Posts by Chris Williams

@Vista's ok really...

Oh for crying out loud... will e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e post that mentions Vista always have comments like this?

Yes, of course SOME people have had no issues... of course, SOME people even like it but after all this time, surely it's clear that REAL people have had (and continue to have) REAL problems with Vista?

I, for one, do and, although I'm over the moon to hear that you have had no problems (and your fellow anonymous coward specifically states he has has ZERO), it does nothing to help me hearing you bleat that it must all be my imagination.

So, Farewell Then...

So, farewell then Borland

You made Turbo Pascal

Which was like Pascal

But Turbo

Jimbo, there is more to this...

It is not that Windows 7 is expected to be crap: it is expected to be good in fact.

It will better handle multiple processors, more memory and will be more scaleable as a base for servers.

The front end will be cool, file handling will have improved, it will handle mouse gestures, it will run programs we need to keep running in XP mode if necessary.

But, once again, and in full knowledge that I'm beginning to sound (or have long sounded) boring, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! As a long-term Microsoft customer and someone who is (can you tell) more than a bit disgruntled with Vista, I should not have to pay for a new operating system when the primary reason for getting it will be to put right the cock-such that is Vista, not to update my XP machine.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT HATING MICROSOFT: it's about having to pay again for something has already been paid for but not delivered!

I have every respect and sympathy for Microsoft's developers who are doubtless highly talented and motivated individuals... but their wares shouldn't be sold as 'ready for use' until they really are ready for use.

Not Inigo then?

Nothing to do with Inigo Pipkin of 70s UK TV favourite Pipkins fame?

I guess not, because whatever progress was made towards the creation of a rover vehicle, it would undoubtedly have been sabotaged by Hartley Hare anyway.

There's always the bus...

... if you can't bear to be without your mobile for more than a few minutes, and there's the added bonus of it being almost certain that you'll be subjected to one end of somebody else's pointless conversation too!

Not only does the tube provide a brief respite from the constant threat of having somebody pester you, but it also forms the perfect excuse if you want to switch off for a while -- "oh, you've been trying to ring me for the past three hours? Sorry, I was stuck on the Piccadilly Line, you know what it's like... zzzzzzzz"

Rip-off Britain is back?

I didn't notice it had been away!

Excellent!

Merely adding my humble voice to the chorus of hurrahs for Milton Keynes council!

Where did it go wrong?

Granted, maybe we never really expected that the 21st Century would bring us silver suits, hover boots and slave robots (though I still live in naive hope), but it was never unreasonable to believe in the democratic power of the Internet, in the greatest information revolution since (forgive the cliché) the Gutenberg Press.

In Facebook, like it or not, we have a phenomenon: a single application that attracts millions of, ahem, contributors, providing them with a means of managing contacts and keeping them knee-deep in pokes, prods, hugs and mindless drivel as well as providing the means to compare subjective views on such diverse subjects as "what makes a good kisser" and "what do you prefer, chocolate or holidays in the sun?".

So how can it be, that with millions and millions of people now able to communicate on a level that obviates the need for a hierarchical broadcasting network, that allows people to talk cheaply and share views, to research and investigate what's going on with our ailing planet and stress-filled society... Britney fucking Spears and the god-awful, bile-inducing Sarah Palin are down as "most popular influencers".

Is it me, or is this really fucking depressing?

Onion showcases new Mac

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary

What would Churchill have made of it?

At the end of the War, Winston Churchill (himself only half British, as we all know) acknowledged that a debt was owed to the people of Poland for their part not only in the Battle of Britain but in signals intelligence, infantry and almost all other aspects of the war.

It was his wish that Poles people should be extended special treatment and offered UK citizenship, and be officially recognised for their contribution, but the powers that be (or the powers that were) gave them the same treatment as they latterly gave the Gurkhas, and so Poland has hardly been truly represented in memorials or honours lists, and the citizenship offer was never made.

It is thanks to the Poles that Britain got its hands on an Enigma machine right at the outbreak of war, a feat that was to tip the intelligence war in its favour and, as the article states, Polish pilots were renowned for their bravery and skill -- of all nations to pick on, surely one that made such a massive contribution to "keeping Britain British" (as opposed to an outpost of the Reich) shouldn't even be on the list?

