Posts by HP Cynic

Apple tackles iPhone lock-up cockup with iOS 7.0.2

Have to say I'm impressed with the speedy response

Shopping list for Tesco: Eggs, milk, bread, tablets (the £60 7in Android kind)

Re: A bit late to the party arent they?

They won't be the last: there's a mad dash to get Tablets out ahead of Xmas this year.

And ahead of Apples iPad 5 / iPad Mini 2 in October.

Peak Apple: Has ANYONE at all ordered a new iPhone 5c?

What I found strange was not that they finally added colours but that they chose such hideous ones: the pink in particular was clearly meant to be red....

If I was buying a 5C (they would need to come down £100) I'd get White with a White case.

Every other colour and case combo looks like a child's toy.

Re: Total lack of story here...

You are twisting it: yeah it's the same innards but it's a new model called the 5C, a new SKU and a new offering.

The market was hoping for a cheap iPhone not a Product Extension Strategy on the existing 5.

BBC-featured call centre slapped with hefty fine for unwanted calls

Good, I look forward to SafeStyle and their sister company Virgo getting fined for constantly harassing me despite having registered with TPS and having complained about them twice TO the TPS.

Until this point I was ready to believe the TPS had now powers...

You've seen the Large Hadron Collider. Now comes the HUGE Hadron Collider

More bad editorializing: there is no "God Particle" and nobody is looking for it. And please stop this nonsense about "tearing a hole in the space time continuum" !

Is the next-gen console war already One?

I own both the current consoles and a high-end gaming PC so remain distinctly non-partisan. Before console "reveals" I was optimistic, excited and expecting to want one if not both.

Alas neither console impresses me that much from a "Core Gaming" perspective as both seem to be focussed on social / sharing nonsense and TV streaming rather than actual games.

I'm currently more negative about the XBox One because:

1. I don't want a Kinect, that's not only included but compulsory for use.

2. The name is plain awful and I won't get used to it : just as I never stopped mocking the Wii.

3. Most of the fancy TV/streaming services won't work in the UK.

4. It looks like a 70s VCR in black/grey motley

The PS4 has work to do to entice me to buy it but I'm already pretty confident I'll not want an XBox One.

Will be very interesting to see how they are priced if that's something they reveal at E3.

Peak Apple: First 'profit slip' in a decade - and, boy, it's gonna be BIG

Can you please stop finding a way to mention Jobs in every Apple post/headline?

MasterCard tries to zap PayPal with own-brand mobe wallet

Re: but why would anyone?

And I presume by "pick up" they actually mean "buy".

North Korean citizens told: Socialist haircuts are a thing... go get some

Old news

Well, maybe having 28 acceptable haircuts is new but for years they have not only frowned upon long hair (for men) but actually have a TV Show where they publicly shame men who've "transgressed".

I've seen "clips" of it :)

I watched Excel meet 1-2-3, and beat it fair and square

1-2-3

To this day I still use some of the various 3-step paths that Excel took directly from Lotus. I miss that little guy (and WordPerfect)

Have Brits fallen for Netflix, or do they still LoveFilm?

Cinema tickets are indeed insane but there's often good deals on a Tuesday.

One of my local Odeons has not even bothered with a silly euphemism and just called it "Cheap Tuesday" where tickets are £4

The other nearby Odeon knocks off money for Premier Card holders.

Re: HateLoveFilm

Hah! About to do the same with TalkTalk.

Weds: I get a "Health Check" call which is in fact a sales call to ask me to get their TV deals. Not the first time, happens every few weeks but picking up the pace recently. As usual I say "If I want more services I'll look on the website".

Thur: Another call from TalkTalk, I refuse to take the call and am told "It was TalkTalk doing a HealthCheck - they will call back tomorrow".

Fri: expecting another call tonight where I'll tell them as a result of their harassment I'm going to cancel.

Basically TalkTalk are losing customers fast so seems they are desperately trying to get their existing base to buy more of their services. Another free Netflix trial just appeared in my inbox too.

LoveFilm can jump off a bridge or pay me back the £10 they scammed out of me during their "free trial".

Obama calls for study into games ‘n’ guns link

Re: @silent_count

Cars have a purpose beyond killing people. Guns don't.

Re: Follow the chain of logic.

I do, but the availability of guns means the shitheads have an easy time committing these mass murders.

In the developed nations which have controlled guns it's blindingly obvious, just as it was obvious the US healthcare system was a giant for-profit scam at the expense of the people.

The corporate propaganda has been far too effective at conditioning Americans into accepting frequent mass shootings as "a price worth paying" along scapegoating everything but the guns.

British armed forces get first new pistol since World War II

No idea why it took 2 years to pick the exact gun almost everyone would have suggested in the first 2 mins of them saying "Let's replace our Brownings".

