Posts by NightFox

Handy radiation checker comes to iPhone

What You Talkin' 'bout Willis?

Huh? This isn't a fake geiger counter - it's an app the scrapes and displays radiation levels from the interwebs, as explained in the article.

iPad 2 tougher than iPad 1. True

Phew

So if I bend my iPad 2 about 90 degrees, the screen won't break. Thanks for that.

Apple Mac OS X: A decade of Ten

Changes

It's like watching a child grow-up; you don't notice how much they've changed till you pull out the photo album (OK, fire up iPhoto) and see what they used to look like. And to see how many of those icons have changed along the way barely unnoticed at the time... when did the preferences switch icon change to the cogs icon we have today and why didn't I notice?

Library e-books to become too tatty to lend

Book'em, Danno

When is the book publishing industry going to come to terms with the 21st century instead of desperately hanging on to the comfort of 'how it's always been done'? I guess judging by the time it's taking the music and film industry, it's going to take a while

Apple fanbois leak secrets of Mac OS X Lion

Better of Two Evils?

Yes, but at least people who run pirated copies and comment on the OS aren't breaching NDAs, which no-one seems to have a real problem with (apart from Apple).

The Doctor Who Experience

Adventures in Time and Cardiff

I often wonder what happened to all the stuff from the permanent exhibition at the Dapol factory in Llangollen (where the used to make the figures) when it closed down - that had some good original stuff in it, albeit mostly from the Peter Davidson era IIRC. Best bit was when I took my (adult) sister there and as she was looking at an exhibit she felt a tap on her shoulder, turned round and found herself face-to-face with a Dalek. Think she still has nightmares about that to this day!

Life Before RTD

What a shame that despite the promises suggested by the Giant Robot and Zygon pictures, this sounds like it continues the trend of trying to forget about the heritage of the 'original' Dr Who, like hiding a senile grandparent under the stairs when anyone calls. It's ironic that a programme that's based on time travel seems so embarrassed about its own past. Yes, some of it was appalling and lacked the flash-bang CGI that seems necessary in today's short attention span rating wars, but without William Hartnell there would be no Matt Smith.

What it is is

Mostly nostalgia, I think.

Many of us grew up in an age of just three (or even two) TV channels with Saturdays having only a couple of child-friendly programmes in the evening; so as a child you didn't generically watch TV, you watched Dr Who (or whatever was filling the slot at the time). And you knew that for the same reason that's what all your friends would be watching and recreating at school the next day. Dr Who - for better or worse - is part of most of our childhoods.

RoboCop statue fundraiser hits $50k

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Hmm... Mayor Bing, whose wife just happens to be on the board of OCP...

Apple suppliers: Child labor, bribery, suicides

Did you read the full article?

Hot air = yes

Action = already taken

Situation = already improved

Any increase in cost to consumer caused = already reflected

Hot dinner = no more

These working practices aren't going to be eradicated overnight, and the improvements made so far may only be small, but small improvements overall can be made up of life-changing improvements for individuals

Iomega SuperHero iPhone back-up gadget

Only to SD card?

If only it had a slot for Zip disks.

Ahhh.....

And a brave gamble by Iomega on it fitting the next iPhone in 6 months time, especially with rumours of a 4" or 4.3" screen currently doing the rounds

Binatone HomeSurf 7 Android tablet

Binatone?

Are they really still going? I remember having a second hand Binatone TV game console (think white blocks on a black screen rather than Xbox 360) back in the 80's.

And yes, I also read this as HomeSmurf.

IPCC chief: ANPR is 'a victim of its own success'

Overload

I remember helping with an ANPR trial North Wales Police were doing in the mid-1990s with a portable camera set up on a bridge over the A55. It had no live link to the PNC, only cached local data for the trials. Within the hour or so that the trial took, if they had responded to every hit the system registered they would have tied up the entire force's response capability and that of the two neighbouring forces.

