Posts by Mike Hartley

Terminal downgrade saves the day after a client/server heist

If it was a Doge truck...

Would it then be a Ram ram RAM raid?

BOFH: Everyone deserves a little DOWNTIME

So BOFH did hook up with Gina

Paris - because she's probably jealous right now...

iPhones, tablets... Pah: By 2020, we'll froth over hot new SOFTWEAR

Where's 7 of 9 or Kiera (Continuum)?

I'm saddened. It's Friday lunchtime and there was the perfect opportunity for a speculative future article which could include gratuitous photos of 7 of 9 or Kiera Cameron from Continuum and el Reg let me down.

C'mon Reg, if you carry on in this manner people might start thinking you're getting all serious and mature on us.

Archos pushes out 7-inch GamePad, slaps on dual thumbsticks

That looks a very nifty bit of kit

Anybody know about storage, MicroSD slot etc? Am looking for a smaller tablet to complement my asus transformer and the gaming controls look very nifty.

Nintend-who? I'll stick to a multi-function tablet methinks.

Hands on with the Motorola Razr Maxx

Razrs are great...but flawed

The Razrs are great phones. Yes out-powered nowadays and in need of a price cut to reflect that, but with great screens, connectivity and the frequently-cut MicroSD port to allow for plenty of expansion. Lightweight, comfortable and a joy to use on the whole.... but....

Remember the old Walkmans? The joys of crackling headphone ports after a while, and the self-fix solutions (chewing gum, duck tape, super glue - or solder if you had an iron somewhere). Unfortunately the Razrs have the same problem, even all these years later. The way they are fixed to the main board means there is flex that creeps in until you are left with a really dodgy connection - although some cut-up drinking straw can apparently fix that (need to get a straw to try it as it is really annoying me now!)

Even worse is the fact that the USB port has apparently started failing in the same way for some folks.

You really would think they'd learn from the example of others - even 30 years later! I really like my phone, but it's annoyingly flawed.

Mexican woman gets litigious on Top Gear's ass

So - no more repeats of Fawlty towers or Blackadder?

Will the French now decide to sue anyone who shows the Cheese-Eating-Surrender-Monkey episode of Blackadder?

This is crazy and I really hope that all this gets laughed out of court for being a huge waste of space and time.

Time for people to grow up and focus on sorting out important issues rather than taking offence at a program which never pretends to be anything but a shouty, blunt and funny TV program.

Guy Kewney, pioneer, guru, friend - RIP

Truly saddened by the loss of a great writer

I just saw the headline on the front page and was genuinely stunned and upset. Guy has been a part of my life ever since I got into computers back in the day (Vic 20 - classic computer) and I've always loved his journalism, professionalism and insight.

Condolences to all who loved him, and whom he loved - we all share your loss :'(

It's the end of TV as we know it

Why the negativity?!?

OK - we might not have the best "broadband" (and I use the term loosely in the case of certain providers) in the world - but it's better that some places... but even with what we have our household viewing has been transformed by the careful use of iPlayer and suchlike, along with niceties such as VPN services and Hulu etc ;)

We rarely watch broadcast TV these days - in fact the only time we make an effort to do so is for Top Gear, Dr Who and F1 - the rest of the time we will often use IPTV services (or similar)

I'm all for moving away from broadcast to broadband - especially as some folks I know who live in built up large cities cannot get decent freeview but can get decent broadband (10-100mbps) - whilst ironically family who live in rural areas get better freeview but "only" about 6mbps broadband.

Why can't we applaud moves to try and move things forward instead of griping and whingeing about them?!

Android 2.0 debuts on touchscreen tablet

WANT ONE NOW!!!

Pretty Please!!! Looks gorgeous in its simplicity and Android should be great on it - assuming they've done a proper job in getting the Android Market etc working on it.

Palm Pre smartphone

YATA!!! What about the Hero then?

Sorry but I've got to say that review totally misses out on it's sweeping comparisons with HTC.

The Hero is an absolutely superb device, having just got one a week ago, and has even my Apple lovin' friend drooling at the features and the design (yes - even the Jimmy Hill chin has won approval from mates)

The latest update from HTC have made it a fast and smooth device and it shouldn't be too long until Android 1.6 is available for it.

