Posts by Alistair MacRae

Car? Check. Driver? Nope. OK, let's go, says British govt

Re: Would you actually, really get in one?

Speak for yourself :P

Listen: WORST EVER customer service call – Comcast is 'very embarrassed'

Re: BT did this too

Barclays too, I kept on saying, for 10 minutes I didn't want their credit card anymore but they kept on asking why.

Then I got all kinds of offers later on from them too. Credit card free now though.

Apple: No, China. iPhone is NOT public enemy number 1

US spying is finally starting to affect US business...

Guess that finally will make them change their ways :P.

'Apple is terrified of women’s bodies and women’s pleasure' – fresh tech sex storm

I've got a set of engraving tools.

I'll write anything you like on the fruit machines.

I'll charge apples prices though :P

Massive new AIRSHIP to enter commercial service at British dirigible base

Question to someone sciencey.

If you put a compressor in helium airship and compress some of the helium into a tank, will that drop the amount of lift generated?

If so could you use that to control altitude on the airship?

Microsoft claims victory over second-hand software broker

Another victory for the consumer!

Glad courts are all trying hard to get us a fair deal...

HOT AIR-FILLED Apple fanbois SHUNNED iPad 2 at Xmas

I used my iPad2 at christmas!

I installed and attempted to play the wolf among us. The apps store says it runs on the iPad2, they lie! It's frame rate is terrible so I got it on PC instead.

My iPad is really just for watching fails of the week and other various YouTube detritus.

Other than aesthetic and weight changes I don't see the point of upgrading.

2K res is all well and good but how much stuff is running that?

Scientists discover supervolcano trigger that could herald humanity's doom

Fit a slow release valve?

I have visions of those nozzles you push into orange/milk cartons to pour with.

Hammer that in the ground with a screw lid.

You're welcome humanity!

SHOCK! US House swats trolls, passes patent 'extortion' bill

What will the Register do?

That's 50% drop in story output when they sort out patients!

Just teasing really, love you Reg.

Amazon floats 'Prime Air' drone delivery plan

A few problems to overcome

Just thinking about how they'd get around GPS spoofing to misdirect the packages.

I suppose there'd be health and safety concerns too with a machine flying over peoples heads with up to a 2 KG payload.

I wonder if someone would try and shoot it down to collect the loot.

PlayStation 4 a doddle to fix: Handy if it OVERHEATS, for instance

Re: Hang on i thought it was 8GB GDDR5 RAM?

Sorry I'm not following you.

The article says 2 different values. 4GB of GDDR5, it also has 2GB of DDR3.

That's still not the 8GB of GDDR5 that's been reported on earlier.

Hang on i thought it was 8GB GDDR5 RAM?

Sorry if im confused but i thought the specs for the PS4 were that it had 8GB of GDDR5 Memory but this teardown says 4GB of GDDR5 and 2GB of DDR3

I thought they had to use one type of RAM because of the bus design, thats why Xbox One had only DDR3.

Also doesn't this all add up to 6GB of RAM?

How d'ya make a JPMorgan banker cry? Ask him questions on Twitter

That poster is horrific!

Not real though surely?

Apple wants $380m for patents, Samsung says $52m. Get a room, you two

Why not freak apple out and double their asking price to $760M

Then just increase the cost of the parts they make for Apple to make up for it :P

Dodgy Kaspersky update borks THOUSANDS of NHS computers

Re: but, but, but...

That sounds like the plot to a sci-fi movie

The AI at Kaspersky's lab was asked the best way to make windows secure.

Computer thought well all these problems are coming from in via the network adapter. I will prevent it working it in the future.

Maybe if given longer it'd think, but they come from the internet I must dismantle the internet.

Longer still and it would realise that people are the problem and get rid of them.

We got of lightly... this time.

What happend to you Kaspersky?

You used to be cool!

SR-71 Blackbird follow-up: A new TERRIFYING Mach 6 spy-drone bomber

Looks like the Normandy from Mass Effect

Maybe not in the first pic, but definitely in the side profile picture.

Ohh! The PRECIOUS! Give it to uss. We WANTS it: Shiny iThings coming in 2014

Apple sounds like an attention seeking child

Hey guys look at me! Where are you going? Wait a sec, I'm gonna do something...You'd better keep looking... because it's going to be awesome...any minute now...

