* Posts by mrbawsaq

43 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Apr 2013

Dutch officials say Donald Trump really did protect his Twitter account with MAGA2020! password

mrbawsaq

Someone malicious like Donald Trump?

Mobile World Congress now none of those things as 2020 industry megashow axed over coronavirus fears

mrbawsaq
Coat

Re: Will someone...

It's all the pickpockets I feel sorry for.

Won't someone please think of them.

Capita admits it won't make money on botched NHS England contract

mrbawsaq

I agree.

Capita's sales process must go something like this:

"How much money have you got?"

"Ok, we'll take it"

Kentucky gov: Violent video games, not guns, to blame for Florida school massacre

mrbawsaq

Guns are perfectly legal in the UK, so it's not just Cops & Crims who have them.

Try googling for a local gun club in your area and I'm sure you'll find one within 30 minutes drive or so.

1980s sci-fi movies: The thrill of being not quite terrified on mum's floral sofa

mrbawsaq

Re: Say what?

"Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" was filmed at Elstree Studios and Shepperton Studios, not Pinewood, both of which are just on the edges of London.

In fact, all the other episodes were also filmed at Elstree among other London studies until "The Force Awakens" - the 1st Star Wars movie to be filmed at Pinewood.

75 years ago, one Allied radar techie changed the course of WW2

mrbawsaq

And on iBooks for £0.49.

Stung by Dynamics 365 hike? Microsoft has a deal for you... just don't expect much

mrbawsaq

The people who will pay less will be the people who move off of MS and on to another supplier with fair and competitive pricing rather than price gouging their customers at every opportunity.

Death of 747 now 'reasonably possible' says Boeing

mrbawsaq

Re: Last Chance To See

I always try to fly BA (for the Avios points) and will take a 747 if I can, just because I know they won't be around forever. And when they are gone, I'll miss them.

Next trip on a 747 is in January to Boston.

HP Ink buys Samsung's printer business for a BILLION dollars

mrbawsaq

Re: Why I don't trust HP - reason #72

The last HP home office deskjet that I had got a severe beating that it did not survive. The reason - constant out of paper messages and refusals to print when it was full of paper.

Nothing made by HP will ever cross the threshold of my abode ever again.

Ten-year-old Windows Media Player hack is the new black, again

mrbawsaq

Re: The culprit is WMV and it never went away

Or just don't use Windows.

Simple.

Microsoft's kinder, gentler collaboration war: Evernote, you're first

mrbawsaq

Re: Millions of records

And how long will it be before MS just big fat buys Evernote anyway? You know - to improve the user experience of Office 365 or some other such bullshit. I'm sure the Evernote founders have a price they wouldn't refuse.

It would just add +1 to the list of software and services once great but ultimately destroyed by acquisition in to the great "innovation engine" that is MS - Hotmail, Visio, aQuantive, Skype, Yammer, Nokia, LinkedIn - to name just a few of the more well known and/or more recent victims.

Oh dear, Vodafone: Sales dip in UK

mrbawsaq

Re: I offer a more plausible reasons...

Vodafone is a perfect example of a truly broken company. When I was an employee, it took them 3 months to get me added to the payroll because of some broken internal process.

Last contract I was on I had no signal at home ever. Had to forward calls to home number before getting home and remember to unforward later, major PITA.

The on-line billing portal worked for a while but then stopped. Despite several calls and attempts to resolve they couldn't fix it and I couldn't ever log in again. Which was no big deal because the site was a horrible, horrible mess and a good example of awful design and UX. So they switched me to paper bills and magnanimously agreed to withhold the monthly fee for paper bills. Then I stopped receiving them too and guess what - they couldn't figure that one out and/or fix it either. So I had no idea what I was being charged for every for.

I could go on, but suffice to say I was glad to be rid of them and will be for the rest of my life.

TalkTalk: 9,000 broadband customers did the walk walk last quarter

mrbawsaq

Re: But

Maybe you should watch less porn and read more books to improve your command of the English language.

Microsoft wants to fling money at startups. Don't all rush at once

mrbawsaq

Re: Paraphrasing slightly...

"We've done a great job of retarding the IT industry for the last 20 years. We want to continue retarding it for the next 20".

Mandatory data breach reporting rules finally agreed by EUrocrats

mrbawsaq

Dido Harding will probably be appointed commissioner. Given here "extensive experience" in security breaches.

Microsoft shelves 'suicidal' Android-on-Windows plan

mrbawsaq

Re: Biggest problem with Windows phone continues to be mismanagement shocker?

I concur.

When asked for my opinion, all my friends have bought Macbook Air devices and/or iPads to replace their PoS laptops that they bought in PC World.

Their perception of Windows? Utter shite that they hate using. Most of them aren't aware that there even is a Windows Phone option available.

mrbawsaq

Re: Biggest problem with Windows phone continues to be mismanagement shocker?

