* Posts by RyokuMas

1913 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Oct 2009

Facebook Messenger: All your numbers are belong to us

RyokuMas
Facepalm

When is a phone not a phone...

The infographic made me laugh - since when has a phone been more about productivity than communication? Surely the whole point of a phone - the reason the damn thing was invented - was to facilitate communication???

/headdesk

Oh, and Facebook can go shove it. No apps on my phones and FB Purity on the laptop.

Adblock Plus blocked from attending ad industry talkfest

RyokuMas
Unhappy

Re: Keep on with the autoplaying auto-expanding video, sound, and light-show free-for-all

Given that Google's core revenue model is based on profiling, tracking and advertising, I doubt we'll be seeing simple adblocking (or at least simple adblocking that continues to work) on Android any time soon...

Microsoft’s Get Windows 10 nagware shows signs of sentience

RyokuMas
WTF?

Re: Oh, Jesus...

@Kevin 6 - You mean to say you've never used anything remotely connected to Google - inadvertently or deliberately?

RyokuMas
Devil

Oh, Jesus...

Okay Microsoft, well done, you've now officially won back the "Evil" crown...

/golfclap

Windows 10 makes big gains at home, lags at work

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Hello pot, this is kettle... again

"... let alone a tracking for advertising machine called Windows 10."

Anyone who has searched the web using Google, or has advised someone else to "Google it" in the last five years automatically forfeits the right to complain about Microsoft tracking users.

Windows 10 phones are not dead yet. Acer, Alcatel OneTouch just made some new ones

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Re: My phone should work like my Windows PC

"The future is open"

Remind me again - what percentage of the smartphone market is running a version of Android that is not controlled by Google?

Microservices are not the same thing as components

RyokuMas
Trollface

Re: 'Architects' can bitch with each other about terminology until the cows come home

To keep their jobs?

Microsoft's 200 million 'Windows 10' 'devices' include Lumias, Xboxes

RyokuMas
Paris Hilton

Re: Dear Microsoft

"You may not want immediate monetary payment for it, but you DO require me to allow you access to all use, traffic, email and other information. In other words, you want me to be a digital prostitute for a Windows 10 fix. I respectfully decline."

One question: when searching the web, which engine do you use? After a post like that, please, please please tell me it's Duck Duck Go...

Remember the Carrier iQ mobile snoopware? It's in AT&T's hands now

RyokuMas
Stop

Re: AT&T did not disclose the terms

"Should make anyone very leery about buying an Android phone through AT&T, as they could have added this software to it, unless it is a pure Android model like a Nexus."

As if Google isn't monitoring all user activity on Android already...

Windows 10: What's coming in 2016?

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Re: Give it a rest

" Linux fanboys will count everything including router firmware to jack up Linux numbers."

My personal favourite is the way that for years their whole point was based on the fact that Linux is FOSS and much more ethical than Windows thanks to Microsoft's practices...

... and then they claim that Linux now runs on more devices, thanks to Android - which is to all intents and purposes controlled by Google.

It's sad how people will abandon their principles for a quick win...

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Hello pot, this is kettle...

I love the way that so many people are going on about "Microsoft spyware" in Win10 - yet they quite happily use Google to search, Android based phones, Gmail for email, etc., etc.

A nasty revelation I've had over the past few years is that spying on people is now the backbone of how the software industry works. Websites are full of tracking and analytics code. Mobile apps and games typically link up to some kind of insights dashboard, allowing you to be profiled for "user acquisition". Hell, Google's entire core business model is based on the data they capture about you.

Let's face it - what's the number one most used bit of software by the average user these days? Their web browser. And what's the first thing most people do when trying to find something on the web? That's right - " w-w-w-dot-g-o-o-g-l-e-dot-com".

For the record, I think that this utter invasion of privacy is completely wrong - but with computers and the internet now such an integral part of the way we live, the chance to change this is long gone. Sure, the more savvy of us can find means to block this constant monitoring, but this is only a holding action - sooner or later something will change and allow these defences to be breached. The concept of privacy in the digital world has been pretty much dead and buried for years - the corporates won't change it because it enables them to sell more stuff, and the government won't change it because they can use the data for their own purposes... that plus they're pretty much in the pocket of the corporates these days.

... and once again, Microsoft are late to the party. Except this time, rather than saying "too little, too late", people are kicking off about their privacy, much of which they gave up many years ago.

No, Kim Kardashian's plump posterior's pixels did not break the App Store – just this El Reg man's mind

RyokuMas
Stop

Re: FF22 People...

"Soon you will be able to install it in Android too."

Not unless the pricing model is changed - Android owners seldom pay for an app if they can avoid it.

Software engineer sobers up to deal with 2:00 AM trouble at mill

RyokuMas

This sort of thing...

... is why my mobile number and personal email addresses are sacrosanct, and my personal laptop is not configured to connect to the company network...

Japan unveils net-wielding police drones for air patrol

RyokuMas
Joke

Disappointing...

Drones??? Come on Japan, where are the god damn giant police robots?!?

Windows Phone won't ever succeed, says IDC

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Re: Uh oh, El Reg...

