* Posts by MrT

1359 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Oct 2007

This one shall pass! Not even a flesh wound from ‘Monty Python’ SPACE ROCK

MrT

Probably...

... needs a new rewrite of the Galaxy Song then. Does it orbit behind asteroid Green Bush, mostly out of sight? Let's hope it avoids being put on top of other things... etc.

Want to shoot FIREBALLS from your wrists, SPIDER-MAN style?

MrT

Re: But...

... on first glance at the headline I thought this was one of his. On reading the article I realised to get it to Colin's level of hyperactivity it needs more thermite...

Ground control to 2014: A year in Space

MrT

Re: It's still going ...

The one that always springs to my mind in these discussions is Prospero, which could last 100 years in orbit, having just over half of that time left before coming back down. Until it does, it will be a reminder that Britain developed and abandoned its own satellite launch capability, testimony to the great work done, and to the political short-sightedness that so often dogs technical success.

Fill 'er up: 'Leccy car firm Tesla brings back PUMP SERVICE

MrT

Maybe not light a cig...

...but if they go for 120KW across inductive charging it could warm a Ginsters pasty up while you wait.

Ghosts of Christmas Past: The long-ago geek gifts that made us what we are

MrT

Re: Elf and safety

Currently I teach BTEC I&CT, with optional extra units in hardware and software. Talking to Pearson and other centres, almost nobody is dong the hardware unit, mostly quoting H&S or PAT testing etc, but I figure if the original reclaimed PCs passed their last PAT test before the students strip and rebuild them, then I can cover the rest with our existing Technology Dept stuff. Not lost anyone yet, and it fits nicely alongside the Computing GCSE.

MrT

Fenwicks...

...Alice in Wonderland this year - nice display, and despite working hereabouts for a good few years it wws the first time I'd seen it in person. Although one of my colleagues with me at the time mentioned it looks the same as a couple of years ago. Stands out compared to the tacky displays around it near Eldon Square.

MrT

Re: Happy Christmas memories

My favourite dot-matrix was the Star LC24-10. Even got paid a nice wedge for a review I did for Sinclair QL World. 24-pin compared to 8/9-pin sound-wise was like comparing 5-cyl to v12, but none of them were exactly easy on the ear and more than a few back at the office were in acoustic enclosures. Cracking the ribbon casing and reinking the fabric was a messy job compared to refilling a cartridge, though, but it felt like more of a proper job when done.

MrT

Top of the dial...

...on my cheap portable radio. Mostly I listened to the evening and late night shows, but remember the signal fading in and out all the time... still the best station in the late 70's and early to mid-80's

MrT

Re: Oh dear

Ditto, excet for the Mamod. However, my friend had the Rolls Royce car version, which I think was more an excuse for his dad to have it. Despite it all being high pressure steam and hotness, we both thought the ~30" extension to the steering column was a bit more on the lethal side of things.

Mysterious STAR set to appear on Christmas Eve above Blighty: The ISS

MrT

Re: That's no fat, bearded bearer of gifts....

Oh Lordy, does that mean Krusty Burgh was right after all?

Excuse me, but we're nearing Old Seville on this old train - must dash...

Solar-powered bra maker suffers 20,000 TITSUPs all at once

MrT

Triumph/Seiko tie-in...

Solar is needed when kinetic charging is no longer operational...

Tragedy strikes Vulture News Central but details remain scrambled

MrT

Re: ...This is your brain on El Reg

Does anybody else feel like a fried egg?!

The STEALTH Plug-in Hybrid: Audi A3 e-tron Sportback

MrT

Re: This Audi is causing some amusement in France

Ah, like that popular Toyota 2-seat mid-engined sports car... but at least Toyota could just drop the '2' - what are the options for Audi? 'Tron'? Or back to the full 'Electron'?

HORRIFIED Amazon retailers fear GOING BUST after 1p pricing cockup

MrT

It's not just the pricing...

... I once dealt with a reseller who told me that Amazon provide the descriptions for all items for sale on the marketplace, so therefore he couldn't correct the product details to delete something that the manufacturer no longer included. Which seems like a cop-out, but it's as well I checked because the I needed the deleted item, so at least I could check the state of play and make arrangements.

BT Infinity ‘working to fix problem’ after three days of outages

MrT

Re: 3 days?

Exactly, but it's well over that here - things started going flaky more than a month ago - but of course the BT service checker says everything is fine. The giveaway is that Google often works, but about half of the links it suggests come up with "you are not connected" errors on iPad, SGS2 and 3, all the laptops etc. on the same line - but then close WiFi on the phones and they all load through EE rapidly and without hassle.

