Posts by Wyrdness

Ten… top tech cock-ups of 2012

Re: Mozart was a Wunderkind, not a Wuenderkind

According to German g/f, it's permissible in German to substitute 'ue' for 'ü'. So Weunderkind is probably more correct than Wunderkind.

ICANN'T believe it's not Apple: Vatican wins domain-handout lottery

Re: Insanity

i.cant.cope.with.change

Judge: There'll be no US Samsung ban, BUT no new trial with Apple either

Re: Overcompensating, incompetent or fanboi

Judge Lucy Koh is obviously biased. Everybody knows that. The Apple fanbois know that she's biased towards Samsung. Just go read any Mac forum to see how much they hate her. Then the Samsung fanbois claim that's she's biased towards Apple. She just can't win.

Now where's that popcorn icon we asked the Reg for?

Apple loses iPhone patent lawsuit

Re: Hey books are complicated things

But Apple invented the book. Didn't you know?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkQkeKbTP_w

Google maps app is BACK on iPhones, fanbois spared death

Re: DAMNIT!

You need satnav to find your way to work? I hope that you never breed.

Review: Apple iMac 21.5in late 2012

I like iMacs and have owned 2 so far. My current one is a 2008 dual core, maxed out at 4GB of memory. I want to update to a newer model, but if the memory's not upgradable, then I'm not buying. I'll probably get the Mac Mini instead and put up with the Intel integrated GPU (which shouldn't be an issue as I don't game on Macs).

I just wish that one of the second-tier PC manufacturers would catch on and produce a PC that's 100% hardware compatible with a Mac (which, after all, is just a normal PC), and is very easily hackable to run OS X. I'm sure that such a machine would appeal to the hobbyist market who like OS X and don't mind running a Hackintosh. How about it, Acer, Asus etc?

Apple's iOS 6 maps STILL muddle Mildura

A map-reading wife!?

@ukgnome - where do you find such a thing? In my experience, women who can read maps and navigate are even rarer than women who can understand thermostats.

A friend of mine once remarked that relationship counselling could, and should, be replaced by map-reading lessons for women.

Frenchmen's sperm plunges by a third in quality and quantity since '89

So the frogs aren't producing enough tadpoles?

I wonder if central heating is partly to blame. Production drops in the heat. I'm currently sweltering in a hot office, which is OK by me, as I don't want more kids.

Children increasingly named after Apple products

Prior feline usage of the name

My cat is called Siri, but he's over 7 years old, so he's been using the name for far longer than Apple. Maybe he can sue them...? Can cats sue?

It's causing massive confusion at home, with the phone answering when I call the cat, and the cat answering when I use the phone: "Siri find me a decent Thai restaurant in North London", "Mwaiou"

Hearts, minds and balls: Microsoft's Windows 8 Surface gamble

Senility

So is Microsoft getting senile if it thinks that people will buy it's tablets?

Or will only senile people by a Windows fondleslab?

So is it one or the other or both? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Ten technology FAILS

Re: Fortunately...

Bill Gates predicted in 2001, that fondleslabs would caputure a huge amount of the PC market. Of course, Microsoft (in an alternative Ballmer-less universe) managed to capitalise on that prediction and become market leaders, leaving Apple and Android far behind.

Harley allows Apple to use 'Lightning' brand on 'playthings'

"since Harley hasn't managed to slap the name on a bike yet"

Actually, they did slap that name on a bike - the Buell Lightning. Buell was a (now defunct) subsidiary of Harley Davidson which made sportier street bikes, hence their ownership of the trademark.

I'm sure that there've been plenty of other products called Lightning. English Electric Lightning anyone?

Nokia HERE iOS maps app review

Re: Wrong Luton

I just searched for Luton in Apple's Map app, and it went straight to the one with the airport.

Having said that, Apple's app might be pretty, but it's pretty damn annoying if you're trying to use it for navigation. I want The Google Maps app back.

Certain people rejoice! AC/DC finally available on iTunes

Most people don't fit to your simplistic stereotypes.

One of the biggest AC/DC fans I've known is a very clean-cut ex-public schoolboy.

