Posts by Vernon Lloyd

PC World feels the Vista pinch (again)

Does that mean

1: That they will be selling PCs for a normal decent price

2: The 'Tech Guys' will have to be made redundant

3: In your face Sales persons will be made redundant

4: They will overcharge for a PC Health Check (ie run one piece of software and vacumn out dust) and charge £50 to find that your computer is still just as slow.

Ideal World = A World without DPG and expecially without Packard Hells, sorry Packard Bells, which are the cheapest, most unreliable with the worst technical support ever.

Example: On my friends wifes PC (A Packard Hell)

Typical Mastercare personell:

Issue with PC was computer not booting, CPU was running above 85 deg C in the BIOS, i had to wet my finger to touch the heatsink (with the usual ssssshshh). The guy on the phone claimed that 85 deg was perfectly normal and that the heatsink should get hot. He told me that he was qualified and that I did not know what I was talking about.(I recorded the message on a dictaphone for later). I explained that the CPU was replaced a day ealier by a Mastercare PC field tecchie. He then told me that I had invalidated the warrenty by opening the case. I told him that I was more than qualified to do this. One arguement later where he swore at me meant a visit to PC world with original receipt.

By then I had worked out that the muppet who installed the CPU had NOT put on and Heatsink Compound.

I spoke to the muppet in charge, sorry store manager and demanded (made sure I was in a very busy part of the store), a New Mobo, CPU and PSU (which has itself got very hot due to excess heat). I basically told him what needs replacing or I would ask for my friends wife (who didn't want any trouble, the salesperson favourite) money back he said no. So I played the dicaphone message to him (in frront as many people as possible) and after the 10th customer walked out in disgust he took the PC and gave my friends wife a brand new pc and installed her HDD as secondry HDD for her.

The knife twister is that is was his son on the phone when we rang Mastercare. Simple rule in life when dealing with big companies, make sure you complain near as many people as possible. Oh, make sure you tell them you are recording the telephone message thou.......:-)

Big media gangs up on pirates, file sharers

Hmmmm

I wish you all the luck in the world.

If you as a collective can stop the hackers from hacking then hell will truely freeze over.

No point wasting your collective money.

Manhunt 2 banned by UK censor - again

I look at it this way

I have played a Mario as a kid and never wanted to jump on people or shoot fire

I played Zelda and never wanted to slash someone with a sword.

I have played GTA (all versions) and still haven't felt the urge to run people over or shoot innocent people.

I have played Solider of Fortune and as fun as it was blowing characters arms off and watching blood shoot out I have never felt the need to do that in real life.

Do I need to go down the resident evil or other games path.

Simple - PEOPLE COMMIT SERIOUS CRIMES AND THE FIND SOME EXCUSE TO TAKE THE BLAME AND MEDIA OFF THEIR BACKS

Come on people its never the fault of the criminal now is it!

Let Manhunt in, I am over 18 let it be my choice to buy it. If the PARENTS out there buy it for their children it is the PARENTS fault if they go on the streets and copy the game. ITS TIME TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

Rant Over

Japanese Wii sales rain on PS3 parade

Please stop comparing the Wii to the XBox and PS3

Nintendo should be proud, the released a cheap and cheerful and very unique console.

Sony should be proud, their albeit expensive console has the best graphics I have seen

Microsoft should be proud, their online Xbox Live is fantastic and overall the graphics and sound are superb.

The Wii has not released as a competetor for either the Xbox or PS3. The reason why they have done so well is because the Wii is cheap and a hell of a lot of fun for parties and groups of friends/families. They priced it to encourage not only to sell but so u can afford 2 consoles.

They have done so well because Sony have spent the last 12 months putting Nintendo down at the same time releasing a console too expensive for most.

Another way to look at it is PLAYABILITY, and the Wii Kicks Butt over the Xbox and PS3

UK police can now force you to reveal decryption keys

Hmmmm

Is this another excuse to take big business abroad, I mean if the encrypted files are not stored in the UK then this law does not count.

In other words we are telling the terrorists that if you want to have data for future crimes hold them on servers abroad.

From another point of view (and this I feel this is just as serious) I can forsee pedophiles holding GBs of data on encrypted devices. Lets face it whats 2 - 5 years in jail over a life of being a convicted pedophile. No key = less or no evidence.

Still I must make sure that I do not carry personal ID information on my encrypted Data Stick (so if I get robbed noone can get my info).

Can you protect your data through the Human rights/Data Protection Act?.... of course I have to have mugged or robbed someone before I can have any human rights.

