Posts by James Pickett

Funding

Perhaps it's time for the MOD to become a bank...

@Bad Example

What an extraordinary list - I'd no idea that beer was duty-free! Not to mention 'massage apparatus'...

Pity

"I like being awkward"

Me too. Shame it's on T-mobile, which has almost no coverage where I live, otherwise I'd buy one just to annoy the Jesus addicts. Still, Google are richer than Croesus (and Apple) so we may see some improvement...

See you next Tuesday

"Jacqui denying the airport scheme was a retreat."

This from the person who also denied that the 42-day fiasco was a retreat, so really not worth the paper it wasn't written on.

@the other Steve

"demented ginger weeble"

Love it!

No surprise

And how many criminals have been wrongly let through? (As would happen if you put Blair's name in.)

This used to be run by Crapita. Presumably it still is...

Innovation

"using a rudimentary task bar and big icons."

I hate it already.

Alarm

"no plans to at the moment"

I hate that sort of phrase. A bit like Blair offering his full support!

I get on well with PN, not least because their support is prompt, helpful and doesn't seem to have been outsourced (unlike BT). I give notice, though, that I will be gone if they touch Phorm.

Good day's work

I'm not sure whether to be relieved or appalled. Both, probably.

I wonder what the real majority would have been without voter de-registration and biased voting machinery? Funny how the GOP only wants democracy when it plays their way...

DS wifi

My 2-day old DS worked immediately with my (encrypted) router. Sounds like a BT problem to me! The 2-screen approach is brilliant, IMHO - you can play throwing games, like darts and bowling, and you can hold it like a book. Did you mention sales figures..?

Bong!

"smoking pot doesn't really make you any more free"

But removing the ban does.

Good article , TW. As for "cannabis induced schizophrenia", what about politics induced schizophrenia? Much more dangerous, IMHO.

Culpable

Doesn't that prove they got it wrong the first time? Looks like an admission of liability to me...

Slippery

"Clinton vs Palin"

That I'd like to see - especially in mud.. :-)

Non-sequitur

"The numbers speak for themselves - the numbers are unbelievable"

Well, which? Can't be both!

Doh!

"he needs to pay for his crimes"

Making the Pentagon look stupid isn't a crime - it's an obligation!

@Martin

"you wouldn't have noticed it"

Not even the gravitational effects? I appreciate that the rate of change would have been on the slow side :-)

Catch 22

If these were in the shops, they would sell like hot cakes. Unfortunately, retailers never give shelf-space to things that aren't already selling like hot cakes...

@smallbrain

"They don't deserve the shitstorm they're getting for this"

Oh yes they do. I rather hope they get fired and move to Sky, where the Sun (prop. The Dirty Digger) will have to report their arrival in glowing terms and Rebekah (sic) Wade will again dodge the microphones.

Product placement

"If the lens were a Boeing jumbo jet, it would be flying 2mm above ground level"

As opposed to what other sort of jumbo jet..?

Scammed

Given the difficulty the police appear to have adding up crime stats, you'd think they'd be a bit more circumspect with them in other areas. One thing I'm not clear about: howcome the council is paying for the upkeep when the pratnership gets to keep the income?

Wow

"2'' High performance Woofer" (from the website)

That's not something you read too often - even less does it turn out to be true!

Usable

"Apricot is trying to produce a mass-market product"

You mean, like the EeePC, which was Linux only (until MS recovered from the shock)?

You have insufficient credit

I assume these are PAYG phones, which makes one wonder how they pay for the calls. I thought credit cards were unislamic?

@same old

"have you actually tried the latest 2009 Norton AV "

Yes, actually. I spent a frustrating afternoon last week doing just that, to overcome an 'Lucallbackproxy' error on a client's machine. This required a very chunky download (half an hour), the uninstallation of the previous version (20 minutes) and the installation of the new one (another 20 minutes, plus a hunt for the licence code, which is supposed to be stored by Symantec). What happens? The same error returns and Symantec's only solution is to re-install! The workaround is to disable Live Update, but of course, it flags that as an error...

Glad I don't have it on my machines (I use ClamWin, in the best freetard tradition).

Piglet

"Not a squeak from our own Jacqui, although we do know she was there"

Too busy with her face in the pies, I expect. She's obviously not interested in the "primacy of individual liberty".

Carp

IIRC, Excel has never had its maths verified. Some years ago, when Ballmer was reminded of this, he confirmed that it 'would be a good idea' , as long as he didn't have to pay for it, presumably.

Excel gets used because it is ubiquitous, not because it's any good. Same as Windows, really.

Proportion

So teenagers with a rash (how would you know?) are a problem, but frying their brains isn't? Mind you, how would you know that, either? :-)

Really?

"Windows 7 won't slip"

Can we have a date, then? Ladbrokes will be open soon...

IQ

"questions about Ballmer's judgment."

So that fact that he offered $33 a share doesn't count, because Yahoo turned it down..?!

I think someone's confusing competence with publicity. Or shares with chairs, perhaps...

OMG!

"depriving the American people of access to important and timely campaign videos"

Is that in the Constitution? I expect it soon will be...

Premeditated

"no criminal intent"

Killing someone accidentally is still manslaughter!

Windows 2001

"I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance ..."

Silly cow

What really worries her, of course, is that life will go on as normal without her silly Bill, or that she really could walk down Lewisham high street for a kebab without an armed guard and return unmolested. You'd have to be pretty desperate, IMHO...

Testing

I wish someone would give me a prize for getting more than 30%!

Perhaps the bar could be reset to 100% for the Turing test, but a cheaper, somewhat less prestigious prize (say, a doughnut) for the dumbed-down 30 percenters, aka the Warwick test.

Expert

"We also believe that the future's digital"

It's also Orange, but that doesn't help his case against BD. What does he think that is - analogue?

@Michael

So it's only theirs if they don't spend it? I feel better already!

Spooky

Only two days ago, I was expressing the wonder* that we hadn't had a lost CD/HD/laptop/memory stick lately, and here it is!

*Only verbally, I'm afraid. Should have done it in Ladbrokes, but I don't suppose I'd have got very long odds...

Progress

"a true 'leap ahead' in lethality".

Oh, goody.

Blame

So the two guys responsible have now left? I wonder who was responsible before then..?

Grrr!

"It asked eBay et al to shut down the dodgy auctions"

And did they?

Quick

"Following the crash, authorities in California banned rail workers form using mobile phones while on duty"

It didn't occur to them before, I suppose...

Hazardous

IIRC, borrowing money when there's a safety net is frowned on by the banks, who regard it as a 'moral hazard'. I haven't heard that term much lately, now the boot is on the other foot...

Full marks to Byrne, though. Being silenced just proves he was right. So much for the Land of the Free!

Goons

Can somebody please remind me what is the use of a pistol-packing neanderthal in a pressurised cabin at 30,000 feet against someone with a block of semtex (or even some binary liquids) and a death-wish?