Posts by Mag07

Uber loses court fight over London drivers' English language tests

I'd be with TFL on this if our local minicab drivers could do more then 10 words in a comprehensible accent and I am not a native English speaker. But alas, they can't and TFL is not concerned. That says a lot for the GCSE or equivalent qualification. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

Brexit may not mean Brexit at all: UK.gov loses Article 50 lawsuit

Re: Econ 101

Oh for a while, their corporate customers, at whom these price hikes are mainly targeted, will keep on paying. At least until they decide to move the business out of the UK ;) Microsoft doesn't make money on individual Win 10 sales. That's pocket cash.

Torrent is a word, and you can't ban words, rules French court

It seems the only reason for this exercise was to make unknown artists known; at least in name. Have to say it's a way more cost effective strategy than your main stream celebrity marketing.

Want a Brexit? Promise you'll sort out UK universities' £1bn research cash loss

"Fifteen non-EU countries including Switzerland, Norway and Iceland still receive public funding. In fact, they are the top three countries that have the greatest funding per head of population from the biggest EU funding programme," Of course they do; they have tiny populations.....Somewhat scary that the man can't make the association :)

Your taxes at work: Three hours driving to turn on politician's PC

Re: Really - there wasn't a cleaner or anyone else in the building...

Preety much - not sure this story meant to ridicule the client is not achieving exactly the opposite... :p

Easy ... easy ... Aw CRAP! SpaceX rocket ALMOST lands on ocean hoverbase

Who cares about the landing - they delivered coffee!

Oh noes, fanbois! iPhone 6 Plus shipments 'DELAYED' in the UK

Re: £699

@ Andy Prough

I would love to be paid to comment lol! It's an entertaining lunch time past time and I could use the extra money. However, next time, before making false accusations, you may want to check someone's post history. Also, this is a public forum - not a private conversation between two people, anyone can chop in ;)

Wish I knew why people are so trigger happy to attack others with unverified accusations instead of actually contributing arguments to the conversation. Maybe I'm rather limited in my phone usage, treating it primarily as phone, hence my question to you that was left without reply. Missed your chance of educating me a little. I'm rather open minded and have no issues considering a valid argument that will possibly alter my opinion on a matter.

Thinking before typing does not hurt mate. Have a lovely week :)

Re: £699

The first and last time I touched iTunes was back in the times when I had no means of connecting the iphone directly to the Internet. When that changed, many years ago, it never even crossed my mind to use iTunes for anything. Not sure what you're on about?

There is a very simple reason to be tied to an iphone - it's ease of use, lack of bloat, smooth interface, good quality sound output and for many years best in class quality of display. Not to mention size that doesn't require gorilla hands to handle or rather hard waring outter shell.

That said, the sheep trend of bigger is better that Apple chose to join does not appeal to me at all. So here I am, on my second iphone 4, third will follow should this one die at some point.

Who would've thought I'd ever end up defending Apple haha, but then, there is a difference between constructive criticism and senseless whining for the sake of it.

Expandable memory? Great, got it on my work phone - never used to expand anything, never had the need. Average 'battery lifespan of the iphones I had was roughly 3 years, by which time I wanted to move on to the next model of some sort anyhow. My other half , however, had his battery replaced just fine, for a rather small fee.

Not sure what your phone needs are - mine are rather simple - calls, texts, quick email checks, on demand family photos when no camera is around, tf games and music in my car. Every single one of these functions is performed by my outdated phone brilliantly. How is it backward tech? What is it that you do with your phone on daily bases that you couldn't do with an iphone - genuinely curious.

Re: £699

The first and last time I touched iTunes was back in the times when I had no means of connecting the iphone directly to the Internet. When that changed, many years ago, it never even crossed my mind to use iTunes for anything. Not sure what you're on about?

Phones 4u slips into administration after EE cuts ties with Brit mobe retailer

Re: They are making profits of over £100m...

That's all very accurate but rather irrelevant to what is happening, as according to the article, they merely swapping one middle man for another.