"The market has spoken, and I for one would not bat an eyelid if Microsoft were to stop producing Windows phones."

Ironic that from my experience this phrase seems to come most often from Linux supporters... has "the market spoken" for desktop as well, or is this another knee-jerk "because it's Microsoft" thing...

RyokuMas
Stop

Re: Does anyone think this is a good thing?

"Useful as competition is, you can't force users to accept 2nd rate products based on it."

I'd beg to differ - from my experience, most mobile users would choose a second rate free app over a similar app of better quality but that also carried a pricetag...

Japanese hack gets space probe back on track

RyokuMas
Thumb Up

Re: Awesome

Neither was the LEM engine on Apollo 13 - in space, you work with what you've got... credit to the team!

Google proffers plugs in Android MMS pwnfest

RyokuMas
FAIL

Wow...

"Google has slung a new set of patches at the vulnerability hub that is Android media processing, fixing four critical flaws and 10 high-severity bugs."

Substitute "Microsoft" for "Google" and "Android" for "Windows" and I'd swear we were back in the early 2000s with that opening line... those who do not learn from history...

Google fends off EFF's claims kids probed by Chromebook software

RyokuMas
Devil

It's the bit that's missing...

"Our goal is to ensure teachers and students everywhere have access to powerful, affordable, and easy-to-use tools for teaching, learning, and working together,"

"... and grow up largely ignorant to anything other than Google's software, thus forcing enterprise to adopt our systems and pushing our competitors out of the market."

Not the first, won't be the last...

Samsung Gear VR is good. So good 2016 could be year virtual reality finally makes it

RyokuMas
Thumb Up

Colour me impressed...

I had the chance to try out one of these a while back and - having grown up when Virtuality was the latest novelty at the Trocadero - I was impressed... even through my glasses, there were no problems with the visual.

For this to really take off though, we need an accepted "standard interface" - remember how it took some time for mobile games to go beyond simply having an onscreen joystick & buttons just crowbarred in over a desktop port?

I think that the first step is to enhance headset movement sensors to be able to tell the difference between movement of the head and the whole upper body, as this would then give a "dual stick" capacity - I can see FPS style games where you lean with your body to move and shoot in the direction you are looking...

W is for WTF: Google CEO quits, new biz Alphabet takes over

RyokuMas
Devil

Pre-emptive strike

So Google can break itself up with Alphabet buying up all the component companies, thus bypassing anything monopolies and mergers can do....

Google meets more EU apparatchiks than anyone else in Brussels

RyokuMas
Devil

Re: Target confirmed sir

Ah, but what about all the undeclared backhanders?

Microsoft releases free Office apps for half of all Android phones

RyokuMas
Happy

"Which one.. Google or Microsoft?"

Yes.

RyokuMas
Devil

I will stick to Google docs, I know what the deal is, what I am giving up in exchange for what I get

... until they change the T&Cs... again

NOD32 AV remote root wormable hack turns corporate fleets to meat

RyokuMas
Devil

Agreed...

While in this connected age I think that it's everyone's responsibility to assist in making sure that systems are as secure as possible, this attitude of "here's an exploit I've found, I'm going public with it tomorrow" is irresponsible at best, corporate sabotage at worst...

Brace yourself, planet Earth, says Nokia CEO – our phones ARE coming back from mid-2016

RyokuMas
Paris Hilton

Re: Hey Nokia: Android please

"The world has decided what mobile operating system it likes best, and it's called Android."

... and by that logic, I guess you also believe that the world has decided what desktop operating system is likes best, and it's called Windows???

MS privacy policy website subverted to pimp gambling sites

RyokuMas

Hey Google, what’s trending? Oh, just the death of journalism

RyokuMas
Big Brother

Screening process...

"a faster, deeper and more comprehensive view of our world" through what they describe as "the lens" of Google Search

... which will, no doubt, screen out anything Google doesn't want you to see...

Ready to go again, soldier? Final Fantasy VII remake revealed

RyokuMas
Childcatcher

Let's hope they keep the SD character feel of the original... forgetting everything else, FFVIII was spoiled for me by the attempt to go to realistically-modelled characters.

Poison résumé attack gives ransomware a gig on the desktop

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Anyone stupid enough to run an screensaver executable that's packaged up in a zip file titled as a resume deserves everything they get.

Call it darwinism in action on a cyber-scale.

BlackBerry ponders putting Android on future mobes

RyokuMas
Trollface

Well, there goes Blackberry's reputation for security...

Microsoft picks up shotgun, walks 'Modern apps' behind the shed

RyokuMas
Trollface

Re: Windows RT users – both of you

Hey! We've finally found out who the AC is that keep on posting that tired old "both of them" joke!

Teaching kids to code is self-defence, not a vocational skill

RyokuMas
FAIL

Said it before...

The problem here is that the biggest engagement point for kids in computing is games, and how games have changed since "the early days".

Back in the late 80s, you were lucky if you got more than 320x200px at 16 colours, with a bleepy soundtrack and basic 2D "game" physics ie: enough to make the game playable. So when you were able to make a bunch of characters move around on the screen by pressing the arrow keys, it wasn't such a mental quantum leap from where you were to "game".

