* Posts by Lamont Cranston

1555 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Apr 2010

Facebook app now reads your smartphone's text messages? THE TRUTH

Lamont Cranston

I think facebook design their mobile site

to encourage users onto the app - it's hideous.

Lamont Cranston

Re: "permissions model was at the insistence of the app developers"

Really? Ugh.

Maybe Android should be changed so that, if you enable Developer mode, you get fine control over permissions - that way, those who give a monkey's can get it done, and those who don't care don't have to worry about it?

A BBC-by-subscription 'would be richer', MPs told

Lamont Cranston

Re: The quality would improve greatly....

Thanks, Martin. What about all the people who don't want to watch the same things that you do?

Lamont Cranston

Re: BBC's monopoly on FM Band.

You can have Radio 4, when you TAKE IT FROM MY COLD, DEAD, EARS!

Hmm, that doesn't really work, but you get the gist.

Lamont Cranston

Re: "Cultural Marxist grooming"

Sarcasm doesn't work on internet forums; please use the joke icon in future.

Globe grabbin,’ sphere slammin’, orb-tossin’, pill poppin’... Speedball

Lamont Cranston

Every other sports game suffers

from not having the option to beat the crap out of the opposing team!

Lloyds Group probes server crash behind ATM, cash card outage

Lamont Cranston

Re: "don't actually pay for a current account"

Really? I (and all the other customers) give the bank all my money, and let them do what they like with it, so long as they hold enough in reserve that I can take it back out again. Interest rates might well be in the dirt, but I'm sure that they've found some way of turning a profit from my money.

Apple’s Mac turns 30: How Steve Jobs’ baby took its first steps

Lamont Cranston

Re: Floppy Eject

Most people I know never bother to eject their USB drive before pulling it out, and I've yet to see this cost someone their data (I've yet to see one pulled mid-write).

Still, at least this thread has taught me why Word'95 used to throw such a hissy fit when people would eject the disk whilst the document was still open!

UK.gov to Google: Kill impostor taxmen ADs hogging top spot in YOUR search results

Lamont Cranston

Perhaps the UK government should launch a public awareness campaign

on the dangers of clicking the adverts in Google search results?

'I don't understand why they feel like they own the word CANDY'

Lamont Cranston

Re: the app name was what now?

Nonsense - that's a perfectly cromulent word (in German).

Walking while texting can – OUCH! – end badly, say boffins

Lamont Cranston

Old people are wont to do this,

only without the distraction of a mobile phone. But, oh, the fuss when you push one of them into the road...

German frau reports for liver transplant clutching bottle of vodka

Lamont Cranston

Re: "alcohol is a drug"

Alcohol isn't regulated in the same way as other drugs, much like nicotine isn't either. Communication works best when both parties have the same understanding of what is being said - no doctor is going to advise their patient to avoid tobacco and alcohol by telling them to "stay off the drugs".

Candy Crush dev stuffs EU 'candy' trademark down gob

Lamont Cranston

Re: Prior use of the term.

"Please wait 30 minutes for the rinse cycle to start, or buy exclusive Candy Dollars and load unlimited washes for the next 24 hours!"

Lamont Cranston

Re: Phew...

I'm looking forward to the slew of sequels, followed by the inevitable relaunch of the game that started it all: Kandy Krush Klassic.

Twitter WLTM UK-based pro lobbyist with GSOH - is ready for ads

Lamont Cranston

It's a social network, so, if your social group don't use it, you won't get anything out of it.

I have accounts on both Twitter and facebook (not the sort of thing I should confess to on this forum!), but only facebook is host to my IRL (is that the correct TLA?) friends, thus facebook is a handy communication tool, whilst Twitter is a waste of time.

Devs write 'film my shag' sex app for Google Glass

Lamont Cranston

This entire article is missing the "Joke Alert" icon.

At least, I hope it is.

4K-ing hell! Will your shiny new Ultra HD TV actually display HD telly?

Lamont Cranston

Re: Broadcasting Linear TV Should End

You can keep your Netflix - I like my advert/license fee funded background noise!

No joke icon, as I'm serious. I tried Netflix, but didn't like it - TV should be a passive experience (never mind that I am one of the many people doomed to never have the audio/visual be in sync).

Lamont Cranston

Re: "It's worked as a marketing gimmick for years..." @ Boothy

I think TV is different. People buying digital cameras don't look past the Megapixel count, and this is probably true for phones (if they look at the camera specs at all) but, when it comes to TV, most people (in my experience) are quite happy with an HD Ready (720p) set and a DVD player hooked up over SCART.

4K looks lovely, but I can see it having the same problem that Blu-ray does - the technology that it's replacing is already good enough for most people, and so there's no motivation to replace the existing kit (unless it breaks, and even then a like-for-like replacement will be easier on the wallet).

