Posts by PeterC

Wii got it WRONG: How do you solve a problem like Nintendo?

wii - works for me

Ok not for me, but my 6yr old son. A few months back headed to game exchange and picked up a 2nd hand wii for £40 with controllers etc. Not connected to the internet and cheap 2nd hand games readily available mean he can save up from his pocket money in a few weeks for new games. I admit I happened to have an HDMI upscaler to hand so the picture quality is actually rather good but the games are really fun for him and his mates. I wont buy a 360/one PS3/4 for him for a while - not with the types of games and intensity of game play which are now common place. Sooo many kids his age really enjoy playing these wii games and parents feel way more comfortable letting their kids play them. I admit older kids and adults will want the big box games etc but the rate that 2nd hand wii consoles sell at and their really cheap price tells me there's still a market there and will be for quite some time.

Hitachi buys Horizon to save UK's nuclear future

Whose paying for the cleaning up?

Well whilst I dont like Nuclear Power I accept that given the UK's situation we will need a mix of every type of energy production and maybe in time be able to *find* a longer term cleaner energy solution....

BUT.... whose paying for the safe disposal of nuclear fuel? The Guardian, and other media outlets have reported that in 2009/10 DECC's entire spend totaled £3.18bn, but in 2010/11 it is spending £8.06bn, an increase of 146.02% that is largely due to nuclear liabilities costing £6.9bn... ????? If its DECC or rather Government then we will see the true cost impacted on public taxation and if its down to the the Energy producers then clearly they will recoup their costs and profits through higher prices.... Either way people were going to be paying a very high price in either subsidies or direct energy charges - or maybe a bit of both.

An people have been complaining about Solar and Wind subsidies..... they wont even touch the amount Nuclear receives.... as I said either way were going to pay... big time... I advise everyone starts looking at ways to provide their own power and energy now .. Gas and Electric are going to get extremely expensive, way more than they are today

Windows 8: Microsoft's tablet-desktop still painful to swallow

Re: Im getting really tempted

Absolutely agree.... just wish Ubuntu has gotten some hardware sorted re tablets/phones and to be honest if it cant then simply release the code to flash our own devises ... but this just seems like its not happening for whatever reason.

Im getting really tempted

Well I mainly used Ubuntu up to version10.10 (loved it) got disenchanted with the whole unity thing and spent some time trynig all sorts of OS out. Now run a Win7/Ubuntu 12.04 desktop but have become very accustomed to not being wholly tied to any specific OS in the last couple of years and hence ive found Win8 to be not that challenging to get used to and use. Ive been running Win8 release preview on my 6 year old laptop and its fast.

To be honest Ive been really impressed with Office 2013 preview and cant wait to try it out on a tablet - to see how it handles as a cut down version for mobile client work. Office 2013 and Win 8 really do go very very well together - most impressed ive been with MS for many years. Win7 has been a decent enough desktop for sure though.

I always thought i'd get a tablet when eventually Ubuntu had one out and then partner full time with a Ubuntu desktop and run a virtual of Win7 for legacy apps, but this tablet seems to have stumbled for whatever reason, does anyone actualy know why?

I dont bother with a smartphone, mainly as where I live doesnt have much/any 3G coverage so I stick to any old GSM mobile and have been trying to decide which tablet to go for. Well after trying Win 8 Im really considering heading to Asus and getting their 810 win * transformer book their bringing out. Will cover my legacy apps, new office 2013 in both desktop with keyboard and tablet when not docked with clients out and about..... its really, really tempting....... all they need to now is bring out some kind of ARM based 7 inch screen tablet too and I'll *ditch all my bitches and make the switch* to Win 8.......... wow cant believe im thinking that, but I reckon its gonna happen.

New Intel Ultrabooks to spray HOT JUICE into mobes

How long before Apple calims patent infringement...

I wonder how long after such tech gets into the market place before Apple decides to waive its wad of paper patents in the air claiming infringment - because apple already has drawings showing an iphone positioned a few inches away from a laptop/desktop wirelessly charging and everyone is copying them and damaging their business once again.........

