Posts by misterPaul 24 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Feb 2010
I don't really understand some of El Regs recent Android phone reviews. 70%? Did this phone lose points simply for being a budget phone? I struggle to find any phone at this price range which beats its quality specs and build quality. I get the feeling that this grading is made against top end smart phones, and not in the budget area
http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/857162-apple-cuts-ipad-uk-price-as-ipad-2-approaches
iPad 1 prices were reduced by £100, iPad 2 prices will be at original iPad price points
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad?mco=OTY2ODA0NQ
iPad 32gb with no wifi is currently £399 after reduction
Therefore iPad 2 32gb will be £499
http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/motorola-xoom-internet-tablet-now-available-for-pre-order-09752543-pdt.html
Xoom is £499
You can also preorder the Xoom for £450 with this code, though we'll ignore that offer
http://www.itproportal.com/2011/03/05/dixons-cuts-price-motorola-xoom-450/
Ok i'll bite. iPad 2 will assume the pricing model of the iPad 1 before it was discounted, meaning £499 for the 32gb wifi only model. The Xoom is £499 for the 32gb wifi only model. They are the same price over here, thanks to Apples distorted pricing model. Samsung, on the other hand, are adjusting much closer to the currency conversion.
You can answer with or without nitpicking on the conversion not being exactly £1 to $1. Just be sure to completely ignore the fact that the Xoom and iPad 2 are the same price in the UK, but not the US.
They are taking the number of correct entries, and multiplying that scale factor against the certainty level you entered?
So they have this data harvesting site, and an extremely basic statistical model behind it. No adaptive routines? No advanced mathematical formulae?
Seriously?
True, but rather than a nice linear speed/time graph, technology happens in steps. It's starting to look like I've jumped on this step right before the next.
I wouldn't normally care, but seeing as my current Desire gives me 22 million triangles/sec, and the next step is claiming 10 times that, it's looking like a very big step indeed.
"The ARMADA 628 is based on a Marvell-designed ARM v7 MP compatible CPU offering 1.5 GHz performance."
http://investor.marvell.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=120802&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1474123&highlight=
Here's the rather impressive feature list of the MP core. Note "Superscalar execution giving 2.50 DMIPS/MHz/core" -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_Cortex-A9_MPCore
Actually starting to regret buying a HTC Desire now, looks like mobile processing speed is about to explode.
Just posting to agree with Steve. Adding a spring is a damned good idea; that contraption is far too large given the function it's performing.
Furthermore, the accuracy is pretty poor. Didn't you say 20'000 meters was the target? You've barely made half of that with the Mk2. It may not matter given the project has no real purpose, but a system that missed the 20'000 meter target by 50% is making the engineer inside me cry.
To be honest it seems like you've bent over backwards to accommodate this need for a mechanical release mechanism. An electronic system could perform this function with much less weight, size, complexity and much more accuracy.
@ Smudge@mcr
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?page=1&store=5&cat=191&ca16=None
- 5 machines on offer, also another in the "linux" section
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=1078
- All desktops can be purchased without an OS.
@Chemist
"Value for money" is a subjective thing. If I already own Microsoft Office then the cost is not a factor. My company has blanket licenses for all employees, so to me the cost is nothing. To the company, the cost is a very small portion of their revenue. The company is happy to foot that bill just so they don't have to send those docx files back and ask for something that you can actually open.
It's not really fair, and it might be better if we all stuck our finger up to MS. But that isn't going to happen in the near future, and in the meantime that extra email is lost productivity and time that they aren't going to endure on principle alone.
What a wonderful world this sounds. The evil mega corp Microsoft gets its comeuppance, the beloved OS of the tech community finally freeing the world from tyranny. I'm always very cautious about stories that follow this vein.
Your contempt for the average user is unsurprising and far too common. Personally, I'm repeatedly surprised by the abilities of these users that you believe are so easily fooled. I agree that MS' entrenchment and closed nature contribute to their advantage, and I already mentioned this. However, as I already mentioned, I know of many common users that have experimented with Linux.. these are the people that should be the primary group to appeal to. And there are more of them than you'd think.
I repeat, the problem is perceived loss of functionality. Linux isn't free - it requires a computer. It is in effect using those resources that the user has purchased. Some money is saved by using it, but the cost in perceived functionality remains too great for most. This perception is best resolved through the bundling of a Windows VM. I don't know if you opposition to the concept is some deluded belief in keeping Linux distro's "clean" from the evils of MS, but it's really not helping anyone. You will not be able to convince users that they aren't losing functionality.. because quite frankly, they are. OSx does a good job of providing equivalent functionality, and have a massive marketing department trying to convince users that they are the better option. Sadly "free" doesn't leave much of a marketing budget.
To the gentleman that suggested OpenOffice was superior to MS Office.. rose tinted specs are a wonderful thing. Certainly I'd like it very much if OpenOffice were better, I really do wish it were. I've tried it a few times now, I test it out with each new release, and it remains slow and missing a number of functions which you seem to consider bloat, but which I consider important. Especially in its spreadsheet and presentation components.
And yet I choose to join in anyway..
Goat Jam your argument is fundamentally flawed. You claim a lot of users only want to do web surfing, so why not just use Linux? You quite brilliantly sum up the counter argument with this claim. To most users, a Linux machine is ONLY good for web surfing or an inferior form of document processing. Certainly, windows benefits from entrenchment and OEM lock-ins, but we should still see far more users trying out Linux than we do. I even know some well meaning but non-technical people that have given it a go. 9 times out of 10 they'll switch back once they realise things that were only a Google search away with Windows, are now much more difficult.
I think the default installation of VM software with automated execution of Windows binaries was actually rather good. If I were in charge of a distro's development, getting a decent windows VM running on my distro would be my first priority, closely followed by ensuring its use is transparent to the user. Sure, it's damned difficult, but this is an imperfect world, and the average user is going to pick the easiest option every time.
MS will continue to operate on the edge of what they think they can get away with. Sure they charge more, but the user gets to stay in their comfort zone. The key to beating windows isn't crying about how much cheaper your OS is. You need to comfort the user that they won't be missing out on functionality by using your distro. Arguments like "but you only need web browsing, we can do that!" are exactly the wrong ones to take.
Linux has certainly made a lot of headway by developing their own equivalent apps, but GIMP remains inferior to Photoshop, and Openoffice remains inferior to MS Office.
Only passive tags suffer from extremely limited ranges, active tags would only require a few sensors dotted around the edge of the pitch.
A system of disabling the battery outside of game time would ensure even a very small battery could work for many many games.
UWB RFID offers even greater range (up to 600 feet), though a larger more bulky antenna. (The antenna only increases in size in a third dimension, therefore this would be perfect for stitching just inside the leather.
It's interesting watching some of you stake your claim in the social hierarchy of "techies". I doubt you'll ever attain the gratification you seek by labelling yourself in this way.
I could talk about how such a label can only realistically be reliant on self perception, not extroversion. How claiming any kind of requirement for the label is an exercise in futility.
It's pointless however, as people will just find something else to label themselves with, and continue to argue amongst themselves about who has the right to wear such a label.
Alexa harbors some clue to the cause of this plague.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/theregister.co.uk
A recent influx of additional readers compared to 3 months ago. The cause? One can only assume the masses have realised the impending mechanised apocalypse is fast approaching, and must demand IT angles on any and all writing. Thus they hope to glean some clue as to how our soon-to-be cloud based overlords can be defeated.
Either that or people are becoming ever more pedantic twirps.
On an unrelated note, the average Reg reader, according to Alexa, is a middle aged, childless, male. Shocking.
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