Posts by paulf 1250 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Aug 2009
That is some pretty wide ranging promises being made by "Everything Everywhere". I wonder if that branding will have any "Fair Restriction" applied to it like "unlimited internet" is usually not "unlimited"
Will I be able to sue Ora-Bile if I cannot download full movies at 3G speeds in the middle of the Scottish Highlands (or anywhere they are likely to have a coverage void)?
If MS did get an injunction on Android (as a proxy for Linux) or HTC for selling Android handsets then Google would have to get involved as they would have to defend Android or completely abandon their Mobile OS. Then this could all be played out in public; and MS would finally have to tell the world which of its patents it reckons are violated by Linux. A Court could decide one way or the other and finally put all this FUD crap to bed!
Not a MS hater, nor a Nutter. XP/Mac/Android user. But if they're so bothered about so called patent violations explain what patents are being violated (patents are published so its not like its an NDA risk) then if there is any violation, peeps have a chance to remove any inadvertent infringement or get a licence.
I'm with the guy who spoke about protection rackets being illegal. And also the guy who said that MS probably needs HTC more than HTC needs MS - Not sure I can think of any other handset manufacturers who've done as much to push WinMob as HTC. Perhaps HTC should have bought Palm for WebOS, and ditched WinMob consigning the latter to a quicker funeral.
It was used in the Spectrum +3 after Amstrad acquired Sinclair Research. I had one but only for about 6 months as the FDD mechanism was horribly unreliable - at least for me. 160k on each side IIRC?
Ah those were the days.
And in reply to an earlier post I used to get something like 900Kb onto the 3.5" DS DD floppy/stiffies in my Atari ST by formatting them with 82 tracks and 11 sectors/track instead of the MS-DOS compatible 80 and 9. These were good quality 3M discs bought in the early 90s and AFAIK they are still working. I know the ST is with its Rainbow TOS v1.04
Nostalgia overload!
Surely it will be the financial industry who will be paying for phone calls to be recorded on business phones they supply to their employees? Mr Ray has perhaps been a little ambiguous, but its clear to me that he was referring to the [banking] industry (i.e. those paying for the mobile services that will be recorded) rather than the [mobile] industry (who supply the mobile services being recorded). I can't see Vodafone being so VERY eager to introduce a service that is a cost centre rather than a profit centre!
So it wont be 5p/min increase on your mobile tariff to pay for it, more like £5/min increase when you have a chat with your friendly bank manager about your overdraft or something....
Perhaps Bill Ray could clarify?
Did I really miss something here?
Did the Moderatrix let a spam slip through (shurely not!) or is this a satire on the kind of management speak that would get multiple "HOUSE" calls from a game of BS Bingo?
I could understand this on a Friday afternoon - post liquid lunch, but Dude its only Wednesday.
Megaphone as I'm competitive at BS Bingo, but don't get much opportunity to play these days!
The link to the Times story where the Orange guy finally faces up to the sad sorry truth ("...The company told The Times that "We are not satisfied with where we stand with broadband, as our customer base is declining and our performance is poor. But we need to remain in fixed-line broadband so decided to fundamentally change what we are doing".") seems to link to a story in the Tory-Graph about India having more mobiles than kharzies.
Is this some obscure reference to Orange being as good as a toilet in India? or something.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7593567/India-has-more-mobile-phones-than-toilets-UN-report.html
And when did Orange's broadband being poor become "news".
Hmmm, can't select Reg tombstone and coat requisition icon at the same time :s
This is exactly why (AFAIK) take overs/mergers in the Semi world don't happen that often, and hostile take overs are very rare. You might buy the company but if the bods there don't welcome their new overloads they walk, taking with them all the know-how and potentially setting up shop over the road with that know-how (depending on their contracts).
This leaves the new owner, having paid a nice take over premium, with a mostly empty building, fixtures/fittings/computers and IP/Patents but with no one who knows properly how the IP works such that the most can be made of it and development can continue.
Thanks for that I really hope you're right. Having watched all March for the promised update, the person I spoke to at HTC support last week confirmed it had been delayed from March to April due to complex testing (read we're trying to fix a big ****up). 2 April would be excellent - so I'll be looking out for it!
I've got a Hero (unlocked but not rooted) so still using Android 1.5 while waiting for the (delayed again) update to Android 2.1 from HTC. The built in browser is ok, but certainly nothing special. Definitely looking forward to getting a final release of Fennec installed so I can also get ABP installed to block all those meddlesome ads that I had forgotten about since I use Firefox on desktop.
Bring it on Mozilla!
I wonder if Elan are in some way responding, as proxy, to the suit Apple filed against Android via the proxy of HTC. Apple picks a fight with HTC and the rest of Taiwan pitch in to help HTC fight back? I bet HTC already have a licence for multi-touch from Elan or are quietly negotiating a settlement if they haven't...
