* Posts by ACcc

64 publicly visible posts • joined 15 Oct 2009

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Photographer seeks $12m in copyright damages over claims Capcom ripped off her snaps in Resident Evil 4 art

ACcc

Re: Uncertain

Having clicked on the pdf linked in the story it looks very clear after the first half dozen that these textures have been taken from the "surfaces" photos, and it just get more convincing the further through you get - it's not just the item photographed but background behind/surroundings; the fractures in broken glass; marble patterns (yes, could be coincidence if a single shot of a column from somewhere like the Duomo in Florence, not if there are lots of shots of marble textures with the patterning copied to textures)

Crikey, that's FAST: China clocks 84 pulsars in 2 years using world's largest radio telescope

ACcc
Coat

Acronym

Anyone else have the sneaking suspicion that they only added the word 'Spherical' to the acronym when someone pointed out what is spelt out without it?

Mine's the one with the gas mask in the pocket ->

Microsoft: 2TB or not 2... OK, OK! 2TB. OneDrive dragged kicking and screaming into selling more storage

ACcc

Re: Backups...

I got round the sync location issue feature by creating symlinks in the OneDrive directory to the required locations (e.g. the OH's Desktop where all the files actually resided rather than a directory structure under documents...).

This was on W7, so YMMV

EDIT: beaten to it..

No guns or lockpicks needed to nick modern cars if they're fitted with hackable 'smart' alarms

ACcc

Every time...

"You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means"

Excuse me, sir. You can't store your things there. Those 7 gigabytes are reserved for Windows 10

ACcc

I can see your point, except that with already short space on the system drive for OS and Apps (using a micro-SD card for files, pics etc.) on my little tablet, even before Windows now reserving a third of it, trying to update Windows required an external USB drive to store all the extra download files for Windows update.

Which Windows then failed to pickup on the reboot install and basically got itself stuck in a bootloop of 'Cant' find drive' - can't boot - 'Can't find files'.

Pasta-covered cat leads to kid night operator taking apart the mainframe

ACcc

Re: Click bait

Gave me paws for thought

This one weird trick turns your Google Home Hub into a doorstop

ACcc

Alexa Open the front door!..........

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that

Apple breathes new life into MacBook Air with overhauled 2018 model

ACcc

Still running a 2012 i7, and was thinking 'maybe an upgrade'.

Then read the specs.

And the price.

Quad core i3 for the price I paid for an 4C/8T i7. Barely improved base RAM after 6 years (4->8GB).

Never mind the customisability...of which I suspect there isn't any. If I'm proven wrong and off the shelf RAM/disk/additional disk are on the cards then it's a maybe. Otherwise I'll buy another i7 2012. Though they're still expensive - nearly as much now as new, presumably because there is no replacement.

Deliveroo to bike food to hungry fanbois queuing to buy iPhones

ACcc

Prey indeed

"while people - Apple fans are people too - stand in line to prey at the altar of dreams"

Freudian slip?

UK 'meltdown' bank TSB's owner: Our IT migration was a 'success'

ACcc

Re: Are they running TSB in the 'cloud'?

How long before someone finds they've left an Amazon S3 bucket unsecured containing all the recently migrated information?

Watt? You thought the wireless charging war was over? It ain't even begun

ACcc

I would recommend reading this...

...good bit of science and financial background on WATT and their claims.

https://liesandstartuppr.blogspot.co.uk/

Chap behind Godwin's law suspends his own rule for Charlottesville fascists: 'By all means, compare them to Nazis'

ACcc

Re: I think most of us loathe Nazism because of its eugenics element.

Hmm. Personally I loathe the Nazis for starting a major European war that resulted in the deaths of millions and for arbitrarily murdering innumerable people of various religions, creeds, races and sexual or political orientations they disliked.

ACcc

Podium place

Not sure they got silver - I'd give that to the Russians: winning side eventually but lost a lot more people, and supported the Germans to start with which bit them on the arse when Germany invaded.

Microsoft boasted it had rebuilt Skype 'from the ground up'. Instead, it should have buried it

ACcc

uninstall Skype video

My dad's machine started doing this for no apparent reason. Even killing desktop Skype didn't stop the notifications "Skype needs to log in...blah blah" clicking on which *obviously*, being Redmond, leads to an error form.

Noticed that a windows store app (or whatever their decided to call them this week) had installed "Skype Video". I uninstalled that and the notifications stopped.

It came from space! Two-headed flatworm stuns scientists

ACcc

I for one...

