me kill one particular misconception: MacOS X is *not* a walled garden. If you think it is, you're thinking of iOS, and even that is pushing it, because people have jailbroken that. UNIX-based OS's (like MacOS X and iOS) cannot be a walled garden.

Now the reasons why the "forced Windows" will never come to pass:

1) Windows 8 will tank, harder than either Vista or ME, and it will be for the same reasons Office 2010 is still being eschewed in favor of Office 2007. Their 'ribbon' menu system is so vastly different than what people are currently used to. This is NOT what you want to force on less-computer-literate users who are used to the current "File Edit View" hierarchy. As for the "tiles" interface, it's not working for Apple (how many do you know actually use the "Launcher" as the main interface), so what makes MS think it will work for them on a desktop OS?

2) MS would have to make this LAW to succeed at it, and they would have to do it WORLDWIDE. Good luck with that, and good luck with the lawsuits from Apple and Google (both of whom have far better legal resources than MS) that would result from even TRYING to push this through law. Why would they sue? Because such a law would also illegalize MacOS X (UNIX), iOS (UNIX), Chrome (Linux), and Android (Linux)...not just the smaller UNIXes and Linuxes.

3) Because they would never be able to pass this worldwide, there would result in a grey-market for computers that can run other OS's, yet identify to internet routers as Windows to allow them online, completely killing the effectiveness of their plan.

There are simply way too many ways to keep MS from doing this. Their plan to lock everyone into Windows is a cry for desperation from a company that is hemorrhaging money. At this current rate, I don't see MS as being a viable company past the end of the decade. Look in comparison: MS tanked HARD yesterday in the stock market (about $1/share, but that's still about 4-5% - probably over the news that Bing lost them $5.5 billion over the last year), while Apple is posting its highest numbers EVER... *without* Steve as CEO! Wall Street knows where the companies are heading already.

How Apple's Lion won't let you trash documents

Actually....

Was Time Machine turned on in the test machine? That type of document retention seems characteristic of Time Machine, which is designed to keep that extra copy around for a while.

World Health Organization: Mobile phone cancer risk 'possible'

If you don't worry about your morning coffee or that jar of pickles....

...then don't worry about your cell phone.

The WHO lists all three in the same "possible risk" list. Look it up.

New Mac scareware variant installs without password

Seriously....

Still. Not. A. Worm. </ysac>

This one installs into the user's home directory, not the System directory, so of course it wouldn't require a password. There have already been Trojans like this on Mac. It's nothing new.

Again: Don't be a PEBCAK, and this stuff won't happen. Plain and simple.

Apple admits scareware problem, at last

Still no Mac worms in the wild

Back in 2005, I had to re-OS my Windows-powered SHOUTcasting machine with XPsp2.

Got it all loaded up with XPsp2, Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, and Sophos AV.

Keep in mind this is a FRESH INSTALL hooked up to the Internet.

Sophos found 12 infections, Spybot S&D found about 15 more, Ad-Aware found about 3 more after that.

Worms. Viruses that self-replicate and take advantage of holes in the OS to install without any user interaction. Windows 7 is still susceptible to these kinds of attacks today.

I have yet to see that kind of infection succeed on a machine running MacOS X. So far, all these Mac viruses have been Trojans, requiring a PEBCAK. Windows users still have no right to gloat.

Steve Jobs must face the music in court

Does anyone...

...seriously use RealMedia anymore? Seriously, I stopped using it long before I had my first iPod (20GB gen2).

AT&T ends illicit handset tethering

@"Forget Unlimited"

Actually, the $20 is for 2GB of tethered data *in addition* to your 2GB of untethered data, which is where the 4GB in the article comes from.

Make streaming a felony: Obama

"Happy Birthday"

As an instrumental, it's in the public domain, since "Happy Birthday To You" is actually a takeoff on a 19th-Century piece called "Good Morning To All". It's only the lyrics that are copywritten, and that copyright expires in another 19 years in the USA, 5 years in the EU.

Another year, another iPhone time slip

Yet another iPhone 3GS (iOS 4.3) owner....

...who has had no problems :)

Makes me wonder where they got this story from.

US may disable all in-car mobile phones

How about....

...we just stop making laws that punish the masses for the idiocy of the few?

Apple cops to defective MacBook drives

What about Mac Mini?

Don't they use the same series of drives the MacBooks do? Seems like a hole in Apple's refund policy.

Not that I'm worried...replaced the stock 160GB drive with a 500GB drive in my Mini months ago (due to need for space, not drive failure, the old drive is still caged as an external), but still...

Paris, because even she knows when a hole needs to be filled.

(yeah, that's a stretch, but be kind, it's my first Paris joke *heh*) :)

Microsoft Office 2007 migration aches foreshadow 2010

MS Shoots Themselves In The Foot Again

My boss' wife is feeling the pain...the "ribbon bar" is too complex for her. Hell, I could barely find my way around it. The trashing of the classic "File Edit View" menu structure is likely the #1 reason for the slow utilization rate of Office '07.

...and now they're going to change things even more in Office '10?

...and they wonder why more businesses are choosing to use OpenOffice.org. Sure there are a few small incompatibilities, but if I were an average cubicle-dweller, I'd rather that, and have to re-do a few files, then have to learn an entirely new interface. OOo at current version still has a classic-style interface that most people have gotten used to over the years.

Hackintosher's new line: Linux and T-shirts

Psystar Still Doesn't Get It!

Yes, if you buy OS X then, on a personal level, you can install it on a PC (just don't expect Apple to give you support). However, they are selling a service that is a EULA violation.

EULA violations in private aren't illegal, however, making a profit off them *is*.

YOU have the right to install your OS X where you want. Not Psystar. That's the difference, and they still don't get it.

Microsoft drops Family Guy like a hot deaf guy joke

Seth would have ROASTED Microsoft IMHO! ;)

My theory is that MS finally realized that MacFarlane, being a fan of Apple/Mac hardware (his personal machine is a Mac, and of course there was the "I have an iPod like the rest of the world" joke on the show), would have set up MS to look like fools. ;)

Steve, because this is a win for him either way.