Posts by Dazed and Confused

Re: Problems

Yes eventually they fitted an optical correction HW, I thought they'd used a SW based solution to tidy up many of the images before then.

Re: Cheaper way

> Unlike the other biz model, this way will get cheaper and cheaper too, the way FB shares are going.

wait another couple of months and for $100 you'll be the majority share holder then Zuck will have to listen to you.

Re: Dump the Windoze

Anything that can't run vi doesn't count as a computer.

Same here

Originally BT was saying October 2011. Then in October the site switched to saying December 2012. Later 2012 it says 31st of December 2012. Then mid December, they own up to the fact that the cabinet won't be done till 31st of March.

They also seem to have doubled the distance to my house in recent years. Back when you could first get ADSL there was an engineering test number that you were not allowed to call, which would tell you the line length. This gave the distance from my house to the exchange by following BT's policy of "Use longest route possible" to wire up the phone system. Now they are quoting a much greater distance, Maybe they've found some even longer cables they can use.

Re: 1920x1080 is so 2010...

1920x1200 is just so 2003, or even so 1990ish.

Please Please Please El'Reg can we have an editorial policy of referring to desktop display with less than 1200 lines as

Super low res.

or Maybe an El'Reg competition to find the best acronym for FullHD

Flaming Useless Low ??? Half Display

Re: #1 Rule of Management

> So much for criticizing in private.

The problem with this is that Linux's development happens out in the open.

What we don't know from here is the background to the comment and since this quote is completely without context we don't know whether the "Shut the F**K UP!" was a friendly one or a rage mode one. Its not at all uncommon for friends to swear at each other without being totally pissed off with each other. I remember working on a development project years ago with a team of programmers from all over the world and an American manager, the poor guy never could get his head around the way we spoke to each other, or the fact that if we'd started to be nice the other members of the team would have worried what was wrong.

I've sat in code review meetings in professional development environments and believe me, that comment is mild if someone is trying to shift the blame from their ugly code onto the code that supposed to be calling it. Been on both sides of comments. You learn to tidy up your approach. I was just lucky enough for it to be a private meeting inside a private company.

Re: Ironic!

> That is what happens when it meets the "do no evil" pot.

So what is evil about trying to put M$ out of our misery?

Re: RE: AC 00:51

> (Where would we be today if Microsoft had patented and was enforcing every one of the common controls and the basic web fonts.)

Fortunately M$ weren't responsible for any of these.

Most of the basic controls were in existence back before MicroSoft got into the "windows" game.

The basic look at feel and the 3D effects came from HP (there was an agreement to ensure that Motif and Windows 3.1 looked and acted the same for users), a lot of the controls were being used at DEC too way back when.

Of course Xerox who invented Windows, had the things like dialog boxes, the various styles of buttons, the different forms of menus etc...

And all that dates back before the Apple Lisa.

M$ are the new boys on the block.

Re: No, this isn't price fixing.

Well I'd argue that it is price fixing. Its just that customers ganging up on a supplier doesn't appear to be illegal whereas suppliers ganging up on customers is.

The losers are all the pension funds owning Kodak shares. But then these days, anyone with a pension pot is being screwed every which way till loose...

You can bet your bottom dollar that those behind the bid don't want to see the value of patent portfolios go down. They think that their own portfolios should be worth UltraBucks or perhaps more. No here they just see the chance of getting a bargain. Protecting themselves against being the target of trolls, but even more importantly using this little pile as a weapon to stop any upstart^H^H^H^H^H^H startups from coming along and having the temerity to try getting into their cosy little business niche.

Re: That much!

> I am surprised they got 16% - who buys a Nokia phone these days?

Anyone who wants a phone for less than £10 for the kids to put in the bottom of their school bag for when they miss the bus and you don't want the Mrs worrying about what the little monsters are up to now.

Re:Why exactly do people trust Google more than the ITU?

Who ever said I was trusting Google?

My point was that the ITU claiming they can do anything about SPAM is just total B*&^%cks. They have a track record in setting up treaties for the worlds phone systems and those treaties have no history what so ever of successfully stopping the barrage of unsolicited and frequently fraudulent nuisance phone calls that disturb our lives.

