Posts by ekithump

Microsoft has another crack at fixing Chrome problems in Windows 10

Clusterfuck

Have they fixed the one that bricked a two day old Surface Pro yet too?

MS should spend a little longer testing the crap they emit, before defecating over their user base.

Footie ballsup: Petition kicks off to fix 'geometrically impossible' street signs

He's complaining about the ball being incorrect, but ignoring the fact that the pedestrian appears to be swinging left arm and left leg forward at the same time.

If you're going to be pedantic, do it properly!

Blade Runner 2049 review: Scott's vision versus Villeneuve's skill

Superb

As a massive fan of the original, I was both excited and terrified by the prospect of the sequel when it was first seriously mooted some years ago. When Villeneuve became attached as directer, with Hampton Fancher on (co-)script writing duties I became more hopeful. With both Gosling and Ford on board too, it promised even more.

I went to see it last night, and left very happy and will be seeing it again on Sunday. It lives up to the original in tone and pace, has an intriguing plot that kept me interested, and the performances are all top notch. The score is very good (if not a patch on the Vangelis original, but with nice nods and winks), and the cinematography is frankly stunning.

Why Apple's adaptive Touch Bar will flop

Been there, done that, didn't work.

I have a 2nd gen Lenovo X1 Carbon that also has the crappy adaptive strip instead of proper function keys, and it sucks donkey balls, and I leave it set to display F keys all the time.

The first thing I thought when I saw the Apple announcement was /sarc "Oh, that's new - Apple introducing something pointless and unoriginal again claiming it's their idea". But, as happened with tablets, now it's Apple doing it I'm sure everyone will think it's a wonderfully innovative idea. /sarc

To be fair though, if it's implemented properly by the software manufacturers, rather than by the hardware manufacturer, it could work. However, so much software makes use of function keys, it seems arbitrary to change something just for a niche of users with MacBooks.

This smacks of change for change's sake to me, rather than something game changing and, you know, useful.

Hackers giving up on crypto ransomware. Now they just lock up device, hope you pay

System Internals ERD Commander FTW?

'Fix these Windows 10 Horrors': Readers turn their guns on Redmond

Mandatory updates

Without the ability to control updates, what happens when an update breaks an app and stops the business running? If I can't roll back an update, I'll just block the updates site at the firewall and kill them dead in the first place.

We have render farm machines that must not automatically reboot themselves, otherwise it kills overnight workflow, so these will definitely stay on Windows 7 ad infinitum.

Do MS never learn?

We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Sorry, 'audiophiles', only IT will break the sound barrier

Re: ancient technology

"Of course every few years he has to order new tubes from China or some eastern European country since there isn't much demand anymore in the west."

I think you'll find there's still plenty of demand in the west - just ask any number of guitarists that use a modern tube amp (myself included).

Amazon accused of remotely wiping punter's Kindle

Not only stiffing the authors and publishers whose books they sell, but now stiffing the punters. I stopped buying books from Amazon many years ago, and will never buy ebooks, music, or anything else from them, due to their nefarious policies and activities vis royalties etc - so glad I'm not tied in to them or any other retailer.

If any more proof were needed that DRM is unfair to the 'buyer', this is a shining example.

Crytek: Schemes to strike second-hand games biz 'awesome'

I'll buy fewer games

I've tried a few games by hiring them first, and buying them if I like them. This mechanism will presumably prevent game rentals too, thus reducing sales from the likes of me even further. If I'm in any doubt as to whether a game is worth buying, I won't buy it.

This smacks of greed. As a previous poster stated, if they haven't calculated sales figures into their development and marketing strategy, and want to try to prop up poor sales by trying to make second hand buyers pay full price, then that's their own fault, not the fault of the second hand market. not everyone can afford to fork out £40-£50 for a game.

Not to mention that Crytek's last Crysis game wouldn't even run on my PC, even though it exceeds their minumum spec, and they've not released a patch to address the issue, which means I won't be buying any more Crytek products anyway.

EA confirms Crysis 3 release

Pass

I bought Crysis 2 last week, now it's only a tenner, only to find that when it starts up I can't even see the menu screens, so can't play the bloody thing. I hit the gaming forums only to find lots of people with the same problem, and no available fix from EA (tm) "It's in the Money" (tm), so I will not be buying this.

It's such a shame when good developers like Crytek get assimilated by EA - they are the Symantec of the games industry.

Sci Fi recomendations?

I'll add my votes for Alastair Reynolds, Charlie Stross and Ken MacLeod - all good stuff.

I'd also add Richard Morgan - his Takeshi Kovacs trilogy is superb (Altered Carbon, Broken Angels and Woken Furies). I'd also highly recommend 'Black Man' (called 'Thirteen' in the States, for some inexlicable reason). Hard edged and dark stuff.

His latest two books are his skewed take on fantasy, and if you like things like Elric thy're worth a read.

I'd also give Gary Gibson's 'Shoal Sequence' (Stealing Light, Nova War and Empire of Light) a go. I've got the last of the trilogy on my shelf waiting to be read.

30-year-old global temperature predictions close to spot-on

I've never understood...

...why there's even an argument over the statement 'we need to stop polluting our planet', whether it's causing climate change or not (which the science seems to indicate it is, despite the vocal minority of scientists denying it, and of course the big businesses and vested government interests who are only interested in short term gains and making loads of money).

It just makes sense not to shit on your doorstep.

The only positive to take from all the situation is that should the human race succeed in making the planet uninhabitable, all the deniers with their heads in the sand will die out with everyone else when homo sapiens becomes extinct.

Warner, Sony commit to UltraViolet in UK

Re: Ho hum

Except that if you've bought a UV triple play you've got a couple of disks, which you could rip, disable your UV login, and happily use your purchase in any way you see fit.

Yes, I'm against DRM, but at least the studios are doing something to make using their products more convenient. to use. I for one will carry on buying BluRays and DVDs, and if they let me stream and download them to my laptop or iPad then great. If they don't, I'll carry on ripping those I've bought for use on my devices of choice.