As others have said - this current multi-way patent battle can only end one way - nasty and with much richer lawyers all around.
I can't help thinking that the best way to solve this is to mandate that all radios sold must be capable of DAB reception. It'll take longer to switch over as we'd have to wait for a substantial proportion of the existing FM radios to die which could be another 10+ years*, but no one would have to throw out perfectly good FM radios, and there would no longer be on sale FM only radios that would be rendered obsolete by any switch over.
Of course if this had been mandated 3-5 years ago this would have been less painful as there would be fewer FM only sets out there, and more DAB capable sets out there which would have possibly attracted more listeners to the DAB only stations like Planet Rock (saved from closure once) and BBC 6music (closure pending).
*My old Sony FM portable, which doubles as my alarm clock and thus has regular use, has just turned 17, and still going strong! Not bad for £50. So I can empathise with those who have steam coming out their ears about dumping their old sets.
While I kinda see your point on this I can't see it happening. It would require a customisation of the phone's firmware to allow call routing correctly over Wi-Fi, switching to the main cell network when required. When a handset is on the move an active call can be switched between adjacent towers as required (similar to the way an RDS FM car radio automatically retunes when on the move) but I'm not sure if this is possible between GSM and Wi-fi and if it is its probably complex due to the significantly different network topologies, and (as an earlier poster pointed out) the Wi-Fi+IP network wouldn't offer the same QoS as the GSM network would etc.
The sure signal is an easier solution (when it works) as it just looks like another GSM base station to the handset - i.e. no difficult cross standard hand overs, and no risky operator monkeying around with the handset firmware (which lets face it never has a happy ending!).
I like the femtocell idea but not the charging structure. £50 up front for the femtocell then providing the backhaul for free then being charged by Voda as normal for the usage routed through it.
That just sucks.
If they provide the cell for free (reasonable considering it is locked to Voda), and usage is billed at half price (e.g. 2 mins of talk but only use one minute from inclusive bundle etc) then I'd be interested.
That said I'm lucky to be in an excellent coverage area. Someone who has pants coverage on all networks might see this as salvation and those are the people Voda are banking on making money out of with this! But if you've got crap cellular coverage - its likely you have crap broadband too.
Now if Voda were to offer, for £50, a proper milimetric back haul link to the nearest Voda network POP along with the suresignal now THAT would be worthwhile!
Just how do you get a Fail on this level? Its off the register (ahem, apols). I thought things couldn't get more surreal than "Soul Godfather's body snatched" was enough Bootnotes to set me up for the weekend, but this has just about wrapped it up for Friday.
Time to get out of the office just in case it is the Borg-pliars invasion. Mines the one with the "POETS day" card in it.
Paul
Roll on Mid-March in that case. I just hope that the latest Apple Patent spat [Vs Google Via HTC Proxy] over Android wont nobble this update being released.
Thankfully I have a non-branded Hero handset so I don't have to wait for an Operator branded revision (or worry about all the extra bugs Orange would introduce!).
Yes, you're right about Apple and the massive pile of cash, and yes my thoughts were more about the others than Apple Re: enhancing cash flows. I suppose for Steve J its more the competition restricting/crushing that appeals, but what harm can a few more billion do for his ambitions if as a consequence of the litigation he can extract that from anyone found violating his^H^H^H Apple's patents? Apple may have a pile of cash $40 bn big, but if Steve J thought that was "enough" he wouldn't have told the shareholders he'll be hanging onto it in its entirety for now thank you very much.
Wow $40Bn - now I'd drink to that! :)
Seems to be a lot of patent litigation being kicked off at the moment, especially in the mobile space. Nokia, Kodak, HTC, Apple et al.
Is this a sign that competition is fierce and thus patent holders are having to defend their hard won turf by being more rigorous in pursuing violators? Or that they need to get more revenue to shore up recession hit cash flows with some more patent licensing revenue/compensation?
Sarah Kennedy's "SW's" is done in a somewhat affectionate way, at least she has always said that on those now infrequent occasions when she explains what it means. I think she started that in 2004 AFAIK.
The references by Jon Holmes and Collins+Herring certainly appear to be a little less than complimentary....
The Radio presenter, not the East Anglian Prozzie murderer.
He's p1$$ed at 6music because I've heard at least two shows regularly taking the michael out of his "LOVE THE SHOW" chanting and decided that the station must die in penance. [That would be Jon Holmes, and Collins+Herring AFAIK]
Love the show Steve. I'm so looking forward to the sound of your voice talking inane drivel for a full 50% of your daily three hour Celeb-tard gush fest to meet the increase in speech proportion pledged by his Mark-ness for Radio 2 day time. Perhaps Sir Mark forgot that Radio 2 was supposed to be a music station?
