Posts by Flicker

National Museum of Computing rattles the bucket: Help shift war-winning proto-puter

Went there once with my Dad for a reunion with his mates from Hanslope Park ( https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/05/geeks_guide_hanslope_park ) where he was stationed as a radio intercept operator in the war. All the best bits were staffed by volunteer enthusiasts, with the main BPT stuff all dumbed down drivel. I heard afterwards that BPT had kicked out the best bit for me - a hut full of early DWS kit run by a fascinating chap called David White who I think ended up having to break up his collection in what seems like an act of pure spite by BPT. Never been back, no intention of doing so unless only to TNMOC part... Very sad...

Vodafone boasts 200Mbps with 4G mini mast in Cornish trial

Don't really see what's new about this - they have a mast disguised as a flagpole just down the road from us which looks far less obtrusive, and the "fake tree" masts you can see from the M4 J12-13 blend in pretty well. Maybe the advance is the absence of a large green cabinet near the base? Also interesting to see how it will cope with West Cornwall wind gusts - the towers around there are pretty substantial for good reason!

Liberty Global's sale of Austrian biz paves way for Voda merger plans – reports

No bad thing - the link with the Grinning Jumper stops me even thinking about taking any sort of service from them at the moment.

How's this for a stocking filler next year? El Reg catches up with Gemini

The Indiegogo page (linked from Page 1 of the article) lists Dvorak as one of the keyboard options.

Credit insurance tightens for geek shack Maplin Electronics

Re: Electronics Today International (ETI)

Yes, Lisle Stree was magic - and the top end of Tottenham Court Road. Still have various odds and ends from GWS, including the teak sleeve case for my Leak valve pre-amp, retrieved from the back of their stockroom, I think in their closing-down sale when Lasky's took over. Before that they'd bought a load of old Vortexion valve PA amps from me and my mates, acquired in a highly dodgy auction from the old ILEA. The past is another country....

It's happening! Official retro Thinkpad lappy spotted in the wild

Re: PgUp PgDn

If they've really kept the old 7-row Thinkpad layout then those keys are Page Backwards / Page Forwards (works as Back / Fwd in most browsers) and there are dedicated PgUp / PgDn keys at the top right, next to dedicated Home / End. The Fn modifiers for the Home / End increase / decrease LCD backlight brightness.

Re: and remember that the X220 with a ugc bios

This is the place I bought my X220 a year ago - not clear whether their current stock has the (much better) IPS screen or a TN LCD, but still good value. No connection with the company other than as a happy customer. May also be worth checking that they have a UK keyboard - as with most things on traditional Thinkpads the keyboard can be swapped out, but worth getting right first time.

Hope this fits OK within ElReg posting guidelines??

http://microdream.co.uk/laptops-and-netbooks/lenovo-thinkpad-x220-12-5-1366x768-2nd-gen-core-i5-2520m-2-5ghz-4gb-250gb-webcam-windows-10-professional-64-bit.html#.Wa1z8diQzIU

Typing this on my (refurb) X220, best laptop ever made. Good IPS screen, lovely keyboard, near indestructable. Best thing is that you can repair / replace / upgrade pretty much everything, as if iFixit had designed the ideal laptop. You can swap the function of the Fn & left Ctrl keys in the BIOS (though sadly not the keycaps). Confuses the hell out of anyone else trying to use the machine but works for me. Just hope that Lenovo retain the repairability on this new version - until proven I'm hanging onto my X220.

http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/resources/

Volunteers slam plans to turn Bletchley Park into 'geeky Disneyland'

Me too...

Like many other commentators here I visited BP last year and found the Colossus and Diplomatic Wireless Service parts by far the most interesting sections - both quirky, manned by real, knowledgeable enthusiasts and bringing the whole place and era alive in a way that no sanitised info-tainment cobblers ever could. I understand that the DWS stuff has now gone (anyone know where??) but most telling was that my opinion was shared by my 16 year old daughter - I guess part of the target demographic for Standon's vision - who found the rest of the place pretty boring and "just like every other museum". What morons like Standon never understand is that aping all of the other trash is a surefire road to oblivion. If he and the trustees had any integrity or gumption they'd realise that the key to BP is that it's DIFFERENT and interesting because of that. If I ever return it will only be to the NMOC...

BT-owned ISP Plusnet fails to plug security hole on its customer signup page

That's nothing - just look at their wide open email system with plain text passwords!!!

The weakness of this page is trivial compared to the complete, total lack of security on the PlusNet email system where they have for years, ignoring repeated requests from customers, refused to provide a properly secure IMAP or POP service - which results in both inbound and outbound email and account passwords being sent in clear text across the internet and open WiFi - leaving users open to a total security meltdown from any service which sends replacement passwords over email. In general I'm a pretty happy PlusNet customer but their complete, arrogant disregard for basic email security is a disgrace. The signup page looks like an accidental cockup - their email service is wilful neglect.