* Posts by Norphy

47 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Jan 2012

Come to Five Guys, where the software is as fresh as the burgers... or maybe not

Norphy

If it's running on a till, chances are it's Windows 7 Embedded, which still has another year of support left on it...

Is tech monitoring software still worth talking about?

Norphy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqeGxMgVOHI

Upset Microsoft stashes hard drive encryption keys in OneDrive cloud?

Norphy

Re: Are you sure it's the default?

Look in your device manager. If a TPM is present, there will be a device listed in there for it.

Testing CarPlay with Apple’s most expensive ever accessory

Norphy

Walled garden strikes again

It seems daft that Apple don't seem to be allowing other satnav software manufacturers the keys to the CarPlay kingdom. I use the TomTom app on my iPhone and I'd love to buy a CarPlay ready head unit and have TomTom display on that.

They let music apps on, why not navigation ones too?

Mobile first? Microsoft decides to kneecap its Android users instead

Norphy

On the iOS version of Outlook, you can turn the focused inbox off. Can you not do the same for the Android version?

It's enough to get your back up: Eight dual-bay SOHO NAS boxes

Norphy

Re: Macs can be problematic

iSCSI would be a nice idea but there is no iSCSI initiator baked into OS X and all of the third party ones cost :(

Samsung spins up its latest rusty rotators for release

Norphy

Power

"These M3 and P3 drives draw power through their USB 3.0 connection, which has a maximum 4.8Gbit/s bandwidth."

Will these drives be able to work off a USB 2 port as well? Only reason I ask is that because USB 3 is rated to deliver up to 900ma from a single port rather than the 500ma a USB 2 port can provide. I can see something with five platters really needing it.

RAF Eurofighter gets a Battle of Britain makeover

Norphy

Is there a high resolution version of that second photo anywhere?

Odin (formerly Parallels) bets big on Docker and OpenStack

Norphy

My last Parallels upgrade cost £35. Not exactly top dollar...

Apple taxpayers swarm to stone-age iPhone 6+ purely for the bigness

Norphy

"The iPhone still uses the same stone-age UI it did nine years ago, with only a lick of paint."

Is consistency really such a bad thing? The iPhone's UI works, changing for the sake of change is more annoying to me than having to use an "old" UI.

Public exploit crashes Minecraft servers

Norphy

Re: Poison pill?

It's software. Software has bugs. Yes, they should have fixed the issue when it got reported to them but it doesn't make the software inherently defective.

Microsoft can hardly complain about bugs in acquired software considering some of the bugs that they're responsible for in house.

Force your hand: Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Norphy

Re: no Ethernet

It's the case for any kind of shared internet connection, whether you're on WiFi or not. If 100 people are trying to squeeze all of their internet traffic through a 10mbit pipe, you're going to notice some slowdowns. Using a Cat5 cable to connect to the switch will make no difference in that situation.

Norphy

Re: Wait for the 15"

I'm guessing that he's referring to the fact that the 15" models are quad core and that the quad core broadwells aren't available yet.

Renault Captur: Nobody who knows about cars will buy this

Norphy

"I feel inclined to point out that, since you drive on the other side of the road, having the bonnet release there is perfectly logical. It would be the driver side of any European model."

I drive a Volkswagen. Also made in Europe, in Germany where they drive on the right hand side of the road too. However, the bonnet release catch is on the driver side in my car despite the steering wheel being on the opposite side of where it would be in Germany. The good people at VW obviously took some care to make sure that they tried to make their cars as RHD friendly as possible at the design stage. By the sounds of it, Renault does not (or didn't in the case of that car).

Not adapting your cars to LHD and RHD markets is being lazy, nothing more nothing less.

Apple iPhone 6: Missing sapphire glass screen FAIL explained

Norphy

I may be wrong but as I understand it, while sapphire is considerably more scratch resistant than the glass they're using on the phones at the moment, it is also a lot more brittle and susceptible to cracking. There is a trade off and I suspect (and this is pure speculation on my part) that Apple have chosen durability over scratch resistance.

32,000 motherboards spit passwords in CLEARTEXT!

Norphy

Re: Eh?

I do agree with you but it's not always that simple. There are a lot of boards out there which pipe their IPMI and normal network traffic out over the same network port. If that's the case, you dont' have much choice but to run the management and data on the same LAN.

Unless you stick another NIC in the machine anyway.

Han Solo headed for lengthy stay in bacta tank after Bay Door Control cockup

Norphy

Re: NHS or Private?

Assuming that you're not trolling, presumably his insurance company is paying for it being as he most likely doesn't pay NI...

