Posts by Matt

Ofcom says yes on more TV ads

Biased

I just did the Ofcom survey. It's heavily biased towards getting the result they want.

BBC Micro creators meet to TRACE machine's legacy

I was Elite!

Great machine and fun times. I started on a friends ZX-80, then I got a B.

I thought Mode 0 offered greater resolution than that and Mode 2 offered 32 colours, but it has been some years since I used one.

I remember learning to use interrupt programming to get it to ply music while the tape loaded.

I don't know kids today, they've got it all.......

Sony pledges Blu-ray Profile 2.0 PS3 update this month

@TimM

Well, what do you expect, it is a "who needs it" feature. I certainly wouldn't criticise another product for "missing" this. There may well be things to criticise the PS3 for, but this?

Peking University preps online swearing edict

Making a point

I just wanted to make a point, yes we still have freedoms that they don't in China, but they are being taken away, we have helped the yanks torture people etc.

To the others who posted:

1. The police have shot more than one innocent person, man carrying a chair leg ring a bell and so on.

2. I thought they'd stopped the protesters outside the pens, not just inside.

As I say, I just wanted to make a point.....

Pot kettle

Bit difficult to criticise the Chinese if you're in the UK with 20% of the worlds spy cameras pointed at you. Not allowed to protest near parliament, not allowed to protest against nuclear weapons, police shooting of innocent tube travellers........

Well, you get the idea.

US State puts violent videogames under scrutiny

One second

Perhaps they should stop handing out guns to anyone and his dog first, then worry about games.

Why would someone toss $1.35m at Wikipedia?

Curiouser and curiouser

I think the article is a fair comment, but then I'm not a Wiki-wally. It's fair to show an interest in where the money comes from for an information source which claims to be independent.

I think it's also right to keep running articles showing the problems with Wikipedia while there are still sufficient idiots around who think it supplies authoritative information.

How the BBC plans to save your ISP

Bandwidth

It seems to be a typically British problem, no investment in infrastructure. Where I am now I can get a 4Mb connection and guess what, I get 4Mb! I can pay more and get 16, but for me 4 is enough.

The ISP is simply a carrier of data and, as has been said, they shouldn't offer what they haven't got.

The only real way for the UK to keep up with the rest of the world is to get fibre closer to the door and invest in infrastructure.

Two other thoughts while I'm here:

1. If I remember rightly, BT kept trying to push me towards ISDN and dragged their feet over ADSL. I think there are still areas in the UK without ADSL.

2. Could it be that the Internet is becoming less popular? The media has nicely hyped it for some years but I've noticed my non-IT friends seem to be using it less now that they've stopped using Facebook. Some of them have even started meeting real people again! Is the Internet going to become like a once fashionable restaurant?

Brain training game aids kids' learning skills, study claims

Not exactly scientific

They should have done more than ten weeks, not taken teachers subjective views but used something measurable.

They should have given some kids normal lessons, let some watch TV, let some read books and perhaps finally actually tried teaching some without the politicised national curriculum getting in the way.

Might also want to consider getting parents to spend time teaching and encouraging the kids instead of sitting them in front of computer games/TVs and leaving them in the charge of strangers.

Notts police seize mobile phone stun gun

So it's Ok for the police

but if an ordinary person has got one it's "potentially lethal". I suppose anyone who's got one must be a terrorist too?

Wal-Mart stores drop cheap-as-chips Linux PC

Don't want to start a fight.

To the guy who said that Linux needs to be more friendly:

Perhaps you've got a point but I've got a dual boot Mandriva/Windows system where I mostly use Windows.

I had to replace some parts due to a hardware failure. It took ages with Windows. The first problem was that it wanted the license key again, then it didn't like it and I had to go to Microsoft. To cut a long story short I had to re-install and re-download 1001 patches which took most of my day.

I then booted up Mandiva, expecting the worst. It said to me "I see you've changed the hardware, do you want me to sort it out?", I said "Yes" and in five minutes it was done.

