* Posts by My Opinion

82 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Sep 2007

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UK Information Commissioner OKs use of phone data to track coronavirus spread

My Opinion

Re: I'm here for the (heated) comments.

... none!

Uh-oh .io: Question mark hangs over trendy tech startup domains as UN condemns British empire hangover

My Opinion

Have you got that right? Accept is to receive, whereas except is to exclude. Didn't they take the payment, not refuse it?

Google Chromecast 2015: Puck-on-a-string fun ... why not, for £30?

My Opinion
Facepalm

Re: Supertramp

I re-read the article twice, thinking "How did I miss that?", and still couldn't find it.

But then of course, it wasn't actually in the article!

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

My Opinion

What do you mean, you've got to bust it to see if it works properly?

My Opinion

This was one product The Register readers were busting to see in the flesh.

My Opinion

In my opinion this product must have been designed by a complete pair of tits.

My Opinion

Each side holds its own TIT*.

(*Totally Independent Temperature)

My Opinion

Now with updated softwear.

My Opinion

To increase mammary size you just gently stroke the two front buttons simultaneously.

My Opinion

Of the options we offer, we have found the most popular by far to be the one with two mammary slots.

Pebble: The brilliant stealth wearable Apple's Watch doesn't see coming

My Opinion
Facepalm

Re: come on people

I thought that's what JDX's comment was - or maybe that's just my way of thinking!

Web inventor Berners-Lee: I so did NOT see this cat vid thing coming

My Opinion
Holmes

Re: Mine of Information

Doctor Dark, I assume?

The micro YOU used in school: The story of the Research Machines 380Z

My Opinion

Re Nascom (Gemini) and John Marshall

Another great article, as also was the one a couple of months ago about Chris Shelton and the Nascom 1. Both articles have brought back many memories of that time. Excellent.

I worked for John Marshall from 1978 to 1986, firstly as Technical Coordinator at Nascom, then as Technical Manager at Gemini Microcomputers (later becoming Gemini Computer Systems). They were certainly fascinating times.

I didn't spot the Shelton/Nascom article until several days after it had appeared, so chose not to respond then as most people had already read it, commented, and moved on. However, as this article is much fresher I thought I would take the opportunity to report something that I have not spotted reported anywhere in any press.

That is that John Marshall sadly died suddenly of a heart attack on Hove / Brighton front 3 - 4 years ago. I had maintained periodic contact with him since I had left Gemini in 1986 and to the end John was still very entrepreneurial, working on various projects, forever seeking to repeat that rare mix of ideas/timing/execution (and luck!) that had resulted in the massive and somewhat unexpected success of the Nascom 1 - the original aim of which was to allow his semiconductor sales company to sell lots more components!

Vodafone slurps MEELLLIONS for redirecting police hotline calls

My Opinion
Facepalm

Re: Hey Vodaphone

Downvoted for pointing out the misspelling of the name of one of the world's largest and best known companies?

How strange you are.

My Opinion
Headmaster

Re: Hey Vodaphone

I doubt "Vodaphone" are paying anyone anything ever.

Perhaps you mean the company referred to in the article a number of times, which is Vodafone?

Fanbois vs fandroids: Punters display 'tribal loyalty'

My Opinion
FAIL

As always...

...there's lies, damn lies and extrapolating survey results.

New rules to end cries of 'WTF... a £10 online booking fee?'

My Opinion
Unhappy

Re: Believe it when I see it

As I read it this ruling is purely to do with differential costs incurred relating to payment types. So if they are charging everyone the same "admin fee" then this does not stop them continuing to do so.

Google Shopping Express dips toe in same-day home delivery

My Opinion
Headmaster

Re: Combine it with Streetview

...should HAVE turned left...

As in: I have, you have, he has ... not I of, you of, he of.

BT's shock new wheeze: Make phone calls from smartphones

My Opinion
Facepalm

As this is free to register and then lets you use the free/inclusive elements of your BT package, just how is this a "new way to rob the public"?

