* Posts by Buzzword

1030 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Jun 2010

GCHQ wants to enlarge 'experienced' specialists' packages

Buzzword

Microsoft's UK research centre is in Cambridge, a city notorious for its high housing costs. Google's UK headquarters is in London, and its largest engineering office in Europe is in Zurich - both very expensive cities. Across the pond, tech companies consistently choose to base themselves in Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle, or NYC; not in Des Moines, Iowa.

Skilled staff want to live in interesting places. Rents would be cheaper in Manchester, but GCHQ would struggle to recruit there - look at the fuss the BBC's employees are making about relocating to Salford.

Virtual sanity: How to get a grip on your home PCs

Buzzword

Laptop-on-the-train scenario?

I have a slightly different scenario on which I would appreciate some advice. Like Trevor, I loathe re-installing all my apps and I do need regular backups of my data. However I do a lot of work away from home, either on a train (where RDP is obviously unsuitable) or at a client site (where unfettered internet access is rare). My current setup is a laptop with Windows and apps installed on the bare metal. When I'm at home I use Macrium Reflect to take an image of the laptop's hard drive, which can be turned into a VM if necessary. Problems with this scenario arise if I want access to the computer when I don't have the laptop with me (but do have a tablet or friend or colleague's PC handy). What would be a good solution here?

IBM: 'Your PC will read your mind by 2016'

Buzzword

In 2006 they predicted smart phones would become a large part of everyone's life (iPhone released 2007), and that 3D technologies would make a comeback in movies and gaming (Avatar released a couple of years ago; this year we saw the PlayStation 3D TV). In 2007 they predicted the use of smart phones to handle financial transactions.

They also predicted a 3D internet, doctors with super senses, buildings that fix themselves, and real time speech translation... so yeah. Not a terrible track record overall.

Netflix snubs 'Tech City' for Luxembourg

Buzzword

15% VAT

That'd be their low VAT rate then. I'm sure Luxembourg has some fine coders, but to misquote Mrs Merton: "What first attracted your business to the low-tax country of Luxembourg?"

UK lays carbon plan before Earth Goddess

Buzzword
FAIL

And on the same day, we learn that a British further education college is outsourcing its energy-consuming data centre to Iceland, partly because electricity in Iceland costs half as much as in the UK and isn't going to rise further.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/12/02/iceland_data_centre/

Apple Thunderbolt Display 27in monitor

Buzzword

Glossy

Readers should be made aware that this display has a glossy screen, not matte. It's a matter of personal preference, but if you intend to use the screen in an environment with awkward lighting then a glossy screen may not be suitable for you.

Osborne to SAVE ECONOMY with help from Media 2.0 websluts

Buzzword
FAIL

House prices

Our national obsession with property is supposed to save us? I thought that was what got us into this mess in the first place?

Smith's tablet turns web into jumbo reading club

Buzzword

There'd have to be some kind of mechanism to choose whose notes you're looking at. I wouldn't want the whole world's comments - that'd be worse than reading the comments on here ;-)

Buzzword

I can see the value in reading other people's hand-scribbled margin notes. In non-fiction books, e.g. history or economics, you might want to read the notes of another expert reader. The problem would be how to pay for this - the expert reader doesn't get anything (other than the prestige), and the user base would be small. On a technical front, does E-ink have sufficient resolution for hand-written notes?

First bite as Apple fishes for iPad games subscriptions

Buzzword

Games only? Or business apps too?

There must be a market for selling subscriptions to business apps for iOS too. Salesforce.com and friends. Maybe they don't want to fork over 30% for their premium services.

GiffGaff blames O2 gaffe for mobile outage

Buzzword

That's the trouble with being on a small network. If Vodafone fails one morning, the whole country knows about it by lunchtime and clients understand why they can't get through to you. If GiffGaff fails, nobody has heard about it, and you get angry voicemails demanding that you answer immediately.

US broadcasters team up to make Facebook for TV

Buzzword

Time zones are not a problem

"how does a group of friends get to watch the same programming at the same time [...] In different parts of the US different shows are on at different times"

90% of my closest friends live within 50 miles of me. I suspect that's true for most people. So I don't think the time zones will be a problem.