Perhaps I was lucky, but if this is what Linux is like, I'll have some more!

SOA benefits: too much reuse of reuse?

Silver bullet.

I think you're perched too high in the tree. You say "We eventually realised that entity relationships did not adequately address business logic". This is absolute rubbish. CASE tools can and do work and re-use does too.

One of the problems is lack of discipline and hiring cheap poorly skilled staff. I've worked with clients who've had this working and had good re-use of software, but it needs people to tow the line and not always be looking for short cuts and cost cuts. Poorly skilled workers can torpedo your re-use strategy because they don't understand how to write re-usable code. Project managers who cut corners can ruin it by becoming too project centric.

Another and bigger problem is the eternal hunt for the silver bullet by senior managers, which leaves organisation lurching from one silver bullet to the next.

SOA comes along and tries to plaster over the mess by promising to connect up all these disparate project centric "solutions". Of course putting garnish on a dogs dinner doesn't stop it being a dogs dinner!

I'm not saying SOA is all bad, just that it isn't any better than what we've had before and that the problem isn't a technology or methodology one as such. The problem is a management one.

We really do work in a fashion industry. We're like kids in the playground all chasing the latest shiny toy.

"Dad can I have some SOA?"

"Why?"

"All the other boys have got some!"

Local councils dish out shoddy computer recycling advice

@andy gibson

Good point sir!

Paris, because she's not so daft (hmm, perhaps she is)

Greenies give IT industry a black eye

Greenpeace

Seeing their inaccurate reports over PS3 standby usage and other such nonsense I can't really take them seriously any more.

On the other hand perhaps they have a point about product life. Should we continue to charge down the path of chucking PCs away every few years to get the latest, or should we give up the "latest" for a greener life? As an observation I've seen lots of users who try to hang on to their PCs because they don't need the latest (one client I worked for provided me with a laptop I used to run putty on and read e-mail I didn't need anything else) but are forced to throw them away because they can't get parts or parts start failing.

Could someone please make sure that Labour don't see this as they'll just start taxing it. Thanks :-)

Tool makes mincemeat of Windows passwords

eSATA

Wouldn't this work on those nice handy SATA plugs that newer PCs are starting to sprout?

Wayland makes an interesting point......

Jimbo Wales dumps lover on Wikipedia

My page on Wiki

I haven't actually got a page there, but if I did, I think sleeping with Jimbo, while apparently effective, is a price I'm not willing to pay in order to get a more positive report!

Paris, because her opinion might differ :-)

Terrorist robots dissected - anatomy of a scare

Strange

Seems a bit odd to set the story in the UK and then go on about prices in dollars. Or are you saying that all terrorists originate in the US? Hmm, while I have sympathy for that point of view (they're the only ones to have dropped nuclear weapons in anger and once accidentally on Spain in 1966) I suspect there may be some from other areas too.

Otherwise great article.

One more thing, when is it people are going to realise that the PM isn't that important? He's only an elected bod, the country can and does run without him. As soon as we start treating him and MPs as ordinary people the sooner they'll be less of a target for terrorists.

Metal Gear Solid 4 to launch on 12 June

Bigger economy

Don't make me laugh, the EU is a much bigger economy than the US and more populous too.

Vote now for your fave sci-fi movie quote

As it's Friday

Could we have counted Moonraker? In which case it would be "I'm going to put you out of my misery Mr. Bond".

Which leads me on to another piece of trivia: The film Ronin contained three actors who had been or would become bond bad guys.

Well, I'm now ready for the weekend, thanks!

Sun does Google's dirty work on MySQL

Multi-processor

I don't think Falcon is really going to make a huge difference to scalability, although it should improve things at some levels. The problem is that the data structures lead to IO bottlenecks in environments with multiple writers.

I'm also concerned that MySQL is moving more towards the proprietary side of the fence. The more it does this the more I feel like either looking again at Postgres, or moving to Sybase or DB2 who don't have scaling problems.

