Posts by Jim

Tesla recalls Roadsters

Re: Currency

I think if you ask a Merkin cousin they will inform you that the one cent coin is also referred to as a penny.

I would also like to know why Tesla was picked out? Surely the story is that Lotus screwed up and Tesla got caught up in it?

Greenpeace pushes Ballmer to intervene on climate

@Ken Hagen

"Er, no. What's disappointing is that so-called 'green' organisations are wasting their time bullying the millions of consumers of electricity rather than effectively lobbying the few hundred producers and their governments."

Er, no. Electricty producers are in business to supply a demand. No matter how much lobbying you do to generators and governments, the bottom line is that demand has to be met or the supply collapses - a technical limitation of a grid based electricity distribution system. The only way to reduce demand is to encourage the user to use electricity more economically or less wastefully.

"Asking the entire human race to voluntarily lower their energy consumption to levels last seen in the 19th century is not unadjacent to asking the entire third world to either stay dirt poor or perhaps even die off."

Hmm. Your argument is a bit tenuous so why not just all-out lie? Greenpeace is not requesting anything of the sort. Maybe you should try reading their actual output rather than just relying on someone else's interpretation?

"If you are worried about global warming, choose nuclear next time you need to replace a power station and choose the electrical alternative next time you need to replace some infrastructure. By 2050, you'll find that there's bugger all left of that smelly fossil-fueled equipment cluttering up society and the national carbon footprint is less than half of what it is today."

By 2050, everyone will be panicking that there is no more U235 to put in those beautiful reactors and wondering why the thorium economy just hasn't happened. In the same way the plutonium economy never happened and technical failings were covered up by claiming that FBRs where a security risk - nothing to do with the fact they didn't actually work with breeding factors getting nowhere near the claimed 1.3 theory. Nuclear is a sort term strategy and effective waste management has been promised in 20 years, every 20 years since the 1940s.

As for the 'Cool IT Challenge', I just don't get it. I don't see a carrot and I don't see a stick so just how is pressure being applied to IT CEOs?

MSI Wind U115 Hybrid

As has been said...

£450 ain't cheap. Really anything above £300 is not really an SCC. I was really interested right up until the price...

@Scott Mckenzie

Hmm, just checked my Mac keyboard and no Fn key in the bottom left - Ctrl just like every other (non-laptop, 'English') keyboard.

And as for the position of " & @, are you suggesting that the rest of the world should bow down to the US as the superior race? Oh, wait...

Saying that I prefer the US layout, being a righty and prefering a proper sized left shift key. Rather than the crappy little one on UK keyboards, just so they can move \ to make a weird shaped Return/Enter that looks like it belongs on a cash register...

Windows 7 and the Linux lesson

Can't help myself...

@James O'Brien

"Lets see here shall we Gavin? Windows has 88% of the market share. *nix (all 50k version of them) has umm lets see has .9% of the market. . .you can find proof here"

I think you should re-read your 'proof'. I see 9.7% for OS X on your evidence, another OS in the *nix stable.

"The same cannot be said of Microsoft and Windows."

"Firs thing here, Windows and Microsoft are 2 different OS'?"

Welcome to the wonderful world of the English language. The first sentence makes complete sense, when you remember that there are some missing words.

"The same cannot be said of Microsoft and [their] Windows [OS]."

As for comapring Windows (a desktop OS that thinks it can be a server too) with Linux (a server OS that thinks it can be a desktop too), a bit apples and oranges imo.

YouTube yanks music videos from German site

@DR

Apart from you coming across as shill for the PRS, I thought it was the copyright owner (note - hardly ever the actual creator/performer) that was responsible for protecting its copyright. Unless YouTube refuses to pull properly identified material (ie by the copyright holder or their agent) then they are doing nothing wrong.

That simple fact is that such poor quality content is only useful as an advert for the decent quality original. Anyone who watches a YouTube vid and doesn't buy the original is highly unlikely to be a lost purchase. It would also appear that the 'artists' think the same as they are complaining that the content should be reinstated (at their preference of course).

