Posts by steveking1000

UK finds itself almost alone with centralized virus contact-tracing app that probably won't work well, asks for your location, may be illegal

Re: Hanlon's razor

Another reason for more traffic. Ministers have been pushing Construction to continue regardless throughout this period (hence the photos of all the construction workers trying to get on the tube).

Many companies shut their sites for a few weeks, but with a combination of financial pressures and the contractual risk of being sued by clients (of course you could have continued to work, the government said so!) they are now opening up more and more sites.

Depending on what related trades you include, construction is 5 to 10 percent of the economy, so a lot of commuters and traffic.

Many of these are low wage people as well, so unlikely to have enough savings to be able to be picky about offers to go back to work.

The 2018 ThinkPad X1 Yoga: A bendy-legged workhorse walks into a meeting

So good I paid my own money for one

Like a previous commentator I have one of those amazing Samsung machines from 2011 - and it is still going strong and in almost daily use.

When I started my own business a few months ago, I knew I was buying into days of travelling around the London tube system going to presentations.

I picked up a previous generation X1 Yoga from a second-hand computer retailer (TierOne who were very good to deal with) and have found it to do the job I needed very well. In fact it is the machine I use most often now, although I have three to choose from.

It is not for everyone but it is great for me, and at well below half the new cost I am glad I got it.

New iPhone details leak: Yes, Apple is still chasing Samsung

Re: Onanism

Hi Bloodbeastterror,

I'm old enough to know that debates about the failures of religion (or similar ones about what atheist regimes have done to people) are better done face to face rather than online.

Have a virtual beer. If you are anywhere near London, you can trade it for a real one and we can talk.

Regards,

Steve

Re: Onanism

Hmm.

I've been a youth leader for over 15 years, and this one often comes up (as one might say...).

Completely agree that the link to masturbation is complete rubbish. For me as a religious nut (YMMV), one of the joys of reading the Bible is reading what is actually there, and trying not to put a veneer of Victorian values or my own prejudice on it. Sometimes very liberating, other times very uncomfortable if I'm honest.

But, this is the first time I've heard someone assert that the woman was not willing - I don't know that you can support that as I don't think the text says either way. I'll have to go read it again.

Samsung halts production of Galaxy Note 7

Re: A lesson to be learnt

On the second battery comment, two quick use cases I have had in the last couple of months:

I was lucky enough to spend a week on a boat in Greece this summer. A fantastic holiday, and two spare batteries for by vintage LG G3 plus a bit of care about how much I used it saw me through the week. The spare batteries were much less bulky than an external battery of similar capacity or the solar panels that the rest of my family shared.

A second case was taking a youth group camping. As group leader, I needed a phone for emergency purposes, and having the spare batteries meant peace of mind and were light and easy to carry.

Yes, you could have used external batteries both times, but the spare internal battery was easier and cheaper for me. YMMV.

Email proves UK boffins axed from EU research in Brexit aftermath

Re: From the number of downvotes

Truly sad, Ian.

We had a referrendum in 1975.

If your ilk hadn't spent 40 years whinging about the result we would have made an even greater success of our membership.

I will take no lecture from you over what I now say and do to protect my interests and those of my family.

We turn Sonos PLAY:5 up to 11

Re: With respect...

My experience as well.

I have an Arcam CD / Funk Firm turntable / Audiolab amplifier and Kef speakers - all very wonderful and I get great pleasure from them. In practice though, I use the Sonos connected to the line input more than either or the other sources and stream most of the music I listen to via my Play Music subscription.

The user experience is great, and I've discovered a number of new bands this way. Works for me, and you can buy a Play 5 and a Moto G for less than some iPhones, so in my opinion it is not quite as crazy expensive as some commentators think (of course you could also buy half a ton of baked beans for the same price, so YMMV).

Bridge, ship 'n' tunnel – the Brunels' hidden Thames trip

Under the sprayed concrete....

...there is an amazing decorative brick and clay tunnel lining with integral water management. They left one bay when they covered the rest so you can still get a bit of a sense of what it looked like if you peer in from the platform end.

I was fortunate to go through on a trip organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers in the early 1990s just before it was coated, and it was spectacular.

Festive streamers caught in Vulture's claws: Gadget-ogle for audiophiles, video geeks

Re: It's all too complicated

My sympathy. I'm trying to find a way through as well.

My use case is a holiday home. I'd love to have a device that connects to Google Play Music (I got one of the early subscriptions when it was better value than Spotify), perhaps plays FLAC files from a NAS and DAB radio as well. However, I don't want family + friends to have to download apps to control it. That is not going to go well, and lead to many phone calls ("What do you mean there is no app for a Nokia 6110?!").

Nice simple touchscreen-controlled all-in-one units are much rarer than I imagined (and all ideas welcome!)

New Lumia mobes nudge Microkia ever closer to biz customers

No love here...

My firm of 4500 staff has had a compulsory Windows Phone policy for a couple of years. The standard offering changes every few months as we search for a model that works properly.

The top three issues seem to be:

1. Many users complain of attempting to answer calls only to find that the screen will not respond to touch, or if it does the answer button is greyed out.

2. Battery life (my own example struggles to make 30 hours on standby, and a 30 minute call can eat half the battery)

3. Forwarding even small attachments is complete luck of the draw, and you don't know if it has worked until the client phones up to ask you where it is (if your battery hasn't run out and you can answer the call!)

