Posts by Derk

Ohh! The PRECIOUS! Give it to uss. We WANTS it: Shiny iThings coming in 2014

Re: If it's like Apple Pages

A watch that tells you when you need to buy more Apple stuff?

Boffins find world's oldest virgin water trapped in Earth's crust

Re: I wonder if the bacteria in them holes ever thinks.....

its sitting down there thinking "If only there were some fleshy bags of water to live, feed and eat in"

Death from above nope.........tiny new bugs sitting waiting to be released upon an unsuspecting world.. Mmm I feel a Hollywood B movie script coming on.

Doped nanotubes boost lithium battery power three-fold

Re: Boeing needs to sponsor more of this

RoHS applies to consumer products, and not aerospace.

Cable Cowboy lassoes Virgin Media with HUGE £15bn deal

debt ridden company

Liberty Global have huge debts, they are in 'merican parlance over leveraged. They see the Virgin takeover as nothing more than a cash cow. Virgin customers be prepared to be squeezed until you squeak.

'Doomsday' asteroid Apophis more massive than first thought

Watch our leaders, and their kids.

If our illustrious leaders have been telling us all porky pies about the chances of a later hit, then they and their offspring will be living it up, like its the end of the world for the next 16 years. Which it could be.

MEGAGRAPH: 1983's UK home computer chart toppers

Re Re: @-tim

Couldn't agree more. Things have changed but not always for the better. I used to do PCB designs with a lightbox, scalpel and tapes/transfers. Took a few weeks to do a double sided board, my letters were written by typists and we all went home at 5pm. Now customers expect the same sort of board in 24-48 hours. More productive? perhaps, but now I'm the typist too. Computers promised so much more leisure time, and for some it has, as unemployed folk LOL. My lardy ass now sits in front of a screen for 8 hours, and I have to make time for exercise. Must be getting old, but I preferred the slower pace of life, civility and time to think.

I'll get me coat and piss off to the past....

Windows 8: At least it's better than ‘not very good’

£££££

Hey Alistair,

How much did the Reg pay you for that insightful article? I'm sure I too could write well researched, expletive articles too. Slow news day?

Review: Apple iMac 21.5in late 2012

Re: Not impressed with your review.

"And you could do the same with your spelling It's PIECE not peice."

Yeah....about that. One person is pretending to be a journalist, and the other isn't, is he?

Re: Not impressed with your review.

@ Captain Underpants.

For a product to be classed as "Green" in the electronics industry, then it does not have to be fully recyclable. It must not contain 8 very nasty chemicals, and must have minimal quantities of a whole raft of others. The idea is stop some very toxic substances leaking out in landfill sites, and getting into the water supply. That is the RoHS directive, and the WEEE directive builds upon this.

I too am not enamoured with a glued together design, as repairs are certainly not easy or strait forward. But not impossible either. But as many have pointed out, Apple seem to have disregarded the service aspect in favour of stock turnover and greed.

The tone of Bobs "review" was quite honestly very immature and sounded like he'd made his mind up before he even started. I have no respect for such articles. I expect a review to be much more technical, and to list the pros and cons of a product. I could get a review like Bobs from any "Computer expert" in PC World on a Saturday afternoon.

Not impressed with your review.

Dear Bob,

Your review was painful to read. Please take a few minutes to actually read what you write. Don't like the wireless keyboard without the numeric pad, then don't select one when you order. The target market for this product is not the average Reg reader or computer geek. Their target market is none technical people who will select what they want upon ordering, and most likely stick with it until the machine needs replacing. But don't let that get in the way of a good snigger at the design. To those posters who question its green credentials, you really should read up on RoHS, and WEEE. It is not about how easy it is to take apart. It is all about the materials in it, and the reduction or elimination of dangerous chemicals and compounds.

For Apple these products are not the products that they want you modifying. The are just appliances, tools to do a job. Just in the same way you don't take your freezer to bits to "Upgrade" it. You buy it, use it and get a new one, when it not longer does what you think it should.

