Posts by Stuart Archer

Analyst offers cut-price fondleslab recipe

Re: How about

I enjoy how logical and well though out this reply is...

Windows Phone 8 reboot woe causes outpouring of forum misery

Water IS blue

Liquid water actually absorbs a small part of the red and near IR spectrum, so in fact is actually blue. You only really notice this when there's a large volume of water present however.

http://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~scherer/Blogging/ColourWater/absorption.png

Rockstar ramps it up with Grand Theft Auto V reveal

Re: Wow

"You either had only PC so you could have waited to have more options of what to do with / in the game or you had only PS3, which had its own version..."

You assume that his PC was good enough to run it? I got the 360 for this too, simple because I couldn't afford a gaming PC.

A bitter spill to swallow, or 'how to smeg up your keyboard'

Cous Cous

My laptop keyboard is full of cous cous (long story), but still works well. You do have the odd bit of dessicated grain that pops out between the keys and flies towards you at some speed mind..

Ten iPhone 5 challengers

Re: Asus PadFone

Is it technically tethering when the tablet is merely a dumb shell with a display>

Samsung Galaxy Beam Android projector phone review

Re: There is a simple answer...

Some of us have lunch breaks, where, ya know, we actually take a break. Some of us enjoy reading El Reg during our break time. Some of us still manage to get out work done...

Angry Birds Space flings 10 MILLION downloads in 3 days

Re: Baaa!

The 10 million sales figures seem to suggest that not everyone is bored of it. Like the previous posters have said, no one is forcing you to download it!

Air authority to rethink gadget use on planes

Provided you turn any WiFi/Bluetooth/Transmitters etc., surely the area of influence of most devices is absolutely tiny? Admittedly I'm a lowly chemist, so if there some engineering/physics-y types out there who'd care to throw some light on the subject, this would be most appreciated :)

Hardware hacker rigs up VR for Skyrim

I'm guessing the stereoscopic part refers to the Sony headset, not the kinect

Game turns back on Mass Effect 3

Who still buys games from Game anyhow?

Paper PCs design rolled out

Re: Re: Re: Not really

Polypropylene burns fairly cleanly, as chemically it contains only carbon and hydrogen, although you'd probably need a modified burner in some way to deal with the fact it would melt. Plastics that give off toxic gases tend to be things like PVC and polystyrene, giving you a wonderful mix of chlorides and styrenes/benzenes!

Prada and LG peg up third fashion phone

Apparently the fashionistas are going for Nokia now?!

Star Wars 3D holo displays becomes a reality

...you're my only hope!

I don't think the lead engineer on the project is old enough to have seen proper Star Wars, he looks about 12!

Interesting tech though, although I can't imagine seeing it outside of the glass case, I'd imagine the HSE would have something to say about plasma-inducing lasers...

Belkin Chef Stand and Stylus for tablets

If you need a recipe for a fry up, you're doing it wrong...

Gamer claims complete console collection

Pong!

He's missing Pong!

Nokia X7 Symbian Anna smartphone

Cylon phone?

Is it just me, or could this be a smartphone from the new Battlestar Galactica series, what with their obsession with hexagonal paper? Just give it an oscillating red light..

Sony to launch PlayStation 4 in 2012, say moles

Sense

This comment makes none! The guy doesn't even refer to Nintendo in his original post!

Boffins brew up formula for consummate cuppa

Tsk...

If this were done by real scientists, the temperature would be measured in Kelvin!

James Sherwood 1983-2011

b

RIP James, your insight and humour will be missed!

Napster

Uh

I think he was being sarcastic..

Logitech Z906 5.1 surround speakers kit

Z5400

I've had a set of the old Z-5400's for 6 years now, and haven't had a single issue nor a reason to upgrade. It feels like a major setback on these new sets to have disposed of the LCD display - I find this really useful. As there is no significant advantage in connectivity options for this over the older sets, plus that really Marmite control box, these can't tempt me to upgrade!

