Posts by andy gibson

End-of-life smartphone? Penguins at postmarketOS aim to revive it

XDA forums

Lets not forget the guys at places like XDA Developers forums who provide newer ROMS for older but still functioning phones.

EV battery can reach full charge in 'less than 10 minutes'

Re: Full charge in 10 minutes?

Nice idea, but all it will end up with is someone at a public charging station taking even longer because they have TWO batteries to charge!

Next major update of Windows 11 prepares for launch

Re: I'm surprised that it's not appeared on more ordinary people's machines

Sadly, it *will* go on older machines, and runs quite well. I found it used 1Gb less RAM than Windows 10 at idle.

But Microsoft says otherwise and no doubt wants me to scrap a perfectly functioning PC that isn't anywhere near the end of it's life.

Tough news for Apple as EU makes USB-C common charging port for most electronic devices

Re: Optional Chargers

And my recent £150 Samsung came WITH a charger!

Engineer sues Amazon for not covering work-from-home internet, electricity bills

My commute was the same. 20 minute train journey, trains frequent (every 15 mins) and never packed and ticket was just £5 return.

Some days I'd vary it with a beer or meal after work in town too. I definitely now feel mentally worse off WFH, not to mention financially. Dreading winter when I have to have the heating on all day.

Clonezilla 3: Copy and clone disk images to your heart's content

Re: SSD

Its even faster if you start with a fresh install rather than cloning.

Astra Space to launch satellites from Shetland

Ahhh, Astra

I fondly recall Astra back in the day when you had to manually tune into satellite channels by their frequency (and the H/V switch) and had a great mix of UK and European channels (Tutti Fruiti on RTL on a Sunday night anyone?)

Logging and monitoring can be a form of bullying, and make for lousy infosec

"Does watching staff 24x7 really make things more secure?

No, according to a researcher at a major UK university, who asked not to be identified."

I'm always wary of people with something to say, but too embarrassed to put their name to their work or their opinion.

Windows 11 usage stats within touching distance of... XP

Same here, running about a hundred HP 8200 SFFs, core i7 with 8Gb RAM. They were bought second hand in 2017 and were supposed to be replaced in 2021, but they're still running perfectly. Only thing we've done is add an SSD.

For me it uses less RAM than Win 10. At start-up my 10 install consumes 3Gb of RAM, on an identical machine running 11 its only using 2Gb.

Amazon warehouse workers in New York unionize in historic win against web giant

voting stats

So out of 8,300 workers, only half bothered to vote?

Re: To summarise...

Unions haven't really helped the P&O workers though have they?

Windows 11 growth at a standstill amid stringent hardware requirements

Re: Why move to Windows 11 ?

You mean like taking away the traditional right-clicking of the taskbar to find task manager?

Dev rigs up receipt printer to spit out GitHub issues

Needs audio

Needs "you are fined one credit for a violation of the Verbal Morality Statute" with every print

Ukraine's nuclear plants: Chernobyl off diesel power, explosions explained

Bragin?

Great map, but what's with the darker purple hexagon at Bragin?

Google blocks FOSS Android tool – for asking for donations

Re: App Store Pricing

Complains at Android users being cheapskates yet buys secondhand Apple gear and only installs free apps?

Re: duh!

For me its restaurant recommendations. Personally I find Google's input that a certain restaurant is a high percentage match for what i'd like, or similar to ones I've previously visited quite useful.

Car radios crashed by station broadcasting images with no file extension

Re: HD radio

I'm in the UK and my old 2005 car used to show the station name and the track playing on an FM radio.

Labour reminds UK.gov that it's supposed to be reforming the Computer Misuse Act

This the same Labour that hasn't explained what happened here?

https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/05/labour_party_ransomware_data_breach_questions/

Nothing to scoff at: Crisps and nuts biz KP Snacks smacked in ransomware hack attack

Re: Windoze security as service

"Windooze" and "Windoze"

How original. At least you didn't use Micro$$$oft and Micro$$haft I suppose.

New York Times outlays seven-figure sum for 1,900 lines of JavaScript – yes, we mean Wordle

Re: In before ...

And they'll be watching it on ITV

Lingo / Wordle

It was a British game show in the 1980s, revived in early 2021

Happy birthday, Windows Vista: Troubled teen hits 15

Re: 512MB ram minimum memory requirement

It continues today with Windows 10 and its "will run on 4Gb RAM". Mine consumes 3Gb at idle.

Crack team of boffins hash out how e-scooters should sound – but they need your help*

Curious as to why they need a noise, particularly as existing cycles and regular scooters don't make any. Plus the ones you can hire already have a bell or buzzer on them.

Needs a "Toast of London" spoken warning.

22-year-old Brit avoids US extradition over SIM-swapping conspiracy after judge deems him to be high suicide risk

"The partner, Denise Canavan, told Judge Griffiths that De Rose was earning £6,000 a month, though the judgment did not say how"

And this isn't ringing any alarm bells?

DIY Sinclair clones: Left it too late to back the Next? Build your own instead

Re: ZX80, ZX81 -- some of us used real computers!

