* Posts by Lamont Cranston

1555 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Apr 2010

Tory MP's email fail stirs up bloggo-fury

Lamont Cranston
Flame

Fuck the mentally infirm, eh?

May as well drown them at birth.

Nokia C3

Lamont Cranston

I find the triangulation is usually sufficient,

even if it puts me in a different street to the one that I know I'm on - blindly following directions into fast moving traffic is not a mistake that I'm likely to make!

Lamont Cranston
Thumb Up

I got an E63 from 3,

which is like an E71 without the GPS, and it's no great loss - I've got Google Maps working as a pedestrian navigation aid, and triangulation of location using mobile transmitters has done the job for me so far.

I'd say this looks like a decent little handset, probably would have tempted me if it had been £30 cheaper.

UK set for eBook pricing showdown

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

When I used to read a lot,

I would browse bookshops, looking for something to take my fancy, so price would not have been the driving factor (although I'd avoid hardbacks, on price grounds).

Now that I have less time for both reading and browsing in bookshops, I tend to go into the shop knowing which book I am going to buy, so it is then a matter of who is selling the book I want at the lowest price.

In either case, I would generally be happiest in a large bookstore, likely belonging to one of the big chains (is it just Waterstones, now?) - although independants were preferred when money was short and I wanted to pick up something 2nd hand, a role which charity shops fulfil nicely.

In short, yes, independant bookshops are dead.

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

£4 to £6 for an ebook, then (not including the reader)?

Unless ebooks are going to be cheaper than their paper counterparts, what's the point?

I like the ebook idea, but if I were going to shell out £100+ on a reader, I'd expect the books to be cheaper than the printed versions (publishers are saving on print, storagee and transport costs, and retailers' overheads would be down, too).

Perhaps the hardware cost will reduce once manufacturers realise that there's little point in "added value" features, such as annotation, music playback and web-browsing?

Nevermind, I'm mostly reading graphic novels at the moment, and I've yet to see an e-reader that could show something like Watchmen in a readable form.

O2 blamed for iPhone's data sucking

Lamont Cranston
Troll

iPhones not suited to PAYG?

Ha, ha and, indeed, ha.

Bound robbery victim IMs for help with toes

Lamont Cranston
Joke

"I flipped my legs over my head and turned off my alarm clock,"

whilst bound to the bed by her wrists?

I'll bet she's popular.

Sony Bravia KDL-32NX503 32in LCD TV

Lamont Cranston

Hear, hear!

Glad I'm not the only person who still views a 32" set as large.

Want cheap international calls? Pay foocall for the privilege

Lamont Cranston

Utterly distinct:

Mobile instructions: dial access number, dial phone number

iPhone instruction: dial access number, lose signal, adjust grip, (repeat as necessary), dial phone number

Firefox 4 beta 2 preaches tabs-on-top love to fanbois

Lamont Cranston

So, Firefox is turning into Opera?

I've been using Opera for the past few weeks, in an effort to like it, but everything still feels slightly alien (and it crashes a lot).

One of my favourite things about Firefox, was that I could make it near identical to IE. I don't think I ever had a good reason for switching from IE, other than some nagging worries about security (that, and the piece of mind gained by using a different browser from the rest of the family!).

Google patents search that tracks your mouse moves

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

Will they be installing a key logger, too?

Ass bags.

Government goes after outsourced staff T&Cs

Lamont Cranston
Thumb Down

So, you're conditions of employment are shit,

therefore everyone elses' should be too?

I bet the Tories love you.

Apple sued over hot iPad shutdowns

Lamont Cranston
Pint

The more sensible solution, I assume,

would be to obtain a refund from the vendor, then report Apple to whatever the US equivalent of the ASA is?

Suing is obviously the default position for the US consumer - good luck to them!

UK.gov pledges licence fee 'rethink' over heavy catch-up use

Lamont Cranston
Flame

No, no, no, no, no.

The BBC's independance, from both government and commercial sponsors, it what makes it worth having.

OK, so most (if not all) of the TV output is utter dross, but if I had to put up with commercial breaks in the middle of the Today Programme, well, it doesn't bear thinking about, really.

Lamont Cranston

I like this idea,

as it's very much taking payments from those who can afford it (particularly if it were levied at a % based on your level of income). Then again, perhaps it is those who cannot afford it (non-taxpayers) who consume the most content (not that that should matter, of course)?