...welcome our two-headed alien worm overlords

FYI Docs.com users: You may have leaked passwords, personal info – thousands have

ACcc

Re: Surprised?

I'm wrong - you can share office365 files on docs.com. Genius.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/03/doxed-by-microsofts-docs-com-users-unwittingly-shared-sensitive-docs-publicly/

ACcc

Re: Surprised?

Office365 != docs.com as far as I'm aware.

That said, putting any of this stuff on the internet without being very sure of the security and double checking visibility is the act of foolishness.

Not sure Microsoft have helped their users here though by having a myriad of similar product hanging off different platforms (onedrive on outlook/hotmail, SharePoint, office365; documents on onedrive, docs.com, office web apps, etc.).

Parliamentary Trump-off? Pro-Donald petition passes 100k signatures

ACcc

Re: The Solomon Islands

"Real inhabited islands more than a few inches high are not being covered by sea rise at all."

Yet. Because sea level rise is g.r.a.d.u.a.l. Which means "it takes time" for the hard of thinking around here.

ACcc

Re: The Solomon Islands

The fact you're an idiot that can't understand science gives me the reason you childish names.

You goldfish minded buffoon.

Also "big John"...really? Compensating for your tiny..."intellect"...

Black horse blacks out: Lloyds Bank website goes down

ACcc

TSB and Halfix too

TSB and Halifax apps/websites were simultaneously offline too.

New MacBook Pro beckons fanbois to become strip pokers

ACcc

Re: Typical views from those want to buy but don't like the price.

@Blotto

Wireless is wonderful except when, for example, the OH's iphone starts BSODing due to update taking most of the internal memory, and then fails on update, causing a boot loop and you have to try downloading the update to the mac, then running the update from itunes.

Which incidentally didn't work and in the end I had to plug it into a Linux box, hack the thing, then re-run the update from itunes on the mac.

Or backing the thing up prior to running updates, because Apple beta testing it's software on users never causes issues that will require rebuilding the bloody thing from scratch. I'm not sure how long it would take to back up a 128gb iphone wirelessly, but I'd imagine using USB3 is a bit faster.

And if you haven't backed up your iphone 6 then I'm assuming nothing or there is of any value to you.

ACcc

Re: Typical views from those want to buy but don't like the price.

...so take your brand new iPhone 7 out of its box, and your brand new MacBook pro out of its box.

Now, using the components given to you by this company, for these items launched but weeks apart, connect them together.

...

I'm waiting

...

Apple kit was always overpriced, but well thought out. Lately it's been lacking that utterly key latter ingredient.

3.5 mil Jack? Still not launched the airpods. Probably because they're shit for battery life and performance.

No standard Usb ports on a pro?

Only one port at all on a MacBook?

I used to think "hmm, might get a Mac, they look nice", bought an i7 (4 core + HT) spec mini topped with 16gb off the shelf ram as they came to replacement and it's looking a lot like I bought at peak. Everything since has been "meh".

Non-upgradable parts (not least for the mini); soldered RAM; halving the core count...

Apple have gone from "ooh, shiny shiny, but expensive" to "nice kit but slightly impractical, and expensive considering I may need upgrade some peripherals" to "that's a design choice that essentially unusable without upgrading evening in my house, on top of the ridiculous price".

And that's before I get on to their cocking operating system, or software.

Fucking. ITunes.

Delete Google Maps? Go ahead, says Google, we'll still track you

ACcc

Re: eh?

@ Stuart Longland

So - I know where you live, and that you're not at home. Also, that you're on a bike and therefore can't get home quickly.

Were I not in excess of 3000 miles away someone knowing might not be a good idea.

Microsoft releases Windows 10 preview for Raspberry Pi 3

ACcc

I believe the new pi upgrades were so they could run Windows; I also think Microsoft funded/helped fund the development of the boards (not certain of that - I think I read it on the Pi website), but to be honest I don't mind - I've got two quad core pis (one in house as a web server, another en route to be...well, something, probably a lightweight desktop). If MS's money made that happen quicker then who cares?

That said, we're an MS-only development set up at work and I'm not likely to put Windows on a Pi - I want the ability to switch on a full OS to play with sonic pi or whatever takes my fancy.

Building a fanless PC is now realistic. But it still ain't cheap

ACcc

Brix 2807

Currently using the above as a nice, cheap (box was <£80 on deal from online), about £40 for SSD, same for 4GB RAM.

