Good Heavens....
... an RML380-Z and then a TRS-80?
That's where I began, so many years ago; memories are evoked of typing in hours of code copied from from C&VG magazine.
CP/M always was better than MS-DOS.
Posts by Bernard M. Orwell
1177 publicly visible posts • joined 12 May 2010
Star Trek: The original computer game
Judge hands copyright troll an epic smack-down
Movie review: Star Trek Into Darkness
Climate change forces women into prostitution - US politicians
Wednesday 1st May 2013 11:52 GMT 
Yeah, because....
Men are never forced into things by circumstances ever, are they? Men are all the same, clearly: Power-Mongering, self-centered bastards who are all ready to gut each other in a heartbeat. Unlike women, who appear to be divided into subsections: Vulnerable, Insecure, Disadvantaged, for instance.
Men are never those things, only women are, obviously.
What utter, sexist, contrived bulls**t of the first order. Clearly we should, as a society, protect the weaker members but to suggest that its only women who are weaker and that men never suffer any disadvantages is a gross generalisation and is surely patronising to women at the same time as being ignorant of the challenges that both genders may face.
....and all that from climate change? I see popularist bandwagons and nothing of worth or substance.
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO: NASA rovers scrawl giant willy on Mars
Reddit: So very sorry for naming innocent man as Boston bomber
Wednesday 24th April 2013 08:35 GMT
@Johnathan1
This tale about a mob firebombin a pediatricians house comes up an awful lot and a trawl round the internet reveals many different variants of the tales, with the details changing depending on the source. Despite Snopes, oddly, not having anything on this, my own research would suggest that it's something of an urban myth that has grown around the one and only recorded incident wherein a doctor had the word "pedo" spray painted on her garden wall, probably by some youths aged 12-17. There is no recorded incident of an angry mob (with or without pitchforks) or any fire-bombing.
Here's a link to the best investigation of the incident I could find and, as a bonus, it even carries a mention of El Reg!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4719364.stm
Wales slams Amazon over lack of Kindle support
Monday 15th April 2013 14:10 GMT
Welsh by the Grace of God
I was born in London, but moved to Wales shortly before beginning my adult career in IT. Where I work, in South Wales, I am surrounded by the very live and kicking Welsh language every day. It is used interchangeabley with English by nearly everyone, and I know of no one in this organisation who cannot speak English, though I know one or two who choose not to.
Over the many years I have been living and working here I have come to develop a deep and profound fondness for the the Welsh language, its people and its culture; indeed I refer to myself as Welsh rather than English (both coming a second place to being British, of course) and when challenged I often like to say "English by Birth, Welsh by the Grace of God" or "I got here as fast as I could, what more do you want?" - always this is a point of humour and never a derogatory thing.
The Welsh language is truly ancient, predating Latin and most other western languages by several centuries. It is the oldest known written language in the UK and possibly the oldest in Europe. It was violently suppressed during the "Dark Ages" by English Kings (such as Edward II, Longshanks) and that is amongst the reasons it is less widely spoken now than it might be; similarly with the tongue of "Kernow", under which language books apparently are published on Amazon/Kindle. I am told that the number of speakers of Kernow (the cornish tongue) now number in the dozens. Even Microsoft recognise the Welsh Language in windows and we have a conversion kit that translates (almost) all of Windows into Welsh as well as many applications and related features.
To allow the Welsh language to fade is to allow another slice of British history, culture and art to disappear and that, I believe, diminishes us all as a nation.
For that reason, even being a "saes", I have chosen to learn the Welsh language as best I can, and it's a delight to be able to converse in it in my day to day work.
Diolch yn fawr am ddarllen hon!
Bottomless, unsatisfied Xbox widow cuffed after boyf flees nookie
Monday 25th March 2013 09:46 GMT
Re: "fugly ball of meat"
@myBackDoor
No. I didn't meant the woman as property. You should read my post again. I meant if she had, for example, destroyed the Xbox. That would be criminal damage.
Mind you, given the way you are thinking, and if that is representational of women in general (which it isn't), I think keeping a club handy might be a good idea...
Tuesday 19th March 2013 09:28 GMT
Re: "fugly ball of meat"
@myBackDoor
No means no. End of. No argument, no debate. Thats the law and it counts just as much for men as women.
You don't get to shout at us either, or attack us with your fists or kitchen implements/knives because thats assault. You also don't get to destroy our property, no matter how "sad" you may think it is. You thinking something is sad is not admissable as a defence in a court of law you know.
