Posts by Jason Clery

Creative climbs down over home brew Vista drivers

Zen

I had a Zen that failed within 6 months. Sent it off to Creative for a repair. It took them 3 weeks to acknowledge receipt. I had already put a claim in to the Royal Mail at that time.

After 6 weeks and constant chasing by me, I emailed their press office to get their UK address to complain to Trading Standards re: Sale of Goods act. Only then was something done.

I got refunded for my player, and all the accessories I bought (was offered for the player only originally, but I had £70 of accessories), and the postage costs. I got nothing for the 10 weeks of arsing about it took.

And to add to that, instead of sending the unit that had been sitting in Poland for week to Creative Ireland, they sent it to me, so that meant more chasing.

I liked the Vision M, but after that pisspoor customer experience, I will never, never, never, ever buy Creative again.

Apple sued over 'inflated' iMac claims

Apple

Since MS is noted as M$, Apple is now App£e

Apple US retail sales leap past PC par

@Frank Bough

"that's the NAV that you get one month free on that then nags about definition updates until the end of time, Windows is the champ of bloatware."

Except MS doesn't ship that. Go and buy a retail OS disk and see. Its the box supplier that bundles the crap. Complain to Michael Dell

HA

"People like the Bells and Whistles which come as standard with Macs"

Oddly enough on Windows, the macboys (tm) call this "bloatware", so what you are saying is Macs ship with bloatware

Vote now for your fave sci-fi movie quote

Freejack

Alex Furlong "We're in deep trouble"

Boone "Whats this we shit white boy?"

Geordie cops arrest two for Wi-Fi squatting

@James Hunter

Be a man then James, go openly steal wifi and try your defense when the y decide to arrest you. Go on, put your money where your mouth is.

As The Other Steve said

"http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/Ukpga_19900018_en_1.htm

Go away and read it. And don't pitch any more stupid "but it ISN'T a crime, it ISN'T, its just not fair!!!" tantrums until you have."

And more importantly

"Knowing this stuff is important if you want to be an IT professional when you grow up. In the event that you are already either grown up or an IT professional, then shame on you."

HAHA

HAHA, tight bastards got caught... Hope they get a nice fine

lets hope

Lets hope its the acknowledged broadband thieves Simon and Mark

Consumer group slams 'unfair' software licenses

@Mat

"and virtually no-one that knows the law well enough to help me with my £30 game"

Google your local trading standards and complain to them about the retailer.

More remote workers squatting next door's broadband

Mark

No point trying to get you to understand that a machine doing an automatic negotiation is not the same as the owner granting permission. The machine is granting permission NOT the owner

You obviously have no morals, and are probably a spam merchant. I hope you get caught, I hope the decide to throw the book at you to make an example.

give me the ocular proof

"True, there is EXPLICIT CONSENT there though"

Prove it. Prove that the personw ho owns the wireless granted explicit consent.

The whole argument here, is you assume that by the device being unsecure that permission is granted. I disagree with that. Lack of security does not grant consent.

Just because your computer can connect and does, does not mean its allowed to.

So Simon, you do think its ok to con grandma then. That guages your character and tells me why you think its ok to steal wifi.

What next "he left his phone on the table, so its mine now innit"

Mark

"Yes, and if you don't hear me say "come in" then you CAN'T COME IN"

Where did you hear the owner of the wifi say come in? You THINK, you GUESS, you IMPLY he said yes, but without EXPLICIT permission, all you have is your guess.

You don't quite understand the concept that you are not asking the owner, its two bits of electronic stuff talking. It does not imply consent. A SSID of "open to the public" implies consent.

Under your logic, if you you don't update your OS, you are inviting hackers into your system.

Tell me where you live so I can play by your invite rules. Leave the car boot

open to take the shopping inside... fair game for the rest of the shopping.

Under your logic too, you could rape a mute, because after all, she didn't say no.

Leave a window open at home? fine for someone to come in then.

Joe Public are by and large, not IT savvy. If its left on default settings, then its a mistake.

