Posts by Tachikoma

Inventor whips lenscap off 3D-printed pinhole camera

Re: Or...

Agreed, or you can pick up one of the many Chinese knock-off pinhole kit cameras that you assemble yourself for a fiver on eBay.

I think this is just meant for the uber hip hipsters that wouldn't be seen dead with a Lomo.

BOFH: Is WHAT 'running slow'!? GOD

I remember once installing a new multi function printer, and during the "bag of spanners down the stairs" initial calibration, someone using their phone turned to me and asked if I could turn down the printer volume...

Fed up with Windows? Linux too easy? Get weird, go ALTERNATIVE

Still have a box of Acorn ADFS floppy disks waiting for a native x86 port of RiscOS...

Apple's first iPhone now COSTS MORE than golden mobe 5S

Aaaah flashing aerial upgrades, those were the days... I wanted one for my Nokia 7110 but I think the aerial was fixed into place and couldn't be replaced without dismantling the entire phone. Speaking of which, my Nokia 7110 with original 1999 battery still last longer than my Galaxy S3... I think lunchtime will be spent researching what WAP pages are still kicking around so I can relive that monochrome revolution.

Mac fans: You don't need Windows to get ripped off in tech support scams

"Tachikoma used to work in IT, it was probably currys tech support :P"

Would have been quite nice actually, instead of government cuts, outsourcing and crappy canteen food for the last <double digit> years, I would have had a staff discount for printer paper!

I know the software is legitimate, we don't use it as our management think Windows RDC is still the only way to connect computers, hell we only updated to IE8 in the last 12 months...

My elderly, retired neighbour had this with her Windows laptop the other week, they convinced her to "confirm" her bank details then make her install:

www.teamviewer.com

And then ravaged her online accounts before clearing out her bank account. She was terrified when she realised what was going on, wouldn't answer the phone or go near her laptop until she found out I worked in IT and could secure her laptop. I had to help her over the next few days to sort out all her online banking, paypal, email, FaceBook, ISP, phone number, everything. She is on a pittiful state pension and they cleared her out of her (small but significant to her) savings.

I'm name dropping the software company as not only did they ignore the feedback I gave them about the "hack" but they make their software nearly impossible for regular users to remove as it doesn't appear in All Applications or Add/Remove Software.

Bonking boffins say bacon biters won't breed

Re: Fish as alternative to bacon...

"the additional benefit that it would allow us to glow in the dark!"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4605202.stm

Can't wait for a thick rasher of glow in the dark bacon, will make post-pub ninja snack time easier if I don't have to turn the kitchen lights on.

It's the software, stupid: Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch bags big apps

Think of the children... no... not THAT way...

I love this vision of the future, I can't wait until I go to the pool/kids school play/etc and I'm told I must leave my phone, camera, glass™es and watch at home in case I'm a kiddy fiddler trying to take photos.

Samsung Mega 6.3: Enter the PHONDLESLAB

Re: VLP == Vain Losers Poserphone

Actually this phone is perfect for the father-in-law, with his massive shovel hands from decades of manual labour. Not everyone has slender fingers from a lifetime working in IT. If the keyboard/dialer can be scaled up to full width this phone would be ideal.

Netflix dares UK freetards: Watch new Breaking Bad NOW or torrent it?

your wife has had sex at least twice. No evidence to show that you had anything to do with it :)

Sadly(?) they are mine, they have inherited my lugs that took me 20 years to grow into... *sigh* That reminds me, need to book them into Karate lessons before they hit comprehensive school...

just watched by blokes in their underpants who live in their Mum's house. Anime, eh? Is it so hard to get a girlfriend?

Boxers not briefs

House in the Cotswolds, mother lives 80-odd miles away

Long term relationship

Two kids (so had sex at least twice)

Anime isn't all tentacle rape and cat eared schoolgirls. It's easy to stereotype when hiding behind that little "anonymous" tick box, eh?

Snowden's secure email provider Lavabit shuts down under gag order

Re: something decent to watch on TV

Is there ? something decent to watch on Merkin TV ?

Breaking Bad starts this weekend, but I think that's about it until Game of Thrones returns next year.

Samsung brings back clamshell phones with added Android

Here's the actual phone, was reported back in July:

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-folder-brings-nostalgic-flip-phone-style-to-android-1166541

Google Glassholes to be BANNED from UK roads

Re: Phones

Was going to say the same thing about "how'd that law work out with regards to mobiles?"

