* Posts by graeme leggett

2467 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Oct 2007

ICANN'T believe it's not Apple: Vatican wins domain-handout lottery

graeme leggett Silver badge

I bet the ITU wouldn't have made this balls-up

If they had taken control.

By the time theyd reached agreement between all the members there'ds only be boringly safe tlds.

Penguin gives in to US Feds over ebooks

graeme leggett Silver badge

What price discount in an electronic marketplace

When dealing with physical items, the purpose of discount is clearer, a wholesaler agrees to take a palletload of stuff with associated reducing packaging and processing costs compared to the ones and twos going out to the retailer and the manufacturer gets a quicker payment but at a lower return.

With the retailer, the discount to the customer is to clear old stock that isn't selling (remaindered bin), or act as lure to bring in footfall who might by other stuff (supermarkets)

With ebooks where's the incentive to discount, except to lock the buyer into returning to the same (e)store next time they want a book, or to lock them into a preferred format with the same effect. An ebook doesn't take up stockroom space, the only issue for the retailer is how many concurrent purchases and downloads it can handle.

LAst thought - with no little to no physical limit on the number of copies held, the number of available loans has to be limited to maintain the seller's market.

Phone-hack saga: Police cuff man in southwest London

graeme leggett Silver badge

these celeb types sometimes like to "round down" their age to make that youthful appearance( from medical intervention, and expensive spas rather than lucky genes) look more plausible.

Yeah, wishful thinking

UK gov probes Comet crash: Public, private sectors LOST £257m

graeme leggett Silver badge

"Crippling rent and energy costs, and staffing those fucking barns"

Yes, what is the point of the extra 30 ft of headroom in a Comet store?

While the space may be suitable for warehousing and distribution, location within a retail trade parks is not going to be compatible with high numbers of artics.

ITU to treaty haters: Enjoy your pricey roaming, boatloads of spam... suckers

graeme leggett Silver badge

Fixed it for you

"was built on the accusation that the UN was trying to wrest control of the internet from the freedom-loving people big advertisers of the world (particularly the USA)"

It's official: Mac users are morally superior to Windows users

graeme leggett Silver badge

I think we missed the point

In starting the old Mac/OpenSource/Windows (in alphabetical order not preference) arguments.

The thing we overlooked is that QGIV (never heard of them) are releasing stories to increase their own exposure not to highlight any genuine discernable useful information about one or other groups in society.

ie a manipulated news story for manipulating their newsworthyness (sorry, about that last word)

Won't follow Apple Store rules? How 'bout an iTASER TREAT!

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Police should at minimum loose their jobs

ACPO had this to say on 2nd jobs earlier this year

"Chief Constables, who consider individual cases, are clear that officers must not engage in activity which would adversely impact on their ability to fulfil their duties or would bring disrepute on the Service."

And Newman in 1985 said that a police constable exercising police powers should "Be and be seen to be, unfettered by obligation, deciding each issue without fear or favour, malice or ill-will.”

And in the "Without Fear or Favour" report HM Inspectorate say of police regulations "These regulations require an officer to apply for permission to have a business interest, and the chief officer to determine whether the interest is “compatible” with the officer being a member of the force"

Apple confirms Amazon ebooks bendover, EU watchdog drops bone

graeme leggett Silver badge
Headmaster

@Big_Ted

technically books do have VAT on them. It's just that at the moment its set to zero. And presumably could go up if the government of the day decided (to commit Hari-kari)

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Wow

I'm sure someone will give it a go.....

Schmidt 'very proud' of Google's tiny tax bill: 'It's called capitalism'

graeme leggett Silver badge

and some investors temper their desire for maximum return by looking at the companies ethical stance.

Though the UK's rich history of Mutuals, Friendly societies, cooperatives, and Quaker-owned businesses seems to have taken a hit over the years

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: so who next?

an ISA is a government ponsored means to encourage saving rather than spending of your money which will then be available indirectly for investment by British business. It's deliberately limited in scope with an upper limit.

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Good ol' Google

The rules exist for good purpose and from the point of view of national authorities the intention is to not penalise legitimate business practices.

Unfortunately, because multinationals operate across several national areas they are able to exploit the differences between how each nation decides its tax. With added complications due to those tiny nations where the favourable tax and or banking systems is their prime "export".

You may be being ironic about google providing free stuff. I can think of a couple of (possibly contradictory) proverbs which might apply - "never look a gift horse in the mouth" and "beware of Greeks bearing gifts"

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Alternatives

HotBot? I thought that had gone the way of all things Used to use it a lot. Was quick and efficient.

Londoners can bonk their way to work without Oyster cards TODAY

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: I want to remain anonymous when I travel

I suppose it depends on who's tracking you and for what purpose.

On the one hand, your bank tracking your movements and sending you an email that next time you're on the (your most used) line, you can get an extra 5% in store at Debenhams might be of borderline utility.