And, as has already been mentioned, Mr Waterman has done far more damage to the music industry. A low quality of talent does far more damage to sales than low quality 'advertising'.

Bill Gates bans progeny from iPhone Nation

@Steve Foster

"Posted Tuesday 3rd March 2009 10:05 GMT

Melinda Gates is the one showing iPhone envy, so Matriarch is correct.

Or are you suggesting Melinda is really a man? (it doesn't sound like she wears the trousers!)"

From Merriam-Webster

"Matriarch: a woman who rules or dominates a family, group, or state ; specifically : a mother who is head and ruler of her family and descendants". Or to put it another way, in a matriarchal social system, "SHE wears the trousers".

So do you still perceive the orginal use of the term in the article to be correct? Or was it just a bit of poetic license?

BT reprograms biz customers as hotspots

Re: Overreaction

FMI but, when you buy a voucher for Openzone, you are buying access to the Openzone network via ANY participating hotspot. That means that, even if you personally never give out a voucher, anyone with a valid Openzone voucher/account can use your hotspot, ie you have zero control.

I seriously wonder at the state of The Law when BT can roll this out as an opt-out scheme rather than opt-in, ie put the feature in place but leave it disabled. And why on earth did they steal the 10 net? Is everyone on the Openzone network on the same subnet or something dumb like that?

Mobile phones to get universal charger

Title

Wouldn't it be simpler just to specify that the device should be able to charge from an, already standardised, port like, oh I don't know, a USB port? The connector on the device end is of little import, all that needs to be standardised is the power source end of the cable.

Of course the device also needs to be designed to accept a standard power input too. I still can't understand why myself and the missus both had Moto V3s (one iteration apart) and, while her's would charge with either brick, mine (earlier) would only take charge from its own.

And as regards Apple, they have done a better job than most of standardising across their range of media products but just try charging a newer, USB only, device with any dock equipment made during the firewire era...

Addonics NASU2 micro USB NAS adaptor

@Daniel Palmer

"ATA/SATA -> Firewire bridges seem pretty rare too, I think the only ones worth anything are made by Oxford Semiconductor (Actually a British company iirc) and even those aren't all that good. Well, unless you consider good to be not detecting the drive(s) half the time and not appearing on the Firewire bus the other half."

Never had a problem with FW bridges not detecting drives. Had issues with bridges not seeing the whole drive (seen 128GB size limits on LaCie unit) but a drive always appears. The only time I have had problems is when the hdd was dead.

As for being rare, well you can only really find them at specialist outlets like Amazon. I particularly like the Macally aluminium ones tymmy.

I still don't get why ieee 1394 is always second to USB, it has been better performing for so long. And don't tell me it is because of cost, the price diff is negligible.

Deception of 'up to' broadband speeds exposed

Protocol Overheads?

<maninstreet>WTF is "protocol overheads"</maninstreet>

Given the above shouldn't the regulator be forcing the ISP to suck up the protocol overhead, ie set the throttle high enough so that the customer can actually attain (if lucky) the advertised data speed?

Have to say that the best deal I was ever offered was a variable connection charge based on the 95th percentile speed over the month exceeded. They provided headline speed but you got a nice mrtg graph of your connection with the bill. You only paid for what the red line showed.

Wouldn't it be nice if UK providers were forced to do this? Though they would probably insist on a fixed charge for providing the headline speed, which would then dominate the bill like 'metered' water bills do (or did last time I was in the UK anyway).

Tesla takes Top Gear test to task

So much inertia...

It seems that the greatest arguments against either of the the two front runners to remove oil power from cars is that the infrastructure is not in place. Well who'da thunk it! Anyone care to research how long the existing petrol/gasoline infrastructure took to get to its current state? New infrastructure is not going to happen overnight but it isn't going to happen at all if no-one has the foresight to start.

Personally, I'm for batteries right now as most of the issues are solvable in the near future whereas H2 has a few issues awaiting innovative solutions.

"Switch on the oven or the shower when you're charging your Tesla and that's the main fuse gone. I really hope the fast charger has some clever electronics in it that will prevent this, otherwise there will be a lot of unwashed Tesla owners around."