I saw a guy the other week using his phone (was an old Nokia or a Blackberry, something with buttons) whilst driving... his motorbike... approaching a roundabout... thankfully he didn't end up a greasy stain on the road.

Wii U sales plunge: Nintendo hopes Mario and Zelda will shift some kit

Re: Wii

it's like they're trying to keep it a secret

One thing I have noticed since the DS was first announced, and subsequently with the Wii and WiiU is that Nintendo are great at coming up with something innovative (well, maybe not with the WiiU) and tech demos to show them off, but are too slow to release actual games to show them off. It's like they themselves don't quite know what to do with the new features they invented, and instead rely on 3rd party games until they figure out what use it really has.

Take Mario Galaxy on the Wii, what did the Wiimote bring to the game? you can point at stars to collect them or waggle the controller to do an attack (or whatever it was)

I'm not surprised they are being quiet about the WiiU, whoever thought up the idea of bolting a £40 Chinese Android Tablet onto a Wii is still trying to think of something to use it for other than Solitaire or using it as a map/inventory screen (which they did with the DS originally)

Re: They can still turn this around...

[i]Shenmue III would be great[/i]

The scars... they still have not healed... damn the world for not appreciating Yu Suzuki's masterpiece!

Apple kept us waiting while it searched our packages every day, claim shop staff

Re: guess

During my student years, I used to work in the local PoundLand for extra beer money, and they used to do very strict searches on all staff as they left the building. Cash office staff I could understand, but what would us shelf lackeys be able to steal other than a bottle of Jucee Squash or a Chinese knock-off Moshi Monsters Lip Gloss set?

WAR ON PORN: UK flicks switch on 'I am a pervert' web filters

Re: Hmmm.... a Nanny State.

The thing is, this idea will never work, a huge majority of the UK will have to call their ISP and opt out as soon as they realise they won't be able to view:

The National Lottery

Ladbrokes.com

GlitzyGirlyBingo.com

Alcohol websites

etc

The public will soon kick up a stink when they can't get through to their ISP as it's innundated with calls to unblock so people can check their lottery numbers or place a bet on the grand national.

Re: Are they also going to ban

the Daily Mail website for the sidebar of shame?

Yeah I found it funny that the Daily Mail has been "campaigning against porn" when its own site is full of celebrity T&A including "look who has grown up" 17 year old celebs in bikinis.

Rap for rap chap in crap rap app flap: Jay-Z blasted by privacy bods

Re: App Developer Default Settings?

These aren't really uncommon permissions for an app.

Read contacts: Lets you text a mate a link for a song

Internet: Probably to download the songs to make the app smaller

Location: Usual marketting thing to find out how popular it is per city, helps advertising in the real world

Phone information: Probably embeds information into the songs to find out if you put it on PirateBay

Modify phone contents: Download the songs to the phone

Wake from sleep: Stops you using the app with the screen off so you are more likely to click an advert

Invasive depends on how it is used, like the article says, it doesn't mean a permission is used for bad things. I have installed plenty of free apps that have "services that charge you money" so you can send a premium text/call to unlock a feature in a game/app yet have never used it and have never had a premium text/call on my bill.

Amazon slices prices on dedicated EC2 private cloud puffs

Obligatory PRISM reference.

Dead STEVE JOBS was a CROOK – judge

She must obviously be one of those Commie Samsung users, I fully expect Apple to go to the US Supreme Court and have the judge sent to guantanamo bay for being anti-American.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z: Our new top Android ten-incher

Re: using it in the bath ... probably wouldn’t figure in my usage regime

"You can hold it like this (one handed) all day"

"Waterproof"

Paris because...

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo: The big three slug it out at E3

Re: Is the 8th gen needed?

Aaaah, I dream of a next gen Donkey Konga/Taiko no Tatsujin with wireless bongos... must check if the latter PSP game is on the Japanese PSN...

PRISM leaker strands hacks on booze-free flight

I can't wait for the movie adaptation, this is reading more and more like a Mission Impossible script.

Interwebs taunt Sir Jony over Apple eye candy makeover

Obey$DIR

Good call!

I think I know what to do with my weekend now; create a RiscOS theme for my phone, now to find some iconsprites!

