* Posts by Erroneous Howard

103 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Aug 2010

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Time for another cuppa then? Tea-drinkers have better brains, say boffins with even better brains

Erroneous Howard

And of course....

…..we all know what happens if you give a fresh cup of really hot tea to a finite improbability generator.

Stalking cheap Chinese GPS child trackers is as easy as 123... 456 – because that's the default password on 600k+ of these gizmos

Erroneous Howard

Re: 123456?

That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage!

Twist my Arm why don't you: Brit CPU behemoth latest biz to cease work with Huawei – report

Erroneous Howard

Re: Lost at why they would do this

Maybe he's Canadian

Honey, hive had it with this drone: Couple lived for years with thousands of bees in bedroom wall

Erroneous Howard

This article....

….really needs to come with embedded "Ba Dum Tss" sounds.

NASA's first all-woman spacewalk outside ISS cancelled – due to lack of spacesuits that fit

Erroneous Howard

Re: Basic Logistics

I read elsewhere that one of the astronauts had previously been training in both the medium and large size suit, but perhaps due to the changes that undergo the body in space, she found that the medium was more suitable - too late to reconfigure the second suit safely, and in time.

When I first read the story I thought "wtf?" about there not being the correct, fitting equipment, but after reading it did make more sense how it can happen unexpectedly.

Childcare is a pain in the bum and so is HMRC's buggy subsidies site

Erroneous Howard

@fangster - Haha yes exactly that. You have to enter that info just to reach the login screen, rather than just being directed to the login screen in the first place.....

Facebook tried teaching bots art of negotiation – so the AI learned to lie

Erroneous Howard

You can use your opposable thumbs to open the book, I have a head on which to wear the hats, so I'm taking the hats.

Probe President Trump and his crappy Samsung Twitter-o-phone, demand angry congressfolk

Erroneous Howard

Just, for all of our sakes.....

....Don't leak his naked selfies

'At least I can walk away with my dignity' – Streetmap founder after Google lawsuit loss

Erroneous Howard

Re: Not as good - Multimap

Yup I'm with you there as well. Used Multimap regularly, at least until Google jumped ahead in the game.

Clone wars: Wrestler sues Microsoft over Gears of War character

Erroneous Howard

Bad luck but....

....Google image search Lester Speight and literally the first image it displayed was a photo where he looks almost the spitting image of the screenshot on the article. So this guy is apparently filing a suit based on that fact that the two of them look VERY vaguely similar.

You know what, maybe Tabby's star ate a planet, ponder space eggheads

Erroneous Howard

Oh dear.....

t probably says quite a lot about me that I was disappointed to find out that this wasn't actually a story about a cat's butthole eating planets.

Pharma hate figure Martin Shkreli suspended from Twitter

Erroneous Howard

Re: If mine pissed

Oh surely you could donate a little to a good cause?

Searching for 'Fatty Kim the Third' banned on Chinese social media

Erroneous Howard

Re: Gugle Trainslate

Surely the question is why would you NOT want to shave your yak? Sounds like a fun activity for weekends to me.

NHS IT bod sends test email to 850k users – and then responses are sent 'reply all'

Erroneous Howard

Reply All......

Gotta love people who get an email, then reply all saying "I don't need to be on this email". They don't seem to understand the irony.

Google: If you think we're bad, you should take a look at Apple

Erroneous Howard

Re: They're right about Apple and MS

Counts?

America has one month to stop the FBI getting its global license to hack

Erroneous Howard

Re: US LAW

Team America - World Police

Smartmobe made 'intermittent bright flashes and a hissing noise' in Biz class seat

Erroneous Howard

Re: And all because

But people would still buy a case or shell to protect the phone if it was thicker to begin with, so when does it become "too thick" for people (once you add said case/shell)?

I imagine it's as simple as "thinner phones sell better" but it's not like I've looked into any sales trends so it's just an assumption that people find bricks a bit unsexy.