This is not just going to be an issue for 'Tesla owners' if battery power goes mainstream. But the technology required by the solution is already there for this issue. Incidentally, does anyone else notice the irony that batteries are DC and N. Tesla was totally an advocate of AC?

"And finally, swapping batteries isn't (yet) practical. Even if a battery pack is standardized, and the engineering is worked out to mount it safely and quickly (very difficult), working out the economics will be difficult. Would you want to swap your factory-fresh battery pack for a thrashed pack with much reduced capacity on the first long trip?"

Sorry? You can't think of a mounting system that would allow the quick change of battery packs? Assuming that manufacturers could agree on a standard pack size, I can think of a few ideas off the top of my head that would be simple and safe.

There also seems to be some confusion about battery packs in a 'swapping' system. Currently, new cars are not handed to the owner with 'refinery-fresh' fuel, just what happened to be in the pump that day. If a battery swapping based system is adopted then the battery pack will no more be part of the vehicle than the fuel you get now.

YouTube 'poisoned baby food' hoaxer pleads guilty

How many fish caught?

By the article, ably assisted by comment #1

Gotta love those pulling out the "speaking as a parent..." card

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO5dD0DjW0I

Battery builders beg for $1bn

@AC

"Where else do you propose to store recovered kinetic energy? oh you believe in flywheels...Facts is that Kers is coming, whether you believe in eletric as a main power source or not."

Erm, a flywheel, in the KERS sense, is a direct (ie plug-in) replacement for a battery pack (in large power apps), without the 'nasty' ingredients. The major difference it that electricity is converted to and from kinetic rather than chemical energy. We are not talking about something similar to the big lump stuck to the end of a crankshaft that smooths out the piston impulses.

As for the $1bn aid, we are talking about a for-profit organisation so it should be given in the form of a loan or in exchange for stock. Particularly when it is pointed that this industry is trying to correct some earlier, rather greedy, short-sighted policies. Isn't it about time we switched to a market economy and require every company to declare all government subsidy, either direct or through reduced taxes (or other 'incentives'). Oh sorry, forgot, the free market only exists when western companies need to be able to dump their subsidised product on a 'not 1st world' country - in the name of progress of course.

Man faces $52k bill after voicemail breach

Re: Money back?

This guy doesn't want his money back, he wants MTS (long distance supplier) to cover SOME of the cost for not questioning the unusual traffic for 3 weeks.

Strange that banks will decline a transaction on any grounds but a telecoms company can see a bill that normally ranges from $15-$500 per month jump to $2k a day and not bat an eyelid. If I were in that situation I may have an expectation that the service provider would have taken slightly less than 3 weeks to question the massive rise in costs.

Then again, if my company also offered Cisco Unified Coms as a 'solution' then I may just have to console myself with slapping my forehead every 20secs or so.

Virgin Media to dump neutrality and target BitTorrent users

@Matt

"Firstly, all domestic internet connections are contended and always have been. As such, you've no right to expect you max through put 24/7. Quite why ISPs don't make their argument that way around is beyond me, but still. Ultimatley I think its because contention management isn't very efficient."

Most of what you say after this is interesting but you are missing something very important from your argument here. It is true that all domestic bandwidth is contended but unless you know this then you have every right to expect max throughput 24/7. And then ask yourself how many people know abut contention? You do, I do and most people who have read this do - but how much of the userbase does this cover.

The problem is that the ISP will not be able to sell a pipe if they tell you that you are sharing your backhaul with upto 50 other users and some of them could be 'greedy p2pers'. So they just sweep this little detail under the carpet and talk about local loop speeds. That is lying.

The solution, as stated is that they should be honest that there is a effective data cap and this info should be as clearly presented to the customer at the time of sale - no more 'unlimited' bullshit.

There should also be a system for compensating those where the local loop can not support the purchased throttle speed. If your local pipe is throttled at 2Meg and you only get 1Meg then the ISP can know this and reduce you costs so that you only pay for what 'their' system is capable of providing - no more 'up to' bullshit.