Review: Apple Mac Mini 2012

Re: Weird product

I don't agree. The mini has its place. I use a 2010 model with 2 x 24" monitors for CAD (Run in parallels Win XP). The 2010 model handles this, together with all my business needs just fine. I would have a 2012 model in an instant, if they only had put some better graphics in it. I'm not keen on the IMacs with their glossy screens, too much glare. The one thing I love about the mini, is the silence, very quiet, oh and its minuscule power consumption too.

Harley allows Apple to use 'Lightning' brand on 'playthings'

Crazy

Methinks it is crazy to have trademarks on common English words.

NASA SECRET DISCOVERY ON MARS: Meteor offers possible clue

Re: It's life, we're not that special...

Don't blame religion for the worlds ills. Man will kill and maim his fellow man for resources, greed, power, influence and anything else thats suit his purposes. Religion is just a convenient vehicle for them to use. Most religions teach peace and understanding. The message just gets cast aside. If the money spent on "Defence" was spent on solving the worlds resource problems, and exploration, we'd have had bases on Mars ages ago.

Swedish boffins: An Ice Age is coming, only CO2 can save us

Follow the money

No matter what happens, the politicians will seize it and tax. We get an ice age..look it's climate change, hot and dry, oh look its climate change....I'm reminded of fleas on an elephants back thinking that they can predict where it will go, and perhaps, just perhaps they can get it to change course.

New Mac mini: Business in the front, party at the back

Re: No, fully upgradable!

Doh......The new Mac Minis ALL have the Intel HD Graphics 4000, integrated with the processor, where as previously you get buy a Mac Mini with a AMD Radeon HD 6630M Discrete chip. The Intel HD4000 is a 3 legged dog, with only about 50% of the capability of the discrete one, discrete, which means separate dedicated HD6630M chip. They could have gone for the Nvidia 640LE or similar.

Not so F*@K*ing clever now eh?

integrated Graphics chip.....pooo.

WHITE WHALE spent 4 years trying to tell us something, then stopped

What he is trying to say is.....

So long and thanks for all the fish......

Sacked British RIM staffers to get minimum legal payout

Shear Luxury

I got made redundant in 2009. Thought Oh well, nice little packet heading my for 12 years service. Err no... We are not going to pay you anything, not even this months salary. Eh? We are broke, bust, kaput. Off to the dole I go. Sorry mate you can't get anything here, as your employer has not being paying your NI contributions. My employers in their last year of business awarded themselves big fat pay rises. So company was sold off at £22K by the administrator (sold to the investment firm that put the nail in the coffin previously), Investment firm then sold it on for £128K. It is still running now, with a vastly reduced order book and staff. I got the government minimum after several months. So if these guys get something, as they should. Good for them. Its not the end of the world. I started my own business, never looked back.

British car parks start reading number plates

The March of technology, the creep of the surveillance state.

I expect that within the next 50 years you will all be chipped anyway. Your location will be known every waking and sleeping moment. It will be done of course in the interests of your "safety" and "convenience" Traditional crimes such as robbery and murder will be harder to commit as you'll be placed at the crime scene, or not. No need to carry cash or credit cards, just wave your hand over the terminal, and your account will be automatically debited.

Break the law or upset your political masters, and it could be very difficult to survive, no food, no trade, no heat or shelter.

Slowly but surely you'll accept your whereabouts being known to private companies, government agencies. All those dystopian fantasies seen in the movies will become reality for you. Personally I'd rather go without. If you boycott them, they will fail. Your choice.

Bone-bothering boffins pull TINY fanged dinosaur from drawers

Still around in Mexico, if you believe the locals

Chupacabra

Reg hack uncovers perfect antidote to internet

Want one

I have no need of a well. Where I live we have too much water. First I'd start with a well, then keep digging and digging, extra rooms, tunnels to other places, need to keep it secret. But where to put all that earth?

A bloke along the street from me has a huge underground "romper room" in his back garden. He is a musician, so he and his mates can go wild in there and the neighbours in our street of unassuming 1930's semi's hear and know nothing.

