* Posts by VinceH

3483 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Nov 2009

Undead nights: Zombie FPS Dying Light shines bright

VinceH

Re: Dead Island...

I've only just bought Dead Island - it'll be a long time before I finally start playing it and discover for myself just how disappointing it is.

As for this one - at the very end of the article it mentions PC, PS4 and XBone, so unless I buy a PC specifically for playing games, it looks like I won't be buying it at all. Oh well. :/

'Revenge porn' bully told not to post people's nude pics online. That's it. That's his punishment

VinceH

Re: Germany

"So German newspapers contain almost no pictures of people then?"

I would imagine those pictures aren't subject to the restriction because no specific person in the crowd is the subject of the photo.

I've no idea which part of UK legislation covers it without bothering to do any research, but I believe it's similar here - if you take a photo of a specific person or persons and intend to publish or distribute it, you need their express permission; they have to sign a model release form*. Whereas a more generic photograph that just happens to include people is fine.

* So sue your Facebook friends now! Yay!

Ugly, incomplete, buggy: Windows 10 faces a sprint to the finish

VinceH

"There are also some focus problems. While typing in Word, I hit the Connect button in the Notification Center in order to connect a Bluetooth speaker. The Connect dialogue box opened underneath Word, so I thought it was not working."

I had this problem often enough for it to be a nuisance (mostly with UAC) on Windows 7; I'd invoke something or other, and nothing would seem to happen... until I discovered the UAC prompt had appeared underneath the current window. I have seen it a couple of times since I've been using Windows 8 - but not as much as I did on Windows 7. So I don't think this is a new problem with Windows 10, just an existing problem still an issue.

SamSUNK! Korean giant's electronics biz takes punch to the smartphone profits

VinceH

Re: Didn't learn from HTC

"The S3 was the last non Note device that was actually different, great little phone."

Prezactly.

I think it's fair to say (thanks to the size) that it's the first phone I've ever had where I can truly and honestly say it does everything I want. That has never been the case with any previous phone I've had.

(There may have been other phones available for which I could have said that if I'd had them - but I didn't.)

VinceH

Re: Didn't learn from HTC

"Nowadays you can replace your slab with a slab. No thanks, I'll keep my slab."

Exactly this.

My S3 is now well out of my original two year subsidy contract, so I'm well past the point where I could commit myself to another two years of paying for a new phone - but it does everything I need, and it's a comfortable size. So why bother? I'll stick with this phone until it breaks, then I'll look at the options.

'YOUTUBE is EVIL': Somebody had a tape running, Google...

VinceH

@Badvok

Yes, good point - upon re-reading it, Content ID will indeed still work to track uploads of her music; she's still limited to take downs, though, and not being able to benefit from those uploads. It's still shitty behaviour from Google.

VinceH

"Surely the uploader is violating her copyright? not Google."

Yes, but Google currently provides the Content ID system which allows such uploads to be identified (although not perfectly) and the artist can then either earn a little money from it, or block it.

What the guy in Zoe's transcript said is that if she doesn't agree to the new terms so her stuff's available on Music Key, she can't just carry on with the current system. Her own uploads will be blocked, and content ID will no longer be available - she will no longer receive any earnings from existing uploads by others that are recognised as containing her music, and she won't be able to use it to identify such uploads.

So although it's the uploader who is technically violating her copyright, Google are making it considerably harder for her to identify such violations - and when she does, the only option will be a DMCA take down, rather than allow the upload to earn her money.

Agreeing to the Music Key terms obviously solves that problem - but there are pitfalls with doing that, as explained in the David Lowery post Andrew linked, such as not being able to release anything online anywhere else initially, which they may want to do for exclusive promotions etc.

Powering the Internet of Stuff – by sucking electricity from TREES

VinceH

Re: Sleeping Policeman?

"I live in Bristol where the local council has been working tirelessly to turn traffic management into a parking issue. They believe that by making cars go really slow they can get to the point traffic is practically classed as parked and therefore perfectly managed can be fined for being parked illegally."

FTFY!

VinceH

Re: Energy from a nail in a tree

Please don't branch out from your current day jobs into comedy.

Your gran and her cronies are 'embracing online banking' – study

VinceH

"I do still use cheques, just not very often!"

Ditto - I write a single cheque out each year (around about now, ion fact - I did this year's last week).

The annoying thing is, it's on a HSBC business account, and my cheque books contain a hundred cheques each. I have quite a few because, for the last couple of years at least, HSBC have sent me through two new cheque books in response to the cheque being cleared - even though the cheques haven't been from the tail end of the book which used to trigger this.

So I'm now waiting to see if I get another two in the post this year.

How's this for customer service: Comcast calls bloke an A**HOLE – and even puts it in print

VinceH

Comcast aren't the only company to change a customer's name - though in Virgin Media's case it's just down to pure incompetence rather than malice.

