* Posts by Dale Harrison

25 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Aug 2007

Shagbook won't take Facebook thrust lying down

Dale Harrison
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Americans will sue anyone for anything...

I'm suprised that Apple hasn't sued people for prepending "i" to every product/service such as the BBC iPlayer etc. And I never understood what the i was for anyway. iNteractive? iThink iTs just a load of balls.

Microsoft admits Mac was Windows 7 muse

Dale Harrison
Thumb Up

@SteveK (iMacs are not stable)

Excellent post Steve. Just brought all the back back and forth "my PC is better than your PC" [insert Mac or *nix word of your choice as appropriate] arguments into perspective, and of course made me laugh. I respectfully re-paste your words below for those who may have missed it and doff my cap in your general direction. But as various people have said in this discussion and others in the past. Use the software you like, stop arguing about it and get a life.

iMacs are not stable #

By SteveK Posted Thursday 12th November 2009 11:54 GMT

To be fair, iMacs are not particularly stable. I'd much rather a stack of beige slabs to stand on while clambering up to an out of reach network cabinet. iMacs are just the wrong shape and far too precarious.

Steve.

Firefox 3.1 morphs into Firefox 3.5

Dale Harrison
Stop

What's the problem?

I realise that third party developers / add-ons may have a problem with fitting into new releases etc. but come on! It's effectively free software; how can anyone complain about this.

I wanted a widget but I got a wedgie. (Not even sure I spelled that right - perhaps I can correct that in the next release!) But I'm sure you know what I mean.

Let's be sensible.

Airline pilots told to switch off mobile phones

Dale Harrison
Stop

Turn off your mobile while you read this...

Oth..er....wise it maaay get gistorted.

But yeah, I can see that the close proximity of a phone to electrical kit could potentially have an effect - e.g. holding your phone near audio eqpt. produces that noise: "gat der gat der gat der gat der gat" which is disconcerting. (Mind you I'm no RF expert)

So I can see some of it but come on! Why turn off your phone while in a doctors waiting room. The situations I would avoid having my phone on are things like Intensive Care Units and erm Plane cockpits.

Just my two cents / penneth (depending from where you are)

Birmingham drops the possessive apostrophe

Dale Harrison
Stop

"Apostrophe Protection Society" ?! '

I can't believe no-one commented on this society, never mind all the apostrophe crap. I thought it was a joke but no. I nearly spent some further googling time on the "Comma Appreciation Society" or the "Which is the Best Bracket Conference".

But it's just one more example of stupidness. You do realise that like nearly every TV advert nowadays, they are going to put disclaimers on road signs too. "If you don't get there it's not our bloody fault" (obviously, some lawyers need to adjust the wording)

And perhaps add some apostrophes....

Portsmouth gets crime-predicting CCTV

Dale Harrison
Black Helicopters

You need to start to worry when....

... they add machine guns to the top of the CCTV camera.

Camera thinks; "Hmmm, those youths look dodgy." BADABADABADABADABADA!!

Sorted! Next case.

"Hmmm, what's that woman hiding in that pram-like structure? Probably a bomb"

BADABADABADABADABADABADA!!

Yeah right, she was going to ram tescos or something.

I hate all this security crap.

Chinese boffins crack invisible-shed window problem

Dale Harrison

What about Arthur ?

[Apologies to the non-Python people]

So Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson is well f*cked now.

"Where the hell are my sheds?!"

Microsoft promises SP 'milestone' for Visual Studio 2008

Dale Harrison
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@ .NET Hell

Excellent point and sadly true. I'm on a project that has just been upgraded to two new servers but even though I can "port" my code to the (current) latest version of .NET, we still have third party code that uses V2.0 (SP whatever).

I'm never sure whether I should just install every damn version "just in case". But end-users should not have to go through this hassle.

There's also that slight niggle that something will go wrong if you install V2 then V1.1

Asking for trouble I bet.

US man cuffed for executing lawnmower

Dale Harrison

Six years !!

Someone alluded to his sentence but six years for just this? He didn't kill anyone and he might be a bit wacky (and, I may point out, in a country that is very free with guns anyway) but surely this is overkill - or should I pun - mowerkill.

I don't really take much notice of US sentences so I can't compare this to a child molester or anything. I do note that the British legal system is almost as stupid. Drop some litter and you get 3 months jail. Rape someone and you get a couple of years and get out early anyway.

<FinalRant>

I also love it when they use the term "life" and they say - but must at least serve a minimum of ten years. I remember seeing a report on an 18 year old in this situation. So he's 28 and back on the streets. Really pisses me off.

</FinalRant>

As Gates strides into the future, we wallow in the past

Dale Harrison
Joke

@AC - Warp

Aww come on, you don't watch Star Trek? Warp factor and all that

Means it would go fast (probably)... [not?]

It was light years ahead of Linux at the time (ooh treading on thin ground there!)

I'm sure many more puns could be made up as well as my crap ones. I was just going on impulse. [See what I did there, tee-hee]

Stray left foot washes up on Vancouver beach

Dale Harrison
Coat

Footloose and fancy free?

I couldn't believe the phrase:- While police say there is "no evidence that the feet were deliberately severed or removed by force",

Am I allowed to be a teenager and say WTF !

So feet are falling off now! This will be some Euro crap about feet being an imperial measure or something.

Mind you, at least I can tell my wife that my willy is now officially improved to a length of... (consults ruler) 15 or something. (For the ladies reading I'm being modest :-) or talking in light years maybe)

Anyway I'm going to get my 90cm coat now.

Firefox 3: now available bug-free, say devs

Dale Harrison
Joke

Releases and Bugs

Perhaps with any new software release (not just Firefox) they should add to the list of features something like this:

1. Improved saving speed

2. Editing Window can be resized

3. New bugs added

Perhaps number 3 is a given...

