* Posts by The BigYin

3080 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Mar 2008

Microsoft ropes in Family Guy to pimp Windows 7

The BigYin
Flame

MacFarlane! You sell out!

Family Guy has been going downhill for the last 4 seasons, but this is a feckin' joke.

BK was bad and this is worse, I guess you're just to busy coining it in to give two damns about credibility.

Your fans brought Family Guy back, now I hope the backlash sinks you.

An ex-Family Guy watcher.

Great British beer moves county

The BigYin
Thumb Down

Let' start a brewery...

...in Newcastle. Call it "El Reg Newcastle Pledge" or something.

Then apply to the EU to get the protected regional status re-instated.

And tell Scottish and Newca...err...Yorkshire to sling their hook.

Big, generic conglomerates (as S&N seem to have desires to be) are the death of decent beer. We (well, I) don't want watery piss that all tastes the same; we (that'll be me again) want beer that differs and is only available in certain place/times of year. That's half the fun!

Newcastle Brown will not be welcome in my house until it's brewed in, well, Newcastle.

Sky News goes free

The BigYin
FAIL

Silvershite!

They can sod off. Not that I'd watch Sky anyway, I have a job after all and thus don't fit as a Sky consumer.

Michael Dell: Netbooks go sour after 36 hours

The BigYin
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Ergh

I used to have a Palm Pilot. Loved that thing, did everything I wanted (at the time). Only bug bears were the lack of connectivity and the bulky adaptor.

If I could afford a netbook (it's not the netbook per se, but the obscene data charges) then I am sure I'd get a lot of use out of it. But I wouldn't expect a lot from it; it would just be "simple access on the go".

If, of course, I needed more juice I'd just remote into a large box and get it to do the work.

If, of course, the ****ing firewall would ****ing let me in without the mandatory ****ing **** VPN client. I'd use a secure VPN client, just not that ****ing sack of ****. >:-(

The big problem is that netbooks are bin gsold as being "big laptop in a small box". They're not. They're what they are. They need to be Linux on an ARM chip....yeah, and pigs will be airborne.

Then again...with all the smartphones coming out...perhaps I'll pick up one that isn't locked down (i.e. not an iPhone). Gotta tinker...need to tinker (which is why my little Sansa e280 will now lunch your iPod Nano...IMHO at any rate).

Torrent crackdown pushing pirates towards file hosting

The BigYin
FAIL

@AC 1018

Unless you are being very careful to use multiple jumps, tunnels, encryption etc and unless you are 100% certain that the various servers keep fully anonymised logs; it is possible (although potentially laborious) to track you down.

Please define "fair". I'd say UKP8 for a DVD (max I ever really pay) is "fair"; but others would disagree.

I will happily agree that the failure of the big movie/music companies to monetise the new distribution systems and resort to these strong-arm tactics is totally misguided; but why does that give you the right to steal?

So please, define "fair" as you see it.

Fanbois howl over data-munching Snow Leopard bug

The BigYin
Flame

Big, fat, hairy deal

So it wipes your home directory. Whoop-dee-doo. Just reach for the back-ups and recover most of it.

Yes, it's a pain in the ass.

Yes, the bug should have been fixed before release.

But not backing up YOUR data is YOUR fault.

Regardless of OS.

However if MS had done this the Appletards and Lintards would be swarming, I agree. But as it is Apple, there's nary a murmur from the usual suspects. Strange that. Probably too busy praying to The Holy PocketProtector that they don't get hit.

I'm going to Karmic shortly after the release...guess what I'll be backing up?

ID card support hits bottom under Brown

The BigYin
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Voluntary?

Eating is voluntary. Drinking is voluntary.

You just have too accept the consequences of not doing either.

The ID system will be "voluntary" in the same way. i.e. it will be social suicide to not volunteer to be spied on by the state.

60% of the population have woken up to this fascist scheme, just 38% to go.