Greens wage war on clean low-carbon renewable energy

Re: Lets all cross our fingers....

@ ac.. your figures for french nuclear electricty look interesting. Do you have the figures to hand for how much the UK's nuclear industry is subsidised through uk govt and tax payers too? As I understand it those sdame nuclear subsidies come into the game as much as wind and solar... in fact our new gen of nuclear plants will require a whole new level of subsidies to ensure private companies will get on baoard to help build them....

Re: Lets all cross our fingers....

exactly...

Im not sure the population in India who almost completely lost the national grid for days would feel that power cuts are the goal. Using large amounts of energy is not evil if you can pay for it, using large amounts of energy when you could be saving say 20% - 30% through more efficient practises is just plain stupid.

As for *living in the modern world* or being able to deal with what you call modern life I guess its up to each of us to choose what that means for each of us individually - I cant see many tibetan mokns being too interested in much of what would appear to be your view of the modern world and all its technological and communication marvels - I doubt they feel that life is any less meaningful for not being one of the 85 million owners of an iphone either. Tibetan monks and other such peoples, live in communes all across the world and I I dont think they feel dumber than your average joe... probably quite the opposite.

Re: Lets all cross our fingers....

very funny... "scare quotes"... (your words not mine I call them quote marks). Im merely pointing out that the drive for *large profits* (asteriks not scare quotes) does not always mean the best for society as a whole.... and ermm if the last 4 years hasnt taught us all that then we are truly screwed.

Im pleased investments are pouring into oil alternatives, lets see what actually transpires for us consumers though.... as I doubt we will be able to afford it in the way we will be forced to.

As for me im just becoming as self sufficient or as effciient as possible with the utilities we buy in so as to keep our monthly cost of living down and where possible look at alternatives where the money you do pay goes towards a better future for those to follow, its not rocket science or grenn, just common sense.

Interesting you say the argument for using less was lost a long time ago...... I guess you must live in a major city or an area/region of abundence then, or simply have a substantial income with which to buy all you need? Where I live near a town of 20,000 people, 500 families are registered as living in severe poverty, have trouble paying energy bills, food costs and transport costs ... this is in central england, they have learned to use much much less than the families around them.

Re: Lets all cross our fingers....

Yes it probably is at the moment. Although it will cost us a fortune in subsidies and dealing with the spent fuel etc... much like quantative easing... we will push the problem down the road to our children and theirs etc

Re: Lets all cross our fingers....

hi Filippo ... its not something im saying you know... I dont know about you but I get every energy supplier in the UK sending me paper mail outs telling me to use less energy, insulate more, look at alternatives etc admitedley so as to sell me something they offer. Central Govt is telling us all one way or another to use less... buy anyway....

As for energy ceilings ... well I think it may depend on where you live in the world whether you think there is one or not. My friends in London would look at me and wonder what Iw as talkking about, my friends in Uganda would know exactly what im talking about, as for me as long as the wind doesnt blow too hard up here i get mains electricty..... although the wind blows hard 2-3 months a year and our supply stops.

Please dont think im predicting an apocalypse.... (your words)... im predicting a very hard challenge re-tooling at some point.....

Lets all cross our fingers....

Well it was always going to be tough as global population/consumption rose and the finite "cost effective" availability of fossil fuels came ever closer - weve known this since the 1970's - just chosen to ignore it. There are plenty of options open to us with regards energy - but they come with associated problems and risks on every financial and enviromental level you can imagine. For the current generation(s) whove lived through the era of being able to flick a switch and "everything just works regardless of cost" it is, and will continue to be a very hard process of change and adapting to a different and as yet - undefined future with regards energy.

One of the problems we have is as humans were often guided in our decision making by the lure of "large profits" which doesnt always mean its the most long term or best solution/outcome for our future society.

