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User: gilesjuk

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  1. Easier != better on The Android Gets Its HyperCard · · Score: 1

    BASIC was supposed to be an easier programming language, but we still write applications in fairly low level languages.

    The hardest part for non-programmers is the whole process of breaking a problem down into the required structure and then writing all the code to do what they want.

    Many people just aren't good programmers, others just can't comprehend the subject.

    As you make something much easier or accessible the quality goes down, look at all the SLR photographers churning out rubbish images, mainly due to the presence of the "auto" modes which allow them to just point and shoot.

  2. Re:A more appropriate quote seems to be... on Microsoft Out of Favor With Young, Hip Developers · · Score: 1

    People don't really code for fun on Windows, they do it to earn money. It's so painful that people want an incentive for bearing the pain of Windows coding.

    Having done some Cocoa training on OSX it seems like a much more "fun" experience.

  3. It's rubbish on After a Decade, Digital Radio Still an Also-Ran In UK · · Score: 1

    It's lossy low bitrate audio. The reception is dire and when you have a weak signal you get garbled choppy annoying sound instead of a bit of hiss and crackle.

    Would be better streaming from the internet.

  4. Re:They may not talk about it on Symbian, the Biggest Mobile OS No One Talks About · · Score: 1

    It's legacy, once upon a time it was a good OS. It was used on the PSION handsets when personal organisers were al the rage.

    But then Nokia got hold of it and sat on it for years, doing very little to improve it. UIQ was stuck on top of it but that was never given back to the symbian foundation.

  5. Re:'Kin Hell! on Microsoft Kills the Kin · · Score: 1

    Bah, I was about to make that joke :)

    Although I was going to say it has gone to 'kin hell. Only good phones go to heaven.

  6. BBC on BBC To Create Internet Protocol TV Standard · · Score: 1

    They really waste too much money thinking about things other than the terrestrial TV service.

    We pay money to own a TV capable of receiving over the air TV, not for websites, IPTV or other pet projects.

  7. Don't be evil on Google Has Android Remote App Install Power, Too · · Score: 1

    It's funny how Android owners see the platform as an antidote to Apple's restrictive App Store and other restrictions. Google are just as crazy and dubious as Apple at times.

    One can only hope HP manage to do something with Palm. Although the biggest obstacle to that is the fact it will only be on HPs hardware. Lets face it they've not released a good smartphone or PDA in a while.

  8. Windows Phone 7... on Windows Phone 7 Lacks Copy-and-Paste · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...or Microsoft iPhone OS2.0 clone as I like to call it.

    Honestly, are they following the same development roadmap as Apple did?

    Give it two or three years and it might be useful.

  9. Re:Let's get this out of the way, shall we? on Apple Quietly Goes After Mac Trojan With Update · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The difference with Windows to OSX is Windows has a lot of backward compatibility with older software that weakens it. Renaming an installer to a specific filename defeated the protection in Vista.

    To to mention autorun from USB sticks and other braindead convenience features (which are being removed or have been).

    Security in OSX is mostly based around sound Unix principles. There's no awful backward compatibility in the Unix underpinnings.

  10. Jumped ship on O2 Scraps Unlimited Data Usage For Smartphones · · Score: 1

    The only reason I was on a contract was the subsidised phone and data. Well I can live with my iPhone 3G a bit longer and I've swapped over to 3 (three.co.uk) on a £5 a month Internet SIM. I can still make calls or texts, but I pay for them.

    Better to be paying a few quid on top of £5 for a few calls and texts than £35 a month and getting minutes I never use. I've been on O2 Simplicity since Feb which was £20 a month.

    Of course, there's a cap on 3, but it's 1GB a month, which is twice what O2 give you. I also get 3G reception which I don't with O2 in many places. Why pay for 3G when you get GPRS?

  11. Pimp tactics on Verizon Hints At Scrapping Unlimited Data Plans · · Score: 1

    They get us bitches hooked on drugs (data) then cut off the supply and make us do things we don't like, ie. giving them more money.

  12. Hahaha on HTC Android Smartphone Stores Browsing Screenshots · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    HTC producing great software as ever.