TalkTalk turns StalkStalk to build malware blocker

Lamont Cranston
Big Brother

So, customers cannot opt out of being tracked,

but shouldn't worry, as the anti-malware software being developed is "really exciting"?

Come on, everyone, let's get excited!

NHS spunks £7.5k on porn room

Lamont Cranston

If the trust "shared the costs" of

IT (£4,625), a telly (£2,225) and some DVDs (£500), and managed to spend £7,500, is this a euphemism for "subsidising a private facility"? Or are the Sun and the TPA just bad at adding up numbers?

Also, closing one's eyes is basically free, if you ignore the initial setup costs (which are met by the service user, not the provider).

UK.gov may cut BBC licence fee in 2012

Lamont Cranston

By a similar principle,

childless adults do not get a reduction in tax to save them paying for schools that they are not using, and an equal portion of your council tax gets spent on policing, regardless of whether you called 999 last year.

Follow your reasoning, and we'd have to have a variable rate license fee, based on which bits of the corporation's output that you chose to consume* - can I have a discount for only using Radio 4?

*I believe that this is how Sky <spit> is paid for.

The Register comment guidelines 2010

Lamont Cranston
Headmaster

Shouldn't that be

"and try to rein in your pedantry"?

YouTube, iPlayer on a TV? Simples

Lamont Cranston
Thumb Up

I suppose the idea would be

that this gets added to the Freeview+ standard, and so appears in all new Freeview boxes, and would be cheaper (and simpler, for most people) than buying an HTPC?

Should have been done sooner, really. I'll probably be ditching my BT Vision box soon, and an HTPC still seems like the preferable replacement (or not, as my old, CRT shows no signs of packing up anytime soon, so I may just feed it with a replacement Freeview box).

BT hikes call charges

Lamont Cranston
Grenade

Bye, bye, BT.

I've been meaning to leave you for ages, instead I waited it out and you've driven me away.

If only there was a way to hack the useless BT Vision box that I'll be left with...

End of Microsoft NHS deal means mass deletions

Lamont Cranston
Joke

Ah,

so OO and Linux if/when my current HDD decides to die, then.

Good, I was hoping not to have to waste any of my massive, public sector salary - it's expensive enough burning the money for heat.

Lamont Cranston

Oh, well,

it was a nice deal whilst it lasted, and allowed me to work from home on decent hardware (my own desktop, not a crippled, NHS-issue laptop) but, if it's going to intentionally cripple itself now that the agreement has ended, I seriously doubt that I shall shell out on whatever MS are asking for Word & Excel, just to meet my megre home needs (although, the wife will probably miss Powerpoint - every teachers favourite tool, the modern equivalent to OHP transparencies).

OpenOffice for me I guess, but no extra money for MS (yeah, I'm really sticking it to the man).

Martha Lane Fox to clone 10m copies of self

Lamont Cranston
Flame

Caught her on Radio 4, this morning,

explaining that there's no need to persuade ISPs into improving their service, we just need to get more people on-line.

As a friend was quick to point out, that's like saying we can all reap the rewards of improved access to transport by putting more cars on the M25.

Child protection campaigners claim hollow victory over Facebook

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

Once again,

I am dissapointed by this little fella's failure to make an appearance, at any point:

http://209.85.122.83/2501/24/0/p1002856/keyop.jpg

Famous 'Invisible Gorilla' trick vid gets sequel

Lamont Cranston
Boffin

All this "failing to spot out of place phenomena"

was old news, back when I was failing my psychology degree in 2001.

The story linked at the bottom about early morning coffee merely easing withdrawal symptoms was well known when I was still in school.

Sometimes I wish I had pursued a career in "science," as I'm quite capable of regurgitating the same old shit under a new heading.

El Reg marks Steve Jobs for termination

Lamont Cranston
Jobs Horns

Now I can't see the red-cross photo of Steve Jobs,

without seeing Eastenders' Phil Mitchell. And he got shot.

It's a conspiracy!

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro Symbian smartphone

Lamont Cranston
Headmaster

Yes, a bad egg is entirely inedible,

but the curate assured the bishop that parts of his were excellent. Although the curate was merely being sycophantic (a bad egg can have no good parts), the phrase "curate's egg" has fallen into (un?)common usage to apply to anything that, whilst rubbish, has some redeeming qualities.