Microsoft's Windows 8.1 updates also tweak Windows Server 2012

Norphy

Re: Don't need to reboot each time

"it's only a couple of minutes each time"

On a desktop, maybe. On proper server hardware? You'd be going grey by the end of it...

Double-click? Oh how conventional of you, darling!

Norphy

Re: Double-clicking

You can set Windows up to open programs on a single click, you've been able to do that since IE4 introduced the updated desktop experience on Windows 95. You could also set focus by hovering by using the old kernel toys, don't know if you still can.

I had it like that for a while but I kept on opening things accidentally and in the end I just found it plain irritating.

But you know, diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

Microsoft watches iPads flood into world's offices: Right, remote desktop clients. It's time

Norphy

About.

Fucking.

TIME!

The RDP client for the Mac is ancient, it's desperately needed updating since, oh, 2008. Good to see that iOS and Android are getting 'official' clients too. I just hope that they'll support terminal services gateways as well.

Apple blings up new iMac with latest Intel chips, next-gen Wi-Fi

Norphy

While I accept that they're not everyone's cup of tea, I've been and am very happy with the two iMacs that I've owned over the last five and a half years. My mid 2010 27" iMac is still a fast and capable machine and it has a beautiful screen. I don't see myself replacing it for a little while.

It's Grand Theft Auto 5 day: Any of you kids remember GTA the First?

Norphy

It was back in 1849,

At the Springfield Golden Nugget Mine,

That my great-grandma Dolores saved the day,

When she propped the shaft and saved the lives,

Of the other forty other Springfield wives,

When all ma grandpa's buddies ran away

The menfolk found their women scary,

Cos they were so big and hairy,

They thought of dynamite to seal them in

Gramps was known as 'Chapped Lips Calhoun',

He was in the local saloon,

In came Billy-Joe Walton through the door,

He said "They're blown the Golden Nugget!"

My grandaddy said "Oh f....darn it!"

"You've buried my Dolores, my sweet little golden 'ore"

Swing it, son

Now my grandaddy jumped up from his table,

Finished his jug,

And he got up to that mine just as lickety-darn-split as he could,

Stopped off to fetch a shovel,

Feed the dogs,

Brush his teeth,

Clean the John and give his hoss one final rubdown

Cos a cowboy's life ain't easy and a cowboy's life is hard,

You can take him from the saddle,

But he'll be forever scarred

Cos my grandpa was a man in love,

Called Dolores his 'prairie dove',

And he told her that he loved her with every sigh

Cos she never once forgave him,

Even underneath the cave-in,

But he knew she would forgive him,

In that goldmine in the sky

Goldmine in the sky

:)

Wrist SLAP: Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch hands-on

Norphy

What happens when the strap inventively wears out, snaps, gets chewed or whatever? How much would it cost to replace with a camera and microphone integrated into the thing?

Nokia wrings Lumia bling fling, but feature-mobes ding stings

Norphy

Re: My left testicle...

"There are about dozen of WP apps for making you photos look like old Polaroids if that is what you really want"

The thing is, there is more to Instagram than the silly image filters. There is also a huge social network behind it as well. There may be similar apps for WP but if they don't connect to Instagram's network, people who use and enjoy Instagram aren't going to want to buy a Windows phone no matter how good the OS may or may not be.

Apple Time Capsule 2013: Next-gen wireless networking, anyone?

Norphy

Re: AirPlay

Depends what you mean by "Supports Airplay"

The low cost Airport Express has a 3.5mm audio jack built into it, you can connect this to an amplifier and stream audio to it from iTunes on your computer or from an iDevice.

You can still use the other Airport/Time Capsule devices as dumb hubs to put an Apple TV on and stream Airplay to that.

Murdoch hate sparks mass bitchin', rapid evacuation from O2, BE

Norphy

If I hadn't already migrated from them because of their lack of fibre options, I would have done over the Sky buyout.

Oh well, another one bites the dust.

Fanbois vs fandroids: Punters display 'tribal loyalty'

Norphy

The main reason I stuck with Apple was that I'd already invested quite a lot of money in iPhone apps and didn't really want to have to spend all that money again on equivalent apps on another platform, be it Android or Windows Phone. Brand loyalty be damned.

Review: Nokia Lumia 520

Norphy

Where can I get it from SIM free for £100? Expansys have it for about £150. Carphone Warehouse is the same. Various Amazon sellers and eBay sellers have it for £150 SIM free. Seems to me that the only way you can it for £100 is to get it on PAYG.

