
Phobos Phobias
Hmm! Seems no one remembers last (& only) time in 1989 when Soviet Phobos II probe disappeared in strange circumstances.
108 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Oct 2007
We can get thermal fax paper here still in Portugal from various office supppliers.
That having been said even the staff in the local Telecom Operators are to young to know what a fax is! ;)
I think my wife now uses it twice a year to communicate with an old German friend in Munich who refuses to upgrade to the Interwebs!
OK
I have some sympathy with the guy, having dislocated my foot 3 years ago after a ladder collapsed under me and I fell 3 metres while trying to install a network cable.
Bl**dy painful!
It was my own stupid fault. I know all the safety regs but there was an urgent job needed doing and no one else around.
The client at least came to see me the next day in hospital, clutching an envelope!
My comment "Is that the invoice for the hole I made in your patio"? ;)
I'm self-employed so it was a bit costly for a few months!
Lisbon would be an excellent venue not only because of the climate.
Portugal and Lisbon has a vibrant IT start-up scene and MEO,NOS and Vodafone offer excellent quality ISP fibre-optic services.
Lisbon Airport also has direct links to many more European, North American,South American hubs than Dublin with Turkish, Emirates and Qatar offering daily links to the Middle/Far East.
Great Article!
I've been living in Portugal for many years.
There is plenty of second hand kit available, (see for example: http://olx.pt/ ) but I prefer to buy new as Portuguese Govt. legislation requires purveyors of hardware, white goods and many other items to offer a minimum two year guarantee.
Worten.pt is part of the large national SONAE group and, in fact, took over the old Dixon's operations in Spain a couple of years back. Economies of scale are now such that prices are very competitive on a EU basis. However, there are a good number of excellent IT retailers nationwide most with their own online shops.
One thing I like about Portugal is that 48hr Cash on Delivery is available here via the Post Offfice and offereed by most on-line retailers. This avoids having to use credit/debit cards and reduces fraud risks.
I also only use Debian on my three laptops(jessie) and my VPS(wheezy).and have been doing so for 10 years. I love rehabilitating "ex laptops" that people intend to dispose of with Linux.
I am writing is on an ex-Dixons UK, Advent Eclipse E300 (Intel Celeron SU2300 (1.20GHz)) which a local Expat was flogging 12 months ago. All the advice on the web was that it couldn't be upgraded. I managed to use a credit card to slide the case open, installed 4GB (supplied by http://chipsite.pt) instead of 2GB RAM, fitted a 120GB Kingston SSD ( http://chip7.aeiou.pt/ ) and did a fresh Debian 8 Jessie install. The UK keyboard remains, but I have a portuguese usb keyboard plugged and a language keyboard changer installed on the lower dock to allow use of both languages.
The machine boots in 20 seconds. It is lighweight,(no dvd), and ideal for travel. All for under 180€!
With my Portuguese smartphone 3G package providing hotspot access and the excellent national mobile coverage ( +-95% of the geographic area), I essentially have reasonably good quality internet access 24/7.
They hit here in Portugal last week!
Called me and I told "her" where to go!
Next day, they called a local retired German client of mine, who doesn't speak that good English, and spent 20 minutes on the phone being instructed on how to download teamviewer and activate it BEFORE teling the spammer that the machine was a MacBook Air!!!!! ;)))))
Still gave it a once over though.
"...has ruffled the feathers of some sensitive Portuguese folk....."
Problem is I'm not Portuguese, but I am a EuroBrit (Not EWEKIP) living here and have known the country for decades. Its a much richer environment than Zuckerworld....
I am sensitive about this issue, but my feathers are more of the TUX variety owing to living 90% of the time in a rarified Pengunitis-infected environment. XFSEE!!
The above discourse got me ruminating on something I read a few years ago.
Now thanks to OOOkgle! and Wikipedia, I was able to find it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape_personhood
Seems like Mr. Slater should be careful about pursuing any legal action in courts of the Balearic Islands (Spain), Germany or New Zealand where certain rights have legally been accorded to certain simians.
New Zealand is an interesting case in point, especially as the following quote seems allegedly to imply that certain apes are even protected from having to become teachers....!!!!!
"New Zealand granted strong protections to five great ape species in 1999. Their use is now forbidden in research, testing, or teaching. Some argue that New Zealand's protections amount to a form of weak legal rights. [8]"
Given that Germany is in the EU and given the recent EU Court privacy case, I reckon the aforementioned macaque should request removal of all references to him in search engines and the Interwebs unless he gets a cut of Mr. Slater's income from this mugshot!!!
That bird better watch it or he'll be an "ex-papagayo"!
He'll get done by whichever Mexican gang or cartel now believes it owns the rights to the following famous mariachi song.....
http://youtu.be/9Zvd5Mbdqkg
"...Está borracho, está borracho", in Spanish, sounds to me suspiciously close to "..La Cucaracha, la Cucaracha...."
<exits>..rapidly through tunnel under the border to safer climes(?)....</exits>
10 years ago, Microsoft might, repeat, might have just listened, and only listened, to the White House if a similiar request had been made.
10 years on, with US power and influence waning on many fronts, Beijing feels it is now a "major world" equal to the US and can "front-down" Microsoft and make demands like these!
I love it!!!
(gave up XP in 2004 after a little trojan incident involving a download from a (had to be!) Chinese server and living happily ever since on Debian!!!!)
NASA should have made the funding conditional on the geeks at the University of Washington working with SpaceX!
This would achieve the following:
1) A much faster development and implemtation time.
2) Elon Musk has said he wants to get to Mars!
