* Posts by Leona A

191 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Jan 2011

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Sony to bring bog-friendly blowers to Blighty

Leona A
Joke

Be careful

Who you ask, to borrow a phone from then, as we know how many people Don't wash their hands after going to the loo! eeek.

Vauxhall Ampera hybrid e-car

Leona A
FAIL

missed a trick

they should have fitted a diesel engine instead of a petrol, they are much better at generating electricity, which is why err they're used in generators, trains, etc. You would get more than 45 MPG then.

Hard disk drive prices quick to rise, slow to fall

Leona A
Holmes

Just like everything else

Take Gas prices, as soon as the wholesale price goes up, so do our bills, when the prices goes down what happens, nothing, its all about profit making, there is no real surprise here, rich get richer.

Ten... Mi-Fi HSPA 3G wireless mini-routers

Leona A
Happy

Like the Edimax

this requires a 3G dongle as well, but a lot cheaper/smaller, TP Link TL-WR703N, you missed that one (and its 702 sibling).

Star Trek's Scotty boldly goes where he always wanted to

Leona A
Happy

Re: He always stood out...

That was a good one, with the best quote from the series.

"Please enter program."

"The android at the bar said ya' could show me ma' old ship. Lemme see it."

"Insufficient Data. Please specify parameters."

"The Enterprise! Show me the bridge of the Enterprise, ya' chatterin' piece of..."

"There have been five Federation ships with that name. Please specify by registry number."

"NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D."

"Program complete. Enter when ready."

Ten... Qwerty mobiles

Leona A
FAIL

Missing out Sony?

So Dominated by the BlackBerries and missing the Sony's.

Like the Xperia Pro, which I have, the Mini Pro, or Txt Pro.

All have, err, QWERTY keyboards !

There is a lack of good QWERTY phones these days, why didn't Moto bring out the Droid/Milesone 4 to the UK? A big miss, it looked a lovely phone.

Humm, nice review, how about doing some more research ?

Disabled can't 'Go Compare' on price comparison websites

Leona A
Mushroom

I'm blind, I do the money side of thing, my partner does the driving, also I use them for House Insurance, so please put your narrow mind, back to neutral please.

Best and the Rest: ARM Mini PCs

Leona A
Trollface

Re: Why not ShivaPlug etc

The Guru Plug Does

https://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-guruplugdisplaydetails.aspx#component

TVonics, RNIB launch speech-synthesising DVR

Leona A
Thumb Up

never thought I'd see the day

when consumer electronics would become accessible, so this is fantastic, now all I have to do is get one of these and my TV viewing / Listening pleasure is sorted, now if they could just do the same for the Cooker and the Washing machine, then life would be much easier :) (there is a talking microwave though BTW)

Qwerty keyboards

Leona A
Unhappy

Re: Qwerty keyboards

Its seems they are plenty in the US but non seem to make it over there, Epic 4G, Droid 4, etc etc, So they are being made, but not for the UK, now why is this?

I have to use a phsyical Keyboard, I can not use a touch screen to type, I have a Xperia Pro at the moment as that seem to be the only phone in the UK with a QWERTY keyboard.

I have no idea what I'll replace it with in the years to come......

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS: Like it or not, this Linux grows on you

Leona A
Unhappy

Change for change sake

Well as if updated the OS isn't difficult enough, they have to throw in a totally new GUI.

There is no way I can sell this to my partner, if I install that on our desktop she'll flip her lid, its taken 3.5 years to get this technophobe to use a computer to start with, if I go changing the user interface I will have to start all over again, and I don't like it much either.

I've been using Ubuntu since 6.06 (yes the late release one), where Nothing really worked that well, I was using the 64bit version which you had 'fun' getting 32bit apps to work in, so I'm not new to Linux and I don't mind a bit of hacking around.

But I feel this is a step to far, and to force it on their users to terrible, fine give us a choice, leave Gnome in and let us 'the users' decided what we want to do.

What is the point of HUD If You Don't Know What The Option Is Your Looking For, how can you search for it? Stupid idea. At least if I am flicking through menus I can be reminded of what I'm looking for.

I guess I was hoping they would leave this rubbish out of 12.04 but no :( I have always used their LTS releases so I don't have to go through the update pain too often, now though, as well as having to go through the update pain, I will have to find a new distro, its seems a choice between Xubuntu or Mint.

Or as I'm increasing tempted to do, is not bother to update at all, I've got another year to figure something out.

Basic instinct: how we used to code

Leona A

Re: Hmm..

Not the only typeo, from page 2

"To prove your worth, you had to submit a pencil-written program to the Prefect in charge, who checked it, at which point "you could you" put them onto tape. "

"you could you" ???