What's the point of stating you're working on something? That much is obvious, people would be alarmed if you weren't.

But all this talking while saying nothing is pointless, trying to keep shareholders happy?

Apple CEO Tim Cook v Microsoft's Ballmer: Seconds out, round two!

Re: Argh stop calling it innovation!

Oh please don't patronize me saying I need to look it up, I do know what innovation means but here's a dictionary definition "innovation - The act of creating something new." which to be honest doesn't help the case in either direction.

Its simply not innovation to take a technology invented by another company, manufactured by another company and then slap your brand on it. Or if Apple is innovative every person/company who makes anything is innovative so its nothing to boast about so as you say it's subjective.

There's Motorola phone that was released 2 years ago that had a fingerprint scanner which worked, but no one bought it.

Most things with fingerprint scanners work. The trouble was and still is that its easily tricked.

Its a silly idea to fingerprint protect something that is normally covered in the uses fingerprints.

When you're talking arguing for innovation the only thing that Apple could say is innovative is the processor, again, its not their processor, it's ARM's.

That 64 bit architecture is just a marketing gimmick, no ones going to make 64 bit apps in the app store to take advantage of it with all the 32 bit iPhones out there, why would they?

I like the product well enough. I'm happy with my iPhone 5, I just hate them tossing around and cheapening the word innovation when they're probably one of the least innovative of smartphone manufacturers.

Tell you what, I'll say this no one is more innovative on Apple devices than Apple. Except Foxconn, and ARM, oh and Samsung...

Argh stop calling it innovation!

Maybe the original iPhone was an innovation, it was still combining existing technology innovations, not by apple.

The iPad is an not really an innovation its just a bigger iPhone with some software changes and no phone.

Everything since 2007 has been an improvement yes, but not an innovation. Again all improvements were not down to Apple either.

That said they're completely right, MS is all over the place with its smartphones and tablets etc.

The thing that made Microsoft successful with computers was the variability and utilitarianism of what it would run with.

If you want to beat Apple you need to make a tablet for the masses that can be dismantled and serviced.

Make something modular with expandable memory, replacable screens and chips and at the very least battery and casing.

I'd buy something that I could upgrade and replace parts. Companies would buy tablets for the workmen to use on form filling. NHS would make great use of a tablet if it had a hygienic case.

Just make something that your partners can work with!

Windows XP folks: At least GOOGLE still loves you ... UNTIL 2015

Make XP open source?

That would generate some good will towards MS wouldn't it?

No real profit in it though I suppose.

Microsoft plugs Xbox One consoles into its cloud - what could go wrong?

But will gam devs use it?

This cloud computing stuff for gaming sounds very interesting but the advantage that console games have over PC as everyone one knows, is the every console is the same and they can tweak it to get the most from the hardware.

Internet connections vary massively, a game dev can't be sure that offloading the work to cloud will work the same on every console so I don't see how it'll be taken up.

I suppose they could introduce a minimum requirement for the internet connection but that will start dividing the install base which is usually the last thing console devs want to do.

David Attenborough warns that humans have stopped evolving

I wouldn't say we've stopped evolving.

We still have to breed and the circumstances bringing about the ability to find a mate still are needed.

We will still continue to mutate so we will still "evolve" in some kind of direction.

Any one seen Idiocracy? It was about the intelligent people focusing on careers and stupid people kept on having more and more children till everyone was stupid. (this was a comedy and not even a good one IMO but you get the idea)

Silicon daddy: Moore's Law about to be repealed, but don't blame physics

Re: Been hearing this...

Yeah it'll all be back on track once they make the jump from silicon to carbon nanotubes is what I hear...

Microsoft Xbox One to be powered by ginormous system-on-chip

Re: 50 percent more powerful

I doubt it 50% more powerful, I do think it has a performance edge though. I doubt there'll be any visible difference in the games cross platform games for a long time. Developers will go with the lowest common denominator. Exclusives will be what to look at maybe?

As it stands though Xbox One has 3GB of RAM reserved for OS and the PS4 3.5GB

I don't think it's fair to say boring old DDR3 :P it's still much faster than GDDR5 in terms of latency so it still has its place. There's a reason why PCs don't use it for it for CPUs.

When it comes to the CPU and GPU sharing the memory I have no idea which is better over all for gaming. I'd guess the GPU ought to have higher priority though.