Home Office crime maps go to street-level detail

How many more years before you finally stop mandating titles?

A couple of ways spring to mind. Moving house? Crime levels in the local area are going to be of interest to most people I would have thought. Secondly, this could prove a useful insight to the people who moan about how the police never do anything about the high levels of crime in their locale when in fact nobody actually bothers reporting the crime in the first place - at least this will give an indication of that.

Prisoners plot strike action over mobile phones

Nice Idea...

...but people whose names begin with letters A-M don't have a track history of carving up those whose names begin with N-Z in a US prison environment

South Sudan voters get SMS election hotline

Stet

Yes, but don't you need a computer and Internet connection to set that up in the first place?

US Army 'to issue every soldier with a smartphone'

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A G-iPhone perhaps?

Google Books spanked by Amazon Kindle

Cloud Books

Am I understanding this right that Google books are streamed from 'the cloud' as you read them? Please tell me that there's an option to pre-download them to access them straight from the device!

Microsoft reaches for remote control in crowded US TV market

MSNBC?

Isn't Microsoft already in the US TV market with MSNBC?

MS drops drive pooling from Windows Home Server

No, no, no MS!

Those suggesting a Linux alternative are missing the point - WHS was always meant to be something the average person with a bit of networking knowledge could implement, it wasn't meant to be a thing sysadmins could play with in their spare time. It was meant to be a set-up-and-forget solution offering not just NAS, but automatic backups of clients and a HD pool so you could simply add an extra (or replacement) drive and not have to reconfigure anything. It was about server-based home networking for the masses. OK, like many of MS's dreams it never achieved that, but the OS and the associated hardware was certainly up to the vision.

MS's ridiculous comments about larger HD becoming commonplace and therefore replacing the need from drive pools has, thankfully, now apparently been rescinded - lifted from Paul Thurrott:

The following quote from Microsoft’s Home and Small Business Server Team General Manager Kevin Kean:

Drive Extender was a neat feature, but the implementation was off, and we discovered some application compatibility and disk tool problems related to its ability to correct data errors on the fly. We don’t want to give customers problems; we want to give them solutions. So ultimately, we decided that we needed to cut out Drive Extender. Removing Drive Extender will make file shares easy, and it’s possible to accomplish most of its features otherwise. For example, you use the server’s centralized backup or even RAID as an alternative to data duplication.

Acer replaces laptop keyboard with multi-touch LCD

Crapia

Got a new product/company/brand/car that needs a name?

Easy.

i) Pick a word you like. If you don't know any words just make one up.

ii) Now add either 'a' or 'ia' to the end of it.

Simples.

Sooooo 1990's.

Bring on the whale song and the swirly ribbon non-threatening conceptual logos.

Unarmed Royal Navy T45 destroyer breaks down mid-Atlantic

Plug'n'Pray

Drivers! it's always the damn drivers!

Angry Birds tweet fury at Redmond

In the Good Olde Days

IIRC, in the early 80s, one of the big home computer manufacturer's (may have been Commodore or Texas Instruments) adverts featured a picture of the computer against a background of all the things it could do, including a game of chess. One of their customers was somewhat miffed when he bought one only to discover that there was no chess game available for it, so the manufacturers had to hastily commission one to stay out of trouble.

Crash grounds RAF Eurofighters - for Battle of Britain Day!

Stand by your Article

I propose a dogfight to the death. Lewis in a Spitfire v. a Eurofighter.

Guns guns guns

For you, ze var is over

To be fair I think you are well aware of the answer to that - risk is a balanced thing. There's a difference between taking a risk when there's no justification for doing so, and taking a risk because if you don't you're going to be wearing lederhosen and eating sauerkraut before the day is out.

Grounded in Fact

The whole 'grounded' thing is not that big an issue - fleets are regularly grounded whenever a potential engineering or design problem with potential safety ramifications comes to light, often just until someone makes a decision - it's a common Friday afternoon thing in the RAF; fleets are grounded over the weekend and are back in the skies on Monday morning rather than take the almost insignificant chance of something (re)occurring.

