flyinghaggis

Seems like a nice improvement this time round after the rather uninspired iPhone 7. Good to see the minimum storage is 64gb and the wireless charging should be handy. Plus the usual CPU/GPU bump is always nice. The iPhone X looks rather nice. Admittedly ridiculously expensive but if you're already considering spending £800 on and iPhone 8 plus then it's not a crazy jump for the improved screen and form factor. I'm not sure about the whole face ID though. I'm nervous about it after seeing it fail during the demo on stage which makes me wonder how reliable it will actually be in real world use. Plus I kind of miss the fingerprint reader which is really convenient when you're taking your phone out of a pocket or pressing when it's flat on a desk. I've changed my phone pretty recently and have been sticking with android generally for the last few years so won't be buying one however. Might consider switching back if IOS 11 looks good and the OLED panels hit the 'mainstream' non pro/X models next year.

Someone's been taking inspiration from Mr Robot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3QXMMV-Srs Wow, I initially thought it was made up but you can send an HP firmware update embedded in a PDF document! https://www.extremetech.com/computing/106945-tens-of-millions-of-hp-laserjet-printers-vulnerable-to-hacking I can't actually believe that's a thing and there's no check in place to verify the firmware update.....

The hitmans bodyguard For a movie with such promise and an epic cast I was really disappointed. I mean how could an action buddy movie featuring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel l Jackson pit against Gary oldman fail. Unfortunately the jokes seemsed to fall flat and the action scenes were really badly done IMO American made Your standard Tom cruise biopic by the numbers. Not bad but just kind of meh.

I was initially quite tempted by the steam controller/link sale bundle but the controller itself seems to receive so much hate. Also, unless I buy a powerline networking kit, I've no straightforward way to wire my PC to the link which means having to run it over Wi-Fi which by all accounts is terrible (especially as my Sky router is only 802.11n). It'd be quite nice to play Fallout 4, Xcom 2 and some of my other steam games on the TV in the lounge though Does anyone have anything to say in favour of the controller or steam link

Good to hear from someone who's been on the course. How many hours a week did you have to commit to studying/coursework?

I'd always presumed you'd need to be part of a Cisco Course to get packet tracer via Cisco Academy. Can anyone download and use it? Also, when you say self-study did you just buy books to take you through or was there a specific guide/programme you followed? Do Cisco provide anything themselves? I think the time commitment is my main concern at the moment. I'm worried whether I can spare enough though the week in addition to working full time and other commitments outside work. The course reviews state that it's very time intensive and covers a lot of material. Also, this is the last year they're running that specific course and it's now being divided into two different courses. I wonder if that's due to the amount of material covered in it being too much for a single years course! I'll maybe see if I can speak to someone at the OU to see what the time commitments would be and where I can attend the 4 onsite practical days as if it's only South England that's going to add substantially to my course fees.

Hi Everyone, I'm looking to do a computer networking course. I've worked in IT for a fair while now so have plenty of hands on time configuring networking switches/firewalls/etc however I've never had any formal networking training. Recently at my place of work there have been a lot of changes/new hardware and they've had 3rd party companies replace the network switches/firewall/wireless controller. I'm generally happy with the day to day running of the system but I'd like to have a deeper understanding of the VLAN'ing/Routing in order to carry out more advanced configuration and troubleshoot issues. To that end I've been looking at Networking courses I can do with the intention of trying to obtain some kind of formal qualification. I'm not quite sure whether there are any courses I could do over a 5-day period/etc as my work have offered to assist with that kind of training. My gut feeling is that there's so much material to cover that most of the networking courses will be geared around a month, if not a year, of studying rather than something you could cram into a single week's training. I've noticed there's an Open University course for the Cisco CCNA which looked like it might be a good option. :- T216 | Cisco Networking (CCNA) | Open University Course I'm not specifically after training in Cisco hardware as such but most folks I've spoken recommend going for the Cisco CCNA Course as the best place to start. Has anyone done this course or used the open university for similar courses? Any recommendations of other places/courses (doesn't necessarily need to be Cisco I guess) to look for network training materials? Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated!