Sounds unrealistic, would solve the p2per whinging - they would know exactly what they were paying for. Also the average punter would be more aware that they don't have a leased line and that is why they don't pay a kings ransom per month.

Grove: Intel should make electric car batteries

Nuclear is carbon free, honest! (yawn)

Any advantage in lifetime CO2 generated over a fossil fuel plant is marginal. Maybe an IFR could improve the situation... if one existed... and they actually managed to get anywhere near the 1.3 breeding ratio.

"Just like "5,000PSI tanks of explosive gas" sounds a lot less dangerous than "Hydrogen economy"."

Are you sure?

"How about trying to do with LESS power? Have the foresight to go without tying ourselves to yet another limited resource."

<libertarian.

You sir are a cretin that obviously believes that we should all return to living in caves. Do you not realise that it is my [insert deity of choice] given right to use as much energy (and other resources) as I deem necessary, irrespective of the impact it may have on others and their ability to do likewise.

</libertarian>

"C8H18. Gasoline"

Back to organic chemistry 101 for you. C8H18 is octane. Gasoline/Petrol is a blend that may or may not contain octane though is usually rated by octane equivalence (RON/MON).

2008's top three touchscreen phones

@Dapprman

"I can't understand why the fanbois object to the iPhone being referred to as the jesus-phone. It's not just register than uses this term. plus saint Jobbs and his legions still act as if it's the second coming."

Because it's stale and highly patronising. And it makes you look like a dick.

Have people ever wondered why fanbois exist? Could it be a reaction to the very vocal minority who slam anything Apple by default rather than just assuming it is the other way around?. The 'Church of Jobs' is no more real than the 'Church of Redmond', an organisation that has far more parishoners - admittedly, the percentage of user base is probably pretty similar.

As the the iPhone, I have no strong views either way.

Brit ISPs censor Wikipedia over 'child porn' album cover

@Don Foister

"As Rick (Silent P) once said: "Lets raise a peoples Army & seize control of the state"..."

Hardly a revolutionary idea...

PETA cooks up gory game in Cooking Mama protest

Ooo, ooo, me, me

Can I pretend to be really hard just cos I eat meat?

"That's just nature. I don't see them petitioning lions to stop eating zebras."

So you didn't watch any of the inter-level movies then? Try this http://www.peta.org/cooking-mama/bonus-video2.asp and then tell me just how that had any relevance to a pride of lions catching and eating a zebra?

"So long as the beast has been killed humanely by a well trained slaughterer, it's time to chow down."

Again, maybe you should have watched them movies before talking out your arse. Turkeys are not required to be 'killed humanely' (that phrase puts me in mind of 'collateral damage') and just how many people working in slaughter houses go through slaughterer's university?

Factory farming is designed to provide cheap meat. Cheap meat means little, if any, humanity cos that would cost money.

Oh yeah, and tofu mostly tastes like shit.

HTC unwraps 'world's first' WiMax, Wi-Fi phone in Russia

No 3G?

No way.

iBeater? Ha ha. Remember the biggest complaint about iPhone v1 (apart from it being made by Apple)?

McLaren teams up with chip firm for F1 hybrid tech

What is a KERS Flywheel?

Many here, including the author, seem to envisage an energy storage flywheel as being similar to the one you find on the end of a crankshaft of any IC engine. This is not the case. I suggest reading http://www.williamshybridpower.com/technology/ to understand what role the flywheel plays in KERS. Mr Taylor, you may wish to update your analysis of what BMW is "up to" as both battery or flywheel systems can give you "a nasty shock".

Two potential problems that have been proposed for flywheels:

1. Gyroscpic Effects

The gyroscopic effect, or more correctly angular momentum, is a function of mass and angular velocity whereas energy storage (angular kinetic energy) is a function of mass and the square of velocity. So you can see that the a large mass is less important than a high speed (in a vacuum remember) so the KERS storage device can be (and is) designed with a very low mass rotor but stupendous max angular velocity.

2. Safety

What is the danger of an escaped rotor? Well the rotor is enclosed in a sealed vacuum chamber (fairly substantial) and it is light and brittle so it is pretty likely that the rotor will disintegrate (and dissipate its energy) before it becomes a danger to anyone around.