Man, 19, cuffed after burning Remembrance poppy pic is Facebooked

Re: Free speech?

What right to free speech? This is the UK. We don't have such a constitutional right. We do have the European Convention's article 10 guaranteeing freedom of expression in our Human Rights Act. However, there are a large number of exceptions to this.

Apple's skinny new iMac line: Farewell, optical drives

Re: Incredible...

As a Linux developer and OS X user, I'd say that, far from being toys, they're actually the best desktop *nix machines you can get. OS X still beats Mint and Fedora for usability.

Ten external battery packs

Re: erm

There's an incredible amount of research and development that goes into making phones as energy efficient as possible. They could easily use bigger batteries, but those would obviously make the phones larger and heavier, and most people don't want to be carrying around a brick.

Sky ruled OK to hold broadcast licence without Murdoch at helm

Conveniently forgetting all of the other rich people who have gone to prison. Jeffrey Archer, to name but one, but there are plenty of others.

Nikon launches D600 lightweight full-frame DSLR

It appears to be essentially a D7000 with a full-frame sensor. For almost 3 times the price of a D7000. I think that I'll be sticking with DX for the forseeable future.

Readers: Choose the proper new name for Everything Everywhere

Why wasn't Orabile in the poll? It seems perfect to me.

Jury awards Apple $1bn damages in Samsung patent case

Re: @Arctic fox: The USA patent system is a disgrace

I'm in a dilemma now. I don't know whether to vote you up for a reasoned argument, or vote you down for suggesting that Apple's lawyers are actually people.

Hipstamatic axes most of staff to focus on art, creativity

Re: Eh

So they've ditched making software and have gone back to just being a 'lifestyle and culture brand'. So what exactly does than entail and how is it supposed to make more money than software?

New London Bus API arrived at approximately ... 15.00

Re: Is this what I have been *using* for 8 months???

I've been using BusGuru for ages, which seems to have access to this data. It's certainly accurate about telling me how long I'll have to wait for a particular bus.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Re: My aching bones

Given the choice of the silenced Sten, which overheated very quickly, or the MP-40, I usually picked the Sten as it did more damage and fire very short bursts of just a couple of shots.

Nokia loses $1.7bn in Q1, sales chief falls overboard

Re: Anyone remember...

... when the Zune first came out?

"Microsoft launch a mp3 player? But that's Apple's territory, there's no room in the market"

... and here we are, six years later, with the Zune now massive in the mp3 player market.

Oh, wait.

Dad sues Apple for pushing cash-draining 'free' games at kids

In-app purchases can be disabled by going Settings->General->Restrictions and setting In-App purchases to Off.

A lot of kids apps do seem to have in-app purchases, so I've disabled them to stop my 3 year old from buying anything by mistake.

Apple fights off ebook suit with anti-Amazon defence

Excellent article by geek-turned-author Charlie Stross. Well worth a read to gain an understanding of the broader context.

550,000-strong army of Mac zombies spreads across world

After checking that my Mac was clean, I thought that I'd see which version of Java is installed. So I typed java -version into bash. The result was:

No Java runtime present, requesting install.

Needless to say, I clicked cancel when it asked me if I wanted to install Java. So unless a user has explicitly installed Java on their Mac, then they're safe (this time).

Apple has 7.85in 'iPad Mini' in its labs

Re: ipad is too big & wrist bendingly heavy already.

My 3 year old can manage the size and weight of an iPad quite happily. You must have very weak wrists.

Apple New iPad 3 Wi-Fi + 4G

Mine charges fine when connected to my iMac, but won't charge from my work HP workstation's usb ports as they don't provide enough power.

6,000 sign e-petition to put Turing on £10 note

Re: Petition signed

It's used everywhere because it's such a cool photo.

Re: Petition signed

Apparently there was a £2 coin with Brunel.

iPlayer repeat fees threaten BBC earthquake

Re: Because of the unique way the BBC is funded.....

Agree entirely. However, I do think that it's quite reasonable for the BBC to charge those in other countries, who haven't paid the licence fee, for iPlayer content.

New iPad: Crack open your wallets, fanbois, here's what it'll cost

Re: Mates' rates

You seem to have conveniently posted the US$ prices without sales tax and the UK prices including VAT.

