Posts by Bucky O' Hare

Evolve: A shoot-em-up full of scary monsters and super creeps

Screenshots

Any of those screenshots actual in-game graphics then or what?

NetApp embiggens E-Series flashbox: Gee, a benchmark... thanks

"Embiggens"

There's that word again. It's a creeping menace.

Hola HoloLens: Reg man gets face time with Microsoft's holographic headset

Re: Hell Officially Froze over for me on the 21st of January 2015...

Microsoft, you know you're supposed to keep on messing things up and releasing bad things, right? Doing stuff like this will only get people liking you again, ugh.

HDS embiggens its object array by feeding it more spinning rust

"Embiggens"

Where in the world has this word appeared from lately? Is it now a regular piece of El Reg?

It makes me feel funny reading it. I'm not sure I like it but I'm not sure I dislike it either. I don't feel right though writing this. Does it have special powers?

Boybanders ONE DIRECTION launch DoS attack on open-source bods

Re: How is this a DoS Attack?

Hell no! I'm a web developer since 1998 and have been reading this site for just as long.

And I also happen to run a massively popular One Direction fan site (don't ask), which has had 2 DDOS attacks itself in the past year. It's not a particularly pleasant thing to deal with, nor do our ISP like it either. We've also had a couple of incidents with the lovely chaps over at 4Chan spamming our forum.

That's "one thing" I didn't like having to clear up after.

Windows Phone will snatch biz No 2 spot from Android – analyst

Thanks for the...

...Friday laugh!

Have a good weekend everybody :)

LIFE, JIM? Comet probot lander found 'ORGANICS' on far-off iceball

Re: why not here?

Very well put. It's extremely ignorant of us to think to the contrary, isn't it?

Microsoft: How to run Internet Explorer 11 on ANDROID, iOS, OS X

People still test in IE?

What's a Chromebook good for? How about running PHOTOSHOP?

What an idiotic comment, of course your requirements mean this situation isn't ideal for you.

But for someone who wants to use Photoshop for small-medium image editing this is absolutely do-able. Pixlr.com is a really popular web app so it's only natural that Adobe will eventually bring it's primary products into the cloud.

I'm a power user myself and for day-to-day work I could never use a Chromebook, but for weekend and evening *relaxed* work I may jump all over this. Chrome is my browser of choice, I use Google Drive for daily document editing, and I require the use of a good image/photo editor.

Why do I need everything else that Windows brings? I have Chrome apps for FTP,SSH and all sorts.

A Chromebook Pixel is close to getting on my Christmas wish list.

Business is back, baby! Hasta la VISTA, Win 8... Oh, yeah, Windows 9

Getting excited about new Windows releases, do people still do that?

Facebook, Google and Instagram 'worse than drugs' says Miley Cyrus

Re: Took her/them so long to find out.

Really? It's not a fad and completely different. Just take a look at the numbers and growth, they're staggering.

Like or loathe it, social media is here to stay, and our kids will grow up never having known anything different.

Supposedly secure Dogecoin service Dogevault goes offline

Dogecoin is actually very big business now.

It's the fifth largest crypto coin in terms of market cap, but the biggest out of all of them in terms of volume traded.

It's in the transition phase of people realising it's not a joke and actually becoming a serious currency.

The UNTOLD SUCCESS of Microsoft: Yes, it's Windows 7

"Much of the blame for Windows 8's slower growth can be placed on the downturn in the PC market"

Wait Microsoft, you actually directly caused the DOWNTURN in the PC market! Don't you see this?

As it was, there was no user excitement in wanting to the latest, fancy new Microsoft OS, so nobody bought Win 8. With XP, Vista and 7, there was a huge clamour to upgrade. Had there been this with Win 8 it would have reverberated around the whole PC industry, and I guarantee we wouldn't be in the same position that we find ourselves today.

Shooting yourself in the foot.

Murdoch's BSkyB stares down Microsoft: Redmond renames SkyDrive to OneDrive

Yet another confusing rebrand from MS

The problem with Microsoft is that they're not seeing any word-of-mouth success these days. The public aren't bothered about their offerings, instead plumping for solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive.

And they're what we use as a business to share files with our customers. Not Skydrive/OneDrive whatever.

Is it time for another Outlook rebrand yet? Just what is Outlook web edition called these days?

- Microsoft Hosted Exchange

- Outlook 365

- Outlook Web Access

PS. Has anyone ever tried to login to Outlook (exchange) online and had their credentials rejected? And then realised you're trying to login to the public portal, which is also called Outlook, and looks pretty much the same?

MS = Messy & Confused

Altcoins will DESTROY the IT industry and spawn an infosec NIGHTMARE

I'm mining Litecoins as we speak...

... and also Dogecoins too on another PC.

