* Posts by Triggerfish

2452 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Feb 2010

Moist iPhone fanbois tempted with golden Apple shower offer

Triggerfish

Re: RE: unique to iPhones?

Yes happened to friend recently, there's was a droid phone but can't remember what make. sent back because it was acting up, and report came back they had checked the strip and it had been water damaged. They live in a pretty damp house, but I believe them when they say they hadn't got it wet.

Strikes me as a good way to get out of warranty repairs, open in some repair shop not in your presence their word against yours.

Maggie Thatcher: The Iron Lady who saved us from drab Post Office mobes

Triggerfish

Re: @Chris W - Before anyone moans about her... @LarsG

Tony Blairs smile takes me back to childhhood, its like benig grinned at by an aquaphibian.

Universal Credit IT system could lead to MORE FRAUD, MPs warn

Triggerfish

Re: Man i/c of enormo-pervassive new dole system says "no problems here"

"The questions is what propotion to they get of the overall total. Just becuase your 1 ina hundred if you geta 1000 times more than anyone else, then you make a big difference!"

Just a quick calculation, but working from a minimum payment someone would get ( single person living on their own HB+JSA+CT), then you would have the person claiming a 1000 times as much getting paid £8704000.

Even the daily mail hasnt gone that far. :)

Rocket boffinry in pictures: Gulp the Devil's venom and light a match

Triggerfish

Re: Obligatory

For those who want some similar reading try this blog.

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/

Watchdog warns UK.gov not to create 'them and us' digital divide

Triggerfish

At a remove.

One other thing that does occur to me is this, sorry if to long

You can be at a distance from the problem.

Why am I saying this, well for a time I temped for the council and one of my jobs was arranging repayments of council tax. This means I phoned up people in debt and tried to get them to pay back, we had some leeway to make our decision however final decision is made by backroom CT officers who and this is important never had to deal with the public.

So sometime you get people who have fallen behind, and after a while and because you can see previous records you get a sense of whose bullshitting (ok not 100% accurate) you and who genuinely seems to be have problems at the moment, now you can get them to pay (in fact a lot of the genuine cases were quite willing, (people do weird things round debt and troubles at times by ignoring them or not dealing with them quick enough)) but it might not be the amount that's enough to get someone to pay by the new CT bill, maybe some months over but they'll pay and it probably helps them at least survive their current problems and get straight again.

Something like that could quite often get squished, and then pursued through things like attachments of earnings, for a larger amount straight out of there wages, so causing them further problems (I guess).

You see they don't have to talk to those people and so they are at a remove, its easy to be faceless and just see it as some numbers to crunch like that, its easy to ignore the impact it might make.

Its very easy for a computer to say no.

Triggerfish

Re: Recently made unemployed.

"To be fair you can get good net access at your local library ..."

Understand your sarcasm in the post.

But since that's one often trotted out......

Here's an example I was a 9'ish mile walk to my nearest library with net access, on the bus that's a 3.50 journey there and back on JSA of 65 quid a week, that's a fair bit. (and yes I have walked that and back I have been that skint, its a fair old walk for reasonably fit me especially because its hilly where I lived at the time).

Oh and the library well a lot of the computers were locked down (no emailing on most, likewise restrictions on time, try doing a CV online in 15 minutes since you cant load up from a usb key something you have already prepared). since that library was also near a local uni getting a seat in the first place was also a pain.

The library excuses really doesn't stand up to the real world at times.

Triggerfish

Re: Suboptimal surveying techniques

If you claim benefits you are still registered with the tax office. So technically you count as a taxpayer, its just that you do not get enough to pay actual tax on JSA/ income support.

CT benefit is a discount from what you pay rather than an earning.

Housing benefit is non taxable income.

Egyptian navy captures divers trying to cut undersea internet cables

Triggerfish

Re: That could be a lie!

Depending on how deep the cables are you may not be able to stay down that long, especially if you are diving just on air, plus one of the tricks of staying down for a long time is less minimal effort in everything you do, sawing away for 45 minutes at depth would burn through your supply pretty quickly I would think.

Triggerfish

Re: The mystery of the mysterious operatives

Underwater cutting tends to be a bit dangerous as well, good chance of build up of explosive gas bubbles around you from what I remember.

