Posts by James Le Cuirot

Pirate Bay’s neo-Nazi sugar daddy files for bankruptcy

I guess that makes him...

...brokec?

Republican manifesto calls for internet freedom but no net neutrality

Railroads?

I thought the internet was not a big truck.

Ten Androids for under 100 quid

Jelly Bean on the original San Fran

I installed an experimental CM10 (Jelly Bean) ROM on my original San Fran a couple of days ago. It really does run faster than CM7 did but the hardware acceleration is a tiny bit glitchy. I don't mind that on balance and am pleased I made the jump.

Google updates Chrome Flash plugin for security, stability

Opera and Firefox

I don't know why those two camps won't embrace PPAPI. My wife uses Chromium on Linux and we found Flash was being a bit flaky so we switched to the PPAPI version and the difference was startling. As an Opera user, I find this situation frustrating.

Party like it's 1999: CDE Unix desktop REBORN

Re: Durham Uni

Heh snap. You must have been in the year above me but I had exactly the same thoughts about it. Do you know if they still use it? They were trialling Linux servers running GNOME on Fedora by the time I left.

Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society on Blu-ray

Re: I am puzzled

Probably not. This film came after all of those.

I absolutely loved SAC but somehow, I preferred the original film to this one. It's been a while though, maybe I need to give it another try. Not on Blu-ray though, I'm still a DVD luddite. =P

HBO 'sorry' for skewering Dubya

Oh look!

It's the axle of evil!

Facebook needs Opera - to rescue it from dependence on Apple

Nooooooo

Nononononoooo. I paid for Opera back in the day and I've avoided Facebook like the plague. I'm a dedicated FastMail user too. This seriously sucks. I really hope it's not true.

Great HR mistakes of our time - Aviva fires 1300 by email

I wonder...

...how they managed to send the retraction to everyone except the guy they really wanted to fire.

Soup up your home network

Dual-band confusion

My Gentoo Linux desktop is actually my wireless router. I used to use the freebie USB adapter that came with my old Netgear router but after a year or so, it started to overheat frequently, probably because it was doing something it was never designed to do. After that, I bought the D-Link DWA-556 and I have to say it's been excellent. It has 802.11n but I haven't tried that yet because none of my devices support it. It's 2.4GHz only but that's okay because I can only see one or two other networks in this quiet Scottish suburb. What really confused me when I bought it was why I couldn't seem to find any dual-band PCI devices when there were plenty of dual-band routers out there. Eventually it dawned on me. Dual-band routers effectively have two adapters. I would need two cards. Bugger that. Maybe it's obvious to some but it's worth pointing out.

Game Group shares slide under a penny

Re: Bigger than Apple and Farcebook combined??

300p != £300

GitHub reinstates Russian who hacked site to expose flaw

Not a Rails vulnerability

It is important to clarify that this was not a vulnerability in Rails itself but in the way it was being used. They forgot to use attr_protected or attr_accessible or didn't use them correctly. It is also worth noting that as of a recent Rails release, attempting to perform this kind of attack when the application has been secured properly will raise an exception (by default) instead of merely logging a warning.

Warp drives are PLANET KILLERS, Sydney Uni students find

Ban Military Drives!

Looks like Frontier: Elite II wasn't too far off the mark either.

Microbee flies again

Woo ColdFire

m68k doesn't get many column inches these days. Good to see it's still alive and kicking. Though it wasn't that long ago that I installed Gentoo Linux on my Amiga 1200. (-;

Virgin Media takes itself in hand after punter-package tickle whoopsie

HTML vs plain text

I know what really happened. I use Claws Mail, which displays the plain text version of e-mails by default. I actually saw the correct message as it was only the HTML version that was wrong. I didn't realise anything was amiss until they sent the apology.

Ubuntu Linux shop reveals 'TV for human beings'

You may have a Linux telly already

Most, maybe even all, LG TVs made in the last few years run on Linux. I didn't even realise mine did until I noticed the GPL at the back of the manual!

Parasites spark swarm of zombie bees

Vodafone

Looks like Vodafone were closer to reality with their recent "Zombees" ad than they probably intended!

Five... friendly, free Android apps

Rescan Media

For those with custom ROMs like CM7, the "Dev Tools" app includes a "Media Scanner" feature that does the same thing.

Winamp mends trio of old-school security holes

Please let XMMS die

Use Audacious instead. Same look and still lightweight but less bit rot.

XMMS3?

Are you from the future?

I like XMMS2 but I'm strange like that.

Domesday Book put on touchscreen at Bletchley Park

Didn't keep well

Our school's disc was already buggered by 1994.

Common brain parasite 'can affect host's actions'

You've obviously never owned a cat, have you.

Opscode makes Chef do Windows

I like to cook

I certainly have. Setting up a new instance of our site was a scary, undocumented experience with very many pitfalls. I scripted out the whole thing with Chef and now it's a breeze, and a flexible one at that. Couldn't do without it. They can keep their Windows crap though. ;-)

M-Audio Keystation Mini 32

Probably?

I really don't know for sure but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Most USB-based MIDI keyboards work in the same way and use the same driver on Linux. My Casio Privia was pretty much plug and play.