Needless to say, all those with enough clout get iPhones.

Huawei Ascend P7: We review the PANORAMIC SELFIE smartphone

Other Chinese companies also make eye catching phones.....

Oh, go on then! I'll make the obvious comment about Apple being a Chinese manufacturer with an American marketing division....

China 'in discussions' about high-speed rail lines to London, Germany – and the US

Probably half built by now...

I'm a construction professional specialising in railways, and I don't doubt that they both can and will do this - though it may take several decades.

China has a huge network of high speed lines - as does most of the developed world. Here in the UK we have less than 70 miles of what really should be called mid-speed lines. But, we do have lorry loads of Environmental Impact Assessments and other devices for dodging decision making.

Not sure about your 220mph claim though -even as an average it seems really slow for an international line. Most countries with HSR are planning new lines to be at least 300mph, and I'd have though that for a flagship line of this ambition the objective would be at least 400mph.

New Reg mobile site - feedback here!

Similar to Fihart

I used to use the mobile site years ago, gave up because of the cookie banner problem.

For me the key is being able to opt out of the mobile site easily, and ideally do it once for all the devices I use (various tablets and phones, mostly Android) - I can't see any need for a mobile site these days. YMMV

Mystery 'doughnut' materializes in front of Mars rover: 'OH MY GOD! It wasn't there before!'

Re: Like, oh my god!

I'm going to assume that was a War of the Worlds reference and claim my prize

<hopeful that he has kept up for once, but fully expecting to be shot down in flames....>

Ho, ho, HOLY CR*P, ebuyer! Etailer rates staff on returns REJECTED

Equal opportunities?

Can't be a real leader board - the "top" scorer is a guy and all their tech support staff happen to be female.

What do you mean they only wanted the women on their Facebook page?

iPhone slips in Europe as Windows Phone claims OVER 10% market share

Re: Apple rested on its laurels for too long...

Re Android needing bigger screens to hide the battery. Some of us think a large screen is a better use of space than having a tiny screen stuck onto an angular brick with all the style of a stamp in the middle of an envelope. YMMV, but I can't see the point of attaching people's preferences.

Peak Apple: Has ANYONE at all ordered a new iPhone 5c?

Apple model line

At least as recently as a few weeks ago you could buy a new iPhone 4 (or if you preferred a 4s) on contract from Carphone Warehouse.

Given how long it has been since the 4 was Apple's top handset I'd say that they have been offering multiple phones for a while. The only thing new is that they changed the case when they trimmed the price a few quid so as not to affect margins as much.

PEAK iPAD: Slab looking a bit peaky, needs big biz to take more tablets

iPads and Office Software

I worked for Kier until a couple of days ago. The senior management at Kier have all been given iPads in the last few months.

As a result, many of the company's standard forms have had to be re-written. Group IT were not able to equip the iPads with software that would work with the Excel and Word forms required by the company's procedures. The execs probably never noticed, but the minions have spent many thousands of hours in the last few months re-writing their submissions so that the execs can see them and approve the next stages in the workflow.

Email was working well, until another problem (sorry - I never got to see details) has meant that email access from iPads has had to be turned off.

Now the main use case for the execs is to allow them to bypass the admittedly over-stringent web filtering that is present on the desktops.

I suspect that the experiment with iPads will not last - which is a shame as this form factor has many good use cases out on their construction sites and in their other activities.

The FLOATING mobile phone shop on the edge of the Internet

Re: RE: Given that mobiles are leapfrogging fixed lines across the developing world

Malcolm 1,

I side with xyz on this - probably because I only live a couple of miles away. I would be more convinced about the lack of signal being the fault of builders and/or users if the quality of service had not taken such a sharp nose dive when Orange and T-Mobile merged.

Suddenly, from being able to get a line almost all of the time, users (at least in central and south London) would regularly get failed connections. I quit EE over the poor performance, but my wife still has an EE work phone and is frequently out of contact.

I don't think that such a sudden change can be blamed on anyone but the network, and Lewisham has been a signal-free area for as long as I can remember (long before the current medium rise developments went up anyway).

Upturned boat sails to Shed of the Year title

Re: Jealous

New keyboard please!

Thank goodness I was working from home today, or I would now be in the hands of the security guards heading for the medical room.....

BlackBerry slams Z10 returns report as 'false and misleading'

More being returned than currently being sold...

Try this:

A store sells 200 phones the first week, then 100 a week for the next three weeks. Altogether 500 phones sold.

In week 2 they start to get a few phones back, 50 that week, 100 the next and 150 in week 4. Altogether 300 phones returned, because people try a phone for a week or so before deciding that it is no good for them.

In week 4 they are getting back more than they are selling, which is the claim being made. Bad news for Blackberry if it is true.

The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME

Cobalt Qube

I loved the discreet glow, the compact size but most of all the way it just seemed to work. I (a self taught dabbler) was told by my then employer to specify, build from parts (my boss was too tight to buy ready built!) and get running a new server for 40 users. I chose MS SBS (ok, that was stupid!), ordered my parts and managed to get the job done and working well, but it took me nearly a week.

A year later, in a new company, I got talked into doing the same thing again. Ordered a Cobalt Qube and had everyone running in a morning. I know someone who still has one on a shelf, and I keep thinking about setting it up as a retro home server.