How I love to be British

McLaren fined $100m for spying

Well

For only the second season in a row this years championship has been close. Even now with 4 races left any one of 4 (mathematically) can still win.

Now that Shummy (should be spelt Cheater) they will never get a driver who will cheat sorry win them many championships. Now as a Brit I wholeheartly support the Brit drivers, especially Button (who needs to drive for a better team). I am proud that Hamilton has done so well in his Rookie Season. Has he done that by cheating, no.

Not to go over the points made by others here I have really only one thing to add:

Ferrari have to win

Even if they had a car equivent to say the Hondas, they would use their money and influence to cheat, lie and make up facts just so all those above lose out to Ferrai rules and way of doing things.

Ferrari cheated in Austraila and what happened to them.....squat. Ferrari allowed a member of staff to have out of base a 800 page dossier to give to another team. What happened to them, squat.

The FIA is not and has not been for years about the racing teams but about a certain team in red.

F1 will never be the same again :-(

Please McLaren appeal, win the appeal then bring Ferrari to account for what it has done. I know this is impossible due to the bias in the FIA.

I am gutted for the sport.

I wonder how much of the £50m will line Ferriaris pocket........

Oh and Dan that QPR comment was a spot on ....;-)

Chinese firm claims World of Warcraft stole its fonts

I wonder

First is this company fully legit (ie following health and safety, good working hours etc, etc) if so good on it and it should show others. If not then they should sod off trying to get money out of a (hopefully) honest company.

Second Blizzard are a clever company and have no doubt got a reason why they (IF THEY REALLY HAVE) have used non-original fonts.

Oh and BTW, they only way to better the working conditions over there is for our countries to make and produce the components China does. What makes me laugh is that for them to make and import is cheaper that for a company in the UK or the US to make. Lets take the business and bring it back to our countries and get our unemployed off the streets. Once China stops making money, it may (although I seriously doubt it) look at itself and better the way things are done.................I MUST stop dreaming ;-)

Total world Wii sales close in on Xbox 360 tally

If they can be believed...

If these figures are true the what a turn around. I mean Nintendo have had and will be the portable console leader for some time to come.

As for the main console I feel the Sony will struggle to make second place over Nintendo (or possibly Microsoft in the near future). I do not think that the PS3 will do anywhere near as well as the PS2 (Which was the best console for its generation)

Why because it is too expensive (I am not doubting its potentail), the XBOX has had many, many issues with the patches, hardware issues etc. The Wii is new, simple to use, has had no major issues (with exception to the strap issue, but that is not a design flaw of the console)

From my point of view (I am not a console owner) the Wii is revolutionary and Nintendo have done something that Microsoft and Sony have not, and thats marketed a Family Console. Until Sony and Microsoft do that they will loose out.

Sony recalls 350,000 cameras

Erm.....Maths issue

If the serial numbers 3500001 to 3574100 are being recalled then this is 74099 being recalled not 350000.

Still I am very suspisious for the REAL reason for the recall. My HP camera has got dents and bits missing of metal (Never let other peoples kids use your camera!) through 3 years of use and there are no sharp edges. Or have they just skimped on the design to save a few bucks.

Sony appear to be going downhill and I really wonder at times how long it will be before they hit serious financial issues. With the very poor sales of the PS3 (which they are still losing money on the hardware) and the battery fiasco how long will it be before the public give Sony a miss due to mistrust of their products.

Finally - Stu why would anyone buy a camera if you cannot upload to a PC?

Nokia ships 100 million phones in Q2

Erm.....Just one question

Whats an iPhone.........;-)

What do the vast majority of all phone users need on a phone:

Ability to ring other people

Ability to receive calls from other people

Send Text Messages

Receive Text Messages

And maybe, just maybe a camera to take unexpected photos.

So why do the vast majority need an all singing all dancing phone.

I doubt Apple will take a huge share in the phone market, yes it may eat into the higher end phones but it is too highly priced and has too many features for most.

I think the iPhone has the potential of being a VERY NICE piece of kit, but I will never own one. I like my quick access to the internet and a decent camera on my phone, both of which (at present) are missing on the iPhone.

McLaren accelerates away from fines and expulsion

Funny this

Both McLaren and Ferrari are just as guilty. Yes the stupid bloke from McLaren should not have taken the documents, but the Ferrari bloke should not have passed them on.

Looking back in the past though, I do not remember a time over the last few years where Ferrari been in trouble which have lost them points or threatened to be kicked out of the championship. Lets face it there are one of the dirtiest teams in the field. Please, correct me if I am wrong here ;-)

If (and it is a big if) McLaren get kicked out of this season, then Ferrari should do so to.

