* Posts by mego

171 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Oct 2007

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Microsoft cuts loose Iron languages

mego
Jobs Horns

Hah

>>The company has handed code and project responsibility for IronRuby and IronPython to "the community,"<<

Translation: we couldn't be arsed doing it, lets give it to the sheep and let them fix it.

Hand over illegal porn at the border, please

mego

Um

There are over 300 laws in Australia . Those are just laws of the country, not immigration controls, etc. Must we study these too? Get real. Nobody can be expected to "know" the laws of a foreign country; especially when the newer laws are so contrary to 98% of the rest of the world; in fact some are even more tightarsed than the middle east..

iPad tethering does disappearing trick

mego

@ Manu

Most providers add an "fair use" policy to get around this legal quagmire. When broadband came to Ireland first, it was unlimited* (and the * pointed to "fair use policy applies"). One month I had done something like 3Gb downloads and was downgraded and charged for breaking fair use policy. The thing about fair use is that it can mean anything, and most often has nothing to do with fair..

Lawyers are hired in the dozens to write those contracts specifically so that the average man cannot understand exactly why he's getting shived. I've even had lawyers complain to me about how hard to understand the terms and conditions are!

Bloggers swallow iPhone 4 screen weakness claim

mego

Weakness and scratch attraction

Are two very different things...

Amazon Kindle 3 e-book reader

mego

In general, we do not charge you for this use of wireless connectivity

Is what it says... further "Your Kindle may use wireless connectivity to make other services available to you for which we may charge you a fee, such as personal file download and subscriptions when you are located in another country"....indicating there will be a fee if you are roaming..

Man vindicated for videotaping his own traffic stop

mego

I remember a case a while back..

The cops burst into the wrong house - the one next door to the one they had a warrant for. Didn't identify themselves. Brandishing weapons. One of them got shot.

The property owner got treated like a cop killer. Which, to be fair he was - but who in hell would not fire on some group of lunatics bursting into your home at some ungodly hour brandishing weapons?

It did not turn out as serious as that other case for this motorist; but if someone pulls a gun out on an unarmed, non-confrontational person a good long while before announcing they're a cop; they should be charged as any other random person would. Five seconds sounds like nothing, but it could be an eternity to the person being threatened with their life.

2 out of 3 Android apps use private data 'suspiciously'

mego
Thumb Up

Well said

Couldn't have said it any better!

<standing ovation>

mego
FAIL

Um... and I seem alone here

..but every time you select an app for installation, Android tells you precisely what the app can access (yes it's accurate) - the researchers admit this is true as well.

How about a little common sense people??

Downloading an alarm app that needs access to your phone service, internet and system? Um lets see, sound a bit suspect??

Downloading a torch app that needs access to your location, system tools, internet, your dogs rabies result? Yeah, that's gonna be canceled fast.

You have a brain and intelligence (we hope): use it.

How do you copy 60m files?

mego

Richcopy

I use a tool called Richcopy. It can do multiple thread copying (copying a couple files at a time, supports x number of retries, and gives you a handy readout at the end on what files failed/had an issue/etc. It also has a compare feature to compare the two locations once you're done.

Ovi maps out Google competitor

mego

Yes, just like that

Shills.

mego
WTF?

Looks like a Nokia shill

is in the thread down voting all the naysayers...

Superhuman Chinese monk does a bunk

mego
FAIL

...could withstand 220 volts of electricity circulating through his body

So can everyone. Consider these marvels that any idiot can perform:

->A typical tazer delivers around 5000 volts; no healthy human has reported dying from this.

->Static electricity can reach easily over 12000 volts, didn't seem to faze any of my brothers when I was young

It's not the Vots, its the AMPS that kill you (even as low as 0.6). You'd think a journo would have some basic science knowledge or at least check the claims before repeating them..

Microsoft digs Macs in back-to-school ads

mego
Gates Horns

Because oranges to oranges

You get more Mac for what you pay for than a PC. Unfortunately, since I can't stand Mac - this is a sad fact.

Vodafone upsets customers with upgrade downgrade

mego
Stop

@Jason

I believe his point was that Android phone's selling point is the way that the platform is open. And as a result, it has become a powerful contender to other touch phones with app store systems.

Any other phone on the market is not expected to be open, since the platform is inherently closed to hobbyist activities. So people choose Android because they want choice, want the ability to choose their "way" when it comes to how the phone works.

