Simply by glueing the artwork onto the front and back covers of a pad of paper, and with the simple addition of an 'iPencil', it comes with apps already built in for making notes, drawing pictures, keeping track of contact details, doing simple calculations....
In fact, just as useful as a real iPad - probably more so since the apps aren't limited to what Apple allows you to use.
"10mm? They have to stick a probe pretty far up your arse to get within 10mm of the device......."
Now that would be a peculiar way to get there - and even if you were to go all the way up and come out of the other end, you'd probably never get within 10mm. Normally pacemakers are implanted just under the skin below the left collar bone. 10mm sounds about in the right ball-park for a transmitter placed on the skin just above the pacemaker.
Interesting paper here: http://www.secure-medicine.org/icd-study/icd-study.pdf
As I understood it from the BBC version of the story, storage was 900 dekatron tubes, which could each hold a single digit. Most dekatrons would store 1 of 10 states, so it's a single decimal digit rather a binary one, so the memory could exist in 10^900 states, which in binary terms can be represented in about 2990 bits, or 373.75 of our modern day bytes.
@Rob Crawford: Could this be the snail fungus you were referring to?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw
@Sergie Kaponitovicz: The plural of virus in the modern sense is generally accepted to be viruses. The Latin 'virus' seems to be one of those rare nouns that has never been recorded as having a plural, possibly because in the original Latin it appears to refer to poison or venom en mass rather than as something countable.
' Yet here is the Met guidance in respect of s.44: "Officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras... provided that the viewing is to determine whether the images... are of a kind, which could be used in connection with terrorism."
Not quite. The Met guidelines make no mention of reasonable suspicion: in effect, they duck the single issue that is at the heart of so much grief. '
As I understand it, 'Reasonable suspicion' applies to Section 43 which is applicable anywhere, whereas under section 44 no suspicion is needed for a stop, but the stop has to be in an area authorised for stoppages under section 44, and within the dates prescribed for authorisation - such authorisation must be made by a senior officer, as stated in the linked act. Interestingly, section 44 appears to state that the stop must be made by a uniformed officer, so presumeably if a plains-clothed officer stops you under section 44, they shouldn't have done!
"When we spoke to London Underground (LU) last year, they were adamant that people needed permission to take photographs on the Underground, and without a (paid-for) official permit, they were not allowed to do so.
They were very reluctant to be drawn on where the distinction lay between professional filming and ordinary tourist activity - intimating even that it might be unlawful to take photos of illegal activity occurring, such as an assault on LU staff - and it is this refusal to delineate a clear dividing line that gives police the power to intervene pretty much as it suits them."
This attitude by London Underground staff appears to be seriously at odds with their published information. Maybe we should all quote the following when stopped by LU jobsworths for taking pictures for personal use:
"Do I need permission to film or take photographs on the tube?
If you are just passing through, you shouldn't have a problem taking personal snaps, souvenir shots etc, although you must NOT use flash or lights on any of our platforms.
However, if you want to spend more than 10-15 minutes at any one station videoing or taking photos, or if they are for professional use, you MUST have a permit."
"Still, we think the S1 looks rather snazzy, but what really matters is the size: the S1's about the size of a packet of smokes - 87 x 62 x 15.5mm, according to Reg Hardware's handy ruler - making it eminently pocketable and portable."
About time the fag packet was added to the list of Reg standard units.
<--- because this unit should carry the statutory health warning
GG> I also hate that there is no "mark as READ" option like well practically every other web based e-mail service..
Strange it's not there for you - there is on mine - a drop down menu 'Mark as' just above the list of emails with options 'Read' 'Unread' 'Phishing scam'.
GG> Also I just want to see the message headers if I wanted to see the e-mail I'd open it..
Switch off the preview in the Options menu then - you get a choice of where the preview goes, or no preview at all, so all you get is the list of Sender, Title and Date (or time for recent emails) and you can delete the spam and viruses to your heart's content without ever opening them.
Still unless I've missed it somewhere, it's a pity you can't view the full headers if you want them - bonus! points! to! Yahoo! mail! on! that! one!
The story was just meant to illustrate the catch 22 problem of setting up a Pre-SP2 PC with a standard domestic broadband connection. You needed the connection to get the updates, but the problem the updates were supposed to solve came over the connection before the updates arrived. It wasn't meant as a step by step guide to fixing it, so I skipped to the end of the story with the comment about getting the updates over a more secure connection without filling in all the middle bits about scanning and cleaning up the PC first.
