Posts by graeme leggett

Doom Eternal: Reboot sequel is cluttered but we're only here for the rippin' and the tearin'

I was more of a Duke guy myself.

Europe calls for single app to track coronavirus. Meanwhile America pretends it isn’t trying to build one at all

Re: Generous non self-serving billionaires

Getty was a private person working from his own bank balance. By comparison Gates (plural -it's in his and hers names) foundation handles a large portfolio of stock including Warren Buffet's donation; it makes funding awards just like any large foundation and all it's financials are out in the open.

I note in passing Getty died about 14 years ago on 17th April - admitted to hospital for a chest infection.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, health secretary Matt Hancock both test positive for COVID-19 coronavirus

The emergency regulations...

...do have their limitations and are challengable in court. (see David Allen Green etc for an analysis.)

But IMO we wouldn't have needed so much of them if we'd taken such advisory physical distancing measures earlier.

BT's Wi-Fi Disc ads banned because there's no evidence the things work

Re: thinking the discs were battery-powered instead of needing a mains electrical connection.

Unless you have a very big bathroom. I think about 6ft from the spray area of bath,sink etc is the mininum to have a socket within the regulations. Though still not necessarily a good idea.

UK contractors planning 'mass exodus' ahead of IR35 tax clampdown – survey

Re: It's not just IR35 though

Cromwell was just the top guy of the religious-military junta.

Charles Second was more a case of deciding to go back to the old ways was the least worse option after the Republic/Protectorate. At least insofar as England was concerned, Scotland and Ireland suffered in their own different ways. And the swing of power to Parliament meant it was a different type of monarchy afterwards - and thus get to replacement of James a few years down the line.

Not a Genius move after all: Apple must cough up $$$ in back pay for store staff forced to wait for bag searches

Re: Why not have a locker in the shop staff room?

A sensible idea. But not one Apple would have thought of using while it still had the whip hand over the staff.

This ruling may inspire Apple to go for some back room re-modelling of their stores. Or they might be hoping someone develops those body scanners from Total Recall.

Remember that Sonos speaker you bought a few years back that works perfectly? It's about to be screwed for... reasons

Re: ACL Guarantee

EU law made it cross border.

Live in Spain but bought item in Germany, you're protected.

What happens in a few years if you're in UK and buy from France, who knows?

Tea tipplers are more likely to live longer, healthier lives than you triple venti pumpkin-syrup soy-milk latte-swilling fiends

Re: Nothing new here

Tea is a good source of fluoride for winding up the anti-fluoride crowd.

What was Boeing through their heads? Emails show staff wouldn't put their families on a 737 Max over safety fears

Re: I guess

In two of three early crashes Comets failed at a aerial cover where the panel supports had been riveted instead of glued per design spec. And punch riveted not drilled.it was also designed in excess of the requirements set. The other was overstressed in bad weather.

Smart speaker maker Sonos takes heat for deliberately bricking older kit with 'Trade Up' plan

Re: How easy to re-purpose the hardware?

Other way round?, see "Hacking the Sonos Ikea Symfonisk Into a High Quality Speaker Amp"

https://makezine.com/2019/08/16/hacking-the-sonos-ikea-symfonisk-into-a-high-quality-speaker-amp/

Email blackmail brouhaha tears UKIP apart as High Court refuses computer seizure attempt

Re: @NeilPost

"means of production, distribution, and exchange should be... regulated" - that's what governments as elected by the people do, don't they?

Google security engineer says she was fired for daring to remind Googlers they do indeed have labor rights

Re: "My employer is a liar"

What if the company is lying?

Newly born Firefox 71 emerges from its den – with its own VPN and some privacy tricks

Printing

Does this version let you print preview and print just selected part of a webpage?

Franco-stein's on the move: Spanish dictator turfed out of decadent mountaintop mausoleum

Re: Wondering

Because at the time, those with the power could have him buried there.

Unsurprisingly the Civil War has left its effects long after the fighting (officially) ended.

Lights, camera, camera, camera, action: iPhone, iPad, Watch, chip biz in new iPhone, iPad, Watch, chip shocker

Re: Dear Kieran... Tax inclusive, tax exclusive

With these sorts of devices isn't Apple pricing based upon

1) what the market will bear

2) the impression of exclusivity Apple want to give

Apple programs Siri to not bother its pretty little head with questions about feminism

I watched one of those documentaries on becoming an RAF pilot.