Court must reconsider Microsoft Excel patent damages

Right Phil

Microsoft should keep as much money as possible after all they're so short of it!

Boffin: Coconut jumbo is millstone in disguise

Are of expertise

I was trying to point out that he's a chemist so not an expert on the world's food supply, for example.

Doesn't mean he's wrong, but it's not the same about his views on matters of chemistry.

Expertise

I think some of his comments go outside of his are of expertise. However the summary seems to be:

Biofuels have got problems too but the alternatives aren't there yet and may not be for some time.

Did I miss anything?

Infra-red cameras to tackle congestion in Leeds

Hmmmm

The current system doesn't work because it's difficult to see into vehicles travelling at speed. Well, if they're travelling at speed there isn't a congestion problem is there!

Sounds like another revenue raising idea to me. Funny how everything these days is solved by more taxes or a new law........

Powerline Ethernet specialist preps 400Mb/s unit

Speed again.

Well I had the electricity supply checked and various parts replaced three or so years ago so I know everything is fine.

Where I live the fuses aren't in each plug but there are more fuses centrally, so in my house there is a central fuse box with loads of fuses plus two other small fuse boxes with maybe ten or so fuses in each.

If I use the Powerline on something controlled by the same fuse the speed is very good, but if I use something from another fuse the sped drops. The worst speed comes when I connect to something which is controlled by another fuse box.

You also need to keep in mind that European plugs haven't got a "right way round", so wiring is slightly different.

Speed

Well my current Powerline 200Mb drops to about 20Mb depending where I plug it in so I'm not counting my chickens.

I'm not sure if they work better on UK style circuitry.

Pakistan blocks YouTube

Free speach

Not sure I agree with AC. There's a difference between criticism and abuse. A lot of Muslims would probably accept criticism but not abuse. Telling the difference and how this can be "managed" is of course a tricky subject.

Worth keeping in mind that CocaCola were quick to stop advertising which might have associated them with prostitution at the last footie World Cup. I'm sure they do the same on You Tube.

Just in case you were wondering I'm not a Muslim :-)

French telecoms chief says 'non' to EU-wide regulation

Cost more?

Surly it'd cost less to have one regulator rather than twenty whatever we've got now. It'd also stop the "it's my ball and I'm taking it home" attitude some countries have to stopping companies from other countries getting in.

Geordie cops arrest two for Wi-Fi squatting

@AC

Agree with all your point, but can't help but point out that you can't really pre-warn someone. You either warn them or you don't.

I'm afraid I have to turn down the kind invitation of those across the pond to stick pre in front of everything to make it sound more exciting. I think I'll only accept pre if you can post it as well (not in a post box clearly).

So, I'll allow pre-paid because you can post-pay but you can't have pre-planned because you can't post-plan (unless your a government spin doctor).

Car net auction trio use GPS to steal back wheels

Double edged sored!

I think the tech angle is a bit stretched here. I assume the vehicle had a GPS tracking system to track it in the event of theft. On the other hand nine times out of ten the vendor knows the buyers address so could nick it there anyway.

Perhaps a better idea is to nick the car back and then post the victim a fake "you didn't pay your car tax so we've crushed your car" notice. With that method the lags get breathing space to re-sell the car to the next victim.

US cruiser nails crippled spy-sat on first shot

CO2

Well whatever the reason, they've spent more CO2 on this than Red, oops, Green Ken can hope to save even if he were to ban all cars from London.

Scareware package planted in ITV.com ads

PHP?

Why on earth mention PHP? It hasn't got anything to do with it, next you'll be saying it was PHP 4.2 on Apache 1.3 on Windows 2000 running on a Dell machine with an AMD processor and Western Digital disk, which is hosted in a yellow room in Liverpool. Ooh, hang on a minutes I see your point now, it's the scousers again......