On the other, TfL knowing that you take the Circle line every weekday at 4pm, letting you know that the station at the other end is closed and you should get off the stop before might be of more use.

And worst case, if there was an accident in a tunnel it might help the emergency services to know that you went through the barriers a little before and have yet to exit from another station

Microsoft licence cops kick in TWICE as many customers' doors as rivals

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Some SMBs...

don't have to even keygen. Just reusing volume license keys beyond the number you've paid for. Or even on older software versions reusing a single installation key. And it doesn't have to be malicious just a slip of the memory when in a rush to do things.

I think Spiceworks can handle comparing licenced software against what you think your've purchased and report shortfall, but I've never used that bit of it.

YES! It's the TARDIS PC!

graeme leggett Silver badge

Proper on/off switch at the back.

Hopefully as a mark of the quality of the build and not because the blue lamp switch might be flakey.

Does anyone know if the lamp can be made to flash? Missed a trick if it doesn't.

And the optical drive tray ought to "mmmmmmmmm" out (sorry ,can't imitate classic series scanner sound FX in text)

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Tiz the wrong colour of blue.

too good looking to go under a desk certainly

graeme leggett Silver badge

Not too bad looking

At least it doesn't have the wood effect of the latest one on TV.

My I offer material for commentators by suggesting "Windows might be the wrong size"

Dr Alex Moulton: 'An inspiration for generations of engineers'

graeme leggett Silver badge

I used to feel sick in our Morris (1300 or possibly an 1800 "Landcrab") with its hydroelastic suspension. And once or twice I was sick.

Though perhaps other factors were at play.

1) being the seventies, all cars were poorly ventilated and stuffy while also bringing in fumes from the car in front

2) a tendency to try and read comics while on the move.

Sheryl Sandberg offloads $41.5m in Facebook shares in just 6 weeks

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: To oversimplify a tad…

Or a mega yacht with remote submersibles - or is that only for the boys?

Last moon landing was 40 years ago today

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Scary thing is ...

During the first big unpleasantness it was seen that as a result of the circumstances some were making profits in excess of what they would of have in peacetime (effectively "war profiteering") and the government did impose a "Excess War Profits Duty" - a tax of 50% on profits over a certain level.

What are we now to do in a situation of near constant but low grade war?

Mother of All Whistlers: Virgin Media superhub. Listen to recordings

graeme leggett Silver badge

An observation re homogenity and problem reporting

Is the problem magnified in perception (as in widespread rather than the amount of noise) because it is the commonest device across the cable network.

By comparison the ADSL users are spread across a multitude of ISPs big and small who supply various brands and models of modem/routers with custom firmware plus there's others who buy their own, or reuse ones from previous suppliers. Hence reporting of common issues is dliuted across various forums.

Patrick Moore: Lived with cats, accompanied Einstein on the piano

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Good job he wasn't a diplomat

In his own words about Germans and Werhner von Braun

"When I met von Braun, there were no ill feelings, and we got on very well; subsequently he joined me in a Sky at Night TV programme"

"No-one could hate the Nazis more than me (they killed my fiancée, many of my best friends, and did their best to kill me). But on my knowledge of him I am ready to give von Braun a 'clean bill'. I do not believe that he was personally involved in atrocities, and it is also clear that he was in no position to prevent them. We will never know the full truth; I can only give my personal opinion"

Sounds quite balanced to me.

Australian Police say don't use Apple's iOS 6 Maps

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Less likely to kill

According to "Steve Parish's "Amazing facts about Australian Frogs and Reptiles" (secondhand bookshops in this country are great) about 20 species of Australian front fanged species are potentially dangerous - and as the first three are varieties of Death Adder I'll assume by potentially dangerous it means potentially lethal.

I'll add them to my list of reasons not to go visit my brother down under, after airfare costs but a lot higher up than faulty Apple maps

graeme leggett Silver badge

"sealed" roads

had a brief mental image of a cordon sanitaire round the park until I cottoned on that it was refering to a tarmac'ed surface.

New York invites designers to invent Future of Phone Booths

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: On a serious note.. -costs

Its been so long I had to look it up.

In the UK, putting coins in the slot, its 60p minimum and national and local calls are charged at 60p for the first 30 minutes, then 10p for each 15 minutes ("or portion thereof") after.

That's from the BT website, I seem to recall putting more than 60p in for a five minute call in the old days.

but for credit/debit cards its 20p per minute with a minimum fee of £1.20 ouch!

Microsoft Windows Server 2012: Why Bother?

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Just one thing missing

How about if you are administering it from a tablet?

'Build us a Death Star, President Obama' demand thousands

graeme leggett Silver badge

"That's not a moon, that's a distraction from our current domestic crisis"

China admits $10 BEEELLION tech trade deficit

graeme leggett Silver badge

"China has made important technology advances "

Any specifics?

GPU-stuffed monster cracks Windows passwords in minutes

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Epic Fail.

