Posts by Jack Garnham

Torvalds brands Digg users 'W*nking Walruses'

Continuing the animal theme...

My proposal would be:

"Todger-tugging Toucans"

Microsoft kicks Ubuntu update in the hardy herons

@Frank

RE: Canonical's Mirrors.

Mirrors are exactly as the name suggests, a reflection of the original server. Hence, a mirror server should contain all the data of the main server otherwise, it's not a mirror.

Shocker DNS spoofing vuln discovered three years ago by a student

@ Colin Millar

I'm still locked up here!

At least they've finally let me have a computer, so I can commune with fellow attic dwellers.

BOFH: Shafting the consultants over the new layout

Brilliant!

No one gets in the way of our heroes' plans, NO ONE!

BT industrial action is off - for now

@ anonymous coward

As hard as teaching you the correct use of "then" and "than"? I hope not.

Ofcom pulls plug on wholesale broadband regulation

@ Adam Trickett

Say hello to last year...

Haven't you noticed all the "OpenReach" vans driving around recently? Although still a BT group company, they are legally bound to treat every company (including BT Wholesale) the same under the Telecomms Strategic Review guidelines. They own the copper infrastructure and will rent it to whichever company wants it at the same rate to connect consumers to whichever service provider they require, where available.

HTC S730 Windows Mobile smartphone

"More" menu icons.

Settings > Homescreen > Uncheck "Display most recent programs" (or something similar) removes this annoying feature and returns it to good ol' fashioned scrolly menu navigation.

Or at least that's how it is in Windows Mobile 6.1, for the exact same feature.

Man uses mobe as modem, rings up £27k phone bill

dial up via mobile vs using mobile data...

After reading both of these articles it's still not clear to me whether the poor sods in each case used Dial up access or simply jacked into their phone's existing data connection.

"Using a phone as a modem" suggests the former, and does indeed carry with it absolutely obscene pricing. This is where you would plug in your phone or connect via Bluetooth, install modem drivers, and create a connection with a number and everything! Just like the good old days of using dial up on a PC.

"Using your phone's GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA connection via USB or Bluetooth" is transparent to the network AFAIK. This is basically the same as above but instead of dialling a UK Dial up service provider's number, you pass a string to the modem (dependant on the connection) and dial #99# I think(?).

I have used my Windows Mobile smartphones of many generations for many years now to allow me to access the web on my laptop, and never gone over my Orange World access allowance. Granted, I haven't been downloading TV programmes or music. I think I tried to get some porn once when I was drunk and the hotel pay per view was broken but I digress.

The networks need to clarify this and as responsible operators need to provide information to customers on how best to use their mobiles for data, if they intend to do so.

If, as usual, I am wrong. And these people have been using the latter method of web access, then OFCOM really do need to grow a spine and get on the case. As the word "Unlimited" is thrown around far too carelessly in the world of Telecomms when the reality is that it's far from unlimited.

Camelot pulls scratchcard amid numerical anarchy

@Cameron Colley

Uninformed indeed, you have completely missed the better part of the discussion here. 6 is lower than 8, correct. -6 (negative six) is higher than -8 (negative eight) though!

On your second point, I am hardly qualified to comment but I was under the impression that a voltage must be relative. i.e. a Voltage is a measurement of difference. In your example you would be correct in saying that -110V is a higher voltage than -10V provided that the opposite terminal is 0V (or any other voltage higher than -10V). Giving a Difference or Voltage of 110V and 10V respectively. So you're correct here, although I'm not sure you're aware of it. If the opposite terminals were +100V and 0V respectively then they would both measure the same Voltage of -10V overall.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, someone.

YouTube gatecrashers trash 16th birthday bash

@Rob

"...Is there a social networking site devoted to these idiots, where they brag about all the stupid stuff they've done?..."

You haven't seen MySpace, Facebook, YouTube have you...?

Ofcom primes broadband afterburner

Full circle...

Maybe Ofcom should have thought about this before forcing BT to create OpenReach under the Telecomms Strategic Review, the company which now owns the copper and fibre in the ground.

Because OpenReach has to treat each telco equally (BT Wholesale/Retail included), it is renting the "last mile" copper at a competitive price which turns virtually no profit, hence generating nothing to re-invest into the network.

It's public subsidy, heavy borrowing and debt or no fibre to the home/kerb I'm afraid.

I'd be happy for some of my taxes to go towards this, personally.

HTC jumps on touch-screen phone bandwagon

I agree with all above.

I won't waste space by repeating what's been said already.

It is plain, however that HTC have lost "touch" with the needs of their market.

Siemens shows 1Gbit/s over plastic fibre

QAM of Glass fibre.

Single and Multi-mode glass fibre is designed to carry digital light signals and as such has a very small core (as little as 10 micrometres in diameter). The fibre used by Siemens in this example has a vastly thicker core capable of transmitting analogue light signals, since QAM is an analogue modulation technique.

The cost of glass fibre with a core this thick would be far greater and probably not worth the effort. It also would probably not offer any great speed advantage. The distance that a signal would be able to travel before it becomes too attenuated, however, would be much greater than 100M.