Microsoft plays ads-funded Office 2010 Starter gambit

The BigYin

My grip is loosened already

At home I use OpenOffice, it looks a bit 90s and has a few weird formatting quirks; but it does everything I want quickly and easily).

At work I use MS Office and, now I think about it, I spend ages hunting about the ribbons (swearing) and generally wondering why it is so s-l-o-w.

The only thing IMHO Office does better than OpenOffice is format handling. That's it. But that could just be me expecting OpenOffice to behave like Office and treating it work (it' not a big enough issue to overly bother me).

And the great thing about OO? The price. Sweeeeeeeet. And the ability to easily save out to PDF is excellent. In fact...if there were just a few rough edges taken off OO, it would become an Office killer. Maybe when I get some spare time I can help that happen.

Care assistant sacked over porn shop internship

The BigYin

What's wrong with it?

Porn/Eroticism/Fetish are huge industries, what the hell is wrong with working in a smut shop? It's not different to working in, say, Boots as a cashier. If you're unemployed getting *some* skills is better than getting no skills, surely?

@AC 14:12 - At least this chap was *trying*, which is better than most of the unemployed wastes of space that we have here. So the skills he get are "menial" from your ivory tower, but inventory control, stock ordering, cash handling etc are important to trades and if he turns out to be good at them; he can get better jobs using those skills.

I really can't see what the problem is. Even if he was working with kids, I couldn't see the problem (unless he brought is "other" work to class, of course). I mean...c'mon; just because you like a some toys/bit of slap 'n tickle/whatever does not make you a bad person. I just means you are human.

Amazon eyes wander as Royal Mail strike looms

The BigYin
Thumb Down

The biggest threat to British jobs?

Unions.

Lexmark C736dn workgroup colour laser printer

The BigYin

Linux drivers!

Woo! Welcome Lexmark, to the 21st century.

Palm Pre re-re-introduces iTunes synchronization

The BigYin

Why use iTunes?

I mean, really. Why use it? There are alternatives available. If Apple don't want to play fair with a standard (is there one for this kind of service? MTP or summat?) then feck 'em, go find something better.

Anyway, as other have said, how hard would it be for Palm to write a sync-app then read the iTunes database? When I used to have a Pilot they provided their own sync stuff, why not now?

Ubuntu man finds metalove in Debian attacks

The BigYin

@Chronos

That is what hampers and extends Linux at the same time. People (very technical, highly skilled people) did "just shut up and code"; and what you got was a rich, diverse base of tools and utilities with serious disconnects and mostly only half-baked.

This leads to multiple tools having to be used to accomplish a single task, and often these tools could have been combined (or at least aligned) to make life easier.

Linux is a very rich eco-system but unless some order is brought into it, the chaos that created and invigorated it will ultimately destroy it.

I do agree about the "Dilbert Mission Statement Generator" bit though. And I had to cringe at my own use of "vision". Gawds, I'm turning into a PHB....

Google to blight smartphones with big ads

The BigYin

How long...

...before you can run an AdBlocker on your mobile browser? Or is this possible now? (I don't use the mobile web, too slow and too damned expensive. £30pm for limited access? Sod off!)

These ads will just slow it down more (and cost you more for something you have already paid to access). Ad-blocking is the only way to cope these days.

Now if I could just block the ads on the telly....

Windows Mobile 6.5 ships today

The BigYin
FAIL

I had a WM phone once...

...never again. NEVER. AGAIN.

Bloody thing kept crashing, forcing me to yank the battery and get it to hard reset.

And it was so slow. Not just slow or even /SLOW/, but S---L---O---W---! You could count a second or two at least between action and response.

Utterly pathetic.

Utterly useless.

It was (is?) the worst phone OS I have ever had the displeasure of having to endure. I just hope MS does not get a serious foothold in the market or it will regress 10 years and innovation will be stifled.