Save 6music! It may not get many listeners but I thought it was still the most popular of the BBC DAB only radio stations and gaining more all the time.
I was about to "thumbs up" this post until the last sentence. Android does at least allow you to install software from other sources without rooting/jailbreaking the phone. I've done it once, used ADB to install from my desktop which was pretty painless and the app is very useful.
Depends if you don't mind the Creepy Google data monitoring instead of the Apple control freakery. For me, the former is the lesser evil for now and I'm not too worried as I just ignore any ads, but it is a concern.
Apart from that I agree with everything else you said :)
Just a random thought. Since Reader and Flash are peppered with holes like the proverbial Swiss cheese; are these security researchers (horay for them!) also giving the Adobe Download Manager the once over? It insisted on installing it just now when I updated Firefox before I spotted the manual .exe download option (yep my own 'tarding fault and I've just removed it). I hope they're giving this close scrutiny because once installed it probably has privileges to download and install whatever its told to by anyone - botnet or otherwise!
[Incidently I align myself with the "dislike Adobe because your software is crap, slow, and full of security holes" camp but I still need Flash for some things like BBC iPlayer so I only use it in Firefox with Flash blocker]
I had to look up this El Reg story again and watch the trailer:
"Chris Morris jihad film good to go - Four Lions trailer live"
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/22/morris_film_trailer/
"So why's she got her hands on her face?"
"Because she's got a beard..."
PS - I especially like the way the story tags allow me to read more about Beards! See the David Bellamy special feature analysis comment.
# Marriage
# Dubai
# Beard
I put "Daily hEil" - as in a nod to the paper's consistently goose stepping, shreiking, far right position
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieg_Heil
Rather than hAil - some notion of greeting, respect or deference (or indeed frozen rain which is what we're getting here today!)
Paris - She gets frustrated when commentards don't understand her too
Until I realised this was bootnotes I was getting really worried as to why El Reg felt it had to turn to the Daily Heil for stories.
Flames - because copies of the Daily Heil tend to combust by themselves - due to that smouldering rage at house prices/immigrants/asylum seekers/gays/the labour party/paedophiles*
*delete as applicable, although I'm sure they can use the whole list in every issue (probably every story).
I bet he's chewing them out a bit more frequently than ONLY 7 times a week.
I'd say the owners/bosses of this display manufacturer should watch out - they could vanish never to be seen again for this balls up! Steve's upset you know.
I wonder if they're funding this 15% bonus refund to apologise to his Steveness in the naive thought that if they do he wont ditch them as soon as he's lined up someone more reliable to get screens from...
as its probably a "goodwill"* payment. If they cannot deliver the ordered goods within a "reasonable time" (usually 28 days for mail order) Apple's obligation would be to refund the customer's money in full as they haven't provided the goods as ordered. This done immediately with a smile would be the good customer service.
The 15% extra (so we're talking at least £200 a 27" iMac starting at £1378) - well if its in Apple store vouchers then again its good customer service as its saying "please order again when we've fixed the problems, sorry order backlog is resolved, and use this to buy some accessories for it".
If its in cold hard cash then its hush money because it comes with no obligation to spend it with Apple. You could take the cash and buy a Windows system if you *really* wanted! :o You could define it as good customer service too and I wish more places were like this when the bugger you about but its still hush money.
Either way - free cash? Mines a pint I think :)
* Good will payment = "We've mucked up, but we'll give you this cash if you acknowledge that we haven't"
...at all?
None?
With 3-Morabile between them having some kind of direct control over three of the five 3G licences, including the biggest one that 3 got as the new entrant, this merger is just full of bad news. T-M will vanish after being subsumed into Orange and 3's network will be dependant on Ora-Bile's bidding for investment and expansion, and competition will wither.
If Three had its network sharing arrangement with O2 or Voda*, rather than T-M then it wouldn't be quite so bad, but one entity controlling two 3G licences with a stake in a third. Can no one else in the powers that be see this is crazy-talk??
Is it me?
Or maybe it really is all kittens and posies and the merger really will cure cancer along with all the other mystical consumer benefits that are being touted.
One pineapple for France Ora-com - please sign here _____
*IIRC O2 and Voda have some kind of network sharing arrangement so this option probably isn't much better, but network sharing isn't quite as full on as a total merger.
Ever tried reporting a bug to a Commerical software company? Critical or otherwise. They don't like it, at least not in my experience.
I tracked down a bug in my mobile phone's software. I isolated the cause and the consequences and with a coherent bug report I called them up to report it. I was told it was my fault for using the handset in that way even though it was a pretty standard thing I was trying to do, and we're not talking about some rooted smart phone here either.
Add to that all the times I've tried to report problems in the way Yahoo mail (I know bugs in Y! mail is like shooting fish in a barrel) parses and forwards HTML emails. I've received a reply once from several detailed bug reports (not just "It don't work") and was told to just reload the page or some BS.
