Posts by Dave 126

Raspberry Pi gets snappy with camera add-on

Superkings.

That should do it.

Re: downvoted

Heck, if showing enthusiasm for a cheap-and-probably-cheerful gadget on a tech-site forum gets frowned upon, I don't know what's going on : D

I don't doubt that a fair few buyers will have have a play with it and then consign it to the drawer of yesterdays toys, but even if the pleasure is mostly in the anticipation it has got people thinking about what they might do with it. And that seems a good thing to me, even if most people don't use it make their own motion-tracking paintball turret gun.

Similarly, Tripath-based class D audio amplifiers... it's not so much that that people think they are the best amps in the world, but just that they sound good and only cost £20, so any shortcoming are more easily overlooked. And you get to make your own case for them too!

Re: Funny how a £16 Linux computer becomes £30.87 at RS...

I can't work out why 'It'sa Mea... Mario' has been downvoted. His comment was purely factual, save for his 'hoorah'. Really.

Maybe some Sega fans have survived in some isolated South American valley....

Txt-speak is a sign of humanity 4 U

Re: Qwerty

Genius! You could make a styles that lives as a sheet against the back of the phone, and rolls into a stylus when peeled off.

Mice helped by software.

>' remember the ridiculous Logitech NuLOOQ, anyone?'

Logitech ceased supporting it and offered refunds or discounts against the 3D Connexion SpaceNavigator (no surprise, it's a Logitech company). The SpaceNavigator isn't designed to replace the mouse, but supplement it, and is very well supported in the 3D CAD sector.

Though to be honest, a normal mouse with a scroll wheel and a few extra buttons (to modify mouse movement from cursor-move to view-rotate) handles 3D navigation efficiently enough for me, but I'm sure that others find 3-axis pan, tilt and rotate dead handy.

Mice are good, but why are 'pie menus' so rare outside of CAD apps and games? After all, they are quick, accurate, easy to learn because the options are graphically represented, and easy to retain due to muscle memory. Also, they work as well for WIMPs as they do for touch-based UIs...

And on similar note, why do "Are you sure you want to.. ?" dialogue never appear anywhere near my cursor? Almost all software is guilty is this.

Hands on with the Motorola Razr Maxx

I'm a hypocrite

because I carry a small phone and a large compact camera (an LX-5) most places. Camera fits in jacket pocket fine, phone battery lasts days. I don't use phone as a PMP because I don't feel an overwhelming need to watch movies on the trot - I'm not a user of public transport - and when I want tunes to walk to the pub with I have a USB stick style MP3 player that normally lives plugged into my car stereo (Mass Storage Class). Fats Waller.

GPS? Don't use it that often, the UK ain't that big a place and our roadsigns are mostly good - but I have it if I need it. Failing that, most peoples cars are big enough to accommodate a road atlas- mine is. As to my location - all the clues can be found from road signs and position of the sun.

Internet access? Wiki is useful for settling pub arguments (the same rationale that led the Guinness Brewing Co to make a Book of Records), but really, not used so often as to justify £500 and bulging trousers.

Media playback? Shit, who do I know who doesn't have a PVR, PS3 or Media Thingy under their telly? Hell, even if I had a DVD at home I wanted to watch at my friends house, it's easier to just stream it from [ take your pick of dodgy sites ]. At least then we're not treated to "YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR WOULD YOU?!!" adverts.

Mobile gaming? Get something with joysticks FFS. Nintendo's Game and Watch for example. Or a Sega Gamegear. Or pick up a newspaper and do the crossword.

Social networking? See pub. Purpose of phone? To see what pub friends are in. In pub is friends, crossword, bar billiard table, exact location and, if you're a --------- a TV

-end drunken luddite rant

Google Knowledge Graph straddles semantic web and Star Trek

>'The search giant's forays outside its core market [search] haven’t gone so well'

Really? I thought Gmail was fairly popular.

Steve Jobs' death clears way for rumoured 4in 'iPhone 5' screen

Re: Oh, yeah?

Correct. He was once asked whether the next iPod after the iPod Photo would play video. His response: "Yeah sure, and it will also make toast"

Re: Big screens

For the Galaxy Note, Samsung could make the stylus and Bluetooth headset one unit. If all these bloomin smart phones have HDMI output, then having the stylus/headset function as a media remote would also be handy.

(Waiting for someone to make a phone-connected watch that doesn't look too pants... if only because it would help me locate my phone more easily).

Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

We all have different preferences, and would choose different compromises between screen size and ease of keeping it in a pocket. Heck, we have different tastes in trousers, have different size pockets and and differently sized hands. (mine is for a cheap 3.2" screened mobile that slips in pocket, but can give me basic internet if I really need it... my opinion is amenable to change, however)

Curious, though: If 4:3 (16:12) is your ideal ratio, why then do you prefer 16:9 over 16:10? It isn't Friday yet! ; D

Crooks sell skint fanbois potatoes instead of iPhones

Re: Were they french?

you beat me to it, B^$%*£^!

Mobile net filters block legit content too – campaign group

Can this be done at App level?

Can Android / iOS require a password for some apps to be run? Rather than filter at the ISP level, it seems easier to have a specific kiddie browser that only allows access to white-listed websites. (That's if it is your phone that they are playing with, of course. If it is a phone in the child's hands for extended periods of time, they would quickly circumvent that kind of lock...)

Re: The filters are very OTT

I don't know if this is a related issue to yours, but whilst I can read TheRegister on an Orange phone with Java Opera Mini, I can't usually read the forums... I'm now trying to remember if I was connected through WiFi on those rare occasions the phone has let me read the comments page.

Oh hell, I do hope they don't procreate...

AWS CISO needs permission to visit his data centres

Surely they have to brag about their security a bit? Like banks, they have to reassure their customers that they have taken some precautionary measures.

Mobile fee dodgers will get away with enough cash to bail out Greece

Shirly...

... any terrorists or warlords operating in these countries just ignore ITAR and use encryption when they chose to, regardless? If I were a murdering terrorlord, I wouldn't lose sleep about violating some distant ruling.

Is there life after ads for St Zuck?

It seems that Facebook is fundamentally opposed to the interests of the user... I just don't see what it is that they do to add value, other than provide a infrastructure. The cost of developing and maintaining said infrastructure is tiny compared to FB's supposed value, and if each FB user were to chip in a quid the developers of alternative system could be handsomely rewarded (per hour) and the remainder go to charity. It is only the users and the information that users have voluntarily given FB that gives it any financial value at all.

The idea that FB might make money out of telephony (when the user would want mobile network operators to act as 'dumb pipes' and Arthur C Clarke's dream of almost free -as in beer- worldwide communication to become reality) is almost offensive.

@AC > 'Facebook is full of self centred unimportant boring people'

WTF? Amongst my friends and acquaintances self-centred people are the minority, but any healthy (real-life) social group contains a variety of souls. Unimportant? If your real-life friends who are on FB are unimportant to you, then you have some hard thinking to do. Some people might use FB to post their pettiest thoughts, some just use it (as I do) as a messaging system.

I genuinely give all respect to my friends who don't have a FB account, but knocking the average person doesn't make you cool.

Sony outs 1080p skinny laptops

Re: Looks like....

Yeah, you woulda thought that the rise of the fondle slab would liberate laptops from being mere content consumption devices... Oh well.

If El Reg was in the habit of linking to the source material...

you would probably find a wealth of images from different angles. Sony do seem to release models with matte screens, though.

Re the touch pad being left of screen centre, I find my arm swivels at the elbow, neatly taking my right hand from the keyboard to the touch pad. Even information displayed on screen usually has bias to the left (look at The Register, for example; only adverts live on the right, Windows Explorer displays lists of files with the file name on the left, many applications have their toolbars on the left...)

It's the lack of a middle button that drives me towards a mouse, though.

Re: Screen resolution

Yep, though there are already Vaio Z models shipping with higher-res screens. And with LightPeak connected external docks with Radeon GPUs, too, if your wallet is feeling too heavy.

Photos?

Probably computer-generated renders. No need to check for finger-prints or dust, no need to hire a photographer for the day, no need to maintain spotless white backdrops, perfect reflections on the logo...

Product variations (keyboard, but more commonly case colours) are easily generated, too.

Pints under attack as Lord Howe demands metric-only UK

Bloody good point... pubs replace glasses through replacement of breakages... but will continue to be buying their beer from brewers in traditional units that are relevant to the purpose. A nine gallon cask can be lifted by one reasonably built person, an eighteen requires two, but is easily to load onto the dray by yourself if you use a skid.

Re: Arrogant Tosser

I wonder who built his house, or installed his toilet. The elite?

>No, mate, you're just fooling yourself. You're just comfortable with imperial measurements because you've always used them, not because they have some kind of mystical "rightness".