However I feel if it was not for Lewis and the extra money he will bring into the sport McLaren would already be kicked. Shows that money talks and Ferrari gets away with blue murder again.

Oh BTW I am a Jenson Fan, and to be honest even though I would like Lewis (as a Brit) to win I would like someone new to win this year. Just in case this u think this was an anti-Ferrari post ...;-)

Heres to the teams we see very little of on race day......

Does HP have $1bn worth of Bull?

Does this mean.....

......that I might actually talk to someone closer to the UK when logging a call and not the Middle East?

Does that mean a 24hr callout for parts and engineers will take place within 24, not 240 hours?

Does that mean that they may not be out of stock of HDDs and Motherboards (the reason for the excuse of the 240hr response)?

Does that mean PCs with not have to be opened to remove the loose screws?

Er.....No

HPs kit is cheap and cheerful but their support is lacking......well support...:-)

At least when I say the service is a load of Bull they may agree.

Canadian iPod user struck by lightning

Hmm a little ironic....

I chuckled when I read this because he was hit by an 'act of God' (sorry 'act from your God' to be PC) while listening to 'religious music'.

However on a serious note, I wonder if the guy would be alive if it was not for his Ipod.

On the not so serious side this strikes (oops a bit of a pun there) me as the devil protecting him from God......wow I wonder if his name is Damien.

Still he is very lucky to be alive.

Plods to get helmet cams

Well, how about some positives.....

First, if someone is robbing your house and the bobby comes along and takes film of them leaving the scene, you would be happy knowing that you would not have to remember the details of those people who have just robbed you.

Second, if your spouse had just hit you for ten bells and the police had evidence themselves of the cuts and brusies it would make criminal proceedings a lot easier and less stressful for the victims.

It may be time to trust the police, these cameras would make criminal proceedings a lot quicker and save joe (and Joan) public a lot of money in saved resources.

I know that Big Brother is watching our every move, but in the places with odvious CCTV and police going around with cameras on their heads may help reduce crime in your area. Come on people lets at least give it a chance, at least the police are trying new ideas to stay ahead. With the government asking them to literally spend one third of their time filing paperwork, it is not always the bobbys fault when your crime goes unnoticed or unsolved.

Its time people writing on this look at life with the glass is half full attitude.

Rant over ;-)

MEP plans EU build ban on cars faster than 100mph

How About

Rather than limiting speed, they need to make car manufacturers make engines which do a set minimum MPG, say 35 (urban). You watch, they will still make very fast, quick to 60mph and 4x4s just make the engine more efficient.

Eliminate stress at the touch of a button... literally

Alas....

If only hitting the panic button to hit the virutal boss somehow was voodoo controlled to give my real boss some.........education ;-). Still we can't have everything can we.

Police officer arrested over IT abuse

Will you listen to yourselves

1: It is alledged

2: I am happy knowing that a policeman is being investigated for an alleged offence.

3: IF guility I am happy knowing that NO ONE is above the law and no doubt will be sentenced accordingly.

4: If he is innocent he will be allowed back to work, without no doubt any appologies from you lot who assume guilt before the investigation has took place.

I have always found the police to be doing their jobs well, and the times I have had to complain (like a police officer overtaking me while turning right without any blue lights) the have treated me with respect. They have a very hard job to do especially with all the red tape and paperwork they have to deal with.

Apple toughens iPhone screen, boosts battery life

Well.....

Remember even though there have been plenty of lies.....

How many iPod's have been sold.........?

I suspect the iphone will do very well, even though I personally think it is a waste of money to be frank does not look very nice. I need a phone to:

Answer/Make calls

Send/Receive texts

I have my computer or the works computer to do the rest, and my 4mp digi camera is better than any phone for taking pictures. (Even though my N73 has a damn good try - contract phone b4 any thinks i being hypocritical)

Why would i want one which can play videos.......the more complicated the device the more prone it is to go wrong. Todays mobile phone are not as reliable as the old ones (my Nokia 5110 still works to this day)

AT&T sued by poor man's Formula 1

I agree

Even though I am a big F1 fan even I realise that even the big teams annual spend on their cars is belittled by that spend by some NASCAR teams. Some NASCAR events also bring home more cash in 1 event than in as many as 4 F1 Events. How can then call NASCAR the poor mans F1. I find motor racing of all types fasinating from all over the world. Its just a shame I do not have access to any Live American Races. You cannot compare F1 to NASCAR as they are unique in their own way.

I feel that the "poor mans F1" comment is unfair to us brits who know the truth and respect the huge events you Americans hold to watch the talent what is in your drivers.