Erroneous Howard

Re: My phone gets switched off before boarding

"And, yet, the Kindle has not acquired a reputation for living up to it's name"

Especially the Kindle Fire

KCL out(r)age continues: Two weeks TITSUP, two weeks to go

Erroneous Howard

Of course that NEVER happens in IT.......EVER. Like complaining about something for 7 years as being well past end of life, then getting asked why you never warned anybody once it finally goes wrong.

What’s that Sooty? You want a girlfriend?

Erroneous Howard

Re: on the grounds that sex would be creeping into the programme

Not puppets, but what exactly was going on between Rod, Jane and Freddy?

WTF ... makes mobile phone batteries explode?

Erroneous Howard

I just want a phone that I can power by Mars bar now.....

Net neutrality activists claim victory in Europe

Erroneous Howard

VED

It's also (as I'm sure you know) based on emissions. So unless they start measuring cyclists farts when they ride (which would make a really interesting spectacle in an MOT station!) then they are the same as fully electric cars in that respect (for which you also pay no VED of course).

Although I think the whole thing was a tongue-in-cheek reply to a tongue-in-cheek reply so I've no idea what I'm on about.

Got a Fitbit? Thought you were achieving your goals? Better read this

Erroneous Howard

"the only person that should have a heart rate of 50 in the middle of the day is an endurance athlete"

Sorry but that's just not true. While it's more common in endurance athletes it's not that uncommon in people who maintain a moderate fitness routine. Although I've got a bit fatter now, when I was slimmer and running a few times a week I had a resting heart rate of around 48. Once I started marathon training it got as low as 44 - measured both manually and with a medical blood pressure testing cuff.

That said, if your friend abstained totally from exercise it's fairly unlikely the reading was correct, especially in the middle of the day when you're not fully at rest.

Although I found heart rate based training useful when I was inexperienced, I found it far more effective to train based on feeling once I understood how different levels of effort should feel like. After all, depending on many physical factors the amount of effort it takes to push a particular heart rate can vary quite a bit on a day to day basis.

5% of drivers want Nigel Farage to be their in-car robo butler

Erroneous Howard

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the ordering of the list (unless I missed it). Sticks Nigel Farage at the top despite not being either alphabetical or the most popular choice. Must just be my OCD but it bugs the hell out of me that there's no particular rhyme or reason for the order. It also seems to add up to 139% - so I assume people could vote for multiple options?

As for voices, has to be Morgan Freeman. That voice is just like melting butter.

Got $130,000 down the back of the sofa? Great. Grab an HP 3D printer

Erroneous Howard

Re: Oh, I'm quite interested in what this might be...

Bring the machine that goes "PING"!

NZ Pastafarians joined in noodly wedlock

Erroneous Howard

Re: >something to tell the grandchildren (Dr Mouse)

I was about to reply with something very similar. Themed weddings are not a new thing, and marriage itself has been around since LONG before people were believing in most of the "traditional" religions. If this couple have found a way to celebrate their relationship that both of them enjoy, then I feel it doesn't affect their chances of staying together one iota.

As for the assertion in the original post that non-religious families tend to also be non-traditional in the family sense, I know a number of completely non-religious families as well as religious ones and don't really see any correlation between the two things so I'm interested whether it's a "fact" or just an assumption.

The last sentence in your post really says it all for me - "What matter is not what you believe, but how you treat others". I couldn't agree more - regardless of what choice of religion (or not) people have made.

Microsoft Band 2 wrist watchers in pay-first-ship-much-later rage

Erroneous Howard

Re: How much?

I was wondering what it did for that price. It would actually have to do the exercise for me to be worth it.

How to Poo on a Date wins odd book title of the year

Erroneous Howard

Re: Not Hodder & Stoughton...

1) Run away?