Some years ago, they seemingly dropped my first name from my bill, replacing it with just the letter. Which, obviously, is no big deal.

They subsequently decided to expand the letter back into a name again - except they got it wrong, and I became Vernon on my next bill.

I contacted them, and they immediately changed it back to Vince.

A couple of years later, I decided it was about time I checked my records at the credit agencies again. I forget which one of the big three* it was, but one of them had Vernon down as an alias for me - that information having been provided/confirmed by Virgin Media.

* Another of the big three couldn't cope with my name anyway - their online form just wouldn't accept that my middle name is just an initial.

VinceH

"Yes torn apart. In my experience and understanding (IANAL) Judges in the "

I don't think Julian was saying the courts wouldn't tear apart the insurance company in question. I suspect he was being critical of the use of 'literally'.

Excitement in boffinry circles as GIGANTIC ALIEN RING BLOTS OUT SUN

VinceH

Re: if our world was ground up small and put into orbit

I was wondering if it's the other way around - that the Magratheans collected up all that matter and used it for the construction of Earth. Having checked, though, it seems J1407 is only 420 light years away - I'm fairly certain Earth is a bit older than 420 years.

Although I suppose the Magratheans could have taken that material in the last 420 years, then moved it through time to make this planet further in the past.

Snoopers' Charter amendments withdrawn – FOR NOW ...

VinceH

Re: CCTV rant

"Why I sleep at night is that these devices are not all hooked up, the Coop and the Pubs are independent"

Yet. In time, more and more CCTV systems that can be bought will be Internet of Idiotic Things devices, that send their feed to some central hub before relaying it back to the local network. Then it'll soon be that we're being 'protected' by the police, GCHQ, etc - including small government or local council departments who really don't need it - having unfettered access to it as and when they please.

Facebook, Instagram, Tinder TITSUP*: HOW did anyone even find out?

VinceH

"There's no word on why Tinder is down, though."

Do I remember reading in El Reg's round up of dating apps recently that to use Tinder you need a Facebook account, because it logs in to try to find you friends of friends?* If so, that's the answer.

If not, I'm getting too old to be doing all this remembering stuff malarky.

* You may also therefore need friends.

P0wning for the fjords: Malware turns drones into DEAD PARROT

VinceH

Re: New sport

Pokedrone - literally.

Some Androids can be HOSED by WiFi Direct vuln

VinceH

Re: A charming mental image.

"Android is pretty good IMHO, however, you are spot on with point 2."

Agreed, 100%.

"As an aside, this bug would not be possible on an iDevice - no WiFi Direct."

Don't worry - Apple will probably invent it for the next iteration of iPhone, (call it iBeam, perhaps?) though it probably won't be compatible with anything they don't control.

Wikileaks: We DO NOT approve of OUR secret stuff being LEAKED

VinceH

"Interesting that they specifically state "freedom from illegal searches" and also note that a warrant was given to Google for the info."

Not only that, but where they call the searches illegal they say ""Had Ms. Harrison, Mr. Hrafnsson, or Mr. Farrell been aware of such proceedings they could have intervened and protected their interests" - I'm not certain, but I suspect when other types of warrant are issued, the subject probably doesn't usually get notification and a chance to hide evidence [if there is any] before the warrant is actioned. The first notification is probably the knock on the door and the loud voice saying "Police! Open up!" Why should a warrant for searching data be different?

There's much I don't like about official attitudes towards electronic bits and bytes, as opposed to physical bits and pieces, but in this case, as you say:

"Sounds like sour grapes on WikiLeaks part."

BOT AN ABOMINATION: Mechanical DRONE VAMPIRE spreads wings

VinceH

Re: Meh...

"AND a frikkin' LASER!"

But it's not a frikkin' shark!

'One day, YOU won't be able to SENSE the INTERNET,' vows Schmidt

VinceH

Re: "with your permission and all of that"

" Even today, try blocking Google Analytics at the router-level and you will find that around a third of websites simply cease to load."

So don't block it at the router level - just don't allow scripts from google-analytics.com to run.

(And only allow browser cookies to exist on your system for the session - possibly with a few convenient exceptions, as I do. Nothing from Google gets an exception on the cookie rule.)

VinceH

Re: As soon as an asteroid hits Googleplex, that's ok.

I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

VinceH

"so many devices, sensors, things that you're wearing, things that you're interacting with"

I carry a very small number of things that can connect to the internet - my phone, maybe a tablet or a Kindle, and depending what I'm doing I may have a laptop with me. And all of these things currently connect at my whim, and for my requirements.

If I can't control that, I don't want - I'll stick with older devices on which I can. And I certainly have no intention of wearing anything that would connect.