I noticed the female "pull up" voice in the Hawk trainers cam across as more urgent that the rather lanquid ones that civilian aircraft appear to have. Probably for the best when navigating the Mach Loop.

Train maker's coder goes loco, choo-choo-chooses to flee to China with top-secret code – allegedly

Re: Nice Picture

Gordon was green before he came to Sodor.

I realise that could only have sounded worse if I'd put "Actually" at the start of the sentence.

DoH! Secure DNS doesn't make us a villain, Mozilla tells UK broadband providers

Re: Mozilla are only partly right

I see that the Czechs require passing a written and practical exam and a clean criminal record before a licence is issued.

An AK47 needs a specific valid reason to be given . In general the Czech gun laws seem comprehensive and thorough to achieve a balance between public safety and right to have a weapon for certain uses.

Could an AI android live forever? What, like your other IT devices?

Re: Android vs Robot?

If you're not sure if it's meant to be male or female - "androgenoid"?

Brexit: Digital border possible for Irish backstop woes, UK MPs told

Re: This is the sort of thing that we should have been talking about

Bugger Bognor.

Bollocks or brutal truth: Do smart-mobes make us grow skull horns? We take a closer look at boffins' startling claims

Deciphering

Much medical research is reported by muppets who pick an exciting headline unsubstantiated by a scrutiny of the underlying paper.

The authors seem to be more modest in the text and I was wondering the merits of the dataset. The authors indentify that the X-rays came from people who were being X-rayed for a medical problem, so there you have the immiedate issue that the population sample is representative of the whole, as it comes from an unhealthly set

And then I read "All radiographs were obtained by a trained radiographer, at a single chiropractic clinic.." so perhaps these are a healthy population. albeit gullible to the promise of the chiroquacktors.

Planes, fails and automobiles: Overseas callout saved by gentle thrust of server CD tray

Re: Ah the old push-out-the-cd-tray trick

I thought they put lights on the front panel you could flicker. Like our HP box with it's "UID" led

Julian Assange jailed for 50 weeks over Ecuador embassy bail-jumping

He'll probably get more exercise and fresh air as well.

Boeing boss denies reports 737 Max safety systems weren't active

There will be a immediate cause such as "blown tyre" (proximate cause of the accident) but there will be a reason the tyre blew eg it was worn, then there will be a reason why a worn tyre was used on the aircraft eg not picked up at inspection, then there will be a reason why it wasn't picked up at inspection eg insufficiently trained inspector and vague checklist and then there will be a reason why the inspector wasn't trained correctly and a reason the checklist was vague. And there lie the "root causes".

And uncovering the root causes might then show a risk to a whole fleet of aircraft. Which is what aviation accident investigators are after.

Loose Women woman's IR35 win deals another high-profile blow to UK taxman's grip on rules

Case load

"This is the fifth of six IR35 cases HMRC has lost since it made its disastrous changes to IR35 in the public sector in 2017"

Raises a question and supplementary questions.

How many cases have there been (how many are active at moment)?

How many have HMRC won?

How many have ended in a "settlement" rather than a win or loss?

Brit rocket boffins Reaction Engines notch up first supersonic precooler test

So much potential

If it works, it'll be amazing.

Until then...

Champagne corks undocked as SpaceX brings the Crew Dragon back to Earth

Re: Well done, SpaceX ...

Because British intelligence were feeding duff gen to the Germans.

Had they received accurate feedback on the target, the Wehrmacht could probably have improved on accuracy.

That said Jerry aimed 40-odd V2s at my home city and did not hit any buildings.

Re: Congratulations

"a sea-faring tradition that you don't rename ships"

I don't think the [insert name of navy] got that memo.

Radio gaga: Techies fear EU directive to stop RF device tinkering will do more harm than good

Your changing the software might not be 'illegal' but it reads to me that the EU regulation could mean that the manufacturer should have made it diffficult (assuming nothing is impossible) for you to change the software.

Crowdfunded lawyer suing Uber told he can't swerve taxi app giant's £1m legal bill

Re: " I suppose it's no different from black cabs refusing to go over the river in the evenings!"