Hope this clears up what us Brits think on this.

As for Lewis Hamiton, no one can claim Lewis Hamiton is not a superb driver and I think will win the F1 Championship this year. He is a good example of a roots driver who has driven his way up through the ranks. He is a good example for all around the world no matter what sport.

Cops smash paedophile ring

Well done!

Its not often the police and other law agencies get a pat on the back. Well done to all of those who helped to catch these bastards and thanks to you the internet is one step closer to being safe for the young people and those of the next generation.

Now all they need to do is to give them a punishment which will send shock waves to the perverts out there.

I know that there must be hundreds of websites out there which deal in the photos of our young people purely for them involved 'get off'. It makes me feel ill just typing that thought :-(

THEY ALL MUST BE CLOSED DOWN AND THOSE CAUGHT SEVERELY PUNISHED!

It is good to see that the from September young people will be educated into safe internet usage and taught how to recognise and report abuse. My only concern is are they doing it fast enough and to enough young people. Also lets educate the parents in how to monitor what their child is doing. Lets face it the young people of today seem to know a lot more about computers than their parents.

But one small step is better than nothing. Again Well done to those involved.

Exams, contracts, and nuclear research: stupid, stupid, stupid

Mmm Chris

9 secs = 0.15 of a minute

Therefore using your formula = 3.15 * 6 + 1 = 19.9

Or 19 minutes 54 Seconds

But as Rodger pointed out it did say the diameter of the wheel. Therefore it moves: So 1 rotation is equal to the diameter * pi (3.14159)

Breaking down Rodgers explaination:

1 rotation = 0.7 * pi = 2.1991148575128552669238503682957 metres per rotation. So in a minute it moves 21.99 metres per minute. Say 22 metres per minute. Therefore it takes 1 minute per journey.

3 journeys to evacuate, 3 journeys to the bottom of the lift shaft. So 6 minutes for total journeys.

It will need to be loaded and unloaded 3 times each. 6 * 10 seconds = 1 minute.

So 6 + 1 = 7

Sorry Chris but my calcuator says that Rodger is correct. Nice one!

AOL phisher nets six years' imprisonment

Theres 1....

.......now the US needs to catch the thousands of other people using the www for crime purposes. For this I wish the US authorities the best of luck, in catching, prooving and convicting them.

Come on people is time to train people into what looks like and what isn't a proper site. Did none of the people ripped off by this scammer, ring AOL to check. If the first person who read the email had rung up and checked, AOL could have sorted the issue out sooner.

The other way is not have credit cards, and stay off the internet.

Jobs: one more thing... a browser war

Iphone

First Steve, as PC user I use Firefox over IE, basically because it is much better and more stable. Why would I want to go to Safari.......

Second, the iPhone, why make it so only Apple can really develop for it. I can see why you have a bite out of your logo. Did u pass that on then force it back mid bite......

Why Oh why do we need the iPhone anyway, I have no doubt it will do well, but at least 85% of mobile phone users use the phone to.......make calls and send text messages and thats it.

Google Maps aids terrorists, NY lawmaker warns

While your at it.....

I am sat at my desk, I have a phone, my mobile phone, computer, printer, fax machine, access to the internet and my cup of coffee.

Damn people looks like I cannot do any work today except drink coffee (soon to be outlawed know doubt due to carrying hot liquids) as everything else could be used for terrorist purposes.......

Why do we have such MUPPETS running the show.

'Partial nudity' said to hinder M-rated Halo 2 release

Well...

M$ needs to try harder to convince people to go to Vista.

I am happy with XP SP2 and it runs very well with the spec of PC I have (P4 3.2Ghz HT, 2 GB RAM....yawn, yawn). Why would I want an OS which will make my PC run like a 486 on non-turbo mode.......just for a FPS which in my opinion looks shite. Lets face it I will not be able to watch TV on my smaller monitor and play online games on the bigger 19" getting 20 fps (at 1152x 864,still playable only a 256MB Graphics Card :-( ) with vista.

But still, how much difference can we make, will M$ listen.........I think not.

Now if M$ had topless fit women who you had to 'save' in a game then well hell yeah it may be a good buy..................sorry dreaming there....;-) Lets face it an 18 certificate on a game is really going to stop the 11-17 year olds (and younger) from playing it, isn't it.........NOT!

BT, Sony to turn PSP into a phone

Now that is a good idea..........but

First the idea is sound, it is making use of hardware already there. Lets face it why carry round a console, phone, music player etc if it can be all done in one. As long as the price does not go up....... too much.