My Opinion

Contrary to other comments here, it presents your MOBILE number on outgoing calls.

5,000 UK pubs get free Wi-Fi... and they're not even all in London

My Opinion
Headmaster

Translation

...our...pubs...handily...Greggs...

Take a number, says new social network

My Opinion
Facepalm

982-537-2374 has now gone

So, is it the real Zuckerberg or not?

Apple said to be testing 46, 55-inch big-screen TVs

My Opinion

Re: 40 inch is big enough for me.

Using a computer monitor as a computer monitor is not the same as using a TV as a TV, so the same distance rule does not apply to both.

With a computer monitor you are not looking at the whole screen all of the time, but concentrating on a portion of it - you therefore sit closer.

Australian cops bust Romanian credit card thieves

My Opinion
Headmaster

Australian cops bust Romanian credit card theives

Is thieves spelled differently in Australian?

Android seven-inchers swipe rug from under Apple

My Opinion
Headmaster

The rules for apostrophe use are quite simple...

"That has prompted Apple to get out a small tablet of it’s own,..."

It's is a contraction of "it is" or "it has."

Its is the possessive form of "it."

Simples.

Skype 3.0 lands on Android tabs, says all your bass are belong to it

My Opinion
FAIL

Broken for many

There are huge numbers of "Reviews" in Google Play complaining that this update has broken Skype for them. Bizarrely a number of people are saying they can't get it to work at all now, but have still given it 4 or 5 stars! I can only assume if you have previously reviewed it and then re-review it you are unable to downgrade your rating? Otherwise, people are seemingly saying it's good that it's broken!

Religious wars brewing in ICANN gTLD expansion

My Opinion

I've been unable to find any reference to Apple in this thread.

Watchdog hits out at malware racking up premium-rate charges

My Opinion

Room 101

New Trojan routes your bank's calls to CROOKS

My Opinion

Asks for landline SP!

The fraudsters are asking their targets for their phone number AND their Phone Service Provider, giving them a pull-down menu choice of BT, TalkTalk, Sky and Other.

At this point I would hope that most rational human beings would ask themselves "Why do they need that?".

Let's face it, can you think of any other (non-telecom related) business that would ever have any reason to ask that question? Has any (non-telecom related) business ever asked them that before?

People really need to be more savvy when online - but I know many won't be...

Rumoured 'GarageBand for e-books' to bulldoze textbook biz

My Opinion
FAIL

SepArately!

Swiss insist file-sharers don't hurt copyright holders

My Opinion

I'm curious...

...what specific incident are you referring to in your "Sing a Michael Jackson Song = 5 Years" comment?

Jim Westwood, home micro revolutionary

My Opinion
WTF?

Really?

I think that referring to any Sinclair product as hifi would require significant redefinition of that word!

Shock movie upset - Daniel Craig still James Bond 007

My Opinion
Unhappy

Casino great, Solace awful, Skyfall ???

I really enjoyed Craig as the new Bond in Casino Royale - to me it was Bond Reborn, in much the way Christian Bales first Batman was an excellent restart of that franchise. But was I the only one that struggled to work out what the heck was going on in Solace?

I saw it at the Odeon, Leicester Square, the day after the Premier and have to say the sound was awful. I couldn't decide whether the difficulty of hearing what was being said was the problem to grasping the plot, or whether it was just all pretty random in the first place.

Here's hoping the next one gets back to the promise seen in the first Craig Bond.

Skyfall or Sky-FAIL ?

Jobs was 'working on future product day before he died'

My Opinion
Alien

Is it not more likely...

Is it not more likely that the call to Cook was getting him to go visit Jobs because he knew the end was near - and that either Jobs or Cook used the "future product" line in order to cover that fact?

Just my own thought...

Currys, PC World websites slated by punters

My Opinion
WTF?

Paying for postage & packing is "annoying"?????

