Posts by John

Six months on, Macs still plagued by critical Java vuln

Are you kidding?

"Mac User's don't care because they never had to worry about this sort of thing before and they are not going to start until something actually happens."

Yeah, thats a good plan.

Brits 'a bunch of yellow bastards', says irate Yank

No

No, it just means that you have to call the 'Yanks' whenever the s4!t hits the fan. :)

Mines the one with the concealed weapons permit in the breast pocket.

John - Seattle WA, United States of America.

Lords say surveillance society erodes foundations of UK

Something about Rednecks?

It's amazing to see that somebody in the UK actually has a brain and is willing to comment on this mess of survalence going on.

Regarding the redneck holding the rifle and all the ranting/bashing Yank/UK humor that it has generated. As long as the Constitution stands, this sort of thing will not be tolerated on the level that is seen in the UK. It is growing to some degree here, but before it gets out of control people will take notice and it will more than likely be deemed unconstitutional. And if not? Well, thats why we retain the right to bear arms, and the government knows this. Remember, kiddies, wack jobs who go on shooting sprees aside, we are allowed to carry firearms to protect ourselves from our neighbors (said wackos or crooks -but not poloticians), invaders (yeah right) and most importantly, from our OWN government. Thats why it was written into the constitution and why, no matter how hard the libs try, it will always remain in the constitution.

Logitech Harmony 1100 universal remote control

Overpriced Wierd Features

I have a harmony something or other, one of the regular shaped ones (around $100). Its pretty nice but I have few peevs:

Half the time it remembers what is on, the other half it forgets. So if you are watching TV and want to switch to watching a DVD, it goes through its motions of powering off and on and you end up with a TV thats powered off, the DVD player on, and the receiver either off or switched to the correct channel. Kind of a pain.

The other REALLY lame one is this: you can do an "action" of watch DVD. As long as you are in the action mode, you can control the volume of the receiver with the volume button. But if you go into DVD mode, the volume keys do not work, nor is there a provision in the software to cross program them (other than direct learning mode).

Overall, not bad. Would I go for the super $300 one? Hells no!

Honda shows off Insight hybrid

Prius MK II?

Damn that looks just like a Prius - Fugly.

Rambus legal crusade blunted by paper shredder

Die Rambus, Die!

Nuf said.

Could the Airbus A380 be the new Air Force One?

@AC as if

No, we expect you to buy crap from china like all the rest of the world.

I'll get my coat, mines the one with the USAF patches all over the back.

VeriSign remedies massive SSL blunder (kinda, sorta)

Oh wait, they are the root.

No, they are not the root... ICANN is the root. Verisign is just the oldest player in the game.

San Francisco's 'rogue' sysadmin faces trial

Bail?

The bail thing is rediculous. Its not like he is a flight risk.

And he never locked anybody out of the NETWORK. The city continued to function without him. He locked them out of the hardware itself. Big difference, and in the end, this is probably what will save him.

Yahoo! waves goodbye to 1,500 workers

Way to go Yang

Yep, a buisness leader with the concerns of his company for sure. Dill weed. Somebody fire this idiot before he does any more damage to yahoo!

The Apple Armada - Still worthy of the Jolly Roger?

You're Welcome

@richard

You're Welcome.

For World War II

The Marshal Aid plan.

And for standing behind the UK since we took the colonies from you.

THANK YOU:

for Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Zeppelin.

@AC for obvious reasons.

If you feel so strongly about it, why hide behind AC?

The UK is the nanny state. Do everything for the people because they are too stupid to take care of themselves. And put a camera on every corner to make sure no one is misbehaving. Or at least thats how the MPs would have you think.

In the US, things are different. You make YOURSELF. Winners in this country don't wait for the government to take care of them. They take care of themselves.

And the armed forces are voluntary. No one is forcing anybody to join up. Most of my friends are ex military. They have all made themselves upper middle class by hard work. Not by waiting for a government hand out.

