Posts by Alistair Dabbs

Windows 8: At least it's better than ‘not very good’

Re: £££££

Voted up.

Re: !!!

DrXym, your point about simple tasks becoming complex is backed up by user testing at Computerworld. Jakob Nielsen, ever the wag, says it should be called 'Microsoft Window'. Interviewed here for IEEE Spectrum: http://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/computing/software/is-windows-8s-lack-of-windows-a-mistake

Take it or break it: the return of the drop test

> I wonder who paid for the tests....

No comment but I note they weren't giving a Galaxy Tab away at the end.

Re: Going for the FHM demographic?

No need for the semi-naked woman. Even less need for the entire El Reg crew to be in attendance to 'assist' the photographer.

Smear campaign

Re: And have you not yet tried the wonderful new science

>> looking in the event log (or equivalent) and seeing who logged in?

"Casual User 01"

ViewSonic VSD220 22in Android mega tablet

Re: battery / power?

Main-powered only. It's not a tablet.

Assault on battery

Re: Back in reality

Agreed regarding people stealing your batteries. I teach at a nightschool at which some tit regularly empties the batteries from the projector's remote control. Mind you, it amuses the students when I operate the (ceiling mounted) projector by standing on one of their desks in the middle of the room.

Re: "... it’s barely even a Children’s Christmas Lecture at the Royal Institution."

Criticism accepted. My favourite ever was Carl Sagan's lectures about Mars. Epic lectures, epic man.

Re: Genuine thanks

Blimey, so wonder you chose to stay anonymous.

Power to the people - if you can find a spare socket

Re: Praising British trains?

It's not that I don't travel much but that I don't move in the same circles as you, Charlie. First Class indeed.

Re: Cool story, bro

Cool name, Mr Monkey.

Apple iPad Mini 8in tablet review

Re: Reads like a "Top Gear" Review

Damn, I should have written something that ended with "...in the world".

Seriously, Maxson, you have to appreciate that the whole point of a product review is to express to the reader what a product is like to use in real life regardless of the spec. Often these things fail to match up. I guess it's a bit like the difference between a restaurant review - in which the writer reports the ambiance, comfort, service, food freshness, flavours, availability of tap water, etc - and just standing outside reading the menu.

Re: Which pocket

>> Which pocket is the reviewer putting this in when taking it on public transport?

The front pocket in my bag. It won't fit into a coat pocket: it's too big.

vomit. sack this guy

+1 from me. Voted up.

Re: Well I won't be buying one

At the expense of Arsenal, too.

Re: Reviews vs other iPads and not Android tablets?

I made comparisons all the way through the review to the iPad Mini's closest and latest competitors - the very small-form Android devices you're talking about.

Maps

A lot of you have raised the matter of the poor Maps app on the iPad Mini. This is, of course, the same poor Maps app on everything running iOS 6, including iPhones. If having a shit-hot Maps app is your number-one critical factor in choosing a Wi-Fi tablet (it takes all sorts, I suppose), avoid all iOS 6 products for now.

Re: "Apple has launched an overpriced and under-specced turkey"

>> you've got to have a big hand to hold it comfortably

Oh, for heaven's sake, no-one holds a tablet like that, do they? It's just a PR shot to suggest size compared with a hand. Just hold it like a book.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7in Android tablet review

Re: What an appalling review.

Yup, the Netflix app is supported. Loved the "fumbling incompetence" line, by the way.

Re: Okay, so this is a review of all the things you can't do with a Kindle

>> I was hoping this article would tell me the easiest options for sideloading and the risks of rooting

It's an 800-word review, not a user manual.

Re: 60% thats's just mean ...

>> Seriously though 60% that's just hateful almost kindle racist like or maybe you are a Romney fan..I don't know..

I'm still trying to decide whether this comment is intentionally satirical or just odd.

Re: Wow, Mr Dabbs, that was a desperately poor review.

Thank you, Captain Underpants. Tra-la-laaaaa!

Re: Think the reviewer has missed the point a little

Peter, you have summarised my review in one paragraph.