Sccope best price finder

Snark

Read the Reg of course!

Artificial leaf produces electricity through photosynthesis

Interesting

Given a standard leaf is typically 3-6% efficient, a 30-60% efficiency for this device would be staggering, if they can pull it off.

Generally though producing hydrogen cleanly is not seen as the biggest technological challenge. The biggest problem is storing and transporting it safely and efficiently, not to mention the required infrastructure. There seems to be a lot of claims that 'wow, we're making green hydrogen, we've solved the energy crisis!', without consideration of the other major issues. Still, if we had devices such as this, local generation in more sunny climes could be a much more viable option.

iPhone 5 design drawings spied on web

But..

Hehe, you care enough to post apparently! :D

Asus Eee Pad Slider

NSFW

'nuff said

Acer shows laptop lid look tablet

Camera?

Can anyone explain to me why you'd want a rear-facing camera on a device like this? Genuine question, as I can't imagine a situation in which I'd need it, certainly not one to justify the extra cost, however little that may be in practice. I may, however, be missing the point..

PSP 2 'as powerful as PS3'

Battery life?

I may have missed it, but there didn't seem to be any mention of battery life. I can't imagine playing for many hours on a device with this spec!

Gear4 UnityRemote

Er..

"Thanks for making the effort to INFORM us early on it was for crapple only."

Er, look at the title of the article -

"Got an iPhone or iPod? You'll pay £100 for a remote"

Seems clear to me

Samsung NF210 dual-core netbook

Not sure

Personally, not sure that getting rid of the trackpad would help. I use my netbook mostly when travelling, and its a bit of a b*****d trying to use a mouse with the thing balanced on your knees in a departures lounge, or on the tray table on the back of a Virgin train's seat! Plus, you have to carry it around with you, and i suspect a lot of people for whom the 'pick up and go' appeal of a netbook is key would not go for this.

Teufel System 8 THX Ultra 2 home cinema speakers

Ahh

At last, a speaker system for the age of austerity :)

QPad Heaton XL gaming mousepad

Overpriced?

Overpriced? More form than function? They should've called it the iPad!!

(I'll get my coat...)

Dane-Elec myDitto Nas device

Vital Statistics

If you take a look more closely at the 'Vital Statistics' table, then that says that DLNA is supported.

Philips 32PFL9705 Ambilight 32in LED backlit TV

3D what?

Unless I've read it wrong, this is not a 3d ready TV? So how precisely is it going to display pictures from the 3D camera you mention in your article?

Most smartphoners don't give a flip about apps

Eh?

Somehow, I suspect that the majority of UK phone users are not going to want to faff about with swapping SIM cards, given that a lot of the customers I've dealt with in the Carphone Warehouse, probably most, aren't even comfortable installing the SIM in the first place. It seems to be mostly business customers and the odd techie that use this kind of service, or I think we'd be seeing a lot more dual SIM handsets on the market.

Blighty's carriers to field Windows Phone 7

Eh?

This sounds more like a network/reception issue, as it's generally regarded that the iPhone 4 has pretty decent voice quality? Mine certainly does... Maybe she's holding it wrong?! ;)

N900

My girlfriend has the N900, and it's dog-ass slow when navigating menus and apps, plus the menu structure doesn't seem terribly logical! And to top it off, it's suffered complete hardware failure TWICE (although now I suspect it may be more to do with the way she uses it rather than anything else..). Shame really, there's a lot you can do with it...

On topic, I for one welcome our Gatesian mobile overlords. May they bring a dose of sanity to this fruit flavoured, robotic world!

It's alive! Duke Nukem Forever breaks out of vapour trail

Bah!

"Daikatana suddenly springs to mind."

Dammit you beat me to it! I find it hard to believe that this came could possibly live up to the hopes and dreams of all of us old Duke fans. And if it doesn't have the Build editor, then pah! I'm waiting with eager anticipation for all the yoofs who think they've 'discovered' Duke Nukem...