I found this http://davenport.sourceforge.net/ntlm.html which says:

"While newer clients support the NTLM response, they typically send both responses for compatibility with legacy servers; hence, the security flaws present in the LM response are still exhibited in many clients supporting the NTLM response"

Which I read as NTLM is better, but unless LM is turned off, it's there as well in some cases.

MSDN say to use "Negotiate" in applications so that Kerberos if supported is automatically used instead of NTLM but that NTLM "must also be used for logon authentication on stand-alone systems".

Apple shares take biggest one-day hammering in 4 years

graeme leggett Silver badge

How much to do with return on investment

If Apple never pay out much in dividends, unless you sell your stock when its up you will not make quite the huge amount of boodle (apologies - been reading Raffles) as if you had put the money elsewhere.

So if you want to get your money out to put it elsewhere you sell it but the buyer thinks its not worth that much to them for the same reason so they give you a lower price.

Isn't that how market works?

Dutch army digs in on spare spectrum rest of Europe could use

graeme leggett Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: The Dutch have an army?

Blast! I'll never get Silver at this rate.

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: The Dutch have an army?

Yes, with ballistic nuclear missiles on its subs.

graeme leggett Silver badge

Bit of a give away for the Sigint lot

If you pick up transmissions in Europe in those bands then its a Dutch unit,

Will Westerners soon be getting their IT direct from Asian players?

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: But are they any good at it?

"educated in the West"

Perhaps those ones have a better understanding of the culture, business environment and therefore the requirements

Elon Musk jumps overboard from Paul Allen's GIANT MOTHERSHIP

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Dang...

Heinkel He111 Zwilling plus V1 familiar?

Half of all app store revenue goes to just 25 developers

graeme leggett Silver badge
Holmes

Surprise, surprise

Game Developers conquer a slightly different form of console/computer using their sizeable development and marketing teams. Often using their existing products to tie in no doubt.

Hero Playmonaut lost at sea as SPEARS ditches in Channel

graeme leggett Silver badge

Could also be a chance to get a record for highest altitude achieved by a model boat. Assuming one of the ISS-nauts didn't take Airfix's Victory with him to pass the hours.

graeme leggett Silver badge

equipment revision list for Playmonaut No. 2

Water immersion triggered safety line separation

positive buoyancy device (piece of polystyrene foam)

waterproof luggage label "if found please call........."

of course there's a chance that a battered and faded Playmonaut No1 will turn up on a coast some day and someone will wonder where he came from (imagines plastic amnesiac in Dutch boy's toybox)

I do know of an expert in tidal flows around the UK....hmmm might know where the little fellow could be found.

graeme leggett Silver badge

An idea

Some sort of network of volunteers - experienced sailors naturally - on the coast ready to set forth should subsequent ascents look to be heading out over the briney. And for no consideration other than the fame and glory of being part of a great endeavour. And one or more virtual (or even real) pints from Registrar readers.

Perhaps http://www.airsearescue441.com/ is available.

Curiosity finds organics on Mars, but possibly not of Mars

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: terrestrial or martian carbon?

12C/13C ratio might be a pointer.

graeme leggett Silver badge

on Mars, not necessarily of Mars

So John Carter rather than a Thark then?

Littlest pirate’s Winnie-the-Pooh laptop on the way home

graeme leggett Silver badge

Ten year olds...

get laptops with unfettered access to the internet now?

Clap Google, Amazon in irons to end tax shenanigans - MPs

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: While they're at it...

didn't know about that one.

any other examples of businesses charging over-the-odds administration fees for what is effectively clicking a tickbox?

Register readers mostly too ashamed to cop to hideous hoard horrors

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: It's stressful to keep that much junk

i admire your courage, i agree with the sentiment but don't have it in my to follow your example.

I believe its the buddhists that say that possessions weigh down the soul.

Apple ships 'completely redesigned' iTunes 11

graeme leggett Silver badge

I got a speed increase at startup with previous versions by turning off the auto-updating of the built in playlists ("Top 10 tracks" etc)

The Lord of the Rings saga lies hidden deep in your Mac

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: I'll try again

Ah-ha. Hving read a bit of Appendix D, it's all to do with mapping the entirely fictional Shire Calendar onto the real Gregorian Calendar

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: I'll try again

that does seem to be the case if Appendix D of the Return of the King is to be trusted.

And Sauron falls on the 25th March

And Ellessar is crowned on 1st May not 23 April

and Elessar marries Arwen on "Mid-years day" not 23 June

end of the War of the Ring is 3 November with the death of Sauron.not 25 October.

good job all this is fictional and not at all important.

Ten badass brainy computers from science fiction

graeme leggett Silver badge

Re: Orac

@Tim11

Orac made "The System", the advanced and computer controlled civilisation that built the Liberator, blow up - so that he wouldn't be proved wrong about his prediction (apparently showing the Liberator being destroyed) seen at the end of the episode when he/it is introduced.

That's quite badass