"A taxi driver, unless required by the hirer to drive more than 12 miles, or more than 20 miles in respect of a journey which begins at Heathrow Airport, London, or for a longer time than one hour, is under a duty to accept a fare:"

"A taxi driver is under a duty to drive the hirer of his taxi to any place within the Metropolitan Police District or the City of London not exceeding 12 miles from the place where he was hired; or more than 20 miles in respect of a journey which begins at Heathrow Airport, London"

Says TFL

Re: Who is ultimately responsible for collecting/paying the VAT

HMRC does not always collect all that is owed. And may need prompting to act.

It reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs in 2010 which avoided the latter paying interest on about 20 million quids worth of National Insurance Contributions they hadn't paid relating to offshore bonuses (I believe)

The HMRC had settled because Goldman Sachs had threatened to withdraw from a voluntary code of conduct. Judge said it “was not a glorious episode in the history of the Revenue.” Those in HMRC who had made the agreement hadn't consulted legal experts nor noticed they had to have the deal reviewed internally.

Amazon Prime Air flight crashes in Texas after 6,000ft nosedive

Re: Age?

This past week in my newsletter from Airfix I heard one of the last flying Gloster Meteors (a Nightfighter) has ceased flying.

Airframe age, of itself, means that it's had more opportunity for problems to develop but that does not mean you shouldn't step foot in the cabin of an airliner just because its been around a while.

[declaration of (in)competence - I may have watched too much Air Crash Investigation and be overrating my skills/opinion]

Solder and Lego required: The Register builds glorious Project Alias gizmo to deafen Alexa

As an alternative

What about a device that just pushes the mute button on the top?

Say what?! An AI system can decode brain signals into speech

If I've understood correctly, you can't open people up to do these sorts of direct measurement of brain impulses. So you find people who are having their skulls opened for surgery etc and then ask them if you can stick your multimeter probes into their grey matter before the brain surgeon gets going. Obviously routine surgery not emergency surgery (even though such nuerological prodding and poking is not rocket science)

I heard of this project on the Sceptics Guide to the Universe podcast earlier this week, but a more interesting aspect of brain mapping mentioned in the episode (described by Steve Novella, a neurologist) is the use of "lattice light-sheet microscopy" to map the neurons in a brain.

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/new-technique-to-map-brains/

Microsoft's Master Chief calls time on Cortana as a standalone AI platform

Looking for the MS Phone replacement.

"You might still be able to restore devices or upload photos until 10 December 2020, but the company isn't making any promises"

There's a couple of Black Fridays and another January sale betwixt now and then. Wonder how long I can eke mine out.

It's 2019, the year Blade Runner takes place: I can has flying cars?

Re: The real hangup is an instinct for self-preservation.

"I never wanted a jet-pack, I want a drink that makes me slim without exercise."

and that tastes of bacon....

Re: Electric sheep

Ta. Must be a programming glitch in my head made me confuse general rubbish and beige pet biscuits.

Electric sheep

Deckard in the novel wants a real sheep. He makes do with an electric one as mankind has (for reasons not gone into in depth) most all real animals are gone. We haven't gotten there yet.

Another element I remember from the book is (IIRC) 'kibble' - the general,detritus of broken and unrepairarable materials of civilisation. We might be getting there with drawers stuffed with ancient USB sticks, propriety cables, instruction leaflets and warning labels. Stuff you'd like to throw on the tip but feel morally obligated to dispose of responsibly (you'll get round to it one day) or fear that you might need one day.

The Great British Curry: Put down the takeaway, you're cooking tonight

Re: Cooking Basmati

After many years of intermittent cooking of rice I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that microwaveable bags of rice make a lot of sense. No pans, no clouds of steam, no starchy water down the sink, no anxiety over timing.

Rice is there to soak up liquids while giving you a portion of carbs. And if you're mixing it with a strong tasting sauce such as a curry then any subtlety of flavour is forsworn.

And if you're only cooking because your body is crying out for something because of the ravages upon it from alcohol, then 'is it edible?' is your yardstick.

A few reasons why cops haven't immediately shot down London Gatwick airport drone menace

Re: How about a high power laser burst ?