Look back in Ascii: Computing in the 1980s

Leona A
Thumb Up

TSR80-100

I had one of these when I was at college to take notes on, a great little earner as I, being a touch typist, could take all the lecture notes and the rest of the students paid for copies, great weekend drink fund :)

The Microwriter Agenda, reminds me of a device we had for my fellow blind students, which had keys arranged in the same way, for them to key in notes on, much better than trying to lug a Braille embossers around.

Twelve... classic 1980s 8-bit micros

Leona A
FAIL

Re: errata

Indeed, there are so many errors in 'The Register' articles these days, I wonder if they should invest in a Proof Reader.

Leona A
Thumb Up

Yes I had the same CPC464 with the Green Screen, which if you looked at it for too long and looked away, everything was in purple! I'm sure that wasn't good for my eyes.

I remember feeling disappointed at the time because they had BBC's at school and that was what I wanted, but still managed to code a few games and a text editor on it.

Now if I remember correctly, I had a right problem trying to get a printer to connect to it, because it had a 7bit centronics printer port, which was annoying because you couldn't get a compatible cable, you had to get a daughter board to convert it to be compatible with printers! I right nightmare.

Oh now I think of it, when I went to work in an office on Work Experience, they had a CPC6128 running Mini Office (remember that?) and that was the early 90's!

My friend had the CPC664 which came with the 3in disk drive and colour screen.

Now who remembers copying tapes using a double tape desk, (no never did that of course, not me!).

I wonder how many kids today would wait 25 minutes for a game to load, tape drives there the ultimate definition of patients!

Oh those were the days......

Ten... Satnavs to suit all budgets

Leona A
FAIL

Map update costs

I feel the review needed to include the cost of map updates.

TomTom charges £40 for a year, some are even higher, a friend has a Germin and they want £75 to update the maps on hers!

I also question Sat Nav mapping abilities, for example, we wanted to visit a Zoo near Exmoor, from Exeter, the sat nav look us on Narrow, winding, awful country roads, which was very stressful and took much longer than TomTom suggested, it was so bad that we used a map on the way home and went via A roads and the Motorway, yes it might have been 10 miles longer, but much easier to drive, and overall quicker, if I have to plan the routes myself and use google maps, why did I bother to spend £100 on an TomTom XL? FAIL! (and yes I did check try TomTom's alternative routes).

Nokia loses $1.7bn in Q1, sales chief falls overboard

Leona A
FAIL

RIP Nokia

Was nice knowing you.

Nobody wants a Windows phone, but you wouldn't be told, guess you'll learn the hard way.

UK government says no to turbo e-bike

Leona A
Happy

Re: dark ages

Yep agree with you on the subject of 'some' cyclists and their abilities (or lack there of).

As for me, no I'm stuck to just my 4mph maximum walking pace, but a friend did suggest to me that I should get a guide dog to pull (I mean guide) me along on a skate board.

Leona A
Unhappy

dark ages

I'm surprised they don't insist that a man with a red flag walks in front of anything powered by electric! We have some bizarre laws get some E powered sports car doing 100Mph oh that's fine, but a bike that can do 25Mph, oh no, we can't have that, same for Segways, powered skateboards and scooters, are laws (like our Leader) are out of date and touch!

Nintendo DSi sends child abuser to the slammer

Leona A
Unhappy

Re: Parenting fail

Sadly I know of a case similar to this, where the girl told her parents about her Grandad abusing her and they refused to believe her, and only after he did the same thing to her sister did anyone listen, and still one parent refused to believe it, now naive do some people have to be FFS!

Surprised he was allowed Defence Lawyers, that makes me sick, the picture should be enough, you can't defend against that, and saying he had a learning disability is no excuse for that kind of action, 3.5 years is no where near enough and what are they going to do upon his release, any rehabilitation? Probably not, just let loose to do it to some other poor soul.

Think Clarkson had the right idea! Bring back capital punishment!

OAP sues Apple for $1m after walking into store's glass door

Leona A
Mushroom

Re: I'm surprised....

Hum, shows how little you (and most others unfortunately) know about eye sight problems doesn't it!? I hear this all the time, "oh way don't you wear glasses", like oh why didn't I think of that! its because, if the brain can not receive a good signal because the eyes (not just the lens, which is the only thing Glasses correct, btw), is damaged then there is bugger all that can be done!

I have Complex Microphthalmos, Coloboma, Nystagmus, Glaucoma as well as loosing most of the retina from my right eye, as well as having my lens removed and the eye filled with oil to keep what's left of my retina back, thanks to it detaching a few years ago, how much difference do you think Glasses are really going to make! You Idiot!

Leona A
Angel

I'm surprised....

... its taken this long for something like this to happen, I hate Glass! its the bane of my life!

