Posts by Lotus 80

Observer columnist in online porn mixup

Spreading the blame

This kind of factual clusterfuck isn't just the fault of the writer, even though she is clearly a pompous, uninformed dimwit. Editors are supposed to fact check and edit the material before publication, and the fact that nobody caught something as obvious as this is scarier than the error itself.

Either a) The Grauniad/Observer have fired their last remaining editors and they're now posting/printing raw copy, or b) the few editors they have left are too young to be conversant with correct English or the basic rules of journalism (you know, getting your facts right and other such tedious details).

But maybe things will pan out in the end for the media sector. Let's all hope that once every magazine and newspaper on the planet is exclusively served up as an iPad-only edition, the Jobs reality-distortion field will make the need for facts a thing of the past, and we'll all be happy.

Samsung NB30 touchscreen durable netbook

Touch screens...

When are people going to wake up and realize that "touch" and "gesture" based interfaces for all but hand held devices is STUPID? Wasn't the industrial revolution about replacing muscle power with machines?

Isn't waving your arms around to use a computer like, um, tiring? I'll twiddle my fingers on a four-inch screen or a touchpad, no problem, but on a laptop monitor you can't hand hold? An outrageous number of people have clearly started smoking some really good weezee and drinking Kool-Aid at the same time.

Imagine the scene in 20 years' time when the world is dominated by Wii-type controllers and multi-touch screens:

DR EVIL: "Riiiight... today we are going to introduce an IT revolution... I've invented this new device that I like to call a "mouse"... using this "mouse" which is a small hand-held controller that stays on a flat surface, the user can manipulate a "pointer" on the monitor and make it travel huge distances on screen with just a tiny movement of the hand on the "mouse"... no more large arm movements across the monitor or nasty fingerprints. Quite breathtaking I think."

NUMBER TWO: "Um, Dr Evil... That's already been done."

DR EVIL: "Riiight. How about this. We replace the virtual keyboard on computer monitors with something I'll call a "hardware" keyboard. This "hardware" keyboard will be a separate item with finger-sized, spring-loaded plastic keys that will keep the monitor clean, provide improved tactile feedback and allow the monitor surface and keyboard to be at separate angles to combine an optimal viewing AND typing experience."

NUMBER TWO: "That too, has already been done."

DR EVIL. "Shit. OK, let's just find an old CRT TV set, buy a Commodore 64 on eBay and hide in the bedroom."

iPhone manufacturer to shutter China factories

I for one...

...etc

V-22 Osprey downblast scatters spectators like skittles

Why...

...is there no iPad angle on this story? Someone post a gratuitous Applecentric update please. It's just not El Reg otherwise.

Apple MacBook Pro 15in

Paint wear....

If MBPs are a "premium product" then how come on my travels I see so many with the silver paint worn off the palm rests and keys? Looks awful and from the couple of people I've spoken to with the problem, it doesn't seem to take long to happen.

...but then I guess its not that big of a deal if you're a true fanboi. You just go out and buy a new one, which is precisely what His Jobsness commands of you.

Funny how my low-quality Windoze 17" VAIO BX has been in daily use for three years yet shows no such signs.

Another suicide at Apple's Chinese supplier

Seriously...

...not that big of a deal.

Don't try to sleep with your iPad, doctor warns

iMsick of these iStories

This is another report on yet more lame, make-work "research" that either goes to great lengths confirming self-evident facts or goes to equally great lengths confirming something utterly frivolous or somehow otherwise without merit.

But hey, let's be generous for a moment and assume this really is a scientific discovery. iPads have a regular LCD screen like a gazillion other portable computing devices. Which people often use in the dark. In bed. Before sleeping. So why no research highlighting why Asus or Acer netbooks can screw up your sleep? Why no alarm at the prospect of company supplied Dell laptops doing the same? There are a hell of a lot more of these devices out there turning countless poor schmucks into insomniacs than there are iToys.

Oh, wait...

Jobsian drones shackle gamer with 'lifetime' iPad ban

But seriously everyone...

It's not that big of a deal.

'iPhone 4G' found on floor of bar

Hmmmm

I need a new phone. Guess I should stop hanging in East Bay coffee shops and head south.

Apple shrugs to iPad Wi-Fi problems

Seriously...

...not that big of a deal.

London cops focus on extreme porn, human trafficking

Human trafficking - the reality

I lived in Eastern Europe for a long time. A very long time. Most of my adult life, in fact. One thing I learned was this: Genuine human trafficking in the way most of us imagine it (i.e. women taken against their will or lured out of their country under false pretenses and forced into prostitution or similar) is INCREDIBLY rare. In the vast majority of cases these women know exactly what they are doing when they get involved. More often or not they do it for a while, save some loot, buy some bling and go home, or get ripped off and go home. Mama, Papa and everyone in the village gets told they were a barmaid, waitress or holiday rep and think she's been a good girl.

But when plod nabs them on the job, they insist they were scammed and held against their will... sounds a lot better to the folks back home than just coming clean and admitting they were willingly turning tricks.

There's just so much naivety about Eastern Europe in the UK.

Apple's iPad - fat iPhone without the phone

Screen resolution?

1024x768 is kinda stingy for this screen size and price. Most websites are 1024 or wider these days, and e-books or HD video at that res on a screen that big are not going to look too slick. 1280x1024 or 1280x800 would have been nicer. And the lack of camera is another obvious marketing ploy to get the fanbois to shell out for Mark II next year, a la the feature-crippled first-gen iPhone.

But then it's just a toy. Even if it didn't have a proper OS, full web functionality and a removable battery, every ponytailed twat here in the Bay Area would still rush out and buy one. Oh, wait...

P.S. I can't wait to hear about the tidal wave of RTMs for cracked screens and the like, as per every other new Apple product.

Microsoft in Bing jingle kiddie vid outrage

Is the next video...

A clip of the same kids enacting the Two Minutes' Hate against images of Steve Jobs and MacBook Pros?

Hands on the Sony Vaio X

Ripoff...

I use an Fujitsu U820 UMPC with the Poulsbo chipset (Atom Z530 @ 1.6Ghz + GMA500 graphics) and while overall speed with Windows 7 is marginally acceptable, graphics performance, especially with video, is appalling. Any more than a couple of open windows slows Aero to a stuttering crawl and even 720p video doesn't always run smoothly. Even with 2GB of RAM and the SSD, I don't see how the VAIO X could be significantly faster.

My 3-year old VAIO UX280P with a Core Solo ULV and Intel 945 chipset outperforms my Atom Z machine comfortably. Using this chipset may give good battery life due to its ultra-low power consumption, but performance-wise it's a step backwards. How much the poorly-written and underdeveloped drivers for the GMA 500 are responsible for this is an open question, however.

This isn't a super-slim, high-end notebook - it's an oversized netbook in a thin bling case, just like the Vaio P was an undersized netbook in an oddly-shaped bling case. Way overpriced as usual for Sony.