Directly typing a web address in got the same results, but using the actual IP address got through - unless it really is just that intermittent. Facebook will freeze half the time loading images, some of the Angry Birds games like SWII and to a lesser extent Seasons take 30-40secs to start over WiFi only to say it's still not connected (10secs over EE, fully connected), and stuff like the NASA app shows a bunch of empty boxes. Leave it a minute and everything but FB and AB might crawl back to normal. And BT are still trying to push Netflix etc. with a free YouView box - over a network that can't manage to serve up a full web page.

It’s payback time as humans send a probe up alien body

MrT

Don't drop a Clanger...

...but I'd rather it be Mathilda May* from Lifeforce who arrives on the back of this comet.

* other less SFW images do exist... 8-)

Virgin's SpaceShipTwo crashes in Mojave Desert during test flight

MrT

Re: Black Box

So much data that this is why they're saying it'll take a year to fully investigate.

There are also three cameras on WhiteKnight and IIRC 6 on SS2, including one looking across from the port tailfin to the rocket motor. Hopefully all the devices on SS2 that record and store in situ can be recovered.

Google's Eric Schmidt's shock confession: Steve Jobs is.... MY HERO

MrT

Sorry, I'm too busy...

...oh, you meant the other bloke...

And I don't mean Tom Tolbert.

EE coughs to BROKEN data usage metrics BLUNDER that short-changes customers

MrT

Re: Yup, random figures...

... today, the My EE app now says 195MB used (compared to 207MB in DroidStats), with 2 days left until the month resets. They now more or less agree, with the benefit slightly to me instead of comparatively hugely to them.

Anyone else suddenly have the My EE app roughly halve the previous day's total in the past day or so?

MrT

Yup, random figures...

...got my "out of data" message 3 days after putting in a brand new EE SIM (previously T-Mobile), but before the number had ported properly so the phone was basically used in emergencies only...

Currently the phone says 202MB used, DroidStats says 201, My EE say 364MB since the month began. Mind you, I note that they say WiFi should be off for accuracy... but it makes no difference. The app is way out, so it seems a good job that I looked at average monthly figures and doubled it to be safe...

It's not all bad news, however: since going from a 3G TM SIM to a 4G EE one the phone has had better signal in more places, and the battery lasts longer. It's only a 3G SGS3 - I went SIM-only because the handsets are fine enough for now.

That glass of water you just drank? It was OLDER than the SUN

MrT

It can be purified...

...by brewing. For best effect, that should be carried out in Masham... ;-)

Microsoft on the Threshold of a new name for Windows next week

MrT

Windows MfCf...

...in a rush I read that as "Windows MuffCuff".

After thinking a bit more about it, I have no idea what that means, or how I am going to banish it from my mind...

SpaceX blasts a mischief of mice, a 3D printer and a cuddly toy* into SPAAAACE

MrT

Re: small sailing boat

Only if we can rig up the printer control software to play "Heave! Heave!" on each pass...

MrT

But...

...there were no butterbeans on the inventory, and as for breadcrumbs - positively hazardous in zero/v.lo g... maybe they can make a small sailing boat instead?

Oh God the RUBBER on my SHAFT has gone wrong and is STICKING to things

MrT

Re: Cheap rubber

Never had a Psion 3, but a colleague had the Acorn rebadged one, which collected fingerprints nicely.

I also remember peeling my UK-model Psion 5 of the nice matt rubber coating after a few months - looking tatty around the edges, flaking away - it looked good afterwards, even if a bit more shiny. Curiously, it wasn't a problem for the later US-model 5MX...

MrT

Tip off...

"Ooh no you don't! I saw that film!"

I never had a Wacom tablet last long enough to use the spare tip they bung in the package...

MrT
Coffee/keyboard

Like Creative Cloud.

Ha! New keyboard please... ;-)

Microsoft splurges 2½ INSTAGRAMS buying Minecraft maker Mojang

MrT

Ye gods...

...every block dropping or sliding into place to the sound of gunshot or lazer zap...

Read The Gods of War for every tired cliche you never wanted to see in a sci fi book

MrT
Thumb Up

I can see the back cover now...

"There’s something compelling ... about this book..." Brid-Aine Parnell, The Register

Just like so many third-rate movie/book promos do, though usually quoting the paid-off Daily <whatever> critic arts and media press release reporeater...

Excellent review, BTW - had me laughing as I read it, having experienced books like that before.

DUCKCROCZILLA 'alien' dinosaur could emerge from THE SEA

MrT

So it's a quadruped...?

Oh dear...

I must stop getting my information from Hollywood...

Who on Earth would buy a digi-watch? Answer: NUDISTS - in their millions

MrT

"Nice apples..."

"Big leaf"

"Good grief" <serpent-facepalm-equivalent>

TROUT and EELS in SINISTER PACT to RULE the oceans

MrT

I am The Shadow, and I never miss...