No he's not. Most of the objects around us can be described in imperial units in just a couple of digits... take peoples height for example... 6'2". Two figures. Metric distance for objects around us usually result in more digits.

The reason? Imperial units were based on body parts. Imperial is a unit on a human scale, and is very good for mental estimates. You can then measure (when greater accuracy is required) and calculate (without faffing with bases) in millimeters (ISO) or meters (SI).

There is also the matter of prouct standardisation from the days when the UK and US were manufacturing powerhouses... take plumbing or bicycles, for example.

Re: bravo

Yep, I estimate distance in inches. I then measure and calculate in (milli)meters. Works for me.

I'll have a 60,000th of a brontosaurus* of your Best Bitter, please barman!

*rough estimate, should be same order of magnitude...

Re: Cars in.... Both...

Indeed, a lot of trades / substances have their units

Re: Finally !

Whereas in the UK its the other way around... remember Ali G asking an MP if children should 'deal in ounces and quarters?'

Re: The 'mercans seem to be doing OK with feet, inches and funny sizes gallons.

>So people really can't count in anything other than base 10?

Seems strange that multiples of inches are 12 to the foot, but fractions are 'thou' thousandths of an inch...

Re: metrically literate elite?

Homer Simpson, on declaring the virtues of Springfield

"...And we were the first town in the country to reject the metric system!"

'Catastrophic' Avira antivirus update bricks Windows PCs

Re: so....

Have a system image created daily*. Boot from recovery media, go make a cup of coffee and look out of the window for a quarter hour...

*have a virus scan run before the image creation, otherwise Windows Backup will refuse to create it: - but only after most of the way through the process.

Re: Whats new?

Aye, I remember a supposedly uninstalled copy of Norton that blocked access to Hotmail... Bloody thing came with the PC. Thank, HP!

Watchdog bites bar over 'offensive' Facebook ad

Re: responsible?!

Its more responsible than having people walk away from the bar with a drink in each hand. Since it takes time for alcohol to be absorbed into your system, downing two drinks in quick succession is more likely to make people stupidly drunk than taking a ten minute break between bevvies.

Re: Sir

Semen Sans Heavy?

Let them run the advert. It doesn't look like it would attract women (and thus men) to the club, so it will prove to be its own penalty.

Still, nice to see that they have taken a more responsible approach to the traditional BOGOF drinks promotion... I would have thought that ASA could have given them credit for that.

Casablanca to screen for free on Facebook

Alternatives:

Carot Blanca, with Bugs Bunny, Pepe le Pou, and Yosemitie Sam. On Youtube.

Camille - from Series 4 of Red Dwarf. You paid your license fee, didn't you?

Spy under your car bonnet 'worth billions by 2016'

Re: @annodomini2 Before anyone says "here comes big brother"...

>"Speed doesn't inherently kill"

>Do they teach basic physics in school these days?

They do teach basic physics. Force is proportional to acceleration... did you not see the word 'inherently' included in the sentance? On the motorway, the things around you tend to have a lower relative speed to yourself than when you're pootling through town at 30mph.

Being ignorant of physics is one thing, but to incorrectly chastise others for the ignorance you yourself exhibit... tch

Steve Jobs' death could clear way for more open Apple - Woz

Re: BRILLIANT IDEA WOZ

@Ben Holmes

Ah, mate. For several days nobody had responded to Big Dumb Guy 55... We'll try and make sure you get the memo next time.

Peace.

UK's '£1.2bn software pirates' mostly 'blokes under 34'

Most people who are using, eg pirated Photoshop, aren't in a position to pay the full cost of the software. I'm not suggesting that Adobe should be a charity, but pirated Photoshop represents lost sales for companies other than Adobe who make more realistically priced products.

To continue with the same example, it can't hurt Adobe that PS is the de facto industry standard, and that many users will have learnt on pirated copies before joining a legitimate company. If you are going to pirate then money is no object- you aren't going to illegally download a competing image image editor just because it represents better value for money. People learn on PS, companies will buy it, circle repeats. Again, it's Adobe's competitors that loose out when Photoshop is pirated.

Many small digital imaging firms are crying out for things to make tax-deductible. It is because the companies who buy the software don't feel the full price that such software is so expensive in the first place.

Most pirates are men under 35? I would have thought that most people seeking employment in areas requiring pricey software are men under 35. Those over 35 are earning more and have their tax affairs in better order.

HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook

Re: Intel Graphics == No use to me

Alas, the 'Ultrabook' spec dictates a minimum amount of battery life, inside a case of limited dimensions. Putting in discrete graphics wouldn't help the manufacturers meet this spec (though I imagine battery life quoted would be with the discrete graphics turned off).

