Profile for tamias

Contact	About me
Email: Private ICQ: 30759398 AOL: Yahoo:	Username: tamias Realname: Mark Rowan About me: Graduate in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Birmingham, now studying Natural Computation. Interested in AI techniques and general computing/programming, including RISC OS (which I have used since the age of 8) and GNU/Linux. I play the violin and mandolin. Homepage: http://www.tamias.co.uk Face/Logo: Comments posted: 64 (show all)

Recent comments

On Bug-fixed NetSurf 2.1 released:

Any chance of an updated deb package being hosted on the Netsurf website? The Debian repos are all still hosting 1.2, and I'm unable to fit all the build tools to compile from source onto my netbook's very cramped SSD storage. tamias on 4/6/09 12:51PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Stilt walker offers free sandwich board advertising to RISC OS companies:

Yes, but the only adverts which actually work have a few vitally important things in common: not much text, clear design, simple colour scheme, and a *short* message which gets straight to the point. Look at any billboard advert currently on display for examples of this. With the amount of (comparatively hard to read) text on the A9 poster, not to mention its small size compared to the 30-foot billboards around, I seriously doubt anyone walking or driving past would have time to notice much more than a man on stilts with a funny-coloured piece of cardboard strapped to him. Adverts such as "Don't smoke" or "Buy this sofa" in massive lettering, black on white, in a clear typeface and with a single picture in the background, are far more effective. I'd suggest a similarly simple slogan such as "Treat yourself to a computer that works", a picture of the A9, and a link to a website where people whose interest is sufficiently aroused may find further information and all the geeky stats they could want, to peruse in their own time. There's no point, as you say, writing an essay on a poster for the layman. The current poster is a visual essay. I'd suggest having a read of the booklet which Richard Hallas (?) produced a few years back. I think it was sold via APDL. (Can someone correct me on this?) tamias on 19/1/09 5:07PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Stilt walker offers free sandwich board advertising to RISC OS companies:

I have to agree with the comments on the poster. It took me a full minute to decipher the large amount of low-contrast, confusing typeface text on top of the textured background -- and that was the screenshot on my monitor, not the actual printed and laminated version. The message is good, but I doubt anyone would be able to read more than just the headline before Rob has passed by on his stilts. A lost opportunity for RISC OS advertising, I'm afraid. Perhaps if Rob carried a donations bucket as well, people may just drop in a few pennies for charity... tamias on 23/12/08 11:46AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On New lead developer for RPCEmu emerges:

This is fantastic news. I use only Linux at home now, so further development on what has been a promising project so far is most welcome if it will enable me to continue to have access to my RISC OS data. I will try to help by submitting bug reports when time allows, and encourage others to do the same -- even if you're a non-techie type, it's something you can do to help the project along. tamias on 2/12/08 11:14AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Iyonix range taken off the market:

Charlie, If you want to avoid the eBay hassle, I'm looking to sell my Iyonix (complete with motherboard stability mods, new PSU, lots of software including Aemulor Pro, and a stack of magazines if you want them) at a knock-down price before I move house. If you're interested, contact me at <mark at tamias co uk>. tamias on 06/10/08 3:25PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

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