Little as I like to see 5 thousand people jobless just because the networks figured out they can boost their profits by few millions by changing contractors, fact is, they are in no way obliged to continue any sort of commercial relationship with anyone beyond the contractual terms. It's a risk, any middle man/company takes when tying themselves exclusively to certain type of business.

I can only hope, this isn't a cheap but effective attempt to sink the market value of Phones4U before approaching with a buy out offer tailored to the buyers needs only to then emerge as a saviour ;)

Though frankly, nothing will surprise me anymore.

Ex-despot Noriega sues: How dare Call of Duty make me look like, like...

Re: Now ? @Ratfox

I sincerely do not wish on you, to be a cause of anything that results in harm done to third parties; having your face subsequently used in an anti-tard 'insert whatever' campaign and your family: children and parents becoming a laughing stock of the world because you screwed up. Do not wish on others, what you would not be happy handling yourself. Courts deal with crime, that does not strip you of your fundamental, in some countries, constitutional civil rights. Neither does it allow random corporate entities to pass judgment and play with the outcome as they please.

Microsoft beats cloud drum as revenues remain solid but flat

Re: Permanent government welfare recipient

In the US and probably many Western countries, it probably will. However, MS recent Windows decisions, have inspired quite a few major government institutions in my country to stop and give a swap to an alternate OS a thought - reason? Staff training. Apart from your usual licensing cost, every switch in any public body requires massive training programme. Until now, swapping between Windows, for those that did, meant that training costs were not even note worthy. Xp to Win 7, basic training per department by your Windows support guy took care of it with ease. Any previous version of Windows to 8, might as well teach them how to use a new operating system. Only last week, our equivalent of HMRC announced it will be migrating to Linux, having failed to reach a rational extended XP support and Win7 licensing deal with Microsoft for 45 thousand of it's remaining desktop PCs alone. And that is an institution that was already in process of migrating to Win 7 in the last couple of years in some departments.

First rational decision in the country for years regarding IT infrastructure financed by public money.

Now that an institution of that magnitude decided to brave the unknown, we have our Police force and military suddenly waving their arms in the air, us too, us too. Domino effect?

We're a big country, maybe not particularly important one, however that's a lot money lost for MS for a moment of self indulging arrogance that Win 8 proved to be.

Russian deputy PM: 'We are coming to the Moon FOREVER'

Re: Could not have timed it better

There is logic in your argument, however, you seem to forget that this is Russia. They don't care if their country goes bankcrupt, individuals, the elite, will not. If they do, some prominent places in the EU would come down with them. Europe and especially the UK bending over for the last 2 decades at the site of Russians dangling their gold sacks, has led them to believe, and rightfully so, that they are the ones with power.

London can't even afford economical sanctions against a country the openly invades another in violation of international law let alone, stopping said nation from planning space trips and going through with the plan.

The country may bankrupt in the generic sense of the world, but Russia will be just fine.

They will attempt anything at the cost of their people to make a point. Don't discard the plans as mad mens talk. They may be mad, but it's not necessarily just talk ;)

When dealing with a different mentality to your own, you need to step outside your box of logic and attempt to think like your subject does - irrational as it may be.

Win XP usage down but not out as support cutoff deadline looms

Re: Genuine Question

Industry specific software that would now often require thousands of dollars in licences, when the XP compatible license is valid forever....don't see my dad moving away from XP anytime soon. He doesn't have a bag of gold lying around handy and the software he uses is sufficient for his professional needs. Sadly, a number of niche programme developers are seeing the shift away from XP as an opportunity to frack people out of as much money as humanly possible. Some are happy to bend over and take it, some refuse to repeatedly pay for the same thing with prettier ui just because someone slapped a new version number on it, without modifying the functionality in any way, not counting the ever so trendy, "we're now in the cloud" only approach, we'll have your database now please, ty.

Returning a laptop to PC World ruined this bloke's credit score. Today the Supreme Court ended his 15-year nightmare

If a loan is interest free, it generally means, you can get the same thing much cheaper elsewhere. There is no such thing as interest free - rather, invisible interest ;)

Microsoft issues less-than-helpful tips to XP holdouts

Hmm, from an IT security ignorant perspective - MS is not doing a very good job here:

1. Malicious websites - can I have it in writing that swapping to Win 8 will allow me to freely visit them just because I can?