Amazon workers in Delaware reject trade union membership

Lamont Cranston

Re: Naive question...

This puzzled me, too, so I wrote it off as the US being utterly terrified of anything that might be considered "socialist".

Cocky Spotify drops time limits on free listening, skint music-lovers cheer

Lamont Cranston

Re: the square root of fuck all

If there's very little going in, does this not suggest that the music buying public don't really value the music all that much?

I'd imagine that there is money to be made from musical ability, but the old way (indie label -> major label -> mega-stardom) would appear to be dead.

Someone stole your phone? Now they'll have your STARBUCKS password – the horror!

Lamont Cranston

Re: Perfect

Isn't this less about "the need to flash your pricey gadget" and more about running a customer loyalty scheme without handing out physical loyalty cards?

Game run a similar scheme (they've replaced my loyalty card with a QR code in the mobile app), and I'm quite pleased not to have to clutter up my wallet with anymore plastic. I certainly don't get any sort of validation from waving my outdated mobile at the staff.

Apple coughs up 7 hours of profit to refund kids' $32.5m app spend spree

Lamont Cranston

@AC 10:51

I bought my kids a VTech MobiGo - sadly, compared to the games available on the family Wii, and my phone/tablet, it's only mildly diverting, and my kids aren't so easily amused that they didn't tire of it in a matter of days. I'm not making that mistake again (kid-friendly tablets aren't cheap) - when I think they're old enough for a real computer (or tablet, or whatever), I'll get them one, and make sure that they undetstand how it all works, and how not to bankrupt Daddy. In the meantime, I'm very grateful that every purchase through the Play store requires authorisation (does that inconvenience you dreadfully?), and that my kids are smart enough to understand that they are not to attempt "real money" purchases, anyway.

[Edit: I seem to have wandered into the "speaking as a parent..." trap, and thus probably invalidated my own opinion. Bugger.]

Italian woman stunned by exploding artichoke

Lamont Cranston
Joke

Have you made any explode yet, jake?

No? You're slipping.

Staffs Police face data protection probe over 'drink drivers named' Twitter campaign

Lamont Cranston

I'm all for the naming and shaming of miscreants

(something for which Twitter is eminently suited), but it'd be polite to at least wait until they've been convicted - naming someone as a "drink driver" when they are charged is probably libellous, not to mention likely to prejudice any trial.

Faster, more private, easier to read: My 2014 browser wishlist

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

Re: Different needs

Remember when we could read an article on browser features and just add "you should try Opera" to the comments?

Such a shame that our contribution has been reduced to "remember when Opera was still good?".

We're not destroying the music biz: Spotify

Lamont Cranston

To be fair, home taping was a spectacular failure

at killing off the music business, so it's about time someone had another go.

Judge upholds UK ban on HTC phones, but HTC One gets a pass – for now

Lamont Cranston

Re: "You can't ban our phones, because if we don't break the law we won't make enough money."

Whilst I don't agree with one company profiting off another's IP, I also like a vibrant, competitive market, and driving HTC out of the UK will limit consumer choice. Maybe it would be better to allow HTC to continue selling, and have them pay a fee to Nokia for each (infringing) handset sold?

GCHQ was called in to crack password in Watkins child abuse case

Lamont Cranston

Re: @AC 23:44

Porn does normalise the treatment of women as sex objects (hey, this'll be a popular point of view). The erotic context of cherub statues seems to have passed me by, however.

@Graham I think that GTA puts its content in context (and it's BBFC certificate indicates that it's intended for an audience who can appreciate that) - I certainly wouldn't argue that child/sexual abuse is something that should never be tackled by the arts, but I'd view with suspicion anyone who enjoyed themselves in a rape simulator.

Lamont Cranston

@AC 23:44

I'm not big on banning books/drawings/holodecks, either, but could the arguement not be made that sexually graphic depicitions of minors in such media risks normallising the treatment of children as sexual objects?

Works like Lolita and Romeo & Juliet are not intended to arouse, but a holodeck simulation, wherein you could screw underagers, would appear to have no other context, and thus encourages users to regard such behaviour as acceptable.

Lamont Cranston

Re: 'cracked the password'

Accounts from other sources suggest that it was a rather weak (not to mention distasteful) password, although I've seen it reported as the password to his laptop, rather than cloud locker.

If the crack wasn't performed by a pair of scruffy oiks, in a darkened room, accompanied by blaring techno choons, I'll be sorely disappointed.

Best budget Android smartphone there is? Must be the Moto G

Lamont Cranston

Re: Fixed storage - my main issue

I'm wary, too. Got a Galaxy Ace for my Mum, and it was complaining about a lack of storage from the get-go. Killing off all the Samsung crud would probably leave her with a nice phone, but why should we be jumping through hoops?

I like the look of this Moto, though - a practically naked Android should mean that 8GB will be enough for my nearest and dearest, so I know where I'll be pointing them when they want new handsets.

