"The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive—you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program."
"Think about most banner ads: they have rich media and flash or video. These are all the things that would compel someone to want to click on an ad. use an ad blocker."
Chrome has been installed to my PC without permission at least three times in the last year, each time during installation of something else I actually wanted. I have manually removed it each time and told Google to f*** off in the but-why-don't-you-want-our-lovely-browser uninstaller feedback form - Software that behaves like this is malware.
The average normal pc user is not into browser preferences, javascript benchmarks or monopoly politics, they just try to go along with whatever the infernal machine presents them with. I bet a lot of Chrome's usage figures are down to "normal" people just sighing and accepting the different-looking browser that's been plonked in front of them.
(big smile because I'm one of the Opera-using weirdos.)
I've wasted many many hours on shoot'em-ups. I and some friends went clay pidgeon shooting for the first time last weekend. At the time it felt a lot like camping in UT and I scored second highest in the group, just behind someone with previous experience in shooting things, so I can believe there's something in this report.
Caveat: the kick from the shotgun wasn't a big deal. I've had goes with handguns in the past (a 9mm and something bigger, I think it was a 45) and they weren't at all like UT.
Not Essex - the event I'm thinking of took place in a cricket club in Buckinghamshire. That's quite enough information for anyone who remembers the event to recognise it.
I'm fascinated to learn that other people have had a reading-about-a-local-murder-on-Ceefax experience.
One sunday morning in the Autumn of '92 I woke up in my grotty student digs, blearily made coffee, staggered to the telly in the lounge to peruse the headlines, and discovered an ex-schoolmate had been arrested for killing someone with a machete.
"You did play the game with the extra 2GB or so of high-res assets you can download, right?"
I did exactly that with the single-player campaign over the Easter break, having previously waddled through it on my previous XP DX9 machine. To be honest I didn't notice any difference (and yes, I did check several times that the HD textures / DX11 were turned on and that all settings were maxed out).
I'm dismayed to learn that episode two's rubbish story is being continued - are Crytek trying to emulate the random nonsense underpinning the Resident Evil series?
" I would view "X worked for Y from A till B." as the worst possible reference possible."
Some companies are so paranoid they won't say anything bad or good about the ex-employee, in case giving praise could result in legal problems at a later date. The result is the sort of pointless XYAB statement described above. The reason for this is companies do not have souls and couldn't give a monkey's about ex-workers.
All of my ex-employers have either gone bust or rendered themselves untraceable from my CV
through rebranding, takeovers, or simple relocation, so a prospective employer would have a difficult job finding anyone able to supply a reference anyway.
In the early nineties, when I and my college mates were trying to blag ourselves industrial placements, a certain well-known company demanded all applicants supply details of their drinking habits. A lot of us decided not to bother with them on the grounds it wasn't any of their business.
Unfortunately most big companies regard their employees as chattel and always have done. Don't encourage them.
Get a cheap project box from Maplin, a tool to dig out the necessary holes and some epoxy or polymorph plastic to fit the board inside (though if only doing one system those three items will nearly double the price).
I recently bought a very cheap and nasty unlocked backup phone (a bluechip bc500 IIRC) that came brand new with a usb connector and no charger. The charger wasn't missing, there was no space for one in the box. I already had wall and car chargers that work fine with it, so no problem.
Makes sense - I'd rather have something with a common connector (and a couple of quid off the retail price) then have to keep and search for yet another proprietary cable.
Apple produce about a dozen (omitting various configurations) consumer - targeted products. Samsung produce hundreds of consumer-oriented products plus hundreds of OEM components plus goodness knows what else. If it comes down to injunctions against products then Samsung's diversity offers huge protection. Would the loss of the Galaxy range hurt them? Not much. Would the loss of the IOS range hurt Apple? Yes. Apple will shortly realise this and stop acting like dicks.
Can it handle multiple markers for the full-on Blofeld / Architect's lair experience? I'm sure Sony would be happy to sell me 40 tellies but I'd want to see how it looks first.