I'd add that calling their OS Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Windows Handset Edition, Windows Cellphone 10 or Windows anything is not helping sales. Even calling the OS Windows "Come And Get A Free Phone" Phone wouldn't help increase market share significantly.

If I were running the show I'd ditch the toxic Windows and Microsoft brand names and start afresh in the hope of gaining some traction in the consumer market.

Microsoft issues first SharePoint 2016 preview

mrbawsaq

Re: Sharepoint 2016 ?

Shitpoint

KFC takes legal axe to eight-legged mutant chicken claims

mrbawsaq

Cluckin Bell

Reminds me of the Cluckin Bell radio advert from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.

We shrink their heads and we breed em' fast!

6 wings, 40 breasts and then they're gassed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7R5CcNJl0U

Tat bazaar eBay confirms: THOUSANDS of workers will be AXED

mrbawsaq

Re: This is a happy day

Couldn't agree more in the hope that they go titsup.

I stopped using them about 7 years ago when I left negative feedback for a seller who misrepresented what they were sold me. E-bay gave the seller my home phone number, mobile number and address. The seller then left me several messages threatening legal action for loss of business and other physical threats. According to Ebay he lived several hundred miles north otherwise I'd have fully expected him to turn up at my door in a kilt with a claymore.

E-bay are on a par with Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Ryanair in my book and my choice is not to do business with any of them.

FIVE Things (NOT 10: these are REAL) from the WINDOWS 10 event

mrbawsaq

Re: Doing Something Stupid...

You are forgetting the 2 stages before panic - ignore, followed by deride.

That dreaded syncing feeling: Will Microsoft EVER fix OneDrive?

mrbawsaq

Re: Exactly

Works across all devices for me too.

Sincerely hope MS do not buy Dropbox as I will have to stop using it too. For starters, they'll rename it to something utterly stupid like MS Office One Bingbox 10 Business 365 Azure.

Police stats inflate the number of guns actually stolen in Blighty

mrbawsaq

Re: Shocked

Using a pistol is not illegal in the UK. Certain types of pistols (I.e semi automatic above .22 calibre and fully automatic) are banned from the general public. There are many types of pistols that are perfectly legal.

Judge nixes HP deal for director amnesty after $8.8bn Autonomy snafu

mrbawsaq

Re: Who next

HP should hire Marissa Mayer.

She's great at buying (or attempting to buy) overpriced, useless shite for Yahoo.

So whither Microsoft? If Nadella knows, he is keeping it well hidden

mrbawsaq

Nadella Won't Last 18 Months

My view is that Nadella will achieve nothing in his first 18 months. He'll either quit in frustration or be asked to go by the Board.

If you think 18 months is not enough time for him to turn MS around, then they really are fucked.

It's a done deal! Microsoft-Nokia merger to close on Friday

mrbawsaq

Re: Elops Job

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Elop played chief vampire Danny Huston in 30 Days of Night?

Satya Nadella shakes up Microsoft, appoints 'Scroogled' man Mark Penn as strategy chief

mrbawsaq

Start as you mean to go on

Penn's background is as a political adviser - an environment where badmouthing the opposition is the only form of self promotion.

To me, MS are saying that their strategy will continue to be that of ridiculing competing products rather than actually engineering innovative products that people want to buy and compelling services that people want to use.

Friends don't do tech support for friends running Windows XP

mrbawsaq

Re: If they have to buy a whole new machine...

How many home users need AutoCad? If I suggested 0.00001% I might be off by a few places right of the decimal point but not many. Even for business use I've not met anyone who needs CAD on their desktop for over 15 years.

For games there's PS3/4/Vita, Steam, mobile devices, even Mac games and any number of other companies looking to step in to that space with new hardware (Amazon and Samsung to name just 2). No need to pay MS anything for these platforms.

Remember when SimCity ABSOLUTELY HAD to be online? Not any more – fancy that!

mrbawsaq

Welcome to the end of the games industry

EA have monetized the games industry in the same way as Microsoft have monetized the desktop.

Now both are struggling for growth and buying out the competition or market innovators and price gauging customers is their last resort.

Welcome to the end of games (on all platforms) as a means of entertainment as Take 2 and Activision follow the lead of EA.

It is sad to see such a vibrant medium of entertainment die as quickly as innovation in the PC marketplace as gaming. But Angry Pigeons on my iPhone does not come close to the experience of Falcon 4 on my Atari ST or the original Medal of Honour from 2001.

Gaming is dead and EA killed it.

Dell staffers react to news of 1-in-3 axe dangling overhead

mrbawsaq

Re: Dealing with a Dell Sales Rep

Dell are already finished. Michael Dell took control of an aircraft crashing to the ground. It's still crashing just not in such a steep dive as it was as a publicly traded company.

Watch as their market share drops like Nokia.

Watch as their customer service levels reach the low levels of the likes of Vodafone.

Watch as their reputation evaporates like Blackberry.

