* Posts by jason 7

3181 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jun 2009

Windows 8 secure boot would 'exclude' Linux

jason 7
FAIL

I think some folks have an inflated opinion of themselves....

...and their amount of importance/impact on the PC market...mainly Linux users.

Up in arms over possibly being shut out of modern hardware. How they will storm the barricades of computer tyranny (if there werent busy waiting for a torrent to finish or had to buy more crisps) etc. etc.

The other 99.8% of the computer using world doesnt either notice or care and carries on using Facebook etc.

The world keeps on turning.

Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray player with IPTV

jason 7
Facepalm

Ermmmm...

...I might just want to buy a fairly standard BD player that may last more than 6 months.

Thats why.

jason 7
Facepalm

Ok so for 98% of customers needs.......

....it plays Blu-rays fine then?

Just wanted to check.

Blue Screen of Death gets makeover for Windows 8

jason 7

Me too.

Havent seen one in a long time. If I ever did usually it was linked to a crappy bit of hardware or faulty ram.

I often wondered if there ever was anyone in existance that could actually glean or understand anything from a BSOD or a MS Crash report log.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray disc set

jason 7
Meh

Nope

Dont have a Blu-ray player so bit silly if I bought them.

To be honest, This whole saga has been messed around so much I've just lost interest in it.

I'm 40 now and I really cant be bothered. I implore others of my age group to just let it go and do something more important with their lives.

It's just not worth it guys. Move on.

TouchPad sales doubled after it was discontinued

jason 7
Stop

Doesnt need to be fast or expensive....

...for the main living room use in our household.

The main use is "Ohhh where have we seen him or her before? Quick, load up IMDB..."

I'm sure many such instances are similar if honest.

AMD snags Guinness World Record for clockiest chip

jason 7
Meh

I still overclock my CPUs. I dont remember quite why or really see any major benefit anymore but it must be habit I guess.

Its not like the old days when a changed jumper pin could mean the difference between Quake working like a dog and well...working.

Most bosses monitor or block social-network use at work

jason 7

All well and good.....

..if your staff are mainly under the age of 30. But after a while you find one tires of working in an environment that resembles a sixth form college all the time. Your needs change and one has to get serious about ones career. Maybe even wear a suit and tie.

When you get above that age, most of that "cool&fun" style of management looks false and somewhat tedious. Not many 30+ folks enjoy that model they have grown up and other priorities.

You cant treat everyone like they are your party mate. It doesnt work in all work environments, might do for yours, not in mine.

You'll find out once you get there. We all learn.

jason 7
FAIL

It really isnt difficult......

...to find staff willing to do pretty much anything these days.

Money and debts are a far bigger motivator to work than access to Facebook.

And the reward is bonuses for good work. Not giving them freebie access to the web.

Fussball tables, dress down Friday and web access are just cheap distractions for staff. The smart ones look for the juicy bonuses and other real perks and incentives.

You need to play the long game my boy.

jason 7
Mushroom

@fiddley

"Apart from anything, you're just deflecting the slacking off to other areas - People will take their full lunch entitlement, and their sick day 'entitlement'. They'll arrive at 9 and leave at 5, they'll have extra long coffee breaks, even extra toilet breaks. I've seen people where their freedom is so curtailed, they resort to moving the box around an empty spreadsheet with the arrow keys, so adamantly did their minds demand some kind of non-work related stimulation."

Errm if my experience of the Great British workforce is anything to go by they do all that time wasting already so why give them more avenues to waste time?

I expect to work with mature slightly productive adults that signed on to do the job they are paid for. Not sulky socially inept 15 year olds crying cos their toys were taken away. If they dont like it they can find a job elsewhere..maybe with a cool fussball table and other childrens toys.

Take your skinny jeans, memes and white hipster plimsoles elsewhere.

jason 7
Meh

Seems fair to me.

If I was employing a group of people I'd want them to be working for me not dicking around posting about Torchwood or the new Starwars Blu-rays.

I love the "And it's stopping them benefiting from new collaborative technologies" bit. Yes like all those folks dicking around on social networks will be gallantly pushing forward my company to new ventures and triumphs. Well on or two might (i'm being generous here) but the other 438 wont be.

Not worth the hassle. Block em! Block em all! Thats what hometime is for after all.

HP Pavilion dv7 17.3in Llano notebook

jason 7
Meh

I agree....

should at least have a 1080p screen on a 17" but it could have been worse.

Again its another one of those 17" laptops that falls into the jack of all trades bracket.

For me a 17" laptop should be one of two designs.

1. A desktop/workstation replacement, fairly robust and optimised for work/web/design. Dual HDD/workstation GPU/8GB+

2. A media centre with all the gloss and fancy media trappings (Bluray, HDMI,1080p etc. etc. )

This is another 17" that doesnt really appeal to either.