This would achieve this objective much more quickly than anticipated and, at the same time, probably please NASA, SpaceX competitors and Anti-Teslans in getting him out the way, especially if the deceleration phase failed and he found himself en route to Titan or Europa!!! (Sorry, Elon! I'm a great fan but the thought does amuse me!)
As a follow-up to this announcement, I think only fair to warn and remind Hon. El Reg readers of the dangers of drinking WATER!
Approximately 99.999999999999999999999999% (allowing for statistical error) percent of humans expire owing to old age!
Approximately 99.999999999999999999999999% (allowing for statistical error) percent of humans drink water, in some form, throughout their lives!
Does it require penguin logic not to rationally assume that Pure Old H20 is in someway responsible for their demise??
I rest my case
<Thinks> Right! Off to the kitchen for a bacon sarmy!</thinks>
I am totally with those who are affronted by the use of animals in this way. It is like the researchers who wired up a cat a couple of years ago to be able to see through its eyes!
On light thought, seem to remember that rodents were involved in the research leading to "the answer is 42" in Hitchhikers Guide. If they are that bright maybe they or their Borgish descendants should be given the chance, as an apology, to do the Mars Mission in 2018!!
Regards Romania, I have to disagree!
Have been there and used such services. (Roads are another story!) Point being there are plenty low cost transport services to choose from.
As regards Germany, I would have agreed with your comments until a few days ago when I came across:
https://www.berlinlinienbus.de
http://www.deinbus.de/
http://www.reisebus24.de/
This has already happened in the low-cost airline sector.
A couple of years ago, St. Michael of O'Leary closed Paddyair's bases in France because the French Govt. went after Ryanair's staff employment contracts which I understand were drafted under Irish law. Several, until then, very lucrative and useful internal routes were lost, as were local jobs, and of course, nos amis francaises had to revert to travelling on the relatively expensive TGV. (owned by the French Govt.) Unlike, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Romania where there are excellent networks of intercity bus routes, there are very few or none, within France. Consequently, if you look at a map of low-cost flight/travel routes in France, they are, in the majority, from French airports to external destinations. Compared with the rest of Europe, France, internally, is like a big black hole.
That is what is going to happen with the web in France if they carry on with this proposal. I have no problems about Governments' seeking reasonable tax revenues, but the Elysee has really got to understand that the time has come to open up the French digital (and general) economy, or more and more potential investors will avoid the country like the plague and existing ones will close down operations.
L'affaire Depardieu has already proved that!
What bothers me with this report is that there is a disturbing world-wide trend beginning to emerge of felines being involved in criminal activity where tech is involved!
A few days ago we had the case of the "duck-taped" moggie trying to get into a Brazilian jail.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20922275
Now This!!
There has been an ongoing discussion on Quora.com about whether or not Felis catus are controlled by Satan!
http://www.quora.com/Joke-Question/What-do-I-do-if-my-cat-is-controlled-by-Satan
Me wonders if we are beginning to see a new disturbing trend for 2013?
<thinks> Cats hunt birds!</thinks>
<thinks>Tux is a penguin!</thinks>
<thinks>Penguins are birds!</thinks>
<thinks>Are cats dangerous to my linux installations????</thinks>
<thinks>Here kitty, kitty,kitty........ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zpdyBz3VM</thinks>
Now where's my cyber-rotty when I need him! ;))))))))
Hmm!
First the indication of something big and then the official denial!
Seems to be that MIB and Majestic have been busy!
And all because Curiosity has found wifi signals on Mars and determined that 90% of client and server systems use Linux!
Have to protect MS and Apple,, you know!
Jean-Luc?....
The surname is not Picard, perchance?
Scene: "In orbit around Windownian 9...., part of the Microsoftian System".
"Mr Worf, photon torpedos, please.... "
"Photon Torpedos ready,Captain.."
"Make it so!!!"
(With apologies to all Thespians, Klingons and Vulcans who may be offended!)
Given the strange Roswell type "co-incidental" timing and the current FBI/MET/BBC/North Wales going-ons, could Sinofsky's departure be yet another facet of the current trans-pond BBC/Newsnight/Entwhistle/Petraeus affair?
I'm out of here...(check's Mayan 2012 Calendar....how soon is December 21st????)
It is so good to see so many IT-type fans of a show that was broadcast in the '50's!
My knees nearly fell of with pleasure at the responses!
It confirms what I have often thought....... to be a successful happy IT-type person, particularly of the *nix variety, a regular dose of the Goons is absolutely necessary!
Right, off round the back for the ol' Brandy!!!!
Peter Sellars, Spike Milligna and Sir Neddy (Harry) Seagoon beat the Doctor Who restoration team to it with a 1959 Goon Show dedication..... "Quatermass O.B.E"
Script 'ere: http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=s09e14_quatermass_obe
IMHO it was one of the best Goon Show's ever, especially in its opening prescient 1984 vision of the traffic troubles that continue to bedevil most western societies, 50 years on...
<quote>"Today at approximately this afternoon, a discovery was made on the site of the Notting Hill Gate site of the government’s new dig-up-the-roads-plan-for-congesting-traffic scheme. Workmen in the absence of a strike settled for work as an alternative."</end quote>
The work done by the BBC Sound Team to emulate the original Quartermass sound track was superb.
If you can find it on the Web, give it a listen....it's brilliant!
Ying Tong Iddle I Po!
Actually, I live and work in Portugal e já aprendi falar e escrever Português! (I have already learnt to speak and write Portuguese)!!! ;)))
Lots wrong here but lots right!
High level of application of latest technologies here. Nationwide 4G deployment is close.
Some great IT start-ups based around Coimbra and Braga Universities.
Great Food and wine as well to boot.
No stigma using Linux as an OS.....people just look in awe at you!
I also reckon that, together with Ireland, the country may be the first out of the current Euro crisis.