Google Chrome gets friendly with Native Client

The BigYin
Unhappy

@Parax

Perhaps they wish to salt the web? Poisoning the land so that only app powered by Google genes can flourish?

And people think MS is evil....

Small biz told to sort TV licences for PCs

The BigYin
Thumb Down

Scrap the license?

Hmm...not so sure that's a good idea. Firstly, we'd get shitty adverts on he Beeb and even shittier product placements (why THAT law was ever changed is beyond me. Money talks I guess). So all the commercial channels will become nothing more than 24 hour ads for shite you don't need.

"Ah, Inspector, how did you solve the case?"

"Well he said his SEIKO HARDMAN watch was £50. But I checked ARGOS (excellent delivery service) and it was ONLY £35! So I knew he was lying!"

"WOW! A SEIKO HARDMAN watch with WORKIGN BEZEL and PENTAX CRYSTAL is ONLY £35 at ARGOS!?"

"Yes indeed"

and so on....

This is your idea of an improvement? Jay-zuz people, ever tried *thinking* before posting?

TVL has issues, they are run by Crapita and are an aggressive bunch of arseholes at times (I've the nasty letters too), but they are still better than the alternative.

OMG US states to ban txting + driving

The BigYin
Joke

Dum law

Just like talking on a mobile, it is perfectly safe to text whilst dr

The BigYin
Stop

@Crazy Goat Man AI

The problem with the due care and attention thing, was that the cop had to prove you were driving without due care an attention. Easy enough if your weaving all over the road, but harder to do if you are going in a straight line whilst yapping on your mobile. Of course, yapping on your mobile is still bloody dangerous whilst driving no matter how "in control" you appear to be; so the new law was brought in to make it easier for the police to crack down on it.

The only shame is that said law did not go far enough and ban the use of hands-free devices as well. Whatever means you use with a mobile, using it is still bloody dangerous when driving (as much, if not more so, than drink driving).

If it is THAT important the person will call back, or you can pull over somewhere safe and return the call. What will it cost you, 5 minutes max? Is that worth a life?

I guess they could have just defined using a mobile as driving with under care and attention and not needed to add a new law, but I am not sure if that would have opened them up to a legal challenge from the likes of BMW-tards who think they have a right to do what they want (and it is almost always a BMW driver. Is a lobotomy required for purchase?)

Either way - leave the mobile alone whilst driving.

Mozilla sides with Microsoft against Google IE

The BigYin
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@Chris Thomas Alpha

Breathe dude, breathe.

If I install Chrome, I can have a reasonable level of certainty as to how it will do stuff. I can also tweak this to suits my needs.

I can also have a reasonable level of certainty how IE will do stuff. I can tweak this too.

Note: I may wish for IE and Chrome to behave differently depending on what I use them for.

What does Chrome Frame in IE do? Does it use the Chrome way, IE way, both, neither?

What if the settings are in conflict, how does the plug-in resolve them?

How do you explain all that to a typical end-user who thinks "Google" is their internet provider and don't know what OS they use?

You think an average user will know how to sniff packets, or even what a packet is? Here's a clue, the average end-user does not know and does not need to know. Only professionals and enthusiasts need to know, for everyone else the PC is just an appliance like their washing machine. And just like the washing machine certain, basic steps should be taken to ensure safety and ease of running.

I don't like the plug-in because HTML5 is not yet ratified and I think anyone pushing non-standards onto the web is an idiot of the highest order. yeah, it may all be cool, wow, look-what-i-can-do; but when the standard shifts and changes, it just leads to pain. IE6 levels of pain.

And kindly save the petulant ad hominem attacks, they do nothing to bolster your argument.

The BigYin
FAIL

Why use non-standards?

HTML5 is not a standard, why is it being rolled out at all? Mozilla, Opera and Google et al are doing to the web what IE6 did with their non-standards implementation.

Bash the standard out, get it ratified THEN implement and roll it out.