Were in a tight spot for sure - and whatever your political/enviromental persuasion we will likely need to use every drop of available "current energy technology" we can until we can come up with whatever will be our future energy solution, of course we might not actualy come up with something, or find that technically we have something on paper, but dont have the available energy reserves from fossil fuels left to quite literally re-tool the world to this new energy form. Its my last point which actually concerns me. We have a huge amount of legacy "industrial and consumer" machinery around the globe which can only exist and work through some kind of internal combustion engine - manufacturing new kit globally that works on an as yet undefined "tech" with what known reserves weve got left, will in my opinion be the challenge of a lifetime. Electricty is going to be in such demand we'd best hope that govt's around the globe start building alot of new power stations, although lodr knows what will power them and we'd best prey they rebuild the national grid to take the strain or end up like India recently. And when I say a new national grid I do mean something new... not extending the one weve got whihc wastes some 30% of iys energy in radiated heat loss becasue we need to keep power levels available for thos who want to" flick a switch and its just there...."

Sorry people - whatever tech you believe in we will all HAVE to learn to use far less, no a lot less energy than we do now, and we need to make a start at it, rather than wait for your neighbour to do it first. Oh and lets keep all our fingers crossed we can find that elusive new energy tech that can actually be harnesssed, constructed around the globe..... right im off to rub some sticks for my fire....

STUNNING NEW APPLE DEVICES that will follow the iPad 3 HD!

Tablet nonsense

I think I'll stick to my desktop/keyboard/mouse and laptop for now .... at some point there might be some real tech worth buying that actually brings some new benefit, rather than consumer electronic technology produced to generate revenue and profit for shareholders of companies who desperately needed new "gadgets" to sell in a falling PC sales arena.

Shale gas frees Europe from addiction to Putin's Pipe

Oh Grow up...

The difficulty is that most current conversations about the future of energy are trying to figure out an answer without first making sure that what’s being asked is the right question....

“How can we keep an electrical grid designed around the unquestioned availability of cheap abundant energy?” is the obvious question, and it’s also the wrong one.

The right question – the question that we should be asking – is something more like “How much electricity can we count on having in a future after fossil fuels, and what are the best ways to produce, distribute, and use it?”

That question has hardly been asked at all.

Nuclear Energy is only relatively cheap due to the VERY LARGE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES it receives. Take them away and reviewing what's sustainable and cost effective becomes a whole different conversation. Nuclear is bound to be a part of our short/medium term energy package - but don't look for single answers to big problems. Nuclear generated in Northern Europe provides a significant percentage of Electricity in the South East of England - Germany is closing its services down, they say due to Fukashima safety concern issues, however the truth is that the water table in Northern Europe is dropping and the reality is that there simply wont be enough River water for the land locked German Power stations in the coming Decades. So that's Rolling power cuts in the South East by 2020 anyway.

Its not about Hippies and personal insults - its about trying to ensure a future for my children and, dare I say it, people like you too.... I take it you'd like that? a future that is ... or maybe you'd like to go to Somalia right now and check out the real life effects of real adversity. Grow up.

The Nuclear maths dont work

There are many reasons for thinking that trying to maintain an electrical grid on a regional or national scale in a future of scarce energy is a fool’s game. To run a large-scale grid of the sort currently in use, you need to be able to produce huge amounts of power every second of every day. It’s very difficult to get that much power that reliably by any means other than burning a lot of fossil fuels, either directly – say, in a coal- or gas-fired power plant – or indirectly. Tot up the total energy content of the fossil fuels needed to mine and refine uranium and urn it into fuel rods, to build, maintain, and decommission a nuclear reactor, to deal with the short-term and long-term waste, and to account for a share of the energy cost of the inevitable accidents, for example, and you’ll have a sense of the scale of the energy subsidies from fossil fuels that prop up nuclear power; do the same math for today’s giant wind turbines, and a similar realization is in store. Lacking these subsidies, it’s probably a safe bet that nuclear reactors and giant wind turbines can’t be built or maintained at all.