For those with low vision, its not easy to see this transparent materiel ;)

I can not tell you how many glass doors, display cabinets and tables I have walked into because I couldn't see them, but have to admit non have ever broken or caused me more than than a bruise or slight embarrassment :)

I think that shows the different between the UK and US, if this happened in the UK there would be no payout and everyone would be happy there was no serious injuries, however in the US.... Sue city!

But then, if it stops retail outlets using unmarked glass doors, then all good.

Not everybody has 20/20 vision!

Panasonic talks up TV for the blind

Leona A
Thumb Up

This is great of Panasonic to do this, I hope it will Read out the EPG as I know I struggle to read this, even on my 42 Inch Plasma, you usually can not change the colour scheme, which is usually pale writing on a pale background, really hard to read!

Finally after 12 years of the DDA and now Equalities Act manufacturers are starting to produce accessible devices!

N7Player

Leona A
Thumb Down

my ex

indeed, same shocking music tastes as my EX! Paul bl**dy Simon, Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan, oh memories I can not erase from my mind :'(

Also notice on the Screen Shot that Fleetwood Mac is listed twice, I have issues with Meta Driving music apps too, they drive me nuts when they break up albums into two or three groups because the data is incorrect for some unknown reason, it drives me mad, I would prefer the app to use the file directory, what was wrong with that, it was simple and WORKED?

Tourists follow GPS, drive into sea

Leona A
Paris Hilton

what is it....

with people and GPS, they seem to think its a substitute for their brain!

People driving into the sea, lorries getting stuck between buildings, I mean, what is wrong with people.

Surely if they are That Thick, what are they doing driving a car in the first place!

Geez the shear stupidity of people.

Smartphone owners demand bigger screens

Leona A

and a keyboard

Can we have a smartphone with a 4" > screen and a physical QWERTY keyboard please!

They seem to make them in the US but they never come to the UK :'(

Viewsonic Viewpad 10e tablet

Leona A
WTF?

budget?

I paid £75 for a Elonex eTouch ET1000 10 inch Tab (zt180), last year and am still using it, not perfect by a long short but £75 was a lot easier to find than £200! To ad,d I just got my partner an Arnova 7b G2 for her birthday and paid £75 also. Now that's what I call BUDGET tablets for those of us of live in the Real world!

Renault Mégane 265 Trophy 2.0 turbo

Leona A
Thumb Up

Ford Transit

Remember that said Ford Transit was driven around by a woman ;)

Future car tech

Leona A
Thumb Up

KITT

Yep, that's the only car tech I'll want, a real life working KITT, (Knight Rider car for you youngsters, google it), so I can have a car that drives itself, (not that I'm lazy, I don't have enough sight to drive) oh well, can but dream.

Why on Earth would you build a closed Android phone?

Leona A

Re: not just elderly.

While I think of it, it reminds me of Code Factory's Mobile Accessibility Software.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app.ma.vocalizerenudemo&hl=en

but at £60 a go, I can't afford it. (for something that should be standard in a modern day OS).

Leona A
Thumb Up

not just elderly.

what about those of us with very low vision?

Given Android's pitiful excuse for Accessibility features, we have less choice for usable phones, might be the type of phone I may have considered, and I'm Not Elderly!

For now, I'm using a Sony Xperia Pro with a 10x magnifier!

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4

Leona A
Happy

On the issue of French car reliability, our 2003 Citroen C3 (1.4TD) has done 110k miles with no major issues (pipe to EGR valve has blocked twice in that time, about 50p's worth of replacement pipe to fix). a friend of mine has a Citroen ZX which has covered over 300k! (1993 K-reg)

Leona A
Angel

Re: What took them so long.

I realise there is more too it than just 'having an idea' but the technology and 'know how' is already out there, in isn't like I'm trying to invent something new.

Get a 2 cylinder diesel engine, combine with a hybrid battery system, use the batteries to get the car moving and the engine to keep everything charged and motion at higher speeds, so this would give a huge MPG return, yes this is all in theory, but if I (just a girl) can think of it, why isn't someone testing it out? Surely its a no brainer. :)

Leona A
Unhappy

What took them so long.

Surely this is most obvious combination, I'm surprised its taken till 2012 for a manufacture to actually come up with this solution, I mean even Top Gear had a (VERY CRUDE) concept over 2 years ago!

I wonder how many years it will take before we see a 2 pot diesel hybrid in small cars.

Geez I mean, why shout about something that should have been produced years ago, the pace of innovation in the motor industry is Tortoise like, come on!