Until the W3C places the rubber stamp on HTML5, no one should be using it for anything other than research/training. Opening HTML5 sites to the public is just madness - what flavour of HTML5 do you support, what tags are available, how do they work, what do you do when it changes? Utter madness.

Apple's move to kill Hackintosher suit denied

The BigYin

If Pystar want to risk it...

...then why not let them run Leopard on "illegal" kit. It will be Pystar who get the support calls, have to write the new drivers, do all the testing etc. etc. If I buy a Mercedes engine, can Mercedes block me from fitting to a Lada? Nope. It's still won't be a Mercedes, just a quick Lada (and in need to new suspension, chassis stiffening etc.)

As for an Apple monopoly...I can't see it. I can spunk just as much dosh on any other PC as I could on an Apple unit (Alienware springs to mind). True, price does not always make somehing "premium", just expensive and another brand doesn't have the fashionista caché of Apple, but who cares what the fashionistas think? Bunch of wankers.

So no, I don't buy the whole "Apple monopoly" bit. Unless Apple grabbed 75%+ of the market while I was asleep...? Nup? Thought not.

Apple are just making themselves look like monumental dicks, but it's their ball and if they want to play at petulant; that is their choice. It's a shame Pystar didn't take their money/energies and jump in behind a premium Linux distro, helping to making Linux usable by Joe Schmoe for the first time ever. But then, Linux tends to bring non-techies out in a rash.

So we're Apple just acting like a bunch of dicks. And short-sighted dicks too. They could easily license to Pystar, with strict controls over quality/how/where it's branded and at what price-point. That could leave Apple in the "more-money-than-sense" market, and Pystar grabbing at the lower-end of the market. This could help increase Apple share overall and surely that's a "Good Thing"(tm) isn't it?

Or are Apple simply worried about losing kit sales to Pystar et al?

Either way, Apple want to restrict the sales of their OS, they are not running a monopoly in any meaningful sense and it is thus their choice.

Oh -and to the idiots in the balcony: no one is asking Apple to release code, just license/allow install on non-Apple platforms. Source Code!=Run time.

Labour to push for broadband tax before election

The BigYin

Bastards

Perhaps if the MPs stopped making false claims and shoving the noses into the trough, the money saved could be used to fund this.

But no, MUST RAISE TAXES! MORE TAXES! BLEED THE PEOPLE DRY! I NEED A NEW FERRARI! WHERE ARE MY TAXES?

Self-serving arseholes, the lot of them.

Vote for a change.

USB supreme court backs Apple in Palm Pre kerfuffle

The BigYin
Flame

Simple answer?

How much would it cost Palm to build their own iTunes syncing app?

Take that figure and offer it as the fee for a perpetual license to Apple, plus an annual fee for "support".

If Apple bite, then Apple get not only this fee but all profit from future sales on iTunes made by Palm owners.

(Some terms would no doubt need to be negotiated - depends on the revenue from iPod/iTune sales).

If Apple do not bite, bring in the regulators to investigate.

iTunes is the de facto media MP3/media manager on all platforms bar Linux. They have the monopoly (and for good reason, iTunes is fairly good at what it does; certainly better than any of the alternatives). Apple need to be compelled to act like a benevolent monopolist, not a bunch of shits.

Hmm...even better...force Apple to standardise the library format and have it made an ISO standard. Any device that uses the standard can sync. But that would be too damned easy.

If this was MS doing the same thing, the Apple/Linux fanbois would be up in arms. But as it is Apple, Saint Jobs does no wrong and we must all hail the Cupertino Overfiends.

Dell to punt Moblin for Mini 10v netbooks

The BigYin

Looks OK, but I have some questions

To Dell:

How about releasing it outside the USA?

How about offering some hardware options?

How about selling printers that work with Linux? (Dell printers are re-badged Lexmark jobs and usually not compatible - Lexmark will not make the drivers)

To El Reg:

Are they still paying the Windows Tax for every UMR netbook sold?

