* Posts by Chris

107 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Jun 2007

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Wi-Fi Beeb viewing may break law

Chris
Unhappy

Wow.

Just wow. It's times like this I'm glad I don't live in the UK. You have a license, but you're breaking the law if you plug your phone in to power outside of your house and watch a BBC provided service on it. Seriously, wtf is that? You pay your monies, but you can't watch the shows - and not only that, it's a CRIMINAL offense?

Just wow.

Satanic net neologisms - nominations invited

Chris

Most hated word?

RIM - As in, send a message via blackberry to another blackberry user. Pronounced just like it looks. I grew to hate it when working in retail and managers were constantly saying things like "I'll RIM the GM" or "Loss Prevention just RIMed me."

Still sending naked email? Get your protection here

Chris

Biggest problem..

Is that it is a two way street. Not only do you need the people you send emails to to encrypt them, you need them to be able to decrypt yours. As much as I'd love all my casual emails to be encrypted - the people I'm sending them too don't know anything about encrypting.

Study clears cannabis of schizophrenia rap

Chris

I know someone..

Who smokes an extremely large amount of pot every day. Like.. a lot. I smoke occasionally on the weekends, and I've had him over - he smokes so much pot, you can't see in the room anymore, and he's still nearly sober. He smokes up, then goes to work. In roofing and carpentry. He works 12 hour days high, and does a better job then anyone else I've known. It's fucking insane.

On the flip side, I know another, older lady, who has really bad arthritis (who was an alcoholic, but can't drink because of the meds) who smokes a very large amount every day, and is basically a lay around vegetable.

It's all in moderation, or body chemistry. I choose to moderate, just like people who might have a drink on fridays after work. I tend to lay on my couch, eat some chips, and watch movies or play video games. On monday, I get up for work and school with no problems.

Oh, and my depression? Had it for years, don't really have it anymore after I started smoking. Because I can have that day to zone out at the end of the week and recharge, not stress, etc.

Porn breath tests for PCs heralds 'stop and scan'

Chris

Border Controls

Border controls trump privacy (at least in the US). There is nothing preventing me from having a freely downloadable Nova documentary that is in fact a truecrypt partition containing a gig or so of anything I want.

However, most pedo's don't think they will be caught, and don't hide the stuff very well.

Run Mac OS X on a PC

Chris

Yes, you can install in VMware

I've done it using the hacked disks that you would use to install on a PC. The only issue (that was unsolved as of a year ago) is that there is no VMware tools for it, thus, the mouse response sucks, there is no sound, and a few other annoyances. There may be an update now that VMware Fusion can succesfully and officially run OS X Server (and runs it very well).

'Podestrian' risk rising for drivers, warns insurer

Chris
Thumb Up

Probably deserved it.

I have an iPod, and I have noise canceling headphones. Guess what? I still look before I walk in to the fucking street. These idiots deserve to be hit. A little chlorine in the gene pool would go a long way.

"I'm Chris Taylor, and I endorse this message."

Tiny MyCar named electric vehicle of the year

Chris
Thumb Up

@Jacob Lipman

Finally! Some one is able to come up with an intelligent post on nuclear power. I go to university, so I get to mingle with all the dumb ass hippies that think all the worlds problems can be solved by being vegan and wearing hemp clothes. They bitch about oil, and if you mention nuclear, they break out the rope and light the torches. I'm so sick of it.

Nokia creates Indoor Positioning

Chris

Cool..

does this mean we can finally get a transponder to put on someone, and have not only a blip on a screen showing distance, but the cool 3d effects of showing the floor plan and what not? I've always wanted that.

David Blaine does a Benito Mussolini

Chris

RE: Nemu Metis

Heh, witches weren't actually burned in Salem. They were hung. Witches were only burned in europe.

Timberland pays $7m to settle SMS spam lawsuit

Chris

@AC

Yes, paying to receive texts is stupid. But americans are used to being screwed when it comes to cellphones. It's worse here in Canada - there is only one provider that even uses SIM cards.

Apple 2G iPod Touch

Chris

@GPS people

Wouldn't GPS be.. sort of useless on an ipod? Sure, if you are in a building, or at a cafe or something you might get a wifi signal, but on the whole are you really in wifi that often where you don't know where you are? What I'd like is a way to download and cache maps for an entire city. I have a 16gb iPod touch, and quite honestly, I only listen to about 4gb of music at any given time. Let me cache the various zoom levels of google maps and use them while out and about. I realize there is (was?) a jailbreak way to do this, but it was no where near user friendly.