In contrast when I've found bugs in free software the dev has usually been really interested in getting the problems solved. Most recently an app on my Android phone had problems and the dev couldn't have been more helpful. Within a couple of weeks the problems were all solved. For a free app I can't complain about that kind of service!
If commercial companies had any interest in receiving the bug reports (from me or the earlier correspondent) may be we'd bother in the first place. Perhaps they could learn a lesson from the "freetards" out there who give a damn about their users!
So glad I'm not orange, and to think I almost returned recently for the HTC Hero! Much better to buy one SIM free and avoid that FAIL of a French network. Hans Snook must be mortified at what has happened to the network he built in the 1990s.
So let me get this right Orange subs will have to pay the premium prices Orange charge, and they'll also have to endure ads too? FAIL FAIL FAIL
>>Hillier (Hitler?) added that as of 2012 the government will require people applying for a passport or ID card to submit ten fingerprints for recording in the National ID database.<<
I just checked both my hands and I counted a total of eight fingers, and two thumbs. Perhaps she was thinking of people from an area of the UK renowned for its genetic mutations due to inbreeding. (I'd sling that mud at Norfolk but other inbred areas are available). Gimme Six!
I'm the "Pedantic Grammar...", but Hillier is the "...Nazi alert" I fear!
P
On a flight from Luton in Oct 2007 I was all ready and prepared with everything in containers no bigger than 100ml, small plastic bags for it all, etc etc etc.
Then in the general "please take that off, remove metal stuff, walk through, put your shoes there" type faff to get through the security area I forgot to separate my small clear pastic bag of stuff from my ruck sack. The ruck sack was x-rayed but no one spotted it so I was waved through security with barely a "Good Afternoon Sir".
I forgot because I was completely thrown by the complete lack of any queue - and that's probably why - a complete lack of proper security screening....!
Paris, because she'll delight in inspecting anyone's fluids (etc)
P
The really lame arsed way the guy says he covered his face with his hands "because she's got a beard" has had me crying with laughter. A serious ID10T! That's brightened up an otherwise crappy Friday. If that clip is a good representation of the film I can't wait.
Come on Chris Morris - sort out the UK release!!
...to cut the price a bit to something a bit more wallet friendly?!. I checked out the cost a couple of years ago and they were five grand for the basic model, with the off road version a load more. They're kinda funky in a geeky way, but not for five k. There are small cars that cost not much more than that.
Of course if key investor Jesus H Jobs had allowed them to put an Apple logo on them they'd be cheap at twice the price of course :p <troll alert!>
Mines the one next to the sturdy but comfortable walking shoes...
P
If you look under the data set for each car in the spreadsheet you'll see the footnote:
"* In the DVLA dataset, a Vehicle Year of First Use of 1971 is recorded against Kit Cars and Rebuilds."
So the '1971 Vectra' was probably beaten back into shape after being squished in a crash then re-registered.
The data has to be treated very cautiously because there are so many gaps already noted (car mileage, failed for minor or serious reasons, car maintenance regime etc etc), but it can still be useful if read with these limitations in mind. That said I think the story is more the several years of work it took the BBC hack to prise this information from the tight little fingers of the VOSA!
On a foot note I have a French car also which is up for MOT next month - crosses fingers!
Why are Mozilla turning the clock back?
The reason I gave up on Netscape 4 was because I could no longer access the bookmarks menu using keyboard shortcuts. I kicked about on Netscape 3 for a while then went to IE5/6 and stayed with that until Firefox was launched which returned to offering a proper bookmarks menu.
Why remove it??? Why, oh, why, oh, why?!?!
Flames because I'm really angry, I don't want to be forced back to IE. Step away from the bookmarks menu!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/paris_hilton_32.png
Any Voda-fanbois can register interest here:
http://www.vodafone.co.uk/iphone
The link doesn't appear to be on the main voda site but is available in the press release:
http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2009/iphone_uk_ire.html
Paris because she ought to operate a pre-register system to avoid disorderly queues...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/stop_32.png
""The source also reckoned that the slight improvement in the economy meant that the price for T-Mobile had also risen from about £3bn in July to nearer £4bn now. Which is still a fraction of what the firm paid for its 3G license.""
According to http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/spectrumauctions/auction/auction_index.htm
One to One paid £4,003,600,000 for licence D. So when you say £4bn is a fraction of the cost of the 3G licence, that fraction would be something like 0.999? Still a fraction, but only just!
I remember them when they were Netcom UK. They were my first ISP back in 1995, and made a continual mess of my subscription (back when it was £15/mo plus 0845 for dialup internet!). I soon bailed and good job I did as it looks like not much changed in the decade since then.
It sucks if you're with them due to an acquisition though.
P
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