Do you think its ok for people to con grannies out of their life saving for "home repairs", after all, if they are too stupid to figure out its a scam, because nicking wifi is a variation on that theme.

@Mark

"No, if you yelled out "Can I come in" then you can come in"

What rubbish. You may be around the back, or working near the car and could not hear my "yell", also, you do not yell "can I come in", the equivalent would be asking the owner.

"my wireless machine asks YOUR device which YOU set up "can I come in" and YOUR device says to MY device "Yup, here's how to connect" and MY computer then uses it.

Fer fecks sake, how many times do you have to be told?!?!?"

For feks sake, you don't get it. There is NO IMPLIED CONSENT there.

Just because a door is unlooked does not imply consent to enter and take.

Tell us wheer you live, and we will imply consent on your stuff. Left something in the garden? implied consent. Left boot of car open when taking the shopping indoor? implied consent.

If you are going to be a thief, just admit it and I'll be ok with that, don't try justify your crime.

hmm

So for those who say its ok, if I walk past your house and the front door is open (you may be working in the garden, or something), then its ok for me to enter and take stuff. After all, the door was open.

@Mark

Apples an pears

"I can see SkyTV Movies Plus being played. Have I now "stolen service" from you or your cable provider?"

By stealing someone elses internet, its like you changing the channel on the Skybox, or like running a cable from their system to your house. Ask Sky if thats considered theft

@Simon

Simon, your example is more like:

I knock on your door, there is no answer.

I try the handle, your forgot to lock the door.

I come in, and take food out of your fridge and make coffee.

I sit down and watch your telly, and that video tape you made of you and the mrs.

I leave.

You are an idiot for not locking your door, but I have still committed trespass and theft.

The icon is Paris, because of the video tape

Man wields soldering iron, welds eight new devices into Eee PC

All well and good...

but does it blend?

and where is the "does it blend" icon!

Fertility watchdogs approve first human-animal hybrids

Dark Angel

The supersoldiers in Dark Angel where animal spliced humies. I for one welcome our sexy supersoldier overlords.

Cops admit CCTV no use in deterring drunken violence

CCTV

CCTV works when there is a control centre which monitors the cameras, and then can dispatch the (limited numbers) police to the scene of trouble. This of course means there still need to be enough police at least 2 minutes or closer to the scene of trouble. Unfortunately CCTV is now sued to gather evidence after the fact, rather than to prevent the fact.

Canucks kill second attempt at 'iPod tax'

Blank media

If blank media is taxed "to pay for copying", it sounds like copying is legal, after all, you are paying for it

Academics kick off nuclear power war of words

Fast Breeder Reactor

What's the big issue with fast breeder reactors and WMDs.

You can make one in your backyard with smoker detectors, gas lanterns, lithium batteries, old clocks and pitchblende

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html

Click here to turn your HP laptop into a brick

@ Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward, you are obvious a paid Linux schill. How much is Shuttleworth paying you? Did you buy a Ferrarri with you the money he gave you for slating Windows?

El Reg, where is the peguin with an arrow through it logo?

Norwich Union Life fined £1.26m for security holes

Corp bosses

"It identified and quickly informed nine of its directors that their life policies had been targeted."

Their corp bigwigs were looked after, but the rest of us forgotten about after the "gold users" were fixed. Sounds familar.

Europe too cynical for iPhone

@paid shill

"In fact, I have to wonder if most of these posts are Microsoft shills who get paid to trash Apple."

Really. What does it pay? How often are we paid? Do we have to do an annual appraisal?

HTC

HTC Kaiser from T-Mobile

Tariff 22.50GBP 18 month contract Phone is 180GBP.

Retail price of phone is approx 450GBP. Contract wise it's 585GBP over 18 months, so minus the cost price of phone its 135GBP for 18 months, which is 7.50GBP per month for voice, text and data ("unlimited", but in reality 1GB, which should be plenty).

GPS, and the rest of the toys. I tad chunky though.

MI5, EPA clean up dirty bomb dirt

@TeeCee

Reminds me of first year physics.