Zalman ZM-VE200 portable virtual Rom drive

jason 7
Happy

Loved the bit about burning a CD at a slower speed.

Suddenly thought I was back in 1999 again.

Dixons drops Motorola Xoom price... again

jason 7
Meh

Around £200-£225......

...then we'll talk.

Otherwise All tablets are too overpriced for my tastes. If I have over £300 to spend them I'm buying a laptop.

Yes I still call them laptops, big whoop, wanna fight about it?

Nobody has any idea about new pension thing happening

jason 7

Dont get me wrong....

..I agree its not fair to blame them re. their pensions. After all how well will the system work to support them 30+ years into their retirements?

I think its the fact many of that generation were the ones that have put in place the total clusterf*ck of a world we have today and in which future generations will have to endure.

"Thanks folks, I've screwed it all up but now I'm off to my retirement villa in Italy!"

jason 7
Mushroom

Seems there are three types of folks in the pensions scenario.

1. Those that havent a clue and will go on regardless.

2. Those that think they have done well with their pension provision but will find it doesnt work when they get there.

3. Those that have tried and now know its pointless and just resign themselves to looking at their babyboomer parents in disgust.

I always get a feeling that those in the first group will probably fare much better.

jason 7
Meh

I did take stock. Still isnt working.

As mentioned I was in one of the best final salary schemes around from the moment I could join it. And at age 24 I spoke to an IFA about early retirement so made provision to pay extra into AVCs so I could get out at 55.

After all that the figures still dont add up and its not going to be anywhere near enough to get me to retire at 75 let alone 55. It appears the sums needed go up exponentially.

Dont rely on pensions. It appears property and hoping on the lottery are still better options.

jason 7
Mushroom

Pointless

I am 40 years old and have spoken to four different IFAs re. pension.

I left a final salary scheme after 16 years (took VR) and was wondering what I could do to improve it.

All four said without hesitation "Dont bother! You and others like you are not going to be able to retire!"

Even Legal & General tell me on the small private pension I have run since I was 24, that for every £1000 in pension I want, I have to put away £30000!

When is someone going to have the the balls to stand up and say its all a scam and it just isnt going to work going forward?

First look at Toshiba's Portégé Z830 Ultrabook

jason 7
Thumb Up

Not only a VGA Port at the back.......

but other ports at the back too! Amazing. I cant understand why this factor has been ignored for so long by manufacturers and we have to have all manner of cables jutting out the sides of our laptops. Never looks very nice or tidy when sat on your stylish desk.

Samsung 'mulls bid for' HP's orphaned webOS

jason 7
Stop

Another WebOS convert here

Been using a Palm Pre 2 for a month now. Wow! Just wow!

Used WM7/iOS and Android. WebOS just works better for me than all of them. It was the quickest OS to get around and learn. Setup was quick and easy too. Fantastic.

Shame that consumers could be left with iOS and Android. Thats a shitty world.

Seven lessons from the HP Touchpad fire sale

jason 7
Coat

I'm really pissed off about the Pre3.

I've wanted one since they were announced and was prepared to pay for it too. I knew that no one would be wanting one and all the 'cool kids' would turn their noses up at it as it wasnt iOS or Android but I didnt care.

Now chances are HP will flog them off for £50 and I wont be able to get one due to internet meltdown yet all the wankers that didnt want one will snap it up.

Typical. Yes I am a little peeved.

IDLENESS sees Brits haemorrhage cash to mobe firms

jason 7
Happy

TalkMobile

300 mins 1000 texts and 500MB data for £8 a month.

Works fine with my Pre 2.

AMD's new CEO bobs, weaves, says 'big' and 'fast' are good

jason 7

Well...

..when I spec up a PC for a customer and it has an AMD CPU in it I often get asked why not an Intel one.

I explain the reasons but on occasions the customer has asked for the Intel option as in their mind its much better (even though they would never actually notice and might lose HDMI/USB3.0 etc).

You can lead a horse to water...

I agree on the GPU/Fusion/Llano side of things. These are Joe Average parts through and through and should be advertised as such.

Never happen though.

jason 7
FAIL

Spot on!

I am amazed that in a market of just two competitors only one of them bothers to advertise.

There is AMD trying to sell to the average Joe Market with its still decent lower cost CPUs but as Joe Average has never heard of them they buy the more expensive Intel box.

Bloody daft. AMD's Marketing dept need sacking. Lazy sods.

I get really tired of AMD whining about Intel and its uncompetitive practices, but in reality it's just Intel actually bothering to compete. AMD doesnt. They are the team that never turns up to the match. Intel's marketing team must just spend all day pissing themselves laughing.

For the record I buy AMD CPUs. I like their tech actually and appreciate the good value.

It's just they are run by muppets.

Microsoft unveils file-move changes in Windows 8

jason 7
FAIL

Also another way to totally baffle a linux guru......