On the matter of shooting down Amazon delivery drones with shotguns

Lamont Cranston

What about all those rocket launchers that were mounted around London

during the Olympics? Someone's probably itching to let a couple of those off.

Bonobos 'face extinction from interacting with humans'

Lamont Cranston
Mushroom

@AC

You'd better not be hiding in the wardrobe when I get home.

Lamont Cranston
Coat

Humans routinely perform fellatio?

Someone ought to let my wife know.

Sorry, I'll be on my way...

PS-PHWOARRR: We review Sony’s next-gen PlayStation 4

Lamont Cranston

I still have a PS2 and a Wii.

Oh, and better* things to do with my time.

*<small>well, other</small>

US puts Assange charge in too-hard basket - report

Lamont Cranston

Re: Why insist on embarrassing yourself with your naive and outdated party political evangelism...

Alright, Russel? You missed an opportunity to plug your new DVD, there.

PANIC OVER DROOPING house prices hits MEMBER-shaped estate

Lamont Cranston

Re: Time to re-christen the local pub?

The Bell's End, shirley?

Valve pal iBuyPower touts cut-price Steam box as powerful as PS4 or Xbox

Lamont Cranston

Re: At the risk of being a negative nelly,

Better a choice of devices/designs than the black-box-or-nothing approach of regular games consoles, I suppose.

Lamont Cranston

At the risk of being a negative nelly,

that looks to be a large, ugly box, and not the sort of thing I'd want occupying space in my living room (much like the XBoxOne).

VIOLENT video games make KIDS SMARTER – more violent the BETTER

Lamont Cranston
Joke

Further evidence

that the mainstream media doesn't give a toss about FOSS.

Lamont Cranston

Re: why prostitute murder

In my (admittedly limited) experience of under-15s playing GTA, they will quickly abandon the story missions in order to rampage about and obliterate the civilians (literally - chainsaw-ing the corpse until it fades away is hilarious, to the right mindset).

Factor in the prostitutes, where you can pick one up, have her make sex noises, then murder her with the over-the-top weapon of your choosing, and it's basically catnip for boys.

As to why news media focus on this? It has plenty of shock value (murder and sex), and thus is a sure sign of the collapse of civilisation.

Samsung and HTC face Android 3D graphics test chart removal SHAME

Lamont Cranston
Joke

Re: Benchmarks, Schmenchmarks.....

Tell me about it. Everytime I buy a car, I make a point of ripping out the radio and throwing it at the salesman.

Romance is dead: Part-time model slings $1.5bn SUEBALL at Match.com

Lamont Cranston

"Not a day goes by when someone doesn't tell me that they saw my pictures posted on Match.com "

Is it the same person, over and over again, hoping that she'll agree to a date?

Gold meddler: Doctor Who is 50 years old TODAY

Lamont Cranston

Re: Tonights Episode...

@The_Idiot

I hope you're right. Still, cliff-hangers should come at the end, not be tucked away, mid-episode!

Hooters, shooters and looters: Eidos’s Tomb Raider

Lamont Cranston
Happy

Re: From the people who bought you Rick Dangerous

@DaneB No, I had a Playstation, not an N64. Platform games peaked with Decap Attak on the MegaDrive, anyway.

Lamont Cranston

Re: From the people who bought you Rick Dangerous

I'm with you, Mr Hill - Tomb Raider was crap. It being one of the first things I played on Playstation, it quickly became clear that platform games don't work in 3d (Spyro soon corroborated this; see also that awkward moment in Half Life where you need to jump onto packing crates over the obligatory bottomless pit). Add to that, wandering alone around enormous caverns, whilst technically impressive, is dull as ditch.

Most fun I got out of it was drowning Lara in her own pool.

BBC's 3D blunder BLASTED OUR BRAINS – Doctor Who fans

Lamont Cranston
Happy

Re: Logo OG

Thanks for posting this. I couldn't answer the "why have they picked up the TARDIS with a helicopter, and why can't the Doctor just teleport them away from it?" question over the weekend - now I can!

Lamont Cranston
Thumb Down

Re: Cooking etc.

Yes, that's great - use the BBC as a proving ground for Sky.

Most of what I watch is on 4 or five, and they're always under the threat of their programming disappearing off to satellite (I quite enjoyed the first few series of House, for example).

Lamont Cranston
Joke

Re: "Tax" - really?

No need to pay the oppressive BBC tax - iPlayer, Radio 4 and 6Music are funded by pixies! Apparently.

The latest stupid yoof craze: Taking selfies - while DRIVING

Lamont Cranston

Re: This is a very bad idea, however

Oh, I don't know. 20 pints down? Unfit state to drive. Eyes glued to your phone? Unfit state to drive.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my LSD flashback is just starting to kick in, so I need to find a multistorey to fly off of.