I don't think we can really say what system is better till there's been some real world testing done.

I doubt I'll buy either for a while anyway, not at these prices, but I will get an Xbox one pad and use it on my PC.

I wonder if either chip will be harder to fabricate than the other.

iPhone 5S: 64-bit A7, 128GB storage, flashy ƒ/2.0 camera, and...

I have a iPhone 5

I have an iPhone 5, the only reason I got it is because I dropped my 4S and broke the screen.

The iPhone 5 has a faster processer and more RAM I just have no idea what that extra stuff is accomplishing.

I have seen no real difference in real life between the 4s and 5 though, has anyone?

This new iPhone 5s... what's the point of it?

Xbox One users will have to pay extra for Skype and gamer-gratifying DVR

You can't use Skype on the 360 without xbox gold either can you?

It's not surprising really, chances if you're going to be recording gameplay you'll already be on Xbox live gold anyway.

Any word on if Sony will do the same? They are charging for online play now at least.

I didn't subscribe to Xbox live back when I used to have a 360 and remember most services weren't available. I think they even wanted you to have to have gold to watch the iPlayer at one point.

I remember a there was talk of a subscription subsidised price that was going to be for the Xbox One that is the only way I could justify having both Xbox live and an Xbox One.

Man who pulled gun during chess game surrenders to robot cop

Chess and brain power?

Not sure if chess is a battle of brain power.

I beat my girlfriend every time we play chess, however I have yet to win any argument.

I'd rather face the armed robot in that respect

Ballmer: 'I call it all Windows, all the time'

Rapid Release

With releasing more often will we end up going through 2 versions of Windows OS before getting one everyone likes rather than the standard every other release?

Steve JOBS finally DEFEATS the PC - from BEYOND THE GRAVE

Isn't this a bad thing for the industry?

With people moving away from laptops and desktops to tablets, doesn't this hurt the IT industry in some ways?

Laptops and Desktops have replicable parts that users/technicians can repair/upgrade. Tablets are not like that there's nothing modular to them and very little in their range of accessories.

All the companies that sprung up around PCs barely get any benefit from tablets do they?

I guess a change over to tablet is just the natural step in the end. With processing power and miniaturising of the tech and cloud services there's less of a need for a big computer in the home.

PCs get upgraded and replaced because they need to run new software and right now other than gaming there's not much around that a typical consumer can get now that really needs a computer under 2 or 3 years old.

If there was something big to come out that required more processing power than a tablet can provide it'd swing back.

New 'BLOCKBUSTER' APPLE iTHING imminent - billionaire Einhorn

If they make something that is useful...

If they make something that is useful... I'd probably get it.

I cant imagine I'd get on with an iWatch. I don't want to have to charge up a watch every night or even every week. Plus it'd need to be waterproof.

First, the bad news: EA bags Star Wars games rights

Seconded

I really do hate you EA, but if you're going to make a game... X-WIng vs Tie Fighter please!

Bioshock Infinite, Devil May Cry, SimCity

I miss space combat.

I too loved xwing and tie fighter. There was also Freespace 1 & 2 and Starlancer and Freelancer. Oh and the wing commander games.

They don't make these kind of games any more. It's a lot of FPS's now.

Starting to hope FPS's get banned by Governments, not because I think it will have any effect on gun crime. Just that we might get some more interesting games at the end of it.

Sony PS3 extends lead over Microsoft's Xbox 360 by a cool million

I dont think Microsoft ever did well in Japan.

It seems the Japanese have more loyalty to their home product.

Isn't Sony bleeding money at the moment? I'd be interested to know how PS3 and xbox game sales rank against one another.

The PS3 used to be a good deal as just a blu-ray player and that may influence things.

Not sure what is going on with Nintendo really. They announced the Wii U ages ago dropping sales of original Wii consoles and then after that they made the mini Wii.

Also they made the 3DS that sold poorly, so naturally they made an XL version of it and put that out.

Seems like they've lost the plot

Grinchy Google to shut down another batch of services

Does this mean push wont work anymore?

I only signed up recently because it did push so easily.

Ten badass brainy computers from science fiction

What about GLaDOS?

Surprised she didn't show up in here?

Samsung turns screws on Apple, hikes A6 processor price 20%

Can apple buy Foxconn or some other manufacturer?