Equally, having all that power on call every second of every day is necessary for an electrical grid of the modern kind. It’s not actually necessary for homes and small businesses. Again, get rid of social habits that amount to wasting energy for the sake of wasting energy, and it’s not that hard to live with an intermittent electrical supply, either by using electricity whenever it happens to be available and not otherwise, or by using batteries to store up current for a short time until you need it.

Sadly, Wind and Wave Energy Affects the Atmosphere

Taken from New Scientist Report:

"Large-scale exploitation of wind energy will inevitably leave an imprint in the atmosphere," says Kleidon. "Because we use so much free energy, and more every year, we'll deplete the reservoir of energy. Although the winds will not die, sucking that much energy out of the atmosphere in Kleidon's model changed precipitation, turbulence and the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. The magnitude of the changes was comparable to the changes to the climate caused by doubling atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (Earth System Dynamics, DOI: 10.5194/esd-2-1-2011).

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028063.300-wind-and-wave-farms-could-affect-earths-energy-balance.html?full=true&print=true

get real guido fawkes...

UK Gas was cheap until recent times, just look back to the 80's and early 90's. The fact that there is coal and gas reserves left does not mean lets close our eyes to the facts and just carry on as if nothing was wrong. We will need ALL these reserves to be used very sparingly and for a very long time in the not too far future - certainly in the next 10 yeras and definitely in our lifetime.

As far as using less - well we havn't even started to get a glimpse of what that means and as far as candle lights concerned, well there are many parts of the world who do that every night, they never got electricity... but hey thats all right cos you want to charge your smartphone, watch TV and play games on your console and PC and generally dont get it ... right?

Yet More Irresponsible Reporting

Oh well - another irresponsible article re energy. Shale gas, like most "new energy technologies" are simply hot air dreams.

When will people eventually wake up and realise that weve gone past peak oil and peak gas is almost here and that WE REALLY should just get used to the fact that we all need to use MUCH LESS energy and start to engage and educate society in this matter - quickly.

We simply do not have enough Oil and Gas energy reserves left to fuel the industry required to construct and build, on the necessary global industrial scale needed, any "new tech power generation" of the future.

We did have, but that was back in the 1970's and we chose to turn a blind eye to it all and have a 35 year holiday on the back of cheap north sea oil and gas here in the UK, racking up debt and enjoying the illusion of wealth that artifical cheap oil prices afforded us. Well hello..... its all over now. Oh and this time there going to be no magic cheap energy supply to kick start any form of economic recovery either.

There is only one true renewable clean energy in abundance on this planet and its SOLAR - and we dont have enough oil and gas reserves left to even think about building enough solar PV/Thermal panels to a high enough efficiency spec to get that wokring to keep pace with the demand required by our current society.

So get used to using less, much less energy and pretty quickly.

Ubuntu v iTunes: the music playoff for Applephobes

Ipods syncing?

Ive been using Ubuntu for the last year and agree its great just as it is - im not a demanding user (no programmer!) and browsers, office needs are all I need. Its been the best OS ive used for years - nearly everythin g I ask it to do, connect to, plug in etc works with no fuss whatsoever..

HOWEVER - anyone who says that Rythmbox (etc) integrates with ipods is having a laugh. Ive tried to follow every guideline I can find and Ive never been able to get my Gen6 Ipod Classic (80gb model) to sync successfully with any media player.

Sadly thats why I have to keep an old copy of windows and itunes on my dual boot :-( too tedious.

Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala

Koala installed and working great first time!

Koala installed and working fine first time for me - no problems at all. Boots fast, on my old Vaio VGN-SZ2XP, nvidia graphics working fine, no screen flicker. Love the new software centre.

Tried to load windows 7 HP onto same laptop - total disaster. All drivers had problems and after 2 days of trying to get it all working fine.... I gave up and installed Koala over weekend onto the same machine. Effortless install. The speed difference between the Win 7 and Koala is very noticeable.