I don't remember there being any nitroglycerine left at that point!
Yup, I remember that happening to me 4 years ago when I got broadband installed at home.
The Telewest technician had just got the cable modem installed, then we plugged in the Pre-SP2 laptop and blam... Windows would shut down with an intrusion before I could even get online for the updates. Unplugged the network connector and of course the computer started up just fine. Needless to say, the technician didn't have a clue what was going on.
Had to take the computer into work to connect to the firewalled network there to get the updates.
"The 8086 was released after the IBM PC-XT (8088, 8 bit bus, 4.77 MHz clock) but preceeded the PC-AT, which used the more modern 286 chip and initially ran at a blistering 8 MHz."
Actually the 8086 was released before the 8088. It's just that when IBM got around to designing the IBM PC, the 8088 was the easier/cheaper option because of the 8 bit data bus.
Errm.. the text says that the sticky out bits are alternately skewed above and below the plane of the ring, so there would only be three legs in contact with the ground if you were to rest your unfeasibly small vase on the ring.
Weren't Sony still pushing minidisc and ATRAC encoding as the format for portable digital music players at the time?
If I did my sums correctly, 32Mbytes at 128kbits/second as in the early players is only 34 minutes of music, while a minidisc at the time could store 80 minutes of music at a bit rate of nearly 300kbits/second on a cheap re-writeable disc.
"Brainwave - Make the computers out of carbon thus making your computer carbon neutral."
That day might yet come - the carbon transistor already exists: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/29/carbon_nanotube_radio/
Hmmm... and to think back in 1981, I suggested to my chemistry teacher that since germanium and silicon were used as semiconductions, maybe carbon could be too, and he didn't take me seriously
That kind of logic puts me in mind of this classic quote from Yes Prime Minister...
Sir Humphrey: "Now go in there and inform me of their conversation."
Bernard Woolley: "I'm not sure I can do that, Sir Humphrey. It might be confidential."
Sir Humphrey: "Bernard, the matter at issue is the defence of the realm and the stability of the government."
Bernard Woolley: "But you only need to know things on a need to know basis."
Sir Humphrey: "I need to know everything! How else can I judge whether or not I need to know it?"
Bernard Woolley: "So that means you need to know things even when you don't need to know. You need to know them not because you need to know them, but because you need to know whether or not you need to know. And if you don't need to know you still need to know, so that you know there is no need to know."
In a sense, I'd disagree with the ZX81 being the last of those in the spirit of the 70's. While the kit did involve soldering everything together, if I remember rightly the ZX81 consisted of the CPU, RAM, ROM and a custom gate array - just 4 chips.
To my mind it was the introduction of the custom chips that brought about the demise of the 70's spirit. Probably the last of the line in that scheme of things were systems like the Acorn Atom and Tangerine. Provided you had the schematics (and back in those days, you did get them), and had access to the ROM images, it was quite possible to buy all the components from somewhere like RS or Farnell and build your own version without needing anything special from the manufacturers. With the old guard using standard components and a pile of databooks, you knew exactly what was happening inside, and it made it so much easier to mess with the hardware.
From the beginning of the PET article last week 'Over the next few weeks, we'll retrospect some of the computers that made the industry what it is today'.
Have a little patience Martin... Don't know what El Reg has planned for the next reminiscence, but it looks like more is to come!
Simon Harris
@Stuart Halliday - blowing things up from BASIC →#
Seem to remember Monochrome IBM PC monitors were quite prone to blowing if they got the wrong line sync frequency.
Once upon a time I hit the 6845 video controller timing registers with a few OUT instructions from BASIC (I think it was on a Hercules graphics card rather than the original text-only display card), pushed up the line sync rate, got a high pitched squeal out of the monitor and blew the horizontal scanning circuits.
The flame icon seems appropriate in the circumstances.
... just the mention of those part numbers starting 65... brings back happy memories.
First computer I learned to program on was a PDP8e that we had at school, followed by a SWTPC 6800 system with Flex (ahhh, the days of the +++ prompt).
The first computer I owned was an Acorn Atom, 1MHz 6502 with 12K RAM. Didn't stay 1MHz for long since I found I could overclock the processor to 2MHz, although the RAM was nominally 650ns 2114s, so I had to swap them all around until the ones that couldn't cope with the exrta speed were at the bottom of the display memory.
