Posts by Jeff

Japanese lunar orbiter to go out with a bang

On Shooting the Moon

Very cool that we are finally exploring the moon. How very 1960's :) Shouldn't we be exploring Uranus by now?

Behind IE 8's big incompatibility list

But is it compatible with...

...most porn sites?

Paris for obvious reasons.

Elevator music files for Chapter 11

No wonder

The employees probably were underperforming due to soft, quiet music constantly playing the background lulling them to sleep at their desks.

Finally launched: Nokia's iPhone beater

Not their first touch device

Many years ago Nokia had the 7700 and 7710 touch devices on the now-defunct Series 90 platform. The touch was discarded when it merged with the Series 80 platform, which died a couple of years ago.

I never used them so I cannot comment on the usability, but at least they've done them before.

Emails show journalist rigged Wikipedia's naked shorts

Nothing to see here

Wikipedia will always be subject to these type of battles for control of content. There is no real peer review, just bully reviewing and the one with the most wiki-cred wins. If someone wants to pretend a problem doesn't exist and works hard enough at it, they can make it disappear.

Wikipedia is great for movie trivia, but really one has to take much of it with a grain of salt.

Paris 'cos I'm sure she's abused naked shorts.

Actors paid to queue for Poland's iPhone launch

@all

OK, I deserve the chastisement. Perhaps unwise to yell to the other person that they are the one yelling at you.

I think overall they make a good product, I think the UI is fantastic, and I have used one, so I'm not uninformed. And they have iTunes, which is the other half- it's quite a bit better than most other phone management software provided by the manufacturers.

What bugged me about the first post was not so much that Mectron didn't like the iPhone- he/she is welcome to have any opinion about the product they want, it was the statement that effectively anyone who disagrees is a moron, i.e., someone who likes the iPhone or would own one. That was what prompted my overreaction.

Because I think they have some good products does not make me a Fanboi. I dislike that Apple is mum when they do have problems. They pretend bugs don't exist while quietly releasing fixes for them. That does bug me, and I think that Jobs, though he has a very keen and sharp consumer vision, is an ass. I wouldn't want to work there.

Thanks for the rips- nothing like a little humble pie for breakfast!

(Paris because her pie is anything but humble)

Stop it

While I agree that it's pathetic to pay actors to generate hype, they're hardly the first to do it. Interesting they'd have to do it for the iPhone.

Mr. Mectron, your bashing of the iPhone to me is a symptom of a jerk and a closed mind. Fine if it's not for you- so f*cking what?!? Why spew your ignorant bias? Buy the phone that you want- it's your choice. But a lot of rather smart folks have in fact chosen the iPhone, and that is their choice. Say what you want about the fanaticism around Apple, but give them their due- they put out a good product that perhaps you just don't like yourself. Be objective in your comments, instead of opening your mouth for the world to see the fool.

I don't have an iPhone because I work for a competitor. That doesn't mean I can't admire it and use it as inspiration in my company (a certain Finnish one) to improve the user experience.

Cock-up blamed for MCI customer site outage

MCI?

I didn't realize they were still around. You hardly Ebber hear about them anymore...

Mine's the one with the black and white stripes.

No wireless sex please, we're American

Damn...

Now what to do with that free hand?

Mine's the raincoat in the corner...

Phoenix lander sucks up water on Mars

Mars flows with cool, clear Dasani

Reference The Onion...

Spammers, Cuil, and the rescue from planet Google

@Lyn Ibson

> Lumping in SEO consultants with spammers does a terrible disservice to thousands of creative, diligent and ethical web professionals.

The article didn't say SEO consultants were spammers, but more that the proliferation of junk websites creates the need for SEO consultants.

However, I've never used SEO, and my website is number 1 for a number of keywords- it's a hobby site (a particular form of photography) and is very solidly focused on just that. On topic, relevant, with a decent set of links to and from related sites. Plain and simple, and it works. And I have a lot of material I created myself on the site. Google, with no effort on my part, has listed the site at #1 for nearly a decade.

iPhone 3G to be in 'very short supply for weeks' - carrier

13k per second...?

...and 200k orders. Did O2 only run the promotion for 15 seconds?

Ohio man cuffed for shagging picnic table

Take some stick... Captain Johnson

Is is an April Fool's joke a day early?

Paris because she has taken a lot of stick, been captain of many johnsons, and probably been friendly with a few umbrella poles.

Dot Mobile goes titsup

Mobile Virtual Network Operator

It's a reseller that buys in bulk from an operator and tries to resell the minutes at a slim profit. Presumably they add some value to it.

Germans demand Nokia return funding

Eh

I really hate subsidies in most forms with only exceptions made for things like transitioning away from crude oil through cellulose conversion- something to help make a change for the positive. We in the US grant tax abatements all the time as incentives as well. It's endemic everywhere.

Germany, and others, need to compete on employment, and to do so, they actually need to make it easier and less expensive for companies to go there. This type of behavior actually discourages other companies from setting up shop there if they have no option but to keep it open forever.