In this case, the phone is not a good one, in spite of some good features (camera, keyboard).

Tsk.

3D TV: Avatar or Ishtar?

Lamont Cranston
Pint

I can't see the attraction.

Then again, HD is no great shakes to me. My widescreen CRT has a plenty sharp enough picture for watching DVDs, so why would I want to replace it before it breaks? And then buy BluRays of all my DVDs? No thanks. Not to mention the fact that flat-TVs are lightweight and easy prey to curious toddlers.

I suppose that when my CRT finally bows down and dies (it stopped doing audio a long time ago, but the picture is fine and I have a surround-sound system), the flat-panel, LCD-whatever I buy will probably be 3D ready but, like everyone else has said, I'd much rather be able to connect it to my home network and stream stuff to it.

Not too taken with 3D cinema, either, as you have to pay a premium on top of what are already expensive tickets.

Bah, humbug!

(beer icon, as I know where I'd rather spend my money)

6music wins possible reprieve from BBC Trust

Lamont Cranston

NME radio

finally went from DAB this week. A real shame - the last couple of weeks of DJ-free music have been wonderful. If 6Music could just get rid of the DJs, I could probably start listening again.

I've never quite understood why DJ-free radio stations are not more common, particlarly as DAB has a line of scrolling text to tell you what you are listening to (if you really need to know). If I want talking, I'll switch over to 4 - much better than the banal, smug chit chat (can the "zoo" format be killed off, please?) and shitty phone-ins that most stations seem to fill their airtime with.

Any suggestions for a 6music-alternative? Tried Kerrang! for a while, but they really need to be done for false advertising (for an off-shoot of a metal megazine, they play a lot of Snow Patrol) and Planet Rock is starting to do my head in (OK for a while, but I can only take so much Dad-music, before I start to feel my age).

One third of Brits are gamers

Lamont Cranston

I've always thought of "gamers" as a pejorative term,

referring to those greasy teenagers who do little more than play WoW/CoD every chance they get, and label everyone else as a "n00b" or "fag".

Eh, maybe the term is being reclaimed. Like "queer" - I'm sure gamers will love that!

Beeb reinstates teaboy in Pestogate scandal

Lamont Cranston

So,

should ignore anything that comes their way from Reuters, on the grounds that it's not from their own reporters?

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

The alt text is priceless:

"The BBC's news and current affairs programmes and news website have annual agreements with AP, PA, AFP, Allsport and Getty Images for image use. This image has been changed six times at a cost to the licence-fee payer of a few pence in terms of man-hours, which will be made up for in overtime."

So, thanks to El Reg, the teaboy has had to stay late.

All in all, this wasn't a great story, was it?

Romford coppers try to stopper young snapper

Lamont Cranston

Knock yourself out:

http://www.sirimo.co.uk/2009/05/14/uk-photographers-rights-v2/

Lamont Cranston

But, but, but,

what if, as a consquence of using the phone whilst driving, you'd run over the poor smasher of windows?

What then, eh? You make me sick.

Secret ancient code, basis of all modern civilisation, cracked

Lamont Cranston
Heart

A/S/L?

xxx

Nasa returns to the moon... in 3D game

Lamont Cranston

Edutainment has always proven a great success.

Doom without the killing - wheeeee!

Power line tech could crash aircraft and shut down the Archers

Lamont Cranston
Black Helicopters

I live next to airport, and love Radio 4,

so have to conclude that the young man in Maplin who wanted to sell me a powerline kit @ 200Mbs (rather than the cheaper 54Mbs), was actually trying to kill me (or at least make me miserable.

Nevermind that my broadband connection struggles to get over 2Mbs.

Southpaws up in arms over iPhone 4

Lamont Cranston

Agreed.

I've never felt particularly discriminated against, except when attempting to use a pen at the post office (oh no, I'd better sue). Hugging, eating/drinking and organising files have all been carried out with ease, not to mention operating a mobile phone.

Lamont Cranston
Joke

You can

make phone calls from an iPhone?

Council of Europe condemns teen-bothering Mosquito

Lamont Cranston
Flame

So,

"Article 11 of ECHR provides a right to assemble with other people in a peaceful way. However, such assembly must be without violence or threat of violence ... we do not consider that this right includes the right of teenagers to congregate for no specific purpose,"

So, by default, any gathering of teenages equals the threat of violence, yet a purposeless gathering of "grown ups" would not?