Back in those days it was fun trying find ways of squeezing as much as possible into that amount of memory. Life just doesn't have the same challenge with 2GB to play with, and I haven't touched assembly code on a PC in about 4 years.
When I want the fun of the old days, I get out my PIC development board and see just how much I can do in 2K of assembly language on the thing.
Funnily enough, the UK MoD got in on the act first with the name. Skynet 1 was launched in November 1969, giving James Cameron 25 years to catch up and borrow it.
There's even a commemmorative envelope... http://www.cira.colostate.edu/cira/RAMM//hillger/Skynet-1_cover.jpg
Samsung UN55B8000 55" LED TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
LG Electronics 42LH30 42" LCD TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
Samsung UN55B8500 55" LED TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
Sony BRAVIA KDL-40EX400 40" LCD TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
Samsung UN40B6000 40" LED TV (Widescreen, 1920x1080, HDTV)
59 posts • joined Thursday 1st March 2007 00:04 GMT
Page:
Simon Harris
Does it come with apps? ... now it does... → #
Posted Monday 8th February 2010 16:33 GMT
In El Reg reader assembles own iPad
The creators of this have missed a trick here.
Simply by glueing the artwork onto the front and back covers of a pad of paper, and with the simple addition of an 'iPencil', it comes with apps already built in for making notes, drawing pictures, keeping track of contact details, doing simple calculations....
In fact, just as useful as a real iPad - probably more so since the apps aren't limited to what Apple allows you to use.
Simon Harris
Took one look at the picture... → #
Posted Wednesday 3rd February 2010 21:10 GMT
In Yes! It's the iPad jacket!
... and thought 'wow - those new airport 3D body scanners are good - you can even see what apps are running through the clothes!'
Simon Harris
Worrying → #
Posted Monday 11th January 2010 11:51 GMT
In Dadaist user manuals - a call for submissions
Rather ominously, the instruction manual for my Sony Alpha 350 camera has a chapter labelled "Before your operation"
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2872829645_ca092729e8_o.jpg
Simon Harris
It's all El Reg's fault! → #
Posted Monday 4th January 2010 20:30 GMT
In Oz bank thinks it's 2016
The banks have just been paying far too much attention to John Ozimek...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/31/end_of_days_decade/
Simon Harris
When I saw 'strips' and 'feather' in the title... → #
Posted Friday 4th December 2009 14:38 GMT
In YouTube strips page clutter with 'Feather'
I thought it was going to be more on yesterday's PETA article
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/03/peta_angel/
Simon Harris
Obviously no fur... → #
Posted Thursday 3rd December 2009 13:31 GMT
In Catholics slam PETA nude adopt-a-mutt poster
... but how many birds did they have to pluck for those wings?
Penguin - it has feathers and can't fly either!
Simon Harris
@Antidisestablishmentarianist → #
Posted Monday 16th November 2009 13:38 GMT
In Boffins fight pacemaker hacks with ultrasound security
"10mm? They have to stick a probe pretty far up your arse to get within 10mm of the device......."
Now that would be a peculiar way to get there - and even if you were to go all the way up and come out of the other end, you'd probably never get within 10mm. Normally pacemakers are implanted just under the skin below the left collar bone. 10mm sounds about in the right ball-park for a transmitter placed on the skin just above the pacemaker.
Interesting paper here: http://www.secure-medicine.org/icd-study/icd-study.pdf
Simon Harris
Not exactly a light sabre! → #
Posted Thursday 15th October 2009 23:23 GMT
In US special forces tool up with 'plasma blades'
The plasma is only around the edge of the blade.
Here's a nice (if you're into that sort of thing!) video of the plasma scalpel in action:
http://www.peaksurgical.com/video/plasmablade.cfm
Simon Harris
This story... → #
Posted Friday 4th September 2009 11:09 GMT
In iPhone rescue girl gets head stuck down bog
... is worthless without the Playmobil reconstruction
Simon Harris
112.5 an underestimate? → #
Posted Thursday 3rd September 2009 13:15 GMT
In Bletchley Park to restore 112-byte* '50s Brit nuke computer
As I understood it from the BBC version of the story, storage was 900 dekatron tubes, which could each hold a single digit. Most dekatrons would store 1 of 10 states, so it's a single decimal digit rather a binary one, so the memory could exist in 10^900 states, which in binary terms can be represented in about 2990 bits, or 373.75 of our modern day bytes.
