Posts by Persiflage

Seriously, for real this time, the 12in MaxiPad is totally on the way ...

Go large, or go... small.

Rocking the 12.2" Note Pro at the moment, and unexpectedly loving it.

Considering the multiplicity of devices I have lying around at the moment (gotta do those "feasibility studies" and "examine use cases", don'cha know; I love my job), I was very doubtful that it would find a niche. Much to my surprise, it has actually ousted the 9"ish-10"ish form factor beasties from my daily round entirely.

A few days in with the extra screen real-estate of a 12-incher and I now find the lesser slabs too pokey to work on when sitting at a desk with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse... and for those situations where I've got to indulge in one-handed slab-fondling, they're still too unwieldy and I want to drop to a 7"ish-8"ish model. I'm starting to feel like the interim sizes are - for me at least - somewhat superfluous.

It's early days yet though, and I might change my mind in another week or so. :)

All in all, I'm a tentative convert to the MaxiSlab concept, and although I couldn't see myself forking out my own cash for an iThing ever again now I've hopped over the wall of that particular garden, I think it would be a good move on Apple's part if they ship one soon.

Marriott fined $600k for deliberate JAMMING of guests' Wi-Fi hotspots

Excellent call...

...now excuse me while I instruct our travel partners to de-auth Marriott from the entire company's list of acceptable travel hotels. Someone just made the "only permitted if no other option available" list.

But hey, we only use booking software supplied by well-known, reputable vendors and I believe my actions to be lawful, so there's no reason for them to be upset, right?

Take THAT, hated food! It's OVER, tedious chewing! Soylent strikes back with version 1.1

The earliest known variety...

Was after Agincourt, where the wounded and craven hid among the dead: surviving by munching on the corpses of the flower of French chivalry and/or their trusty steeds.

Thus was born: Soylent Knight.

Apple 'Genius': iPhone 6? We've had NO COMPLAINTS about our BENDY iThing

Visual Mechanical Inspection

"Genius": "Mmmm... Yes, the phone is definitely bent, but before I can issue you a free replacement, I just need you to show me how you carry the phone."

*young lady slides phone into pocket of skinny jeans*

"Okay, that's great, now take it out again..."

*removes phone*

"Now in again, but sloooowly... "

Seriously, just you wait: they'll all be trying to get an iFull.

__

Paris, because I can hardly imagine what shape her iThingy would end up.

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

It's very sad for all those who will be made redundant, and I am truly sorry for them, but this outcome was inevitable. The so-called "channel partners" have been gouging the networks for years, and the networks have been in a first-to-blink-or-look-away situation.

If anything, this will improve matters for customers; the antics of the indirect channel have been holding subscription prices artificially high. Look at it like this: Phones4U have been selling other people's products, for the same price those people sell it, but also maintaining a large network of storefronts and staff and still turning a profit. In days gone by, the networks actually made a significant LOSS on contracts sold through the channel and relied on out-of-contract usage to make up the difference.

The contracts bought direct from the operators have thus been *subsidising* the contracts sold through the indirect channel for years. It's about time the artificial upward pressure on prices were removed.

The reason the operators kept on renewing their contracts with P4U and similar was that nobody had the onions to be the first NOT to offer their phones in the ubiquitous stores. Kudos to Vodaphone for pulling out of the unhealthy relationship. The way it always worked was that P4U would demand concessions from a network, and if they didn't play ball you'd find the interiors of their stores reworked overnight to display the competition's offerings more prominently, and the competition's more-lucrative (for P4U) contracts pushed harder. Nothing was ever *said*, of course, but everyone knew that was how it worked.

If that seems craven on the part of the networks, well, it was... but at the same time, shareholders and investors were always focussed on the number of subscribers. Nobody felt like they could afford NOT to distribute through those channels.

It looks like the ever-shrinking margins (and concomitant lack of investment) in the UK's already-notoriously-low-returns mobile market have finally prompted the networks to develop a spine. Margins will increase now that the networks aren't paying for hundreds of P4U stores and thousands of P4U staff (not to mention the IT overhead of maintaining the externally-facing systems), and enough competition remains that some of those savings are likely to reach the customers.

It's a real pity that so many people will be looking for work as a result of this move, but it was always on the cards: I'm just surprised it took this long.

iPhone 6, Watch: Hate it or really hate it, Apple's now a $604.77bn biz

Re: Cliff

"<<Insert Gaelic Shrug Here>>"

A Gaelic Shrug is when someone, in response to a comment, says "Aye, weel..." in a thoughtful manner and then proceeds to smash their pint glass in your face as the preliminary to kicking you to death while munching a deep-fried Mars Bar.

I think you meant "Gallic Shrug". Or perhaps not. People get terribly worked up over these matters...

Video: Dyson unveils robotic tank that hoovers while you're out

Re: sounds neato

Another vote for the Neato here. Thing is incredible... and it navigates with FRIKKIN' LASER BEAMS! Seriously, Dyson's 360-degree eyes are creepy-sounding (recalling, to my mind at least, certain childhood nightmares about my primary-school teachers who claimed similarly ubiquitous ocularity) and lame by comparison. If it had laser eye-beams, I might rethink, but just "eyes"? Meh. And it's too tall; it won't get under the furniture like the Neato can. That little baby is great, and copes well with random stuff left scattered around.

The biggest drawback of the Dyson, though, is that it doesn't appear to be a form factor that will appeal to cats. If it's too tall and narrow for cats to choose as a perching spot, it loses automatically in the cute-video stakes... Clearly this is an important factor, as cat-related photogenicity was basically all the Roomba had going for it, and look how well it sold.

Sit back down, Julian Assange™, you're not going anywhere just yet

Re: Twisted logic : Fail

"It can't be enforced becuase the guy is on the lamb."

He's in the Ecuadorian embassy, not New Zealand's.

Hey, Marissa Mayer: Flexi working time is now LAW in UK. Yahoo!

Re: Would work for me

Hang on... you're not me, are you? On my own most of the time, check. 45-minute (fairly stressful) drive, check. It's 45 minutes if I leave by quarter to seven, anyway. After 7am the commuting time goes up by a fairly unpredictable amount, capping out at around an hour and a quarter (unless major motorway cockup, in which case the sky's the limit).

The vast majority of what I do takes place via e-mail and phone calls anyway. Working from home just two days a week equates to a pay rise of almost £1500 a year for me in fuel costs alone, so I am all in favour!