Posts by Hilibnist

Leaked snaps said to confirm iPhone 5 speculation

Nothing to see...

...well, if a lack of a hole constitutes "nothing". Or is that a lack of nothing so there's something to see? Anyway, looks to me like somebody should have tried harder to photoshop the slot for the SIM holder.

Windows 8 release preview imminent

Windows 8 Preview

Just a thought... if the ghastly Metro interface _wasn't_ a mandatory part of the Windows 8 preview, how many peope here would have tried it then ignored it without providing any feedback. By forcing preview users to use Metro, MS have got that feedback. Of course, whether MS reacts to it is a different matter!

Has anybody seen anything from Microsoft that states that the Metro interface will DEFINITELY be mandatory when Windows 8 launches?

Dell Latitude E6220 12.5in Core i7 notebook

Re: Re: Better Value?

Really? Obviously you pay Dell and Toshiba more for next day onsite service than their return to base service, but I never met a Toshiba notebook which couldn't be paired with a NBD onsite warranty. Toshiba's Up and Running warranty is even better... It's not foolproof, but you don't have to wait for an engineer, they'll just attend and stick your hard drive in a replacement chassis.

Of course, you can't help users who want to save money by choosing a cheaper service contract which doesn't offer the support they need!

Comet 'sold 94,000 pirate Windows CDs', claims Microsoft

Close, but no cigar

The article states that Microsoft is taking action against Comet for manufacturing counterfeit recovery discs. Unless Comet is an authorised replicator for Microsoft software, that would be a fair cop.

Microsoft OEM partners (e.g. Dell, Toshiba, Asus etc.) are permitted by their OEM agreement with Microsoft to create recovery discs for their customers. They’re not obliged to and they can charge what they like for them, but they can’t burn their own. They create a master (to meet MS guidelines which make the discs specific to each OEM) which is duplicated by an authorised Microsoft replicator.

Comet sells other brands of computers, they don't make their own. They can’t have an OEM agreement with Microsoft to replicate recovery media because they aren’t the Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Comet might have replicated the discs with the best of intentions (let’s face it, it’s probably to reduce after sales cost/hassle) but if they’re not licenced to replicate the software it’s illegal whether they charge for them or not.

@Steve Knox: you’re right – many large organisations buy lots of systems with the same config and don’t need an OEM recovery DVD with each PC. That’s actually even truer of organisations with volume licence agreements: they can purchase their volume licence DVDs from any MS volume licence reseller.

The new touchy-feely Doctor Who trend: Worrying

The memory cheats

Others have said it before, the memory cheats, there's just no way of "de-classifying" a classic lost story from the old series when the DVD comes out and everybody realises it was actually a bit pants. (Discontinuity Guide, IIRC?). I grew up watching Tom Baker's stories, but I don't remember watching wobbly Daleks, hunchbacked Cybermen or most of the backgounds in "Underworld" being CSO'd at the time.*

Davison's Doctor had to tolerate petulant companions and their emotional outbursts, and although they never tried to snog him, it was just as mawkish as some of the recent schmaltz.

I've still enjoyed all of that on DVD recently, but for a long time, lack of exposure meant I could only remember the best bits. If I'd been able to watch the old series as often as the new episodes have been repeated on BBC1, BBC3 and other channels, I reckon I'd have ripped them apart and tired of them a long time ago.

BTW, Does anybody else think it's ironic that the awful phrase "timey-wimey" originated in "Blink", one of the best regarded of the new stories?

*everyone thought the Myrka was crap. First time, every time.

Union enraged by secret driverless Tube plan

How much could they save?

Well said. 1,500 drivers with an average salary of £46,000 (say the BBC)... that'd be £69 million per year that TfL could redistribute. Fair enough, some of it could be usefully spent on more visible and helpful staff, but the rest would make a good contribution towards paying for full automation on the lines which already support it. The numbers look very inviting when you imagine the savings over 10 years or more.

Of course, it's a long shopping list of things to improve: aircon, more trains (or just more trains per hour), Oyster cards that don't spontaneously lose their data...

Mesh Computers goes titsup

6 years liability does not mean a warranty

The seller *can* be held liable for up to 6 years but only where the consumer can prove that the equipment was inherantly faulty at the time of sale and could reasonably have been expected to have lasted for longer. After six months of ownership, even if you follow it through Trading Standards and the courts, the owner will need to prove that the fault didn't occur after purchase through misuse or simple old wear and tear. That can be very difficult, even if you're dealing with a reasonable person. It's really difficult to prove that a computer has _never_ been dropped, flooded, left to over heat, overclocked or otherwise interfered with in a way that causes it to break down.

Now, if you were talking about an HP notebook battery *cough*...