So in this crazy intrusive future you're talking about, Schmidt, there will (mostly) be a blind spot. Perhaps these other sensors will know there's someone there, but they might not know who - unless our increasingly intrusive governments finally get enough biometric data on us all that sensors can identify us regardless of anything we may or may not be carrying or wearing.

Either way, the systems connected to these sensors certainly won't know what I'm going to do when I enter the room, because that information will be IN MY HEAD, which is 100% off limits.

Sly peers attempt to thrust hated Snoopers' Charter into counter-terror and security bill

VinceH

Re: Nothing to do with terrorism

"What was this week's excuse for needing it, again?"

Someone breathed.

Atlas unplugged! DARPA's unTerminator robot cuts the power cable

VinceH
Terminator

New pump is quieter...

...taking the robot one step closer to having a full stealth mode.

Is it humanly possible to watch Gigli and Battlefield Earth back-to-back?

VinceH

Re: @ VinceH

Well, I've downvoted you for downvoting me for having an opinion. :p

VinceH

"(P.S to the commentator who voted for waterworld, that is suprisingly watchable, now the Postman is another story ....)"

They're both alright, in my book. I've quite a softspot a bit of post apocalyptic nonsense.

However, if you read the book, the film suddenly becomes a whole lot worse. The Postman is an excellent book.

VinceH

Re: "So bad it's good"

"I recall watching Stealth and thinking it was a turd, but I couldn't point to any one thing in particular that made it so wretched."

I paid to see that pile of turd at the cinema.

IIRC, it seemed to me to have two distinct halves - like two pilot episodes of a TV series joined together to make it a feature length pilot. Two failed pilot episodes, that is, where the makers decided, nah, this will never run as a TV series - let's throw it at the cinemas and see if people are mug enough to pay to see it.

VinceH

Re: Frikkin' shark movies on SyFy

Sharknado was funny.

I particularly liked how there was a bus with the depth of the water not yet covering the wheels, it then cut to underwater shots of the shark the people in the bus were contending with - in deep water.

I didn't see any frikin' lasers, though, so I don't think the film was a particularly accurate depiction. Are there lasers in the second one?

SPACE the FINAL FRONTIER: These are the images of COMET PROBE ROSETTA

VinceH

"A last look at 67P. Awesome, isn't it?"

Yes, yes it is.

Beam me up, Scotty, And VAPORIZE me in the process

VinceH

"If the person who has the original also has the plans for the original, why do they need to scan it destructively in order to send the instructions to the printer?"

Exactly my thoughts. The suggested approach seems utterly wasteful - if the item being purchased is something that can be 3D printed at home, sending the design itself to the printer is a hell of a lot more sensible.

There's an issue of protection - if you're technically selling the product and not the design, so the customer should only get one, then a mechanism needs to be in place to prevent multiple uses of the design; ideally it needs to go directly to the printer, mustn't pass go, and mustn't collect £300. That'll be a problem - but that'll also be a problem with the destructive, wasteful approach.

Hola HoloLens: Reg man gets face time with Microsoft's holographic headset

VinceH

Ikea instructions? Let's try to keep things within the realms of possibility here, shall we?

Drinking to forget? OK. But first, eat a curry... QUICK!

VinceH
Unhappy

Re: Yes, but

"It's delicious."

I kind of agree with you apart from one thing: Your spelling of the word "horrible" seems to be a bit wrong. But other than that, I'm with you 100%.

Remote code execution vulns hit Atlassian kit

VinceH
Coat

"Software development software house Atlassian..."

That opening leaves me unclear about what they do. I'm guessing they are perhaps somehow involved in developing software - in which case you could have clarified it thusly: "Software development software house Atlassian, a software company, ..."

EU digi bods brace selves for 'charm' of Microsoft, Uber et al

VinceH

I see a shark in that picture, but where's the frikin' laser?

Latest menace to internet economy: Gators EATING all the PUSSIES

VinceH

The question is whether or not there is any IP infringement in this case. Was the alligator from LA copying this snake from Bristol?

VinceH

"better yet, don't post drunk ;-}"

The joke alert icon isn't necessary. Having done just that on some forums and usenet, I can confirm in all seriousness that it is a bad ideatm.

Kiss your Glass goodbye: Google mothballs techno-specs (for now)

VinceH

Re: misleading title?

Quite. The article clearly states it's the "explorer" project that's being wound down, that Glass will be moved from Google X to its own division, and that a new version will be appearing in 2015.

These are hardly indications of Google kissing Glass goodbye and binning it, as per the headline.

I was quite disappointed when I read the article to discover the title was so misleading.

Grand Theft Auto 1997: 'Sick, deluded and beneath contempt'

VinceH

Re: +1 for the comment

"There was one mission I never got past, not because it was difficult, but because it was so much fun. IIRC you had to "borrow" a taxi, pick up a guy then scare him silly with your driving till he confessed to something or squealed on someone, don't recall. It was the sound of his protesting coupled with driving like a loon that was such a laff. Played it soooo many times :)"

I never played any version before GTA3 - but that was sort of one of the fun things about the free roaming in that version: When you car-jacked someone, if there was a passenger they sometimes didn't get out fast enough, so you could then drive like an utter maniac and hear them screaming the whole time.

