Posts by Roger Greenwood

Leaked MS ad video parodies Chrome as surveillance tech

So my searches etc are synchronised across devices?

Sounds like a good idea, I might try it out. Thanks for the info.

Concerning Spiceworks' evil plans for world domination

Is it just me?

Based on the enthusiasm expressed by TP I signed up a few months ago to dip my toe in the spiceworks water. Since then all I seem to get is spammed to bits from the big boys. I know I must be missing something, but it doesn't seem to offer much for the very part time admin with no time to play around.

I'm not giving up though.

Departing Ballmer shakes up Microsoft's top engineering boffins

impactful

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=impactful

word of the day: September 23, 2009

A non-existent word coined by corporate advertising, marketing and business drones to make their work sound far more useful, exciting and beneficial to humanity than it really is.

That's what I thought.

Microsoft's EAT-your-OWN-YOUNG management system AXED

Re: I work for a company that still does this.

Badly chosen goals are always hard to meet.

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

Douglas Adams

Internet Explorer 11 for Win7 bods: Soz, no HTML5 fun for you

"Windows 8.1 tables"

More furniture?

'Burning platform' Elop: I'd SLASH and BURN stuff at Microsoft, TOO

Re: Effect on WP

It's not about the past, it's about the future. You may not like it, I may not like it, that's business.

Microsoft offers Google-esque multi-meddling options in Office Web Apps

Yup, also used this feature in 2005 (google docs) as part of a group assignment. Works brilliant in those cases. Now we use google docs all day, every day, at work, shared between up to 10. It is very rare you want to change exactly the same thing at the same time so latency not really a major problem.

Just hope MS get it to work as well as google have.

REJOICE! Windows 7 users can get IE11 ... soon they'll have NO choice

"released to manufacturing"

That's twisting the definition of manufacturing a little too much I think.

'It's a joke!' ... Bill Gates slams Mark Zuckerberg's web-for-the-poor dream

Re: I wish

I think at some point people that rich have to choose.

20 years ago BillG didn't say or do the same things, but don't be surprised if 20 years from now Mr Z is.

Microsoft founder Paul Allen's money man wants Redmond to break up

"bin for Bing"

Just remove the g. Sorted.

A steam punk VDU ?

My toolbox . . .

. . .still contains Whitworth spanners. A very underated chap.

Microsoft: You've got it all WRONG. It's Apple's iPad playing catch-up with our Surface

Re: Is he related to a certain Iraqi?

"The situation is excellent" is my favourite.

Reply-all email lightning storm STRIKES TWICE at Cisco

Need some free publicity?

Use the Cisco Reply All Procedure.

or CRAP for short.

Lone sysadmin fingered for $462m Wall Street crash

There is a very simple rule :-

"You can't check your own work"

You may think you can, but you can't.

If it's important, get a second or third check.

Impending Windows XP doom breathes life into flagging PC sales

". . really fragmented customer base."

Or really fed up/disinterested customer base who have better things to do.

Oracle brass past and present tapped for Microsoft CEO - report

"potential outside picks"

I am deeply ashamed to report that I read the above phrase with an "r" in it.

My bad.

Hey banks: Use Win XP after deadline? You'll PAY if card data's snaffled

"Microsoft have published the prices for Special Support"

So they are retaining a team to evaluate future exploits and produce patches/testing etc. just restricting what they test and who has access. Would be nice if they shared a little more, but of course that wouldn't fit the bigger picture of getting people back on the treadmill.

Incremental upgrades . . .

. . . tend to provide no business or operational benefit, just increase the risk in delicate systems. It may not be ideal, but that is reality for many. Hence hitting a brick wall now and then.

Microsoft wants to 'move beyond' the Cookie Monster

Who uses bing?

I have tried saying to many people "just bing it" or similar and they either think I am nuts, joking, or both.

Bees baffled by belching car exhausts = GLOBAL HUNGER

Professor Poppy

He's in the wrong job.

In defence of defenestration: Microsoft MUST hurl Gates from the Windows

Re: Always a PC

"SharePoint and Outlook 2010 . . . Office 2010"

Never used them. Despite having loads of windows PCs, we either stuck with older versions or found alternative ways of doing things, more reliable and cheaper.

There was simply no compelling reason to upgrade (with associated pain), based on the amount asked for, when the existing solutions worked.

MS were much too late coming up with a subscription system, at a reasonable price.

MS had better have a killer app up their sleeve or we won't be using them at all in less than 5 years.

Former Microsoftie in AUTOMATIC BEER MAKER funding plea

I'm not as thunk as you drink I am.

500 MEELLION PCs still run Windows XP. How did we get here?

Re: My choices

Sounds good. I agree that chromebooks are surprisingly useful, and it's amazing what you can do with them. In many cases I can see it will be better to use a combination of solutions as you have, rather than another expensive monolithic solution.

We now have 3 x small tablets in the house + 2 x chromebooks along with older computers i.e. a lot of redundancy for less money. Same principle could work for many businesses.

p.s. in the UK we are discouraged from using old kit as target practice and just chuck it over a hedge instead.

An airgap is not always that easy to get - not when your input/output currently goes to a networked printer or networked disk/shared resource. Make it hard for users (e.g. via USB disk etc) and they will laugh and bypass it given half a chance.