Mars probably never wet enough for life, nuclear bomb crater indicates

No life?

If they find no life there, ever. Then is Mars of use to Mankind? I did read that terraforming would not work, as it can't retain a thick enough atmosphere. Now Venus can and does retain a very thick atmosphere, or so I'm told. Could Venus ever be Terraformed? or is to close to the sun?

Airbus predicts catapult takeoffs and formation flying by 2050

Flying in 2050?

I don't think its going to be a problem that concerns us really. With the ever increasing population, and it shows no sign of slowing down, you won't be able to get away from it. Everywhere will be the same. Overcrowded hell holes. So there goes the holiday. Perhaps only available for those that have pleased the authorities or met their work quota. Meetings will be conducted on wall size screens, the tech exists now. Until the world sorts out its population problem, every increasing demand for ever decreasing resources, flying will be a memory from the "golden days"

btw its Tales not Tails. FFS what happened to this world?

Raspberry Pi production back in Blighty

Myths

I work in the sub-contract electronics industry. If the board has been designed correctly for automatic component placement.insertion, then the machine costs are similar to that of the UK. If there is a fair bit of manual insertion/placement, China can be up to 40% cheaper. We design these days to eliminate as much human input as possible. In that way we can compete with China. The Philippines has an equally low labour as China, and many Japanese companies assembly there. Here is an example of labour costs taken as an assessment for the building of new plant to build mechanical items (High labour content)

US $12/Hr. UK $7.50Hr. Caribbean Area $1/day. China? Pay the factory owner a fixed monthly fee, regardless of the amount produced. These figures are for yr2000. I can't give todays figures, I'd get sacked. So in effect the China labour costs did not enter into the products P&L sheet. Just material, small overhead and logistics.

The comments on duties for components is rubbish. Customs and excise operate a system that assigns a code to an item that is to be imported, whether it is shoes, electronics components or paper, then there is a customs duty code assigned to it. Components such as resistors, capacitors, and IC's do not attract duty. Set top boxes for example, finished products do have an import duty of 4%, last time I looked. Each item is different. I have spent many a happy hour leafing through the codes, and later CD's issued by HMRC to try and justify a lower tariff in order to save money.

The big players in the UK assembly business such as Race have gone, not through being inefficient, but in a lack of vision regarding the supply chain. The remaining surviving UK Electronic Manufacturers, have plants in both the UK and China, best of both worlds. To make a go of it in todays market you need to be big and have direct accounts with your suppliers, which means >$1M dollar accounts usually. I'm surprised that these people are using Farnell for component supply, as Farnell are a distributor, and there is a mark up involved. There are plenty of UK subcontractors around who can push out 30Ku a month no bother, and who would be happy to manage the supply chain too. They will learn.....eventually.

You'll be on a list 3 hrs after you start downloading from pirates - study

They could vastly reduce piracy very quickly

Gabe hit the nail on the head. The entertainments industry business model simply has not caught up.

Do I want

A). To wait years to see Family Guy episodes, or Game of Thrones on BBC whatever channel?

B). Buy multiple subscriptions to cable and satellite providers to get the shows I want? Stuffed full of bloody adverts, TV logos and previews of other shows whilst I'm trying to watch a different show?

C). Pay too much to ITunes for out of date content?

D). Pay the Producer of the content a small fee, on demand for that episode when it is ready?

E). Pay for a good broadband connection, pay for a good VPN, and undertake illegal activity?

I'd rather have option D thank you, I'd rather pay the producers of the content, no adverts needed, instant global launch. It is entirely feasible with todays technology. In my humble opinion, the producers of the content would make MORE money, but like the music industry there is a huge raft of parasitic entities trying to justify their existence's at every bodies expense.