We have all seen movies with liquid nitrogen, where things freeze on contact, people lose limbs, locks shatter after 3 seconds of spraying etc.

Well, start by putting something cellulose in the liquid nitrogen, lecture for a bit, pull it out and shatter it on the desk. Then stick your hand in the stuff and throw it over the students who panic. Always good for a laugh.

Your lecturer was "playing the game" in the same way with his students.

Wheich reminds me, does anyone remember the program with the yank who managed to build a reactor in his back yard, with smoker detectors and clocks?

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html

Dell moves 40,000 Ubuntu PCs

@greyskull

"OT - I resurrected an old laptop and put PCLOS Linux on it. I gave it to my dad who was having no end of grief from his Windows system (poor performance, bubblefests, adware, crashes, BSOD etc). You know what? He hasn't had ONE SINGLE PROBLEM with it in over 6 months."

Oddly enough, the WinXP Pro machine I have at home has not had a BSOD for more than 6 months too...

Where do you get this crap that Windows BSODs all the time? It screws up when the hardware screws up (just like your precious Ubuntu), or when new hardware is added (which is more of an issue with Linux).

Air France compensates 170kg passenger

pay for mass

Under those circumstances, people of lesser mass should pay less. What do you base the base mass on? 107kg for person and luggage? it means women who weigh less, but have heaps more luggage will not get the excess baggage charge.

Terminator will be back in 2009

Paris Hilton

The Paris Hilton angle is she will be the Sarah Conner type character, with Tinkerbelle as the killbot sniffing dog.

Jack Thompson sets about Halo 3

sniper

This is great news!

Since playing a shooting game makes you a marksman, playing driving games means you can drive. Cool. It means no-one has to take a road test, just play a few video games. This means I am a qualified F1 driver, and rally driver too. And I am a qualified pilot, and astronaut.

ain't life sweet.

Apple coughs up G4 refunds to dissatisfied Danes

@elder norm

so they nicked your hdd after replacing the motherboard.

and didnt bother asking

hmmm

you mean they didn't bother ghosting your stuff off.

Jobs hits London to announce O2 iPhone deal

7500 wireless areas

The release said "could" access 7500 wireless. Just as my laptop "could" access them too with WiFi. You still have to pay !

At the Toyshop of Doom

M777

Pah.

South African G5 and G6.

@Alex Hawdon

No. the state borders are porous (spelling), so whatever laws any particiular state has, are meaningless. Hillbilly Buckfumbler can cross state lines and get him an assault rifle, yes siree.

I also said I would feel better if I were armed. I also know that I won't go around shooting people, and would keep the firearm in a locked safe when at home, and would probably not carry it unless I was going somewhere dodgy.

A firearm is not a toy. Yeah, its cool to hold and fire, but at the end of the day, its not a toy. Take it out you better be prepared to use it.

As with all forms of fighting (including brawling, and this British thing about "knocking you out"), I don't fight. When I do, I consider it to be life threatening. If I fight, I am prepared to kill, and prepared to die.

There have been far too many people who have died from one punch etc. Any attack should be considered an attempt to kill you, and you should react accordingly. Firearms are handy for when you are outnumbered (which is most of the time. Troublemakers usually need their gang to hold their c***s before they are brave enough to stir).

everyone with a gun

"Would you really feel safer if everybody had a gun?"

I would feel safer if

1) firearms to individuals were licenced and needed proficiency/psychological tests before purchase.

2) I was allowed to carry a firearm.

3) there was a list of "schedule 1 offences" that allowed the shooting/killing of the perp.

4) the law would back me up if ever I had the unfortunate luck to require pulling the firearm and using it.

Guns don't kill people.....

wrappers do

guns

Ian Michael Gumby

The 3rd tan one is an FN SCAR. Airsofters have this as their latest toy now

can you get me

Can you get me entry into the show?

How about a free sample of a set of Gen 3 night vision goggles?

Please!!! I will Bambi eyes!