A few years ago my neighbour was berating Eastern Europeans in general, for exactly the reason given by Simon Derby, yet his case in point was his own kitchen extension, which was being built by Poles because "they're less than half the cost of British labourers." Whilst considering himself to be a principled man, he totally failed to see any irony in his ability to spout bullshit principles that he himself could not be arsed to pursue.

@Not allowed to show favour...

BT still very much have a monopoly and <snip>are in a position to</snip> abuse it.

|

V

BT still very much have a monopoly and abuse it.

What about Jack Bauer?

Whilst I completely agree that, in general, phoning and driving should be outlawed and punishable harshly, I'm worried about the future of the free world if Jack Bauer has to pull over his gigantic black 4x4 to yell "dammit Chloe" into his phone.

On second thoughts, if he didn't have a phone, then it wouldn't ring at inopportune moments when he's sneaking his way through a box-filled warehouse out of the gaze of machine gun-wielding foreigners, I mean terrorists.

Fantastic, excellent, brilliant!

I am a contractor -- I pay income tax, corporation tax and VAT; I don't use loopholes or faked expenses, off-the-books work or creative accounting and I'm not special in that regard so I'm not complaining about my situation per se.

I also have more than one client and so tend not to have to worry about IR35, so hopefully I can air my views without being leapt on as a moaner who earns too much money.

There, the ground cleared of bait to all but the most determined trolls, I'll say that this exemplifies what makes GB PLC such a difficult place to set up and maintain business in. Having contractors on the books tends to suit organisations because there is no commitment to long-term employment (ok, well where is there these days), not to payment of NI, health insurance, sick pay, holiday pay, etc.

Somebody maintaining themselves as a small business has work to do outside the hours spent in clients' offices, has to keep up with trends in technology, maintain accreditation where necessary, purchase hardware and software, and so the list goes on.

I won't suggest that there are *no* contractors who don't take the piss, but this just shits in the face of those [government] characters and [tax] officials who claim to want to make this fabulous country of hours attractive for small business.

Many friends of mine also run businesses, not all in IT, and not all affected by IR35; but the one thing they have in common is the amount of effort and dedication required to maintain even a semi-decent level of income whilst working all the hours God sends, in spite of a constant barrage of bills, charges and other general skimmings off the top.

Our beloved mayor [of London] and government are wringing their hands at the sight of big corporations upping sticks and heading for more friendly (and undoubtedly sunnier) climes, but when it comes to the countless small businesses and one man bands, it's less "what can we do to make you stay?" than "fuck you, give us your fucking money".

Let me state once again, in case your finger is poised over the function key programmed with "my heart bleeds for you": I don't think I am any more hard-done-by than others; this is a general observation that, even without the credit crunch (and who could have seen that coming when the country was accumulating enough credit cards to build a small plastic town), things ain't great.

What a blow to democracy

Now there's one less way to have our views ignored by the PM.

Why single out Chris Moyles?

I read this selection of ribald comments with interest: some people hate Chris Moyles and probably choose not to listen to him, while other people like him (though I'm hard pressed to imagine how one could like him more than your loud and sometimes funny mate down the pub, more hard pressed to imagine how this can be amusing day after predictable day and yet more hard pressed to imagine how it makes him worth his big fat chunk of the licence fee).

I'm lucky: I can switch between several stations that I like and only very rarely have to encounter this playground level of entertainment when it spills out of somebody else's radio, but what does irritate me much more is the fact that Steve Wright is still around and being paid.

When I came home from school on the bus, the driver subjected us to the broadcast of this inane, blithering idiot and his 'hilarious' cohorts, so had no choice but to endure it. When I used to travel for work, the only stations I could reliably pick up consistently were Radios One and Four -- one veering from interesting plays, quizzes, insightful news and conversation to gardeners' question time, the other chock-full of idiots like the (thankfully) one and only Steve Wright, littering the airwaves with a playlist of about ten records played over and over throughout the day.