To be honest I am surprised that so many teams have gone the battery route as, imho, this is just lazy thinking that has heaps more issues (ask Red Bull) than the storage flywheel.

Mobe number middleman turns old sims into gold

Blackberry?

Ever tried letter dialing on one?

Sweden judges back Pirate Hunter Act

@Paul Smith

Your posts are classic Twat-O-Tron so either you are a rather poor troll or a complete cock.

"You steal you go to jail."

Copyright infringment, while a crime, is NOT THEFT. These 'pirates' are not stealing anything, unlike the real pirates as described in other articles. Also, art has no intrinsic value - people will pay millions for the works of Van Gogh for no good reason (or one that stands up to logic anyway). Isn't it interesting that 'pirates' are blamed for the drop in media seller profits even though the volume of goods sold is actually increasing?

And why doesn't your statement appear to apply when the scale of theft is so grand that the entire global monetary systems are at risk of collapse. Maybe governments could spend their time hunting these 'real' crimnals?

Finally, don't you think the "entitled generation" is owed some payback as they watch their freedoms being inhibited on an almost daily basis?

Google shares plummet past $300, reach three year low

@Webster

"Me wonders if all the Apple Kool Aid Drinkers are enjoying the AAPL +$100 Downward Slide since it's peak earlier this year!! (That's OFF OVER 100 PERCENT)"

If I read this right, you claiming that sellers are actually paying people to 'buy' Apple shares? If a share loses 100% of its value then the new value is $0 no? Over 100% = <$0

@AC

Share value != Actual Value

If it did then there would be fewer credit issues right now (probably)

Retro piracy - Should the Royal Navy kick arse?

@CNC

Just what is the connection between automated metalwork and the transportation of nuclear fuel/waste? Inquiring minds want to know...

Attorneys for Palin email hacker: 'Don't call him hacker'

Whistleblower protection?

Wasn't evidence found of wrong doing my a senior member of government?

Doesn't that provide some level of mitigation for the crime, in the public interest and all that?

Hacker vs Cracker? I think people should give up the ghost on that one, the original meaning is no more observed than is the original meaning of gay.

Copper propositioned woman while 'on the job'

Is it just me?

What is with the URL?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Police-Officer-Jailed-For-Having-Sex-While-On-Late-Shift-Gary-Bayldon-To-Serve-Four-Months/Article/200811115146136?f=rss

Not really very descriptive is it?

Webcast quango: One-third of UK teachers are creationists

God=Infinity, Infinity=God

God exists in since and even has its own symbol, 8 rolled on its side and squished a bit.

As has been pointed out already God is an allegory, something to explain that which cannot readily be explained.

Human knowledge is finite but potential knowledge is infinite so the human race will never know everything and will always require a contruct to explain that beyond our sphere of knowledge. Scientists use infinity to describe this, religion uses God.

@AC - Well

Apologies but this runs on a bit but I like to know why - "Because God must have done it" just doesn't cut it for me. Sorry.

"There are those here who are demanding the right to their own opinions and beliefs. And if you do not agree with their beliefs for any reason then you are obviously a moron. Rational thinking here. :)"

Science is not an "opinion" or a "belief" though many scientists often miss the point at which their personal opinions/beliefs impinge on their otherwise good works, eg Richard Dawkins.

If you prefer simple answers then "It wuz God wot dunnit" may be adequate. Personnally, I see this as the simpleton (child-like) answer much like it is Santa Claus who brings the presents at the winter solstice and the Tooth Fairy takes away old teeth. I never believed this rubbish as a child and am not about to start any time soon.

"There are those in here who are demanding the segregation of taught subjects as if science / english / maths / philosiphy were totally seperate."

Straw man alert! Language and maths (just another language) are general tools which need to be taught first (the 3 Rs). No-one is claiming that science should, or even could, be segregated from these subjects. But religion and science share no commonality, one encourages the questioning of inherited ideas and the other admonishes them (not respectively).

"Evolution has a number of _glaring_ holes in it... One example is the Peacock."