A far greater concern is that many of my friends already watch TV on catch-up services, rather than watching it live.

Groupon offer burns cupcake baker’s profits

Buzzword

Dodgy link?

I'm a bit surprised at El Reg linking to a site like watchcartoononline.com. They're illegal, innit?

YouTube-linked microwave shows vids as it nukes

Buzzword

One obvious flaw

Usually I put things in the microwave for a round number of seconds, e.g. 6 minutes. Will I just keep getting the same six-minute video each time? Also often I'll just press 6 minutes but then stop it after 5, thereby depriving me of the ending.

Facebook vows 'consequences' for extreme porn scammers

Buzzword

Facebook design flaw

There shouldn't be such a thing as "content which is visible to others but not to the user whose account was used to spread it". If they could see what they'd done, they would delete it immediately and it wouldn't spread. So this is essentially a security hole.

Kent county council stages developer compo

Buzzword

FixMyStreet also has Android and iOS apps. Where do I claim my £1,000 ?

Facebook ad helps Scot cops seize fake goods, drugs

Buzzword

"lavish lifestyles from the proceeds of crime"

Why not just look for people living lavish lifestyles with no obvious means of support?

The police could cross-reference HMRC's tax data against the DVLA's car ownership records. Look for males, aged under 35, with low/no income but who drive a "bling" car - Range Rovers, M-Sport BMWs, etc. They won't all be drug-dealers, but you'd certainly find a higher proportion than in the population at large.

The new touchy-feely Doctor Who trend: Worrying

Buzzword

Same with Star Trek

Compare tough man Captain Kirk with soppy Jonathan Archer. Or consider Jean-Luc Picard & crew who spent too much time chatting about touchy-feely issues to counsellor Deanna Troi. Kirk would never have stood for it.

Where are all the decent handheld scribbling tools?

Buzzword

Kindle with a better keyboard

I like this plan. Oddly enough I think the old Kindle is a step in the right direction. The E Ink screen gives it a long battery life. The "Whispernet" 3G wireless sync means you could type up a document on the train, get to work, and have it automatically appear on your desktop, no fiddling around with memory cards or USB cables. All we need is a decent keyboard, and of course good software. There's no Angry Birds to distract you.

However I disagree with the laptop lid issue. When the keyboard is flat on a table, you need the screen to be tilted towards you. Otherwise you end up hunched forward like an old lady. Short of having a fully detachable keyboard and screen (think iPad + Bluetooth keyboard), the best way to implement this is with a hinge.

Why your tech CV sucks

Buzzword

Best stuff on the first page, but more is fine

Focus your effort on the first page, but unless you're a fresh graduate you'll need more than one page just to provide a full list of what you've done. Remember, if there are any gaps in your employment which aren't explained, recruiters will just assume you've been in prison. Even if you were working for a crappy company which subsequently went bust and you're too ashamed to name them.

Data-matching won't help much with electoral registration

Buzzword

"In Southwark, 25% of DWP records could not be matched to properties in the borough."

Could it be massive benefit fraud? Seems plausible in Southwark....

Common brain parasite 'can affect host's actions'

Buzzword

Certainly not after reading this!

Buzzword
WTF?

Test and treatment?

If one in five of us carries it, I'd like to get tested. Where and how? Is there an effective treatment for it?

The Great Smartphone OS Shoot-out

Buzzword

Opera on iOS has Reflow

Download Opera Mini for iOS, go to Settings, Text Wrapping, On, and voilà your text will reflow nicely. I only use it occasionally for those sites which need it, but it makes reading them a pleasure.

Voda to plug not-spots with mini-masts in boozers

Buzzword

This seems a bit silly. Mobile phones are most useful when you're away from home, not when you're just down the road in the pub. The village of East Garston is close to the M4, which would be a far more useful place to have coverage. For a salesman or technician driving on the motorway to visit a client, the value of a phone call is quite high. Conversely there is very little value in a nagging wife being able to phone her husband at the pub to tell him to come home.

Public transport 'is bad for commuters' health'

Buzzword

Sweden != UK

The research was undertaken in Sweden. Sweden is a vast country with a much smaller population; even the densely populated areas are much less dense than England. In Liverpool, a 60 minute drive just takes you to Manchester or Preston, or one of the many in-fill towns and suburbs. In London, a 60 minute drive in rush hour takes you one quarter turn around the M25 (if you're lucky). In Sweden, a 60 minute drive takes you far out into the countryside.