EOL EOR

Cook's 'values' memo shows Apple has lost its soul

Bad long term move really

Apple should not have seen Samsung as a real threat, followers never are, they come late to market with something similar, and cheaper. Often tapping a market segment that Apple never used to be interested in. At one time Apple Macintosh made good reliable product aimed at the quality end of the market. But shear greed has taken over, they now want it all. This will mean that the followers will now have to do something, something radical, something really innovative, or die. They just might come up with something much better, who knows? They will have to find ways around their patents too. Samsung will now also be looking at this billion dollar award and wondering if it should supply parts to Apple. I'm sure if I was Samsung's CEO I'd be asking some very pertinent questions on cost/benefits of having a relationship with Apple.

I switched to OSX in 2005, and have in the last couple of years, not really liked the style and direction that Apple have taken. They have become "Microsoft".

I'm reminded of the start of Ben and Jerries ice cream, were they whinged about being "excluded" from the market, as the big competitors wouldn't allow shops to put their product in the competitors freezers, only years later to do the exact same to quite a few start ups. The Merkins just love a monopoly!

Although I use and Love my IPhone 4, MacMini, & MacPro. I think I'll be looking around at the alternatives for my next phone, and computer....Linux? Linux with Steam would be a winner for me.

Microsoft tightens grip on OEM Windows 8 licensing

New operating systems and updates

I'm surprised about all the negative opinion on the net about Windows 8. Normally people are enthusiastic abut new goodies, new features, but with Win8, its not so. I wonder what the bods at Redmond are thinking? or perhaps they aren't....................thinking

I see their plan.

They have looked at the Apple business model, and envied how much money they have made by selling hardware with software installed. I think that they want the user to view the PC as just like a telly or washing machine. When it is broken, you either pay for a costly repair or buy a new one. In this way MS gains every time. It won't work for them. They are not in the same league as Apple for innovation. They do not have their own manufacturing and procurement chain. In my view they are going to destroy the "fan" base of hobbyists and small volume builders that helped make it so universal. They might have judged that they don't need it anymore? However the hobbyist market must be huge, with so many young (and old) gamers building their own rigs. Now they are going to make it more difficult for them? Bad move. I think that Gabe over at Steam has sensed that, he knows what the vast majority want, vs the corporate market, and its games. A whole new market is about to open up, gaming on Linux, it will take time but once it starts to grow, it will gather momentum.

Microsoft have not learned the lesson of Vista, they keep trying to shot themselves. With Steve Balmer in charge, it only a matter of time before he hits something vital.

Microsoft: MED-V won't help you escape WinXP end-of-life

And When I'm in Charge

If MS was my company, I'd be finding out why the customers want to stay with it, perhaps it has features that the later Vista and Win7 don't? I'd be asking "Why the hell are we forcing people to take something they don't want!?" Make the upgrade path less painful, especially in terms of cost.

If MS see no money in Win XP, then charge for updates, charge for sevice packs.

I still use XP in Parallels for my CAD system on my Mac. Upgrade to Win7? spend £100+ for what? Don't think so. XP works just fine. Mind you I downloaded the preview of Win8, what a crock that is! Got so pee'd off it with it so fast.

Microsoft: Giving people what they either don't want or need and charging the earth for it.

Surface slab WILL rub our PC-making pals the wrong way – Microsoft

Sell MS stock?

I have to agree with you 100%. MS are so far behind the competition. I expect that their tablet will go the same way as the Zune. I also think that Apple have peaked too. Without Steve's vision, we've seen some embarrassing U-turns recently.

Makes interesting reading

http://m.vanityfair.com/business/2012/08/microsoft-lost-mojo-steve-ballmer

Humanity increasingly sitting on collective arse

What my doctor told me....

I was told by my doctor, not to join a gym, he said walk to the gym if you like, then turn around and walk back. His reasoning is that he deals with so many injuries from enthusiastic keep fit fanatics.

I'm self employed and usually stuck in front of monitors all day doing CAD. But I do make time to go out and walk 3-4 miles every day. Its not difficult. What I did find difficult was being employed in a company with a stressful culture, ending every day knackered, falling asleep in a chair when I got home, getting fatter by the year. Hard work never killed anyone? I disagree. Too many people have too much stress, which in my opinion leads to comfort eating. It certainly does not help them to sit in front of the idiot box every night, watch endless adverts for food and cooking shows.

