Posts by Phil A.

'This repository is private' – so what's it doing on the public internet, GE Aviation?

Sensitive config in a repo?

If the config was "security sensitive" it had no place in a code repository in the first place.

Its a fundamentally bad idea to store passwords in a code repo for precisely this reason...

10 PRINT "ZX81 at 37" 20 GOTO 10

It's no exaggeration to say the ZX81 shaped my entire life!

I first saw one when I was babysitting for a friend and they'd just got one. I was immediately captivated by what was the first computer I'd ever used "hands on" and saved all my money to get one of my own.

I taught myself Z80 machine code but as I couldn't afford an assembler program, I hand translated the assembler into machine code and sold a game to DK'Tronics for £200 and a ZX Spectrum (which seemed like all the money in the world to a 16 year old me)

Since that moment, my entire life has revolved around computers and software development and even now (37 years later) that's how I put a roof over my head and food on my table

For me, the ZX81 launch was quite possibly the most important event in my life and one for which I'll be forever grateful

Google to kill its Drive file locker in two confusing ways

It's really not that complicated

The article title is more confusing than Google's changes IMO!

Firstly, Google Drive isn't going anywhere - it's still available and will continue to be available.

What is being deprecated is old Google Drive **client** and it's being replaced by a new app which combines the functionality of the old drive client and photos upload client and adds additional functionality which allows you to backup any folder on your PC to Google Drive (it appears in drive on the web under a new Computers tab).

The old "sync folders to a google drive folder" functionality is absolutely still there and works exactly as it always has

If you're not a G Suite user that's it - same functionality with some additional functionality added on top

If you're a G Suite user then it's a bit more complicated (but not massively so) - you can either use the new backup and sync client and carry on as you always have or you can use the Drive File Stream client which adds support for Team Drives (the only way you can sync them to your computer is to use the Drive File Stream client) (or, if you really want to, you can use both together)

Drive File Stream shows your entire drive and any team drives under a new disk (G: by default on windows) and will download files on demand with caching for frequently used files.

In addition, you can make selected files or folders available offline in which case they're synced to your machine. This is pretty much what OneDrive did in Windows 8 before MS decided it was too useful and canned the functionality!

Amazon, Hollywood, Samsung: PLEASE get excited about 4K telly

4K Streaming?

I can barely manage 1080p streaming with my crappy rural internet speed of 3-5mbps, never mind 4K: Think I'll pass on this one

UK payday loaners cop MEGA £175K fine for 'misleading' SMS spam

Forget fines

Just take their license away for a first offence - that might make them sit up and take a bit more notice!

Icon reflects what I think of these companies...

Dixons selling £68k gold, diamond, ruby and sapphire iPhone for Xmas

£68K?

I thought iPhones used an ARM chip, not a 68000

Swap your old iPhone for a new one, Tim Cook tells British fanbois

£158?? What a ripoff!

A quick look at Mazuma shows they're offering between £240 and £260 for an iPhone 5 (depending on size), and you can spend that anywhere you want 'cos they pay cash, not put credit on a store card.

Travel much? DON'T buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Not just the Note 3

I got an identical sticker on the side of my sim free S4 from Phones4U.

I Thought it was strange at the time, but I never bother with SIM swapping when abroad anyway so it didn't worry me too much

Tu Me to go: Tu Go to be Telefonica's 'NEXT BIG AMAZEBALLS' for voice

Great idea, crap execution

Tu Go seems like a great idea, but the software is a crock of shit: It constantly crashes for me on both iOS and Android and absolutely hammers the battery

Yahoo! adds 1TB of free storage to Flickr in site revamp

not much of an "upgrade"

Previously, Pro customers got unlimited storage for $25 a year with no adverts. Now you get 1TB for $50 a year (the only benefit being the removal of adverts), or 2TB for an eye watering $499 a year. Not much benefit for their loyal paying customers there, then!

Flickr used to be a great place to store your photos online with a minimal interface and decent speed. Now it runs like crap and looks like the bastard offspring of MyPlace and Facebook.

Massively underwhelmed by this "upgrade"...

Zynga bets the farm (ville) on UK poker, roulette web den

Great, just what we need

Even more gambling for the masses! </sarcasm>

Review: Renault Zoe electric car

Close, but no cigar

A diesel that does 60mpg will cost £0.11 per mile in fuel. If this costs £3.00 to charge and does 150 miles, that's £0.02 per mile, which sounds great. However, there's also that £70 a month battery lease, which makes it less attractive than it would otherwise have been

If you do 10,000 miles a year, the Diesel will cost £1,100 in fuel and the Zoe will cost £1040 in charge and battery lease

If you do 5,000 miles a year, the Diesel will cost £550 in fuel, and the Zoe will cost £940 and battery lease

It's definitely a step in the right direction, but that monthly charge for the battery has to come down to really make an impact IMO

Segway daddy unveils DIY weight-loss stomach pump

Wrong. Just Wrong

This is wrong on so many levels.

If you want less food in your stomach, just eat less fucking food to begin with!

'Dated and cheesy' Aero ripped from Windows 8

Aero is dated and Cheesy...

...Whereas Metro is just shit.

I can't think of a worse UI for a computer than Metro - it's an absolute abomination that takes everything UI designers have learned over the last 30 years and throws it in the bin.

Satnav blunders blamed for £200m damages

Re: Alternatively...

If your SatNav is only accurate to a few hundred metres, it's time to buy a new SatNav!