Simon Harris
Slugs and snails and Latin. → #
Posted Wednesday 12th August 2009 14:04 GMT
In Brain-jacking fungus turns living victims into 'zombies'
@Rob Crawford: Could this be the snail fungus you were referring to?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw
@Sergie Kaponitovicz: The plural of virus in the modern sense is generally accepted to be viruses. The Latin 'virus' seems to be one of those rare nouns that has never been recorded as having a plural, possibly because in the original Latin it appears to refer to poison or venom en mass rather than as something countable.
Simon Harris
Dr Caroline Tagg → #
Posted Monday 10th August 2009 15:10 GMT
In British boffin named first ever 'doctor of texting'
... or 'Er Caroline Vagi' as the predictive text on my phone suggests I name her.
Simon Harris
Haven't we seen this before? → #
Posted Tuesday 4th August 2009 22:54 GMT
In Flying 'Motorbike'/Reliant Robin 'to take off next year'
I think The Reg can claim prior art on this one...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01/sinclair_flying_cars/
Simon Harris
Section 43 vs Section 44 → #
Posted Wednesday 15th July 2009 13:37 GMT
In Kent Police clamp down on tall photographers
' Yet here is the Met guidance in respect of s.44: "Officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras... provided that the viewing is to determine whether the images... are of a kind, which could be used in connection with terrorism."
Not quite. The Met guidelines make no mention of reasonable suspicion: in effect, they duck the single issue that is at the heart of so much grief. '
As I understand it, 'Reasonable suspicion' applies to Section 43 which is applicable anywhere, whereas under section 44 no suspicion is needed for a stop, but the stop has to be in an area authorised for stoppages under section 44, and within the dates prescribed for authorisation - such authorisation must be made by a senior officer, as stated in the linked act. Interestingly, section 44 appears to state that the stop must be made by a uniformed officer, so presumeably if a plains-clothed officer stops you under section 44, they shouldn't have done!
Simon Harris
Re: does this have to do with tech/IT? → #
Posted Wednesday 1st July 2009 00:02 GMT
In Dutch clotheshorse menaces plastic surgeon
'It's not as though it was Paris'
Ahhh... but it was *in* Paris - that's close enough for me :)
Simon Harris
Leap Sideways II @ Sam Turner... → #
Posted Friday 29th May 2009 16:16 GMT
In Samsung WB500
Ditto my year and a half old Ricoh GX100 - which has a 24-72mm (35mm equivalent) lens, so the Samsung's nothing new in the 24mm stakes.
Simon Harris
@Next time, @Cheers... → #
Posted Wednesday 20th May 2009 12:36 GMT
In Philips SPC1330NC
I think the 'Wanted dead or alive' poster effect says it all really.
Simon Harris
Re: Jobsworth Disorder ... → #
Posted Tuesday 19th May 2009 14:17 GMT
In Charges against London tube tourist snapper thrown out
... and from the article...
"When we spoke to London Underground (LU) last year, they were adamant that people needed permission to take photographs on the Underground, and without a (paid-for) official permit, they were not allowed to do so.
They were very reluctant to be drawn on where the distinction lay between professional filming and ordinary tourist activity - intimating even that it might be unlawful to take photos of illegal activity occurring, such as an assault on LU staff - and it is this refusal to delineate a clear dividing line that gives police the power to intervene pretty much as it suits them."
This attitude by London Underground staff appears to be seriously at odds with their published information. Maybe we should all quote the following when stopped by LU jobsworths for taking pictures for personal use:
From:
https://custserv.tfl.gov.uk/icss_csip/GetDetailInformation.do?entityNum=00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000003939&kbname=SDB&newTabtext=Tube
"Do I need permission to film or take photographs on the tube?
If you are just passing through, you shouldn't have a problem taking personal snaps, souvenir shots etc, although you must NOT use flash or lights on any of our platforms.
However, if you want to spend more than 10-15 minutes at any one station videoing or taking photos, or if they are for professional use, you MUST have a permit."
Simon Harris
@ Love This → #
Posted Tuesday 12th May 2009 11:15 GMT
In Kettering to London: 18 hours by rail, bus and pack mule
Sorry to be boring but, the normal direct journey is 67 miles.
