Posts by Lunatik

Windows 7 speculation claims SP1 will land in Q4 2010

Service Packs ain't what they used to be...

Back in the day, service packs were important as they ensured everyone got the fixes and fingers-for-the-dam that some might be without, if they weren't obsessive about manually downloading and installing patches As such they were important and the odd (or huge, in the case of XP SP2) extra service/utility thrown in just sweetened the deal and made installation compelling...eventually at least.

However, in these Windows Update times, a service pack just isn't bringing much to the party as just about everyone's Windows install is (should be?) patched to the hilt.

And as I recall Microsoft stating that they were not keen on including any significant new functionality in future service packs, the installation of a service pack seems like a bit a belt & brace operation nowadays, rather than any reason to become engorged.

BBC: Grasp the high-speed runaway cloud nettle

Not a real blogger

But this lass isn't a bedroom blogger, she's a (presumably) professional journalist, paid to do it by the BBC.

That in itself is going to garner you a more than just a few eyeballs, even if the content was describing her experiences of watching her cat licking its balls.

Google Research head dubs holy PageRank 'over-hyped'

There's this thing called Google...

...what you can use to find things what are on the internet, like this:

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=6285999

DARPA asks you to cram petaflops super into single rack

Erm, hang on a minute you guys....

"The machine has to have a "self-aware" operating system that can learn from how it is used and adapt to the "changing goals, resources, models, operating conditions, attacks, and failures" that might happen in the field and "mitigate the effects of attacks and failures, closing exploited vulnerabilities."

Does this not sound a bit Skynet-y?

[searches to make sure there is not a Miles Dyson on the DARPA payroll...]

Sellafield gull cull mulled

This is a title, it is required.

"The gull carcasses will be stored on site"

So they'll become yet more intermediate-level waste waste then, to be disposed of in years to come? This means the whole-life cost of killing, storing and eventually processing one gull will probably be in the £x000s

Madness.

Good article title though :)

Google (finally) nabs On2 video codecs

You can get this already...sort of

Try the YouTube HTML5-ifier extension for Chrome and it'll serve (most) vids sans Flash.

Works today, better tomorrow though.

TV sales bounce back

Who is buying CRTs?

Over 12 million CRTs shipped in Q4 2009? Who is even selling CRTs these days, much less buying them? Even <£100 kiddies bedroom & cheapo hotel TVs have moved to LCD in the past year.

Either they're being dumped on unsuspecting Africans, or there are some fishy figures here.

Bikini atoll residents now get less radiation than Euros, Yanks

Page wins again

Love the description of Castle Bravo as a "whoopsie"

Big Blue boffins hatch dirt-cheap solar cells

Don't follow, be agnostic

I read an article recently (New Scientist?) about the use of carbon nanotubes & PV material to remove the need to orient the panel towards the sun; they would work like little optical fibres and accept light from any direction with relatively little effect on the amount of energy absorbed.

Google Chrome dev-only build hopes to be famous 5

Oh why didst thou forsake me, Opera?

I was a long term Opera advocate, even paying for some version (3? 4?) back in the day. But they pissed me off when, IMHO, their product took a few backwards steps and committed the cardinal sin of becoming ever so slightly unstable a few versions ago that I doubt I'll ever bother trying it again.

I like Chrome's ever increasing version numbers though, I reckon their intention must be to get to a googol. This will signify the achievement of the technological singularity...and nothing will ever be the same again.

Teletext toddles off as licence taken

Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out...

Another anachronism bites the dust. The only decent thing on Teletext was Digitiser, and look at the respect they showed it.

"The Real Turner the Worm being sick" will always be the mankind's best use of the VBI.

French top MOT failure league

Retests are free...

..or at least they are if you leave your car with them to have it fixed, or return the next day in certain circumstances.

http://bit.ly/8w43bC

Someone may be being a bit naughty...

RealNetworks boss in sudden exit

Real?

Oh yeah, I remember them from the 90s.

Irrelevant.

Paris, 'cos she is fond of buffering too.

Write haiku, win home server

But I'm ¼ 'Merkin!

Contest rules unfair

Someone call the Waaahmbulance!

Pram now dummyless

Wikileaks publishes BNP 'member list' (again)

@Ex-IT

@Ex-IT - All new memberships have had 100,000 added to the ID, either to make it look like the ranks have swelled, or just to delimit them from the older entries.

Ten sizzling gizmos survive economic nightmare

<vicreeves>Very poor</vicreeves>

Can I just join in the chimes of "WTF?"; how'd you get duped by something that a) has been around in one form or another for nearly 20 years, and b) of dubious scientific merit, to say the least?

Database containing 1.8m UK postcode locations leaks online

@AC 12:45

Post Office!=Royal Mail

No wonder your complaints would fall on deaf ears.

"My postcode's not there"

Also, to those that are searching for postcodes and saying they are not there, how are you checking? Excel prior to 2007 will only show the first 65,536 rows, and 2007/2010 will only show the first 1,048,576 and I'm willing to bet most text editors will simply die trying to open a file that big.

I've been checking the CSV via a database driver and it all seems to be fairly well in order.

Much ado...