Nearly 2 MILLION US Facebook users quit social network

Bye bye

I said goodbye in January, don't miss it, just a distraction from doing real things.

NASA counts down to nuclear tank invasion of Mars

Idiots view

I'm not keen on all these high speed manoeuvres. I'd prefer much more that retro rockets, parachutes, and air brakes were used in the upper atmosphere, and then they can deploy a large balloon, for a gentle descent to the surface. I really hope that it all works. For me space exploration is the only thing that excites me about technology these days. Here on earth the "bad monkey's" are still killing one another over trivial things, monkey hives (cities) are overcrowded, resources are running out, or so the greedy monkeys tell us. It is just a shame that all the greedy control freaky monkeys ensure that trillions are spent on means to kill other monkeys rather than really solve the problems of the day.

Perhaps this scenario is our only hope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spr5YFfrnA0

Philips 46PFL9706T 46in 3D smart TV

Painful

I found your review painful to read. "this TV is capable of quite deliciously clarity" really? Do you even read what you've written?

Moths stalk their prey? yes quite. Flowers can be very evasive.

Study reveals high price of porn addiction

Really?

The survey says:

85% of men like to wank and enjoy it

15% of men deny it.

As the saying goes, there are wanders, and liars.

Paris.....because she has helped so many.

Dinosaur flatulence may have warmed Earth

Beans

I'm trying this on a local scale. A diet of beans for a few weeks in an enclosed room to see if I can raise the temperature of the room or even house.

Hanging's too good for 'em - so what do you suggest?

Old Folks homes

Starve the criminals, until they are frail and fragile. Then put them in old folks homes to be abused, beaten, denied medical treatment, fed slop, put to bed at 1730, denied the toilet, made to sleep in their own shit. The plus side is, that it is completely legal, and the organisation is already in place. The pensioners can move to the prisons, have big screen TVs, no fees to worry about, instant medical treatment, better food.

Hang'em high - make a Dead mans Newtons Cradle

I really don't care if prisons and the death penalty does not deter them from re-offending. Once they are in prison they are not on the streets, no longer free to commit more crime.

For very dangerous (Multiple Murderers) types, I'd tell them, that you go on the organ donation list, whilst in prison. What ever organ is needed will be taken. If you die? tough should have thought about that before you did the crime. Your remains will be used to further medical knowledge.

For repeat continual offenders? Welcome to the drug trials, and they are not the drugs you are thinking about.

For minor crimes? Education is required, together with hard labour. They will eventually look forward to learning.

I'd select a nice mix of rapists, murderers, thieves, and allow them to be re-habilated in the homes of lefty bleeding heart liberals types. Perhaps televise it too. This week little Tarquin's plan to show Roger the rapist that he is loved has unforeseen consequences. Tom's efforts to entice Buba to read the Guardian need a re-think, and medical treatment by a proctologist.

Paris...because she knows all about crime, punishment and "insertion"

Nordic region, Ireland adopt new 'connected telly' standard

Re: So what's new?

NTSC=Never The Same Colour

SECAM=System Contrary to American Method

PAL=Perfect At Last

TV

This reminds me of the heated discussions about the various standards for digital TV many years ago. Someone wrote in Electronics times, that they were not that bothered about the technology involved, but more about the content. Now 20 years later, he was so right. So many channels of mind numbing shite. For this Luddite, I'd go back to 3 channels, no Daytime TV, and switch off at midnight. Quality content is what I want. Whilst the channels pour out continual drivel aimed at Vicky Pollard types, my TV will remain off, and sat in the garage. Next stop, no TV License.

btw I prefer to see articles written by the Reg, and not some consultancy agency paid by?

Atmospheric CO2 set to soar - OECD

Simpler solution to all this.

Population control. A lot of people in developing countries have large families, to ensure someone is around to look after ma and da in their old age. So instead of sending billions in AID, put in place a scheme whereby families that agree to have one child, will receive free schooling, other financial benefits and a guaranteed pension. Such a scheme rolled out globally could reduce the demand on finite resources. A better world for everyone. Population control. Otherwise we will spread increase in numbers, like a cancer on the face of the planet, until all the resources are used up, then massive population decline due to war.