...ask for clear, precise step by step/click by click instructions on how to make techinical changes or tasks in linux.

Never happen. Way beyond their comprehension.

All they can say is "Duhhhhh, just recompile your kernel in KDE 4.5 and then install the tar.gz and enter the lines sg-ts-45dhfjd@@ into it..blah blah blah............."

Yeah..okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

HP's UK PC boss: We're going nowhere

jason 7
Thumb Up

Indeed.

Alway thought it better to sell lots of a product at £100 than none at £500.

It was like CDs years ago. I would buy at £10 but at £15? No way. They lost a sale.

VW Scirocco BlueMotion Technology TDI 140

jason 7
Happy

The shape of the Scirocco........

....always looks to me like a VW Golf that has sat in a microwave for a minute and melted slightly.

Coders breathe Android into dead HP fondleslab

jason 7
Happy

WebOS Apps are all there pretty much.

I think people put far too much emphasis on having 40000+ apps in a apps store.

As that recent survey found, most of Android activity is done on just 10 apps. The rest are just duplications or crap.

WebOS has all the core apps. On my Pre 2 I have the Facebook app, Twitter app, Stocks and shares app, BBC, newsfeeds, Spotify, Internet radio, Angrybirds and a dozen other fun games etc. etc. Its all there, even some fart apps.

I dont feel I'm at a loss for anything really. After all I setup a mates Asus Transformer for him. Nice bit of kit but after going through the Android App Store there was really only about half a dozen apps that were really essential/useful to the average punter. The rest were either, crap, niche or duplications.

jason 7
Meh

Yeah its a valuable lesson really.

If you want to build a ecosystem quick and get your tablet out there in a now competative market then apply the following rule :-

Production cost of tablet - £100 + £50 for profit = Mega sales and a thriving community.

Do not apply - Production cost of tablet - £100 + £300 for profit = Fail.

New Apple move against Galaxy Tab on Euro front

jason 7
Mushroom

Just waiting for HP/Compaq to add the big slapdown once and for all.

After all the iPad from the front kind of looks like a black version of this -

http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/hp-compaq-tablet-pc-tc1100tr1105/3592

HP chief bows to Jobsian cult

jason 7
Unhappy

Real shame.

I bought a Palm Pre 2 a few weeks ago really cheap and its the best phone I've ever had. The OS is superb. Really easy to use and setup. Hasnt crashed or locked up once. Its brilliant.

Maybe I'll pick up a really cheap Pre 3 in a few weeks time then?

As mentioned earlier this is what happens to companies when their exec get made up totally of accountants rather than the original people who thought up and worked in the business in the first place.

When I left the company I put 20 years into it was actually seen as a negative against you if you had actually worked in the real part of the business and knew how it worked. Basically because the few of us who had, could pick holes in the muppets who had never met a customer but were making all the decisions and taking us away from our core business.

Virgin Media flogs off UKTV stake for £339m

jason 7
Meh

Dave

Used to watch this all the time however, I have now seen everything on it 8 times at least so I dont anymore.

HTC sinks $309m into audio tech from Dr Dre

jason 7
Coat

Hmm not sure...

..did he do that 'housey housey' music the kids liked in the 80s?

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

jason 7
Trollface

Relax!

On The Reg reviews, 75% is the new 80%.

BBC bigs up iPlayer for TVs and consoles

jason 7
Stop

Cmon Microsoft.....

...stop being such a killjoy and let everyone in the UK with a 360 enjoy the iPlayer/4OD goodness.

We've paid for it already so why not?

Ditch the Sky Player too...oh and maybe the expensive Zune movie thing too and let us access LoveFilm....

You know, broaden the appeal a bit.

No PS4 or Xbox 720 before 2014

jason 7
Meh

Morrowind/Oblivion turd feature legacy

No the game series has to keep the tradition of one really annoying feature in each game. As you say the lockpick thing is one (I'd also include the bizzare and pointless charm/pursuade/threaten thing too) and the sodding constant blood vultures was the other.

As for new consoles, sooner the better. The 360 is the only bit of tech laying around that I have from 2006, like having a mangle in the living room its so old.

Xmas 2012 for sure.

Nokia's cheapies strategy bombs

jason 7
FAIL

Yep same here.

I've been hunting around for a few of Nokia's phones but cant get them in any of the shops. In terms of phones I like to hold one and have a use before I pay for it.

Oh sure I can play with iPhones, Blackberrys, Galaxy IIs etc. but Nokias are like hens teeth.

Dragon-owned Expansys bemoans weak UK gadget lust

jason 7
Facepalm

Sorry.

Mayself and many of us just dont have £400 to plonk down on the latest Smarphone that will be replaced in 6 months and will be lucky to last a year.

I have increasingly expensive food and shelter to think of first.

