* Posts by Jason Harvey

163 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Jun 2007

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Microsoft draws fire for taxpayer handout

Jason Harvey
Stop

wait...

planting trees on a bridge? WTF? they're going to plant trees that grow on a bridge that has limited depth which will eventually mean that the trees roots will destroy the bridge. I think the design needs a rethink (if the picture provided is anything to go on).

'Big Brother' - the price of self-driving cars

Jason Harvey
Black Helicopters

Ghost in the Shell?

cars are still driven by the driver, but have options for computer controlled driving. The authorities however can track any vehicle on the road. Handy for tracking down rogues of any nature (including the ones that are employed by the authorities).

The helicopters are gathering...

US mums sue anti-sexting crusader

Jason Harvey
Black Helicopters

where's the parents?

why the parents are allowing their kids to have "camera" phones is an interesting avenue to pursue here. There are still phones on the market that do not have cameras. This would still allow for texting and calls, but prevent the casual picture taking that leads to sexting. The pure text messages with explicit content I would think would fall under freedom of speech laws (unless you're a moral crusader) but lead to a good grounding with parents that actually keep tabs on their kids phone usage. I think the real issue here is that parents need to pay more attention to what their kids are doing and do less catering to their kids wants. But then that's been an increasing issue here in the states since the 50s.

Black helicopter because soon enough the gov will make it a nanny state if it keeps up in this direction.

Microsoft claims IE8 is 'a leap forward in web standards'

Jason Harvey
Thumb Down

bah...

let's all go back to using Mosaic and loading web pages without all the crap. Get rid of flash and get back to basics. When a website requires that you have a quad core and a sli/crossfire gfx setup to load the page without locking up your system for 10-30 seconds, it's gone too far. Remember the day when sites were full of the information you actually expected on the site and was presented to be read rather than make you sit through a few skits or flash presentations before getting to the info.

Text-message hoax threatens death by Wal-Mart

Jason Harvey
Thumb Down

Twilight is out?

Seems I couldn't care less. Whether it's fundies spreading the rumors or some kids that would rather not have a crowd at their own walmart... which sounds more logical than the former, If something were to happen at a walmart, it would be on at least 3 video cameras and the cops would have faces, plates, etc of everyone in view within the hour and probably the perp within a day or two. At least that's what's happened the last few times someone's tried to pull crap at the walmarts in my area.

Microsoft courts enterprises with Windows 7

Jason Harvey
Alert

So MS wants enterprises to upgrade...

in this economy when everyone is cutting costs? I know my workplace runs on systems that average about 7 years old. some are still running windows 98... there's actually one system I know of that runs on a 386 cpu in DOS. our NEWEST systems are a few dual core boxes that only have 512meg of ram. these might be able to run windows 7, but these are not the norm. the norm is single core cpus less than 1GHz with 256megs of ram. I don't think these will run windows 7 faster than Neptune gets around the sun if at all. and I know for a fact that the company isn't going to shell out millions to upgrade all the system to be capable of running windows 7.

in short, MS is smoking some serious dope if they think corps are going to go for windows 7.

Study: Girls still not swarming into sci-tech, dammit

Jason Harvey
Coat

could it be...

that women just don't like hanging around with the nerds and geeks of the STEM industries?

mines the one with the kick me sign stuck to it

Psion countersues Intel in not-netbook spat

Jason Harvey
Coat

Psion?

who's that?

mines the one under the rock

Microsoft: Vista desktop key to life fulfillment

Jason Harvey
Alert

Which computer?

one has a wall-e background that I pieced together myself, another has the autobot logo from the transformers movie (2007) and another has a stock background. icons are generally in order of what was installed last (nice and neat to the left - out of the way of displayed wallpaper).

ooo... I like robots and possibly new technologies. oh gee... anyone that talks to me for more than 5 minutes finds that out.

just for fun, let's all change our backgrounds to that bugger plain grassy hill and make everyone think they're suddenly in pleasantville or some 1984 knock-off.

HP iron still haunted by ghost of Compaq

Jason Harvey
Alert

Sun going the way of Atari?

Will sun end up selling software and not selling hardware?

Windows 7 fast track alarms technical testers

Jason Harvey
Thumb Down

Consumer Test

Microsoft has championed the selling of beta software since MS-DOS 1.0. Ship it and wait for feedback and then fix the bugs and sell the bug-fix versions as new releases. It's a great cash cow.