Bollocks! The primary imperitive of all species is reproduction and so I will start by describing the 'observed' reproductive strategy of the the peahen.

When searching for a mate, the peahen will search out the peacock with the largest number of 'eyes' (the large blue/black dots found at the tip of the tail feathers) and will shag the lucky bugger. She will shun any further andvances UNLESS the new beefcake has a higher 'eye' count.

Now, if you had studied a course on sexual strategy then you would often hear the lecturer ask you very same question "Why would a peahen search out a mate that is so obviously badly suited to ongoing survival needs?" and the simple answer is that you are starting from the wrong logical postion. Think how the peacock got to become the peahen's choice.

1. A peacock has to survive to be an available suitor.

2. To survive he must avoid predators.

3. A large tail is a hinderance so a peacock with an enourmous tail has to work harder to survive than a less well endowed rival.

In the peahen's mind this translates into "the well endowed guy has worked harder so is physically better so can provide better genes to my chicks". Or put more simply

more 'eyes' = better genes.

Your interpretation is flawed because you have allowed you thought process to become clouded by a preconception. It is this kind of closed-minded creationist thinking that leads to scientists describing them as morons.

"Finally, if there is a God then there _must_ be a reason for living. If there is no God then there _cannot_ be a reason for living. I would rather not be just an irrelevant accident."

Two issues with this.

Firstly, the existence of God does not provide a reason for living. Our minds can create any reason for remaining alive, eg production of baby often reduces an individuals natural tendancy towards risky behaviour "for the sake of the baby".

Secondly, the fact you would rather not be an "irrelevant accident" is purely an expression of your ego. You are under the impression that you have to be special, an idea that is fed to you thoughout your life because it actually makes you more controllable (both as a consumer and a citizen). People are much more content if they feel that they are somehow special. But...

There are close to 7 billion people just like you so really, in a global context, you are irrelevant - sorry. There is a term called 'sphere of influence' and outside of your's you become irrelevant to the rest of the planet - again, sorry.

Finally, as a scientist I have to point out that evolution is NOT A FACT, it is a theory. It may be a very good theory that has stood up to intense scrutiny but it is still only a theory. Any 'scientist' who believes evolution is a fact is no better than a creationist.

Inmate hacked prison network, broke into employee database

@Martyn

"A former prison inmate has been arrested and charged with hacking the facility's computer network"

I'm guessing from the use of the word 'former' that no-one noticed until after he'd been released!

Berlin bans handy iPhone metro app

Re: Sad bunch of twats on this afternoon

In a similar vein, look tosser, in reverse order...

"But basically JesusPhone users are idiots who should be made to pay for their gullibility."

So you are proposing that freedom of expression should not be upheld unless it matches your asthetic?

"Screen-scraping is a copyright issue because even if the data collected is publically available. It is the form in which the information is available which is important."

The data is not just publically available it is paid for, and therefore owned, by the public. A 3rd party may be contracted to display the data but then copyright only applies to that 3rd party's source code. So unless the source code is being used without permission then there is no copyright issue.

"There is little or no additional money made through direct ticket sales which are there to scratch the itch that people should be seen to pay to use the system."

So are season tickets free or do people have to pay for them (thus paying to use the system)?

Remember this is not a freetard issue, the data has been paid for from the public purse so it belongs to the public.

Tablet MacBook launched... again

@ I smell Psystar

Why? Psystar are selling non-macs with OS X pre-installed, these guys are selling (mostly) mac hardware.

And, if Proton Wrangler is to believed, they are doing this with the knowledge of Apple.

Century-old hydropower plant to run on fudge

RE: back in 1948 ...

... The people in power needed a source of weapons grade plutonium and so sold the idea of nuclear power generation to get public funding (Calder Hall & Chaplecross).

And coal production died in the uk because it was cheaper to import coal of foreign origin. Cheaper in terms of unit cost to the user anyway, though it could be argued that the cost to the country was far greater, ie loss of GDP.

And then your post degenerates in to a rabid troll...

Sarah Palin's words get data mined

RE: RE: RE: hmm, same crap...

Back to school with you.