Are they under restrictions for the number of models/units they are allowed to sell?

Texas Instruments aims lawyers at calculator hackers

The BigYin

What copyright?

Were the copying TI firmware? No, they were overwriting it.

Were they copying TI trade secrets? No, see above.

Were they making the calculators unstable and trying to commit fraud? Err...nope.

Were they doing anything wrong? No.

Are TI acting like a bunch of dicks? Yes.

TI have IMHO really shot themselves in the foot. Who knows what weird/cool things this lot might magic up that TI could make use of in the future? How many people would buy TI calculators because they CAN be modded? I bought my MP3 player precisely because it could be hacked to out-cool an iPod.

Mashiara - you're right, distributing hacked proprietary code would be illegal; but is distributing the instructions on how to hack it illegal? I don't think it should be. If it was, logically speaking passing on instructions that could facilitate any crime should also be illegal and if that was the case, then we're all guilty!

TI can join the ranks of Apple and other corporate dicks who just don't get it.

Highways Agency plans new speed cameras

The BigYin
Flame

Morons

Britain's roads are now more dangerous than Spain's (according to the latest figures reported in MAG's "The Road" magazine; the most recent figures I can fine on-line are from 2005 and thus out-of-date).

The obsession with speed is simply to pour money in the Exchequer's coffers; it is a pure revenue raising scheme and has NOTHING to do with road safety. If they brought back traffic policing (totally destroyed under Labour) and tackled drink/drug drivers, unlicensed/uninsured drivers, tailgaters, lane hoggers and other dangerous drivers, never mind the dangerous vehicles; if they took the BILLIONS raised through fuel duty and spent that on fixing the pot holes, poor road surface, poor signage, lethal barriers and so on; then that would be about safety.

Also, they could fund free eye tests (like in Scotland) and then demand that drivers show a valid eye test every 2 years. Not only would that will save lives, it would save people's sight.

But saving a life does not make money, only printing tickets and demanding money with menaces does that. It sounds good to the unthinking, hand-wringing, middle-class morons who fear for dear Tarquin's life as they drive their 4x4 to the school gates to keep the cherub "safe from all the cars". And keeping these morons placated is the point - it keeps the gravy train flowing.

Do you drive your kid to school? Then you are part of the problem. Why not park a few streets away (where parking will be easier anyway) and then *WALK* the child the last few blocks; hmm? Teach them how to cross the road, how to use the crossing lights etc. DO NOT ram the roads around the school and increase the danger to your child's life by relying on other drivers seeing your brainless actions (like stopping in the middle of a crossroad to let the kids out!) Or is 5 minutes out of your day not worth your child's life?

(I make little apology for the emotional blackmail at the end. I live beside a school and have to ride past it every morning; there really are parents out there who are determined to kill their children in the name of safety; it's depressing).

The BigYin
Flame

And as for capacity...

...if Labour stopped pissing about with the trains, electrified the lines and kicked the arse of the incompetent train companies; the perhaps people would get out of their cars. Too busy taking back-handers and getting cushy directorships though.

Look at the services in France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland if you want an idea of how it should be done. Cheap(ish), reliable and fast.

Heck, decent trains would also remove the need for airport expansion by doing away with most domestic flights!

Bureaucrat behind bars for creating 1,400 fake kids

The BigYin
Thumb Down

No, no, no

Civil Servants in the UK do not go to jail. They just pay back what they think is a fair amount, say they didn't know they broke any rules and that's it.

Just ask any MP!

North Wales Police institute new happiness law

The BigYin

Anti-bike Police

The Welsh police have a long and glorious history of being anti-bike. OK, some bikers don't help matters with loud cans, small plates and riding like total dicks, but other forces seem to deal well enough with it (i.e. targeting the dicks and leaving the rest alone).

Heck, up here you even get a nod or wave from the bike cops.