    I could understand all the UI hacks when they were doing WinMo phones as WinMo has an awful interface. But Android isn't as bad, why produce all these closed source crud on top of the OS?

    Why not submit the code back to the Android tree and have it properly scrutinized by the developer community? you won't get stupidity like this then.

  13. Fail on Microsoft Unveils Smaller Xbox 360 Model, Kinect Details · · Score: 1

    This smaller console should have been released 2 or 3 years ago, it would have helped with the problems of reliability if it runs cooler. This is nearly a five year old console now, consoles have a 5-6 year lifespan typically.

    The next gen model should have been announced.

  14. Re:Taxes on Bill Gates's New Version of the Einstein Letter · · Score: 1

    Why would they pay taxes when they can buy admiration by donating to charity?

  15. Blame the last administration on Bill Gates's New Version of the Einstein Letter · · Score: 1

    A president with oil connections who is rich because of oil is not going to develop alternatives to oil and fossil fuels.

    It has cost the US 4 or 5 years of development while the rest of the world got to work on cleaner technology. In the UK we export electric vehicles to the US.

  16. Technology on When Will the Automotive Internet Arrive? · · Score: 1

    Why is technology the solution to congestion?

    How about get all the cars off the road, replace with smaller vehicles, eliminate the need for so much road use and mandate that office hours be flexible and staggered.

    Also, overpopulation (be it overall country levels or specific centralised areas) isn't helping. You can't keep building roads and then not expecting them to fill up.

  17. Re:Good. on Apple iAd Drawing Antitrust Scrutiny · · Score: 1

    Microsoft is a convicted monopolist, Apple is nowhere near being a monopoly in any market.

  18. Re:TSUBABABAAAA!!!!!! on Sega To Bring Dreamcast Titles to PSN, Xbox Live · · Score: 1

    Yeah, that was great. But I think that would be better suited to the Wii.

  19. Re:This is going to be about as useful as 300+dpi on Motorola Planning 2GHz Android Phone For Later This Year · · Score: 1

    Flash would need hardware assistance to run well on mobiles, by well I mean with little CPU or battery life

    But once you add hardware assistance you tend to set some technical limitations that mean future changes wouldn't always be possible.

  20. Oh great, the Mhz myth returns on Motorola Planning 2GHz Android Phone For Later This Year · · Score: 1

    I'm guessing this 2GHz processor is required to run all those bad flash games that have been ported using Adobe's dev tools.

    I've never picked up a phone and thought "wow this phone is too slow", the network's 3G data connection is what always slows things down.

  21. Why? on FAA Adds a Study On Adding Drones To Commercial Aviation · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thing is, military drones have no people on board. Passenger jets would have people on board.

    Why would they do it? it's all about saving money, it's not in the interests of passengers.

  22. Re:XP is the 90's? on Time To Dump XP? · · Score: 1

    Towards the end of 2001, I remember trying it out while I was back in the office (there wasn't much consultancy work around as there was a big slump post 9/11).

  23. Re:Competition is a good thing on Apple Announces iPhone 4 · · Score: 1

    The point is that you will at least have something approaching half decent with you at all times. Since the screen is now high resolution than VGA you need a higher resolution video function . VGA is 640x480 but the iPhone 4 screen us 960x640.

    Many concerts ban you from using anything looking professional, so the better a camera phone can be the better.

  24. Re:Competition is a good thing on Apple Announces iPhone 4 · · Score: 1

    Apple said that they have kept the sensor size for the 5MP unit the same size as previous phones. Rather than shrink it down.

    This will at least give it a good chance against other devices, it also seems they've thought about the camera a lot more this time.

  25. Re:Competition is a good thing on Apple Announces iPhone 4 · · Score: 1

    Hmmm...

    App Stores - Apple first, everyone else later

    Multitouch on capacitive touch screen - Apple first, everyone else later

    Accelerometers in a phone - Apple first? certainly the first to make it a standard feature and make it useful.

    and so on....

    Not to mention the visual design of the OS, imitated by pretty much everyone that dares to.

    I've yet to see anyone design a phone that looks as nice. HTC's phones are styled by people who also do snowboards! hardly any use when trying to make a decent phone. Mind you HTC phones are a bit wooden and you look like a plank with one.