Android a photo-slurper too: report

Leona A
Thumb Down

Google+

Talking of Photo Slurping without consent, anyone using Google+ app on their Android might like to know it automatically uploads photos to a 'private' album on your profile for you, hum, I don't ever remember agreeing to that! Go through the options list and you can turn it off, but you can't remove the photos from Google+ how helpful, sure people will love looking at photos of my lounge and garden!

Anonymous web weapon backfires with hidden banking Trojan

Leona A
Happy

[NELSON VOICE]

HA! HA!

[/NELSON VOICE]

Couldn't have happened to nicer folk!

Archos 35 Home Connect

Leona A
Thumb Down

What £120?

That stupid money, I was expecting around £40-50, that's dam expensive for what it, come on, a tiny tablet, you just go and buy a cheapy 7 inch tablet of Amazon for £50 it would do the same thing, come on!

Tech! Tech! Teeeeech! Women want gadgets for Valentine's

Leona A
Thumb Up

I'd love some tech for valentines (or any other occasion actually) but living with a technophobic I guess there is a really low chance of that happening :) We are going to a Crocodile Zoo for the day though, which is pretty cool.

Leona A
Thumb Up

and so you should :)

Sony posts PlayStation firmware patch

Leona A
Thumb Down

Do I get the Iplayer service yet? Since (unbeknown to me) that my PS3 didn't come from the UK (despite having a UK plug (came with my phone deal)), I am unable to access Iplayer or any other Catch up service, the excuse for a web browser it a total joke, at the moment its just a glorified (slow and cumbersome) DVD player (I don't have any PS3 games or Blu-rays), I was hoping to use it as an Catchup TV player :(

O2 quietly cans gratis Cloud Wi-Fi connectivity

Leona A
Unhappy

bolt on, rip off.

Meh! typical, I did read something about this, maybe an email or text, and I remember thinking what am I paying the extra £6 for then? Not happy bunny, if I could get away with limiting my downloads to 100Mb a month I'd go for the basic option.

I have NEVER been able to connect to BT OpenZone wifi points, ever.

wish O2 would bump their Basic Internet bolt on data allowance up to 250Mb then I could save some money, hum

Raspberry Pi Linux micro machine enters mass production

Leona A
Unhappy

Sad state of the UK whten to see statments like this.

"Raspberry Pi production had to be moved overseas due to the high cost of building the wee device in the UK. "

No wonder we import everything and manufacture nothing! :(

and I want mine with Wifi god-dam-it! :)

Formula 1 revs engines through Virgin Media

Leona A
Thumb Down

Another 'die hard' fan here, who'll not be giving neither Sky or Virgin a single penny and will have to either watch the highlights or listen on Five live, sad times :'(

Gives me no more excuses for not doing the housework on Sunday's any more, boo.

WD slashes warranty periods on Blue and Green drives

Leona A
FAIL

So WD are not so confident about their products any more, wonder why they have changed, had too many failures, costing them too much.

If you [WD] are not confident enough to warranty your drive, I'm not confident enough to buy it!

Rainbow Islands

Leona A
Thumb Up

Chucky Egg!

One of my all time favs, Chucky Egg on the BBC B! I LOVE this game! (if I still had a Beeb I'd still be playing it!).

Dum-d-dum-d-dum-d-dum-d-dum-drrrruuum (or something like that!).

Thieves plunder apartment for Facebook booty

Leona A
Thumb Up

"During their escape, they were intercepted by members of São Paulo's paramilitary police, and shot during a gun battle. They later died in hospital."

Tough on Crime, Tough of the causes of Crime, "São Paulo" showing the UK how it should be done!

Viewsonic PLED W500 portable projector

Leona A
Coat

and I was just thinking the other day that isn't it about time they started making LED projectors and hey presto this review appears, ya, I know, I should get out more.....

Lovefilm dumps Flash, BLINDS Linux fans with Silverlight

Leona A
Thumb Down

well that's found to kill off Lovefilm then going to the dead SilverShite platform, well done LoveFilm way to go to kill a compnay, <shakes head>

Ice Cream Sandwich

Leona A
Flame

Accessibility?

Would like to have known if this has been improved in ICS, as its pretty poor otherwise.

but I guess comments such as "You’d have to be blind not to see that in terms of design" it seems that area isn't going to be even looked at then. So does that means that those of us who are blind, will not notice any changes? ie, has the useless (yes I have tried it) TalkBack app actually be designed to do something useful other than just tick the 'We're Accessible' Box? Can we 'zoom in' on applications, adjust the font size to something that actually makes it readable? I guess I'll have to wait till March to find out, when my Xperia Pro gets its update.

Cruel new punishment for hackers: Twitter, Facebook bans

Leona A
Unhappy

what about

dishing our a proper punishment and putting the little scrotes in prison? or is that against their human rights of some BS like that? What a joke.

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