* Posts by Matt

28 publicly visible posts • joined 30 May 2007

Story withdrawn

Matt
Alert

Misread

>>With that in mind, you're advised to approach the list below with extreme caution.

>>Before you do, a couple of points.

I read this as 'Before you do, a couple of pints.'

and its Monday morning.

Microsoft preps IE 8 for the web-challenged

Matt
Boffin

Think about it guys

n.b. If you are in the least bit techie this will be too simple for you, so just go straight to the next post.

Most people seem to get it (but want a moan anyway - fair enough I may join you!) but some people seem to forget: Most websites have different code depending on what web browser you are running (Usually small stuff in css). This tends to be standards compliant code for FF etc and 'broken' code for IE, which IE would then display correctly.

So the people who say that sites look the same in IE7 and FF, so IE8 is to blame are missing the point, they may look the same but are using different code. IE8 comes along, the website gives it the 'broken' code, and it doesn't know how to show it, where as IE7 did.

The problem is when the IE specific code was written it only check that the user was running IE, but didn't look at the version (I mean come-on, how many of us thought IE would ever be standards compliant?)

I was going to suggest the easiest solution would be to change the useragent to something else (no not FF, but something unique) but then reaslised that that would break all the sites that are currently IE only! (Plus this would only work if IE8 *really* is standards compliant!)

I can't think of any easy way to solve this (other than don't release IE 8) I thinks its just a case of release it, wait for the uptake and websites will gradually change.

As others have noted it will be painful, but in the end will be a good thing. (If only people would stop using really outdated versions!)

Teen hacker confesses three-year crime spree

Matt
Unhappy

re: "On at least several occasions"

>> He must be laughing from his double-bed-with-xbox cell.

I doubt his prison cell would have an x-box, been reading the Daily Mail for too long prehaps?

and I wouldn't be laughing if I was in a prison cell with a double bed!

UK's 'secure' child protection database will be open to one million

Matt
Joke

Re: Tis rubbish I tell thee !

>> No they wont, IT staff will not have access, only working, approved practioners.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Hotmail users bitch and moan about new interface

Matt
Unhappy

Dont like it

My main complaint about hotmail is is the fact that the new look is shit. and it keeps 'swallowing' legitimate emails, not even putting them in the junk folder.

My two main complaints about hotmail is fact that the new look is shit and it keeps 'swallowing' legitimate emails, not even putting them in the junk folder. and increasing amounts of junk mail keeps making it to me inbox.

My three...

Noel Edmonds defies BBC's jackbooted enforcers

Matt
Dead Vulture

Ok then

There is no IT angle to this story. What is it doing here? I am removing The Register from my bookmarks. Please cancel my subscription. I am also dissatisfied with today's weather. Please make the weather the way I like it. Goodbye.

Microsoft's IE 8 puts giant web hole on notice

Matt
Joke

re:Tim

Yes, you've been using it for years, along with 4 other people!

Woman finds Lithuanian living in shed

Matt
Boffin

Tv Licence

I could be wrong but presuming she had a TV licence he wouldn't have needed one as one licence covers the whole property.

Mobe operators warn of ruin if regulators set roaming charges

Matt
Alert

Bad Lanuguage

Mobe? Bloody MOBE!!!!

Jacqui Smith kick-starts yoof ID debate site, site kick stops

Matt
Happy

Propaganda?

How can anyone call this a propaganda site? When I looked I couldn't see anything pro id cards

Random number bug blights FreeBSD

Matt
Boffin

re: Interesting how you can fit the numbers 0-9 on a 3x3 keypad....

Please! Everyone knows 3 isn't random...

The true random numbers, in no particular order, are: 012456789.

(Actually I think there should be an ampersand in there somewhere as well)

Second jellyfish pack moves on UK

Matt
Alert

Re: Organic, self healing breast implants?

Yeah but would you want to give one a grope?

Animal rights activist hit with RIPA key decrypt demand

Matt
Paris Hilton

@Brett

You also like looking at Paris Hilton?

Disability law can protect alcoholic workers

Matt
Flame

choosing disability?

Does that mean someone in a wheelchair isn't disabled because they chose to cross the road without looking?

Not looking to start a flame war but there is a major difference between someone who chooses to have a drink / get drunk and someone who is addicted to / dependant upon alcohol!

I don't think addictions are disabilities but (effectively) saying you choose to become an alcoholic is just plain ridiculous!