2. Links in my email - can I go trigger happy once I've upgraded to Win7/8, really? Bring it on!

3. Removable drives - does upgrading my OS mean I'll be able to poke any hole with any stick?!

4. Worms targeting 0 days we won't fix - do I have guaranteed protection against bugs targeting Win 7/8 and will your fixes against those recompense my already sustained losses if I get infected before you spot the bugger?

5. Ransomware - see above

And last but not least, I'm sure there will be some twats trying to exploit the unaware or stubborn initially, however, if I was a baddy, given a choice of writing malware that can affect 20% of the market share, or 70%+. think my ego would flow towards the latter.

Alas, I'd say MS would have a better success using a carrot instead of a cracked stick, but that's just me.

As for my parents, 2 tablets and an android ran little media centre box have replaced their aging PC entirely. They are now considering one of the monstrous 20+inch to fulfill my mom's personal dream - having one permanently installed in the kitchen (cooking is her post retirement hobby).

XP PC is sobbing quietly in a corner of the attic, next to a CRT monitor that now serves as a threat to the grandchildren - if you'll be naughty, nana will replace your LCD with this ol' monitor.

French novel falls foul of Apple's breast inspectors

Re: Why do people fuss about Muslims?

What is immoral about a half naked woman? It's a human body ffs. The US/UK paranoia about nudity is starting to get tiring.

There is a difference between nudity and pornography that people don't seem to comprehend.

Would you ban little Johny from watching a National Geo documentary about tribe X, because their women refuse to cover up? Will little Johny never step foot in a museum because his parents fear being exposed to stone or painted boobies will surely damage him for life?

Blighty teen boffin builds nuclear reactor INSIDE CLASSROOM

Re: Very cool

I wish more schools undertook to teach kids the love of a subject instead of making them memorize exam questions; teaching them how to understand and explore, worry less about OFSTED leet tables and more about providing strong foundations for deep understanding of subjects at a later stage of their education or work.

I also wish for peace in the world.

Latter might just be easier to achieve then convincing people responsible for our childrens' education of the necessity of change in approach.

Millions of unloved iPhone 5Cs gather dust in warehouses – report

Re: Even the best tennis players whack some into the net.

They are not intelligent - the consumers, as a group, are not particularly bright, it doesn't take much brain to lead spending hungry masses by their noses;)

Windows XP market share GROWS AGAIN, outstrips Win 8.1 surge

Re: That has got to be embarrassing for Microsoft

For a very simple reason - noone pays a licensing fee for a new os on the phone, every corporate identity out there paid for many years for XP support and the migration involves massive costs, more often then not associated with lack of specialized software compatibility, hardware upgrades and staff training.

Windows 8.1 becomes world's fourth-most-popular desktop OS

Lol - someone should send a dictionary to Microsoft headquarters - there is a difference between liked or admired by a number of people, or forced onto. It may be 4th most used, but I doubt it's 4th most popular ;)

Feds indict four over alleged Android app copyright infringement

I don't agree with it but I understand it - people in the UK/US/Western world, seem to assume everyone can purchase anything online at any time - well, it's not necessarily the case if you are in Russia, China, South America etc - a lot of people, worldwide, simply don't have the mean to do so - all purchases from Google store from most Eastern European countries require a credit card - most debit cards issued are not fit for online purchasing. In South America, obtaining a card that you can use for online payments is not easy - not even an option for many.

Remove the ridiculous region restrictions on various stores, allow one time purchases via a broad spectrum of payment gateways, and you just might find, that most people will pay - since they can.

Every time I travel between the UK and my country, I need to swap the details in my Apple store account to be able to pay for something - irritated me so much, I decided to stop using the iPhone altogether.

Nearly HALF of South Korea hacked in insider data theft

2 days after arriving in the UK, leaving my data only at one place - the Barclays Bank, I started being bombarded by offers from phone companies addressed to me personally. Didn't even have a phone back then and our house lease is not on my name.

Just wished they used recycled paper in their marketing mail - the glossy stuff is not as good a firelighter for my chiminea.