As far as my test of Windows 7 goes, it won't let me watch videos using containers like matroska (even with the codec installed). WMP just locks up the system completely. These videos work flawlessly in Windows XP. I have no clue about Vista because I don't have a machine with it installed, but considering that Windows 7 is basically Vista 1.5, I would guess that Vista may not be free codec friendly either. But having WMP completely lock the system (no mouse movement, no lock light status changes on the keyboard, no nothing) shows the complete lack of refinement at Microsoft's sweatshops. Why they don't just focus on fixing the problems they've already created instead of breaking things that work or making new problems I'll never understand.

I'd rather have an interface that looks like windows 3.1 on an operating system without the bugs than all this flash and glitz that crashes all the bloody time.

Apple sued over iPhone smooth scrolling

Jason Harvey
Coat

patent '626

experiment 626? aka Stitch?

was it originally programmed to seek urban environments and create chaos?

mine's the one with the red police space cruiser on the back

Facebook hits back at Italian ban

Jason Harvey
Alert

Benito Mussolini the second?

Trying to revive fascism? It all starts with censorship.

You did what? The trials of supporting remote users

Jason Harvey

best one I remember

or worst one... depending on your POV.

I was working in a call center... that lasted 3 weeks. The users weren't the problem though. but I digress.

I didn't actually get this call. But it did happen on my shift. we got many laughs out of this one. we were providing support for some knockoff brand sold on QVC or HSN to people that generally didn't even know what a computer was, much less how to use it. anyhow...

guy calls and says his computer won't turn on. this is actually a normal call. seems the motherboards liked to be reset after shipping and sometimes needed the power button to be held in for 30 seconds to get them to work. no biggy... go down the list.

Support: is the power cord securely in the computer?

User: yes.

Support: what's the power cord plugged into?

user: power strip.

support: what the power strip plugged into?

user: power strip?

support: another power strip?

user: no.

support: ...

support: sir, the power strip does not generate power and needs to be plugged into a wall outlet.

user: *plugs strip into wall and tries power button again* ok... that's got it. it turned on now. thanks. *click*

we got many many laughs out of this one.

Big labels or Google - who is the songwriters' worst enemy?

Jason Harvey
Alert

@all the writer haters

change this to any other industry... like the one you work in... say your job gets outsourced to some other country because the company can get cheaper labor. you're out on your arse now. wouldn't you prefer the company kept you on to do the job you'd been doing for the past 20 years?

no? ok, you can stay on the curb and whine with your "laid off need help" sign. If you want your source of income back, time to get into a different industry or create your own.

The songwriters have had their livelihood taken away due to cost cutting exercises just like millions of others in other industries. The bitter taste in their mouth is haters and whiners telling them it's for their own good. Right. Losing your income and having to do odd jobs is for their good. Sounds like a most ignorant argument if ever I heard one.

California to get 'space age' three-wheel EV

Jason Harvey
Thumb Up

I'd buy one...

if I had a garage to charge it in. I like quirky stuff like this. I like the flying saucer tail lights and jetsons front end look. Room for 15 bags... sounds like plenty of space for a pair of 10" subs (100 mile range reduced to about 80 with a light sound system - still plenty for my usual 25 mile daily jaunts). And it would be great to thumb my nose at the gas station every day.

I'll keep the land yacht for trips though. Let's not be stupid now.

Having to get a motorcycle license for this car may be the wrench in the works for it though.

Seven Japanese poisoned by blowfish 'nads

Jason Harvey
Pirate

death by newt

"The agency notes "at least one report of a fatal episode when an individual swallowed a California newt", but does not elaborate on how this unfortunate incident occurred."

I would think it was something along the lines of...

"dude, I dare you to eat that lizard."

"no way"

"I'll give you a $20"

"ok" *gulp*

Big Blue tops US patent grubber list

Jason Harvey

More patents?

"IBM wanted to point out that its total number of patents was larger than those from Microsoft, HP, Oracle, Apple, EMC, Accenture, and Google combined."

We should also remember that IBM has been around a lot longer than most, if not all, of those companies too.

US doc demands $1.5m for donated organ

Jason Harvey

kidney aside... custody battle from hades?

now the kidney issue may become a leveraging tool to get custody of the kids (or at least good visitation).

And of course there's the issue of "she wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for his selfless act back then". There should be at least some gratitude, even today, on her part.

However, we all know that should and will are two entirely different motivations.

Rock-solid Fedora 10 brings salvation to Ubuntu weary

Jason Harvey
Stop

yes, but does it play mp3s?

or will we be forced to spend some hours/days/... ripping our cd collection into OGG or FLAC to be able to listen in Fedora. This is one of the major reasons I even have Ubuntu on my laptop. I don't have to find work-a-rounds or remove the standard RPM and install a program manually to get mp3 to work. I stopped using Fedora on anything other than my server quite a while back for this one reason, Fedora was a big pain to get media to play.