Now I listen to selected programmes on Radio Two and what do I find but that same irritating, dunderheaded moron continuing to deliver his own brand of arse-achingly pointless yet opinionated and simple-minded shite for the best part of the afternoon.

Of course I can switch off, but it doesn't stop me feeling slightly angry that every now and again I have to endure a microsecond of his faux non-regional, grating voice peppered with phrases and inappropriate contemporary manners of speech.

In fact, since this is a forum for discussion where we are free -- as so many have -- to air our views, let it not be said that I think there's a hair's breadth between Messrs Moyles and Wright when it comes to contenders for the most talentless, self-congratulatory, overpaid cocksucker on the airwaves.

Comparable in all respects?

True enough, VS is ahead of other IDEs when it comes to laying out a UI, but it is essentially a programming (as in coding) environment, and a five second delay with every new word or symbol that's typed, means any programmer with a typing speed of more than twenty characters a minute will be typing three lines ahead of the IDE.

No, I don't use an old banger PC, but a fine and varied selection of multi-processor beasts with far too much memory for their own good.

Me, personally, my own opinion, not an objective statement of fact but my own arguable view, just in case you're interested: I hate Visual Studio.

Just to clarify: this is my opinion; I'm not a 'fanboi', I'm not anti-MS and I've got no axe to grind. I just fucking hate Visual Studio.

Go, go, go!

For anybody interested in computing history, or in the 'secret war' where Station X (as Bletchley Park was known during the Second World War), I can wholeheartedly recommend a day here...

It's a travesty that this historic place, so critical to the outcome of the war and at the centre of Britain's (and the world's) computing heritage, has not been better funded and more a source of pride to the nation.

Workplace of Ian Turing, home of Colossus and repository of many captured Enigma machines, Bletchley Park should be on a par with the capital's museums!

GO!

@Xpositor

> Sorry, swap previous asterisked comment for "b****y h**l" or some such milder expletive.

What does Benny Hill have to do with anything?

Hear, hear

Another "good riddance" from me.

when my friend had his DVD player nicked, he went back to the Dixon's whence he'd bought it and, for insurance purposes, asked for a quote for a replacement.

A quote was duly prepared and my friend was charged the handsome fee of £20, which would be refundable upon his buying the replacement from this same grubby, ignorant, unhelpful, money-grabbing, bunch of no-good motherfuckers.

Needless to say, he found a replacement at a better price in a place whose name (if I could remember) I would happily mention without profanity.

My own personal campaign to keep friends and family from frittering their cash away on this wretched company has been largely successful, but in the couple of instances where friends have bought from Dixons or PCW anyway, they had to hang their heads in shame when it came to the [inevitable] point of returning what had been purchased because it was pile of old crap.

Not Only Dell

> "Dell may well have good reasons to steer clear of EDS"

translated:

"EDS is a good reason to steer clear of EDS"

@Chewy

> "Anybody who is a web developer will tell you XP is pretty horrible for developing on"

I'm a web developer and have no problem with XP Pro. I have however had many and varied tribulations with Vista that go way beyond eye candy, and I am running Ultimate Edition (dictionary definition tells us this means it will be the last ever edition, but we know that's not true!).

Examples of these problems range from the obvious and well-known trauma of file copying through the more curious, like incorrectly applying settings from a DHCP Server and showing the 'busy' pointer on a folder up to thirty seconds after an operation has completed, to the astounding, such as file attributes not correctly reflecting updates and file contents not reflecting changes that I know have taken place when a file is copied. In fact, 'bizarre' and 'freaky' would better describe some of these issues and, yes, I do have a list!

I work with nearly all Windows versions, server and desktop, have worked with what's good and what's bad in each new version but have generally seen things heading in the right direction. I also work with Linux and OS/X (each not without its bad points) and am not any sort of fanboy ;-)

Something really is up with Vista though. It's not that it can't be a good OS, not that it will never be a good OS, just that my work-critical laptop was running it long, long before it became a good OS.

So, give me my old XP Pro machine to work on and keep Vista away from me until it does what it says on the tin.

@I for one...

You mean the infamous Leather Goddesses of Phobos, of course.