4GB fourth-gen iPod Nano confirmed

Chris

It may be €140..

But you can bet that it will be £170 - you know, to line up with the American pricing.

Epilepsy tests delay PS3 videogame launch

Chris
Pirate

Bah!

Some mother wants to ban something? STOP THE PRESSES!

Slap a big warning on it (like on cigs, and booze, and cars and shit) and be done with it.

"WARNING: This product is known to the state of California to not only cause Cancer, but to inflict epilepsy, and fund terrorism."

Bill seeks guidelines for US laptop searches

Chris

Come to Canada

We like tourists! We don't search and seize everything you own on the off chance it might contain a drawn image of a hentai female that may possibly be a few days under 18!

Plus, we're about to vote Harper (Bush Jr.) out of office! GIVE US YOUR MONIES!

Anonymous hacks Sarah Palin's Yahoo! account

Chris
Thumb Up

@Very Stupid and Sad

There was much brouhaha about Palin and others using personal email accounts for state business, in order to avoid being on the public record about it. This sort of thing is needed to keep politicians honest(ish).

There is also the whole... doing state business on a Yahoo! account that anyone can reset the password by simply knowing your Zip code and your D.O.B. - stupid, and possibly illegal.

One hopes Obama and crew have better password security.

Apple channels Pandora with iTunes 8

Chris

Interesting.

The Genius playlist needs a bit of work, but I'll assume it will get better. It whipped up a nice emo playlist for me so..

As far as the headphones, the original ipod headphones are crap. I've heard worse, but they are bad. You can get a set of skullcandy in ear headphones for about $30, and they work really really well. If you want really good phones, the Shure line are fantastic, but I don't like the sound isolation as I travel with my wife, and they are a bitch to get in properly, only to have to take them out to hear anything the missus has to say.

Now, if you really want good headphones - you go with Bose, the QC2 noise cancelling headphones. I wear them on the bus everyday and they still make my jaw drop.

Sapphire 4850 Toxic graphics card

Chris

Runs scary hot at 90?

Man, I guess I should have been worried at my x1950 when it would run at 120C+ during gaming.

Senator saves YouTube from al Qaeda

Chris
Pirate

I'm genuinely confused..

In order to "recruit" someone, wouldn't you want to give them a way to talk to you? IE, you have a promo video advertising 'Jihadi Kamp for Kids!!!', but if they can't actually sign up for the service (Ie, go to iraq and train and what not) what good is the video?

Terrorist propaganda is free speech, and all the graphic stuff gets taken down anyway.. and, are there really that many videos there that advertise how to make a bomb, train assassin ninja squirrels, and tell you how to snipe?

Eye-o-Sauron™ poked out by Great Wall of America

Chris

Heheh..

I distinctly remember one of the major companies that was contracted to build the wall was... fined for using illegal mexican immigrants to build it. The irony was not lost on the mexican labourers that were interviewed.

Sony e-book reader to debut in UK tomorrow

Chris

My opinion..

is I want to see this in action. It's the same with HD, and with the iPhone/multitouch. A review can't really tell you the whole experience, you need to see and touch it to really understand if it is good for you. Most of us can't conceptualize a digital display that looks exactly like paper - because we've never seen it. We may have an idea what it would be like, but we don't know.

I haven't had any hands on time with any e-ink device, but I did see a sony reader at one point in a store at an airport.. and I honestly thought the device was a mockup until someone turned the page. The display is really good - all that aside I still need some time with it to decide if I want one.

3,400 votes vanish from Florida election

Chris

Wait.. a special compromise?

TO NOT COUNT VOTES?!? What the fuck? What is it snoop dogg says? VOTE OR DIE!

I mean, I knew elections were sleazy.. but to actually have an agreement to not count 700 votes? Ugh. Florida needs to be evicted from the US.. maybe we can make it a British territory again.

Owner alleges iPhone 3G became red hot

Chris

I don't know..

I've had my iphone freeze while doing something - and get quite warm, but never anywhere near hot enough to burn or melt plastic.

That being said, in the age of 30 megapixel digital -webcams-.. there is -no- excuse for a small fuzzy picture of damage. If you can't find anything but another iphone to take a picture of damage.. then tough luck.