PC superstore unhinged by Linux

engines

Stick a GT40 engine in a chassis without the gearbox and the rest of the goodies and see where it gets you.

A better analogy would be:

Its like putting a ford GT40 engine ina BMW, but then having to make your own gearbox, grow your own trees for the tyre rubber, mine your own metal for the alloy wheels, etc.

"Linux is like Ford in this example. It can be rude and crude but when tuned correctly for your needs, it runs fast and reliable, so who cares."

Not a bad analogy. Basically to get what you need out of it, you need to be a bit of mechanic. No good for anyone who does not want to piss about under the hood and spend hours tweaking it, and buying lots of Snap-on tools, etc.

Canada develops motorised parachute delivery bot

Sherpa

$20k per Sherpa, or $1million for a pair of snowgeese.

I will take 50 Sherpas for that price please

Strap-on stealth jetplane for special forces

Oi!!!

Oi Page. Where are those Gen 3 Night Vision goggles I told you to get for me in the first DSEi article?

ISPs turn blind eye to million-machine malware monster

comments

"They'll pay upwards of £35/hour for some barely literate chav to work on their car, but rarely will they pay more than £15/hour for someone to fix their PC;"

factor in the cost of a garage, cost of equipment, etc for a mechanic and you can see the cost. Check the price of Snap-On tools vs Homebase Basics.

"Blocking port 25"

great, people who have their own email servers get screwed then.

Women say no to pink tech toys

patronising and offensive attitudes

"Well, for starters, patronising and offensive attitudes"

"The TOYboy* tells me that's true of many men too, but then they're not as bright as we are, so what can you expect?"

"unsurprising, given the average British male's unfamiliarity with soap."

Hypocrite

Orange strong-arming ex-customers for imagined debts

@Peter Johnston

Sorry, Virgin are correct. You need to get the cashback from Carphone Warehouse. I had a similar deal with Three. It took a few phone calls/emails, but Carphone Warehouse did stump up the cheques.

I also had Orange owe me when I cancelled my contract. After I emailed the directors they paid me back the month I gave upfront.

Broadbandit nabbed in Wi-Fi bust

@analogy

hmmm

1). being a women

2). wearing a dress

3). wearing high heels

4). wearing a short skirt

5). asking to be raped.

Don't blame the victim. Some people don't understand how to set these things up, don't blame them. So if you are mugged, its your fault for carry an mp3 player, cellphone and wallet

@ various

"It's a daft law... If someone leaves a front door open, and you walk in, can you be charge with breaking in? No you can't. Maybe criminal damage if you didn't wipe your muddy feet."

If you take their stuff, its still theft.

"An unsecured WiFi router broadcasting its SSID is precisely like leaving your door open and posting a big sign outside saying "come on in and look around", and should be treated so in law."

How? Blaming the victim again. What next? She was wearing a short skirt, she wanted to be raped? He was black in a white area, he wanted to be murdered?

"Found goodies, and no legal obligation to either tell the trespasser that the wallet was dropped nor to return it to them. They left it as a token of their appreciation for using your paid-for services for free.

"

wrong. you need to make a reasonable attempt to return found chattels.

£5 on the street you keep if no-one is around. A rolex you hand in.

Boeing touts feeble Hummer-mounted raygun

@Air Born laser

"I bet the foxbats sensors if not the pilot would be blind."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Certain_Conventional_Weapons

http://www.un.org/millennium/law/xxvi-18-19.htm

Protocol IV says no blinding lasers allowed

Virtualization software to crush server market

1 box

Thats right, stick everything on 1 box so when the hardware fails you lose it all.

MS-DOS paternity suit settled

@@Jason Clery

no mate, it reeks of reading a bluffers guide that mentioned it.

Pullman did not invent the sleeper car (even though he is creditied with it). He just took the idea, made it better, and marketed it better.

Sleeper car

Who invented the railway sleeper car?

Most people will say Pullman.

Google Philip Berlin, Chambersburg, and Cumberland Valley Railroad.

Now compare that with Kildall, Gates and DOS