Far Cry 3 game review

Far Cry 2's bugs killed my interest before this was born

Stunning graphics but I shan't be touching it after the game-breaking bugs I encountered in Far Cry 2 made it impossible to complete. I spent an epic amount of time hitting 44% before it irrevocably broke, 20+ hours replaying and or trying to work around the bugs but was eventually defeated by that same bugged story quest. In some ways I was lucky as I heard many people encountered a game killing bug once they had fought their way to 88%.

Approximately 2 years ago the Far Cry 2 forum was little more than complaints about these bugs and the only official post I ever saw was "Good news, we are making Far Cry 3!!"

NOPE.

Amazon's secret UK sales figures revealed by Parliamentary probe

Re: Perhaps

That's what I was thinking, I bet they excluded their Jersey (tax dodge in it's own right) depots too like "Indigo Starfish" which supplies a lot of my orders (and I but virtually everything I don't eat from Amazon.co.uk)

Prince William 'day with my chopper' pics reveal more than intended

I bet this would not have been passed off as a mere "Admin error" had the mistake been made by a less Royal member of the team.

Wii U disassembly reveals unusual innards

I believe that remains, it's probably even more pervasive now .

Long-suffering Virgin Media victims see no end to vid PURGATORY

Feck

Once my TalkTalk contract ends I was going to make the leap to Virgin after coming to believe they were now one of the good ones.

Apple stops Caring in Italy, probably all Europe soon

A mate of mine with 2 faulty iPads in a row (broken connector port followed by broken WiFi) said "If you don't have AppleCare, Apple don't care".

He and his wife own many Apple products between them but this experience + the ridiculous schedule of tiny upgrades has driven them out of the walled garden.

'iPhone 5S' said to begin trial production next month

Re: Wasn't this more meaningful when...

I don't own any Android devices.

I do however know 4 people who own iPhones, iPads and iMacs and they do indeed update them at every iteration (sometimes "sensibly" skipping one) and could truly be called "Fanbois" (and girls).

They are now griping at the release frequency. I did warn them this would happen before the iPad appeared - they will keep adding products into the gaps, you will want them, they will keep updating them, you will want them and your wallets will bleed.

As a neutral observer I think Apple should release updates when they have something significant to update, not just because they have moved into the next quarter. Ah well, they're the billionaires not me!

Re: Good luck Apple

Every 6 months now.......

Re: I don't buy it

Well, I think they are experimenting with their release schedule more than anything: how many products can we be iterating on and at what frequency to maximize money. The actual improvements in those products barely matter in this scheme, just keep announcing them and pushing them out the door until they discover the sweet spot.

I think they have likely gone too far this year, the iPad 4 appeared so soon after the iPad 3 I know a few true fanbois who felt agrieved.

And I am pretty sure with the iPhone 4S they said "you all told us you thought the screen size was perfect and did not want it larger" only to announce the 5 soon after with a new "perfect screen size".

Just as the iPad Mini was suddenly the "perfect size" and suddenly Retina screens did not matter.

Re: There will be no iPhone 5S...

Well said, I still think most of those are "good ideas" and with each new Apple product it's quite a simple task to run a checklist then walk away.

Until they do replaceable batteries, expandable memory and a reduction in their ridiculous price premiums I know I'll never buy any of their offerings.

No matter how shiny.

Sky rudely barges TalkTalk off the top-three UK ISP podium

Silver Lining

I'm a TalkTalk customer and I've noticed that my connection has been more stable in recent month: perhaps the lines are not quite so clogged requiring them to recycle me less often (I was getting a new IP Address almost every day at one point with regular disconnects at 6pm and Midnight).

However their Customer Service remains utterly appalling and I'll be leaving once this year's phone sub expires to one with a decent monthly allowance.

Apple MacBook Pro 13in Retina display review

Backwards

Tiny storage capacity, no Optical Drive and no Ethernet Port? I don't even need to see that it's overpriced to confirm it's something I'd never go near.

Fans splurge $220m on Halo 4 in first 24 hours

Not bad for such a mediocre series.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7in Android tablet review

Amazon own Lovefilm now right? So it's no even Amazon OR Lovefilm content you are pretty much feeding at 1 trough.

ALIEN DETECTION was SUPPRESSED by the BBC - top boffin

I just hope this is a joke, misheard, taken out of context and them misconstrued otherwise I'd have to give up my last vestiges of respect for the BBC.

Apple iPad Mini 8in tablet review

Retina or GTFO

This time the presentation/videos went to went to lengths to tell us that 7.9" is the "Perfect Size" as they glossed over the fact their now standard "Retina" display tech was missing from their latest product.