Do you really think that

"Of course, as you said, Liberals are allowed to change whatever facts they want to..."

has anything like the same meaning as

"If the facts change, the opinion should too."

F

Top aero boffin: Green planes will be noisy planes

Ok, I'll bite...

"In other words, being against airport noise is not the same as being green - quite the reverse - unless you also believe/accept that air travel should largely stop. (That means a return to the days when travel, other than to go to war or to migrate, was strictly for the rich.)"

The campaigns against airport noise have always been about noise, nothing to do with being 'green'. It is the media (and a few misguided individuals) that paint local noise and global environmental damage as the same cause.

Also, most campaigns against aviation in general are against EXPANSION and not calling for a halt. This would be nothing like a return to air travel for the military and rich only. And maybe, if no new slots were available, air fares would find a level where airlines can operate without subsidy and dipping in and out of chapter 11.

As for nuke planes, ignoring the (currently) insurmountable safety issues for mass transit, the way things are going we may run out of uranium before oil...

Apple takes wraps off rumour-matching MacBook Pros

Missing ports...

As said above, there really should be eSATA on these machines but no FW means definitely no interest. The lower cost of USB external drives does not make up for the shite performance compared to FW (even 400).

@Alacrity Fitzhugh

So did you have two bus powered devices then? Else you just daisy-chain with the only bind being that both devices need to be on to use either. Or you could get a FW hub.

@Justin

"How many people need 4 USB ports on a laptop? Seriously?"

"Gamers, desktop replacements, office laptops - most of these would include at least an external mouse, a printer, an external hard drive for Time Machine and you'll want one port free for things like pen drives etc."

Again, have you ever heard of a device called a USB hub? It's amazing. Means you can plug all your stay-at-home stuff into it and then use a mere 1 port to connect to your lappy (leaving the other for a pen drive maybe?).

Wikipedia dumps Red Hat for Ubuntu

Re: Ubuntu Win

"I am running Quickbooks under VMware Server with an Ubuntu 8.04 host."

But if you have one person who does the books and nothing else then why run an OS as a virtual machine on top of another OS? Assuming x86 architecture, you now have to support 2 OSs and what is the saving? KISS?

EU battery rule may zap iPhone, blow away MacBook Air

"Mercury, lead and cadmium"

So how many of these components are found in Lithium cells? You know, the kind of cells that power virtually all consumer hand held devices these days...

And if the issue is waste disposal then why does the user need to be able to remove the cell pack? Aren't there existing rules that the manufacturer is responsible for safe disposal of their products? And isn't this more responsible than assuming joe public isn't going to just dump their old battery in the nearest bin?

If this requirement was brought in under the guise of safety or to ensure that product lifetime is in no way limited by recharge cycles then it makes some sense. Though it would still rely on our mate Joe disposing of batteries responsibly...

Emails show journalist rigged Wikipedia's naked shorts

@A J Stiles

@A J Stiles

"Make it illegal to invest borrowed money. In fact, make it doubly illegal: make it illegal to borrow money with the intent to invest it, and hit them from both ends."

So banks should be illegal? Isn't that exacly what the function of a bank or building society is? Maybe I'm missing something...

@Michael

"Selling short is a critical part of the stock market."

No it isn't. It is a derivative. The stock or share was designed as an instrument to allow one to aid another prosper from their idea while prospering yourself. Or not if the idea stank...

Apple faces iTunes case in Norway

DVD in toaster is correct...

"What are you people smoking? That isn't the argument. If the CD was made by philips wouldn't you expect the same cd to play in a sony player? Same thing goes for the DVD.

The argument is the same format should be able to play on any equipment made by an different manufacturer."

Apples and oranges my friend.

If you buy a CD that has the nice CD logo on it and you have a CD player with the same logo on it then the disc must play on the player. Ironically, this is not true for DVD (region must match too).

When you buy a DRMed track from the iTunes store you are no longer buying a normal AAC track but a track in a proprietary format. You have no expectation that the track will play correctly just because your chosen player says it plays AAC. Note: Due to geographical limits, I am unable to access the iTunes store (or any other online music service) so am guessing that buyers are suitably warned, feel free to correct my ignorance.