I noticed the other day that pc world are selling 2016 13"Macbook pro's with the touchbar and 8gb/256gb for £1249 which seems like a pretty good deal (or at least slightly less extortionate that their usual pricing )

My standard response whenever anyone says they want a laptop like a Macbook is to say that you should just go and buy the Macbook! I haven't found a Windows laptop with equivalent build quality or support (IMO) and having the flexibility of being able to run both OSX and Windows is pretty handy with the amount of Apple devices in education these days. At least with the Macbook you can be pretty confident in the resale value second hand if you ever need to sell it as well. The Dell XPS 13" is probably the closest thing I've seen for ~£900 though the Dell forums have lots of people complaining about the quality, fan noise and a variety of driver issues. After past laptop experiences I don't think I'd ever buy a Dell again personally! The Microsoft Surface laptop looks nice but by the time you spec it to the minimum usable spec (8Gb RAM/256GB SSD (IMO unless you can live with 4GB RAM!) it's £1250 which feels somewhat overpriced for what it is.

Yeah, will have to try and get super mario bros 2. The DS compatibility is a good point as well. In fact I still have my Nintendo DS lite and a few games for it. It'll be nice to revisit them on the newer system with slightly larger screens.

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually ran into an issue with the second hand 3DS XL i bought so I ended up returning it and getting one of the new 2DS XL units to replace it. Despite lacking the 3D screen it's a much more ergonomic handheld and is noticeably lighter than the 3DS. The 3D works OK but I ended up turning it off after 30 mins of using it so I don't think I'll miss the feature. I'd definitely recommend getting the 2DS XL over the 3DS XL for anyone considering buying one especially as it's only £130 vs £190 for the 3DS. It also includes a charger unlike the 3DS XL. In fact, even if they were the same price I'd actually rather have the 2DS XL just because I find it much more comfortable to hold. I guess that's maybe personal preference though. What's with the price of second hand 3DS games though..... You'd think a 3-4 year game which retailed for ~£30 new could be picked up for next to nothing now but most of the second hand sellers on ebay and amazon still want near new prices for them! The Fire Emblem games seem particularly bad in that regard so I'm obviously not the only person after them. Still, I managed to find a cheap copy of Xenoblade Chronicles today as I wanted to give that a shot especially seeing as it's one of the few games designed for the 'new' 3DSXL.

I would say unless you have a specific business need for it that's too expensive for a home lab server? If it's just for your own training/practice purposes I'd suggest buying something cheaper/older and out of warranty.

I realise I'm kind of late to the party but i've just recently picked up a 3DS XL. I thought it would be handy for playing on my commute to work and I really wanted to catch up on the 3DS Fire Emblem games. I bought Fire Emblem: Awakening and Zelda: Link between Worlds the other day and will probably get Super Mario 3D Land and maybe the new Metroid: Samus Returns in the near future. I like RPG's but I'm not a fan of anything that's overly linear or involves lots of repetitive mindless grinding for XP/loot! I'm tempted to try out one of the Pokemon games as I've never played one yet and I'm curious to see what all the fuss is about though I don't know if they'd actually appeal to me! Any recommendations for other games which I should try on the system?

I pretty much agree with the OP entirely. Personally I think Samsung actually loathe the fact they need to put Android as an OS on their phones at are still hacked off that their own attempt at an OS (Bada) bombed! I think you can see this from the fact that they've reskinned Android so heavily and are desperate to replace all of the stock Google apps with their inferior own versions which tie into their own web services and platforms. I get the impression Samsung wishes it could be Apple and have full control over both the OS and hardware !

I can see the appeal of mining them if you can turn a profit but what are folk's main reasons for converting currency like GBP OR USD into bitcoin to pay for goods/services? Wouldn't it just be easier and safer to use a credit card?