And it doesn't affect operations as the risk appetite changes then, and rightly so. In other words, if there's a potential risk identified, why take that unnecessary risk with non-operational flights rather than just ground the fleet whilst it's sorted out?

Thieves jam key-fob lock signals in mystery car thefts

Fail yourself, yourself

Yes but I was responding to the people suggesting that this was how you should lock your car *every* time and that use of the fob was some show-off technology just for lazy people

Keyless

I'm surprised how many 'technologically astute' people on here still think that most modern cars still actually come with a key to lock the door. The last 3 or 4 cars I've owned have been fob-only operation, with just an 'emergency' key embedded in the fob to gain access via a rather convoluted means should the fob fail.

The move now is to RFID locking/unlocking, where as long as you've got the fob on your person, all you do is pull the door handle and the door will open. As soon as the fob goes out of range (e.g. you walk away) the door is locked again.

'Unicorn' captured in remote Laos mountain forests

Wow!

Not only a unicorn, but a unicorn with two horns! Whatever next? What other semi-mythical creatures are out there... a centaur with the torso and head of a horse? Cerberus with one head? A wingless griffin with the head of a lion?

The world is truly a magical place.

Inmate-frying microwave pain blaster turret installed in US jail

Stream'n'Scream

Stick a web cam on this, allow remote control over the Internet and you can get rid of all your prison guards in one go - just hand over monitoring and control of the prisons to the public. I for one would be willing to commit some of my time and bandwidth to this. Sure beats my USB foam missile launcher thing. Heck, bring this to the Wii and it's a great way to get the kids involved in justice.

And before any lefty-liberal starts crying about over the potential misuse of the system, you could have voluntary moderators who award points based on whether a blast of the ray was legitimate or over-judicious. Besides, Wikipedia etc has shown that despite the abusers, the Internet is pretty good at governing itself.

McAfee re-issues fake visa waiver virus warning

Not too smart

Hmmm... have to say if I was setting up a malware/scam/phishing site, I'm not sure that I'd chose anything that might involve the US Immigration Service.

Mine's the orange boiler suit.

Assange denies 'sexual assault' allegations

On the Other Hand...

Right now, Assange can do just about anything he wants... even if he was shown on live TV snorting coke with Osama bin Laden surrounded by Thai ladyboys whilst desecrating the grave of Mother Teresa of Calcutta it would be put down to the CIA.

RIM tries to placate everyone

Foil Fedoras

In the same way you're allowed to walk past schools but haven't 'interfered' with any children.

Yet.

And on what basis do you make your second comment about the controls on interception of electronic communications?

Somethings in Life are Priceless...

I thought this was one of those Mastercard Adverts

iPhone 4 on Pay as You Go: UK networks compared

Simples?

Jeez, no wonder people end up wasting money on inappropriate tariffs. Even when you do finally manage to find out what the tariffs are, making any meaningful comparison between them is going to be beyond the wit and will of most people

Apple kills browse-and-get-hacked bugs in iOS

Facepalm

Handy hint for next time, save face by reading the existing comments before posting.

Do I Win a Prize?

Blackberry Messenger Milton Keynes?

A Little Information is a Dangerous Thing!

But it's not a problem you can avoid that easily - when you click a link in Mobile Safari, how do you know that link isn't to a PDF (which Mobile Safari opens automatically)?

OK, you can avoid clicking on any links or use an alternative browser, but why not just install the patch? Connect iPhone to computer, accept T&Cs, come back 30 minutes later and all is complete. No need to reset, no need to restore, no need to re-sync anything - job done.

Not just a patch

All the people commenting about the size of this patch - patches for iPod Touches/iPhones always come as a complete OS download, that way there's no issues with whatever OS the device previously had installed.

