Posts by Studley

PFY vs Bearded 80s Netscape Bore: BOFH

Re: return to form

Return?

MoneySavingExpert.com founder flogs website for £87m

Hopefully MoneySupermarket remembered to get cashback through Quidco.

Digital music sales beat discs for first time in UK

Definitely wasn't "most"

I installed iTunes for the first time in several years and redownloaded my entire purchase history - only about 35-40% of it is DRM-free. The rest is still m4p-encoded, which is easy-but-annoying to get around (Apple allows you to burn it to CD a limited number of times, so just burn it to CD and then rip it with a standard MP3 ripper).

Still worth it to avoid the hassle of re-purchasing, but honestly it's not surprising why piracy is so rife when the hurdles for genuine buyers are so perverse.

Re: Maybe I'm being thick

The graph shows up to the end of 2011. The figures quoted are for the first three months of 2012.

But yeah, expect Christmas to put a massive kink back in physical's favour.

Re: iTunes vouchers of course

Really? Stuff that was DRM'd when it was purchased is now un-DRM'd?

I'll be checking that out tonight - if it's true, I might've actually found a compelling reason to install iTunes :)

Re: iTunes vouchers of course

Less great if you ever plan on owning a non-Apple device.

I once owned an iPod Touch and foolishly made a bunch of iTunes Store purchases which I now can't listen to on any other MP3-playing device. It's going to take me forever (and, if done legitimately, some repeated expenditure) to reacquire them all.

Carmageddon coder seeks gamers' cash for revamp

Re: What platforms?

Developer response on the Kickstarter comments page (no way of deep-linking directly to the comment I'm afraid):

We’ll be releasing the game on Xbox 360 and PS3. Plus Mac. And other platforms/devices over time. The critical difference that getting beyond our Kickstarter target funding makes is the rapidity with which we’re able to port the game to these other platforms.

Microsoft kills Windows Live brand

Re: Windows 8

Why not try it and find out? Or is that not in keeping with your pithy remarks?

I've been testing with the Consumer Preview since it came out, and for all of the accusations that can be thrown at it (Metro is not desktop-ready IMO), crashing isn't one of them.

Glider pilot 'swallowed camera memory' say plunge tragedy cops

Police have taken him to Snappy Snaps

and we are waiting to hear what develops.

Zuckerberg: Now share your organs with Facebook friends

Life Event > Health & Wellness >

Quit a Habit... > "Facebook"

Descriptive Camera develops text instead of images

3-6mins = not great for taking on safari

-----------------------------------

It is a Bengal tiger. It is

looking at you and is running

towards you with its jaws

wide open.

-----------------------------------

'Asteroid mining company' makes classic hypegasm debut today

yes, this has no chance of backfiring

1. Land on unstable object passing by planet

2. Destabilise it

3. ?????

4. Profit!*

*assuming there is anybody left to profit from

Microsoft unveils paid SkyDrive options

Dropbox links - not just paid users

Despite the assertion in the article, the Dropbox links feature doesn't seem to be limited to paid users. I've never paid Dropbox a dime (though I have acquired some extra space through referrals) and I can use the new Links option without any problems.

In fact there's nothing in the Dropbox blog post which indicates it's for paid users only either. Not sure where The Register got this impression from.

Rapidshare tells world+dog: Stop PIRACY now!

Re: It doesn't matter what Rapidshare want

> They can include a "report this link"

And yet they don't. The only thing they offer is a weasly DMCA takedown compliance message, which is only acted upon if reported by the copyright holder.

In other words, ignorance is bliss.

Norwich City FC Web CMS exposes privates. Club respond by calling police.

Very sure - that's Ipswich legend John Wark dressed as the "farmer"!

As an Ipswich fan, our own kit launch was much more embarrassing (YouTube)

Microsoft details Halo 4 release

Confusion?

> the new adventure promises to clear up confusion surrounding the fate of the Master Chief and his AI companion, Cortana

What confusion would that be then? Does nobody watch games until the end of the credits any more?

The Chief's last words were "wake me when you need me" - words which were seemingly aimed at Microsoft, given all the "this will be Master Chief's final adventure" spiel in the run-up to Halo 3. (A precedent which presumably means that Commander Shepard will return in Mass Effect 4 in 2016.)

Sweden: talk, text and drive? OK

[citation required]

1. "European Towns Remove Traffic Signs to Make Streets Safer", Deutsche Welle, 27 August 2006

IT urine bandit fired and charged

Which is the bigger crime really?

"urinated on several chairs, causing about US$4,500 in damages"

Corporate procurement spending upwards of $1,000 per employee on chairs? Maybe some of that cash would be better direct towards, y'know, hiring employees that don't have a penchant for relieving themselves at co-workers' desks?

Wags unroll Twitter toilet paper

Re: ROFLMAO......

Reading On the Floor Leaking My Arsehole Out

High school student expelled for dropping F-bomb in tweet

Re: To far

"To far"? "Principle"? If thou art trolling, well played sire.

Twitter a poor predictor of movie success

Randomness

Funny how researchers from HP identified the exact opposite findings in 2010. It's almost like Twitter users are fickle, random, and not mind-readers.

And if we're having a "marketing rethink", please PLEASE get rid of trailers featuring "real" people giving their "real" stupid reactions on films? Cheers.