The on-screen keyboard is a delight, as is the predictive text. Screen resolution is great and the HTC bolt-ons really do add value to it.

C'mon Reg you can do better than this!

Blu-ray dropped from updated iMacs?

Announcement "Later this month" - 22nd Oct anyone?

OK - Who's willing to have a punt that Apple decide to show off their new toys the day MS launch it's new toys?

There's only one way to settle this of course - FIGHT!!!!

HP ScanJet 3C takes lead on Bohemian Rhapsody

Un-frakkin-believable

Totally love it!

Now - own up, who's ripped it for their ringtone??? ;-)

Plod punishes PC-reliant businesses

Off-site Backup

Of course, these people would not have any problem if they stored backup data etc in off-site backups or online vaults... heck, even SkyDrive will store 25Gb these days and it's very simple to get multiple live accounts if you need more.

Then all you need to do is nip out and buy a cheapo laptop.... you could even backup your program installs on-line and store the producy keys in text files for easy access.

Run Mac OS X on a PC

/Waits for the take down notice

but in the meantime will take copies of the pages here for "archival purposes"

In all honesty (seriously!) I would be tempted with *buying* OS X if Apple made it available to PC users as I would quite happily play around with a dual-boot scenario... in the meantime I'll have to discover my masochistic tendencies once more and get down and dirty ;)

BOFH: The Mandelboat virus

Absolute Genius - Definitely one of THE best ever!

I have tears streaming down my face and coffee all over my keyboard after reading that - as well as seriously aching sides and a distinct lack of breath.

One of the truly great episodes in the BOFH legacy.

OMFG, what have you done?

I like it...

Threw me at first when I did my first-cup-of-coffee-look and I did hit Ctrl+F5 a few times to make sure Monday wasn't playing tricks on my eyes.... but nope.... el Reg has changed.

and I like it.

I'm stunned as I loved the old layout but this layout works well and I am probably one of the few who actually do like the new comment icons as well.

Good work folks

Today is not Hadron Collider Day

THANK YOU!!!

At long last - someone is pointing out what has been blatantly obvious to those who chose to take note of the facts... the collision isn't, nor has it ever been, planned for today so the worlds ending won't come today (well, not as a result of the LHC anyway!)

Thanks El Reg! About time someone reported facts, not hysterical fantasies.

Happy Sysadmin Day!

No acknowledgement from el Reg?

Surely such an occasion as this deserves it's very own masthead on the Register?

If national days can get them then surely such an important day as this would definitely warrant it's own recognition.

Panasonic's pivoted HDMI cable to end connector slippage?

Need a USB-style one

... for in-car stereos that have USB connectors. Mine gets quite annoying at times but a usb connector that can rotate/bend would be very handy!

Evesham brand up for sale as Austin walks

@ Anonymous

Sounds like you got a bad'un as I previously bought hundreds of Evesham PCs, Servers and Laptops with very few problems - less than 2% probably.

I'm sad to see a British Company go down the tubes but really hope we've seen the back of Austin as, in recent years especially, he's become someone who only cares about his pocket and stuff the customers.

Just glad the the majority of the really decent staff there have escaped elsewhere now as the folks who worked there were top class and didn't deserve the shafting that Austin gave them.

Nokia N82 smartphone

Am I sad 'cos I like it?

I actually like the look of this phone - yeah it's got some retro elements but that's what makes it look good to me.

In many ways I think it's a better looking phone that the N95

Mine is the white coat next to the nice men in the van with the padded rubber walls.

Beeb censors Fairytale of New York

Hypocrisy in the Beeb

Radio 1 edit it - but Radio 2 have left it in....

And then newsbeat keep repeating Faggot in every news break anyway to discuss the whole issue so you probably hear it more times in one day than you would anyway.

Staff cut off in Evesham 'rescue' deal

Another one bites the dust

Yet another sad day for British tech firms.... I've got fond memories of Evesham Technology dating back many many years - and I've used them a lot of the past couple of decades.

My sympathies to all the staff who've been screwed over.