But as the article points out, the reason is probably sample bias. Long-distance drivers are more likely to be high earners, and high earners live longer and healthier lives. Simples.

Boss leaves robot in charge of office

Buzzword

I can see the value in this. If you're working from home, being able to pick up the telephone or Skype isn't quite enough. Sometimes you want to see who is there (presence information), sometimes you want to be able to overhear group conversations; and in both those scenarios the other people in the office want to know you're listening/watching. For a boss, it's a way to check that your staff aren't playing Solitaire or making spreadsheets for the fantasy football league when they should be working.

Urban legend nips iiNet 'subliminal' campaign

Buzzword

MPEG compression

On a technical note, surely there aren't enough I-frames (key frames) in the compressed stream to do this? You'd need a two key frames practically next to each other - one for the transition to the subliminal message, and one for the transition back to the main ad. The transitions would have left artefacts in subsequent frames, thus making it stand out more.

I'm assuming most people in Australia receive their TV signal in digital form. If they're still on analogue then this doesn't apply.

@Wombling_Free - Yeah, I hear it's so bad that nobody ever comes back.

Hack reveals Android tablet within Sony e-reader

Buzzword

For the original iPhone it made some sense - there was no way to install your own apps. On many phones, including Android and iPhone, jailbreaking allows you to bypass the carrier lock and insert a rival SIM card. Hacking also allows you to upgrade to newer versions of Android if your phone manufacturer hasn't provided an official upgrade.

But you're right, I really can't see the point in hacking one of these things.

Reg hacks confront really wide Oz load terror

Buzzword

Those super-low aerodynamic solar cars could quite easily squeeze through underneath those lorries!

The Guardian iPad Edition

Buzzword

Comparison with Kindle edition?

The Guardian Kindle edition also costs £9.99 a month. Is it essentially the same as the iPad edition? Compared with the printed newspaper, on Kindle it has fewer photos and graphics, and last time I checked the crossword was missing.

UK has enough sheep shearers, needs more coders

Buzzword
Devil

Environmental "scientists"

They aren't scientists. They're poor biologists and dubious geologists with no numeracy skills. Never hiring one of those again.

(Ok I'm sure some of them are brilliant, top of their field, etc. But the environmental science courses taught at our major universities just seem to be full of biology rejects with a hard time committing to one subject.)

Dell signals Windows 8 fondleslab range

Buzzword

Yes

I'm fairly certain it's the enterprise issue. There are three issues. Firstly, corporate IT departments simply aren't comfortable with iPads - they don't know how to develop for them, how to lock them down, or even how to buy them. Apple don't exactly go out of their way to befriend the channel or the enterprise market, and killing Xserve only added to that fear. Dell tablets running Windows are a familiar world to sysadmins.

The second problem is existing enterprise apps. Most large companies have built up a substantial body of Windows and web-based (IE6-based) apps. These can't be ported to iPad without significant expense, not to mention recruiting a whole new team of Objective-C developers. If you're the manager of a team of Microsoft developers who stands to lose resources, you're going to instil as much FUD as possible until your boss stops going on about iPad.

Finally it's an issue of perception. The iPad is perceived as a toy, not as a serious business tool. Nobody in their right mind is likely to buy a Dell Win8 tablet for home use. For businesses this also means they are less likely to be stolen.

Future wars will be over water not fuel, warns Intel sage

Buzzword
Coat

Personal keychains <- AirPlay mirroring

Apple is going that way with AirPlay mirroring. Right now you can whip out your iPhone and mirror the display onto your nearest HDTV (AppleTV required). With a resolution of 940x640, that's not far off a small desktop monitor. Next step is adding a keyboard and mouse to that TV, and Apple will invent AirInput. When the CPU and all storage can be carried in your smartphone, computers will be reduced to just KVM (Keyboard, Video, & Mouse).

Coat, the one with my entire life's work in the pocket, just waiting to be nicked.

Iomega Mac Companion external hard drive

Buzzword
WTF?

How much?