Not powerful, only dual core, but no fans at all and perfect for an XBMC/Kodi box behind the tv. Suitably tiny too.

Oh TechNation. Britain's got tech talent. Just not like this

ACcc

Re: I googled it,

We receive public funding from the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport, via Innovate UK. Our funding for 2015-2016 is £2.2 million and covers our programmes, policy informing and championing work

1) "Department for Culture, Media & Sport" != Tech

2) "Innovate UK" - Barf

3) "Our funding for 2015-2016 is £2.2 million" - for doing what? Wank like this?

4) "policy informing and championing work" - did I mention barf?

Also "championing work" this is obviously not the same as "Work" - I can Champion Work from my sofa in my underpants ("Go Work! Yay!") while accomplishing nothing.

Mind you - I'm not averse to working in my underpants on the sofa should the need arise.

I just don't champion it. I live it. I live the dream.

ACcc

Salary

My guess on the average salary is they've got the average after putting IT into a job search, and looked at a minimum of 20k for general day-job to 120k for City based VBA type contracts and gone "well the average must be half way between the two".

Caption this: WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

ACcc

"Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?"

HAL - the early years...

Elderly? Disabled? You clearly need a .38" Palm Pistol

ACcc

it is not intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in man

The exact opposite I would have thought?

Get whimsical and win a Western Digital Black 6TB hard drive

ACcc

What do you mean I'm holding it wrong?

Marathon race ace FOUND ON MARS – NASA boffins overjoyed

ACcc

I hope the engineers who built and designed those things

Feel rightfully proud of what they have achieved, not least in comparison to the original mission parameters (and how far away they are now!)

Want to check out iOS 8.3? Apple just might let you (but make a backup)

ACcc

Public beta?

Surely public alpha, as the public beta happens when they dump it onto the strangely unsuspecting device owners who then complain that it affects [battery life/wifi/ability to make phone calls/local availability of lattes]?

Microsoft wants LAMP for wireless mobe charger

ACcc

Re: Fantastic

This.

Beat me to it. I can't believe someone actually entertained this as an idea.

I'll build a Hyperloop railgun tube-way in Texas, Elon Musk vows

ACcc

Never mind fast commuting...

...build a Wipeout track.

That is all.

BEHOLD Apple's BENEVOLENCE! iMessage txt BLACK HOLE finally fixed

ACcc

"If you don't want your messages going via iMessage, Settings -> Messages -> iMessage -> Off. Was that so hard?"

If they don't know the phone is doing this (and from the class action suit it would appear many people don't) and is doing this by default then for most non-technical users (and let's be honest that covers 90+% of people with any type of phone) they may wonder why the messages are different colours, but most won't realise this 'feature' exists until they try to change phones.

Honestly - I don't own an iPhone, but my wife does, and the only reason I know that this happens is through news on El Reg. I suspect the majority of (non-techie) users assume that if they respond to a text message in what appears to be a text messaging app it will reply with a text message.

Would be interesting to run a survey to see how many (average/non-reg-reading) iDevice users are aware of this functionality, and more importantly are aware of the pit-falls.

The late 2014 Apple Mac Mini: The best (and worst) of both worlds

ACcc

Re: Very pleased I got the 2012 i7 version last year

Here are one or two accounts that appear to suggest the non-beta version has exactly the same issue...

ACcc

Re: The Intel NUC might also be of interest...

I went for a Gigabyte NUC-type box as a low power XMBC/windows machine (not a patch in Spec comparison with the Mac Mini but entirely fanless and buildable with spares, and the box was only £80 on offer) but before that I was looking at the higher end Pro i7 version as a alternative to getting the Mac.

ACcc

Very pleased I got the 2012 i7 version last year

...Quad core, two hard drives available as an self upgrade option, cheap(ish) off the shelf 16GB RAM without the Apple tax. All told about £700, currently in use a video conversion and VM (Windows Servers) host.

The drop in multithread performance is stunning (obviously, having half the number of threads)

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/19/mac-mini-2014-benchmark/

If you add in the soldered RAM, single HDD, dual core i7 as the top spec (and lets not even talk about the price difference that getting a quad core and self upgrading vs dual and buying the RAM from Apple), then it really is a no brainer - if you want a decent Mac Mini, buy a 2012 model.

And if you want to be able to upgrade the HDD to SSD and still use TRIM don't use Yosemite.

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apples-yosemite-beta-dont-use-trim-with-ssd

Xperia Z3: Crikey, Sony – ANOTHER flagship phondleslab?

