Posts by Russ Tarbox

Virtualising your infrastructure? Get your numbers right

Whoever coined the term "private cloud" should be banned from working in IT for life.

That is all.

Byte-dock MacBook Pro port replicator

Given that one of the selling points of a Macbook Pro is the amazing screen (and often upgraded to a better-than-standard resolution) I can't see this being a great device. Most people I know with Macbooks use them with a second screen only for dual screen functionality, not as a replacement.

45% of Android users to upgrade to rival phone OSes

Should've got a new girlfriend instead

Pussy whipped much?

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

Google says

that shares have dropped by just under 5% "out of hours"

TwitPic founder tries to pull rug from under Twitter

I think that happened a few years ago

I'm thinking MySpace ... then everyone I worked with moved to Bebo (it had better photo album features) and then FaceBook appeared ... which won because it had photo tagging.

It's increasingly harder not to have a presence on Facebook if you want to enter competitions for example ... note that most movies now are facebook.com/moviename rather than moviename.com.

IP registry goes to Defcon 1 as IPv4 doomsday nears

WE'RE ALL DOOMED!

Stupid boy. Etc etc.

Intel demos MeeGo 'tablet user experience'

I like MeeGo.

I've only used it on a Netbook, so a different experience in many ways, but it was a very nice operating system, simple to use and I could just get on with stuff.

Plus of course, being based on Linux (x86 at the moment at least) I'm sure it will be a hackers favourite...

World shrugs as IPv4 addresses finally exhausted

IPv6 is a pain in the arse

Yes, arse, sorry American readers.

Why? IP addresses are easy to remember, especially within a corporate environment. An (up to) 32 digit hexadecimal string is going to be far harder to memorise :(

Mozilla blocks Firefox-breaking Skype toolbar

Toolbars are killers.

This is why I like Chrome so much. It's fast and even if your end user installs software without checking what they're agreeing to, it will have no effect on Chrome. Which is nice.

1kW of sexy GPU love

I'd never touch SuperMicro again...

...several years ago I used to build computers for radio stations as part of my job. I used to source motherboards without anything on board as at the time most on-board stuff was non-standard and crap, and we always used specialist audio cards and graphics anyway (when dual monitors were unusual).

Anyway, I digress. To cut a long story short, after weeks of issues with a client's playout software wobbling all over the place, timing wise (despite us using a serial radio clock) it turned out that the CMOS clocks were shoddy. Different motherboards fixed the issue.

So, there's a story you didn't need to read.

Angry Birds to catapult onto TV

Amazing

I'm constantly amazed that such a basic physics-type game, the type of which has been available online in various guises since the dawn of Shockwave/Flash, has become so popular. I bet the creators wake up every morning and think exactly the same thing. Fair play to them though :)

MySpace employees face uncertain 2011

What are all the staff doing?

1,100 people, MySpace doesn't appear to have changed since the last time I looked at it. What are they all doing?

Google Chrome OS mauled by Richard Stallman

It was sarcasm.

However today's news about OpenBSD has made reading some of these responses quite amusing.

So what's Richard trying to hide?

What does he have that he doesn't want the police having? And who's to say the FBI, CIA and so forth don't already have back doors into all our computers anyway ...

Governments stonewall interwebs porn domain

This is such a load of bullshit.

Like a .xxx domain is going to make any difference to the amount of porn on the Internet. If anything it'll make it easier to block from work/kids etc. Morons the bloody lot of 'em.

Horror AVG update ballsup bricks Windows 7

I don't run AV on my computer.

I can't stand it, performance sapping, update requesting pain in the arse. I find some common sense and a nice VM for any, er, questionable software sources does the trick. Obviously this isn't a solution for most users though.

But this is another occurrence where I see the AV software causing more havoc than any virus I've experienced. A great one was Norton AV breaking POP3 accounts in Outlook Express (going back probably 6 or 7 years ago) and an AV update crippling all the XP-based tills in a well known theme park. That was a fun day...

WP7 vs Android: a struggle for supremacy

The joys of open source

We're finally seeing on a grand scale what's been preventing Linux taking a serious hold in the desktop PC market for years. Everyone has different ideas of what a device should how, how it should behave, how it should look.

So long as you agree with your phone manufacturer (or your Linux distribution) you'll be fine. If you want to do something a bit different, prepare for a struggle, incompatibilities or just having to accept it won't work.

Samsung UE55C9000 55in LCD 3D TV

Finally!

A Samsung set that does decent upscaling.

HMV offers 80-quid colour e-book reader

Surely these retailers are missing the point.

They're trying to sell what is effectively a cheap, no-name PMP as an eBook reader, when it only lasts 6 hours? Compared to a kindle which is built from the ground up and whose battery life can be measured in days or even weeks rather than hours, exactly what you need from a reader.

Next they'll be strapping a battery to an iMac and calling it portable.

Alleged bad Appler should pay back $1m

He should look on the bright side

At least he won't look like a complete tw*t driving around in a Cayenne anymore.

Co-op cashier's breasts overcharged for fruit and veg

Overcharged for a pepper?

How? Peppers are sold by unit not weight. Scales should have had no effect.

Twitter muggers stab rap star in buttock

Where in the article is twitter "blamed"?

It's simply stated that this is how the robbers knew his location.

Fedora 14: haven for Ubuntu's homeless GNOMEs

I'd never found a Linux distro I liked

I started using Red Hat back in the late 90s as a server OS, but did play a little with GNOME and KDE. But since then I've never found a Linux distro I liked. Some wouldn't work with basic hardware, Ubuntu pissed me off with being too "idiot-proof" - great if you're a basic user but if you want to do anything non-standard, a complete PITA.

