Posts by Mark Daniels 65 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Jun 2007
... is shocking.
Application if you must.
Please try not to pander to the marketing people Apple just becuase they want it....
In the same vein that black coffee is black coffee and not an americano and medium is medium, not grande, if it runs on computer or a mobile 'phone, it is a programme or application, not a %$£"%£$"^£"^ app!
P.
The devices are themselves only the tip of what is an enormous iceberg.
I work for a 'telecoms supplier' and spend a lot of time in server rooms. These things chew through power like water over the edge of Niagara.
The 'typical' purple clad server is geared up to run at between 500 and 1000 watts, depending on the Config.
Two or three of these in one cabinet, plus the drives, plus the back ups, plus the air con' units, plus the……
Assume 50 cabinets per NOC [a round if conservative figure] all running 24 hours and one plus, in a small bungalow in Weston Super Mere powering a small Finnish mobile is, in the grand scheme of things, irrelevant.
What is really needed is some sort of joined up way of producing the power in the first place, using all the different 'green' technologies -wind, hydro, solar et al-, having people generate some / most / of their domestic needs through their own green generation -again, solar, wind etc- thereby encouraging users to 'value' the power they consumer by understanding more about how it is made.
There also needs to be a drive the Government UK to force Britain PLC to start actually making some of this green technology, not just importing German windmills and Swiss turbines…...
Now, here is a thought....
Rather than pumping money into forgeign companies int he hope they will build stuff here, why not promote UK companies and push them into the space.
Now, I know there are not that many UK auto comapnies left, but LDV, for example could turn their hand toewards light commercials and buses.
BEA have enough experoence of 'electronics' to make an impact, the west mid's has a planopy of small suppliers who wil leap the chance of makung some new kit, why are we pushing everybody else and not takingwhat is a slightly Victorian view and saying : build and buy British ?
... is $1100 here [ http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x200/4505-3121_7-33184078.html], so down to $850 is nto exactly a bargain.
Why would you do it ?
If they took $850 off the price, that might be a different issue.
Then there is the question of 'who owns the machine....' ?
P.
At most, 02 put one card into some rbs's.
EDGE is a GPRS enhancement, not a 'new network' and it is oft' argued that 02 delayed the roll out of the enhancement, simply becuause nobody uses it becuase it is too bloody hopeless and far too pricey.
Upgrading to EDGE was, from O2 point of view a an act of desperation to get some traffic moving, rather than a some altruistic act of benevolence.
Don't be fooled by the o2 / Apple marketing machine..........
Nope, not an Apple Dig, this time.
I agree, for Gmail it is opt in, for the those tghat have Gmail.
However, a few people I know do have G Mail accounts and I am prepared to stake a large chunk of my prof' reputation on the following :
Google not only do scan the content of email for 'advertising opportunities' but also scan for the email address of those int he 'to' or 'cc' lists of emails, coming in or out.
Since a collewague fo mine started using a Gmail account, and sending 'stuff'' to my work address, the amount of crud that is hitting my work email has gone up ten fold. To the point where I have set up filteres on my work email to auto bin anything with @hotmail or @gmail.
This is not a 1 April thing either......
Kevin, I don't mean to be rude, but I have feeling I am going to be.
Only 2m/bit ? Only ? I am going to make the assumption that you do realise just how fast 2meg actually is ?
I have the good fortune to travel for a living. Not to the boring glamour capitals of euroland, but to the exciting world there is in Sub Saharan Africa. I am just back from six months in Swaziland, for example. Swaziland has one 4meg link for the entire country, back to Johannesburg, which it uses as it's hub to the rest of the world.
There are some reasons for this, not least of course the mountains that string north to south on the western border of Swaziland. Getting some sort of connection during the day can be neigh on impossible.
I am not suggesting we bin all our investment until some backwater corner of anywhere has what we have, but I am suggesting a swig of reality juice with a largish slice of perspective.
So please, don't complain because you only get a 2 meg link, and not 18.
Two meg's, wow. Be thankful you are not on 33k copper wire still…..
More cheap Chinese made plastic tosh with sky provided over hyped news feeds...
Basically, 150 for the ability to send 50 sms a month seems like a lot to me.
And it seems to me as if it will be v ery shport step to having adverts slapped through this cheap pastic crap in a revenue sharing deal with sky : which probably explains why 02 went with the mordoch lie machine rather than Blighties BBC..........