Granted, Nokia is making healthy profits, so there's no sympathy like there might be for some company under distress. But still companies need to be able to have flexibility. I say this as US companies are outsourcing to India. We have to adapt- I don't want the US setting up protectionist measures to keep jobs here, as the companies will then just avoid coming here in the first place.

N-Gage makes it into software

LBS

Throw LBS into the gaming mix and you have a whole new realm of possibilities.

US boffins tune into carbon nanotube radio

Re: Low tech the hard way

I think you missed the point that it's demonstration- they themselves said this application wasn't interesting. Obviously they still have a way to go, but demonstrating these properties are an important first step.

@oxo- It's not meant for radios or audio application. Think faster and smaller microprocessors that hopefully use less power and breathe more life into Moore's Law.

Dallas man accidentally shoots self in head

Robert Moore

I don't think we have a monopoly on stupid people. Whilst I enjoy the banter in El Reg comments, this is just a tad inappropriate, and frankly, idiotic.

I can enjoy the best any culture has to offer, regardless of who their leader is or what their policies are. And I can laugh at the idiots of any nation along with everybody else. However, I don't dislike any nationality just for the sake of it.

Woolworths stores to stop selling HD DVD

About as important as...

...saying that Ben & J-Lo's movie Gigli will only be released on Blu-Ray. How much impact does this really have?

Super Soaker inventor touts solid state heat-2-leccy

@Mike- Scientific American

I agree that Scientific American isn't what it used to be 10 years ago or so, but it's still better than Omni, IMHO. They still go pretty in depth on a lot of articles, though they can be superficial at times, and have gotten more populist with the current editor.

I hate Wired...

"Popular" says it all...

I take anything in Popluar Mechanics or Popular Science with a grain of salt. Those magazines are mostly trash and don't readily vet their sources. They're always showing the next greatest amazing thing that never ever materializes.

If I see it in the Economist or Scientific American or similar publication, maybe I'll take it seriously.

They're tabloids, I tells ya....

Paramount puts down HD DVD dump rumour

I for one...

...welcome our new Blu-ray overlords.

OK, that line is getting overused, but I wanted in on it before it got way overused.

Welcome to the El Reg bumper demographic survey

It's AmericaniZed

Getting my coat... :)

iPhone tops mobile browsing charts

Go figure

Having a Nokia E61i, I tend to use the browser to access the Internet when I'm bored- long meetings, transit, listening to wife talk about her day (OK, not really :). As such, it's passable, but barely. It's still painful and sluggish.

I've also had the opportunity to use an iPhone a few times, and hands down, browsing if a magnitude better experience. Bring faster data downloads, hopefully next year, and for a mobile device, I imagine it will be the next best thing to the desktop.

Of course desktop browsing is still better, but for those opportunities when on the go, I think the iPhone is best choice. Now if web sites can be better about adapting their content to a mobilized environment while still keeping a pleasing layout...

Mars Express circles planet 5,000 times

STFU

Hey Sillyfellow- shut the fuck up. Nobody wants to hear your blather. Conspiracy nuts are irrational and will make up any excuse to believe what they want, no matter how unlikely. I have a friend who thinks McCartney is dead, Lennon is alive, the world is full of body doubles that somehow even fake out wives and parents, etc...

And most government conspiracies fall apart by the sheer logic of:

1. Most governments are barely capable of getting anything useful done

2. Most conspiracies are too complicated for those governments to pull off

3. Way too many people have to keep a secret, and there are frequently unintended witnesses to shoot holes in the story (9/11 anyone?)

Regarding Mars, the subject here- I assume this means 11m deep on average wherever there is water. Obviously some places are deeper, some more shallow. Earth is some 70% water, and it's very deep, so from a planetary perspective, I'd say Earth is "swamped."

BitTorrent site Demonoid.com downed by Canadian record industry

And...

Joydrop, Ginger, I Mother Earth, Edwin and still many more. I have a lot of Canadian artists in my collection (I'm from the US). Am I one of the few who doesn't pirate and actually pays for my music? I know the labels get most of that money, but most of the artists I like are not mainstream, and this is one of the few ways I can support them.

iPod Nano revamp to see widescreen display?

Consumer Choice

Webster- if you don't like Apple, then don't read the articles on them. I WISH my Nokia phone had only 65 errors. It has many more, as do just about every other mobile device out there. Luckily mobile viruses are still in their infancy.

In any event, I'm sure the iPhone has more than 65 errors. However, the point is that it's a device I would like to have and probably will in future. I was able to use one for a week, and it was great. I hope they can tweak the text input to make it easier.

I'm also an iPod fan, and iTunes fan, and the DRM issue doesn't bother me, even though I've spent quite a chunk of change on tunes. AppleTV? Don't own one, but it's a placeholder they could expand on if they choose- why not get the device out now when the volumes are low, learn the market segment better, and when iTunes has a broader (and HD) movie offering, they can come out with a better product based on lessons they have learned. It's called a strategic product, one not necessarily meant for profit at this point in time.

So, if Apple's paradigm doesn't work for you, then shut up and buy someone else's product instead of blasting the first thoughts that come into your head.