US senator demands clamp down on Obama ticket touting

Jason Harvey
Flame

Bah... if people want to spend money...

let them. It will probably be televised and you'll get better angles from TV anyhow. Record it off the TV if you want to savor the moment.

that said, I do like the idea of scalping being made illegal for certain venues. Shows catering to children comes to mind. When you have to pay 4 and 5 times the ticket price to get a seat at a popular kid show because scalpers bought up all the tickets, the scalpers should be held accountable. It would be very telling for scalpers to get theirs and have none of their tickets sold at an even that has supposedly "sold out" and then have only half an audience.

Microsoft: Windows 7 ready for Christmas 2009

Jason Harvey
Alert

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Stupid!

what? microsoft is keeping it simple?

ok... there really has been some shift in reality... microsoft is actually talking sense!

Run Mac OS X on a PC

Jason Harvey
Joke

Mac: Crash Different

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7148748849652085555

enjoy ;-)

Nokia 6650 clamshell phone

Jason Harvey
Pirate

Nokia Razr V0.5?

sure looks like a Moto Razr

Microsoft promises, fails to keep things simple for partners

Jason Harvey
Coat

friction free

“We want to make it [licensing] as friction-free as we can”

...

Are they planning on using lube on your wallets now?

mine's the one with the empty wallet

Senators push for restrictions on laptop searches

Jason Harvey
Black Helicopters

yet another reason to travel light

mp3 player? laptop?

no, just this old auto-reverse cassette walkman. oh, right... it might have a digital tuner for the FM radio that may not work after Feb 2009... confiscate hidden data in the music recorded on the tape? umm... right. guess I'll be taking just me clothes and toothbrush and using the hotel's/relative's/camp's toiletries. on second thought... screw it all, I'll just go home. No need to spend my money on the airlines.

NASA, USAF in $30m hypersonic boffinry push

Jason Harvey
Coat

to infinity and beyond!

faster... faster...

mines the one with the NASA badge on the shoulder

Electric Mini spied in Munich

Jason Harvey
Happy

Then there's PML's pet project...

http://www.pmlflightlink.com/archive/news_mini.html

The QED Mini. 640hp at the wheels via 4 hub motors that the wheels mount to. Pocket rocket anyone? I wouldn't mind PML selling this QED system aftermarket so I could strap it on one of my own cars.

AT&T lifts (deleted) page from Google EULA

Jason Harvey

I wager...

some blurb about keeping on par with the industry. they prolly want to play golf more than pay people to create original content for their advertisements.

Axon takes 100mpg wonder car for a spin

Jason Harvey
Stop

re: Ian Ferguson

one major difference between a motorcycle and the Axom... you get wet one a motorcycle in the rain. oh yeah... and that bit about 4 wheels... and none of them for training.

Beauty contest judge canned for slamming 'munter' contestants

Jason Harvey
Coat

definitely...

some full bodied examples

mine's the one with the build in suspenders

RIM flicks open first clamshell BlackBerry

Jason Harvey
Coat

modeled with legos?

at least that's what I thought of first when I saw that hinge

mines the one with the maniac on the back

My name really is Ivan O'Toole, admits Ivan O'Toole

Jason Harvey

yeah...

I knew a girl names Lisa in high school... last name Moorehead

I work with a guy named Mike Hundt and does go by Mike.

My name was rather the boring thing until the Friday the 13th movies came out.

Skype ignores PayPal siphoning hijack scheme

Jason Harvey
Stop

Paypal has been/is/always will be broken

this is why charge backs via the credit card company are usually the only remedy. And possibly charging them with credit fraud, but then you're out the litigation charges.

Use the free services... get a real phone line for real phone calls. Dump any direct access from paypal to any/all accounts if not just dumping paypal altogether. like someone else already posted... the net is a snake pit (re: thieves den) and you will get bitten even if you're being careful.

British boffins perfect process to make any item '100% waterproof'

Jason Harvey
Boffin

re: Capillary action

umm... this is a property of liquids... the skinny holes that would suck up water will allow air to pass freely since air is a gas. if the holes are too small, then water won't get past without being forced (micron filters) but air still moves through it much easier. you forget the concept of densities. less dense substances move easier than more dense substances. water moves easier than lead and air moves easier than water.

Joss-sticks increase cancer risk: Official

Jason Harvey
Paris Hilton

re: Factored out smoking?

"I've not once been anywhere where there's been incense that hasn't had someone smoking weed in. And that includes shops."

you should get out more then. everyone I know that uses incense sticks doesn't even smoke ciggs much less joints.

Paris cause even she knows to get out and around.

That 'Elderly Persons' sign: Can you do better?