The fact that the 'phones are given away does not mean that they are not purchased : they are just purchased for a zero value. And, not everyone get their devices from the Net Ops : I for one buy my 'phone and get a service secondly. It is my phone, I'll biuy the one I want, rather than being hood winked into their purchase : If I want Phone xxxx i'll buy phone xxxx.
Just a couple of points :
Wales is no more a country that Yorkshire.
Wales can no more afford to apply its regional accent on the rest of the country than can Norfolk.
The Welsh assembly is just a county council and shoud not be getting ideas above its station.
Three pretty sounds reaspons for telling them to %$"%£"$%^! off.
P.
There used to be a time when the 'process' of doing something was the subject of a patent : ie a crane was patented, not 'lifting stuff'....
Now 'waving your finger around' and 'touching a screen' is considered to be patented.....
Pah.
I would really like to see this stand up in a court when it is challenged, assuming Apple try to enforce it of course.....
P.
So....
If I drop a 'live cd' in the tray and re-boot, what will happen ?
In my experience, once the live cd OS is running, it gives access to any / all data on the hard drive, so makes encryption redundant.
The only solution I have found useful, is to apply the encryption at the document / file level, so even though it can be seen, it can not be accessed.....
I thank you.
P.
... is really how consumers see it.
Nokia sells stacks of devices, not becuase they have the S60 interface, but becuase 'when you press a button it does the right thing'. For techies yes, S 60, wu hu,.!!
But for my parents, my wife and the rest of the breathing world, who cares ?
If Android wins or looses is not about 'Android' it is about the deployment that the handset makes actually apply.
Nokia could make S60- suck, but it sings. So it wins.
MKD
ps : Don't know which icon I chose, but I quite like it. Clues anyone ?
So, this 120 quid, is this on top of the network charges for airtime/ download megs ?
I have to say, not being an Apple user, I laugh at the gulability of Apple customers : pay for too much for a sub standard 'phone, pay excessive amounts for air time, not allowed to use the device for you want to becuase Apple block adding apps and then they steal 120 quid for an email service that, frankly, is free on almost every other phone I can think of.
My e65 looks like the bargain of the century in comparisson.......
P.
All, please..... get a grip.
It is only a 'phone.
Really, please. Enough tossing off over a very exspensive lump of shiny plastic.
Get an E series Nokia, a HD mp3 player [E65 and the 60GB Zen are my choices] and you have a much better combination. And of course you don't look like an arse.
P.
I agree 100%. I have been using Linux on my laptop for a while. Not Mandriva / Mandrake, [sorry : it is french after all ;-)] and I have had all sorts of issues with different apps. Once simply one was voip. I dont use skype, I use a sipgate. Personally I prefer it and it is much cheaper for the countries I call..... but it is a WinApp.
The thought of shoving it in and it working is something I love, and it may mean that I no long have to dual boot, taking up extra HD space, and actually, I could now travel laptop-less.
Vive le France......
... is what seems to be lacking.
Lets face it, the IPhone is exactly what it is called, a 'phone. The only thinkg is, it is just not a very good one.
I have used one for a while and have gone back to my Nokia E65. Why ?
1 : Can use the nokia with one hand [actually, almost totally with one thumb]
2 : 2b Micro SD card hold more than enough enything
3 : The Nokia Quick Office is very good [this is a mobile not a laptop, dont forget that....]
4 : Bokth devices will play some music / show me some pictures
5 : Symbian software is, frankly, excellent and [IMHO] is far FAR better than the eyecandy from Apple
6 : The battery IS replaceable
7 : The Nokia is unlatched so I can put in any sim I want [I travel around the world for a living [Euro land / Africa / Asia] and the chance to reduce call charges by dropping in a local sim in invaluable]
8 : third party software IS available
9 : Nokia is much smaller and lighter
10 : managing email / sms's is far FAR better / easier on my nokia /almost any nokia [in fact most mobiles, even cheapies] are better than the IPhone.
11 : The Nokia is much cheaper
12 : the Nokia is 1000% better value
I rest my case.
P.
Agree totally.
I happen to quite like these. But then again, I like Phillipe Starck as well, so who am I to judge.
Anyone know who makes the radio / MMI for these things ?
Please let it not be shite in a gorgeous box, like the Bang /Olufsen : gorgeous body around a samsung..... arggggghhhhhhh!!
The problem with things like this massive wind farm is that it is a 'central solutuion' to a local problem.
Wind is wind. Sun is sun.
A better overall, more rounded solutiopn would be to say 'bugger the £££ cost, building int he uk has to have solar panels and a small wind turnbine' which is then responsbile for producing energy for that building. Tag on the sub soil water heater things and most homes in the uk would make a decent % of their power needs themselves. Not allm, and not all the time, but a fair contribution.