ASA: You can't say 'f**k'

Think of the Children

It's a shame that so many take the view that because they're not offended, anyone who is offended by swearing is in some way backwards. What happened to respecting other people's views? Yes, when I'm at work or in the pub I'll use the occasional considered swear word for impact, but I'd still like people to show some consideration when I'm out somewhere with my young kids.

Maybe it's a double standard that I swear myself but don't want to hear others swearing in certain circumstances, but I'd still like to think we live in a society where people could respect that, whatever their own personal views.

iPhone users get more sex than Android fans

Thanks for that.

Bet you don't even get laid as much as a Blackberry owner

Hold on

Only problem is the iPhone 4 owners have to grip it in a special way or no result.

Microsoft ends Office lovers' employee discount program

Woah Neddy....

He was replying to an earlier post referring to Open Office, so please do your reading better.

iOS jailbreak howdunnit partially solved

Cloudy with a chance of exploits?

' "It's unclear weather this has any implications on other platforms," Hypponen writes '

Unclear weather - that sums up Summer so far.

Withings Wi-Fi bathroom scales

BMI?

Are you sure you mean BMI and not body fat percentage? BMI is just a very broad calculation that takes into account just your weight and height based on the assumption that the heavier you are, the higher you should be to still be healthy. Why you would have to take your shoes off to assess this doesn't make sense as the scales don't measure your height, you enter that data into the PC manually.

Body fat % is, however, a somewhat more accurate indication of whether you're carrying too much fat. Some scales have an ability to measure body fat to passing an electrical current through your feet when you stand upon them and by analysing the resistance in your body calculating your body fat % and other statistics within a margin of error. I'd suspect that this is what the scales are measuring and logging, not BMI.

Airline ejects passenger for being hungry

I give up, why DO you think he's talking shitze?

Wow, in your opinion, based on what exactly?

Is this the next stage of the mental illness that seems to be gripping society? First we had the 'big brother' paranoia, now it seems common practise to read news, come up with fantastic theories based on zero evidence, and then start ranting and foaming at the mouth as if they were true.

In fact AC probably wrote this comment and went out and slapped a pensioner. That kind of thuggery makes me sick; I've already reported the incident to the police.

Anyone remember The Self-Righteous Brothers from Harry Enfield's TV Programme?

Yorks cops charge Segway rider under 1835 road law

Huh?

Do you mean Epic Fail based on what you simply guess might have happened based on no apparent evidence whatsoever apart from your pre-conceived ideas?

Ten Essential... iOS Travel Apps

TripIt?

Can't believe you didn't mention TripIt. Not the sort of app I would normally use, but I gave it a go about a year ago (I do a lot of business travel overseas), and now I can't get enough of it.

The contents of my iOS Travel Folder:

TripIt

Currency

CityMaps2Go

thetrainline

Translator

GeoLogTag

(and a few others that aren't as generically useful)

Apple ads to target your iTunes history

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Your loss - I get a 'free' holiday out of Tesco's ClubCard every two years for letting them know my spending habits and I've not noticed this blatant breach of my personal privacy having any negative effect on my life so far.

So you don't even use credit cards? Debit cards? Even cashpoint machines and bank withdrawals could be used to track your movement around the country.

So what? And I don't mean "well they could..." because ability and intent are two very different things.

I accept different people have different comfort levels for the amount of personal information they're willing to share, but take an irrational paranoid absolute stance and you just end up cutting off your nose to spite your face.

No Change

But that's been the model on the App Store for ages already - free, ad-supported versions of apps and paid ad-free versions.

This isn't about ads coming to Apps, they've been there for ages so there's not going to be any massive increase in bandwidth/download allowance use (unless you click on the ads of course), this is about those ads now being targeted based on your personal iTunes usage.

People get in a spin about privacy issues, but personally it's not the gathering of information, it's how it's used that's all I'm bothered about. And the fact that I'll now be getting adverts that may be of some relevance to me *instead* of the adverts I'm already getting that are of no interest whatsoever means that I really don't have an issue with this.