To then go and put crap on that cannot be removed (and additionally affects battery life negatively) without rooting the phone is to destroy that openness that caused the consumer to choose the device in the first place.

-That- is the problem as I see it.. and I believe what AC was reaching for.

Papal crackdown on bare-kneed tourists sparks hypocrisy claims

mego

Actually..

It's not really their city. According to law, they are more like.. tenants with a lease stipulating their rights. What they DO have is "the right to manage freely the geographic area legitimately owned."; as according to law and statute. the quote above is from a paper discussing ownership of the Vatican city and is from Carlo Lottieri (University of Siena and Istituto Bruno Leoni). Law is law - the Vatican may THINK they own the city (and claim ecclesiastical authority as a basis of that faulty thinking), but they don't in law.

It's not abnormal for the catholic church to claim things it does not own either. A few hundred years ago, the Vatican claimed to own all the kingdoms that wanted to be "good Catholics". In fact, when this did not work out in some cases, they simply turned to another country and claimed God wanted them to be burnt to the ground.

Cameron asks Obama for McKinnon compromise

mego
FAIL

Huh.

The leader of the "free world" can't intercede on behalf of a mentally handicapped individual? Crikey, next he'll be saying there are Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq!!!

Pressure mounts on Apple to recall iPhone 4

mego
Alien

Seriously?

>>Nokia N9x series - generally dire on first release.

>>Other Symbian - UI touchscreen/stylus general FAIL

>>Blackberry Storm - clicky screen fiasco and poor performance

These are software issues - easily fixed by patches.

In fact, the Storm 1 was so vastly improved between the first-to-market release and the last patch update that it's almost a new phone (yes, we have several Storm 1 users still, in various versions). The button sucks monkey nuts, true. But it didn't stop the device working well, and issues (broken/stopped working/etc) are still swapped out by RIM with no questions asked - even units bought at the first release.

What's the hardware issue there that equates to the fail that is the iPhone 4G?

>>MS - WinMo general FAIL., Danger/Kin fail

Well, no surprise there. The concept was just plain crap to start off with. The failure was the concept though, not the device - which I believe worked quite well at what it was supposed to do.

>>Android - Nexus FAIL., that Jimmy Hill chin

Again, the problem is not hardware; in fact if some reports are to believed (eg http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2010/03/16/nexus-failure-ferrari/) then the Nexus' failure was nothing to do with the handset itself, but more to do with it's support and sales practices. I've not owned one myself, but having spent some time with one in the US, it's pretty decent and close (ish) to the HTC Desire which is one hell of a phone.

mego
Pint

If you're going to do a story, at least solicit opinion [...]

Hi Mr. Jobs,

Sorry this didn't work out - happens you know. Suggest you stop posting AC and start fixing the problem, there's a good lad.

Think on it. Pray on it. Come back to us tomorrow.

Patch Tuesday sounds death knell for Win XP SP2

mego
Jobs Horns

Good Luck

Microsoft doesn't count what version is used, only that it sold a license for the latest one (whether or not you use downgrade rights makes no difference to them)

eBay whacked with giant patent suit

mego

Ok, I'll bite

What product is XPRT Ventures LLC offering that eBay is infringing on? I can't see anything other than a stock market listing and news on the suit.

And if it's got nothing but a patent then it can get bent.

P2P judge trims student's fine by 90 per cent

mego

To quote what is quick becoming my favourite book..

The law is an Ass.

mego
Grenade

And yet..

Those tax avoidance people (usually through the help of legal firms specializing in tax) get away with millions per year, legally.

I'll bet the RIAA uses a crowd of them.

What's the connection? Well, on one hand you have the wealthy, sticking it right up EVERYONE's butt (government, law, and every taxpaying citizen); who at worst have to pay what they avoided at a later date.

At worst they get to pay at a later date. Do you know how much money you make just by holding onto $100k for a few months in a checking account, let alone a high-yield interest bearing account?

Even if they end up paying, they'll make money on the amount they could keep.

The difference here is that you have a wealthy business with no concept of fair use. The sharing was done at a time when it was regarded fair use. Should he have paid? I hope not. Fair use is.. well, fair use!

Would I have paid? Probably. I don't have the money for a court case - but then I don't live in the United Corporation of America.

mego
WTF?

The point is kinda simple.

I can just imagine the scene..

Now the guy's gotta come up with RIAA's money every week, no matter what. Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me.

In the end they burn the place down. Oh wait, that was some Wiseguys of another kind...