Linux PC-in-a-stick to cost coders £139

Re: Re: Re: Misleading?

It's already confusing.

Is a Mac a PC?

What if you install Windows on an Intel Mac. Does it then become a PC?

If a Mac is a PC, then are older PPC-based Macs also PCs?

If you install Linux on an Intel PC, then is it still a PC?

How about big 8-cpu Xeon servers running Windows? Are they still PC's, given that PC stands for 'personal computer'?

Ageing Mario blamed for Nintendo's woes

Analogue Mario?

So Mario "hampers the company's ability to evolve into the digital age"?

I hadn't even realised that there was an analogue Mario. I thought that he'd always been digital even if he was 8-bit to start with.

New Mac OS X: Mountain Lion roars at unauthorised apps

Likewise. I only use OS X and Mint. If Apple do lock down OS X completely, then I'll switch entirely to Mint. OS X is still a better desktop *nix, though Mint is slowly catching up.

HD bandwidth limits BBC Olympics 3D coverage

I assume that means bandwidth usage from the events to the studios, as broadcasting to the home in side-by-side 3D doesn't require any additional bandwidth.

Mac demand helps Apple business bloom in Blighty

Not really. I've got a Mac Mini g4 as a small home email server, which has been running 24/7 since around 2005. I'm wondering whether to replace it was a Raspberry Pi, which should draw even less power.

Tame the gas monster with sensors, suckers and a spiffy new fan

I don't know what it is that I've eaten today that is causing the problem, but I seriously doubt that sensors, suckers or even a spiffy new fan is going to tame this gas monster.

Sky Anytime+ to pipe BBC iPlayer

I'd imagine that they got that information from Sky's press release, which says, "Sky is extending the reach of Sky Anytime+ by making it available to all Sky+HD homes with an internet connection, across all broadband providers. "

Met Office cuts off Linux users with new weather widgets

It does seem as if the Met Office manage to screw up just about everything they touch. Their iPhone app contains horrible bugs that make me wonder what their developers are smoking. Every time they update their web page, the usability deteriorates still further. I just can't understand how they're managing to get these things so wrong, unless they're outsourcing to the cheapest and most incompetent bidder.

Windows 8 hardware rules 'derail user-friendly Linux'

So what if Microsoft offer something like Apple's Bootcamp in order to allow booting alternative operating systems? That would obviously not completely solve the problem but would go some way to alleviate it for the majority of Linux users.

Weeting cops cuff 17th phone-hacking suspect

They arrested her in July, or had you forgotten that?

Ten... inkjet photo printers

I've had exactly the same problems with Epsons. The last one was an expensive top-of-the-range model which ended up down the council tip. I replaced it with a cheapish Canon, having never owned a Canon printer before. I've been very impressed with the Canon and will probably stick with them in future. One thing's certain and that's I'm never buying an Epson printer again.

Ravens' secret sign code probed

Ravens are definitely more intelligent than teenagers. I submit that I have yet to hear a raven argue whether iOs or Android devices are better, or accuse each other of being fanbois.

Penguin icon, as they're pretty cool birds too.

Apple preps updated 11, 13, 15in MacBook Airs

Yawn!

Breaking news! Computer company likely to release new models next year!

Wake me up when something interesting happens.

Asda 'geekend' offers are for the birds

Far more importantly, Asda's Whitechapel Porter (brewed by Shepherd Neame) is currently on offer at £1.29 a bottle. Given that the cost of living has risen to around £4 a pint (at least in London pubs), that's a more compelling reason for paying a visit than, say, a 20 quid DAB radio.

US gov spunks $200K on busted weather app

Yes, for those still using archaic units, if it's 140 degrees Fahrenheit, you really ought to be drinking 0.025 firkins of water per hour.

Stallman: Did I say Jobs was evil? I meant really evil

Spot the difference

What's the difference between Richard Stallman and Steve Jobs?

One's a megalomaniac who believes that he's aways absolutely right about everything.

And the other is.... oh, wait.

The problem is that they both had utterly different and incompatible views of what a computer should be.