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Comment The first B in BBC stands for British, right? (Score 1) 137

So how come someone from the UK isn't allowed to access that page? FTA: We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. I can sort-of understand non-UK readers being prevented from seeing things paid for by the License Fee, but UK residents being prevented from reading something NOT paid for in that way? **facepalm**

Comment Re:Trick or treaters who visit... (Score 1) 437

Agree wholeheartedly...there have been too many polls lately which are irrelevent to anyone outside the US.

So... Scotland, Ireland, France, and Canada are part of the US now? Interesting. And non-Americans say we don't know geography.

Like all American "Traditions", Trick or Treat is a bastardised version of something else, an amalgam of traditions from various place lumped in to one homogenised whole. Most of those traditions come from Gaelic parts of the UK - thats would be most (but not all) of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales - those from the non-Gealic areas wouldn't know about the origins of the practice, and would therefore regard the whole thing, along with its implied threat of violence should the householders not wish to take part, as yet one more American import.

DRM

Submission + - Why Nokia users come to hate Windows Phone (blogs.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Tommi Ahonen has an article up about why long term Nokia users often buy Nokia's Windows phones but come to hate them if they don't realise to return them in time. Problems such as the phones lack of warning for battery failure during calls have been pointed out by some more independent reviewers, however Tommi points to a whole series of fundamental platform features from Bluetooth file transfer through lack of operator messaging features which aren't visible in the shop but come out after users get the phone home. Tommi also points to the build quality of Nokia's contract manufactured phones.

Part of the reason for leaving out Bluetooth file transfer is probably that operators hate it. With Microsoft's long term plan to use Skype to and other services to reduce the operators such as AT&T and Vodafone to simple bit pipes no different from a WiFi hotspot, they must following the “smile at Novell while we pull the trigger,” strategy and will do what it takes to keep operators on side in the meantime. Other omissions such as lack of Video MMS and USSD, however, already strike directly at existing operator services popular in many countries and are a definite harbinger of a future where Microsoft aims to follow their standard PC model and squeeze both operators and handset makers to pure commodities.

The overall package ends up seeming good in the shop but Tomi says "the situation gets far worse once you have lived with the Lumia for a little while." The realisation that, after 14 years of freedom, you can't use your own music for ringtones but need to buy them individually from Microsoft may be the last straw for the betrayed Nokia loyalist.

Comment Re:I sometimes wonder if I'll get a takedown notic (Score 1) 407

I worked with a band here in the UK a few years ago who shared a name with the biggest album from a group who were big in the 80's (thats not where they got the name from, it was just a massive coincidence.) They were making next to nothing, but trying to raise their profile, and the cheapest way of doing this was by distributing music over t'interwebnets - and as hosting on this side of the pond was expensive, they took the cheapest route and went for an American host. Can anyone see where this is leading? Suffice to say, they bit the bullet, canned their American host, and got one here in the UK.

Comment Hmmm (Score 1) 343

Manufacturers never include coupons like this out of the goodness of their hearts (not that many of them have hearts!) - its entirely likely that these coupons have been paid for by OnLive as a promotional thing (They pay the game maker, who make money without doing anything, people redeem the vouchers, and a percentage carry on paying for the service - everyone profits.) In this case - wouldn't GameStop be defrauding OnLive of potential revenue they have paid for?

Comment Re:US doesn't know how to handle terrorism. (Score 1) 335

Your second sentence is somewhat disingenuous - you may as well blame all the national rivalries in Europe on the Romans invading everyone else and stealing their lands. Ireland (as a whole) has been under British rule for hundreds of years, dating right back to the Norman invasion in the Twelfth Century - remember, these are the same Normans who invaded England. Incidentally, the Normans were invited over to help one of the ousted Irish kings regain his kingdom, and he gradually handed more and more power over to the Normans. If anything, the British GAVE AWAY land, allowing the creation of the Irish Free State which occupied 5/6ths of the landmass - the Protestant dominated North-East of the country remained part of the UK. All the terrorism was aimed at bringing that last small piece into an independent Ireland, and was mostly bankrolled by the Irish government and various American political groups who claimed an Irish background - even if that background was Protestant rather than Catholic. More people were killed by Irish terrorists than died in the Twin Towers, yet not once did the British government try bringing in any measures approaching anywhere near this level of paranoia and stupidity.

Comment Re:THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM !! (Score 1) 344

Thank God we don't have any smart terrorists... the kind who would, say, cause a security alert at an airport in order to have it evacuated and then set off the car-bomb parked outside (away from all the security, checks, police officers with guns, etc.), in the open-air, right where 10,000 people just got evacuated to.

There was a terrorist attack in Manchester several years ago by one version of the IRA - several small bombs were placed on shops in the Arndale Centre (later to be all but demolished by another bomb). When these bombs went off, the entire building was evacuated - it was later found that explosives had been laid by one of the main emergency exit routes. IIRC, these explosives didnt go off, but the loss of life among those trying to get away from a smaller event could have been staggering. Then again, this was something the IRA was adept at - after all, what better way to cause terror than by making it obvious you might be killed even if you get away from a terrorist incident.

Input Devices

Project Natal Pricing and Release Date Revealed 156

tekgoblin writes "According to Edge-online.com, their source says that we can expect Microsoft's Project Natal to cost around $149. 'The figure for the standalone unit is significantly higher than a previous sub-£50 estimate, but less than pricing recently suggested by European retailers. It’s also more expensive than Sony’s Natal rival, Move, which will be available later this year with a game for less than $100.'"

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