However, what will not be a good idea is for children to be walking down the street using their psp as a phone. It may look cool but its the same as putting a big neon sign above thier heads saying ROB ME!

Advantages: All in one wonder, a TV, MP3 player, Video Player, Games Consolse, Phone all in one (Yes many phones have that but not with that screen size.

Disadvantages: Could be expensive and dangerous for our young people.

But for now nice one Sony and BT

(and this comes from a Nintendo Fan.....;-)

Teen embeds car in Edinburgh basement

Aahhhhhh.....

Bless his cotton socks...............!

Lets hope he does not sue the owner of the car for his cuts an brusies. No doubt some 'No win No Fee' laywer is speaking to him now to find a reason why the car should not have been on the road and that the car not the THIEF was to blame.

Oh course he could sue the owner of the house for the outside wall of the property jumping out in front of him odviously causing the crash ;-)

Satnav driver's car totalled by train

Oh Well

Simple logic:

Give someone technology --> They think it is infalible --> They trust it --> It goes wrong --> Blame the technology

If you put blind faith in technology then near misses and unavoidable deaths of cars etc will happen. Not to mention how damn lucky she is to still be alive. Maybe her God is a technophobe and saved her bacon.

In my opinion sat navs are a waste of money and dangerous. On a recent trip to south London from Nottingham my mate who was driving had at least 7 near miss accidents because he was too busy looking at the sat nav and not the road ahead. The ironic thing is not only do we both know that area well he got stuck in a jam which I warned him about and refused to listen to a better and traffic free route because his 'sat nav' didn't display the jam.

Long live the brain and common sense

Laptop overheats, vapourises Brazil... almost

Damn.....

It would cost to much to go there and have a BBQ

Terminator kill-bots to be run by system called 'Skynet'

Cool

Nice to see that some of skynets forces are commenting on this. I have an oozy 9 milimeter and an not scared to use it.

Hasta la Vista Baby

iPods 'mess with pacemakers'

Well I Never.....

So iPods can cause malfunctioning pacemakers, or is it the excitement of someone over 60 using a piece of technology which is cauing the heart to flutter.

Seriously though I agree with Bryan Reed in the fact that the deivce itself is unable to cause issues. I question the methods behind the test. Did they try putting any other metal boxes close to the pacemaker to see if it causes issues.

Still good for a chuckle though..............whats my inheritance worth?..........damn my parents don't have pacemakers ;-)

..........infact they do not have ipods either........yet ;-)

Downing Street rejects Vista petition

If it were cheaper......

....but if Microshaft were to reduce the price of their full of holes OS then is it just possible that people will be less likely to have/want an illegal copy. I do not condone piracy but I can see why it is done. Why pay for shite when you can get it for free. I know that atm there are no (or very few) was to successfully crack Vista.

Come on people would you buy an expensive car if it needs to go back to the garage every few days........

The problem is that we as a species are frigging dependant on Microsoft especially in business. For example, some clinical apps in the NHS are written to run in Windows and Internet Explorer and will not run on other (in my opinion better) OSs or Firefox.

This is why Microshaft can charge what they want, especially in 18 months to 2 years when XP will convieniently disappear. Maybe by then Vista will be secure and be essentially unhackable..................................opps just fell off my chair laughing at what i typed.

Dell reinvents the cardboard box

Good one

I think this is a good idea, especially with the save the planet stuff going on. Not wanting to start an arguement but we find Dell products very reliable, however having being forced to take the cheaper HP option we have already found that cheaper is nowhere nearer better:

Dell replace a HDD in one working day, HP in a working week

Dell send a techy in one working day, HP in at least 3 (Not good in an NHS hospital environment)

Dell have never sent a PC with screws rolling around in cases, in one 40 pc batch I found 32 screws.

Dells build quality is better.

Us Techies think Dells are much better and more reliable

Hp Laptops are a pain to get all the drivers for (thanks to a dire website)

However the HP keyboards are better than Dells.....finally a good point......;-)

Currys to cease stocking cassettes

Does that mean.....

...that I will have to replace my well used tape drive car stereo :-( for a more modern one..........

Oh well I might just come out of the stone age......

As for Dixons/Curries, I have boycotted them for the last 7 years due to the rip off attitiude/poor customer service/naff technical support/etc/etc/etc/etc. Oh ever since I stopped working for them.........;-)

Virgin throttles national cable network

Seems fair...........

.........if they were to charge half the broadband rate while they have throttled us down to half the speed.

I do not think they will do that.

On the positve side though at least they will not disconnect me..............yet?