The PAF has always been available if you knew where to look, copies (encrypted to a very low standard) are supplied by PAF licensees for in-house postcode lookup installs (one example: http://www.simply-postcode-lookup.com/Software/LocalData.htm) and so cracked versions have been circulating for years.

There is one fundamental problem with the PAF though: it goes out of date, surprisingly rapidly if you are serious about using the data. Most PAF licenses include not only the right to use the data, but updates to the data every month/quarter.

As such, this Wikileaks thing is such a no story.

Vista and Lotus: Knowing when to let go of a brand

Potential employers using Notes

@Sitaram Chamarty

While I wouldn't refuse to work for a company purely because they used Notes, it certainly would be a mark in the 'Cons' column for me, much in the same way as having to pay for tea/coffee.

I have probably reached a kind of grudging stalemate with my Notes R5 client after about three years of compromise, but the trumpeting that goes with each new Notes release is like rubbing salt in my wounds - I'm stuck in Notes a la 2003, and it doesn't get any better with age.

The thing is, in previous employment, when Exchange was updated all clients moved to the new Outlook version at the same time. I'm not sure if this was corporate policy or part of the MS licensing, but it meant we were never running ancient out-of-date client software as I am with Notes.

I've asked about getting an update to the Notes client, to be met with sharp intakes of breath and comments that basically say "Best not to, we're not that confident that you'll not lose some/all of your mail and/or settings" - So much for the fabled Domino maintainability, or perhaps it is just our chronic setup that is to blame. Either way, Domino/Notes fail.

Xbox 360 'least reliable' console

Impressive...and I'm not talking about the RROD stats

Yes, the 360, in original form at least, is a lashed up POS with a horrendous failure rate, but the real surprise here is just how reliable the Wii is. Having worked in the consumer electronics field, a 2.7% failure rate for a machine produced on that scale, with a drive mechanism and likely to be subjected to ham-fisted abuse at the hands of kids and parentards is incredible and a real testament to Nintendo's design and manufacturing bods.

UK Music secret data: 'Young people will pay for downloads'

Letterbocks

Am I the only one who kept thinking the article sounded like it was lifted from Viz? I mean, all it needs is Shakey as UK Music's Venerable Domicile spokesman and a picture of Clark Datchler.

Twitter is mainly pointless babble and other rubbish

Irony

Those who post here to moan about posting to Twitter being pointless and irrelevant...

London desperately seeking Strategy Boutique

It's in the bag...

Dear GLA

I hereby submit my brand solution for your consideration. I believe it fulfils the remit to offer 360° engagement with all stakeholders by leveraging traditional brand values whilst initialising a paradigm shift to a new, more dynamic proposition.

http://i26.tinypic.com/10dxwt5.png

Many thanks and warm regards

Lunatik

LHC rushed back into service at 50% max power

Hats off to Mr Lewis Page

The funniest Reg article I've seen in years - "Topflight particle-wranglers" being a particular triumph.

More, please.

Canon Selphy CP780

Erm, no thanks.

For the rare occasions I need a physical print, I'll stick with my Samsung SP-2020 which I picked up for £14 a couple of years ago and produces perfectly acceptable prints, the match of most of the kiosk printout things. With a 120 pack of paper/ribbon only costing £20, it provides prints at less than 20p each which is a fair premium over online/Costco etc. for the convenience of having a print in under 2 minutes, including getting the thing out of a drawer and hooking it up.

Can't imagine why anyone would pay 3 times this much for what is still a very small print. If colour accuracy etc. is important to you the you're unlikely to be satisfied with a 6x4" print from your EOS 5D shots.

German bomber crashes on Moon Google Earth

Old media...sheesh

The Daily Record feel compelled to write a few hundred words on the subject, but don't include a link or even lat/long? Does anyone in Anderston want to pop round and explain to them how the web works?

Or maybe just bash their narrow-minded gangster/old firm/shortbread tin heads off their desks?

Ofcom coughs 3G coverage maps

Wow, Vodafone fail

Surprising the poor showing of Vodafone and O2, especially considering the latter's tie up of the high-end smartphone market with the data-hungry iPhone and Pre

Glad I'm on 3; their network can be ropey at times, but works on HSPA 3G more often than not (various bits of Scotland)

Sir Alan Sugar hits eject button at Viglen

E-Mailer - LOL

A Mediocre Sales Twat Resigns, Apathy Descends

Baffled-by-tech MPs expense IT support

Numpties

I checked my MP's receipts, and while there are no duck islands and only a few digital cameras, the thing that gets me is the amount of money wasted through poor procurement. Buying el-cheapo consumer printers with pathetic duty cycles then throwing a cartridge at it every 2-3 weeks is hardly a good idea. Poor value for (our) money sums up Michael Connarty's expenses in a lot of cases. I did notice that his expenses got more frugal in the last few years however, perhaps he knew the game was almost up?

p.s. For those confused by the SCART thing, SCART leads may swing both ways, but the direction that the cable leaves the socket on common-or-garden SCART leads is usually different at each end. This can mean it is impossible to get a cable in to the socket due to mains leads etc....unless you turn the lead round. Chalk one up to the "engineer" for putting it so diplomatically.

Futurama back from dead again

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

Great news, anything that puts more Morbo on the box has to be a good thing.