Mass Effect 3 crooks trick gamers with fake 'alternate ending'

No cow level, but...

...I want my Elcor mounted tank level, dammit!

Samsung worker confirms April launch for Galaxy S III

Re: But...

Market > NoLED. A surprisingly neat alternative, check it out. Less of a drain on battery than I expected too.

Ten... Valentine's Day gifts for him

"Geordie La Forge"?

"haddaway with t'warp core, pet"

Mickey Mouse Whois ban threat sparks privacy fears

"A license to use the internet?"

That sounds BRILLIANT. I'd gladly pay for an alternate internet which requires an IQ test to gain entry. The alt-net wouldn't need to worry itself about celebrity gossip, and journalists would be forced to source actual quotes for their articles, rather than just reporting on what celebs are tweeting (BBC/Sky are the biggest guilty parties here).

O2 apologizes for 'unintended' number-leak cockup

"Unintended" (alternative definition)

"We didn't mean to get found out"

Mozilla pushes browser-based alternative to passwords

Obligatory xkcd standards post

http://xkcd.com/927/

Google to join Wednesday's anti-SOPA protest

Correct - one new AdBlock rule to restore normal Wikipedia service:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BannerLoader&banner=blackout&campaign=English+Wikipedia+Blackout*

But then the blackout itself isn't really the point, it's the drawing people's attention to it that counts. If you're seeking out AdBlock rules then you already know the score.

thedailywtf, on the other hand, are in full shutdown mode :(

Netflix goes live in Blighty

Works fine for me in Firefox

...so sadly we shall have to settle on a site fail.

Unless you fancy pistols at dawn?

As has already been stated several times

The email signup link appears if you sign out of your Facebook account first.

Clearly a UI fail, but not as big a fail as those who are wailing in outrage whilst still poking their friends in another tab.

Darth Vader dies peacefully in hospital

No. Noooooooooo

^ (c) the hamster driving the cogs in George Lucas' head, circa 2011.

Typosquatters set up booby-trapped High Street names

Quite - looking at the full domain list, I am genuinely astounded that nobody at Debenhams IT thought it might be a good idea to register at least the .co.uk and .com versions of "debbenhams" and "debenhems".

I am also delighted to see "arrgos.co.uk" on that list - an appropriate name for a pirate version of a high-street store if I ever saw one!

Chrome is the most secured browser - new study

You appear to have accidentally put the word "No" at the beginning of your post.

Greatest ever first-person shooter* brought back to life

A reboot of Marathon...

...should clearly have been called Snickers.

Siri gets Android rival as Cluzee goes live

Health records?

"Will I need an umbrella today?"

"Unlikely Dave - you only have six hours to live"

Fake doc cuffed in concrete arse shocker

I like brick butts

...and I cannot lie.

Breaking news: Man lands on Moon!

Bale out?

He's hardly been Tottenham's best player this season, but... oh right I see.

Wishy-washy BBC blog article on this very subject: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2010/06/goats_condoms_testicles_and_pa.html

Lemmings

Cracking stuff

I can't even begin to imagine what he made of Lemmings Paintball.

The SNES version is incredibly underrated.

The SNES version featured a split-screen multiplayer mode, featuring two teams of Lemmings (a blue team and a green team IIRC) each with their own exit. The twist was that you could use your own Lemmings to guide your buddy's Lemmings into your own exit, and they count towards your own tally.

It's also immensely satisfying to detonate a bomber over one of your friend's bridges without them realising, their first indication being the sound of their little critters squishing off-screen...

Immensely addicting, and up there with my favourite multiplayer experiences of all-time (on a par with Goldeneye 64).

Samsung offers Galaxy Nexus pre-orders through Phones4U

Phones4u page updated

Clicking the "Pre-order" button on the Phones4u Nexus page now takes you to a list of available Vodafone / Orange / O2 tariffs, you'll be coughing up £41p/m if you want the handset for free, or if you don't mind paying £59 up-front for the handset then you can bring it down to £31p/m.

It does seem a smidge overpriced for its spec, but that's the standard bleeding-edge tax. My contract is up for renewal next week, I was holding out to see what the Nexus pricing was like, but instead I'm now hoping that the demand for the Nexus might knock a few quid off the cost of a Galaxy S2 instead.

Has your account been pwned? New website will tell you

All well and good until THEY get hacked...

...and the paradox causes the internet to collapse in on itself.

Man builds smartphone dock into arm

All he needs now...

...is to lose a finger on the other hand, and get it replaced with a stylus.

Darth Vader mounts defence of doomed empire

"Would you like the extended warranty, sir?"

...Darth used to give a stern silence, but now booms "NOOOOOOO"

Rockstar officially announces Grand Theft Auto V

It would've been finished ages ago

...but the developers kept getting calls from their cousin who wanted to go bowling.

Google dumps + from Boolean search tool

Still works for me too.

They have, however, dropped support for the shorter "def:" which used to work just as well, I had to retrain my brain to use "define:" a few months back.

TomTom Go Live TopGear Edition

"preloaded with Clarkson and Stig voices"

The Stig? Really?!

Google loses battle for goggle.com

If you type 'goggle' into Google...

...it shows you the results for "google". You have to click again to get to "goggle".

Who's typo-squatting now, bitch? ;)