If you choose to ignore these simple rules (the same ones that men have been bound to observe for quite some decades now), please don't be offended by the injuries inflicted on you in self-defence whilst protecting ourselves from domestic abuse, violence and assault.
Now, shh.
BAN SMUT, rage MEPs: Purpose of internet must be EXTERMINATED
Monday 11th March 2013 13:20 GMT
Negotiations..
Ok Grrls/Wimmin, I am prepared to negotiate. Here are my counter-demands:
* Burn all copies of "50 shades".
* Delete all copies of "Twilight". (it's not really porn, but it offends and degrades).
* Close Ann Summers and arrest the owners as "purveyours of malfeasance and pornography".
* Ban all male strippers.
* Ban all adverts that depict men as stupid or sex-objects.
* Stop talking about babies or asking for them. Which is the same physiological/psychological drive as that which drives men to "look at other women" (often in the guise of pr0n).
Moscow's speed cameras 'knackered' by MYSTERY malware
Ancient lost continent discovered lounging on Mauritian beach
Tuesday 26th February 2013 14:15 GMT
Time, its a curious thing...
"The boffins did not say whether the lost continent was that of Atlantis, Mu or Lemuria."
Well, even assuming the legends might have some basis in truth, it won't be one of them, because this chunk of lost land is 60 million years old, pre-cambrian....
....so, that'd be pre-human days then. By quite some margin.
BBC World Service in a jam as China blocks broadcasts
Tuesday 26th February 2013 09:21 GMT
Oh Auntie!
Oh my Beeb! You appear to be under the impression that China is an open society dedicated to the concepts of free speech, enlightened public debate and a champion of its people, founded on the solid principles of open and transparent democracy.
It isn't, I'm afraid.
Kinda like you really.
Quit the 2D internet, flee your cave, and GET LAID, barks rock star
Thursday 21st February 2013 13:59 GMT 
Er....
"record stores are selling discs full of soul that you haven’t felt yet. So why do we choose to hide in our caves and settle for replication?"
Replication? What, like recordings? Discs 'full of soul'? Epic Fail right there, Jack old chap! Oh, by the way, I kinda agree with you, inasmuch as I don't fulfill the "basement dwelling script kiddie" stereotype you are clearly basing your oh-so-valid-not-an-appeal-to-celebrity-at-all opinion upon, which is why I learned to play a small selection of instruments and joined a band to keep music live, where it should be....
....And put some recordings out there on the INTERNET for free, rather than being an RIAA whore like you.
As for there being no soul in the internet, why is it that MY chosen technology of choice (my computer, rather than my ACOUSTIC guitar) is somehow inferior to yours (an ELECTRIC guitar and AMPLIFIER)? Explain the distinction, if you would be so kind? And don't even think about going down the "solitary and anti-social" route for an argument, because, quite frankly, I'm willing to bet I have more contact with real people all over the world than you do in your enclosed, narrow-minded, music star lifestyle. Oh, and screaming fans that you need barriers and bodyguards to seperate you from do not count, and nor does your sister who is the only other musician you are willing to work with.
And no art in computing? Really? You've clearly never learned to code, or spent anytime in Skyrim (whose music is way better than your noise) or similar epic work, or even browsed YouTube for the vast range of unsung musical (and other) talent there is to be found there which people are now able to create and share without being tied to some blood-sucking corporation.
Don't lecture me, you narrow-minded luddite.
Ask Google this impossible question, get web filth as a reward
Men's rights activists: Symantec branded us a 'hate group'
FUD flies as Raytheon reveals social media analysis tool
Monday 11th February 2013 12:43 GMT
Re: Err...
No, you're quite right. The Hollerith Tabulation Machines were actually created a couple of years earlier for the purpose of recording all the Japanese Americans who were interned in concentration camps by the U.S. and some were only sold to the Naz....sorry, I mean the Polish Government of the day as a secondary market. Nothing suspect there at all.
Of course, the Hollerith machines had to be re-calibrated by IBM for use in the Third Rei....sorry, Poland, because they had variables attributing Japanese nationality, how long since the subject had last been to Japan, how long they'd been in the USA etc. and needed to hold different variables now, such as where the Jew resided, when the Jew was placed on a train, to which camp and how long did they survive etc. etc. It was just good customer service to make those changes to the machine and also not suspect at all.
Also not suspect is the fact that the CEO (of a mysterious holding company that was clearly, in no way, a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM) was given awards and medals by the Naz...sorry, the Polish Government of the day, for services rendered in the arenas of Economics and helping to ensure railway time tables were accurate and passenger-freight management was effecient.