To answer your question, the first 1 hourish services are:
dep Kettering 05:01 arr London St. Pancras 06:21
dep Kettering 05:51 arr London St. Pancras 06:54
Simon Harris
The IT angle → #
Posted Monday 11th May 2009 11:16 GMT
In Swedish chopper chief demands fireproof bras
I guess they won't be asking the bods from The IT Crowd for their technical assistance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETCLGQn5MUk
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUEemQeInjE
Simon Harris
That video clip is just plain wrong! → #
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 20:52 GMT
In NASA shops for new Moon spacesuits and landers
Everybody knows that it is compulsory to play The Blue Danube when docking spacecraft
Simon Harris
@Frank - Underwater Cement → #
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 16:23 GMT
In Brit nuke subs exposed on Google Earth
Even the Romans knew how to do this.
Vitruvius was writing about it over 2000 years ago.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27877/27877-h/27877-h.htm#Page_38
Simon Harris
Units. → #
Posted Thursday 26th February 2009 11:08 GMT
In Samsung S1 Mini 1.8in external hard drive
"Still, we think the S1 looks rather snazzy, but what really matters is the size: the S1's about the size of a packet of smokes - 87 x 62 x 15.5mm, according to Reg Hardware's handy ruler - making it eminently pocketable and portable."
About time the fag packet was added to the list of Reg standard units.
<--- because this unit should carry the statutory health warning
Simon Harris
Re: I wonder... → #
Posted Wednesday 4th February 2009 15:37 GMT
In Google Earthlings fly to Mars
"I wonder how happy the martians will be when Google lands a couple of black Opels with monstrous cameras on the top???"
The ones called Spirit and Opportunity ?
Simon Harris
Gooigle said even Google wasn't safe... → #
Posted Monday 2nd February 2009 10:36 GMT
In Google mistakes entire web for malware
Yes, I admit it - I typed Google into Google and it broke the internet
Simon Harris
@Joe_K et al. → #
Posted Tuesday 27th January 2009 18:19 GMT
In US mulls clicks for cameraphones
To add to the list, the Sony Ericsson k850i camera is silent if you set the phone ringer to vibrate only.
Simon Harris
Crash... bang... → #
Posted Friday 9th January 2009 14:19 GMT
In NASA deploys huge clingfilm strato-pumpkin over Antarctic
"A 1 tonne instrument package falling from 111,000ft ..hrrmmm"
Is it just coincidence that NASA's balloon department is based as Wallops Island?
Simon Harris
OK, hands up... → #
Posted Monday 5th January 2009 15:19 GMT
In Council to crack down on Cracknuts Lane
everyone (including me) who's spending an amusingly childish afternoon typing rude words into Streetmap
Simon Harris
Wonder if ... → #
Posted Monday 5th January 2009 14:33 GMT
In Council to crack down on Cracknuts Lane
Willy Lane in Cockerham is for the chop then.
Simon Harris
Off to build my own... → #
Posted Monday 15th December 2008 10:21 GMT
In Before Pong, there was Computer Space
Now I've found all the circuit diagrams at http://www.arcadedocs.com/vidmanuals/C/ComputerSpace.pdf
Simon Harris
@ Gordon Grant - marking and headers → #
Posted Saturday 8th November 2008 18:27 GMT
In Hotmail users bitch and moan about new interface
GG> I also hate that there is no "mark as READ" option like well practically every other web based e-mail service..
Strange it's not there for you - there is on mine - a drop down menu 'Mark as' just above the list of emails with options 'Read' 'Unread' 'Phishing scam'.
GG> Also I just want to see the message headers if I wanted to see the e-mail I'd open it..
Switch off the preview in the Options menu then - you get a choice of where the preview goes, or no preview at all, so all you get is the list of Sender, Title and Date (or time for recent emails) and you can delete the spam and viruses to your heart's content without ever opening them.
Still unless I've missed it somewhere, it's a pity you can't view the full headers if you want them - bonus! points! to! Yahoo! mail! on! that! one!
Simon Harris
ICARUS → #
Posted Thursday 4th September 2008 14:20 GMT
In Lockheed demos AI-based roboforce command tech
Another somewhat unfortunate use of the name...
Olympic Airlines actually have an Icarus Frequent Flier Program.