@Ian Ferguson

Ian,

Yes, Zeppelins did mount bombing raids: they made several appearances over London and made some significant raids on maritime centres on the East Coast of England during the First World War.

Liverpudlian Ambassador

The job of any Scouser of note is to leave the city and travel the world informing the rest of us what a fantastic place it is, without ever actually going back to live there.

What was Ringo thinking?

The funniest thing...

... is the idea that I could be handing over my biometric, tell-you-everything-about-me-you-could-ever-possibly-want-to-know ID card to somebody purporting to be an agent of Her Majesty's forces but who is in fact an idle doss-bag who chanced upon a discarded MoD ID card in a bus.

Another anatomical question

The police got their chopper out?

Was this in the spirit of joining in the revelry?

Yes, I know... sorry...

Very sad

The text adventure that descended directly from D&D was what got me into computers many years ago so I add my voice to the lamenting collected of geekdom.

R.I.P. Gary

It's our fault...

... ok, well not one of us here is going to personally take the blame, but it's true to say that Microsoft has enjoyed great success with its non-compliant browser and largely because for many years a large proportion of web developers lazily aimed for IE only, with Firefox, Safari, Konquerer and Opera users seen as marginals who could safely be ignored.

Microsoft got away with it for too long, but what would happen if suddenly its browser was standards compliant and hundreds of [yes, crappy, unprofessional] websites stopped working? It would be another 'bloody Microsoft' moment for the developers and their sites' users.

It's not good that IE evolved as it did, and I'm certainly not defending Microsoft as a shining example when it comes to good practice in software, but here I can't help thinking they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Ideally, of course, the confusion will drive all users to consider alternatives...

Would 'churlish' be the correct term?

What would I be if I pointed out that, in keeping with the highly variable and generally dire quality of spelling on the Internet -- regional variations are presumably still allowed, so I like to see Americans use 'color' and 'program' (as in TV) and British use 'colour' and 'programme' -- Tony selects a variation on 'ignorant' that to my knowledge cannot be explained by history or any cultural nuance:

'Ignorent'

Is that a word?

Written application...

... or oral test?

@Kiwis

Thank you for putting us straight on this, but rest assured that most Brits (even otherwise geographically ignorant sofa-bound chavs) are aware that on the other side of the world lies the most beautiful place in the universe, where mud bubbles from the heat of molten lava only inches from the surface, and that cities* are built on the rim of the continent's most active volcanoes just to show the rest of the world how it should be done.

However, this is news for the UK as we rarely experience earthquakes that are noticed by anybody other than trained observers with equipment calibrated to within a nanometre of its life, and it did result in some** structural damage.

This kind of "let's tell the British how stupid they are and how everything in the Antipodes is a billion times better" take on life I'd expect from an Australian, but I'd really expect more from natives*** of New Zealand.

One of you would have been enough; the others could have read previous replies and thought "hmmm, somebody's already represented my views, perhaps I'll just read on", instead of making a post equivalent to "yeah... like what he said...".

Personally, I think this is interesting, and it would have been derelict of news agencies not to have mentioned it -- to UK residents (I'm not saying give it top billing on CNN Worldwide).

*cities: what you call a city, we call a village

**structural damage: granted, the towns in question are largely still standing

***natives: well, you know what I mean

Idiotic religious dogma?

> "You are discussing a 600 year backward society founded on idiotic religious dogma. Of course they don't understand the technical issues."

That's a ridiculous thing to say.

Although idiotic religious dogma abounds, the country was certainly not founded on it; quite the opposite, in fact. It's a very new phenomenon to have the dynastic powers that be claim direction from god and to lean somewhat towards the dogmatic.

I don't know about Afghanistan though.

Mountain? Mohammed?

Why make a hoover out of a mouse when you can make a mouse out of a hoover? My USB mouse packed up a few days ago and, even at the peak of fitness, never helped tidy my desk.

I'm going to customise the cleaner's Henry vacuum cleaner (which must be about ten years old and to my knowledge has never broken down) so I can rid the office of all dust and paperwork within a ten yard radius whilst I work.