If they built their own stuff wouldn't that save money? Or does their buisness model rely on exploitng Chinese workers on low wages?

If they opened their own apple factory in China could they not get away with it then?

Fans' loyalty questioned as iPhone popularity plummets

Go an iDevice and don't need one anymore.

I bought an 4S and there's no compelling reason to upgrade to the next one and a few things holding me back. I dont want to use an adaptor for my docs, and with updates coming along and being able to wipe apps of MY iPhone I'll stay where i am. There's less reason to stick with apple when I'd have to change my docks anyway.

I also have an iPad2 but cant see a reason to upgrade. The 3 is too heavy and the mini is too small and adaptor is wrong. Again not feeling a need to upgrade.

James Bond doesn't do CGI: Inside 007's amazing real-world action

Re: Invisible car nonsense

Isn't there a plan to use metamaterials that sends light round the object?

Man rummaging for lost laptop in skip gets tipped into garbage truck

Where could he be?

“Where could he be? Threepio! Threepio, will you come in?”

Dishonored game review

Enjoying the game but,

I wouldn't call it hyper-realistic. The graphics are fairly poor IMO, its pretty console focused as you can tell from the menus.

I'm hoping someone releases a mod with higher res textures or something.

Bring on the next console generation. The tech's too old now.

Russian Christians boosted by Pussy Riot law spank 'sinful' Apple logo

How about the cross

There's people going round with a symbol of a man being tortured to death all over the place. Not appropriate for public viewing surely?

NZ bloke gets eel stuck up jacksie

EELS!

Eels up inside ya! Finding an entrance where they can.

Apple iOS 6 review

Can you keep google maps still?

I don't want to upgrade and lose it. I find the street view and lots of points of interest very useful.

Can you have both apps?

Windows 8: Never mind Office, it's for GAMING

I think Microsoft is trying to unify products.

If you look at how Microsoft has been behaving it looks like it’s trying to make all its products appear more unified.

They change Hotmail to outlook. They Create the Windows 8 OS for phones. They mirror that with the metro interface on the PC side of Windows 8 and then match it with their tablet.

Their new Xbox will be called the Xbox Infinity. Symbolised with an 8 on its side (see Microsoft buying up URLs of xbox8).

I think it’s not a bad idea but I just hate the way it looks on the desktop.

If I were Microsoft I would have windows 8 for the PC keep the standard desktop interface as we've always had with the option to use the Metro interface with an icon or key press.

Then have the Metro settings for the interface sync by cloud across all devices so you're looking at the same screen whatever device you're using phone, computer, tablet, or Xbox.

That is really where Microsoft strength is, having it finger in all the pies.

You'll be on a list 3 hrs after you start downloading from pirates - study

Re: "Or, you know, you could NOT steal the stuff"

You wouldn't steal a handbag.

You wouldn't steal a car.

You wouldn't steal a baby.

You wouldn't shoot a policeman. And then steal his helmet.

You wouldn't go to the toilet in his helmet. And then send it to the policeman's grieving widow. And then steal it again!

Downloading films is stealing. If you do it, you will face the consequences.

Mars rover will.i.am 'cast: A depressing day for space and technology

David Bowe

Why not play life on Mars? More appropriate methinks.

Why did they fit speakers to the thing though. When every gram costs money to get to space they put speakers on the think.

Is it in case they meet some Martians and need to say hello.

With the delay the locals would get bored and wander off.

AMD engineering another Opteron-like leap

It'd be good to see AMD rise again.

I've been buying Intel chips for a bit now and it still feels dirty.

Last core i remember using was the clawhammer. I think they went into decline since then.

Apple now most valuable company OF ALL TIME

How about that Italian bloke who has done cold fusion with the e-cat?

Once Andrea Rossi’s E-CAT stuff gets going if it's actually real then it should overtake Apple right?

Unless Apple comes out with an iCat?

Windows 8: Download it, then speak YOUR brains

I had a go last month

I just didn't like it.

Nothing was in the right place. Nothing was intuitive. I kept on having to Google where everything lived.

Maybe this is because I have the old windows style so deeply ingrained since having used windows forever but this just feels wrong.

It's like they're forcing us to do it a certain way so they can unify the Phone, Xbox and Computer OS in there new releases.

I'm happy with 7 so maybe I'll wait till 9 is out. Every other OS release is good. Same with Star Trek movies :P