ACcc

Wireless charging

I got the Z3 compact - there's a magnetic charging dock for about £20 which I use, or there's a magnetic cable for about £15 I saw somewhere.

It's the first dock I've bought for any phone, which is slightly ironic as it gets charged less often than the last phone, but I figured it might be useful with the charging cover.

jQuery site popped to serve malware slop

ACcc

Interesting list of vulnerabilities

"Internet Explorer, Java, Adobe Flash, and Silverlight"

As an IT worker I suspect I am not alone in the following response:

IE - Don't use except on internal/intranet - I use Firefox with Adblock/NoScript externally

Java - Not installed/Enabled in FF

Flash - Not installed in FF

Silverlight - Not installed in FF (And run on request in IE. Seriously, does anyone use silverlight if they can possibly help it?)

THREE QUARTERS of Android mobes open to web page spy bug

ACcc

Android browser only?

Does it affect Firefox?

Stephen Fry MADNESS: 'New domain names GENERATE NEW IP NUMBERS'

ACcc

Re: I should buy...

Ah - takes me back to travelling the Cook Islands and seeing a local company's web address...must remember set up Web2.0/cloud company there.

[Company_Name].co.ck

YOSEMITE GLAM: Apple unveils gussied up OS X

ACcc

Re: RotM?

aware what you are up to

User is watching Pron on iPad - iPhone automatically sets itself to Do Not Disturb - Macbook pro holds all notifications until user has passed the vinegar strokes; also initiates Skype call to iCloud so Apple has an idea of you particular fetish and likely require length of video so it can target future searches towards 'Goat' and 'less than a minute' to help you later on.

Asus unveils dirt-cheap Chromebox desktops with Haswell chips

ACcc

Yes, but...

...will it run Linux?

Or what's the i7 price like for a dual boot .net/LAMP dev box?

(if, of course, you could get a later version of Windows onto a 16gb ssd with any space to spare...)

Asteroid-hunting beauty AWAKENS, takes cheeky snaps of neighbours

ACcc

Adverts?

Firefox & adblock across all devices, don't see adverts except when using other people's computers or forced to use IE at work, and generally it's a bit off a surprise to see what the internet "really" looks like.

As for autoplay ads or indeed autoplay anything...seriously annoying, and surely stopped being used when web design became a profession?

Apparently Facebook didn't get that memo so am now no longer updating their app just in case.

Microsoft's Windows 8.1 secrets REVEALED ... sort of

ACcc

No major change

Honestly, and I know Eadon is going to spit so many feathers at this point to make very nice mattress, but I quite like Windows 8 as it is.

I put in on a netbook to give it a go, keeping the old XP/Linux drive in case it was awful, but I've kept it, added Lubuntu for Linux/main OS, and am enjoying the shortcut keys, and the look and feel.

I also know a non-techie neighbour who bought a W8 laptop after a W7 one and when I asked how it was going, thinking it would be maybe complicated, the answer was 'all good, found the desktop, no problem'

So from a non-scientific poll of two, one IT, one not, I think the "it's an awful OS" crowd are somewhat over doing it.

Redmond slashing Win8, Office OEM rates for small devices

ACcc
FAIL

Hmmm

While Iagree the RT version of Windows 8 doesn't seen set up for business and to expensive for home use compared to android or even ios devices, I'm not even sure win 8 as a full x86/64 system works for business as you can't add anything app-wise to the touchy-feely side of it without a Microsoft account, which I'm sure we'll go down well in business.

As a personal OS it's not too bad, but the fact you need to integrate everything to as hotmail or live account is quite annoying, but gets really irritating when installed as a test machine on a domain.

BT in ad slapdown after 'misleading' punters on fibre deployment dates

ACcc
Unhappy

Re: Misleading

Yep - all the exchanges except ours in the local area are being done. Probably because we live in a predominantly rented / 'lower socio-economic' area and it's uneconomic. Bastards.

Brazilian slammer guards nab mobe-smuggling CAT

ACcc
FAIL

This reminds me of the ever so effective CIA spy cat

See here for details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty

Microsoft says Google trying to undermine Windows Phone

ACcc
FAIL

Re: What about those websites

@C 7

Which Microsoft website only works with IE?

I can name a Microsoft website doesn't even work with IE - I remember giving up on IE7 in the early days when it used to blink out of existence with no warning, no error message, just vanished, when opening pages on the MSDN site. I've a suspicion it still does.

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