"Urban myth" implies didn't happen at all.

The flip was used but not often. because it wasn't an simple manoeuvre and was resorted to when a pilot a ran out of ammo.

Eg a 3 Squadron pilot "It wasn't impossible to tip them up but quite difficult. I only did it once.... I found that every time I put my wing under its starboard wing, it just skidded away; I had upset the airflow. On the next try I slipped my wing under it and immediately flipped my stick over to the right, and that tipped its wing right over and it just catapulted into the ground."

The few Meteors available were only in use from late July (when seven aircraft were posted to Manston) to September (when the launch sites were overrun) against V1s. That and working out the kinks in the new fighter probably counted as much as low endurance against them getting a passable score.

Ecuador says 'yes' to Assange 'freedom' deal, but Julian says 'nyet'

Re: Inside for 6 and a half years?

Some balls are held for charity

And some for fancy dress

But when they're held for....

[sorry, couldn't resist]

Microsoft: New icons, new drivers, AI! Everything is awesome!

New icon design

"We also used gestalt principles to further emphasize key product changes"

I think I get what they mean, but I'm sure they could have used more understandable language to say something along the lines of - "we bore in mind that these programs are all related to each other and that the apps have changed over the years"

As opposed to readers thinking "Gestalt - isn't that what the Borg are...or was that thingy's lot in DS9"

YouTube fight gets dirty: Kids urged to pester parents over Article 13

Re: Isn't it bad?

I don't think I was implying that. But I see a lot of of copyright material on youtube and the impression I get is that if youtube wanted to they could throw tech at the problem.

What woudl the knock on effect be if the averager user uploaded a video and it took 5 minutes or 50 minutes for the system to "validate" it?

Re: Isn't it bad?

"that is impossible for Google to do, they simply can't afford to hire enough people to do that"

That's an interesting statement because I'm sure Google/Alphabet have implied before now that they are masters of AI and search. Do they need humans, or is it sufficient that show they have made a reasonable attempt to vet content.

Also, that a company is unable to exercise its legal requirements without going bust is not a pre-requisiste to letting a company off its legal obligations.

Here's the list of space orgs big and small sparring to send next NASA gear to the Moon

Re: Bigelow?

But Robert Bigelow is going to be real disappointed when he doesn't find evidence of aliens on the moon.

On the other hand he can blame any system failures on sabotage by aliens already on Earth trying to stop him from discovering their far side base.

Montezuma's Revenge can finally be laid to rest as Uber AI researchers crack the classic game

Confused.

Perhaps I'm missing something but the method reads a lot like 'play the game a lot and remember which bits work'? Which is very human but not very inspired.

In my defence, it's first thing in the morning for me.

Shocker: UK smart meter rollout is crap, late and £500m over budget

Not surprised

I login to my online energy supplier account.

Would you like a smart meter? It's free it says. Click here to arrange install.

OK, I think. I forget to do the read your own meter thing. And getting down on my knees to look in the back of the cupboard is no fun either. So I click. Screen tells me my install is already scheduled - for January last year. With no option to change.

At this point you know you're going to have to phone a call centre, and your heart sinks.

Which scientist should be on the new £50 note? El Reg weighs in – and you should vote, too

I do have a copy. And in hardback it's a beautiful item. I haven't looked at it in a while but it must have partly influence my suggestion.

Re: One problem with this

According to the Measuring Worth website, a 6d Mars bar in 1955 going by retail price index would be worth about 60p today. Coincidentally the current price of a 51g Mars bar from Tesco.

Using other measures of 'value' 6d in 1950s is worth up to £2.50 in terms of earnings or share of economy.ie it took more to earn that Mars bar in the 50s.

Ada Lovelace gets a poor showing sometimes because although a romantic figure, there's not the evidence to point to and say 'she did that'. But as a symbol of women in technology and as a bridge between the literary and scientific sets could be a justification as an early communicator?. Her 'social' network included

Mary Sommerville

Babbage

Charles Wheatstone - influential but a bit of a sod over claiming IP that wasn't necessarily his to claim?

Dickens

De Morgan - her tutor

Brewster - optics

Faraday - nuff said

Perhaps a hypothetical soiree of the above could be considered.