Posts by hamsterXjam

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Straight to Video is sooo last century

Due to funding cuts, the sequel to Snakes on a Plane will be streamed directly to your device.

Another chance to win a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive

Tarantulas and Their Wily Ways

Right, so I had to break down the door to get in because of the barricade of furniture you'd built on the other side, whereupon I find you with your trousers down, member in hand, and you now tell me you weren't indulging in an act of self-abuse, but were in fact defending yourself from a giant hairy spider that had run up your trouser leg. Likely story.

Hang on, what's that on my shoulder?

(With apologies to a famous stand-up comedian. You know - a proper funny guy...)

Nest's new prototype autonomous insect hunter/killer for the home meets with mixed reactions.

A bit of politics?

Ahhhhh.... Oh thank goodness, it's only a giant hairy spider. For a minute I thought Jeremy Corbyn was standing behind me.

Wileyfox smartphones: SD card, no bloatware, Cyanogen, big battery – yes to all!

Wileywho?

So it's a British company that's selling the phones. Yes, fine, but the obvious question then is "who is making the hardware?". Presumably not Wileyfox themselves, or else the cost would be higher to recoup the R&D.

Best guess is it's someone in China.

That's not necessarily a problem though, I can live with that. Ultimately everything in the phone world is tainted either with ethical, security or privacy concerns. And in some cases exploding battery concerns. I suspect this one will turn out to be averagely tainted.

My main concerns about this outfit are:

- Can they actually deliver what they're promising?

- Will it be any good? (Reviews asap please El Reg).

- Will the support be up to scratch?

- Will they be able to make enough money to keep going, and not fold leaving me with an unsupported paperweight one day?

Only time will tell, but I for one am interested.

FYI I've kept my HTC Desire going for over 5 years now, but the camera's just died so a replacement is finally on the cards.

My requirements for my next smartphone purchase are that it:

- Isn't sh*t

- Will last me for at least the next couple of years

- Has a torch app (the most used feature on any phone I have owned in the last 10 years)

- Hasn't been priced at 4x (or more) the bill of materials because of the huge marketing outlay involved, or the alleged 'lifestyle experience' it brings me (Cost ideally < £200)

- Is slightly less likely to contain the next stagefright-level security flaw to be discovered than the phones of my co-workers (so I can laugh at them)

Faced with a plethora of similarities in a stale market, this is the first phone for a while that's made me go "hang on a minute..." Assuming we aren't all being taken in by a massive email harvesting & phishing scam, that is.

Dubai to get huge climate-controlled domed city and giga-mall

Here's an idea

When it's finished, take the whole thing and stick it in the sea instead, deep in the Persian Gulf. And maybe call it... oh I don't know, how about Rapture?

I'd book my tickets tomorrow if I knew they were going to do that.