Or even better, can the marker be rotated to preview what the telly will look like faced towards the wall (which is the best orientation for it anyway)?
How about printing out a giant market and photographing it from the air?
Should Twitter, Google and their customers (ie the advertisers, not you) really be that interested in people who are too stupid to type in a proper URL?
I become really depressed at the weekend when I witnessed somebody I know to be a constant facebook user start IE and get to the facebook site by typing "facebook" into Google (it's her home page) and clicking on the first link. That was stupid enough but this URL shortening thing looks even worse - how is it actually going to make anything easier for anyone? What exactly is wrong with remembering and/or bookmarking some proper URLs anyway?
That's nice. So what sort of discount did you get and did IBM get at all awkward about this "asset" (whose asset is it at that point anyway?) when you went forth?
... so IBMers will be able to pay for their work machine instead of having their employer pay for it? Awesome.
(IBM's HR department seemed quite upset when I turned down a job offer from them some years ago. There were things in the employment contract I really disliked.)
... without all the uninstallable shovelware it comes with. If I want twitter (I don't) or maps (I do) then I'll install the latest version from the market and not lose several meg of precious flash storage to the factory-installed version whenever it needs updating. This would alleviate the limitations of onboard flash if that's really what was preventing Gingerbread + Sense.
Is the Shovelware still a feature of later HTC androids?
I always assumed it was supposed to be the plural of ovum (even though the plural of ovum is ova) and was intended to allude to new birth and future possibilities.
On reflection I guess "Door" is probably better than "Eggs". Sorry it didn't work out.
Anyone using a mobile device will care about startup time, because leaving the application running all the time isn't a sensible option. I (still) use a linux netbook and the long pause between clicking the Firefox launcher and being able to do anything really grates. FF on my Android device has a similarly annoying pause.
I agree about ABP being a requirement though - it's the main reason I haven't switched to Opera on those devices.
Register
108 posts • joined Monday 23rd April 2007 16:13 GMT
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HHGTTG
"The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive—you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program."
Spot on yet again Mr Adams.
Re: Simplest explanation
I had no idea Vauxhall fanboys existed. I guess they don't know any better.
Re: Not quite on topic
"... can anyone tell me why anyone thinks FB is worth a squillion dollars?"
Yes: some people are frigging idiots.
Re: Simplest explanation
"The Vauxhall Corsa: for people who don't know any better!"
Larry Kim is wrong.
"Think about most banner ads: they have rich media and flash or video. These are all the things that would compel someone to
want to click on an ad.use an ad blocker."Fixed for you.
Re: Can we please...
Shhh, for pity's sake....
Re: Power Calcs
I think '37 billion kWh per year' is actually a clumsy way of expressing power.
Chrome is cuckooware
Chrome has been installed to my PC without permission at least three times in the last year, each time during installation of something else I actually wanted. I have manually removed it each time and told Google to f*** off in the but-why-don't-you-want-our-lovely-browser uninstaller feedback form - Software that behaves like this is malware.
The average normal pc user is not into browser preferences, javascript benchmarks or monopoly politics, they just try to go along with whatever the infernal machine presents them with. I bet a lot of Chrome's usage figures are down to "normal" people just sighing and accepting the different-looking browser that's been plonked in front of them.
(big smile because I'm one of the Opera-using weirdos.)
My personal experience...
I've wasted many many hours on shoot'em-ups. I and some friends went clay pidgeon shooting for the first time last weekend. At the time it felt a lot like camping in UT and I scored second highest in the group, just behind someone with previous experience in shooting things, so I can believe there's something in this report.
Caveat: the kick from the shotgun wasn't a big deal. I've had goes with handguns in the past (a 9mm and something bigger, I think it was a 45) and they weren't at all like UT.
Thumbs-up 'coz guns are awesome.
Re: Ceefax nostalgia...
Not Essex - the event I'm thinking of took place in a cricket club in Buckinghamshire. That's quite enough information for anyone who remembers the event to recognise it.
I'm fascinated to learn that other people have had a reading-about-a-local-murder-on-Ceefax experience.