Orange is the new TalkTalk of the broadband complaints league

Triggerfish

Orange are shit

Tried to charge me for two phone lines, I had transferred my number on the mobile across to them.

So they tried to charge for the original contract number as well, I say charged, they sent no bills they just sent baliffs round a year later with a big bill for a number I had never owned.

There customer service is atrocious, different departments that don't talk to each other, and who apparently don't share notes, so every time you phone up you can repeat your complaint again and again, then get passed round just to repeat again.

Their supervisors do not ever call back, (if you manage to talk to one).

They are a phone and communications company whose complaints department will only allow themselves to be contacted by a PO box number, this should be fair warning in itself.

Florida fisherman bags two-headed MUTANT SHARK

Triggerfish

From what I understand it doesn't bring a high enough price to fill your hold with compared with other things, it doesn't taste as good as snapper etc so they fetch a far higher price.

Supermarkets in the UK used to sell shark, pressure from the Shark trust caused them to stop selling it a few years back.

iPads in education: Not actually evil, but pretty close

Triggerfish

Re: "Why IT teachers are seduced by pretty, but wholly unsuitable toys?"

I hoped that wasn't true, then found out my friend had been asked to teach IT at his school.

Lovely bloke, great at other subjects but feels that technology should have stopped around the age of sail., he doesn't even have an email, it took us years to get him into the idea of texting. He wasn't even offended when I just laughed down the phone as he realised how silly it was.

Bill Gates offers big bucks for better condoms

Triggerfish

Re: japseye bag

My brother had a urinary catheter removed while in a cheap hospital in Asia years ago, he claims with no anesthetic. On balance after hearing about it I think no. :)

Triggerfish

Standard days method

My ex shared a house with a girl who used standard days method, (didn't want condoms or using the pill, etc)

It was either 3 or 4 abortions she had by the end of uni. (sorry cant remember exactly long time ago and lack of sympathy from me about the trauma of their abortions), anyway that as a mehod for birth control compared to condoms is a fail.

Victoria and Albert museum in narrow escape from Napalm Death

Triggerfish

Moss side carnival.

One tent about thirty foot long, step in less than thirty foot of space, the rest is taken by two opposing walls filled to the top with speakers, some sort of heavy dub jungle thing.

It wasn't noise so much as two shock waves trying to pass through you in opposite directions.

I'm still amazed people were dancing in there.

Oi, Microsoft, where's my effin' toolbar gone?

Triggerfish
Joke

Usability engineers.

It strike me that rather than a usability lab full of geeks, they'd be better of releasing it to the admin staff and making the devs sit next to them and explain themselves, every time some poor bugger stares at a doc they're working on and crys out "Whyyyy?".

GoPro accused of using DMCA to take down product review

Triggerfish

Anyone thinking of taking a marketing degree

or whatever they call it.

If you walk into university and the first lessons do not involve them holding up examples of this, Ratners, Streisand, Sony, EA etc with big letters saying "Fecking learn".

Walk out your course is not up to date.

You'd think if this was your job you'd have a bloody clue.

Review: HTC One

Triggerfish

Re: No SD no sale

I agree, its a really really nice phone.

Its a fail for me because as I stated above I like the flexibility of using it like a USB drive and tend to travel to areas with patchy wifi, but if I was somewhere with lots of access to wifi, or my own computer I could see it not being as big an issue.

It still seems a bit silly though considering its probably quite low cost to add in SD card functionality, when you are setting out to make a S4, iphone killer. I'd have thought it would be a case of here's our phone its got everything, you sure you want to buy the rivals?

Triggerfish

Re: No microSD AGAIN

Wow downvoted for correcting my own grammar, there's some harsh taskmasters out there. :)

Triggerfish
FAIL

Re: No microSD AGAIN

there not their, sorry been a long day.

Triggerfish

Re: No microSD AGAIN

Depends I just been visiting friends abroad and in a lot of places we went wifi was patchy or not always available.

Admittedly I was also suprised at the ease of wi fi access in some places I haven't been for years and whose normal internet used to be patchy at best.

But it turned out that the phone acted as a really handy usb drive for swapping files with mates. If I had been out their longer I could see me having bought a spare card to fill.

Schmidt calls China's attempts to take over internet 'egregious'

Triggerfish

Pot....

talks about kettle

Microsoft issues manual on Brits to Cambridge exports

Triggerfish

Re: Ta

Is it Northern? It was quite common in London where I grew up.