Mother faked ID to 'disappear' child from school waiting list

mego
Coat

The issue here is more than is reported

Did this mother do something wrong? Yes. No doubt - illegal too, depending on the law (most western countries have a problem with identity theft, no matter how brain-dead the checks are).

But what's the "real crime" here? It's this "waiting list" for schools that needs to wake up and smell the cordite. Seriously, I mean at FOUR FRICKIN YEARS OLD you need a waiting list to get into a school?

This touches me directly in my own country. My son currently can go to one of two schools - the one across the road, where our daughter goes too. Or another one about 15km away, requiring us to run two cars. Guess what we got told across the road? "Oh we're a bit full. We can't turn you away but.." That's all well and good - school too full, no attention for my kid. But then you ask, "well what about next year - the school 15km away doesn't do secondary levels?"

"Oh, um, whatever".

This is a public school. There are 15 kids my son's age in the district - 15 kids who should be getting first place. Yet the class is brimming over with 35 kids.

Mines the one with a dozen application forms for schools.

Apple bars radiation nanny from App Store

mego
Go

Erm..

How do you prove a negative? For example, how do you prove that you can't kill a goat by looking at it? All it takes is sometime, somewhere a goat falls down dead after someone stared at it for long enough...

Dead Pink phone fallout hits Microsoft's top brass

mego
FAIL

OMG! Microsoft screws over a(nother) company

Jeez... like you didn't know what would hit you..

Spurned security researchers form anti-MS collective

mego
FAIL

FUD? Shill?

>>Oh. I see. You're a shill, spreading FUD. This isn't about "market share" or "earnings". This is about providing a secure solution for a given problem. Microsoft fails in the "secure" department, and succeeds remarkably in the "problem" department.

Actually.. to be fair.. you're sounding like a shill yourself. AC is asking for an example and in response you've called him a shill and spreader of FUD.. not something I would expect a proud consultant dealing with multibillion dollar corps.

You got me interested now.. shill.

>>Both manufacturing & IC design build their own proprietary software. I consult for several corporations who wear one or the other or both hats. None use Microsoft software anywhere that matters.

Well, since I've worked in neither industries for a long time I can't really comment on whether they do or don't design their own. But I bet there wouldn't be companies like Agilent, Ansoft and Ansys - who charge upwards of $100k per license for engineering apps - if they did.

Seems to me you're the one spreading FUD here pal.

Romford coppers try to stopper young snapper

mego
Stop

Moron

Seriously. Are you a plod yourself I wonder?

Just to be Mr Obvious, there is a blatant and flagrant abuse of power shown there, asking "what's my offense" being the only "trouble" this kid is giving out. As a citizen you have a right to understand what offense you have committed, and if you are clearly guilty of nothing, why should you comply?

With the result that they throw the kid down a set of stairs when he hasn't committed any crimes at all.. and you think that's right? Wow.

By your calculation, if a plod walks up to a pretty girl and orders her to undress in public, she should damn well listen, because "I said so" is good enough? Get real, numbnut.

Google can kill or install apps on citizen Androids

mego
Alert

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

>>People on here seem to thing that MS are the most evil thing since the Nazi party, but even they don't have the power to install or remove software without users knowing about it.<<

So far as we know... although given the way Geniune Advantage and WAT behaves, I don't really agree.

Rancid IE6 'more secure' than Chrome and Opera US bank says

mego

The safest (Chrome)

You might want to reconsider that statement... Google are on record as being anti-privacy.

iPhone 4: Perfect for everyone, except humans

mego
Alien

The title is too long.

I beg to differ. My wife's scraped her 3Gs a few times, with the result of a few replacements of the nice filmy cover I got her for the phone when I bought it. I'd much rather replace a €5 screen cover than a new €200 iCrap

Windows 7 Backup gets users' backs up

mego

Big Data Sets

Ok, I'll bite. Thing is, 200Gb today is not a bit dataset.. even netbooks are getting setup with 160Gb drives, and they're not meant to do anything much.

In the era of 1Tb drives being the norm, 200Gb is not large by half.

Copyright wally of the week

mego
Thumb Up

Rejected by moderator at Monday 21st June 2010 19:00 GMT

And thus my point is proven.

Windows Phone 7 compass mandatory but broken

mego
Terminator

All Windows Phone 7 devices are required to have a compass

Interesting.. wonder if there will be a backdoor for the feds to track and trace? No freaking way am I gonna be getting one of these..