With one bound, Apple is free of 54 security bugs

Matt
Heart

re: Don't "journalists" get fired for such BS?

>> Next, the trojan requires the user to enter his admin password. Yeah, that's really a port trojan. *shakes head*

err isn't that *exactly* what a trojan is? a piece of software that convinces you to run it (usually with admin privs) and then does something other than what it claims (usually bad)?

How was the article in any way 'bs' or unethical?

This seems to be a typical fanboi post: When Windows has a problem it's because Microsoft is crap ... when OSX has the same problem its because the user is stupid (hang on maybe that last bit's not so inaccurate...)

Sierra Leone launches 'Operation Wash Lunatics'

Matt
Joke

Lunatics

Was I the only one who read the title as 'Welsh Lunatics'?

I wondered if a bunch of sheep had gone missing in Sierra Leone.

Italian court rules against HP on pre-installed Windows

Matt
Thumb Up

re: What?

The EULA is for each piece of software, you have to agree to each EULA separately (I.E. they you can agree to one and not the other) and it sounds like they refused to refund for users returning some software in accordance with its EULA. It seems simple enough to me and apparently the judge agrees.

Good to see a judge making a sensible decision, even if they are Italian!

World's most gullible supermarket chain falls victim to online scam

Matt
Alert

re: DKIM for identity anyone ?

>its what paypal use to prevent fraud

Hahahahaha! paypal ... *prevent* fraud! thats started my morning off with a good laugh.

UK small biz pleads with gov for more support

Matt
Coat

re: really?

> Home-based businesses employ 28 per cent of the the total workforce???

Yep, thats a lot of 'professional' ebayers!

The first rule of Reg Club is...

Matt
Thumb Up

re: What about the "Fry takedown"?

>If you can quote Stephen Fry to support your argument, you have hereby nuked all possible opposition and the discussion is over.

--

What about if you can quote Philip J Fry, or even Dr. Zoidberg?

Ex-astronaut offers apologies, Huggies to 'love-rival'

Matt

Was that intentional?

Yes

Behind the Apple vs Universal breakup

Matt

Audio Home Recording Act

When refering to law can you please state which country it is from? The Audio Home Recording Act is a peice of American legislation but you don't mention this, remember this is primarily a Brit site, but it is read by people from all over the world so please bear this is mind when writing atricles for El Reg!

Ta

BBC Trust to hear open sourcers' iPlayer gripes

Matt

Re: 92% do not use Windows *XP* (but 8% do?)

"(Incidentally, for anyone under the suspicion that there is someone with a split personality disorder posting, here there are actually two seperate "Matt"s.)" - No there isn't - I'm in your head.

I agree that the BBC should not be in the business of forcing one choice over the other, but you must recognise that they are limited to their choice by legal obligations, and they have chosen the way they believe gets the service, in a legal manner, to the greatest number of people.

A number of people have said scrap DRM because it is easily possible to get the latest Dr Who HD episode DRM free, but just because it is possible (to do so illegally) doesn't mean you should also expect the BBC to behave in such a manner.

The whole argument appears to boil down to this:

BBC: We are trailing this way of letting approx. 80% of licence fee holders download some of our content.

Linux/Mac Users: But we want it too!

BBC: I know, and we will keep trying but can't atm because of DRM issues on your OSs.

L/M: We want it DRM free!

BBC: Err, thing is we have legal obligations so we need DRM

L/M: WANT WANT WANT!

BBC: Sorry kids, what can I say? Its got to have DRM

L/M: Well I can d/l a better quality verson DRM free anyway, so I wouldn't use your iPlayer anyway. neyah!

BBC: Well that is illegal, and while people may look the other way when a few home users do that if we, a large corporation closely allied to the UK Govt who we rely on for funding, were to do the same, it may have more serious repercussions, so you see its not really quite as simple as just giving all of this content away!

L/M: Its the principle at stake, we want it now, and for free!

BBC: As we said before, we are restricted by our legal obligations but will try…

L/M: U R the EViL, BBC Suxors, U R in bed with micro$oft!!!1

Bill Gates (Possibly in some kind of darkened room, with his fingers pressed together Mr Burns stylee): Excellent!

(this is how it happened in my head)

Matt

Very tall aerials!

>Don't tell me, they can purchase the necessary parts and schematics to build a very tall aerial.

lol, I kinda like that idea, keeping up with the Jones's: "My aerials taller than yours!"