Collectively, my mining PC's have a KHash rate of about 2000, and they're making coins all the time, which are worth real money. Yes their value fluctuates heavily, and their maybe a crash at some point. Their may also be another bull run.

Roll back 5 years to when Bitcoins first came out, and nobody would have predicted their rise. Fast forward to today where we have 100's of other alt-coins and again in a few years nobody can predict what will happen. Personally I think half of the current alt-coins will fall by the wayside, but others will prosper.

It's a really interesting market thats developing.

Nokia Lumia update spreads Black death

Nokia Beard Trimmer

Did anyone else glance at the first screenshot and see Nokia Beard Trimmer?

No? Just me? Ah well...

Lyrics upstart Rap Genius blacklisted by Google for Justin Bieber SEO scam

At least they got one good link...

...from The Register.

PR8 for the TheReg's domain. Nice link. And no doubt they'll get a few more from other news sites, so in a strange way they've actually got some really strong links from their negative blacklisting. Might take a few months to get back in Google's good books, but it's not the end of the road.

Windows Phone app developers: These games are made for you

Re: Of course you're not seeing Windows Phones...

Do your WinPhone apps work on Surface?

But thats just a problem for Microsoft. End users aren't bothered what chips their devices run on, they just want a healthy selection of quality apps.

Microsofts current OS variety is a complete mess, and is stopping developers from committing to them fully. They need a unified phone and tablet OS, and they need it quick.

Surface 2 is going to be just as big a failure as the first time around.

If we create an app for Windows Phone, will that app also run on Windows Tablets (eg. Surface) ?

I think the answer is NO. Hence why app developers stick to iOS and Android, including myself.

Microsoft: Here, we'll make it easy for you Gmail lot. Meet our Outlook.com movers

Hotmail, MSN, LiveMail, Outlook?

My wife, my Dad and everyone I know still refer to it as Hotmail. It has the word "mail" in it, just like Gmail. Does what it says on the in. No-one refers to it as Outlook and I don't know why MS bothered changing.

They're forever "rebranding" things most often for what seems like a pointless exercise. I've used Outlook as my core mail client for the past 10 years, and I really like the desktop version. But the web interface is horrible, and I just can't use it to manage my constant influx of email.

I only use OWA when I have to, for checking and finding the odd email - but please find me a heavy email user that can cope with just the web client.

Asus Transformer Book T100: Xbox One? PS4? Nah, get a cute convertible for Christmas

So the laptops good, but Office installation is a big fail

Guess we'll just have to use Google Apps instead then like everybody else?

Indy devs to AOL: Save Winamp, or at least make it open source

I've used Winamp since the very first time it was released, way back in 1997 was it?

I've only ever used it to play MP3's, and I've never found anything to beat it. I lived my 20's through a series of house parties on weekends, all powered by a big Winamp playlist and a massive collection of songs. Windows Media Player, pah - bloated and pathetic. What I wanted was a slimline player where I could easily queue up a load of songs and just play them.

And one thing I liked about the software was that it never really became bloated with each new release. It always felt right just sitting there in my taskbar, waiting to receive an "Enqueue in Winamp" command.

It HAS to go Open Source. AOL, do the right thing.

Xbox One site belly-up in global Microsoft cloud catastrophe

Outlook 365 up and down for me

Works on some connections, not on others.

Come on dear boys get it together....

It's NOT an iPad - but that's FINE: I learned to LOVE Microsoft's Surface 2

Still don't see any reasons to buy it

How much did Microsoft pay you or indeed The Register to write that?

Your overall view essentially says "buy it because it's well made".

Well, I'd rather not buy it because...

- There's no apps

- It's too expensive

- I'd rather have a laptop for proper work

- I'd rather have an iPad or Android tablet for messing with

- It's destined to fail

Thanks but no thanks.

LIVE CHAT: You, El Reg, experts chat about Win 8.1 and Surface 2

Roll on the sales figures

Is it wrong of me to be a little bit excited at seeing the eventual sales figures for the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2?

We all know the figures are going to be very poor indeed, and I just can't wait to come on here and read all the comments :)

It's like MS are just not bothered anymore.

Windows 8.1: A bit square, sure, but WAIT! It has a Start button

Why did MS suddenly fall out of favour with contrast

I have never used Windows 8, and I have no plans to. Am I the only person to DESPISE the lack of contrast in every single screenshot I've seen?

I hate what they've done to OWA,,I hate what they've done with their new flat styling, and I hate the lack of iconography in a lot of the UI.

I'm 34 years old and I've always been a huge MS fanboi, having rushed to install every OS since Win 95, and loved every single one of them. I even found Vista "not that bad" to use.

Now however I feel more love with Android for tablets, and Apple & Linux for desktop useage. Heck I'm even warming to the possibility of working solely in the cloud via Chromebooks. Granted it will be a while before we do away with the powerhouse desktop only programs such as Photoshop, and truly embrace a cloud-only software world, but I really feel that Microsoft are on a path of self destruction.