Not true. Locomotive Software's CP/M was 48 column, and there was a PD program you could get that gave you 64 column text.

Sadly they often go for silly money these days, but if you do manage to find one cheap, a Raspberry Pi in a recreated ZX Spectrum is a good option

https://www.hackster.io/news/a-beautiful-raspberry-pi-powered-zx-spectrum-489deb2020ab

No defence for outdated defenders as consumer AV nears RIP

Re: Failure of capitalism

I remember "Windows Live OneCare"

Microsoft gives Notepad a minimalist makeover to match Windows 11 style

Re: Waaat ?

Funny how they don't listen to the other "top community ask" - restore the Start Menu.

Re: Dark?

Don't forget the BBC Micro - white text on a black screen when you powered it on.

Even their word processors used the black background

Re: Pointless

Bring back Teletext - default black background!

Computers cost money. We only make them more expensive by trying to manage them ourselves

Re: The time for it has arrived and departed.

Five years ago I introduced my then new employer to the world of refurbs. Significant cost saving over new for a suite of 30 machines. We planned a 3 year lifespan for them.

Five years on all still running, with only one PSU failure in that time. We're going to keep them another year with SSDs because they perform exactly the same as the latest kit.

Survey shows XP lingers on while Windows 11 makes a 0.21% ripple in the enterprise

Re: Computer says NO

Easy to bypass with RUFUS to remove the TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, 8GB+ RAM restrictions:

https://pureinfotech.com/rufus-create-bootable-windows-11-usb/

Re: Adieu but not goodbye XP

Still using Windows XP here for car diagnostics.

I find it ironic that they've try to kill the traditional start menu, but if you right-click the windows logo on 11 its even longer than before!

Microsoft touts Windows 11 SE: A locked-down OS to give Chromebooks a run for their money in schools

Re: get kids hooked on Microsoft 365 for life

During the first lockdown I had to run a "laptop clinic" for parents / students at my school who were unable to use O365 and Teams effectively at home.

Without exception, every single home device was clogged and badly maintained - no updates run, crammed full of manufacturer bloatware running at startup, numerous anti virus systems (most expired after their free trial).

Reg scribe spends 80 hours in actual metaverse … and plans to keep visiting

Re: What? What flight sim people are doing for ages?

Prop Cycle and it was AWESOME!

Re: What? What flight sim people are doing for ages?

I remember a networked set of these in an arcade many years ago

https://www.amusements.co.uk/a-to-z-games/prop-cycle

Schools email marketing company told us to go away when we told them of exposed database creds, say infoseccers

Re: Why is this even a thing in the first place?

The blurb on their website says:

"Want to talk to bursars, facilities managers or Heads of IT? No problem. We’ve got their direct, personal school email addresses - ready to send your marketing emails directly to them."

Not a problem for me. If an unsolicited email comes in, it goes in the bin, the sender gets blocked and that company doesn't get my business.

Opt-out is the right approach for sharing your medical records with researchers

"Assumed consent is never acceptable and ethically wrong."

Except for organ donation perhaps? Before the law change, 80% of the public said they supported the practice in principle, but only 38% of people had formally opted into organ donation, with the majority saying they simply hadn't got round to registering as a donor.

Got enterprise workstations and hope to run Windows 11? Survey says: You lose. Over half the gear's not fit for it

Re: What's the rush?

I'm planning at least five.

Fake 'BT' caller fleeces elderly victim of £30k in APP app scam

Re: Do NOT hang up at once

I talk really quietly so they ramp up the volume at their end. Then blast them with a whistle. Should make scamming the next person a little harder with a burst eardrum

Scientists took cues from helicopter seeds to invent tiny microchips that float on wind

Dorothy?

In "Twister"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0u5-HzXFVg

The Eigiau Dam Disaster: Deluges and deceit at the dawn of hydroelectric power

Rhiw Bach

If you're into abandoned stuff, nearby Rhiwbach village and quarry buildings is well worth a look

http://www.penmorfa.com/Rhiwbach/rhiwquarry.html

James Webb Space Telescope penciled in for launch this century. Yes, Dec 18, 2021

Re: Really?

It was also said that Webb oversaw a purge of LGBT people while working for the agency

WEB@30: The Register pokes around historical hardware of the WWW

Prestel & Micronet 800

Nothing about Prestel and Micronet 800?

Intrepid Change.org user launches petition to make Jeff Bezos' space trip one-way

Re: poor phrasing ?

Playing pool with planets? You'd need to be pished to do that

Cloudflare launches campaign to ‘end the madness’ of CAPTCHAs

Re: Hardware dongles?

The pictures usually ask you to identify a bus, bike, or fire hydrant on the picture I would have thought these objects are globally known?

Oops, says Manchester City Council after thousands of number plates exposed in parking ticket spreadsheet

Swiss number plates

Many years ago I remember watching a Jeremy Clarkson TV show about driving around the world. He said that in Switzerland the number plate stayed with the owner for life and that you could look up their address in a public database.

And as a result meant there was little road rage or motoring trouble because you could easily go round to the car owner's house to deal with it later.

Not sure if its true or just Clarkson talking out of his arse as usual.