Stick in a couple of nuclear power stations, build the london wind farm and make the scots do as they are told and build theirs and a 'joined up solution' starts to make some sense.
The problem at the moment, as I see it, is this : people want to carry on using power as they do right now. This can't happen. Not long term.
People will haverto make comprimises, sooner rather than later. The Gov' has to bite the bullet, bin daft wastes or money like Iraq / Afghanistand et al, and channel that money into building a national power solution.
Shell and E.on and the rest dont want to do this becuase it is not a 10% margin product. Nope, they are right.
But then again, when the lights go out in 50 years, we're buggered anyway, so we may as well try it now. Try it and fuck up is much better than darkness for ever.......
P.
5mx ?
Probably the best portable ?
Give me a break.
C E R T A I N L Y the best portable ever.
No arguement. End of story.
The only thing stopping me buying one is the small 4gb memory.
If it is is to be truly 5mx replacement [yes, I still use mine] it needs to have a 20gb [or more] hard drive. Lets face it, my nokia e95 has a 2gb micro sd card.
P.
""Maya Posch rocks....""
This is El Reg not "sucking_up_to_Apple.com"....... unless of course the erstwhile Ms Posch is a palaeontologist. In which case "Maya Posch uses/examine/ crushes rocks....." et al.
And the Beeb website only has the adverts if you are outside the UK.
If you don't like it, read your own news providers web service... unless of course that happens to be RTE, in which case, my sympathy.
""Maya Posch rocks....""
This is El Reg not "sucking_up_to_Apple.com"....... unless of course the erstwhile Ms Posch is a palaeontologist. In which case "Maya Posch uses/examine/ crushes rocks....." et al.
And the Beeb website only has the adverts if you are outside the UK.
If you don't like it, read your own news providers web service... unless of course that happens to be RTE, in which case, my synpathy.
""Maya Posch rocks....""
This is El Reg not "sucking_up_to_Apple.com"....... unless of course the erstwhile Ms Posch is a palaeontologist. In which case "Maya Posch uses/examine/ cruches/ rocks....." et al.
And the Beeb website only has the adverts if you are outside the UK.
If you don't like it, read your own news providers web service... unless of course that happens to be RTE, in which case, my synpathy.
""which lack the hardware necessary to run Windows Vista adequately""
El Reg does this quite often. Think back 20 years or so to the days of Vic 20's, BBCB's, Electrons and Speccy's. Think about what what your machine does now. Just what does a 2mhz processor 2GB RAM, Video ram etc etc actually do ? It runs a massive OS. It is not, as El Reg suggest that machines ""lack the hardware necessary to run Windows Vista adequately"" but more that the OS is not capable of running on the hardware available. Subtle difference but important.
Ask yourself one last question.
Why are these ULCPC's starting to gain some credence ? It is becuase they do a simple job well, for minimum cost. Email, web, saving/opening documents.... what more does a PC need ?
The bloatware that comes with MS and Apple machines creates the impression that , without all this bloatware, your life is somehow facile. Not in the slightest. 75% of the crap that ships with most Wintel and MacTel machines is not needed and is hardly ever used.
Bin it, buy a ULCPC machine, but a mountian bike with the differnce saved and have a life instead.
Amazing.
P./
Sorry Andrew..... not correct.
Just becaus it takes a sim card does not mean it is 'approved'. All the [UK] networks have approived and non approved devices. There are some good and bad reasons for this, one good one being that some cheap chinese devices do suffer from radio leaking, ie, skipping around the 900mhz areas and interferring with other devices and infact other frequencies.
Another [good ?] reason is the provision of service. The reason you are able to put a sim card in a device and have all the correct settings 'sent' to you is that the NOC and the device 'talk' to each other, the imei contain information about the type of device it is. This in turns talks to a Auto' Device Config' tool the NOC buys form the supplier [Ericsson / Nokia / Nortel et al] that is linked to a database of 'approved' devices.
It is perfectly possible to have a 'chinese knock off' device, some sort of 'nokia me too' clone running on a network, but it is also 110% possible for that same NOC to block that device [and subscriber] by blocking the imei. I have three devices and one of them is , in fact a chinese knock of nokia thing which I bought in Africa.
In the UK it 'feels' like we have 'open access' but we don't. We just have a massive choice of 'approved' devices that allow users to skip and hop around the NOC with a massive range of devices, which is why you can take an old Nokia [1611 for example, that uses the 'big' sim format ] but a £5.00 per paid sim and make a call and send an sms. Obviously no 2.5G or 3G, but what da ya wan' for a fiver.... ?