I was in a similar boat a couple of months ago when my Nexus 5x died on me. I also had a Nexus 5 prior to that actually. I looked at the Moto G5 but after trying it out for a few minutes in the shop I wasn't overly impressed with it as it felt like a noticeable step down from my old Nexus 5x. The performance of the phone seemed sluggish and the phone itself felt kind of big, chunky and heavy compared to my old 5X despite having a smaller screen (5" vs 5.2"). I actually really liked my Nexus 5X and would have wholeheartedly recommended one until recently. However LG seem to have a serious hardware issue as if you read the forums/review sites loads of users experienced the same bootlooping issue which killed mine so personally I'd avoid any LG phones in future. I ended up buying a new OnePlus5 which I've been pretty happy though at £450 it's obviously a fair hike in price compared to the Nexus models. I'm still kind of annoyed with Google for killing off the Nexus line as I couldn't find any handsets in a similar price range which felt as good as the Nexus phones in terms of the hardware and a close to stock Android UI with rapid updates. I mulled over buying a Google Pixel but it didn't really feel like it warranted the iPhone style price tag especially now it's just about to be replaced with a new model. Oh, and if you do buy a new phone make sure it has a fingerprint sensor. It's one feature I couldn't live without having experienced it on my last 2 phones!

Bitcoin Soars to Record as Buyers Look Beyond Miners' Split Looks like bitcoin is back in the news and trading on record highs following the split the other week. I personally don't understand how it's managed to surge in value despite it recently being forked into two separate currencies? I'd have thought a split would drive it's value down? I'll confess to not really understanding the workings of bitcoin and being pretty sceptical of its future as a currency. As far as I can see it's a virtual commodity (backed by nothing) primarily used to buy goods anonymously and currently being pumped up in value by speculators hoping to make a quick buck from it. It's 'mined' into existence by an algorithm (which made it easier at the beginning for the early adopters) yet isn't backed by anything tangible or otherwise (governments/physical assets/etc) . Everything I've read about it makes it sound like a pyramid scheme to me! I don't get it......

Thanks for the info. Just added you. Really enjoying splatoon 2. The motion controls take some getting used to but it's way more accurate than the stick alone.

I picked it up on the way home today so would be up for a game. I need to work out how the whole Nintendo friend code thing works though as I haven't used it before.

Yeah, I'd agree. The discounts on offer don't seem as high as they've been in previous years. I miss the daily deals and flash sales they used to do

Last day of the sale if anyone wants to pick up any last minute bargains. I wasn't going to bother this time as I have loads of games still to play but I caved and bought house of the dying sun. Heard it's one of the best space combat Sims around so fancied giving it a try whilst it's on sale!

That's pretty much how I feel. A lot of the N64 titles in all honesty weren't very good games and were just an excuse to show of the latest 3D graphics. Even the classic ones like Mario64, Zelda and Goldeneye seem pretty crude by todays standards. I'll still buy an Nintendo N64 Classic Mini if they release it though

Wow. I knew it would sell out quick but that's crazy. Makes me wonder how many units Nintendo has allocated to each reseller. This is going to be the NES classic situation again only worse! My personal feeling is that Nintendo only sees these mini consoles as hype and publicity generators for keeping their brand in the news in the run up to Xmas so they can sell more of their other consoles and games. If they ever need cash or publicity in future Nintendo knows it can just rerelease another classic console or even reissue a SNES or NES classic! It's clear they're not serious about stocking them properly or keeping them in production long enough to actually meet the demand out there. Still, we'll all be here in a year's time chasing after a Nintendo 64 mini classic no doubt

They're up for pre-order on Argos if anyone wants one. Don't use search, look in menus for technology > preorders then order by highest price/relevance and you should find it. Be quick though as I doubt they'll be on sale for long!

That's exact what happened for me with the NES classic. I unboxed it when I got it, played it for a couple of hours and I haven't touched it since. In fact I probably spent longer trying to find one than I did actually playing the thing! Having said that I never owned an NES so it doesn't have quite the same nostalgia factor for me as the SNES and most of the 8-bit games don't hold up too well today IMO. The SNES on the other hand has the games I remember. I'd actually quite like the chance to sit down in front of the TV and play all the way though Zelda, Metroid, Secret of Mana and Castlevania.