Recalling my basic introduction to British contract law (and extrapolating), If Apple are successfully sued then they can claw the money back from the record companies. The reasoning being as follows:

1. Apple must have purchased the right to sell the content in their store within the geographical boundaries of Norway from the record companies.

2. By selling that right then the record companies must provide a product that is legal to sell within the geographical boundaries of Norway.

3. If Apple is sued then the record companies are in breach of their agreement to provide a product that is fit for purpose.

Full-size Roman siege artillery offered on eBay

@Goths are easy to take care of

You're keen on suicide missions then?

Adobe cache snafu delivers free movie downloads

WTF?

"One of the downfalls with how they have architected the software..."

When on Earth did architect become a verb? Am I really getting that old?

What is wrong with designed? Less syllables for a start or is this just another case of an arsehole using 5 guinea words to appear intelligent?

Mr Dettering should be made to walk the plank.

Frenchman's pedalo dirigible Channel attempt blown out

Re: Blimp?

The article states that Louise is no longer his squeeze but was the blimp naming the cause of the separation or vice versa? Inquiring minds need to know.

First Merc hybrid first to use laptop battery tech

Wrong tech

Seriously? Li-Ion batteries? Higher internal impedance and fewer recharge cycles than NiMH (not forgetting Lead-acid)? Mind you, if you have the dosh to run a Merc then you obviously have money to burn on a new battery pack every 12,000 miles.

And why only 20hp? Honda claim 80hp on their formula 1 car, a vehicle where space is at a much greater premium than a road car.

And lastly, why batteries? How about fly-wheels? No harmful chemicals, much lower maintenance, more reliable and infinite recharge cycles.

Texting worse for drivers than drink or drugs

@Fred

So you are suggesting that mobiles shoiuld not be allowed to operate on public transport? Oh, hang on...

UK's top boffin: Renewables targets were 'a mistake'

Re: No math please, we're British

Firstly, the word is "mathS" (unless you have a lisp). You cannot separate the s from mathematics so what makes you think you can ignore it when you short-form the word?

Secondly, if you were British, you would understand that the currency is £ not $.

Thirdly, the UK (like Europe) use the 1,2,5 sequence throughout currency denominations so the abomination that is 'a quarter' has no relevence - unless you mean the total of two Henrys or course.

Lastly, I think you are forgetting that, in todays media-rich world, you should not let accuracy get in the way of a good soundbite. The original article presented a peach of an example, as well as a good deal of comments on this site.

Re: Greenies want us back in the dark ages

Every time this comes up you trot out the same old, same old with nothing to back it up. Give it up already. (back at ya)

And that goes for the moron describing Greenpeace as ecoterrorists. Please go looking for information to form a real opinion rather than just repeating what you read/heard from a Murdoch outlet.

And as for the 100 years of Uranium at current usage? That has appeared in many peer-reviewed scientific paper so I think we can just accept that one. The paper I last read that contained this assertion was one promoting the IFR concept (published in Science), a concept that utilises around 95% of the energy in the raw fuel rather than the 5% that an LWR can and so pushes those 100 years to 2000 (approx)

Amazon to sell one OLPC laptop for the price of two

@Mark

So nice to see people still follow the libertarian dogma. How did this people survive without capitalism? Hint - they did.

And tell me when, given they are working their fingers to the bone, will these kids have time to use a computer and so improve themselves?

"Uh, these kids would be getting PAID to work their fingers to the bone building these machines. With this "money" they can BUY food."

Wouldn't it be far simpler to just give these kids food instead of giving them money to exchange for food? Oh no, that would be slavery. My bad...

Buffalo touts 'first' external SSD

I agree, a big pen drive

USB 2.0? If they seriously wanted to market this as an external SSD then it should have an eSATA (or at a push Firewire) interface. Something that would give better performance than your average pen/thumb/flash drive anyway.

Chinese boffins crack invisible-shed window problem

@Dale Harrison

He only had one shed!

...But had recently suggested he might purchase a second one.

Pah! The yuff of today...