Google is developing flight 'price comparison thing' with us, claims Ryanair boss O'Leary

Erroneous Howard

Re: > true cost of the flight

So a great idea would be to combine the comparison engine with something like Google Maps to work out both the cheapest flights as well as an indication of the travel distance from airport to final destination. So at a glance you can see that while flight A might be the cheapest, it lands you significantly further away. Essentially you'd input your start and finish locations and let the tool work out which airports are most convenient for you.

Either way, they should also ask questions about any potential extras so you can compare the price of the flight PLUS extras against flights that may potentially come with those inclusive.

Twitter: It's JUST LIKE Elder Scrolls (no it's not)

Erroneous Howard

Re: >> Mr Dabbs, do I spot a little bit of green eyed monster?!

@Psyx

But you have to admit, there are quite a fair proportion of attention whores who DO treat social media as you described. You don't have to look very far to find a "Oh my god, somebody LIKE me" sort of post (unless you quickly remove this sort of person like I do). So perhaps it's less about our individual perception of these sites, but more about how adding the ability to "like", "+1", "retweet" acts as a sort of reward to those who crave them.

I saw the latter half of this programme and have to admit that I thought exactly the same thing when it started trying to claim that Twitter was like a video game. Complete bollocks and had the wrong comparison in place. All it does is prove that some people will do anything if there is some sort of "reward" at the end, even if that is a high "like" count.

Optical Express 'ruined my life' attack site wins Nominet takedown battle

Erroneous Howard

Re: she would "fight on until this industry is regulated and the serious risks publicised"...

Not sure why your post has been downvoted as that seems to be exactly what she did with Optimax. So she thought, "I'm on to something here", and decided to try the same thing with Optical Express despite having had no dealings herself with them.

Specsaversruinedmylife.co.uk anyone?

iPad Air not very hot: Apple fanbois SHUN London fondleslab launch

Erroneous Howard

They probably ARE bums, the Apple staff just put some barriers around them while they were having a snooze

Ten top new games for phones ’n’ slabs

Erroneous Howard

Freeze!

Just checked and is now free on Android.

Erroneous Howard

Re: Real racing 3 (@Ben 56)

I lost connection a number of times during the download thanks to some flaky wifi but didn't suffer a restart from the beginning. Someone in another comment mentioned the same thing so are you sure you are not blaming EA for something specific with your device? If you are worried about mobile data usage then the best bet might be to wait until you have a wifi connection available.

I've played this on both an iPad mini and a HTC One and I can't say I notice much difference although personally I prefer the slightly larger screen to play on. The controls can take a bit of getting used to, but once you learn that "less is more" (i.e. not flipping your device completely onto its side to go round a bend) you can get the hang of it. Sure, the "wait to service cars" can get a bit annoying but once you have built up a small collection of motors you can race other events while waiting for cars to be ready again.

Going to check out some of the rest of the list but will be looking for demo versions if they exist as I prefer to "try before I buy" :)

Microsoft Office 365 on iPhone NOW: No, we're not making this up

Erroneous Howard

Re: Ummm, hang on a sec

And of course, bear in mind that this makes iOS devices more useful for the corporate crowd and thus less likely to have A.N.OTHER more corporate compatible device pushed upon them.

Sexy models clash at big bash over catty tweets: Yup, it's HTC v Samsung

Erroneous Howard

Re: To be fair...

It's probably the only thing LG have won around mobile phones for a while

Eerie satnav boffinry claims it can predict THE FUTURE

Erroneous Howard

Re: This could be useful-

> Just getting it connected to the indicators on a BMW would be a help.

BMWs have indicators?

Euro watchdog bares teeth at Microsoft over browser gaffe

Erroneous Howard

Re: EU lost the plot

I don't see a "Browser Choice" screen on either Apple or Android devices either.

Erroneous Howard

Re: Too little, too late

Sorry, but that's not a very good analogy. That would be more closely equivalent to Microsoft receiving back some or all of the fine they paid initially.