Nope. Nothing suspect there at all.
[In IBMs defence, they have, in recent years, freely supplied as much information as they have to bodies investigating the War Years and have wholly condemned any participation they may have had in such events without reservation.]
Harry Potter's Filch conjures Doctor Who's dead first time-lord
Berners-Lee says snoop law could see spies blackmail soldiers
Tuesday 29th January 2013 16:05 GMT
Re: "The only way to win is not to play." -Joshua
"The real thing for the stupid politicians to remember is that THEY will be subject to these trackers, either while in office or after, and it's their data that will be used against them too."
Nah mate, they'll just put a clause in the regulations that means their personal data will be excluded from tracking for "reasons of national security" - obviously, MPs and other state officials are beyond suspicion and do not need to be tracked after all! After all, this is approach they were planning to take with the National Pupil Database (excluding the children of state officials)....
Hackers squeeze through DVR hole, break into CCTV cameras
Tuesday 29th January 2013 15:16 GMT
How about....
...my spy-happy friends, you save yourself the cost of upgrading your firmware or hiring staff that know what they are doing when it comes to security, and remove some of those obnoxious cameras that surveil us every day? After all, they don't work, and are now very obviously vulnerable to those that would....ahem....repurpose them.
Climate shocker: Carry on as we are until 2050, planet will be fine
Google pulls 'racist' Make Me Asian app
Tuesday 22nd January 2013 10:34 GMT 
Is this the right room for an argument?
Jebus Wept!
I read the first quarter page of comments in wide-eyed (ahem) disbelief; I thought I'd wandered into the Daily Fail Readers Comments section for more than a few minutes. The bigoted vitriol was near enough to drown in.
Reg, can we have a "Knee Jerk Response" icon please?
(FTR: I'm a liberal, Neo-Socialist, and I believe that the app was not racist but was incredibly tasteless. I believe, further, that no one has the right to censor others based on personal offence and that racism will only be defeated when we stop drawing distinctions between races with articles like this.)
Yes, hundreds upon hundreds of websites CAN all be wrong
Facebook fixes 'Peeping Tom' webcam bug - AFTER 5 MONTHS
Thursday 3rd January 2013 08:31 GMT
Re: Oh the fcuking Zuckerberg irony...
ehrmargerd! There is data about me on facebook.....or the internet....or my computer.... I'd best stop using them! People might KNOW things about me! I'd best stop talking to them on my phone, or in email, or in person or....or...on forums!
The monastery awaits.
Anonymous hacks Westboro Baptists over Sandy Hook protests
Wednesday 19th December 2012 11:08 GMT
Actions against WBC
I'm suprised that no one has lobbied for WBC's status as a charitable organisation/religion hasn't been revoked yet. No shortage of history of that in the USA and there is little doubt that it could be proved that they aren't christians, let alone baptists. I've known a lot of baptists/methodists and whilst they are largely gullible religious types they don't generally have a nasty bone in their bodies and spend a lot of time spreading their "message of reconciliation, peace and love". I don't think WBC fits that image at all.
But, seeing as they haven't been rejected by society and the church yet, I have some advice for the Anons from Machievelli..
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared."
The 30-year-old prank that became the first computer virus
Monday 17th December 2012 09:15 GMT
Re: Geeks have macs too
Guess you *nix boys haven't realised that just about every single tool for *nix has been recreated on windows these days? I see you cite grep as a favourite... well.... Here we go...
http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/grep.htm
That'll be Grep for windows by GNU then, right there. Few minutes of google searching finds just about every *nix tool you like for Windows, and they will all happily run under PowerShell giving me a very nice, integrated dev. environment.
Having trouble finding AD for *nix however, unless I'm prepared to hack it around with Samba in a very specific Ubuntu build.
Yeah, I'll stick with windows I think. Ta.
Bradley Manning to speak in public for first time in two years
Monday 3rd December 2012 12:13 GMT
Re: Waterboarding? Suicide missions?
Franchises of what? Islam?
Thats about the only thing that links any of these so-called terrorist organisations, and even that could be considered a dubious and tenuous link. The term "Al Qaeda" (spelling may vary from one news source to another: clue) is a codename created by the CIA during the 1970's (When they were training the Taleban to fight the Commies) that refers to the database they kept of "international terrorist suspects". The IRA, for instance, were listed on the same Database (making them "Al Qaeda" in modern US intelligence parlance). Bin Laden never referred to himself or his organisation as "Al Qaeda", but as "The Muslim Brotherhood". Al Qaeda translates as (depending on dialect chosen) either "The Gentlemen" or "The Base" (Often used to mean Database).