Whereas now, we're flooded with games filled with beautiful photo-realistic graphics, 3D surround sound, huge storylines, character voice acting, realistic physics, world-wide online multiplayer capability, cinema quality special effects and more... the gulf between this and "I've made a blob of colour move round the screen" is immense.

As soon as kids realise that they won't be able to make the next Grand Theft Auto in a week, they'll lose interest.

HMRC ditches Microsoft for Google, sends data offshore

RyokuMas
FAIL

"Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the first major department to move to Google Apps, part of an apparent loosening of Microsoft's stranglehold on the government's software services."

... like exchanging a cobra for a black mamba...

Intel imagines chips in nappies to create the Internet of sh*t things

RyokuMas
Happy

"Sniff my dump!"

Simon at his finest

Tossed all your snaps into the new Google Photos? You read the terms, right? ... RIGHT?

RyokuMas
FAIL

Re: Translation

7. Only Microsoft have FUD-spreaders and astrotufers...

Google's Cardboard 2.0 virtual reality device is a triumph for humanity, said no one sane, ever

RyokuMas
FAIL

Desperation...

"Quick! We need a gimmick to try and convince everyone that there's more to us than collecting as much data about everyone as humanly possible and flogging it off to anyone we fancy!"

Win Phone to outgrow smartmobe market for next four years

RyokuMas
Stop

Re: Sounds like wishful thinking

I've never seen a WinPhone owner show off some cool app to everyone. I've never heard anyone say it's an absolute delight.

That's because as soon as you do, you get a bundle of people immediately accusing you of being a "Microsoft shill"

Creationist: The Flintstones was an accurate portrayal of Dino-human coexistence

RyokuMas
Facepalm

Look out...

Sounds like the kind of guy who builds a website with the text stacked in a vertical column...

School's in for Chromebooks, Google's the top swot in class

RyokuMas
Black Helicopters

Created by Google as a low-cost method for running web applications increasing the amount of data they can gather about you...

TFTFY

Google DOG WHISTLING fails to send URLs across the room

RyokuMas
Stop

I can see it now...

... quietly browsing the web when all of a sudden a trill sounds from across the office and WAMMO! Full page advert.

Blocking mobile adverts just became that little bit easier

RyokuMas
Thumb Up

Just on the web?

... or in-app as well? I'd be very interested to see what happens to the mobile gaming scene if the "free-with-ads" monetization model was suddenly no longer an option...

Windows 10 to MELT YOUR BRAIN and TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE

RyokuMas
Thumb Up

Re: "It depends whether Polly is convergent or divergent."

Android got there first - well, sort of.

RyokuMas
Devil

So many possibilities...

... for response posts here, but I guess I'll settle for this one:

They're obviously after the government market.

Google cloud: rubbish at updates, world-class at rapid rollbacks

RyokuMas
Trollface

Kharma...

So I guess about 20 years from now, the astroturfers from "the next big company" will be continually reposting links to this article whenever Google's cloud is mentioned?

Google's 'stale pale males' to be replaced by crack black chick pack

RyokuMas
Stop

Re: Anon CVs

Teaching is 80% female

Strikes me that this is more due to the fact that men fear being branded paedophiles - all it takes is one accusation to get out there, and then you're guilty in the eyes of some, no matter what may happen through legal process.

Boffins turns landfill WinPhones into microscopes

RyokuMas
Black Helicopters

Re: They chose ms to keep the NSA happy

All your DNA belong to us.

By "us" - and given the spin you typically put on your posts - I assume you mean Google...

Yow! It's the HOT NEW 'Collections' from Google! Oh wait ... it's a Google+ thing

RyokuMas
Trollface

As many have said on here before...

"You can put lipstick on a pig..."

Microsoft's cash-leaking Nokia phones rip off patents, face import ban

RyokuMas
Boffin

Re: RyokuMas

"Whereas your app is.....................a poorly made clone................. of Choplifter"

Yes, it was inspired by Choplifter. Call it a clone if you will. "Poorly made"... again, that's in the eye of the beholder, and like I said before, a sizable percentage of my reviewers enjoyed it. Since you're so fond of links, here's another one for you, explaining exactly what I was setting out to do with Blade Force Rescue and the other games of its ilk.

And once again, nice use of the selective reading: maybe I was asleep when it happened, but I don't recall there being a sudden craze for Choplifter-style games and a corresponding flood of them on the marketplace. But full marks for trying to quote me out of context.

I'd also like to know where you get these "cold hard facts" from about choice of platforms - I was of the opinion that these days, developers went for cross-platform tools and if a hobbyist like me can port between Android, iOS and Windows phone in a matter of a few hours, the idea that professional studios cannot and do not is crazy. The majority of games that I see played on mobile devices (and I commute on the tube every day) and recognise are available on all three platforms: Candy Crush, Subway Surfers, Free Flow, 2048, Minion Rush, Temple Run and more.

iOS and Android apps on Windows 10: How is this supposed to work?

RyokuMas
Stop

Call me back when you can build for iOS without requiring a Mac...

... probably the 17th of never....