Icarus wasn't someone I ever associated with frequent flights.
(Coastguard search and rescue helicopter).
Simon Harris
Re: Where can I buy? → #
Posted Friday 25th July 2008 14:25 GMT
In SanDisk Sansa Clip MP3 player
I only want one if it is marked out in the official Register units of measurement.
Simon Harris
@ Steven Raith → #
Posted Wednesday 16th July 2008 08:03 GMT
In Unpatched Windows PCs own3d in less than four minutes
The story was just meant to illustrate the catch 22 problem of setting up a Pre-SP2 PC with a standard domestic broadband connection. You needed the connection to get the updates, but the problem the updates were supposed to solve came over the connection before the updates arrived. It wasn't meant as a step by step guide to fixing it, so I skipped to the end of the story with the comment about getting the updates over a more secure connection without filling in all the middle bits about scanning and cleaning up the PC first.
I don't remember there being any nitroglycerine left at that point!
Simon Harris
@Eddie & @AC → #
Posted Tuesday 15th July 2008 15:40 GMT
In Unpatched Windows PCs own3d in less than four minutes
Yup, I remember that happening to me 4 years ago when I got broadband installed at home.
The Telewest technician had just got the cable modem installed, then we plugged in the Pre-SP2 laptop and blam... Windows would shut down with an intrusion before I could even get online for the updates. Unplugged the network connector and of course the computer started up just fine. Needless to say, the technician didn't have a clue what was going on.
Had to take the computer into work to connect to the firewalled network there to get the updates.
Simon Harris
@Martin Gregorie → #
Posted Friday 11th July 2008 16:16 GMT
In Upgrade drags Stealth Bomber IT systems into the 90s
"The 8086 was released after the IBM PC-XT (8088, 8 bit bus, 4.77 MHz clock) but preceeded the PC-AT, which used the more modern 286 chip and initially ran at a blistering 8 MHz."
Actually the 8086 was released before the 8088. It's just that when IBM got around to designing the IBM PC, the 8088 was the easier/cheaper option because of the 8 bit data bus.
Simon Harris
Yes, but... → #
Posted Friday 11th July 2008 15:39 GMT
In Woman finds Lithuanian living in shed
... where's the Playmobil reconstruction?
Simon Harris
@Ferry Boat. → #
Posted Thursday 15th May 2008 13:29 GMT
In Chinese boffins show off unbelievably tight ring
Errm.. the text says that the sticky out bits are alternately skewed above and below the plane of the ring, so there would only be three legs in contact with the ground if you were to rest your unfeasibly small vase on the ring.
Simon Harris
Right, that settles it... → #
Posted Wednesday 7th May 2008 22:46 GMT
In Boris Johnson bans boozing on London transport
... I'm moving to Helsinki :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sp%C3%A5rakoff
Simon Harris
@A J Stiles... → #
Posted Friday 25th April 2008 01:50 GMT
In Honda android to conduct symphony orchestra
Wonder whatever happened to the Wabot II ?
Simon Harris
@Glenn Gilbert. → #
Posted Monday 10th March 2008 15:56 GMT
In Ten years old: the world's first MP3 player
Weren't Sony still pushing minidisc and ATRAC encoding as the format for portable digital music players at the time?
If I did my sums correctly, 32Mbytes at 128kbits/second as in the early players is only 34 minutes of music, while a minidisc at the time could store 80 minutes of music at a bit rate of nearly 300kbits/second on a cheap re-writeable disc.
Simon Harris
Splashproof? → #
Posted Thursday 28th February 2008 22:24 GMT
In Elonex £99 Eee PC rival to arrive in June
@ScientologyIsACult - I'm with you on this one
and if the Elonex is advertised as splashproof, then I vote that she should be shown suitably demonstrating this property.
Lots more Elonex stories please.
Simon Harris
@brimful → #
Posted Monday 4th February 2008 04:48 GMT
In BOFH: Carbon neutrality
"Brainwave - Make the computers out of carbon thus making your computer carbon neutral."
That day might yet come - the carbon transistor already exists: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/29/carbon_nanotube_radio/
Hmmm... and to think back in 1981, I suggested to my chemistry teacher that since germanium and silicon were used as semiconductions, maybe carbon could be too, and he didn't take me seriously
Simon Harris
Has Microsoft been overrun by civil servants? → #
Posted Thursday 29th November 2007 12:59 GMT
In Vista provokes user synaptic collapse
That kind of logic puts me in mind of this classic quote from Yes Prime Minister...