Orange Monte Carlo budget Android smartphone

Angry Birds

Admittedly I've never seen it on a faster phone but Angry Birds runs fine on my Blade so I would have thought the Skate would be more than adequate. Maybe the ROM is to blame.

How to... re-energise your Android smartphone's OS

Upgrade to second gen

You can upgrade the Blade to the second generation firmware. It is a tad risky but it's worth it to get the latest CM7 versions, where there have been a lot of bug fixes and new features like USB tethering. When I did it, it involved some horrible Windows program (penguin head here) and wasn't easily reversable but a week later, they came up with a much safer, easier and reversable method!

Game gears up for Mac OS X Lion release with... Panther

Game sells OS X?

Since when does Game sell OS X anyway? Or anything Mac-related for that matter?

Duke Nukem flack eats words over threat to reviewers

This reminds me...

...of the dispute between Team17 and Amiga Power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team17#Amiga_Power_dispute

Swedish newlyweds enjoy lively honeymoon

I call bullshine...

So is mine, simply because it sounds so much like someone made it up.

Commodore 64 revivalist posts prototype PC pics

Forget this

Anyone can stick a PC in a shoebox. Show us something interesting like the Amiga X1000.

Government flies kite for VAT changes

Play.com

Being from Jersey originally myself, I didn't like seeing the island being used in this way because it is unfair. Having said that, from what I understand, Play.com genuinely began in Jersey so I kinda let them off the hook.

IT job seekers can't smell spell

Casual dress

Meh. I'm merely a lowly coder myself but I've had to give a few interviews. If they turn up in a suit, I have to question whether they're a real coder. Admittedly I work from home most of the time but I haven't worn a suit since my graduation.

Lack of basic grammar, however, does bother me. If they're that sloppy in their writing, can I expect the same sloppiness in their code?

Doctor Who co-star Nicholas Courtney dies at 81

Met him once

Really nice chap. Made everybody laugh.

Millennium bugs hit stock exchange

"Millennium bugs"

I know El Reg likes to have fun with their headlines but I actually thought it was the millennium bug at fault here until I got half-way through the article.

Google axes Jobsian codec in name of 'open'

Safari on the desktop

Not only this but we're comparing apples with oranges here! Have Apple blocked Flash in the desktop version of Safari? NO!

Ubuntu Wayland: Shuttleworth's post-Mac makeover

"But you will be part of the past."

I wouldn't say that. No doubt GNOME will continue to be developed by the community and a "Gubuntu" flavour will spring up, much like Kubuntu for KDE. It's also worth mentioning to those who aren't familiar with Wayland that all the major desktops will probably support it before long. I haven't tried it myself but it looks interesting.

Bummed-out users give anti-virus bloatware the boot

Users are too trusting...

...of the shit that comes bundled with their machines. I have seen McAfee cripple machines to a crawl but people like my parents are so stuck in their ways, they sooner buy a new machine than switch anti-virus software. I really despair at this widespread false belief that computers get slower with age. Even after telling my Dad repeatedly that McAfee does more harm than good, he still not only uses it but gives them money for the "privilege" !

This year's comedy Xmas No. 1 contender: Silent song 4'33"

Been there, done that

This might have stood a better chance of succeeding if it hadn't already been done this year. Admittedly this idea was conceived before the Remembrance Day track was done but still, I don't think the public are going to go for this twice.

Wikileaks' DNS pulls plug, citing collateral DDoS damage

Put this in context

It's worth putting this in context, in that EveryDNS is not the small outfit it used to be and is now owned by Dyn Inc, best known for DynDNS. On the one hand, the old EveryDNS might have been more tolerent but on the other hand, DynDNS should have the resources to deal with this. Maybe they're only willing to go so far for non-paying customers, which is understandable.

Privacy-protecting social network opens up

Version?

Which version?

Apple, Oracle air-kiss their way to OpenJDK deal for Mac OS X

What the...?

*scratches head*

Doctor Who touches down in US of A

Oh but he has!

As I'm sure many others will point out, the 1996 film was shot on location in San Francisco. And if you think the earlier stuff doesn't count, well bollocks to that! =P

Research links laptops to 'toasted skin syndrome'

Or for a cheaper solution...

Get one of those TV dinner cushion thingies. Separates the laptop from your body WITHOUT blowing it up.

Google hands number 7 shirt to Chrome browser

Version 7 already?

Are they trying to catch up with Emacs or something?

Virgin Media introduces P2P throttling

I'm happy

Of course, you'll get the usual army of whingers but I'm quite happy about this. Not all of us are torrent junkies. I have the occasional one going but that's stuff I can wait for. I'd rather have glitch-free VoIP calls, thank you very much. The greater upload speeds are most welcome.

Channel islanders attack Street View car

Donkeys

Those bloody donkeys, always were an uncivilised lot, eh ma cock. ;-)

Police issue lettuce e-fit

I was waiting...

Haha, as soon as I saw this on TV, I was just waiting for El Reg to pick it up. Knew you wouldn't let me down.

GOG.com closes

Come back!

I was thinking of buying a couple of games from there but hadn't got round to it yet.

Pandora tops 1000 boxes

Extremely tempting

I've been following their progress for a while and am really glad they've made it so far. It's an amazing achievement, especially given its grass roots nature. As to whether I'll buy one, it's extremely tempting but I just can't justify the cost with a baby on the way.