I do agree that they should only be used as an aid and not as an absolute, though

Cable thieves wreak havoc for cops, BT punters

BT Are hopeless with updates

We recently had an outage when contractors repairing a bridge cut through an underground cable and disabled phone and broadband to our entire village. They repeatedly told us the fault was being actively worked on when we could clearly see it wasn't, and gave us about 5 different "guaranteed" dates when it would be fixed: The fault was finally fixed 12 days after the cable was first cut (and it only took OpenReach a day to fix it once they finally turned up).

Throughout, all we asked of BT was an accurate timescale so we could arrange the most cost-effective alternative coverage with a 3G dongle, but that appeared to completely impossible for them to provide

Sky Anytime+ to pipe BBC iPlayer

So not available yet

Available soon isn't the same as "Sky has dropped the requirement that this must be a Sky broadband connection" - it could be anything from a week to a year before they decide to make good on this.

Sky has dropped the requirement that this must be a Sky broadband connection?

Where did you get that information from? Nothing on Sky's website says anything about it being available to non sky broadband customers. As someone who is unable to get Sky Broadband, it's huge news if it's true!

OWC 6G Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD

speed?

If you're only concerned about speed, you wouldn't have an MBA in the first place! The machine is about portability and enough speed to get the job done, and I don't really see this being a useful upgrade for that demographic

Microsoft tempts with WinPho demo on... iPhone

Just looks a mess

I really don't understand the attraction of WP7. OK, it's different to iOS and Android but different doesn't make it better. It's incredibly wasteful of screen real estate and is full of pointless animations.

Fragged, fragged and thrice fragged! 20 years of id Software’s Doom

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant

Doom is the best game ever written - the graphics were amazing for the time, the music superb and the atmosphere electric.

On top of that, the multiplayer was incredible - I'd hate to count the hours of productivity I lost playing deathmatches when I should have been working

In the history of video games, Doom is right up there with Space Invaders and Pong as a milestone in the evolution of the industry

Kindle Fire: An open letter to Jeff Bezos

It's not a "with google" device

Android on the fire is not a "with Google" version, which means none of the core Google apps are available. It has nothing to do with Amazon blocking the Google Alps, but rather they were too tight to pay for the Google licenses (like a lot of cheap Chinese tablets).

'Buggy' Facebook iPad app finally emerges

2 Tier App Store Approvals

In case anyone was in any doubt - Apple is clearly not running a level playing field with respect to App Store approvals: Facebook Mobile has been updated already to 4.0.1 to address some bugs: How many other developers could manage to get an update approved through Apple in less than 24 hours!

Isolated human genes can be patented, US court rules

Post of the century

Even if it did nearly cost me a keyboard covered in coffee

Apple vanishes MySQL from Mac OS X Lion Server

Why the fuss?

What's so hard about going to http://www.mysql.com/downloads/ and downloading it yourself?

'Lion' Apple Mac OS X 10.7: Sneak Preview

If you want to use Office 2008...

Then you had better install it before upgrading to Lion: the app may support intel processors but the installer is PPC only, so whilst you can run Office 2008 und Lion, you can't install it

Hannspree Hannspad 10.1in Android tablet

"With Google" or not?

Presumably, as it has its own market, this means it's not a "with google" device, i.e. no Market or other google apps (including gmail, maps, etc, etc).

Also, stuck on 2.2 which isn't exactly ideal for a tablet. Seems to me like a case of "you get what you pay for"

El Reg iPhone app rated a flaccid 12+

Why no comments?

Come on, El Reg - this app is pretty much useless without the ability to even see story comments (never mind add new ones). Until that's sorted, I'll stick with m.theregister.co.uk, thank you

Linutop feeds mini-PC fans tiny Tux box

Hit with the ugly stick

That's one ugly computer. It's also very, very expensive for what it is, and it's not even that small.

Can't see why anyone would want to buy that

Chinese iPad 2 fanboiz in frenzied fight

Worst. Article. Ever

I generally enjoy El Reg's bashing of anyone and everyone as it's done with subtlety and humour, but this article is, quite frankly, pathetic and humourless.

On top of that, the obvious irony is your "writer" has given Apple even more publicity by highlighting the queues in China and in so doing has become a pawn of the Apple machine that he clearly despises so much.

Also, surely it should be iRiot, not i-Riot (pretty basic error, there!)

On second thoughts, maybe we should cut the author some slack as it seems that he's having some issues coping with puberty and that can make you a bit uptight (the only explanation I can think of for writing like a 12 year old is being a 12 year old...)

End of the tether: Google plays nice with carriers

Giffgaff

Aren't just reseller of O2 services, they are wholly owned by O2. Basically, Giffgaff are an experiment by O2 in alternative marketing and support methods.

Binatone HomeSurf 7 Android tablet

I remember when

the Binatone name adorned cheap and nasty stereo systems. This looks to me like the 21st century equivalent: A cheap and nasty tablet

Creative Ziio 7in Android tablet

Android != Android "With Google"

To get the market and other google apps, devices have to be certified as "with google" by Google. This adds additional cost over using the open source vanilla android and also adds specific hardware requirements that the device must comply with.

Without the "with google" support, it's more than just the market that's missing: none of the core google closed source libraries are available either.

It's possible (but probably a breach of copyright) to hack these into non-compliant devices but that doesn't alter the fact that there's always going to be two tiers of Android devices: cheap vanilla android devices and more expensive "with google" android devices that are fully compliant

EC parades common phone charger

Check your facts

I think you'll find that HTC already include Micro-USB ports on all their new handsets, so don't need to make any pledges to change

It'll be interesting to see if Apple include an extra port, remove the 30 pin one or just include an adapter (my money would be on the latter)