Jason Harvey
Coat

sign meaning?

you mean it's not some warning sign for the yearly physical?

mines the one with the rear guard

US police radios killing trees

Jason Harvey
Stop

re:the old parable & re: how about..

for the bible thumper... check your geography skills again. Plano is north of Dallas. This means that it is not in west Texas. This also means that they get on average about 30 inches of rain a year as opposed to the scant 10-15 inches that west Texas gets. It's still not as much as east Texas at about 40-50 inches. (these number I remember reading in a book in school about 15 years ago and may have varied some since then, but shouldn't be much) The silly part is not where the town is built, but the types of trees that are planted. Are they native trees? or are they trees from wetter climates that are planted just to make things look pretty. If you're gonna scoff, at least scoff on the right points.

for the tap twister... you would have someone go turn the taps on 1200 acres of land every other day? so you would hire an extra 2000 people to turn the taps on 4000-8000 taps every day? (these numbers are sheer guesswork considering how much a regular sprinkler system can actually cover compared to the size of an acre and then multiplied out) talk about your generous waste of money. (not that the sprinkler system wasn't a waste in the first place, but still)

seriously, people need to stop checking their brains at the door when they access the internet.

so scoff at Plano for planting non-native plants that need to be watered instead of actually being intelligent and planting native plants that actually live with the rain that falls in the area. Would have saved them having to install the sprinkler system in the first place.

*gets coat* mines the one with the green thumb and brain on the back (be smart about what you plant) and the scientific calculator in the pocket

Pandora prepares to join titsup.com club

Jason Harvey
Stop

RIAA/etc

funny how they want higher royalty rates to "generate more revenue for the artists" and yet they run the revenue stream out of business and end up with no revenue. Not exactly a sustainable business model.

Malicious gossip could cost you your job

Jason Harvey
Coat

OOO!... let's spread malicious rumors...

about all the politicians and judges and see if they'll stop hiring/electing them to do anything due to the enhanced checks.

mine's the one with the mud slung on the back of it

Yelp 'pay to play' pitch makes shops scream for help

Jason Harvey
Stop

another 2.0 company that started with a good idea

but is now going to run it into the ground by not following their own procedures.

note to all you 2.0 freaks and people worried about on-line reviews. people lie. and when they do, do like rugs. the good part about it is that you then get to step on them.

best to ignore the obnoxious and it seems yelp is falling into that category.

Best Buy helps Apple put an iPhone under every tree

Jason Harvey
Flame

re: best buy by Isamu

"just as useless"

no joke. I have spent some duly unnecessary time fixing computers that geek squad "fixed" for family and friends.

Note to geek squad: format and reinstall is NOT the fix all. sometimes you actually have to test things and find the real problem. I always tell people to avoid geek squad like the plague unless you have a complete backup of everything and your kit is under warranty for a free fix. That's the only time that their price point wins against me. and yes, I do charge folks for my time.

AVG update nails down stability bugs

Jason Harvey
Pirate

Did they fix the bloat?

nope... still too fat for my system. AVG was good before they bloated up. Avast takes care of viruses and ad/spyware and works as well as AVG 7.5 did. so until AVG trims the fat... Avast me hardies! I be usin Avast on me PC.

Intel feeds Portuguese 500,000 Classmate laptops

Jason Harvey

lack of cooperation by Intel

nothing more, nothing less... business as usual for chipzilla

Sutton Police bribe kids to behave

Jason Harvey
Stop

obesity epidemic

"This has some local papers to warn of an impending police-fuelled child obesity epidemic."

umm... once a month does not an epidemic make. if it was every day, then yeah. But not once a month. those local papers just want some alarmist news to sell papers. and they wonder why people are always dissing the media for the way they report stuff. id-ten-t... the lot of 'em.

Sony to sell 80GB PS3 at 40GB price

Jason Harvey

40gig drives must be getting harder to source

seems to be the logical conclusion at least

Zero day Word flaw exploited by Trojan

Jason Harvey
Coat

@AC

stop arguing with yourself *too funny to see AC as the poster on each post*

/snags coat and leaves before the ACs split personalities converge.

EMC CEO's ego has cost investors billions

Jason Harvey
Coat

user=ID ten T

I wonder if this is in Tucci's config.sys file at work.

If not, it may be user=PEBKAC

mine's the one with the KTHXBYE on the back

Mario Puzo's son sues Paramount over Godfather royalties

Jason Harvey

business as usual

gotta sue somebody

AMD CPU shoot-out: Phenom X3 and X4

Jason Harvey
Flame

Reviewer biased in chipzilla's favor

disabling the TLB fix for the B3 chips would give proper results. leaving this enabled shows only sheer bias in Intel's favor. Go back to benchmark school!

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