Few months later, business as usual in my company, new client, a large property developer, sends me an angry letter asking why we don't even bother purchasing large databases of customers to promote their property better - but offers to share the costs...

It's a common practice across the board, not even sure why it makes the news anymore - what is the point if no-one up top is willing to put a stop to it?

Remember when SimCity ABSOLUTELY HAD to be online? Not any more – fancy that!

Re: DRM is usually defective by design

Yes you can, if the product in question is cuffed to a service - while you have no means of objectively reviewing the product, you can and by all means should, review the service - and everything from company reputation, to current attitude are a valid factors in that review. Every time something came out of their corporate mouths it was proved wrong within days - inclusive of demonstration. As a consumer, you have every right to criticize and not accept lies that serve to deprive you of your hard earned money.

People in the last couple of decades have been trained to accept lack of quality - it doesn't make it right.

On a site note, I'd love to have you as my customer - how about you give me half a million quid, I'll sell you a house, it's missing a few windows here and there, there are no utilities connected but I'll gladly use your money to make it a fine home, eventually....

The moment you charge even a pence, for whatever, you create a legal obligation - if you can't afford, or aren't willing to fulfill it, you have no business offering it at all unless you opt to finance your project through crowd-sourcing - which is a whole different story and not an option for a publisher the size of EA - noone in their right mind would willingly donate any money to a company with multi-million profits to which you have contributed over the years already.

No sign of Half-Life 3 but how about FOURTEEN Steam Machine makers?

Re: 65 million users, but all of them already have a PC with Steam installed

A tiny percent of 65 million users - may very well be more then xbox one sales figures lol. Also, yes, we all have PCs and run Steam on them, but how many people have PC's hooked up to their TVs? I personally don't know any.

We have a study/gaming room for the family, while the TV sits proudly in the living room - if we can get a box with an OS that will not only serve as a media centre in the living room but also give us access to the growing Steam library, games we have already purchased and allow sofa-comfy access for some group entertainment that would otherwise require crowding in front of a24inch monitor, than bring it on.

On another hand, you have those that run around with tablets, and prefer console style gaming - between a tablet and a Steam pc, you've pretty much got everything covered - bye bye desktop/laptop, we don't need you no more ;) - got the best of both worlds for the price of one.

Last, you can benefit from Steam OS on a machine you've got now - as such, it might cost you - well, nothing, to rearrange your entertainment layout. Test the solution before you commit to spending on dedicated hardware.

Not something anyone else offers.

There are just a couple of examples - I really believe there is a big market for what Valve is doing, and secretly hoping, that merging console style with PC functionality will end the ridiculous "my way is better" war ;)

App to manage Android app permissions

Re: Anyone see a price anywhere?

That's all jolly - we all like to get paid for our work. Why try to sneak the pricing in under a FREE banner though? Say it as it is - we have an awesome app, this is how much it costs, here is a 30 day trial, take it or leave it.

This culture of tricking people into paying really doesn't work as well as being straight forward and providing a good product and service.

Make it clear from the get go before going all defensive.

Also, Millions of Ruppees, potentially, most certainly not millions of any decent currency. That seems to be a fashion nowadays - recently ran into a website based on a cheap Wordpress template, with zero alterations to it, claiming to have spent millions on the user experience. Are you in the same club? Membership is quite obviously very costly...

NHS carelessly slings out care.data plans to 26.5 million Brits

Opt out option is laughable - there is no form - not any form of proof that you asked not to be included, zero, nada. We're all in, like it or not.

Samsung: Ta-da! We made $7.8bn. What do you mean you expected another BILLION?

I will never grasp modern day economics - a company manages to make a profit, stopping to give some money away to the very people that worked for the success, and it's shares go down. WTF is the logic in that?

How can not meeting a target be a loss if you have made a profit? You can't loose what you never had ;)

And why is it that this twisted theory based on unrealistic assumptions, misinterpreted statistics and random guesses does not apply to me?

I estimated I'd make a million this past year, I haven't - as such, I'd like to register a loss of 950k, coupled with costs way over the remaining 50k that I made, I really shouldn't be paying any taxes, should I now?