When they do the Retina version and drop the price a bit it might be the first tablet I'd consider buying since I got my HP TouchPad at firesale price.

Then again it won't fit in a pocket so perhaps 7" might have been more "perfect"

Amazon UK: We're hiring 3,000 Xmas temps? Make that 10,000

Re: So Called Fulfillment Centres

The scourge of internet shopping: we no longer have to get off our asses to shop and barely have to move to receive the goods so the hassle of waiting for couriers becomes the focus.

We just need 3D Printers for everything and then we'll only have to worry about earning the money and refilling the raw material vats :)

Vote now for the ultimate bacon sandwich

I'm pleased to see the foreign muck like Bagel butties scoring poorly.

LONDON iPHONE 5 MADNESS: 'You must be CRAZY to buy Apple'

It's tragic enough when American Apple staff "high five" complete strangers who are about to buy a massively overpriced product from their company, but part of me recoils in horror to see Brits engaging in the same behavior.

AT&T defends FaceTime price gouge

Re: Lovefilm not so bad

I believe Series 2 is where her stupidity is abundantly demonstrated which makes an element of Series 3 and beyond all the more grating.

Ubisoft: 'Vast majority of PC gamers are PIRATES'

Idiot Ubisoft Trolls: not content with wrecking their games with DRM they are now inventing piracy figures, probably in the hope of making us feel sorry for them or to hide profits.

I've still not played AC2 since the DRM measured wiped my first hours of (dull) progress, I swore off their entire catalogue at this point excepting when I can get them for pennies via Steam :)

Apple CEO: Frothing fanboi iPhone 5 hype screwed our sales

Re: "The geography that did not perform well was Europe"

I guess they got bored of saying "territory" or some plonker mistakenly said "the geography" and the pack followed him. Got to keep up with the buzzwords!

Google Nexus 7 shipping cock-up enrages fandroids

Bizzare

My mate was JUST telling me how he ordered one duing the keynote but then almost immediately tried to cancel it once he learned it's Kindle support was poor.

He spent 2 weeks trying to cancel it and now it's turned up at work.

He's chucked it on Facebook Market at cost price.

Apple boss Cook may have stumped up $60m IPAD pay-out

Conspiracy nonsense galore!

Texas Higgs hunters mourn the particle that got away

I'm a bit put out by the "Could'a / Should'a been American" comment: during the announcements and conferences I saw constant references to "Global Collaboration" with no sense that this was some kind of European "win".

Funding an expertise came from America as well as all corners of the globe and one of the commenters was right to call it a leap forward for mankind an so on.

Not a shred of gloating or Europosturing just a shared sense of achievment for physics/engineering/computing/theorizing etc.

I'd like to think that had the SSC been completed and found the particle they would have made a similar presentation but it now sounds suspiciously like it would have been another " 'merica, Fuck Yeah!" moment. Hopefully just the bittersweet response of a handful, one should be gracious in defeat and magnanimous in victory.

Re: "Nobody has ownership over that."

iBoson

Silicon Valley Bank lures Brit startups with sacks of cash

Osborne's rhetoric befouls an otherwise encouraging article!

Osbourne's rhetoric befouls an otherwise encouraging article!

MoneySavingExpert.com founder flogs website for £87m

MoneyMakingExpert.com

That's one heck of a sum and I'm glad to see that the money going to charity is a substantial %.

I really hope Martin not only keeps out their interference but himself can care so much about the few pounds we can save with his advice when he himself will be so spectacularly rich.

Online bookie can't scoop £50k losses made by 5-year-old

I can't believe he got away with this.

Apple's Ping has fatal pong, says CEO

I've never even heard of it but I like that Cook was honest about it's status instead of the usual corporate double talk...

Vauxhall Ampera hybrid e-car

How odd, my car died this week and when looking at a replacement "Small Family Hatch" I saw this rated the "2nd best" by What Car and started reading all about it last night.

First off the Chevy Volt is available here for less but still a huge mark up over the US prices (£35K -£5 Gov. Grant).

It's electric range has been revised to 25-50 miles since initial claims of 50 miles proved bogus.

Charging from your home 230v supply takes 6 hours and since I don't have a driveway I'd not be able to charge it at all.

Finally I saw the discussion about "Payback time" vs the Chevy Cruz and pretty sure it said 26 years not 14 which made it utterly pointless for the US market where fuel is far, far cheaper.

Not sure what sort of payback time it would have here with our insane fuel prices (thanks to 70% Duty) but I think the car would have long-since failed before you made any efficiciency gains.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Fun write up of a great game.

Activision may bung Bungie $2.5m ratings-based bonus

Great, their bonus is based on a score site: cue astroturfing on a massive scale then.