Chinese tech firms fingered for military collaboration

Who would have thought it?

Well America, you fed and raised a big red dragon, you've moved your manufacturing overseas, some of you have become very wealthy from it too. Now the dragon looks like it will get even bigger and more dangerous than you. Face it, its going to make you its bitch, and it will bite!

Ten... e-cars and hybrids

Electric cars....pah

I'm going to buy a horse and cart. The horse can keep the grass cut, provide lots of fertiliser, off road capability if the cart is not used is pretty good. I get to wear riding boots, jodhpurs and a whip. And when dobbin is worn out? well lots of meat for the freezer. Whats not to like?

Warp drives are PLANET KILLERS, Sydney Uni students find

re: obvious solution

Or you could build huge "collectors" in space for all that energy. Every ship would know the co-ordinates to these "collectors" or we could call them gates, or jump gates. The energy collected could be saved and used to return the craft. Some energy could be bleed of to power space stations, we could call the first one B1, etc. Stay clear of any called B5, as strange stuff could go on there.

Handbags at dawn: Hermes loses Chinese trademark battle

Moving Chinese production to elsewhere

It could be possible to move to other Eastern countries. In my last company, the assigned labour cost to production in the Philippines, was the same as that of China. With the Billions that Apple has in the "Bank" they could design their products to be made in the US by robot. For those that are interested the cost of assembling an electronic circuit board, which has been designed for automatic assembly is the same, pretty much the world over. The differences in price, although small are usually attributed to the amortisation of the capital costs of the insertion equipment. Once the machines are paid for, then there is little in it. However if the designer has added numerous components that require manual assembly by a person, then China is often 40% cheaper.

Embattled Foxconn raises wage slaves' salaries

Labour rates

I used to work for a Japanese Electronics Corporation, with manufacturing sites across the globe. The odd thing is, is that labour rate we used for our Chinese factories, was the same as that paid in the Philippines. There was not quite the rush to set up there though?

Mars, Europe losers in Obama's 2013 NASA budget

Get off this world first

I think it would be a good idea to get off this rock first. A manned moon base, with mining and manufacturing capability. Once established, and self sufficient, then the moon is the best place to launch missions to other planets, and further. Considering that most of the wars, and justification for huge militaries is due to "resources" then the sooner we get metals and other compounds off world the better.

How inspirational would it be to have a global effort, all countries involved in setting up a "Human" outpost where all countries benefited equally. But no, the "corporation" will be involved, and we all know how that turns out. In Space, No one cares how you vote.

High Street chains vow to play fair on warranties

Not worth it

The vast majority of warranties are utterly useless. Goods have to be fit for purpose and of merchandisable quality. I bought a Sony TV from Amazon, the screen failed 26 months later. Repair shop said it needed a new screen and was not caused by damage or misuse. Amazon offered me an £80 bugger off credit note. Took it up with Trading standards, who sent of letters to Amazon on my behalf (free of charge), Amazon still would not budge. So I told them I was starting a small claims court proceeding against them, with the aid of trading standards. Result? I received a brand new replacement model from Amazon. Trading standards stated that some goods such as expensive TV's, washing machines, must last 5-8 years. All it cost me was £47 for the repair shop to diagnose the fault, and 3 months of letters.

Know your rights! and research your purchase, buy cheap, buy twice!

Tame the gas monster with sensors, suckers and a spiffy new fan

Alternative fan

Instead of the Vent Axia fan, try using an Envirovent "RetroVent" Good ventilation and nearly 90% heat recovery.

http://www.homeventilation.co.uk/retroVent.php

US tweet deportation: Chilling behind-the-scenes photos

I wonder

if there is a senior intelligence guy in the US of A who has his head in hands in an utter state of disbelief of what the TSA have done. Somehow I doubt it.

Thanks for the laugh Reg. Beer o'clock, time to go...