Engineers are cold and dead inside, research shows

Triggerfish

Re: Psychologists as a measure of normal?

I should start using the joke icon, there's a lack of empathy for flippancy on here. :)

Triggerfish

Psychologists as a measure of normal?

Having studied at somewhere that was a centre of excellence for psychology.

It seemed to me most psychology students consisted of the mad, or I knew someone who was mad and I am trying to figure it out camp.

We're engineers its not that we seem cold to the psychologists, its because we have enough sense to not make any sudden movements or be to excitable around the flakey.

US taxman joins UK politicoes on hunt for Amazon cash

Triggerfish

@cheeryAllyjspurs 10:48

I am actually surprised that some companies aren't advertising this.

If I had been running Costa coffee or a small local coffee shop, the first thing I would have done is plaster a large sign in my window saying "We pay more tax than Starbucks".

NRA: Video games kill people, not guns. And here's our video game

Triggerfish

Re: The right to bear arms (does not define those arms for a reason!)

Some points here.

1. If you're government decides to turn into a Syrian type regime, then I have to point out that an assault rifle is not going to do much against a main battle tank, or helicopter gunship, or even a well trained infantry who are on full assault.

2. If another country manages to defeat one of the largest military superpowers on the planet, and invade. Well see point 1 really, and if you think the guerrilla tactics of plinking away at an occupying army who have gone to the effort of defeating such a large well trained army as would be required for this, considering the expense and ramifications they would already have dealt with to go through such a operation.

Do you honestly think they would suddenly go "oh hmmnm maybe we should go home"?

3. Red Dawn was a movie.

Triggerfish

Re: Anyone Seen Thank You For Smoking ?

You're right there was nothing like the threat of nuclear holocaust to make us all sleep in our beds easier.

I still fondly look back on being a child and watching when the wind blows and threads.

Google's Schmidt: I squeezed Norks to lift web blockade

Triggerfish

Re: ?

Ah good not just me having a comprehension fail.

Triggerfish

Critical path

Surely before you worry about internet access you have to fill in the critical path blanks of electricity and computers first?

(ignoring the other obvious stuff like food and that of course)

Brit robojet ‘Taranis’ set for Oz test flight

Triggerfish

Re: Hmm

I'm not sure that air superior craft are always going to win. If you count in their flight times (burning fuel for combat) and pilot uptime, versus a large amount of drones it could change the odds, especially if you think as well that while the pilots may be in superior combat craft, they have a limited amount of ammo.

If the other side is using drones that may not be as accurate but even the odds by having so many of them aiming at each aircraft it becomes a case of when rather than if it could mean that a shitload of cheap(er) drones versus superior combat aircraft may not necessarily be a bad tactic.

Course this would be assuming a symmetrical warfare scenario I guess since you'd have to manufacture a lot of drones.

Revealed: The Brit-built GRAVITY-powered light that costs $5

Triggerfish

Re: @ Mr Chriz 12:17

Well I have had to take antibiotics more than once, and not for just I have a cold reasons but because without them I would have been in serious trouble. I think you'll find generally they save more lives than kill.

Admittedly mud huts probably don't need great sewage systems, and clean water is more useful. I was maybe using hyperbole to point out with that and hot tropics that the amount of nasty things you can catch and be infected by goes up, and that some western things are definitely useful.

As far as lighting goes, I have never noticed it to make that much difference with body heat, and smell mosquitoes find you in various ways, and I have been bitten in the dark plenty of times.

I'm pretty sure decent lighting at night is quite a useful thing though, it tends to get dark early and the sun goes down fast. If you can find a good argument for not being able to choose when you need to see easily then fire away.

Triggerfish

@ Mr Chriz 12:17

You're right there's nothing like no access to antibiotics to go with the lack of proper sewage treatment, in a hot tropical country to make you feel pity for us westerners.

Japanese firm offers 4-tonne GIANT MECHs for just $1.3m

Triggerfish

Re: Call me back...

Meh call me back when its at least Nova cat class or better

Think Xmas bashes in your biz are scary? Try partying with the Channel

Triggerfish

Ah Christmas

Its the big company do's that I usually avoid. TO much office politics brought into the night, I'd rather stay home.