Ridiculous and sad state of humanity.

Crisis after crisis, people struggling everywhere, and we continue to refuse to base our economy on actual numbers not continuous speculations.

Mars One's certain-death space jolly shortlists 1,000 wannabe explorers

Re: Surely most of these are Trolls

Why not? People have done so for centuries - set out on near suicidal missions to see places they couldn't even know existed - we would not be where we are now, we would not know what's across the big body of water if all humans had no sense of curiosity, some intense desire to search for something more, something that's not evident - and I imagine you'd want to team up with like minded souls - the motives are secondary.

Truth is, life nowadays can be dull - full of boring routines, often with very little meaning - what is wrong with wanting more then your average office hamster wheel?

As for death, we will all die, some sooner the others - you don't know what's in store for you, and when. Human life is fragile, every day you wake up and risk loosing it.

The whole project may be nothing more but a huge farce, but can you be 100% certain? Some say, it's not the destination, rather the journey that counts. Let people dream. Those dreams of the impossible are the biggest driving force in the world.

We're already living the future, future we thought was rather distant when we were kids - touch screens, holograms, PC's, robots, clones. When you think of the progress we've made in the last half a century, a trip to Mars that some of us may still be able to witness, suddenly doesn't appear to be so utopian.

Microsoft tries to trademark 'Mod' in the US

TM does not require registering anything, and can be used freely until someone that has that particular word/phrase/whatnot registered, complains. R - stands for a registered trade mark.

Proposed California law demands anti-theft 'kill switch' in all smartphones

Stop faffing around with the criminals - back to the old ways and off with them hands for theft - only have to do a few for the message to spread. It's ridiculous to have to dance around an issue like that and enforce changes with financial implications for everyone but the thief.

Oh, and a life-time ban for applying for any sort if disability benefits related to the punishment.

Apple kicks iStuff-sniffer out of App Store

Re: So the T&Cs of Apples web site

Utilizing other people's publicly displayed data - a concept truly alien to Apple itself....and Google, and Facebook....

You're more likely to get a job if you study 'social' sciences, say fuzzy-studies profs

Not sure what higher education is like in the UK, but I'd suggest talking to social sciences students outside your country, head on to the Eastern block and I bet you a beer, or a case, or even a truck; sociology, psychology or any other degree for that matter is hard work. There is no need or reason to look down at certain degrees. You really should focus on what you do best - rather a great sociologist than a mediocre tech. If you are good, and you put a brain behind a degree, chances are, your career will be fine. If you follow any trends for the heck of it, with little regard for your own abilities and talents, you will struggle, unless of course, you're lucky by nature, in which case, it's better to take your chances at a lottery.

In my opinion, there are three types of people that get jobs and advance their careers no matter what happens around - those that are good at what they do, those that have connections, an those that are not necessarily great but hard working.

While it's common nowadays to move all over the place searching for jobs, not everyone can or wants to. There is little point to studying fancy tech if you can't or aren't willing to go where the work is, in which case, a social science degree gives you a much bigger flexibility as you can target jobs where you are, in any industry, including tech, should there be some.

Last thing we'd want is for every high school grad to run to a tech college/uni - there needs to be balance. The general attitude in the article is very one sided and narrow minded.

There isn't a right or wrong - it's a matter of personal choices, capabilities and opportunities. There is no such thing as a future proof profession. It's an individual's attitude that makes the most difference, not the certificate behind one.

Windows 8.1: Read this BEFORE updating - especially you, IT admins

Re: No ISO?

Heh, there is always someone oblivious to the whole world except for his immediate surroundings, who chooses to measure everything by a standard he is used to. Time to wake up - most of the world does not have high limit broadband on every corner. The world means more then just US/UK ;)

Here comes Windows 8.1! Microsoft grits teeth, pushes upgrade to world

Re: Its the UI changes that kill it for me...

Or get her a new PC with whichever version of Windows she fancies? I dislike MS stuffing their new trend down our throats but truth is, it won't affect you if you don't allow it to. Noone forces you to buy a new machine with a new system on it, there are multitude of alternative custom made systems that will be shipped with whatever system you fancy and happen to pay for, or without any.