Tape business shows steep decline

mego
Black Helicopters

I know the cause!!

It's those dirrrty Pirates! Arr!

Google geek slammed over XP exploit

mego
Coat

"not an enterprise customer, but I am a mouthy female"

Oh joy another one of those.

Hat, coat, wallet, spectacles... ah you know the rest.

Is your office World Cup sweepstake legal?

mego
Headmaster

I have just one word

>>This exemption also only applies if no profits are made from the lottery and all funds are paid out as prizes. This means that any attempt to make a charity donation with some of the proceeds would make the lottery illegal<<

Hilarious.

The funny thing is, we make informal bets all the time.

Don't go out with an umbrella with (or sometimes without) clouds in the sky? Betting that the rain won't ruin your suit or shoes!

Changing jobs? Betting that the new one won't sack you. You'll win a salary on one hand, the dole on the other.

Getting married? Betting that the girl won't divorce and ruin you. Often millions considering Sir McCarthy.

Thing is there are so many ways in which information gambling is already in our culture, it's just the numbnuts in parliament that think it's possible to regulate it.

Queuing for an iPad? Why?

mego
Thumb Down

Title goes here

>>- The four year old daughter of some friends who were visiting, who was bored because it was raining outside but then spent a delighted hour watching Winnie-the-Pooh videos on YouTube and playing a few free games. She had no problems at all learning how to use an iPad.<<

Yes, because a £450 device just screams 4 year old plaything. Not like, I dunno a £200 NDS with a CycoDS or PSP device? Both can browse the internet, both can play movies, both play games.. and I daresay a 4 year old won't have any trouble using them.

>>My cleaner and her friend, who loved using it to look at some cute photos of my cat and checking their Facebook pages.<<

Yes, there's definitely no other device that can do the same (or, dear me, more) for less money. You couldn't, for example, do that with an iPhone or a blackberry, or an Android device.. or heck even a netbook.

>>Sure, the people queuing on Friday will mainly be Apple fanbois, but the appeal of the iPad is far broader than that and they will undoubtedly be in very short supply over the coming months as all sorts of normal people learn about them and buy them, not because they're stupid or have more money than sense or because they're trying to impress their friends but because they decide the iPad is shiny and fun and they want one.<<

Yeah, ok. If you say so...

Oh. And yeah I've played about with one already for a decent time; given that I'm in the US often I had one in my hands before a lot of the "pro" ipad users here. Nothing screams out as being better than a netbook; or heck even an iPhone.

Cops cuff coke-smuggling lingerie model

mego

Offtopic..

But why didn't you just add them to your carry-on?...

Statistics prof nails Blackpool hoopla scam

mego

How.. wait.. what..

I'm still confused at how you can be bullied to interact in a game of chance? I mean, sure, if they're being threatened with knife/gun/etc then I see the case.. but you don't get just 14 days in the clink for that, that's armed assault.

So.. I'm confused.. what in blazes did they do that isn't done by every carnival operator already?

Microsoft launches patent suit at Salesforce cloud

mego
WTF?

May I be the first to say..

You didn't invent it. You didn't make any important discoveries with it. Just like all your other "inventions", you simply stole, extended, and bullied anyone that claimed they did it first.

Grow up (tm).

Unlicensed software use 'may have peaked'

mego
Jobs Horns

It's fun

To play with numbers. Hey, last year I earned 50% of Microsoft's GNP! Yeah, serious. In other news, some associations like to pull figures out their intestinal exit wound.

I don't know what makes me laugh more. The fact that the ones bleating about piracy (ooo do we go there - I think not) are the same that wouldn't have a job it it got solved, or the fact that all the firms involved with the BSA probably wouldn't even miss a couple million here or there....doesn't seem to figure in this "report".

A little biased and maybe weighted heavily with guesswork what?

LimeWire induces infringement, Judge rules

mego
FAIL

@just because

Just because some are using the facilities for illegal transmissions doesn't make the service illegal.

Now I'd be surprised if (in the coming months) we don't hear Linux distributors - or heck, computer distributors - we all know open-sourcetards use computers and Linux for sharing their illegal wares right?

And what about those diabolical computer shops? Computers are used all the time to commit crime innit? So they should also be brought to book for their part in enabling crime

What about tertiary education - Universities and Colleges around the Yoo-Ess - that educate these students who develop this filthy software on their illegal computers? Shouldn't they also be brought to book?