Given that an Iomega Prestige or eGo 3TB drive costs around £150, how do they justify this £275 price tag? Is Firewire or a USB hub really worth £125 extra? Or is it just the Fanboi Tax?

What's not in the iPhone 4S ... and why

Buzzword

HD Voice?

Any word on whether the iPhone 4S will support HD Voice (also known as Wideband Audio or AMR-WB)?

Gov to spread mobile masts to remote corners of Blighty

Buzzword
Thumb Up

Having spent a cold wet summer holiday in rural parts, I definitely think this is a good thing. Even the city folk venture out to rural parts from time to time.

Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox

Buzzword

Nice!

Now could we get the same thing with an Ethernet port to hook up to a NAS ?

Google OUTBID on g.co.uk at auction

Buzzword

Winner's Curse

For ANY-Web this is a bad case of winner's curse. Having paid £76,000 for the address in open auction, they can be certain that nobody else believes it to be worth that much. Their only hope is for a greater fool to buy the domain.

Osborne proffers £150m for mobile not spots

Buzzword
Go

Railway lines

There is one particular set of locations where very few people live, but a lot of people pass through: railway lines. Rush hour train passengers are high-value high-productivity workers. Giving them the ability to hold a telephone conversation and/or connect to the internet while on a train would be an effective boost to the economy. It would certainly be a lot cheaper than HS2.

LG BD670 3D Blu-ray Disc player

Buzzword

Compared to a PS3

When you can buy a PS3 for £200, all other Blu-Ray players need either many more features or a much lower price.

Faustian descent into backup hell: A play in two acts

Buzzword

Macrium Reflect

I think Macrium Reflect does what you need. It lets you copy a drive from your laptop to an image file either on a USB drive or on a network drive. It uses the Windows Shadow Copy service to enable live ghosting, so you can image to the network while Windows is running without losing filesystem integrity. There's even a free version for one-off simple imaging; though if you're making regular backups then the paid version is worth it.

'Delayed' Facebook iPad app claims lead coder casualty

Buzzword

Wasn't the new Facebook iPad app going to be purely HTML5-based? And presumably that means it can't work with deep iOS APIs, so features such as syncing your Facebook contacts with your iPhone contact book can't be replicated. That might be what the dispute with Apple was about.

Other sources claim that Apple and Facebook will jointly announce something at the Apple event on October 4th.

Adobe bets on Flash 11 to fend off HTML5 invasion

Buzzword

How many people will upgrade?

At my last workplace, the Flash updater wouldn't work through our corporate firewall. The firewall required Windows (AD) authentication, but every other application seemed to manage to connect fine. Somehow the Flash self-updater was never able to connect. There must be millions of PCs in this situation, so I predict millions of PCs stuck on Flash 10.x

Gaps in the apps mean shops miss out on sales

Buzzword

Clothing retailer River Island impressed me recently. After finding a shirt I liked but which wasn't in stock in my size, they gave me a card with the stock reference number and pointed me to their website. A simple gesture, yet effective.

Microsoft merges Windows 8 with Xbox Live

Buzzword

Depends on the game

Sure, you won't be playing WoW on a mobile phone; but it'd be fine for playing Scrabble with your nan while you're on the bus and she's at home.

Is using your own kit at work a good thing?

Buzzword

Where?

I would kill to have an employer as generous as that! Hours spent on train counted as work time? Please do tell where this open-minded workplace nirvana can be found!

Hands on with Acer's Aspire S3 Ultrabook

Buzzword

Not an Apple clone

It can't be a Mac - it has a Del key!

Outsourcer says rivals faked stolen database offer

Buzzword

Throat cutting

"...but we had no idea competition in this market was so cut-throat."

They're basically just another recruitment agency; and as anybody who works in IT can tell you, recruitment agency is a cut-throat business.

Dynamic Languages Conference: it's an Edinburgh thing

Buzzword
Thumb Up

Next time....

Dear Reg,

Please could you provide more advance notification of such events? This one is less than two weeks away, at the height of Edinburgh festival season, and all reasonably-priced hotels and trains have been booked up months in advance. Not all of us have unlimited company credit cards to wave around conferences.

Thumbs out, because I'll be hitch-hiking there.....