Fuck off, Compound Security. If this device were targetting any other section of society, you would be shot down in flames (and quite rightly so), but children/young people are automatically seen as a threat to the rest of us. If we expect/assume that all young persons are going to act as thugs, then they probably will, and serve society right.

FWIW, I'm 32, and therefore beyond the range of these wretched devices.

The Reg guide to Linux, part 1: Picking a distro

Lamont Cranston

I know what Linux is (more or less),

but have no idea what differentiates the available distros, so I found this to be a helpful, informative article.

Looking forward to the next part, too, as, despite being raised on Windows, I wouldn't mind trying a dual-boot configuration, to see if it's worth switching over.

Googlegate: Mapping a scandal of global proportions

Lamont Cranston

If I leave the front door open,

I've no one to blame if I get robbed. But, when I open the curtains in the morning, it'd be (at the very least) bad form for you to come sit on my lawn and observe me going about my daily business.

I don't live under a steel dome - does that mean I want people to take ariel photographs of me?

Lamont Cranston

It's more like

going to a regular beach, in regular clothing, being perved at by a man wearing x-ray specs. Using your logic, it'd be my own fault for not wearing lead underwear (I'm no more up to date on developments in portable x-ray technology than the average man of the street is up to date on the workings of wi-fi networking).

Primate-phobic Brit attacked by crab-eating Macaques

Lamont Cranston
FAIL

A lot of monkeys in Peterborough, are there?

No, thought not. Then why the need to confront this particular fear?

And, if so, why not just head to the nearest zoo, where the monkeys would be caged - would probably be sufficient exposure to confront (or safely flee from) her fear.

Pakistani lawyer petitions for death of Mark Zuckerberg

Lamont Cranston

Calm down,

it's extremely unlikely that "the west" will bend over backwards and hand Mr Zuckerberg and co. over to the Pakistani authorities. Indeed, I'd expect the UN to disregard this complaint, entirely.

Apple reels as Steve Jobs Flashturbates

Lamont Cranston

Pains me to say it, but this is bang on.

Developers may be angry, IT professionals and others "in the know" may be sneering at Apple/Jobs, but the punters are lapping up the product and care nothing for the story behind it.

Ignorance is bliss...

Stephen Fry's truly terrible mistake

Lamont Cranston
Unhappy

Not the only one, but one of a (very) few.

I enthusiastically switched over to DAB shortly after it was launched (there are 3 set in my house), and fell out of love with it pretty quickly:

- Portability: no, eats batteries, loses reception if you move about

- Signal quality: what's that? Oh, "bubbling mud," again

- Choice of stations: mostly rubbish (just like FM), find a good one and tire of it quick as the playlist repeats very frequently; that or the station disappears. Used to listed to BBC 6 and 7 quite a lot but I've pretty much heard all I want from 7 (no, I don't want another repeat of The Clitheroe Kid, thank you very much) and 6 very quickly vanished up its presenter's backsides. Thus, I'm left with NME (or Kerrang) for pop/indie, Planet Rock (for proper music, and a big hit with the kids, to boot!) and Radio 4. All in all, no big improvement from FM.

Any other benefits? Scrolling text and a self-setting clock? Whoopee.

Even got a Pure Highway for the car, but endless retuning was a pain (and none to good for road safety), such that I never bothered to fix it when the mounting arm broke.

Some sort of digital switchover is probably inevitable, but I think I'd only be happy if:

1) a decent technology is used (not one that gets upset by movement or being indoors)

2) any current, legal,FM/AM/MW broadcaster that wants space on a multiplex can have it

3) I get a respectable discount when replacing my then-useless DABs.

On-demand TV subject to broadcast ad rules

Lamont Cranston
FAIL

Or you could just fast-forward through the adverts?

My 3-year old can navigate his way around YouTube, but I'm not daft enough to leave him unsupervised - if he watches anything "inappropriate," it's because I've let him, not because YouTube/Google/the ASA have failed to protect him.

Wakey-wakey, parents: your children are your responsibility.

Usenet's home shuts down today

Lamont Cranston
Stop

"emoticons and slang acronyms such as LOL ...

...flame wars ... originated or were popularized on Usenet"

Is any of that a good thing?