Get real.

High Court rules software liability clause not 'reasonable'

mego
Grenade

Title? I don't need no reekin title!

I can see the point from the Hotel's side, but I have to say - come on guys, surely you insisted on a trial before purchase? If you did and they promised the issues were fixed in purchase version, then it's slightly better, but only to raise you from a moron to a cretin.

Putting ANY new software in any form of production use without running full test cycles on it in your environment, to ensure no compatibility/functionality problems is just plain irresponsible. I hear ya, there's too many lies from vendors that don't know their own product. Even more reason to be cautious when using something untested to RUN YOUR BUSINESS ON, don't you think?

No, I am not a software vendor. I'm an IT professional. And this just stinks of bad IT management pointing fingers and lawyers at a problem that should have stopped at their desk. That IT department is the grenade and the pin's somewhere the sun don't shine..

Election 2010: The sillier options

mego
Paris Hilton

ID 10 T

<<Their policy on copyright is "balanced" in the way demanding free sweets or free beer is balanced, or a human right. Jane Fae Ozimek's livelihood depends on strong copyright but s(he) hasn't thought this one through>>

Actually, they're more concerned with the Fair Use policy being heavily eroded by businesses paying government to erode our rights. It sounds like an oxymoron, but most "pirates" actually are labeled as such not for copying and selling (illegally), but for finding ways around the stupidly designed DRM and locked formats used by the recording, movie and software industry.

If you sat down and thought about it really carefully (and I'm not suggesting you could) , you'd realize that the problem isn't "piracy" - or to be more accurate "contract violation" - but businesses who feel they can remove your rights at a whim just because they have money.

The gaming industry cries and beats it's chest about "piracy" - then promptly goes and makes sure their games are so hobbled by DRM that legal customers have to use "pirated" versions. Oh, and even the most heavily DRM'd game statistically gets pirated within hours of hitting the shelves. Yeah, that really stopped them.

The movie industry is so busy making crap movies that they need something to blame for dropping profits. Dang they even wanted to ban mobile phones - not because of recording, it wasn't really an option at the time - but because viewers were texting their mates telling them what crap such-and-such a movie is.

And last (but not least) the music biz. Yeah, those guys that give their artists a pittance per album, suing grandmothers who don't even have computers for being P2P sharers. Then go on to say that the REAL REASON (tm) they're not making uber profits is because of the "pirating". Yeah, and it's got nothing to do with the rip-off pricing you charge huh? I mean, Sean Combs musta been talking out his o-ring when he said piracy HELPS spread his music. Actually.. strike that. Perhaps that's the problem the recording crew have with "piracy".. it's a free way to get your music into the masses. Something they can't screw over the artist or the public for.

That's not all of them for sure. But just something to start thinking about huh?

Paris. She can pirate me anyday.

Microsoft defends death of free video in IE 9

mego
Gates Horns

Your point is?

>>If they don't they are breaking the standard, and trying to use their browser dominance to force content providers to use their codecs (anti-trust anyone?).

So? MS lost anti trust trials in the US and Europe. Nothing really changed since then, so why should they be concerned.

As for breaking standards.. when has that -ever- stopped Microsoft. Damn dude, they're the king of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish"..

Beijing security know-how rules irk suppliers

mego
Flame

Nothing new

The good old US of A already have this requirement for any encryption product sold by a US company to anyone outside the US..

Ten free apps to install on every new PC

mego
Thumb Down

Re: Mate... it's FREE! =P

So's a bullet-shaped hole in the head courtesy of your nearest mugger; but I don't see anyone queuing up for one.

Point is, it's badly designed, poorly supported, and barely able to work with it's own format - let alone microsoft's, which sad to say seems to be the defacto for office and college. I'm as rabidly against MS as any other self-respecting IT professional, but even I have to admit that MS Office .. well .. works (yeah excuse the pun).

mego
Coffee/keyboard

RE: dont forget

>>Paint.NET, Notepad++, 7ZIP, Firefox, Comodo Firewall?<<

+1 to these apps.. world-class stuff for nothing!

>>And WTF with iTunes. Id rather boil my scrotum than use itunes.<<

See keyboard.. haha

mego
Heart

Open Office? iTunes?

Saw these and just thought OH JEBUS PLEASE NO. And what the hell.. Microsoft Security Essentials? That's like trusting your pet bulldog to look after your lunch!

Other than that though.. spot on.

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