P.
At 99 quid, this is now starting to get to apoint where I could reasonably start to consider replacing my Psion 5mx with a new PDA.
Well all said an done, this cheap 'laptops' a just big PDA's, the evolutionary path the Psion would hacve taken if they were still in the HW business.
Oh and for the record, the dark haired Elonex girl. Not fond of blondes and she has wobbly legs. Sorry to be picky.
P.
It struck me that all these three meachines look very familiar. And that is becuase I still [still!!] use my Psion 5X. A month of a pair of Double A's, touch screen, expandable memory port, infrared.
Ok, so it is pretty poor at doing 'on line stuff', but as far as I can see, that is about the only draw back of this amazing device.
All four devices [the three UMPC's and the 5MX] can synch with email clients, al synch with calendar clients, all play games, they all open MS Docs [although the MX does not supoort ODF : Ten years too early i sorry to say !!].
The 5MX is still the best PDA I know. UMPC's are, after all, just PDA's surely............?
P.
Mr Barrow.......
I agree 173%.
I have spent the last few years working out of the UK. Africa mainly. I'm in Madagascar right now.
I have seen more cheep Chinese shite over the past few years than I care to recall. Africa is full of the stuff. And it is all, uniformly and utterly shite.
Buying cheap is a false economy, everyone knows that.
Like doing your weekly shopping in a Spar.
The problem is thee are three million Irish who think Spar is the best place to do ther weekly shopping and 500milion [more ?] Africans who think China is the home of quality.
Answer is to stop buying from China.
Result : less cheap crap means less waste, means less pollution, less transportation costs and emissions and, heaven forbid, a UK manufacturing industry.
Heavens, whatever next.
P.
In the last few years I have had three Nokia in parrallel with a host of other 'phones. A 1611, the first phone with a 1oohr standby, a 2110, possible the best phone ever made [despite the 'wood' finish] and the one I am using now, a 6100.
Crappy camera [it IS a phone], crappy video [it IS a phone], but excellent multi tasking, excellent radio, will handle multiple pull email accounts, clock, world clock, good browser......
A great comms tool.
Now, where do I get a 3g 6100 ?
Then I'm happy.
MD
To all of you out there who are complaining about 'assuming' he was fat. Well, read the article.
"" deployed "wrapping tape" to measure his circumference in front of other passengers. ""
Do you do that with tall thin 'HEAVY' people. No.
Long legs ?
No.
Swimmers.
No.
Fat people.
Yes.
Sorry about this, but he was fat. simple as that.
If I go over my allowance for luggage, I will be charged.
More luggage, more money.
You can see where I'm going with this...........
There is a serious point here though as well.
The Gov' are trying to force airlines to pay a 'green tax' per plane, the airlines want 'per person'. Either way, prices go up.
More mass carried means more fuel spent, meaning more tax.
Will fat people [sorry, people with extra mass ] have to pay the extra ? Probably not.
Should they ?
Of course.
More mass = more fuel = more 'greenhouse stuff' = more tax.
Simple equation.
Result : fat man goes on diet = saves money on sh1te food = gets healthy = lives longer = saves money on flights
Seems like one of those fabled 'win win's' to me............
P.
ps : and yes I know i know, personal choice, blah blah blah. I'm all for personal choice, but sometimes you have to PAY for those choices.
I have to say, I personally object quite a lot to the 'free / subsidised by advertising' business model.
The reason is that, everybody pays just a little more for everything, regardless of how / where and even IF they use somebody else's service.
I happen not to use Google. It's a choice thing.
I can not recall the last time I clicked a 'paid for by advertising' link on any website. I tend to do my research using lots of media, including websites, about whatever it is that I am in the market for.
But, and this is the nub of the matter..... the price of what I am buying is just that little bit higher for me and everybody else buying that product and service, because that company / service provider IS paying Google for some 'click thru' revenue, even though it generates [less than 5%] a very small amount of revenue.
But I'm still paying for it, even though i don't use these 'free' services.
So, HOW THE F%$£%"£$%£ IS IT FREE..??????????
And don't get me started on that piece of s"£$%"£$%, that hunk of junk that is neither a good phone, nor a good media player, nor a good....... [bugga, i've started] that Apple ship and morons buy.
P.
PS : Yes, I am aware this has turned into a rant, but as Tyke, I get mighty pissed off when I know I'm being robbed, but bloody furious when I know there is nothing I can do about.
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