Watch as other companies like Lenovo, Samsung and (even) HP embrace alternative technologies to Windows 8 like Android and Chrome OS.

I predict Dell will emerge as a shadow of its former self and Microsoft will buy it to round out their devices and services vision. Dell the last of the great Microsoft OEM partners.

Watch 2 companies die for the price of 1. All of this within 2 years (Dell) and 5 years (Microsoft).

You heard it here first.

Dell will AXE up to ONE IN THREE workers in its US & EMEA sales teams

mrbawsaq

Couple of years ago I was getting regular messages on LinkedIn to join Dell's enterprise service presales team in the UK.

Not anymore.

Re-iterate my "we're fucked" statement.

Maybe they should (or will) merge with Microsoft to complete the (shite) devices and (shite) services vision of Steve Balmer. Both deserve it for the shite they have inflicted on the IT industry for the last 20 or so years.

mrbawsaq

New Dell Corporate Motto

"We're fucked"

Windows 7 outstrips Windows 8.x with small November growth

mrbawsaq

A friend of mine bought a Windows 8 laptop even though I told him not to. I set it up for him (which took a week by the time I had finished fucking around with it). He tried to use it once and hasn't opened the lid for about 6 months now.

He can't even be bothered to put it on e-bay as it's effectively worth not much more than fuck all.

iPhone slips in Europe as Windows Phone claims OVER 10% market share

mrbawsaq

Re: Old news poorly reported

If the iphone had not been released, Microsoft would not have dumped WM6 at all. At least not until someone else had shown them that there was billions to be made in the smart phone market.

mrbawsaq

Re: Old news poorly reported

Totally agree with your comment about what's seen in the real world.

I can count the number of windows 7 and 8 mobile phones I've seen in the wild on the fingers of 1 hand without exaggerating. Amongst my non-technical friends its an even split between iphones, androids and old nokias for those who can barely send a text let alone get their heads around an 'app'.

I see way more WM6 phones than 7/8 models as these are still used by taxi drivers, delivery drivers, POS devices, etc.

Microsoft touts SCROOGLE merch: Hopes YOU'LL PAY to dump on rival

mrbawsaq

Re: I want Google

Now one of those I would buy :)

mrbawsaq

This latest tactic in the already pathetic (if not down right dishonest) Scroogled campaign is despicable. Not to mention unprecedented in the software industry. I work for one of the biggest software companies in the world (who happens to compete directly, as well as partner with Google depending on which part of the business you are in) and would be astounded and ashamed if we stooped to this level of bad taste marketing. The fact that MS are actually selling these items shows even more how desperate and out of ideas they actually are.

Is it any wonder their products are awful when they choose to invest their cash and the skills of their employees on these campaigns? Instead of actually improving their existing products or developing new ones (that other companies have not shown them there is a market for in the first place).

The CMO should be escorted from the building for approving the Scroogled campaign in the first place. Although on reflection it may have been forced on her by Ballmer.

HP redundancies all about getting 'cheaper, lower skilled' bods

mrbawsaq

Re: getting rid of expensive experienced guys

About the same as my experience of HP outsourced IT services at a previous employer.

I once had to raise a ticket to port out my phone number when I was leaving, but couldn't log in to the ticketing system because I didn't exist in it. Their response - raise a ticket to get added to the ticketing system! My response - threatened HR with legal action if they didn't let me take my phone number with me (which I had ported in when I joined) whilst reminding them that it wasn't my job to motivate external suppliers to get things done. I did get my number back in the end.

Ballmer: Microsoft stronger without Bing and Xbox tinkering

mrbawsaq

Just had a look at the Xbox 1 unboxed on Business Insider. Looks like a piece of crap and WTF is the deal with the power supply (compared to the power cable that ships with the PS4)??? Maybe that's what SB meant - no other games console needs a 6lb power adapter to make it work.

http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-one-photos-2013-11#here-are-a-bunch-of-other-essentials-14

Finns, roamers, Nokia: So long, and thanks for all the phones

mrbawsaq

Re: They totally missed the boat

MS have about as much chance of growing a successful app ecosystem as my girlfriend has of growing a cock.

mrbawsaq
Mushroom

Nokia's Demise

By the time the iPhone came out, Nokia made 2 types of phones - really expensive shit phones and really cheap shit phones.

I don't see this changing now MS is calling the shots.

Expect to see Nokia go the way of Danger, the Kin phone, Zune, aQuantive, etc, as MS do their usual with an acquisition.

BlackBerry pie sliced up: Nuke-plant OS, BBM chat app, etc sale mulled

mrbawsaq

Strategic alternatives

= we're fucked.

Next Xbox to be called ‘Xbox Infinity’... er... ‘Xbox’

mrbawsaq
FAIL

NextBox UI

What's to bet that the next Xbox, whatever the fuck they call it, will have the new Windows 8/Surface/Metor/Whatever the fuck they call it UI?

Which will work as good with a console controller as it does with mouse/keyboard.