It seems that Intel have succeeded in getting enough 'brand awareness' behind Ultrabook that manufacturers are willing to leave out nVidia (and high res displays) in order to get the badge.

I'm really like the external audio volume control. When listening to streaming audio / podcasts, I often have the lid closed.

Compare to my Dell, where the volume controls are included in a row of touch sensitive buttons above the keyboard... hard to identify in low light, they only illuminate once I've pressed them. Hardly useful.

AMD: New Trinity laptop chips out-juice Intel graphics

Anti-shake video...

Tomshardware reckon the Steady Video plugin in real-time is pretty darn impressive. I'm not sure if I watch enough shoddy Youtube vids to make it a deciding factor for me, though!

nVidia have had a similiar CUDA tool for a while, but it is aimed at the creator of the video at the encoding stage, rather than at playback.

Foxconn chief: we're gearing up for Apple 'iTV'

@ AC

Tedious comment, that. Tedious, unoriginal, unsupported and boring. That it is offensive is the least of it.

"millions of brainwashed idiots"

Some Apple buyers will inevitably be idiots, but any tech gets its 'first adopters' - those who wait in line outside an Apple store on the first day do not represent the majority of their buyers. I think you'll find that many Apple buyers are a) older b) less inclined to faff around getting things to work, and c) richer than you are. Sounds like a financially sound market segment to aim for, to me.

"They can charge whatever they want" er, no. That would suggest that they just pluck RRPs out of the air. The evidence is that they exhibit more business sense than that. Yes, they do have large margins, but they have put a lot of effort into putting themselves into that position - be it through R&D, acquisitions, or just being very good at managing their supply chain.

If you gave reasons as to why they were idiots (they enjoy display ratios hardly available elsewhere, an unrivalled selection of apps and third party hardware and docks) your tone might have some merit. Since you can't, we'll just consider other peoples choices to be 'horses for courses'.

Re: @ Obviously

@Chad H

>'The TV does need a different interface to a PC to be at its most effective; whether or not Steve Jobs had "Cracked it" we'll see.'

All I know is that there is room for improvement in set-top-box / PVR interfaces. So, who knows?

Re: @DrXym

@Andrew James

These rumours have been pointing towards sets smaller than the 40"+ that is becoming the norm for many people's main TV. The idea of a Siri enabled set makes more sense in the context of a kitchen... "Siri, let John know his dinner's in the oven" or "Siri, what's the weather like today, and is there any congestion on my way to work?"

Also, when you have hands covered in flour and oil a hands-free device makes sense- "Siri, next page [of a dinner recipe] please"

(This evening I have tried a wireless dongle in a Humax Fox T2 PVR, as recommended by Reg Hardware... Grrr)

Next-gen MacBook Pro, iMac make benchmark site debut

Side note: Autodesk have just released Inventor Fusion, and for OSX too. Traditionally, parametric CAD hasn't been released for OSX so this is new development. I'm not an Autodesk Inventor user, but since it is on free trial til the end of the year... Oh, and it mixes up parametric modelling with direct freeform editing (this is like mixing Mechano and clay, and normally requires a shuttling of data back and forth between packages); they aren't the first to do so, but so far its not mainstream.

So Apple are making hi-res 16:10 machines with ECC RAM which are, due to the limited combinations of hardware used, fairly easy for software vendors to certify... They really seem to be preaching beyond their choir.

Re: Retina

@ThomH

Clicking the link to the source article makes mention a OSX version being resolution-independent - thus it isn't necessarily an integer multiple of an existing display.

However, having a drastically increased resolution does seem an obvious area in which to differentiate themselves from their competition- laptops with high-res 16:10 screens and the software to take advantage of them.

Here's hoping that this rumour is true, so that competing manufacturers take notice.

Lasers battle cattle farts!

Re: possible mitigation

Yep, with all that bouncing yo'd get butter direct from the udder. Or cross the kangeroo with a sheep and get woolly jumpers.

possible mitigation

There have been serious suggestions in Australia that kangaroos be eaten instead of cows... kangaroos don't have a bovine-style stomach arrangement, and don't produce methane in anything like the same quantities as cows. Also, they have pads, rather than hooves, causing less damage to the native grasses (which aren't as tolerant of hard hooves as grasses in other continents)

Re: if you can’t measure, you can’t mitigate

You don't know if you can mitigate until you have measured your attempts to do so.