Recently I downloaded a Fedora Live CD (I had installed MeeGo on this old Dell Inspiron and was trying to persuade the wireless to work) but ended up loving the Live experience so much I dumped Meego and now use it as this old laptop's OS. I've not missed anything from Windows at all. Everything worked. I have all the apps I want (including Spotify under WINE) and have actually enjoyed a Linux distro for the first time.

I wish I'd found it years ago.

HD Webcams

Next time can we have a different user doing the tests please?

No offence to Alun but perhaps a cheerleader or page three girl could have made the article a little more interesting ;)

The Hardware mid-life crisis

Odd article.

This seems to be giving advice than any IT tech worth their salt would know anyway. How odd.

Apple bolts chastity belt on super svelte MacBook Air

I've fixed plenty and agree with you entirely.

However, I'm sure you'd be the first to agree you're hardly an average "user" ...

To be fair...

...laptops have never really been designed to be "user serviceable". OK, some are surprisingly easy to tinker with, but a lot aren't. I don't think it's a nail in a coffin; merely the idea has never been born.

'Condom in my Whopper' man pulls case

"Rutland"

lol

Man wins $650k for stripper shoe eye snafu

Well now

at least he's well heeled

Just goes to show

you can't dance around the law

Android rebellion: How to tame your stupid smartphone

Sounds like Linux.

It's great so long as you want to get down and dirty. If you want shit to just work, go iPhone. And no I'm not an Apple Fanboi, I just appreciate what a consumer expects from a mobile!

BOFH: Lock shock

Finally back to proper IT!

A welcome return.

Mozilla answers WebKit with first mobile Firefox 4 beta

I don't like Firefox.

There, I said it.

Apple patent pic revives touchscreen Mac buzz

I hope that picture laptop...

...has a reinforced touch screen as those keys seem to protrude an awfully long way!

Logitech unveils first Google TV box

Yeah they're HD now and web content takes advantage...

...but like you say back then PC res was low so that would have made no difference. I just don't think people want to access the Internet through their TV. Just like people don't really want TV through their mobile, or music through their microwave (!)

Haven't we been here before?

Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Network_Computer and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_computer.

I just don't see why consumers are going to spend this kind of money on a device to browse the Internet on their TV.

Games consoles all provide access to most streaming services. PCs and Laptops can be had for $299 or less and you can surf the web on those AND watch TV on your TV at the same time. Without the family seeing what you're looking at. And a large percentage of TVs being churned out now have some kind of network connectivity built in.

This seems like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Or an attempt to fill a gap in the market that is there for a reason.

Good luck with this one ...

Kiss frontman gives file-sharers tongue-lashing

Sounds like...

...his parenting is as shit as his music.

Apple buys out $1bn data center squatters

But nothing comes close in the enterprise environment.

And Windows 7 is well worth shelling out cash for. Microsoft is still a very successful company, they just try entering a lot of new markets and often fail (e.g. Zune). But sometimes they succeed (e.g. XBox 360). But I think predicting their demise is a little premature. I for one could not recommend any other OS to my enterprise clients.

WD rolls out 3TB today

2 hour video?

What kind of measurement is that without information on encoding, resolution and so on? All two hour videos are not equal, as anyone who has had to sit through a Jennifer Lopez movie will know :(

Keene USB FM Transmitter

So if you crank up the TX strength, how far will it reach?

I'm thinking of setting up a pirate radio station on the cheap!

PS @ Anonymous Coward, I think that was the point mate...

Apple iPod Shuffle 4G

Are you sure?

"...and if the number of Shuffles seen on lapels and bagstraps around the capital is anything to go by, they're downright keen on them."

I'm certainly keen on my 2GB MP3 player that looks identical to an iPod shuffle but has a standard USB connection and cost a tenner ... I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Sony PlayStation Move

Why does it look like you're holding a magenta cock on page 2?

Bizarre...

Dell readies flip-screen tablet-cum-netbook

So just install Linux on it then.

It's a PC after all.

Also, I don't think "app stores" are the selling points for tablets. The fact it's a handheld computer seems to be the point. Like holding a clipboard or similar. But of course, the apps in these app stores are all specifically designed to be used with a touch interface, whereas of course most PC apps aren't. This is most likely why the iPad has been a success. If there were to be made available a range of apps that could run under Windows that were designed with touch users in mind, it might take off. But I doubt it...

To tell us about a new product.

Have you ever read The Register before?

Er, dude

The Fujitsu iPad was/is an EPOS solution. It looks more like an oversides Ericsson P800i.

Plus, Dell make some decent kit these days. Their Inspiron range was awful a few years ago (the fact they only offered a three month warranty spoke volumes) but it's as good as anything at a similar price point these days.

Happiness: Yours for £50k a year

£50K?

That might be the amount according to the exchange rate, but given our higher general costs of living, and taking "rip-off Britain" into account when considering the prices of, say, electronic goods, I'd imagine we're looking at a similar level but in sterling. So, £75K a year at least.

Angry Birds take wing on Android

Isn't Android fantastic

"It doesn't work on my version, oh my screen is the wrong size, oh shit my custom interface is incompatible".

I bet half of you post on iPhone threads claiming that Android is best, though.

Punters still puzzled by broadband ads

Speeds up to 56Kbps!*

* actual speeds may vary depending on the quality of your phone line.

Apple Magic Trackpad

"but why would I want one on a desk?"

Er, try reading the review, it gives a few reasons!

Polaroid 300 instant print camera

80% for this crap?

£80 for what looks like a kids camera, then over a quid a print. For that money you could get a decent, far more portable digital camera and a PoGo printer.

I really can't see who is going to buy this.