There appears to be no "hierarchy" of terrorists, (for example, there is no provable link between 9/11 and the 7/7 attacks) but the Taleban is very influential in such circles as are various Saudi houses; the Bin Laden family for example. But they're allies and own quite a lot of US businesses, so we'd best not say that too loudly eh?
Makes the oft-repeated phrase "....group linked to Al Qaeda" kinda nonsensical really.
Pirate cops bust LITTLE GIRL, take her Winnie-the-Pooh laptop
Monday 26th November 2012 12:49 GMT
Re: For copyright infringement? WTF is going on?
OMG! You've just STOLEN those LYRICS! You THIEF! You have deprived EVERYONE of EVER hearing them again, and you've stolen thousands and thousands of pounds from Green Day (Sorry, their production company) and made them very sad indeed! You KNOCK-OFF NIGEL THIEVEING SCUMBAG!
Expect a stiff letter demanding recompense from the Copyright Inquisition forthwith, and if you don't pay up without question immediately then you can expect armed police kicking your door down in the small hours of the morning to ruin your life and scare your children into corporate obedience!
NASA admits hiding 'really good' news from Martian soil
Star Wars VII: The Disney Movie signs Toy Story III script genius
BOFH: Can't you just ... NO, I JUST CAN'T
Sock-wielding movie pirates go to prison
Monday 5th November 2012 10:16 GMT
Re: Couple of $$$?
Skyfall....UK...UCI Cinema. Granted they were gallery seats, but it was a "discount" night and for two of us it cost £36.
If cinemas priced themselves more sensibly, we might see less piracy. I don't expect to pay the cost of a new release blu-ray or a good AAA game title to see a film *once*.
Mind you, loved the return of the DB5. *drool*
First eyes EVER SEEN (by definition) appeared 700 million years ago
Boris 'games rot brains' Johnson hosts game art expo
Anonymous cell: Shove off, credit-hoggers, WE took down HSBC
Monday 22nd October 2012 11:57 GMT
Also, watch "Money as Debt" before deciding that not taking action against those who would enslave us with virtual debt is a sensible path, equally.
I echo the AC above, not because I agree with his view, but because I agree with his stance that its important to be properly informed before deciding whether action or inaction is required.
Home Sec to decide Gary McKinnon's fate by 16 October
Councils launch eight spying ops on Brits A DAY using RIPA
Wednesday 29th August 2012 09:37 GMT
Re: Looks ok to me
"...I'm wondering how else a Council would deal with some of these problems if they couldn't conduct an investigation..."
It's an old-fashioned thing called "effective policing" which requires a "police force" with proper funding, staffing and training in local by-laws.
We used to have such a thing, you know, back in the old days before the terr'ists turned up everywhere....
'United States must renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks'
Wednesday 29th August 2012 08:55 GMT
@Local Group
"If so the US would be in the International Court of Fundamentally Flawed Laws at the Hague faster than you could say 'extraordinary rendition'."
Yeah, because the highly illegal practice of Extraordinary Rendition sent loads of people to answer for breaches of international law in the Hague, didn't it?
Oh....Wait....
Friday 24th August 2012 12:55 GMT
Re: I've got to say
El Reg also appears to be determined to misquote Lady Rimmington, trying to imply that she condemned the actions of Wikileaks as unimportant because the data they obtained was not significant. This is NOT the main thrust of what she was saying. Lady Rimmington has long been a campaigner and advocate of open and free information and your portrayal of her is entirely unfair. If you read the entire transcript of her statement you will see that, whilst critical of the value of the information she also questions whether it was appropriate for such things to be held as "secret" in the first place and goes on to discuss her belief that, wherever possible, information should be held in the public domain and not, as now, defaulted to "classified" simply at ministerial whim. Indeed, you even make report her REAL point in an earlier arcticle which you published a few days ago:
And I quote...
"Speaking in Australia, where she today delivered an address to the International Council on Archives conference , Rimington told The Reg that one of the issues public sector archivists need to deal with is what they do given at a time when much communication takes place casually. Prime Ministerial TXT messages, for example, may be key to reconstructing events [b]for which the public rightly wants them to be held to account and therefore belong in public archives. [/b]"
Stop selectively misquoting and editing statements, El. Reg! We expect better!
That said, Assange is still a complete muppet and would best serve Wikileaks by ending his association with it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