Matt

92% do not use Windows *XP*

Mah apologies,

81% then.

Obv, this is only as recorded by thecounter.com (which I would think gives a better x-section of users than w3schools!), and is International stats, not just the UK.

p.s. They also list Firefox as holding steady at about 12-13%, quite a far cry from w3schools 33ish% (w3schools tends to have more technically minded ppl who also tend to vary their choice of browser)

Matt

Most of these comments are missing the point

When you pay your licence fee you are paying for the right to receive the (various) BBC broadcasts, It is no longer your money, you do not get to specify how it is spent (there are various oversight groups to do this - not you!) When a program is broadcast you have the right to view it or record it and watch it once later (I believe this is correct) you do not have the right to watch it repeatedly forever. (If you later buy it on DVD you can obviously watch it as much as you want!)

If you have a computer connected to the internet it is not required to be covered by a TV licence unless you intend to use it to watch TV (remember workplaces buying licences for the world cup?)

If the beeb wants to make programmes available over the web (and it does, if you disagree with this stance then complain to the BBC, leaving comments on el reg etc demanding licence fee refunds makes you sound like a petulant child) then it is required to use some form of DRM to protect the copyright holders.

No DRM isn't perfect but it will dissuade most, and anyone who puts the effort into breaking it knows they are breaking the law and may be punished accordingly. Just because it can be broken doesn't mean its pointless (Your house can probably be easily broken in to, but I bet you close your windows and lock the door before you go out, don't you?)

Under the licence fee you are not guaranteed the right to access these internet broadcasts (possible exception: if the broadcast is exclusively internet based - I don’t know) Therefore Alexander Hanff’s comment 'It doesn't matter a crap if it is broadcast TV or not, I pay for it, therefore I have the right to access it, period.' is incorrect as is his statement 'They are the facts, whether you like it or not.'.

Remember this is only beta and they have chosen to first roll out the service to the 90% odd of people who can receive it (reasoning: http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2007/July/os.php, about 92% of people use windows, therefore have access to IE, therefore can use this service). This makes sense people, they have a duty to do the best they can for the most licence fee payers. I am willing to bet that the BBC has done their research while looking into the possibility of providing these *extra* services on Linux and Mac and they have not ruled out either, just said not yet, because they are limited by their legal obligations.

If the OSC does take them to eurocourt and this is branded anti-competitive then the beeb will probably withdraw the service altogether, and we all lose.

Matt

We're not all trolls

And to some of the earlier posters, just because somebody disagrees with you does not make them a troll / microsoft employee.

If you label someone a troll this does not mean you get to ignore their comments, esp if they raise a good point that you don't have an argument against (this is not just limited to this thread).

Also if someone has a good point, but it is illistrated with poor examples then just ripping their examples apart does not invalidate their point (presuming some good examples exist...)

and finally thread this is about the BBC's iPlayer (from what I hear is a POS anyway) only running on windows during its beta release. It is not Windows vs. Linux, no one cares which OS you think is best. Not here anyways.

Tesco's old timers get yoof slang pamphlet

Matt

Typical moaning from the old farts

The English language has, lets face it, always changed, and it always will and for this reason there is no such thing as speaking properly, old words die, new ones are created all the time! (http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/quiz for example) Do you think 100 years ago the way you speak you have been considered 'proper', of course not!

Language changes for a number or reasons: regional dialects merging / immigration / exposure to other cultures, getting around limitations of the language, adapting to new mediums (IM / Text speak) and of course identity / community (ghetto or 'leet speak (back in the '90s)), or just because people hear a new word and they like it!

Although it may be true that with the spread of globalisation that this is speeding up / more noticeable.

But it seems to most of the people on this site anyone under the age of 30 who speaks differently is a lazy, self-absorbed, low achieving criminal, then complain about a lack of respect! (Do you post a lot on HYS on the beeb? If not you should take a look, I think you'd like it)

Kinda (slang alert!) reminds me of Family Guy:

"Hey, why do you cops always have to harsh our buzz?"

"He used a teenage colloquialism; Break out the tear gas."

But as noted by other posts the idea of a single guide to lazy-drunk-violent-yoof-speak is fundementally flawed as, guess what, different groups of lazy-drunk-violent-yoofs speak differently!

Although I do love the idea of the daughters making up words - Trying to remember the Blackadder episode where he met the guy who compiled the first dictionary!