That seems to have been dropped in later versions. I'm not sure if it was still there in Vice City, and although I have San Andreas I haven't played it - but in GTAV it doesn't seem to be possible. I've been deliberately car-jacking people with passengers, and so far *every* passenger has been able to get out before I can drive off. :(

VinceH

Re: Memories

"And a map, with that game.

Though, sadly, in-game tech has increased with outside-world tech and such games have sat-nav nowadays."

That is indeed so - but you still get a map with the physical media. The one in my GTAV box for the PS3 is slightly larger than A2, and shows Los Santos on one side, and the wider area of Los Santos and Blaine County on the other.

Professor's BEAGLE lost for 10 years FOUND ON MARS

VinceH

Dustbin lid-sized

I think the key point is that it's dustbin lid-sized.

We all thought the Clangers lived on a small moon - but, no, it turns out they're on Mars, and they appropriated Beagle 2 to use to cover one of their entrances.

Preserve the concinnity of English, caterwauls American university

VinceH

New additions justify new editions - so they can continue to sell new dictionaries to replace the old ones people bought previously.

So, yes, it's to justify their existence.

Windows 7 MARKED for DEATH by Microsoft as of NOW

VinceH

Re: 711

I think my indicators/wiper controls have switched sides with almost every change of vehicle - which was quite frequent when I used to drive off-road for fun. (Sometimes during that period I had two cars on the go - one for general day to day driving, and a 4x4 for the mud plugging, and the indicator/wiper controls tended to be on the opposite side in each!)

I haven't done that in donkey's years, and I've now had the same car on the road for about four years - but every once in while, I do still try to indicate with my wipers.

Computers know you better than your friends

VinceH

Re: Sniff

"They use Facebook likes? I don't understand; Facebook likes what?"

Facebook likes to know everything it can about everyone.

Apple Watch support spotted hiding out in iOS 8.2 beta

VinceH
Joke

Re: Just goes to show (or will do in September)

Holy crap - privacy these days really is shot to buggery!

I know all of those things about you as well!

Oh, wait, sorry - I got confused there. I know the same things about me!

Hawking and friends: Artificial Intelligence 'must do what we want it to do'

VinceH
Terminator

The problem with AI is that when we want it to stop, it won't. Just like the film of the same name.

(And the T800, from Sarah Connor's point of view. As Reece explained, "it absolutely will not stop...")

It's 4K-ing big right now, but it's NOT going to save TV

VinceH

Re: Meh. Build it and they will eventually come.

"The one thing I don't want in a smurt tv"

What's that? A smart TV that only shows smut? :p

"is the camera that watches you while you watch the TV."

Quite - so a bit of tape will be quite handy here.

OTOH, I'm not convinced I want a smart tv at all. I already have computers to do the extra things that a smart TV does. (My Blu-Ray drive does some smart TV type things - except it can't because it isn't connected to the internet and I have no intention of changing that.)

Boybanders ONE DIRECTION launch DoS attack on open-source bods

VinceH
Mushroom

Re: AT LAST!

I say we just take off and nuke the site from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

BAN email footers – they WASTE my INK, wails Ctrl+P MP

VinceH

Re: netiquette

"I'm still stubbornly using 4 line sig. You can fit sufficient contact information in 4 lines (of no more than 80 characters each of course)"

I have a variety of sigs, depending which hat I'm wearing - but most of them are one or two lines. I think the largest is three *short* lines. (And, of course, they are all plain text!)

If he wants to ban something, please ban the stupid reply on top that Outlook taught people to use which makes following a thread painful.

That, too.

I had a colleague ask me a week or so back where my reply was - because he couldn't see it at the top of the message. I pointed out it was underneath his (very short) original, and he then asked me why I didn't reply properly, at the top, like other people. :/

BILL GATES DRINKS 'boiled and treated' POO. Ah, 'delicious'

VinceH

Re: nothing new here

"Only one of the class took up his offer to do the same. Ironically, that person went on to get a Phd in Chemistry."

Why is that ironic?

The Wi-Fi Alliance wants to get you off Wi-Fi

VinceH

Tin foil hat time:

So, if my lightbulb can see next door's fridge, which can see the next door again's games console, which is connected to the internet, then my lightbulb can send data back to home base even if I don't connect it to the internet itself.

That's not what the article is talking about, per se (and it does mention 'permisions' - which we all know are never, ever ignored, bypassed, changed, or anything, oh no) but it strikes me that the scope for such nefariousness is there with this idea.

Note: Unless I have no choice, I will never own an IoT lightbulb. It's just a silly example.