Best of the Rest: bits and bobs

[Bit of a mixed bag]

Power to the People: apply online to enter UK govt

You said:

"The peerage system is a totally corrupt old-boys'-network affair ..."

Completely unlike the "totally" open, "totally" honest, "totally" democratic and "totally" accountable system of Parliamentary representation we get from New Labour in the Commons, I presume. Perhaps a more informed and sophisticated argument could be constructed if we jettison the media shorthand (surely somebody at Journalism School explained that a reliance on stereotypes is lazy and the work of a hack) and rose above the simplistic hyperbole of our undergraduate years :-)

Jezza

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WAP's the matter you? Hey! Gotta no respecta

GPRS is actually worse than you have mentioned.

Depending on how far away you are from the base station, you get a lesser rate the top rate only available if you are really close to the base station. If you are really far away you could get 9Kbs which is no better than now. It steps down in bands as your signal quality weakens. Once you get enhanced GPRS, (EDGE) you can get up to 59Kb/s but again if you are miles from the basestation you could get 8.8K/sec.

Steve Hand

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I've read Negroponte's books, I found "Being Digital" somewhat jingoistic, he's probably just sour because the US mobile market is in such a mess and he'll have to wait for new toys after everyone else.

He'd probably say digital TV isn't going to happen, then realised every electrical shop in Europe is retailing them. Also his arguments are totally contradictory, he duly criticised the auction process, so why would companies spend billions on licenses and not deploy them?

Andrew.

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Ye cannae change the laws of physics, Jim

I remember an article you published about light pulses travelling faster than the speed of light, (mind you so did many other gee whiz journals). Well it was a load of junk. (I am not in the mood for the scientific terminology).

See "Physics World Vol. 13 Issue 9, Page 21, No thing goes faster than light." (The gap between No and thing is deliberate).

Bye.

Anthony Linton

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APM bug slows latest, greatest ThinkPad to a crawl

Dude, how can you possibly be so bold as to scrub a few comments off dejanews and the IBM support board and make an entire news article out of it?

You're quoting anonymous message board posters and then say that "IBM and ATI were unavailable for comment?" What the hell does that mean? Why not write about something of some significance. Or if not, I found a couple posts on the newsgroups talking about what a rag The Register really is. Maybe something titled "Register plagued by public outcry over irresponsible articles?"

A Jameson

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[And finally a timely woman's gag from a lovely PR bunny - doh, done it again - professional PR representative what is female]

A man is out shopping and discovers a new brand of Olympic condoms. Clearly impressed, he buys a pack. Upon getting home he announces to his wife the purchase he just made.

"Olympic condoms?", she blurts, "What makes them so special?"

"There are three colours", he replies, "Gold, Silver and Bronze."

"What colour are you going to wear tonight?", she asks cheekily.

"Gold of course," says the man proudly.

The wife responds: "Why don't you wear Silver, it would be nice if you came second for a change!"