Whilst MCN is at times...err...confrontational, I think they are quite justified with their current campaign. Why target law-abiding citizens when there are criminals about?

Brunstrom seemed to think he was above the law and that appears to have filtered down to the rest. It unfortunate as lots of other forces have good relationships with the biking community (lots of coppers are bikers too), but NWP are just pissing in everyone's pot.

There's a simple answer though, don't enter Wales; take your money elsewhere.

Thieves help selves to PCs from Office for Digital Inclusion

The BigYin
FAIL

Hmm

Was there no silent alarm to summon plod? Or were the police too busy targeting speeders to care about real crime?

Why were the PCs not tethered to desks? It's not hard and slows thieves down.

Were the PCs, monitors etc tagged to make tracking/finding easier? Again, not hard to do.

Are the PCs encrypted/locked to render them useless to anyone without a key/fob?

Was there any CCTV showing the thieves?

Were the PCs (and their lack of security) plainly visible from the street?

Did the windows, doors and other access points not have security barriers?

What information did these PCs hold? Was any of it sensitive? If so, was it protected in any way?

As MLF was in charge, will she offer her resignation if it is shown that basic security measures were not taken?

Sony and BBC clash over PS3 problems

The BigYin
FAIL

Eat my SoGA, bitches

I have to pay after 1 year? Feck that. 3-5 years minimum (depending on use) would be a reasonable lifespan IMHO. My old xBox is only just now beginning to show signs of age, and it used to get hammered by the flatmate and me.

To put Sony's derisory "help" into contect, my 12 year old Dyson papped it the other day. For UKP64 (parts and labour), Dyson sent out an engineer to my home who then proceeded to replace about half the parts to get it working again. All his work has a 1 year warranty.

Will I buy Dyson again? With service like that - you bet your arse I will.

After reading this, would I buy a Sony anything? Probably not.

Mozilla catches half of Firefox users running insecure Flash

The BigYin

I was out of date...

...and I think I am pretty good at keeping my system up-to-date. As it was, it took about 3 attempts to get the upgrade to work. I never checked to see if the vulnerable files were removed, but I get now warnings from scans - I'll check manually tonight.

It would be better if Windows had a Debian-like package system where everything can be kept up to date. It's stupid for each vendor/application to have to run it's own update service or check on every launch; how much time is lost with that crap?

Such a package/repository system can only ever be as good as whoever is managing said packages though. Ubuntu, for instance, is lagging behind with FireFox and other applications.

I can totally understand Canonical wanting to keep Ubuntu on a controlled, six month cycle but FF is an *app*, it should have dick to do with the OS (which would be kernel, X, gnome/kde, samba etc to most users). Why are the apps allowed to be the latest and greatest?

As for Adobe...I just wish there was an alternative.

Google and Microsoft bombard Brussels over ad tracking

The BigYin
Flame

More than just laws

Pass as many laws as you like, nothing will change.

Look at the barrage of spam we suffer. Does anyone do anything about it? Do they cock. Why don't ISP block the rogue machines? Why aren't lax ISPs blocked? The answer is simple - you ruin an ISPs business until they either go bust or shape-up. It's not hard.

Why does the industry drag its heels? Surely verifying the sender and the system they are using is possible. Why not do this and only accept/send mail that passes these checks?

Why do PCs default "all ports open, please rape me" rather than the much more secure "total lock-down"?

And just what is this hard-on for tracking that everyone has? The government wants to track and vet every facet of my life, now MS and Google (the two great evils) too? Feck off! Luckily I know enough to block their shite, but it won't be long before bending over and accepting the shafting will become mandatory.

The internet used to be an open way to communicate and share, it is slowly becoming one of the greatest threats to our basic liberties.

Ford says new Taurus 'is fitted with stealth fighter radar'

The BigYin
Thumb Down

Simple answer

So much is being spent on "Vision" to allow the cross-pollination of talent with the deep synergies of core provision and dynamic content generation to herald a new wave of pro-active stakeholder buy-in and collateral democratisation....