"Beau Brummel in purple pants probe." "King talks to tree. Phew! What a loony."

”Oi, moray! There's a tasty fish in that crevice, be a good chap and ferret it out for me would you?”

God, the Times New Scientist has really gone downhill recently.

Virgin Media hit by MORE YouTube buffering glitches

MrT

It's not relevant...

...but might slip in under the buffer glitch...

Stewie's Genetically Perfect Pig

Unless, of course, there is a way of linking a mutant GM pig to the network formerly known as Cable&Hopeless...

LOHAN premieres spaceplane mission summary vid

MrT

I see no pipe...

...not even a liquorice one - are you sure that the rules of boffinry are being upheld here...?

DREADNOUGHTUS: The 65-TON DINO that could crumple up a T-Rex like a paper cup

MrT

Re: Futalognkosaurus...

... ahh, the hot-dog of sauropods - if you think that's big, you should have seen the onions and squeezy mustard bottle...

BBC: We're going to slip CODING into kids' TV

MrT

Don't copy from screen...

...link to a handy online repository for the code - kind of like the old tape-based mags from the 80's. Use the show to set up problem-solving scenarios in the TV show that need the user/viewer to edit the code (spot errors, complete sections, gradually building up to more independent stuff). Add competitions, time-trials, recognition for originality of solutions, etc. - it could work quite well, providing it doesn't just get farmed out to the lowest bidding producion company, or the one who kills it with too much reliance on expensive tie-in magazines.

Scratch is okay, as is Alice, but I get more progress from a wider range of students using MIT AppInventor, at least in terms of mobile phone app development, which might be more like what Auntie is considering (rather than diving into scripting with Notepad+, LaTEX, or venerable editors like PFE).

Volcanic eruption in Iceland triggers CODE RED aviation warning

MrT

Re: 'BROWN ALERT'

Rimmer: Step up to red alert.

Kryten: Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb.

Rimmer: There's always some excuse, isn't there?

Our LOHAN spaceplane ballocket Kickstarter climbs through £8000

MrT

Re: Come one, this has got to work!

I thought the idea would be to dip twice for things that didn't come in a standard offer - like a tankard and the £100 t-shirt/mug/stickers combo would require two donations... ;-)

MrT

Re: Proper Boffinry

From the Kickstarter update:

"For the record, 12-year-old Katarina doesn't really smoke a pipe. She says it affects the taste of her afternoon gin and tonic."

:-D

MrT

Re: Spaceport Fees

... "The Blue Danube" waltz now playing in my head...

MrT

Re: Punch Richard and Judy...

...it's a bit harsh, but I understand from those who watched their show that they used to raise such a response from deep within viewers... ;-)

Goog says patch⁵⁰ your Chrome

MrT

"lokihardt@asrt the rare "

I thought that was his full title... mobe pagination and stray eyesight leading to Medieval titling timeslip.

Why has the web gone to hell? Market chaos and HUMAN NATURE

MrT

Cimrman...

...reminds me of Baron Munchausen. Or Dr Evil's dad, inventing the question mark. Two answerphone messages/three missed calls aside, he's a fascinating character.

Next moneybags kingpins of tech: Fondleslab game devs

MrT

Re: "no llamas"...

...for shame - especially with ElReg's perennial question about Sheep in Space, velocity thereof! But at least Jeff Minter is still producing the goods...

Ballmer leaves Microsoft board to spend more time with his b-balls

MrT

Re: @Mr T (was: 2 billion US dollars?)

I'm not B A Barracus either ;-)

I know a few people who operate businesses as tax sinks for their other concerns, not to offset the purchase but the on-going expenses against some part of their other companies. They're not at the megabucks level of sports teams though...

MrT

Re: 2 billion US dollars?

Probably, but can he offset any of this against his tax bill?

Cargo truck crammed with garbage explodes IN SPAAAAACE

MrT

Cameras inside.

When ATV-5 re-enters in about 6 months, it will include video footage from inside as it goes, which might give a virus' eye view of what it might feel like. My guess would be 'OW!', before the camera burns up too...

Google straps on Jetpac: An app to find hipsters, women in foreign cities

MrT

Mahoney!

"We can spot lipstick, Blue sky Oyster Bar views, hipster moustaches and more" ... Where's the party at?

And to think when I first saw this news I thought it was Google's move into retro gaming.

Rupert Murdoch says Google is worse than the NSA

MrT

Re: Murdoch?

Unfortunately it'll be parrotted out by the editors of all his newspapers soon enough. Still, it makes a change from him having a go at all his competitors (BBC, etc), either directly or by proxy.

I prefer to hear about the various missives of the Dirty Digger and all Murdocracy concerns by reading Private Eye...

MrT

Re: my guess is...

...he hasn't seen his own NSA file... ;-)