We don’t talk any more... on the commute

Re: Tube trolling

Not living in London, you may be unaware that 99 times out of 100 when people introduce themselves to you on the Tube and begin talking, it's only about 5 seconds before they ask you for money. Commuters get tired of it and just switch off.

Re: “Is this the train to Faversham?”

Actually, the nutter who sat next to me had a memorable little anecdote. Once while travelling in Yorkshire, he jumped onboard a commuter service at the last minute as the doors hissed shut, fully knowing that he was on the correct train, and announced loudly: "Thank God I managed to catch the last train to Glasgow!"

The fact that no-one laughed was no surprise. The fact that no-one dared suggest he was on the wrong train was perhaps more worrying.

Re: "Mild horror combined with sarcasm and sexual arousal"

I tried just now but I think I might have broken my face.

The hoarder's dilemma, or 'Why can't I throw anything away?'

Re: Can you see what it is yet

>> Rolf Harris Stylophone

Did you also have the 7in EPs with Rolf telling you how to play along to songs, with full orchestral backing, such as "It had to be you"?

Re: Toxic!

I have always hated superhero comics. This is why I loved, and continue have an enduring admiration for, Marshal Law.

Yes, it's Jimmy Savile. I can't even begin to tell you what I had to go through to get it.

Re: I've been planning on throwing my crap out...

I'm pleased my wife is so popular. I hope you have your anti-rad decontamination suits ready.

Re: Right!

That's not a hoard, that's a museum. Consider putting information cards next to each item for members of the public to read.

Why is solid-state storage so flimsy?

Re: I feel immensely let down and hurt.

> bewbs

Me too, pal. Me too.

Re: A few points

"Cloud storage is great, until you need it."

I used to say the same thing about tape backup. Not once have I ever managed to restore anything from tape. I was overjoyed the day I found I could afford big external hard disks.

At half a gig, it's not much

I must have been half asleep while writing that!

Sony Vaio T13 Ultrabook review

Re: VGA?

No, I would have no use for a serial port or a parallel port. I would find plenty of use for a VGA port.

Re: Useful things missing

"You can forget about seeing anything"

Oh right.

Noted. Will check for this in future. Thanks, Ramazan.

Re: FAIL

Yes it is WXGA. WXGA represents several (five?) generally similar widescreen resolutions between 1280x720 to 1366x768.

Re: Missing keys

Hold down the Fn key and you get all these functions. Come on, everyone, you know this.

Re: Useful things missing

Not very

Tinny

No

I don't think so. You've caught me out there: I ought to have tried. Sorry.

iPhone 5: the fab slab to grab

Re: This may be tongue in cheek...

I couldn't really say whether I like the 5 or not: I don't have one.

I spy: Drug drops and foxy couples

Re: Timing. Um.

Of course, the problem with using heavy binoculars to spy on topless royal trophy wives is that you need both hands.

Emotional baggage

>> Is it just me or is there something really offputtingly creepy about that leer with the "something for the weekend, sir?" headline next to it?

It's just you. Tell me about your mother.

Re: 1980

>> The only male among a sea of women.

I bet it was fun when the tide came in.

Norm and Ru - thanks, this is what I suspected, given the buzz at the moment about the need for more programmers and fewer divvies knowing a bit about PowerPoint. My son's main subject is now Music Technology, so I suppose Drama will enable him to perform Music Tech on a beach in Brighton while waving one finger in the air.

Mr Bank Manager, help yourself to my smartphone contents

Turn left

Regular SFTWS readers know that I drop a clanger like this every week. It may be accidental, it may be deliberate, who can say any more? And would you believe me?

Re: Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind ...

Flourishing my smartphone over a hacked reader would be akin to carefully pointing it at a thief.

Ten apps to install on your Nexus 7 first

Good range of apps

Several unexpected ones in there too - much better than those I'd thought of. Great stuff, Alun.

The problem with wireless: all those effin' wires

Re: A winner of a name?

Come on, then, Nigel, let's have a look at your Love Cable.