...that anyone with a clue as to what is going one has either been sacked or quit. This means there's no one about to check facts, or gives to shits about facts.

C'mon...this a company that can't even get their 'phones to work!

I am continually staggered that the Beeb manages to stay on air and actually make any programmes at all!

IM client library bug plagues Pidgin

The BigYin
Thumb Up

Ah

That explains the updated that got pushed to me today. Not by Windows Update, not by Pidgin, bu the pretty good, consistent and encompassing package manager in Ubuntu.

It so nice to have one application that keeps tabs on everything, and not have to rely on individual apps checking when they start or installing their own services.

I guess Windows will enter the 21st centry one day.

Interoperability eludes Office and OpenOfffice

The BigYin
Thumb Up

Simple answer

Don't use OOXML. Problem solved.

And you may not be able to use it after 10/10 *sniggers*

Trade body loses laptop full of driving conviction data

The BigYin
FAIL

To add to the questions

Why did a trade body have such info?

This seems like the opportunity for a good bit of investigative journalism El Reg, I can't think of any good reason for them to have such private information. Perhaps the DVLA has been negligent?

OpenSUSE defaults to KDE

The BigYin
Linux

Man, I wish I had more time...

...to learn about Linux. I discovered yesterday that my problems with multi-display is down to a "feature" of Gnome (it always puts the menu bars on Screen 0 - this is not configurable). Of course, it is X that is telling which screen is "Screen 0" - this is also not configurable (as far as I know). Why does Linux make it so hard some times? Surely being able to state what screen you want the menu bars on is *basic* functionality? And the whole X "virtual desktop" thing is utter shit. Unless you are *very* careful, you'll wind up with one screent hat either has poor resolution or wants to pan around constantly.

Anyway, I looked at OpenSUSE once (I usually stay in the Ubuntu paddling pool) and it looked really slick, but KDE gives me hives. Every time I've tried to use it, it hangs or crashes. Maybe it's my cack-handed fiddling, but it just doens't seem as stable or easy to use as Gnome, which is a bit of a shame as those "plasmoids" can do some pretty neat stuff. Oh yeah, and I can't get compiz to work on KDE at all.

It's nice to read about a distro moving forward, maybe one day they'll become usuable by a mere mortal like me.

Besieged by attacks, AT&T dumps celebrity hacker

The BigYin
Flame

He's done his time...

...or at least he thought he had, but the El Reg commentards seem to think it is OK for someone to be hounded to the end of their days by vigilantes after the juducial systems says they are clean and clear.

How nice! How so very progressive of you.

I don't agree with what Mitnick did, in fact I wonder about the size of the gulf between what he did and what people *think* he did.

But, you know, don't let the facts get in the way of a witch-burning will you commentards?

Anti-virus forgetfulness fubars Fox forecast

The BigYin
Linux

Another reason...

...to move to Linux I guess.

The legal risks of uncontrolled IM use

The BigYin
Thumb Up

@Bassey

Software and Consultancy house.

Heavy IM (Pidgin, etc) and VOIP (Skype, etc) user for internal comms (rivalling, if not beating, email already); not so much with clients, although Skype is sometimes used.

Only advice I have is not to use MSN Messenger. It suffers from virus attacks and has intrusive adverts, use Pidgin instead.

Orange challenges cheapo French spectrum

The BigYin
Thumb Down

You pays your money...

...you takes your chances. If you pay too much, that's your bloody look out.

If I buy something for £100 and the shop has a sale next week where the same item is only £50; can I go in and demand they pay me back £50 or stop the sale? Can I horse hockey. Why should it be any different for France Telecom?

They paid to much, they lose.

End of.

100 freetards an hour join Pirate Party UK

The BigYin

Hmm...