This post has been deleted by its author
Ceefax nostalgia...
One sunday morning in the Autumn of '92 I woke up in my grotty student digs, blearily made coffee, staggered to the telly in the lounge to peruse the headlines, and discovered an ex-schoolmate had been arrested for killing someone with a machete.
Happy times.
Re: Proper PC version please!!!
"You did play the game with the extra 2GB or so of high-res assets you can download, right?"
I did exactly that with the single-player campaign over the Easter break, having previously waddled through it on my previous XP DX9 machine. To be honest I didn't notice any difference (and yes, I did check several times that the HD textures / DX11 were turned on and that all settings were maxed out).
I'm dismayed to learn that episode two's rubbish story is being continued - are Crytek trying to emulate the random nonsense underpinning the Resident Evil series?
No nanosuit icon so this will have to do.
I can beat that
I once saw something in a Birmingham tat shop advertised as "Similar to a product seen on TV". I'm afraid I can't remember what it was.
@AC
" I would view "X worked for Y from A till B." as the worst possible reference possible."
Some companies are so paranoid they won't say anything bad or good about the ex-employee, in case giving praise could result in legal problems at a later date. The result is the sort of pointless XYAB statement described above. The reason for this is companies do not have souls and couldn't give a monkey's about ex-workers.
All of my ex-employers have either gone bust or rendered themselves untraceable from my CV
through rebranding, takeovers, or simple relocation, so a prospective employer would have a difficult job finding anyone able to supply a reference anyway.
Precedent...
In the early nineties, when I and my college mates were trying to blag ourselves industrial placements, a certain well-known company demanded all applicants supply details of their drinking habits. A lot of us decided not to bother with them on the grounds it wasn't any of their business.
Unfortunately most big companies regard their employees as chattel and always have done. Don't encourage them.
Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace
Sixteen years after the event I still bitterly regret sitting through the thing.
Re: Second Suspicion
Stella going down well is it?
Best ending ever?
Impossible Mission. Commodore 64. Mid-eighties.
(Beach Head was pretty cool too.)
@Use?
Learn to code (if you were previously unable to afford a machine).
Put together a browsing machine to hang off the back of your big telly without annoying you with fans or excessive power drain.
Run a very low power home web server or torrent machine.
Have fun and expand ones idea of what computers are beyond the frankly rather tedious Wintel view.
The next big thing (heck, I don't claim to know everything).
Box
Get a cheap project box from Maplin, a tool to dig out the necessary holes and some epoxy or polymorph plastic to fit the board inside (though if only doing one system those three items will nearly double the price).
Thumbs up because there is fun to be had here.
Isn't it obvious?
Rick Mayall in the title role, with Adrian Edmonson portraying Davros.
While we're at it, have the daleks operating out of a flat in Shepherd's Bush.
@grammar check
That wasn't a grammatical error, it was one of vocabulary.
Even worse...
How long before some idiot attempts to run Angry Birds on it?
The logical outcome...
2015: Nokia downsizes into a patent troll and bounces back to profitability.
Developed by facebook?
All queries return the result "lol".
Hammer time.
4:4 ratio screen?
That would make it a square wouldn't it? Come on guys, try harder.
"One still ships with every mobe"
I recently bought a very cheap and nasty unlocked backup phone (a bluechip bc500 IIRC) that came brand new with a usb connector and no charger. The charger wasn't missing, there was no space for one in the box. I already had wall and car chargers that work fine with it, so no problem.
Makes sense - I'd rather have something with a common connector (and a couple of quid off the retail price) then have to keep and search for yet another proprietary cable.
Samsung's big advantage...
Apple produce about a dozen (omitting various configurations) consumer - targeted products. Samsung produce hundreds of consumer-oriented products plus hundreds of OEM components plus goodness knows what else. If it comes down to injunctions against products then Samsung's diversity offers huge protection. Would the loss of the Galaxy range hurt them? Not much. Would the loss of the IOS range hurt Apple? Yes. Apple will shortly realise this and stop acting like dicks.