Latest China scare torpedos 3Com takeover

Who to trust

I'd rather trust the Chinese with 3COM than the US, who are far more likely to coerce companies into putting spy software/hardware in their products. In fact they'll not only do it against their "enemies" but also their allies and own citizens.

I'd also like to point out that there's been no real evidence that the Chinese have made any attacks against any networks.

The only attacks I've had have been from Turkey and the US.

Oz admits $85m p0rn filtering FAIL

@Damian

Sounds like you haven't got time for your kids. Either don't let them have internet access when you're not around, or actually take time to look after them.

If you've brought up your kids well you don't need to look over their shoulders every second, you just need to be around.

I'm sorry if it comes as a shock but being a parent takes time!

MS showcases Red Ring of Death Xbox 360 at expo

PS3 too

The PS3 gets regular slaggings from El Reg too, so I don't think you can say they pick on the XBox.

The number of failures also seems pretty high.

I am a PS3 owner but I have to say in general what I've seen of the XBox looks OK. My choice was more down to avoiding anything else MS after spending a lot of my working life fighting with it's OS on the desktop. I think it's fair to say that the XBox is a lot better than XP or Vista though.

On the other hand to say that the XBox has got better on-line content is a bit out of date.

'Suspicious comment' provokes LAX terminal evacuation

@Duncan Hothersal

Couldn't have put it better myself!

Euro Blu-ray movie sales reach 2.37m discs

EU population

According to Eurostat the EU population was 456.4 million in 2003. So, the 300 million mentioned above is wrong by some way. Even if you only include those in the Euro zone it's more than 300 million.

Oops, forgot the new countries

Due to the addition of two new countries the EU population is now 490 million. Sorry Romania and Bulgaria!

Eugene Kaspersky and the KGB man that never was

Vodka

When I was in Russia, Russian television claimed that beer was now more popular than vodka.

I'm also not convinced that Walrus penises have got bones in them but I'll bow to your superior knowledge of the subject :-)

EU waves through downloads tax reform (in 2015)

@Peter Leech

I'm not sure what you think you've got in common with the US, but the only things I can think of are bad things. You're also fooling yourself if you think you'd be allowed to become a 51st state. They'd let you in on their term, chew you up and spit you out.

As for those who said it's impossible to order stuff from the EU without paying VAT, that's not been my experience. I often order from other countries and just give my VAT number. Never had a problem.

Brazilian cleaner spots security hole in Heathrow e-borders

@Marty

Thanks @Rob for sorting him out. It's these kind of lies which the police were in trouble for spreading.

It's also worth remembering that they didn't know he was even an immigrant, the police thought he was someone else, so next time it could be anyone who lives in or visits the UK, legally or otherwise.

On the subject of MPs: Why get so excited? They're only elected representatives, we can always choose some others. Don't give in to their vanity. Certainly they should be protected, but no more than anyone else.

French motorwonk savages hybrid cars

Prius and CO2 etc

First of all it's Citroën, not Citeron so not the French for Lemon.

Secondly it seems that the Prius does a lot better for people who adapt their style of driving to take advantage of it' strengths. Those who do that and drive more around town seem to do pretty well. On the other hand the latest diesel Mini does pretty well too, although it's a smaller car.

Thirdly, one person flies to Oz and that's my cars lifetime CO2 usage gone, let alone a satellite launch or Space Shuttle. It's also worth bearing in mind, that compared to the US we Europeans are paragons of virtue when it comes to CO2! If the UK turned off all cars and factories tomorrow it wouldn't really make much difference if the US continued at it's present rate. However, even that pales into the background compared to the deforestation in countries like Brazil and Indonesia.

Just thought we might need some perspective :-)

Top cop urges RIPA review in coded attack on snoop code

Accidents and @Alexander Hanff

The UK (possible copying the faulty US system) seems to act as if everything is someone's fault. I imagine Alexander must have lived in the US judging by his use of Americanisms.