Apple sued over Mighty Mouse

Dale Harrison
Coat

El Reg will be in trouble....

Shouldn't you also put the superscript "TM" next to the M&M word - otherwise the Mars company might sue you too!

It's patently obvious.

Mines the one that no one would steal cos it's a crap joke.

Windows better off closed, says Microsoft

Dale Harrison
Flame

Who cares

I'm surprised El Reg hasn't put a stop to all this bickering - or are they all just snickering. I guess they are allowing free speech though.

I use Windows mainly due to work requirements, I have played with Linux (quite some time back) and Mac's long before that. They ALL have good and bad points - deal with it. You're rarely going to convert anyone from one to the other. You've got a choice and you make one. Hell, even run all three, but why waste your time flaming at each other.

On topic, I don't care if MS release their code or not and yes, there probably are loads of hacks and dodgy comments - I bet most large software projects are like this (except mine of course ;-). The only outcome of them releasing their code (aside from the branching problems) will be more MS bashing.

On a final note, someone had added a url to wal_mart and I childishly noticed that it's nearly an anagram of "malware". Totally pointless observation I know, but so are a lot of the comments above. (Oops, now I'm flaming - better choose that fiery icon)

Bank turns London man into RFID-enabled guinea pig

Dale Harrison

New opportunites in wallet production?

Methinks I'll be getting a lead-lined wallet soon - if it helps? I'm not up on RF tech. Or would a Faraday caged wallet be better.

Three Little Pigs book deemed offensive to Muslims

Dale Harrison
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No common sense AGAIN !

Number one - I'm not racist. There are nasty white people just as there are nasty muslims (or frenchmen or jews... whatever). I take people as they are and judge from there. It does piss me off that people are banning all this sort of stuff because it might offend someone. No-one bans stuff because it *might* offend me!

I do wonder if the tables were turned and "the minority" group becomes the majority and thus I become one of the minorites. Are the new majority going to start banning stuff that offends or might offend ME? I'd be surprised.

If I move to another country and/or raised there, I would expect to have to respect their culture. Not necessarily follow it as such, but respect others wishes at least.

e.g If muslims don't want to take part in Christian Xmas celebrations then that's OK - they shouldn't be forced, but they shouldn't involuntarily contribute to a ban on Santa or Jesus because some english MP pratt (or whatever) is scared of offending someone.

P.S. It's good that the muslim and other contributors on here agree that it's nuts. Shame that the people who invent this madness don't take note.

Queen's Speech hits YouTube

Dale Harrison
Joke

She doesn't need YouTube...

...Another more suitable URL is still available:-

OnesTube.com

I just can't wait to see if that name actually gets bought!

Gates' spontaneity highlights IE data gap

Dale Harrison
Coat

Never Mind Internet Explorer 8...

Call it...

iE8

...and piss off Apple (or get sued)

i'll get my coat.

(see what I did there, tee hee)

When Commodore ruled the world

Dale Harrison
Thumb Up

It was the Beeb for me

I remember ordering the ZX81 as my first "PC" but the delay in getting it was so long I cancelled it and later bought the BBC B (snappy name huh!).

But yeah I cut my teeth on 6502 Assembly Language and knew the Beeb inside out. I've never known a computer and OS so well since then; thanks for now making it so complex Mr Gates.

And yes - simple as it seems now. Elite was a brilliant game and I've never really found anything to match it. Even playing on emulators doesn't seem the same.

I since regret that I sold my beeb to upgrade to an Amiga. I liked the Amiga but felt like I'd sold my first born, along with all their brothers - e.g. advanced programming books etc. Still have thoughts of re-buying it.

Win XP also prone to random number bug

Dale Harrison
Black Helicopters

Coin tosses - can be a bit predictable

I have found that I can predict better than 50/50 at the result of tossing a coin. I did this over a fairly lengthy period (waiting for Windows to boot up).

So although it's not scientifically/statistically accurate, it's useful for a better chance of winning "heads you buy the round or tails I do" scenarios.

What I do is place the coin (say) heads up all the time on my thumbnail, do the flip/tossing, catch and put it on the back of my hand - as you do.

Generally, I find that if it is a "clean" catch - slap in the palm of your hand, it mostly comes up heads - or whatever side you chose upwards to start with.

(Do I hear the sound of 1000's of coins being flipped at the moment? That'll cause a butterfly in Asia to flap it's wings or something I reckon)

Darling admits Revenue loss of 25 million personal records

Dale Harrison
Happy

I'm surprised that no-one....

.... has quoted Blackadder's General Melchett :-

"What the hell are you playing at Darling !"

PC superstore refuses to take sack in hand

Dale Harrison

Already been said but...

PC World's after sales/support service sucks. I've had several colleagues and friends who have had enormous problems getting things rectified for one reason or another.

I won't buy anything more significant than a book from them (and even then I check all the pages are there before I buy it !) Think they've stopped selling them now anyway.

OpenOffice builds extensions for v2.3

Dale Harrison

English / British

Slightly off topic but the English / American English / British English thing really gets my goat. For years I've been installing SQL server with the default of "English" and wondering why dates are coming out American. Then I later found there was a "British English" option. Tw@s

Sorry I'll shut up now.

Flash memory makers propose common card

Dale Harrison

Standards

Always reminds me of that phrase...

"I know, I've got a great idea. We'll come up with another totally new standard <insert-product/interface-here>"

iRobot unveils new Roomba auto-vacuums

Dale Harrison

What's with the ... going to work

Guys, surely the point of getting a geeky robot is so you can watch it go about it's business not leave it and go to work. In fact how about firing the telly remote at it every now and then to confuse it too, he he.

Also, have a Roomba party (ooo-err missus) - bring yer girly mates around to try and impress them... maybe.