Just as well it didn't work...
I'm imagining a pimply visage with a perfectly rectangular clear patch across one cheek.
Or are you supposed to run it on an ipad for full-face treatment?
Fun possibilities...
Can it handle multiple markers for the full-on Blofeld / Architect's lair experience? I'm sure Sony would be happy to sell me 40 tellies but I'd want to see how it looks first.
Or even better, can the marker be rotated to preview what the telly will look like faced towards the wall (which is the best orientation for it anyway)?
How about printing out a giant market and photographing it from the air?
Perhaps I should get a life.
@Real life lions..
They are copies (of other lions). They are just imperfect copies.
(Your caveats still apply.)
More sloppy stupid dumbing down
Should Twitter, Google and their customers (ie the advertisers, not you) really be that interested in people who are too stupid to type in a proper URL?
I become really depressed at the weekend when I witnessed somebody I know to be a constant facebook user start IE and get to the facebook site by typing "facebook" into Google (it's her home page) and clicking on the first link. That was stupid enough but this URL shortening thing looks even worse - how is it actually going to make anything easier for anyone? What exactly is wrong with remembering and/or bookmarking some proper URLs anyway?
@AC with discounted MBP...
That's nice. So what sort of discount did you get and did IBM get at all awkward about this "asset" (whose asset is it at that point anyway?) when you went forth?
Not flaming you at all, I'm genuinely curious...
Cool...
... so IBMers will be able to pay for their work machine instead of having their employer pay for it? Awesome.
(IBM's HR department seemed quite upset when I turned down a job offer from them some years ago. There were things in the employment contract I really disliked.)
I can't wait...
... to see what functionality has been removed from this version.
Horridbloke likes this
roflmao
The Desire would be so much better...
... without all the uninstallable shovelware it comes with. If I want twitter (I don't) or maps (I do) then I'll install the latest version from the market and not lose several meg of precious flash storage to the factory-installed version whenever it needs updating. This would alleviate the limitations of onboard flash if that's really what was preventing Gingerbread + Sense.
Is the Shovelware still a feature of later HTC androids?
Now the factory's rid itself of those pesky vermin...
... just what is it getting to?
(Hope the affected recover swiftly though.)
@AC 15:37
What's a "C Drive"?
I'm not condoning illegal acts...
... but patent trolls are going to inspire and be targeted by a new breed of activist at some point, probably someone a lot nastier than Anonymous.
Gimp, because that's what they are.
"Ricoh's boast is a mite hollow."
No it isn't. If other techs exist and this beats them then that's progress and the developer has every right to boast.
Oh, is that what it meant?
I always assumed it was supposed to be the plural of ovum (even though the plural of ovum is ova) and was intended to allude to new birth and future possibilities.
On reflection I guess "Door" is probably better than "Eggs". Sorry it didn't work out.
"...won't be a problem when it's new and under warranty..."
Yes it will, because the failure may result in property damage (goodbye no-claims discount) , injury or loss of life. That would suck.
Terminator, for obvious reasons.
Mobile devices
Anyone using a mobile device will care about startup time, because leaving the application running all the time isn't a sensible option. I (still) use a linux netbook and the long pause between clicking the Firefox launcher and being able to do anything really grates. FF on my Android device has a similarly annoying pause.
I agree about ABP being a requirement though - it's the main reason I haven't switched to Opera on those devices.
See icon
That is all.
Employee benefits
Can the packaging be safely eaten? Will Dell be offering a choice of flavours or at least a satchet of soy sauce in the near future?
Paris because {TODO: insert double-entendre}
Hello Clarice.
This reminds me of the bit in Silence Of The Lambs where Hannibal Lecter escapes while wearing somebody else's face on top of his own. Truly horrible.
(Yes, I saw the note about the prototype quality and finish. It's still horrible. Plus there appears to be a ****ing fan in the back of it)
Pillock
Does the original alert satisfy the legal definition of libel, ie does Samsung have grounds for legal action?
Bill Gates, because he knows some lawyers.
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