"Around 40 per cent of shoppers found paying a high price, *** or indeed any price ***, for postage and packing annoying,..."

I run an e-commerce site. So far I haven't found any organisation that is willing, FOR NO FEE, to come and collect the items from my premises each evening and then deliver them to any location within the UK the next morning.

Rather than price everything so that the charge I have to pay is included (hidden?) within it, I charge a price PER DELIVERY - reflecting my actual cost. So if someone purchases multiple items they aren't paying multiple (hidden) delivery costs.

I consider this approach gives the best possible value to my customers and would have hoped they appreciate it...

(Incidentally, once the order gets above a certain value then I take a margin loss and do not charge for the delivery.)

Now I'm being told 40% of people find any charge "annoying".

** SO ** - Perhaps any of these 40% can advise me where any of these magical free packing and delivery service can be found so I can start using them? Perhaps Santa's elves are available for most of the year (excluding December of course)...

One in 10 Brits leaves web passwords in their will

My Opinion
FAIL

You do the maths

"One in 10 Brits leaves web passwords in their will"

"...as a survey suggests that 11 per cent of Brits have..."

So that'll be 1 in 9 then!

Renault Wind Gordini roadster

My Opinion
WTF?

Euch

I've seen a few of these around and still recoil in horror at its total utter and complete ugliness each and every time.

The Nissan Juke is a work or art in comparison and at least has some sort of cuteness about it.

Osun MushRoom Green Zero USB charger

My Opinion
Stop

Yes it is worse!

"So you are saying that 100% -> 95% done 4 times is any worse for a battery than 100% -> 80% once - lithium ion has no 'memory effect' so it shouldn't."

Lithium ion may not have "memory effect" but that is not the relevant factor here. One of the key factors on overall battery life is the number of charge/discharge cycles any particular technology is good for. So 100% -> 95% done 4 times *IS* worse as you are using up 4 of your battery's charge/discharge lives rather than just 1.

Chinese giant figures to muscle into UK mobe market

My Opinion
Headmaster

Dear Anonymous Cowardly Coward

http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/aitch-not-haitch

My Opinion
Headmaster

Not quite right!

"All of this will be accompanied by suitable promotions explaining how to pronounce the name of the company (HU-AH-WAY) – a problem that HTC never had to face."

Not quite right - perhaps HTC could try to educate the ignoramuses who believe it is "Haitch Tea Cee" as opposed to the correct and altogether more pleasant "Aitch Tea Cee".

(Whilst I'm on this topic, perhaps the BBC could also train some of their announcers that it is "Bee Bee Cee One Aitch Dee" and not the quite frequently used "Bee Bee Cee One Haitch Dee".)

That's all...

Burg 5 watch phone

My Opinion
Facepalm

Exactly how disorganised are you?

"makes an ideal backup phone for those inevitable moments when your regular handset dies"...."it has come to my rescue numerous times over the last week".

My own phone gets regular use every day, yet I could not even begin to remember the last time, if ever, it ran out of battery on me. However, you seem to manage it with yours numerous times per week?

Don't you ever think of charging it?

PS: Despite your own apparent ineptitude I am still sorely temped by this "sick" device!

News International grabs SunOnSunday.co.uk domain

My Opinion
Facepalm

Bruy/brought...bing/bought???

Buy is to bought, as bring is to brought.

Go SMS Pro

My Opinion
FAIL

All I can say is...

...that I hope the plethora of spelling / grammar / punctuation errors in the Valentine's Messages is not indicative of the quality of everything else.

Five jailed for £140m VAT scam

My Opinion
FAIL

Some of you seem to have missed this...

"The gang members got a flat fee of up to £30,000 for their work."

So, no, they haven't got equal portions of a very large sum - it would appear just one of them has got the thick end of the dosh all to himself.

And I don't think "up to £30,000" is much compensation for any number of years in the slammer, no matter how low security.

Mind you, they'll probably come out better educated in crime and detection avoidance, and thus able to avoid the same mistakes again.

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