* Posts by Andrew

14 publicly visible posts • joined 19 May 2007

BBC Click paid cybercrooks to buy botnet

Andrew
Unhappy

license fee

The BBC paid a hacker who infects pcs with viruses for money. Paying people for illegal activities tends to encourage them. They're on the wrong side.

On the other hand, the fact that these smug bastards get my license fee is the thing I really have a problem with. The amount of money seems to have been negligible (about 3 license fees? that's not going far to bribe a russian policeman)

Pirate Bay prosecutor argues for one year prison terms

Andrew

Google

The difference between google and TPB is that google actually does something useful. You don't prosecute Johnson & Johnson because some people use benilyn as a recreational drug. But you do prosecute crack dealers. Google aims to provide a legitimate service, TPB flaunts the law - apparently because it disagrees with it. Crack dealers doubtless feel the same way.

Zuckerberg's Google boycott reaches 32 days (and counting)

Andrew
Thumb Down

Ban facebook from gmail

Facebook is one of these nasty little websites that tries to get your email password so that it can spread itself to other people - always makes me think of the plague for some reason.

It seems ironic that facebook doesn't want Google to look at it's user base, when it has no qualms about leveraging gmail's. This suggests a pretty simple way for Google to retaliate.

Microsoft updates squash four critical bugs

Andrew
Happy

@Anonymous Coward

>> Yawn. Really, I'd buy a Mac before I'd get Lienux. You get what you pay for.

Your comment is free to read. 'nuff said.

Microsoft Office chief to manage Bill Gates

Andrew
Gates Horns

Has Gates got no shame?

Couldn't agree more with the other comments. How dare Bill give money to the poorest people in the world, while preventing Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison from buying second jets. It's a clear tax dodge - why pay 15% tax when you can give away 100% of your money?

I don't know about other reg readers - but I feel perfectly satisfied having done nothing to help Africa's poor, now that I know Gates is helping them. They are obviously being punished for Windows ME.

Microsoft's smiley browser face turns sour

Andrew
Go

Web Standards Project

Why don't the web standards project just ask Microsoft to write the standard? That way they can make sure that all browsers follow the standard (even IE). If they are so toothless that they need to include two different switches to say "IE doesn't care about our standard" - they're pretty far along the path already.

Apple cripples Sun's open source jewel

Andrew
Go

Nothing to see here

"I can't see what grounds they have for bitching."

It's easy - he wrote a brilliant app, helped and encouraged Apple to port it, and without his knowledge they turned his app into a turd. It's a bit like the way Mac users keep whining about how windows "stole mac ideas" and how it "isn't as good" as their grotesquely overpriced bsd boxes. Of course they have no grounds to bitch, but it doesn't stop them does it?

Academics slam Java

Andrew

Military Intelligence

The actual article is on a "U.S. Air Force" affiliate website. This explains the bewildering choice of ADA as the "best first language" to learn. If you are programming for the military it's the only language they'll use (I've heard). I've never heard of ADA being used in any of the companies I've worked for.

The Stroustup quotes come from "The Power of Ten – Rules for Developing Safety Critical Code", so it seems that these boys are only interested in teaching how to develop safety critical code for the Air Force in ADA, presumably using consultants from ADACore. Their assertion that you shouldn't learn java because it results in an inability to program without a user interface is also a bit inexact. Do you think they actually meant visual basic 6?

Serious Flash vulns menace at least 10,000 websites

Andrew

Re: Re: Chris C

"Don't read TheReg then...

Content is far more important than the quality of the grammar, you managed to ascertain what was going on from the article, didn't you?"

^^ Wonderful - if it's broke, why fix it? Sounds like a lot of programmers I know...

You can apply this to the article too - if flash is so awful, why use the internet?

Considering Microsoft’s 'rift with the web'

Andrew

Lock in and .NET

.net was an attempt by Microsoft to counter java and the internet. Mono is an irrelevance - I have never seen a non-windows pc running a .net app. Microsoft attempted to split the market with .net, and no one cares - we don't need another java.

It's not surprising there has been growth in C# - when microsoft has a monopoly on the desktop market, people are going to develop .net apps. What's more interesting to me is what is happening to VSTO, the supposed replacement to Excel macros (it's dead, Tim). If you want to measure just how proprietary the .net framework is, try to find out how COM interop works. They have replaced a documented interface layer (COM) with a pile of caca.

I don't disagree that that c# is not a bad language. But let's face it, no serious programmer wants to be shackled to Microsoft's changing fashions. And I'd hate to see the kind of code that vba-turned-c# devs are churning out. But then Microsoft claimed vb was an Object Oriented language too.

Gmail: a short, sharp rant

Andrew

Article summary

1 Gb of space for a free non-evil mail service was an amazing offer when it was made. I'm sure google relies on most people not filling it, but they allow you to if you want to. Good on them.

pop3 wasn't available when google launched. Then enough people whined so that they added it. Good on them.

One user found that he wasn't sent a free courtesy warning email when he took advantage of the pop3 service. So he called the helpline, at google's expense (remember - they are making a tiny margin on each user. This user support costs money. If every user called it google would go bust). The user points out that he is a journalist. The free user support operative explains that is not her problem.

What else would the author like? A courtesy phone call and a short course on email management for every user who hits their email limit? And as other commenters point out - it's great to see that Google displays it's non-evil credentials by not pandering to technically incompetent journalists, even if it results in bad publicity.

NASA chief regrets having unpopular opinion

Andrew

What an affront to scientific totalitarianism

I have to agree with the outraged consensus here. How dare someone question a scientific theory - particularly one that is overwhelmingly politically popular - especially when that someone's job involves space, which is of major importance to earth's climate.

It's true that General Relativity took 20 years to be accepted by the scientific community, as it contradicted the consensus of the time, and was accepted by a process of careful, open debate. But that was a question of space, which is far less important than earth's climate.

It's great that the press has its eyes peeled for more scientific "debate" and "personal opinions" like this. Only by concerted media and political pressure can we convince scientists to keep their ideas to themselves. The cost of reducing carbon emissions is large enough already, without losing time talking about whether it is actually necessary

Dell cheers Q1 with workforce decimation

Andrew

Good time to cut staff

I was made redundant in 2002, along with 30% of the workforce of my firm (I guess you call that tridecimation). I knew things were bad when recruitment consultants weren't returning my calls because they had been made redundant too. Dell are controlling their costs and choosing to lay off staff at a time when they can actually get jobs, instead of holding on until everyone else is in trouble too. Good for them.

Indian dealers are squealers over Microsoft piracy raids

Andrew

Re: Copying not Stealing

biswas, according to your argument - if I copy a few exam papers and get a better grade than you - there's nothing wrong with that. Microsoft spent thousands of man years developing Windows - now you believe they should give it away for free? How will they pay their workforce? Should the pensioners who invested in Microsoft live their retirement in poverty? Should the sandwich man who delivers food to the Redmond campus lose his income so that some rich (pc-owning = top 5%) indian kid can install windows without paying a penny for it? Patent and copyright date back to the industrial revolution - you should think very carefully before dismantling a system that has worked so well for you.