PC mountain accumulates in Blighty

jason 7
FAIL

You do have to wonder at Acer etc. sense of 'style'

You look at some of the kit these manufacturers put out and you wonder how they even dress.

Dreadful colour choices. Shiny greasy plastics, lumpy looking sides due to port mouldings, glossy 16:9 screens that make the 1200x800s we all moaned about 5 years ago look amazing, fussy looking on/off/media buttons, chrome look plastic anywhere. The list goes on.

Less is more folks.

'There's too much climate change denial on the BBC'

jason 7
FAIL

Seems I'm not the only one.....

that could be accused of making wild assumptions.

jason 7
Unhappy

I've seen it often.

Whenever I've seen the Environmentalists campaign against new nuclear or coal power stations. When the question gets asked - "Ok fair enough but what do you suggest as a viable alternative to help sustain all our growing energy needs over the next 100 years?"

It all goes very quiet then.

After all if the tax payers were not subsidising the windfarms they would all be shutdown for scrap within a week.

They dont build them to save the planet you know.

It's a moot point however. As we all know when folks find they cant charge up their iPads or play their Xbox360 they will be hammering on their MPs door demanding a nuclear powerstation yesterday. Environment be damned. Just a shame we'll have to wait till the last minute before it gets resolved.

jason 7

Well then....

lets just sit back and watch things develop over the next 40 years as two billion more folks (read consumers) come into the world all wanting the same as we have from an ever dwindling pool of resources.

Then we'll see who had the right idea. It's not going to get better is it?

Or are people expecting that if we just "give it time" we'll somehow end up in a wonderful StarTrek TNG type world where everyone is housed and fed and wants for nothing?

Sorry but thats fiction. The likely scenario is a major war as corporations and superpowers start cutting up and cutting off valuable resources. Its happening already if you havent noticed. Maybe that will sort out the 3 billion. If so I'll take my chances with the rest.

Ok I can take a bullet but on the flip side are you prepared to cut back your lifestyle by 75% so everyone else can have a share?

No? Didnt think so, so what are we going to do?

jason 7
Unhappy

You know there is only one way we can save this planet.

We need to eliminate around 3 billion humans from the face of the earth.

Think about it. Its a far easier option than getting nearly 7 billion to change their minds and lifestyles.

jason 7
FAIL

Global Warming is the wrong poster child for the environment

Global warming is too devisive. You show me a chart showing an increase I bet I can find a chart showing the opposite from just as reliable a source.

The Eco crowd should drop it and go back to basics. Why not go under the banner of "Pollution"?

Folks can get to grips with that as a concept. We can see polluted rivers. We can see mounds of rubbish and smoke. We can all agree its not good. If we then set about dealing with and cleaning up "Pollution" then chances are we will also indirectly/directly also deal with the factors that may or may not be causing global warming.

Global warming is just an uphill struggle. Deal with stuff folks can actually see.

jason 7
Mushroom

I had a laugh the other week

I went to a closed forum where the UEA was having a days long discussion with select members of the public about eco factors and climate change.

They were asking folks about the environment etc.and all looking quite smug. It was all warm and cosy..until I stepped up.

The question was where do you get your information on the environment from and how it shapes your opinion. Most folks it seems get theirs from the backs of fag packets. I said I was skeptical. Why? they asked.

I replied "ohhh I dunno maybe the whole UEA sexed up climate change documents scandal from 18 months ago? You know the one, if the data doesnt fit your opinion make it fit!"

Christ you could have heard a pin drop. It felt so good.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Blu-ray extended edition

jason 7
WTF?

People still buy this stuff?

I've dumped most of my DVD collection as only about 15 of them had been watched more than once. Just not worth it. No BDs for me either.

Dump your unwatched collection into the charity shop, freeing up space for some other crap, then rent the DVD/BD from the local library for £2.

Job done.

jason 7
Unhappy

Noooo not a longer Return of the King????

The cinema version was 30 minutes too long. The perfect ending for that movie with all the build up would have been at the ceremony where he says "no my friends you bow to no man!"

They all bow the camera pans back aaannnndddddddd CUT!

Perfect.

But no we get another 30 mins of seat jiffle inducing crap that just kills the ending dead.

X-COM UFO: Enemy Unknown

jason 7
Happy

Never played this....

....but loved Syndicate from Bullfrog. Lost the disks years ago.

I do however, still play the classic Master of Orion 2. I love that game dearly.

AMD says Xbox 720 graphics to be good as Avatar

jason 7
Meh

Thats the big problem.....

...the poly counts and textures increase but the game stays the same old same old.

jason 7
Meh

Indeed!

The GPU in the next Xbox will be whatever they can get from AMD for $10 a unit.

I'm guessing a 5770 or lower spec, say 5750 with a few custom tweaks.

After all it only has to handle the increasingly dissapointing and limiting 1080p standard.