Pundits predict plunging iPad market share

Nail. Head. Hit it.

Precisely that - this is what irritates me reading all the comments on this website: 'Oh the iPad doesn't do function x, isn't open source, doesn't have card readers etc. etc. etc.' Fine, it doesn't. Stop whingeing about it and go but a netbook, or an Android tablet, or something that does do what you want.

Personally, as a less 'techie' geek, I find Apple products do what I want in a more user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing manner than many of the alternatives. Yes, I'm sure there are ways of getting Windows, Android etc. to do these things, but in terms of out-of-the-box useability, I've found Apple stuff to be generally excellent. If this doesnt suit you, then like I said, go elsewhere! Or go and have a beer with your mates, that's my plan :)

Sony can detect PS3 mod chip dongle use

Comments

119 posts against the Apple jailbreak artice. 1 against this. Personally, i don't see this as being a significantly different business practice, so it still amuses me the amount of righteous anger directed towards Apple when all corporations are essentially the same!

Waterfall Niagara speakers

Rooney

"Your speakers are ready now, Mr Rooney"

All the better to hear your booing fans with...

Seriously though, you check out a £25k pair of speakers without subjecting them to the rigors of a full orchestral or operatic score?

3D TV: Avatar or Ishtar?

Tesco

Interesting then how it's Tesco that has banned someone for wearing pyjamas in store:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8484116.stm

On a personal note, I find that you can get some good deals buying home electronics in supermarkets - often better than many online retailers, so I kinda resent the implication that one who does this is a chav. And you don't have to buy the sh*tty Technika brands either! I managed to get a fantastic deal on a Samsung LCD Series 5 a couple of years ago, and had no hassle in returning it when it broke down.

3D TVs

3D for games?

I find it interesting that there's no mention of 3D for the games industry here. Personally I feel this is far more likely to drive the adoption of this technology among consumers than the odd half-decent 3D movie.

I didn't buy my HDTV for HD programming; this is merely an added bonus compared to the joys of the HD game :)

Buffalo MicroStation 32GB external SSD

Gwah..

Surely drives of this type are crying out for a USB 3.0 interface? Anyone?

Acer said to be readying glass-lidded laptop

Touch Sensitive Keyboard?

For any serious amount of typing, I can see this being a real problem interms of accuracy, unless they make some effort to differentiate the keys from the laptop base, not to mention the obvious fragility issue when you get frustrated with the innacurate typing and hammer upon the keyboard as is the wont of many a raging nerd..

Dell Inspiron Zino HD

No 5.1?????

I was sorely tempted by this machine until the lack of decent audio output was mentioned. Epic, glaringly epic fail from Dell there!

T-Mobile intros compact Android smartphone

Pulse Mini?

Sounds like a device of an intimate personal nature..

Asus confirms e-book reader trio

OLED

According to one of El Reg's CES reports, it's an OLED screen

SD movies fine for Wii, hints Nintendo

Er

Perhaps stating the obvious here, but does this come as any surprise given the Wii's inherent lack of HD capability?

Universal to bond Blu-ray Discs to DVDs

Blah..

"If you don't own a Blu-ray player, wouldn't you just opt for a cheap DVD now and worry about Blu-ray later?"

Given the frankly crazy cheap offers on many DVD's at the minute (5 for £20 in some places), with many of the titles being less than 6 months old, coupled with the fact that BD's are still too expensive for the somewhat-less-than-paradigm-shift level of quality increase over DVD (especially with a decent upscaler - I can only just notice the improvement of BD's on our 50" compared with an upscaled DVD), then I can't really see this making a dent in the market. I've always been a quick adopter of the newest formats, but I just can't see BD's being a big enough contender over the next few years over digital downloads, outside of the true film-o-philes out there.

Sony unveils Mills & Boon Reader

Hurrr....

*vomit*