If you start splitting the network or resources then your costs rocket.

I suppose the moral of the story is plan your next but one upgrade before you do anything else. Not something small businesses are well known for, but the cloud does look suddenly more attractive.

Re: XP? Pah!

Exactly. And your favourite saying as a manufacturer will probably be "If it ain't broke . . ."

(I am also that manufacturer).

Wireless-charging power struggle latest: Qualcomm invades rival to kill upstart

Re: JPF

That's exactly what I got.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

British Gas robo home remote gets itself into hot water

Re: Shirley

In which case have a well earned pint.

Re: Shirley

By the time you have added fuses, terminals, relays, a few wires, box, labour to wire it etc you will probably be well over £50.

Boffins debate killing leap seconds to help sysadmins

What we need . . .

. . . is a leap Monday so that the day starts about 11am

Douglas Adams was RIGHT! TINY ALIENS are invading Earth, say boffins

Re: Moonlighting?

And I hope the next time he ascends he will be provided with suitable protection to prevent infection.

Our second attempt to give LOHAN a good banging: Live tomorrow

And not forgetting the Special Projects Bureau Special Projects Burro (SPBSPB)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/02/special_projects_burro/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/24/rip_aladdin/

At the going down of the sun, and in the raising of a glass, we will remember him.

Re: Why so late in the day?

9am?

Spain?

are you nuts?

MPs: This paperless health service plan isn't worth the paper it isn't written on

Re: Er . . .put the civil servant buyers on a bonus system

Yes Minister was brilliant, and I maybe wasn't being completely serious.

Re: "poor negotiating capability"

"There's no obvious solution to this issue."

Er . . .put the civil servant buyers on a bonus system - they get to keep a percentage of everything under budget.

Not popular maybe, but sure would focus the mind.

Microsoft relents: 'Go ahead, install Windows 8.1 on clean PCs'

No preservation of data during upgrade?

I know many times that's a good idea, an opportunity for a shakeup, but are they really that dismissive of many peoples expectations and usage patterns? Insane restriction for no good purpose.

Box morphs into Google Docs competitor

Re: Document Management?

"two people editing a document at exactly the same time?"

In some cases, rarely. In others, all the time. We share a spreadsheet continuously between up to 10. Simple to use, cheap, every day, all day. It has a place.

Server hack heads up the stack for a new challenge

All the best

have enjoyed your articles.

Eadon will be devastated.

First rigid airship since the Hindenburg cleared for outdoor flight trials

Re: Cargo/ballast

You go first.

That is one mad scary boffin. I like him.

Penguins, prepare to get SPACED OUT: Ubuntu 13.10's Mir has docked

Re: How much does it cost?

Yes they should have used food and chocolate bars like proper geeks. Twinkie? Crunchie?

New! Yahoo! logo! shows! Marissa! Meyer's! personal! touch!

Criticise all you like . . .

. . . she got you lot (and plenty others) talking about it didn't she? I'd call that a win for a few hours work.

Hunt's 'paperless', data-pimping NHS plan gets another £240m

Yes the aircraft carrier overspend update will be released at a later date.

Decks and plugs and rock and roll: Tascam CD-A750 cassette and CD combo

Tape still demanded sometimes

At many synchronised swimming competitions here in UK, the rules still demand 2 x CDs and a backup cassette tape for the music. No one bothers of course, because no one has a working recorder, but if the CD player fails you may be disqualified.

iPhone rises, Android slips in US, UK

Re: Weak "News story"

In the last 12 months, every time I have had contact with a phone store or company, they have practically begged me to take an iPhone of one sort or another, with some very tempting (cheap) offers.

I don't know why they were pushing them so hard, but don't underestimate the power of a bribe, or an arm twist.

Microsoft buys Nokia's mobile business

"Skype, Office, Xbox Live, Bing, Skydrive"

All of these have very popular alternatives, all are yesterday's news, none are the future i.e. attractive to kids. Where is the killer app. that will drive people back to MS/Nokia?

MS shareholders better hope they have a skunkworks working on that.

Compact Cassette supremo Lou Ottens talks to El Reg

Re: Great interview...

Yes, I wonder if "work together as a bunch of friends" is likely to be heard from many ex-Microsoft employees in 30 or 40 years? I somehow doubt it given the current competitive environment we hear so much about.

Redmond's certification chief explains death of MCM and MCA

Re: Welcome, indeed, to the real world

Exactly - go and do an HNC or Degree course instead of studying one particular solution. Yes it's hard and it costs. Yes it takes time. Yes it has value for a long time after.

Bionic Brit Babbage Bear boards brilliant balloon, bests ballsy Baumgartner

Knowing what was inside the bear . . .

. . should he not now be referred to as a pimonaut?

Microsoft warns of post-April zero day hack bonanza on Windows XP

It really annoys me . . .

. . .that you describe XP as a 12 year old product. I have computers that were bought new only 4 to 5 years ago running XP so I expect them to do a few more years yet. Not a large enterprise, I grant you, but I am sure there are lots of other SMBs in the same boat.

YouTube Wars: Microsoft cries foul as Windows Phone app pulled again

Exactly

"At the end of the day, "

If they only spent a day on it no wonder they failed.