Sir Humphrey: "Now go in there and inform me of their conversation."
Bernard Woolley: "I'm not sure I can do that, Sir Humphrey. It might be confidential."
Sir Humphrey: "Bernard, the matter at issue is the defence of the realm and the stability of the government."
Bernard Woolley: "But you only need to know things on a need to know basis."
Sir Humphrey: "I need to know everything! How else can I judge whether or not I need to know it?"
Bernard Woolley: "So that means you need to know things even when you don't need to know. You need to know them not because you need to know them, but because you need to know whether or not you need to know. And if you don't need to know you still need to know, so that you know there is no need to know."
Simon Harris
@MrT → #
Posted Monday 19th November 2007 10:43 GMT
In Remembering the IBM PC
In a sense, I'd disagree with the ZX81 being the last of those in the spirit of the 70's. While the kit did involve soldering everything together, if I remember rightly the ZX81 consisted of the CPU, RAM, ROM and a custom gate array - just 4 chips.
To my mind it was the introduction of the custom chips that brought about the demise of the 70's spirit. Probably the last of the line in that scheme of things were systems like the Acorn Atom and Tangerine. Provided you had the schematics (and back in those days, you did get them), and had access to the ROM images, it was quite possible to buy all the components from somewhere like RS or Farnell and build your own version without needing anything special from the manufacturers. With the old guard using standard components and a pile of databooks, you knew exactly what was happening inside, and it made it so much easier to mess with the hardware.
Simon Harris
@Martin Ward → #
Posted Saturday 17th November 2007 20:10 GMT
In Remembering the IBM PC
From the beginning of the PET article last week 'Over the next few weeks, we'll retrospect some of the computers that made the industry what it is today'.
Have a little patience Martin... Don't know what El Reg has planned for the next reminiscence, but it looks like more is to come!
Simon Harris
@Stuart Halliday - blowing things up from BASIC → #
Posted Monday 12th November 2007 01:48 GMT
In Remembering the Commodore PET 2001
Seem to remember Monochrome IBM PC monitors were quite prone to blowing if they got the wrong line sync frequency.
Once upon a time I hit the 6845 video controller timing registers with a few OUT instructions from BASIC (I think it was on a Hercules graphics card rather than the original text-only display card), pushed up the line sync rate, got a high pitched squeal out of the monitor and blew the horizontal scanning circuits.
The flame icon seems appropriate in the circumstances.
Simon Harris
@ Anonymous John → #
Posted Sunday 11th November 2007 19:18 GMT
In Second Skynet satellite to launch tonight
"Due to a electronics problem with a solid rocket booster. And according to the BBC news website will be rolled back to an inspection shed."
Hmmm... could that be one of the MoD's newfangled invisible sheds then?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/31/invisible_shed_potter_klingon_cloak_bond_aston_tank/
Simon Harris
Ahhhh nostalgia... → #
Posted Sunday 11th November 2007 19:18 GMT
In Remembering the Commodore PET 2001
... just the mention of those part numbers starting 65... brings back happy memories.
First computer I learned to program on was a PDP8e that we had at school, followed by a SWTPC 6800 system with Flex (ahhh, the days of the +++ prompt).
The first computer I owned was an Acorn Atom, 1MHz 6502 with 12K RAM. Didn't stay 1MHz for long since I found I could overclock the processor to 2MHz, although the RAM was nominally 650ns 2114s, so I had to swap them all around until the ones that couldn't cope with the exrta speed were at the bottom of the display memory.
Back in those days it was fun trying find ways of squeezing as much as possible into that amount of memory. Life just doesn't have the same challenge with 2GB to play with, and I haven't touched assembly code on a PC in about 4 years.
When I want the fun of the old days, I get out my PIC development board and see just how much I can do in 2K of assembly language on the thing.
Simon Harris
@andy rock → #
Posted Friday 9th November 2007 16:37 GMT
In Second Skynet satellite to launch tonight
Funnily enough, the UK MoD got in on the act first with the name. Skynet 1 was launched in November 1969, giving James Cameron 25 years to catch up and borrow it.
There's even a commemmorative envelope... http://www.cira.colostate.edu/cira/RAMM//hillger/Skynet-1_cover.jpg
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