Comcast users get UK-style capping, throttling

Chris

I'd be ok with 250gb

I use the internet, and download everything I want, and I average far less then 250Gb a month.. so that, as far as caps go, isn't bad. As long as they don't sell it as unlimited, I'm fine with it. I know the cable company here (Shaw) has an oft non-enforced cap of 100Gb, which may be a bit small - but 250Gb is pretty good.

I'm sorry you brits out there.. 350Mb in 8 hours? That royally sucks. Maybe you guys should have a revolution.

Internet Explorer - now with 35% less FAIL

Chris

@And...

Of course it has 65% more bloat.. where else are they going to store the stuff they aren't "saving" anymore in private mode?

Samsung unwraps MacBook Air beater

Chris

Ugh.

I swear, is Mac the only company that knows how to make a laptop with smooth lines? I like using laptops.. on my lap.. and that shit digs in to my leg. The macbook air is nice, and doesn't hurt to have on your lap.

Sony designs photo frames for the digital age

Chris

Meh..

I'd love a digital photo frame. But so far, I haven't seen any that come anywhere close to looking good, and the 800x600 resolution isn't exactly awe-inspiring. Plus, as much as I -want- to like Sony hardware, it's screwed me time and time again over the years.

Call me when it's 1024x768, or even better, 1280x1024. Modern SLRs take images at several thousandxthousand, and LCDs are cheap. Give me decent quality!

Oh, and have it wireless, with its own local website so I can easily add pictures from my computer, or even remotely from anywhere in the world. That'd be great for sending pictures to loved ones.

BlackBerry clamshell pair leaked online

Chris

GPS -or- wifi?

Please don't tell me this is another phone artificially crippled. You want GPS? No wifi for you!

Ubisoft pirates game fix from pirates

Chris

Yay and stuff, but my question is..

While it is fairly obvious that they took the .exe from Reloaded, I wonder if the hash of the two was exactly the same. If it was, then it is clearly obvious that some employee (who probably owned the game, and cracked it because the DRM sucks ass) just uploaded it. If it is different, then Ubisoft programmers altered the code.

Bagel brownin' Cylon toaster now frakkin' available

Chris

Idiots..

Everyone knows the real money is in JesusFace(tm) toast. Make one, sell it on eBay once a year for $100,000

Apple drags its heels on iPhone security patches

Chris

@Pfft

I could be wrong, but I believe you need to have jailbroken the iphone for that, and installed SSH - which, quite frankly, if you are doing all of that you need to reset the root password. It's more of a flaw with the application that is being installed, and less with the phone.

Airline passengers get (VoIP-free) broadband

Chris

Voip can kiss my ass

No damn VOIP on the plane! As Soaklord so eloquently put it above.

However, if they had this for an over sea flight.. I'd be happy to pay $20 for the 9 hours I will be over the pacific flying to Hawaii this christmas. Even if it means I'd have to lug my laptop.

FCC preps puritanical broadband

Chris

FCC..

I hate the FCC. Bunch of church loving nutjobs. Porn aside, how long till things like.. googling for chemistry related stuff (Terrorits?) isn't family friendly? Or visiting the EEEEVVVIIIIL libertarian websites?

Apple to charge iPod Touch owners for new OS - again

Chris

SOX or not..

..I'll just do what I did with the 1.4 update that gave official mail and what not.. install it via Installer.app.

Police probe pirate-DVD detecting dog's demise

Chris

@Barn

Disks which are able to be burned use a different set of chemicals then ones that are pressed/stamped. The dogs could detect the chemicals. (Although I seem to recall them not being hugely accurate, but what is a couple of false positives when it comes to the EVILS of burning your own disk.)

Google opens Android kimono

Chris

@Can It

I'm sure it can - the real question is - will the operators of the networks allow a phone that does voip? (At least in the US)

Phoenix prepares to flex its muscles

Chris

Re: Colours?

From what I've been able to determine from the NASA site, it's an approximate color image compiled from a picture taken with a violet filter, and one with an infrared filter. I doubt they actually have just a plain color camera on board, as it's not the most useful thing in the world.

FCC boss mulls free* wireless for all

Chris

FCC and content filtering

Of course the FCC love an idea that has content filtering. Got to "Think of the Children"(tm)!

Brit glitterati offered high-flying handset

Chris

Hmmm

Wow, a "designer" phone that doesn't look like shit.

Spammers open new front on social networking sites

Chris
Thumb Up

Fine with me.

Maybe they'll pump less spam to my inbox and more to the social profiles of idiots!