Small companies however ah that's different, those Christmas do's have lead to:

Being invited by reps in the North inviting us to their do's on the strength of our groups antics in the southern do.

Us being banned from turning up to the reps Northern do by word from on high.

Ex strippers bringing their still stripper friend and then getting far to drunk....

Disco biscuits.

The return of purloined goods to hotels.

People sleeping in corridors of various hotels.

Realising that you should be have started work on the other side of the city about 3 hours ago.

Somehow ending up standing in an alleyway at 4am to get in a dodgy rave.

Oh and a good few hangovers.

Heroic Register reader battles EXPLODING COMPUTER

Triggerfish

Re: No-brand power supply

If I remember rightly when custom PC torture tested a load of PSUs even most of the named ones couldn't handle the load they claimed and one exploded, Seasonic got mentioned because 2 companies withdrew their brands from testing, but Seasonic went back and asked Custom PC what was wrong and then went and redesigned their PSUs.

I have to agree btw my Seasonic PSU was a little more pricey but is damn good.

Asus VivoBook S200 11.6in touchscreen notebook review

Triggerfish

Re: It looks like a MacBook Air

It looks like a macbook air.

But I expect it will cost me half the price.

Thought you'd escaped Twitter? Think again as Twits get email button

Triggerfish

Human spam filters

None of my friends who have my proper (non forum, etc etc) email address would ever do that, that's why I let them have that email address.

Reader input required: review our reviews

Triggerfish

How about stuff that we can afford

If a bit skint, 10 gaming headphones reviewed 9 above a hundred quid, 10 dab radios all pricey for basically kitchen radios. I like looking at the shiny stuff but some of the prices for things reviewed are a bit much.

Anonymous attacks Israeli websites over Gaza bombings

Triggerfish

I didnt have sound on at work

But watching that video gave me flashbacks to command and conquer.

Lawyer sues Microsoft rather than slot an SD card into his Surface

Triggerfish

Lawyer

fails to read the small print, and then sues. Oh the irony.

Watchdog halts Toyota Grand Theft Auto-esque advert

Triggerfish

Dangerous influences

Its even worse than that, since watching Homeland I have built myself a suicide vest and I'm running for senate.

Cawing retail vultures circle dying Comet, might rip some chunks off

Triggerfish

OPCapita

Can anyone explain to me why we end up selling companies like Comet to groups like OPCapita, who basically set themselves up as primary creditors and then fuck a company over for the profit they will make?

El Reg mulls Forums icon portfolio shake-up

Triggerfish

Brazil

Some sort of Brazil icon (the Terry Gilliam film). This will be to signify that even though we fear we may end up like 1984..e.g gov creates massive id card database. The follow on story a few weeks later detailing the inevitable cock ups and overruns and idiocy of bureaucracy can then have an appropriate icon.

Google, Amazon, Starbucks are 'immoral' and 'ridiculous' over UK tax

Triggerfish

Kettles question Pots

triy and decide whose blackest

Apple MacBook Pro 13in Retina display review

Triggerfish

Laptop reviews

Ok so from now on when you review laptops and such can you give the weight/ dimensions in two ways please.

Weight and size of the laptop on its own.

Weight and size of laptop plus bag you need to carry any peripherals in just in case you need to use outdated ethernet to move large files, have poor wifi etc or fancy a optical drive for some foolish reason such as having discs.

Seriously these are nice and lovely looking pieces of kit and lightweight, it makes me think that would be great for travelling, but then I have to factor in space being taken up for all the things it lacks and suddenly its seems that I am paying for something that ends up as bulky and unwieldy as some cheapo laptop.

English Defence League website 'defaced, pwned' by hacktivists

Triggerfish

I fully support Diversity

If they hadn't beat that Susan Boyle in Britain's got talent we'd have had to listen to a lot more of her.

Apple rejects NAKED HIPPIE ebook, despite apple coverup

Triggerfish

Re: Funny about that...

Yep my A level art teacher recommended we buy porn to get a proper idea of skin tone.

Mmm, what's that smell: Coffee or sweat? How to avoid a crap IT job

Triggerfish

Amount of managers

Surely there must be a rule about seeing how many middle managers and supervisors there are per staff.

Bond fans: Test your 007 trivia, now!

Triggerfish

29/50

The power of guessing