Official: Sky to buy O2 and BE's home broadband product in £200m deal

Norphy
Mushroom

I've just moved from BE to BT because BE aren't doing fibre, I'm no fan of BT but I'm even less of a fan of Sky. This announcement has made me pleased that I've moved. I'm glad that I won't be paying the Murdockian empire anything!

LibreOffice 4.0 ships with new features, better looks

Norphy

No, you're not. I like it too.

Intel to leave desktop motherboard market

Norphy

"Most buyers want cutting edge, innovative design and boundaries that are pushed."

Some do. Most don't. They really don't. Most people want something that works and that works reliably. I'm not saying that an Intel board required for that but to say that most people want flashy features on a motherboard that is never likely to do more than process the occasional Excel spreadsheet and browse Facebook is silly.

TomTom for Android with hands-free kit review

Norphy

Re: Question

That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking if I can interface my iPhone 5 with this TomTom kit for Android. I'm asking if I can connect it to the bluetooth speaker and mic on this thing and charge it with a MicroUSB to lightning adapter.

I know that the app works, I've been using it since I got the 5. I just want a half decent mount and a hands free kit for it and until TomTom produce a mount for the iPhone 5 specifically, this looks like it'll do the job.

Norphy

Question

I'm sure I know the answer and I'll probably get howls of derision from the assembled for even thinking about asking this but...

Does this kit work with an iPhone 5 plus a MicroUSB to Lightning adapter? TomTom haven't updated the iPhone version of this to take the the iPhone 5 into account as of yet and I'm looking to replace the TomTom mount I had for my 3GS (which was top notch). I'm fed up with having to put my phone into my car's cup holder!

Cheers

Nokia HERE today with decent mapping on Apple devices

Norphy

Re: Worthy but sluggish (@Steve Knox)

That would explain why the maps are so fuzzy compared to other mapping solutions...

Skype worm chats up victims - then holds PCs to ransom

Norphy

Re: Not surprsing

No, that was in progress long before Microsoft bought Skype. The last Mac client to be released by them before the MS takeover was an abomination.

Apple's new Safari snubs older Macs, drops Windows version

Norphy

Re: RIP RSS reader

And in Mail... I lost all of my RSS feeds, I'm quite annoyed about that!

Screen idols: higher resolution means better laptops

Norphy

IPS

Minor point, an IPS panel is not necessarily 8 bit. There are a few 6 bit IPS panels out there, especially in cheaper IPS monitors. I think that they call them e-IPS panels.

'Dated and cheesy' Aero ripped from Windows 8

Norphy

If we're still using Facebook as an example, that probably means that people will bitch and moan for half an hour then actually notice that yes, the extra functionality that's been introduced in the new UI is actually quite good and then just get on with it.

Not to say that this'll happen with W8 but stranger things have happened.

O2 to serve up free Wi-Fi to coffee chain

Norphy

Re: Do the maths

Admittedly I do prefer Nero's but whenever my GF and I go into a Costa, she always manages to get a cup of tea there, usually English Breakfast which is about as basic as you can for tea.

Samsung unwraps 17in Ivy Bridge beast

Norphy

Looking at the picture, it's in the middle of the 84-key keyboard rather than the dead centre of the bezel. A lot of the laptops with numerical keypads that I've seen share this "feature".

Brydge pledges to turn iPads into MacBooks

Norphy

How long before Apple sues them into oblivion?

Apple screws UK disties, punts just 13,000 iPads to channel

Norphy
Thumb Down

Re: If we're talking about 'rebranders'...

"Foxconn bragged that it can and will do R&D on gear it makes, leaving tech companies to just do the marketing."

"Can" <> "Does"

Dell has rapier-thin blade server in the works

Norphy

Re: Quarter High...

I think the article made it clear, the server is a quarter as tall as a full height blade that fits into an M1000e chassis. I thought that the M610s we have in our chassis were pretty small, this is just silly!

Intel 520 240GB SSD

Norphy

I've read elsewhere that Intel only designed a controller for their original SSDs because all of the others at the time were completely hopeless. Now that other designs have caught up with and surpassed Intel's designs they no longer see the need to roll their own.

HP gives sysadmins a little mobility

Norphy

"HP is embracing mobility with apps to allow sysadmins to receive alerts, manage systems and even shut down servers, all from the comfort of their booth seats at the pub."

You say that like it's a good thing :(

Eurocom Panther 2.0 Core i7, SLI notebook

Norphy

Battery life

For a measly half hour of battery life, you have to wonder why they bother including a battery at all. Why not take it out, market it as portable rather than mobile and stick more stuff in it?

Microsoft to cash in chips on virtual currency

Norphy

Good

Would be nice if Nintendo followed suit