Will they campaign to remove region blocking on DVDs? This is an utter pain in the particulars when you have bought a legit DVD, want to use it in a legit player and the effing thing says "No". Keep the encoding/branding so people can choose what language they want, but do not block me for playing it!

(My old PC was hacked to get around this, my xBox is hacked for the same reason and then new PC will be hacked if it ever becomes an issue. I buys DVDs, I don't use torrents, and this locking pisses me off).

I'd also like to see the European trade restrictions torn up. If CD-Wow (or whoever) can get a legit CD/DVD from Hong Kong to me for less than I can buy it in the EU, then CD-Wow is not at fault. The companies in the EU are obviously running some kind of cartel/price protection racket. Just a shame that the EU does not have balls to take them to task.

Oh, and if they propose total transparency and accountability for MPs/MEPs expenses, along with requiring the EU to have their accounts properly audited and signed off without interference; then they may just get my vote (if they have a candidate in my area).

Seems like the public are getting fed up with the repulsive shenanigans of the political elite - the "Vote for a change" site is another sign of that.

Ditching ID cards would save £3bn

The BigYin

Not just cards

I want to see the databases torn down and the CCTV cameras scrapped as well.

Anything less is just a PR puff.

Stephen Hawking both British and not dead

The BigYin

Which is worse?

The UK post code lottery where you may or may not get the best treatment, but you will at least get treatment.

Or the USA one where unless you have massive health insurance and pay mega-premiums you will be left to die or have to spend the rest of your life in penury to cover the charges.

Oh my yes. The UK is soooo backward. Hmmm.

Not.

That said, there are many things the NHS could do better. Not spunking millions on managers and business consultants would be a good start!

Men in Green step back from GM's 230mpg Volt claim

The BigYin
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What?

"The existing ones make no sense when applied to a car which can technically achieve an infinite number of miles per gallon as long as you never venture more than 40 miles from a power socket."

Balls. Total and utter balls. The power has to come from somewhere. It would be trivial to monitor how much juice was fired into the Volte batteries during charging and back-calculate the resources used at the power station. This should then be included in the l/100km figure (not mpg as we are now in the 21st century...well some of us are).

Leccy tech may not pollute as much in the city, but it sure as hell pollutes at generation!

Robot cauliflower harvesters to replace vanishing migrants

The BigYin

Robots not needed

We have 2.4 million "unemployed". I say "unemployed" because only a portion are genuinely unemployed, the rest are feckless, lazy b'stards.

Rather than waste money on robo-pickers, simply make picking up the hand-outs dependent on them picking enough veg.

It's win-win-win.

The farmer gets cheap/free labour, the feckless b'stards get an idea of what it means to do work and the government gets to cut the benefits (thus, save my taxes) for all those too lazy to get off their fat arse.

Same goes for all the detritus that is scattered all over Britain. Put the unemployed to work picking it all up (or the ASBO brigade or whomever).

Opera chief warns on equal access to Windows services

The BigYin

Opera are annoying...

...but that doesn't change the fact that MS services should be standards compliant and usable on *any* browser that supports those standards.

An option open to MS is to drop their silly update system and move to a more robust system such as "Repositories" on Linux. But that would mean admitting to the world that Linux does (at least) one thing better - I doubt they will do that out of spite.

Then, of course, they will have their arse sued by the likes of InstallShield for destroying the installer market or something.

Note: this isn't about supporting Opera or MS having to supply Opera or something; this is about supporting standards. Interoperability. Guaranteed behaviour. Being able to select best of breed and not being locked in. Innovation. The free market. Standards help ensure all that happens, they are the best thing for the customer.

Websense yanks censorware from Yemen

The BigYin
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Meanwhile in the UK...

...you can go where you like, but Big Brother will watch your every step and rip the ass out of you at his leisure. Or simply deport you to foreign states with dubious judicial regimes so that you can rot in their cells without ever facing court.

And no, I do not mean McKinnon; I am talking about Andrew Symeou.