Apple to issue refunds for sparky, prematurely dying products

Chris
Thumb Up

Maybe I got lucky..

I got my first gen ipod.. circa 2001. Lasted till about 2006 of near constant usage. I used it as a music player during the majority of the day (8 hours or so total), then I'd get home and use it as a portable hard drive (woo 5gb!). Finally, in about late 2005, my battery life started dying so that I'd only get about 2 hours a day out of it, and then in early 2006, it became pretty much unusable as the battery would die even while it was off.

I've had many MP3 players in my day, several before the ipod, and several after.. I was always happiest with my ipod. Even iTunes isn't -that- bad, especially compared to the utter shit that is the crap a sony I briefly had, shipped with. (You know the one, sold as an MP3 player, but doesn't support MP3s.. needs to be converted by the SLOWEST algorithm I've ever seen).

I also bought a Samsung video mp3 player, worked ok except for the screen sucked, battery life sucked - but it -was- linux compatible (via a hidden usb drive feature).

Archos takes TV+ box up against Slingbox

Chris

Hmm

I was going to buy one of these (maybe not this exact model, but an archos).. until I realized that I would have to spend another couple hundred dollars in add-ons and upgrades before it did what I wanted. I think I'll pass.

(Charging for an internet browser? f'k off.)

US Navy hands out $1bn robo-plane contract

Chris

Skynet? Only in the UK.

Don't worry! It's the UK that has the Skynet (literally.. who the FUCK names something Skynet?? ESPECIALLY MILITARY!).. and they won't buy from the US anymore.

Pirate Bay-probing cop on Warner Brothers payroll

Chris

Uhh..

Comments are interesting and all.. but what the hell does IMNSHE mean?

Apple pushes past Toshiba in US

Chris

Apple and Vista

Apple must love Vista. It has single handedly sold them so many machines, it's not even funny. Hell, my next machine will be a mac - because I want the gui, unix, and not to have to compile source everytime I want to install an app (over-generalization)

London store brews £50-a-poop cat-crap coffee

Chris
IT Angle

@Old News

2oz of coffee will get you roughly a double-shot of espresso - which is 2-3oz of coffee.

As for this "crap", maybe I'll just take normal drip coffee and infuse it with something rare and expensive.. like hp print ink. $100 a cup sound about right.

(Got your IT angle right here!)

Want to get into 10 Downing Street? Get a Lithuanian ID card

Chris
Unhappy

Oh My

"They were originally arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which restricts political protest within a kilometre of Parliament."

I had realized things were getting bad in the UK, but seriously? You can't protest somewhere that the MPs might hear/see you? You must be terrorists! All of you!

..as much crap gets thrown about the US, at least you can still protest in front of the white house and the congress building. Well.. for now. And here in Canada, our Prime Ministers defend their own home (Or rather, their wives do.. with lamps)

Sharpcast syncs PCs, Macs and mobiles

Chris

Online Backup

Online backup services are nice.. or they would be, if I didn't have a 30KBs cap on my upload over the net. Quick calculation puts that at roughly 18 hours for my 2gb documents.. while slowing the rest of my connection to a crawl. I hate my ISP.

Oregon man stripped by Craigslist looters

Chris
Alien

Translation

"that this is still news this sort of thing is rear enouht that it is news when it happens considering how easy this sort of things is and the *blanked* of some pepol it shows how soild the bases of socity are that this dose not happen every day"

Take heart that this is still newsworthy. It is still rare enough that it will make the news when it happens, and considering how easy this sort of thing is that is surprising. Some people are mind-numbingly stupid when it comes to things like this, and it just goes to show that the base of society is not as solid as we think it is.

Either that or the last part is:

And it is the shocked looks of people that shows how solid the bases of society are that this does not happen every day.

Mozilla CEO blasts Apple for putting security of the internet at risk

Chris
Thumb Down

This is a problem because..

It's trying to dupe users in to installing a different browser. Imagine if Microsoft wrote say.. Windows Media Player for the Mac (or Linux) and assume it was required to use the incredibly popular zune (remember, just imagining here). So millions of computer illiterate people are buying these products and installing the software. Suddenly, and update window pops up and they click "Ok", like every other user - they don't read what it says. Boom, it installed IE4Mac on your machine, claiming it is 3x faster then every other browser, etc. For those people that are trying to defend this, put MS in these shoes and suddenly "ZOMG END OF THE WORLD" and what not.

It's a shady, underhanded way to get people installing crap.

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