A better analogy would be if the person who stole your car was let out of jail (after their sentence - equivalent to the fine in this case) and then allowed to steal your car and smash it up again without further retribution because they've already "paid their dues" for doing so the first time.

Boffins find 17,425,170-digit prime number

Erroneous Howard
Trollface

Re: Why are we paying for this research?

"If these researchers would just place 7, 23 and 39 in laboratory conditions and observe them they might learn a lot about the behaviour of prime numbers"

They might even spot that 39 was there masquerading as a prime number but how long would they take to see through its disguise?

Tell Facebook who's the greatest: YOU are!

Erroneous Howard

Re: Mourning HMV

But HMV stores were not a pleasant place to be any more - crowded, cluttered and unwelcoming.

If I go to a store to buy it's because I want to see the product, or don't want to wait for delivery - or that I want advice or opinions. HMV didn't need to try and stick every single item they have in stock out on the sales floor, they could target specific products along with some related items on the floor, as long as they have some sort of stock checking facility which avoids having to queue at the counter.

Music/video/gaming are leisure activities and for the most part people do them to relax so it would make sense if the environment you go to purchase them in was to reflect that.

Reuters rubbishes report rubbishing cheap iPhone rumor

Erroneous Howard
Meh

But in the meantime they don't want anyone to know as it might cause a dip in sales of the current iphone if some people decide to wait for the cheaper version?

Review: Lego Lord of the Rings game

Erroneous Howard

Re: re: Does Tom Bombadil finally show up?

You don't meet him in the story, but can unlock him as a character to use in free play.

UK games market clutches chest, bleeds out sales in 2012

Erroneous Howard

Re: suspect data?

If that is true regarding Steam then I might be inclined to agree with you for at least a portion of the difference. I think the PC games market is relatively small in comparison to consoles but I know this year Steam have been selling a much wider variety of products. Most of my old gaming friends buy the majority of their PC games there now.

It has been a really slow year for "good" game releases though, not that many major "big money" releases that I can remember, and practically all of them in October/November. Next year will be interesting with the new GTA due to be released (assuming it is on time) as that normally is good for a fair few sales.

Facebook to debut auto-play video ads in 2013

Erroneous Howard

Re: Good luck with that

It reminds me somewhat of sites which used to blare out a terrible midi version of a file the second you hit the page. Generally the moment that crap started playing, the back button got struck hard.

Smear campaign

Erroneous Howard
Windows

Winds me up.....

.....when I am showing someone something on my laptop screen and then THEY start prodding it to point things out. I've actually remarked that "it isn't a touchscreen you know" and found myself wondering if they prod everything in their life so hard....

Analyst slams Apple innovation FAIL

Erroneous Howard
Angel

Has he resurrected?

"Jobs said in October 2012: "We've done tons of user......."

2012? I know he was viewed a bit like Jesus by some of the Apple followers but unless he has literally been resurrected, I'm pretty sure Jobs wasn't around in October 2012 to say anything!

We'll chalk that one up to a typo :)

Resident Evil 6 game review

Erroneous Howard
Meh

Re: RE 1 & 2 = Good

I have to agree - I thoroughly enjoyed the older RE games for their ability to scare the pants off me. I gave up after RE5 when it became plain that all they were interested in releasing was a very generic game with all the atmosphere of a Fred West garden party. Like several posters I think QTE sections are just pointless, as while looking for the next button to press you actually miss the pretty on-screen action. Trap-points (that last for too long) and over-reliance upon boss fights just smacks of a lack of imagination or trying to "stretch out" the play time of a game.

Was waiting to see if RE6 was a big improvement upon RE5 but it doesn't sound like it so I probably won't bother buying the game.

Merde! French Prez palace blueprints nicked from cable layer

Erroneous Howard

I still fail to understand.....

......why anyone carries sensitive data on an unencrypted USB device these days.

Megan Fox fingers fondleslab in sexy store promo

Erroneous Howard

There's tech in this picture?

Sorry......didn't notice

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