Sony sucker-punches Xbox on price, specs, DRM-free gaming

I'm Alright Jack

" inconsequential as it will always be online through WiFi."

I take it you have not moved house recently and had that wonderful email/text from Open Reach(around) saying "your appointment has been rescheduled to 1 month after we agreed to install your broadband, don't like it? tough titty on you fish face!"

This is a big issue for people that work overseas, people in the armed services serving abroad, students studying away from home (despite the rosy vision the BT adverts make their service out to be) that move digs every now and then, and those of us that live in the middle of nowhere and have spotty "broadband"

Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us

I'm pretty sure I downloaded this theme for MIUI on my Galaxy S1 a few years ago...

Shorteurs rejoice as Vine comes to Android

Re: Wow-

It's always a pleasure reading Apple users comments when something is no longer an exclusive. The Instagram Twatter feed was particularly brilliant, with comments such as "Now we get to see photos of what poor people eat" and such like.

Review: Sony Xperia SP

Re: Nexus 4

[i]Can anyone tell me what they think of Sony's Android skin/launcher/whatever? [/i]

It's all personal preference, but I love the apps and launcher, I use the Sony Gallery and Walkman app on my SGSIII over the Samsung offerings.

BT Tower is just a relic? Wrong: It relays 18,000hrs of telly daily

Must be inspired by Apples "natural gesture" scrolling, the absolute first thing I change after rebuilding a Mac.

My god, what's that STENCH belching from your iPhone?

Re: Ah the golden age of gaming returns

I remember taking the nipper to see a film, I think it was "Spy Kids 3D" or something like that, and they handed out scratch and sniff cards to be used during the film. While it added nothing to the movie, it was fun seeing everyone in the audience suddenly jump and frantically scratch & sniff their cards when the on-screen prompts appeared.

Thongs of praise: Slip on Japan's skimpy mobe knickers

"J Box wants $38.50 (£24.80) per pack"

Or wait a week and they will be available on fleabay for £2 delivered from HK.

Review: Kobo Arc Android tablet

Re: "Reading" material, huh?

Good spot!

Paying a TV tax makes you happy - BBC

Re: Real choice should be possible

The BBC would never agree to that as people *would* go for it, and it would cost the Beeb a lot of money in lost revenue. By making it accessible to all, anyone who wants to watch live TV is forced to pay.

Bottomless, unsatisfied Xbox widow cuffed after boyf flees nookie

Wow the comments aimed at this womans appearance are staggering, why don't you all post pictures of yourselves and your sigificant others for the rest of us to judge?

BT engineers - missed appointments

I have been dicked around by OpenReach twice while moving house, first they never turned up to disconnect my old property, but Sky closed my account and the internet still worked for another fortnight, so yay free broadband for the price of one days leave. However at the new property they made an appointment for 3 weeks time, about a week after I was to move in. On the second week, they sent me a text to say my appointment had been rescheduled for another 3 weeks. Booked the day off for the engineers visit and the night before the appointment they sent me another text to say it was all connected and there was no need to take the day off.

Not turning up at the old place to disconnect everything was an annoyance, but re-scheduling the connection to the new property by 3 weeks after already waiting 2 weeks was... not fun...

Sick software nasty uses child abuse pics to extort infected victims

Re: Place your bets

Sadly it wouldn't surprise me...

Have Brits fallen for Netflix, or do they still LoveFilm?

Re: Don't have a Tv Licence... Love Netflix

I have had an "exemption licence" for over 2 years now, like the OP I don't watch TV, so called them up, told them the only thing plugged into my TV is power and HDMI for the PS3. They sent a guy over, I let him in, showed him the TV/PS3 on one side of the room and the aerial/satellite leads nicely zip tied on the other side of the room. The guy went away happy and I have never seen/heard from them again.

Sony PS3 extends lead over Microsoft's Xbox 360 by a cool million

Re: Santa

It should still play PS1 games as that's done in software emulation, as for PS2 games, they will gladly resell you (some of) them from the PSN store...

Amazon accused of remotely wiping punter's Kindle

Re: Seconded

Buy a Kobo Glo instead of the Paperwhite, same front lit e-ink screen (Infrared touch instead of capacitative though) and expandable memory. Been hoping for a Reg review of this for a while, but picked one up in 'Smiths and have not regretted it. YMMV depending on your e-book buying preferences/previously bought books.