Pavements become cracked in winter and people can trip over if they don't look where they are going. This is the point though, it's something they can avoid. There's a difference between that kind of accident and someone who doesn't bother to repair your brakes properly. My car got hit from behind when I was in the UK and I got pushed to claim compensation for personal injury. For me, this is a complete nonsense I was only a bit bruised and accidents happen. Humans are human and they make mistakes, of course it's difficult to judge the difference between a mistake and carelessness or recklessness.

Coming back to the police: The problem is that the police are in a unique position of handling the evidence and have to be beyond reproach. The paperwork is often a part of this, as well as stopping previous abuses. If the paperwork is getting too much, it's a sign that there's a problem in society as a whole (we're committing too many crimes), or that the laws are no longer appropriate (we've criminalised things which most people don't accept as being criminal).

I reckon it's a mixture of the two. As an observation I'd say people see themselves more as individuals today and less as part of a community. I don't think this is helped by the sue/blame everyone attitude or the government encouraging us to report our neighbours. I think you can see this even n things like TV game shows where in recent years contestants have been encouraged to deride one another and pick one another apart (I'm not saying this is a cause, more a reflection). Perhaps you could say this is the consequence of Thatcherism, I don't know.

Anyway, come on Blighty, think about it, where are you going? For goodness sake don't make a bad copy of a faulty American culture!

Thigh-drive phone charger put through its paces

Neurostimulator

I think neuro-stimulators run off small long life batteries which need replacing every seven years or so. I don't think having one which recharges is going to help because the battery won't keep recharging beyond a few years anyway.

I'm also a bit curious why this was invented in the US, I'm not sure how much electricity's going to be generated walking from the house to the garage anyway.....

Feds bat for Boeing in rendition lawsuit

Action!

We need to cut off political ties with this rogue state until such time as regime change had brought them to a moral standard acceptable to the international community!

Operators race to pre-empt Euro data roaming cap

Costs

Having worked on a system to handle international roaming I can tell you that it costs the mobile phone company almost nothing to run and relatively little to develop. Before the caps it used to be a huge winner in terms of € spent against € earned. After the caps it's still pretty good.

It's nice to see a government body doing something useful for once, but personally I'd like to see roaming charges abolished altogether (within the EU).

I don't suppose there's any chance of a UK body doing something helpful like this? Even abolishing the "unlimited" limited connection nonsense would be a start.

BBC excludes Grange Hill after 30 years of misbehaviour

Tucker

Wasn't there a spin off called Tuckers Luck? Didn't Tucker and Michelle go on to Eastenders fame, only for Mark to die of aids or something?

I had some mates who were band from watching it but I gave up on it after Tucker left on the basis that it was crap.

While we're wandering down nostalgia lane, could we bring back Bagpuss, The Clangers and Trumpton and get rid of Tellie Tubbies?

Earthlings you have been warned.........

Local copper: Met secret police requested MP bugging

MPs

While I'm happy that MPs shouldn't be given special treatment I think the reason bugging of them is frowned upon is that it smacks of interference with the political process. If you can spy on the opposition you have an advantage in an election. So, while spying on anyone should be rare and require judicial over-sight spying on MPs is a different kind of wrong doing!

Quite honestly the way things have gone the UK government should be locked up. There aren't many American literary works to quote but this has all got a bit Arthur Miller hasn't it?

Ofgem, MoD attack pricey terror-friendly windmills

Nuclear

I think the idea is that because they're centralised the RAF's radar can easily protect them (well the jets they launch in response will do the protecting.

There's also the problem that when the wind drops too low you can't just switch on your coal fired power stations to take up the slack.

I'm not saying that's right, but I think that's the idea.

I'd also like to thank the ex-officer for his contribution, very interesting and sad when you think about the loss of life.

Brits can't distinguish history from the TV listings

No I think the US beats the UK

but still it's a bit of a worry.

Mind you UK TV History is pretty poor and seemingly unable to give a balanced view or to differentiate between speculation and fact.