Apple's Oct 22 WORLD-SHAKING San Fran party: New iPads or what?

Mac Mini

Expect to see an updated version of the Mac Mini. A decent little Mac if you don't want to spend too much and don't need something too powerful.

Buy the entry level model for £499 and get a separate Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse and you've got a cheap little Mac, perfect for surfing, XCode'ing etc...

Microsoft Office on iPad: U can't touch this (yet) says Ballmer

I've tried the OWA app on an iPad. Never again...

Just got back from a week's holiday in Mallorca, where I took my trusty 17" Win 7 laptop, and an iPad.

Halfway through the holiday my laptop battery died so I was forced to try and use the iPad to check my email via OWA. First tried the standard website which showed me about 5 emails at once and made the worst use of the screen space possibl.

However I then tried the OWA app itself, which was something I WON'T be doing again. Everything's even bigger than than the website, and it shows even less emails than before. It makes searching through my emails and trying to do anything to with organising them an absolute pain in the a*rse.

It's like they want to make the most basic email viewing tool for people with the fattest fingers and an IQ below 50. Talk about dumbing down.

I want to see more emails on my screen, not less, and I want an interface that lets me get access to all of my emails in all of their folders. OWA is an enterprise email system Microsoft, so why give us an app that looks like its built for 5 year olds?

Pah.

Microsoft: Surface is DEAD. Long live the Surface 2!

Re: How much an Ultrabook costs?

3) And precisely what use does ten point touch screen have? :)

Apart from producing fancy looking yet highly pointless struff. This is the real world, and nobody has any need for tripe like that.

Thought the PC market couldn't get any worse? HAH! Think again

Microsoft can save the PC business with one swift flying kick to the Windows 8 metro start menu.

Give desktop users the old start menu back and you will get businesses interested again. Simples!

Microsoft: YES Windows 8.1 is finished, but NO you can't have it

Poor Microsoft

I actually feel a little bit sorry for big old Redmond. It's like they're making a big deal over this and new updated version of Windows 8, but no-one is actually that bothered.

I'm certainly not, and this is the only version of Windows that I've not upgraded to straight away. I have no reason or need to move away from Win 7, and 8.1 hasn't changed my mind one bit.

Bye bye Ballmer, you've certainly stepped down at the right time. But it might just be too late for a proper Windows recovery. Linux has never had a better opportunity to stake a claim for itself.

I need to multitask, but Windows 8's Metro won't let me

Hmmm, maybe I won't upgrade to Windows 8

I've been a firm Windows fan for the past 15 years, and have upgraded to each OS as soon as it has een released. However, from what I've read of Windows 8 so far, i think I will wait a while before jumping in.

I am the biggest multi-tasker I know. I have 3 x 24" screens on my home desktop (I work from home), and I am on the PC for approx 10 hours per day.

My middle screen is my main screen, containing my main development apps, and my main browser (aligned to the left of the screen, approx 60% wide), but I also have subsquent browser instances on both the left and right monitors.

I restart my computer probably once ever 2-3 weeks as I have OODLES of apps open and like to have their taskbar icons and windows arranged perfectly. I run Display Fusion to have a taskbar on each monitor, with Aero functioning taskbar icons on all three monitors. At any one time I have about 15-20 apps open.

My job (web designer, developer, manager, blogger) entails that I use:

Outlook

Chrome

IE

SQL Server Management Studio

Photoshop

Dreamweaver

Notepad ++

Remote Desktop (2/3 instances)

CuteFTP

Command Prompt

Spotify

Windows Explorer x 2

+ a few more

on a daily basis, many times per day. These apps stay open, all of the time.

How am I supposed to run that lot in Metro? Or is Metro not meant for me. I class myself as an extreme power user.

Do I need Windows 8?

Chris.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

THIS AINT OLD!

Cmon, seriously, "Antique Code Show" ?

I think you need to set a pre-2000 limit at the very least. I'm 32, I don't class myself as old, but this is certainly not antique.

Boo hiss to The Reg.

Pinterest valued at $1.5 BILLION, bags $100m in funding

Real competitor to Facebook and Twitter? (G+ doesnt count)

Firstly, Google+ was forced upon us, but nobody uses it, so don't start.

I run a big music & entertainment website at onedirection.net and up till today I've only ever saw the need to include Facebook, Twitter, and yes Google+ buttons, as they're the big three.

Pinterest has grown so fast though out of genuine word of mouth. Its a site that people like, and its a great alternative to both FB and TW. So much so that Ive now added a "Pin This" button on the site.

Guaranteed, we're seeing a viable new entry in the social media market here, not just an over-inflated-about-to-burst one.

And its quite cool too. Give it a go.

Chris.

Basic instinct: how we used to code

1990?

Isn't that getting a little late to see your first Speccie? Those were the Amiga days.