Given this track record why should we believe they are in any position to do anything about email SPAM?

Re: Or, to put it another way

The "we're totally clueless" argument might highlight the truth, but has never stop the gubberment taking aim at both of its feet in the past.

I think the more likely explanation is that someone has pointed out that all the false positives are going to cost them lots of real money. Even if they don't get sued they'll spend their lives having to chase around verifying objections. But of course they would get sued. There would be a constant stream of companies pursuing their arses all the way to the European courts of daft decisions.

All very expensive

But the lawyers would love it.

If they mandate it, then they own the problem.

Re: 1600x900

To be honest I don't give a s*&t about aspect ratio, I care about having a reasonable number of lines of dots on the screen.

1080 might be fine for people who only want to watch movies, but I want to get some work done on this screen.

Re: 386, what about the 4040?

You mean you don't have the Haynes manual for the Saturn 5?

@Tom38

So you feel that it is proportionate to have every website site you've ever visited, including the millions that you've never heard of but your PC has probably wondered off too, recorded in a form which can easily be searched by large numbers of people.

Perhaps you'd like to post the logs yourself?

This bill is like arguing that fitting CCTV cameras in every child in the countries bedroom would help reduce the cases of child abuse.

Re: Internet usage up, tadpoles down.

> Wrong, masturbation makes sperm fresher.

Might make that fresher, but it means there are less of the little buggers around when the lady with the rubber gloves comes to take a sample.

Re: But what about the cat?

Ah, but can one cat simultaneously exit two bags in two different rooms?

And does this experiment scale beyond 9?

Re: In the UK ...

Changing names at school (where the kids are most likely to want to lose the dump handle their parents have dumped them with) teachers will insist on using the name on the register and that will be the official name needed to register the little darling in the first place.

I know a couple who had to deed poll their 5 year old because he hated the name his parents gave him on his birth certificate (a normal name) and wanted to be called by the name his brothers and sisters had always used for him.

I didn't seem to matter how many times the parents wrote to the teacher and the school they insisted on using his official name, or a normal shortened form. It was only when they officially changed his name would the school take notice.

Re: Cost

> The average Chinese worker can't afford the iPhone without selling a kidney,

While that is no doubt true, there is a bigger reason highlighted in the article.

> the fact its handsets won’t work with dominant local carriers.

Might also be a deciding factor.

There is only so much posing you can do, like the people you used to often see talking on their phone on the Underground in London, back when mobiles were " for the rich elite" here, rather than things you buy to give to the kids to chuck into the bottom of their school bag in case they can't get on the bus.

Re: One of the reasons I would probably deny any jury duty

You can't deny jury duty

You are summoned by the court and you'd bloody well better be there or they'll treat you more harshly than most of the muggers, violent thugs and burglars that you'd get to hear tried.

"Treasure - I wanted your death to be as pleasurable as possible."

Sound like the young man didn't have a sense of humour,

what else was the lady supposed to say,

well apart from sorry.

Re: "neither vendor appears to hold a patent for the kitchen sink"

My kitchen sink is rectangular with rounded corners.

Does that mean some Apple lawyer should have to come round and wash my dishes?

Re: Taxing revenue instead of profits ...

Struggling households would certainly be killed by taxing businesses on revenue and not on profits.

What do you think would be the impact on your food bills?

Most super markets are very low margin businesses. I know that at one point it was common to run with a zero or even negative margin and rely on the fact that customers pay immediately while the super market pays on fairly long credit terms, so the super markets profit came from the value of the money paid to it by customers and not yet paid to suppliers. I guess that with the low interest rates currently in place this scheme no longer works. Who knows.

So if you make the super market pay corporation tax on revenue rather than profit your food bill would shoot way up because the price of the food would now need to have the tax added to it. And not just by the super market, but by everyone in the supply chain. The farmer, the distribution company, the transport companies, the manufactures, everyone. Unless a totally flat model could be developed (ie real farm shops) you could easily see your food bill double.

This really isn't a simple problem.