As for Apples philanthropy, they suck at it. Its part of the culture of that company/Steve though. Buy the latest shiny thing we are selling you so you will look better than your neighbor. Who cares if you need it or not? Love us for building obsolency (sp?) into our products! Love us for charging more than its worth. Why? Because we love ourselves more than the people dying of malaria in Africa. We love ourselves more than the rest of the world. So we are going to keep ALL of our money and how dare you look down on us for not having a heart?

The funny thing about it all is this: in the US, the money you give to charity is a tax write off. At the levels of profit made by Apple, it would make sense to give some away to a good cause, rather than just paying the gvmnt taxes.

At the end of the day, the folks at Apple just don't give a shit about the common man.

MobileMe disappears for another 7 hours

Down is Down

"everything worked as normal. The service itself WASN'T down - just the main domain redirect."

Most users in that space (average clueless user) aren't going to link directly to the sub-site. So, if the DNS is hosed, the site is still "unavailable" to the average Joe. - sorry fanboi, down is down.

It seems pretty apparent that Apple wants to keep doing business as usual, which is telling the people what they need and denying any wrongdoing when things go wrong. Ever. They can get away with it with a stand alone product like an iPod or a laptop, etc, but when you start dealing with peoples everyday communications tools - that they pay for - this isn't going to fly. If Apple wants to get a huge user base like RIM or MS Exchange, they are going to have to get their shit together, keep it together, and be open and up front about the goings on when things go amiss. But we know that won't ever happen, so this product will continue to be a niche Apple thing, people will continue to get treated like shit, and following the all mighty Jobs like blind sheep.

Another 180 'hover & stare' ducted fan bots for US forces

I'm Made of Metal....

...My circuits gleam

I am perpetual, I keep the country clean...

Mines the one with the silver studs on it.

Storm botnet blows itself out

Go Microsoft

Nice work on cleaning it up. I guess the lesson learned here for the criminals in question is to target Apple next time around. Plenty of users there and Apple has shown a disdain for updating against known security threats.

NASA to brief on manned spaceship 'concerns'

NASA = Joke

First, I am a US citizen. Born and raised. Raised in the 70s and 80s on past glories of moon landings and shuttle launches.

Is the shuttle out dated? Absolutely.

Does it make sense to take a HUGE ASS leap backwards and use fire and forget rockets and capsules to recover? Hell no.

Scaled Composites has it in the bag. While NASA takes a GIANT step backwards for man kind, SC is taking steps towards a truely economical and intelligent space craft launch and recovery system. I don't know the exact nubmers, but a very large percentage of the fuel in that big ass tank under the shuttle is used just to get its sorry ass off the ground. So, you spend tons of fuel to get it moving, then once it is up to speed, you ditch the gigantic torches. Same thing with the current idea for the moon rocket.

Now here you have SC re-visiting an idea that worked during the early years of supersonic flight testing: use something else to get it up to speed, then launch from a high altitude. What a novel concept!

Can't wait for SC to show NASA (and the rest of the world) how it's done and put their own lander on the moon in time - and for a profit too!

Mine is the one with the moon dust on it...

Cash'n'Carrion: A lean, mean, fighting machine

American Dollars?

Are those little dollar signs an indication that your site is *gasp* region specific based on IP perhaps? Will it really only cost me $20 for a T-Shirt plus shipping? Or is it still the trusty british pound and actually going to cost me $30 USD plus shipping for a T?

IT career virgins need a cherry on top

Hardware

Is where it's at.

Code all you want, somebody has to make it work on servers. And somebody has to keep those servers happy. That would be me - and countless others. Systems administrators/engineers and network admin/engineers, fortunately, don't have as much of the off shore action as devs get (unless you are helpdesk - then you are screwed!). It takes real people close to your production environment to maintain the equipment that the code lives on. It's a full time job and requires experience more than a degree or certification (if you have both you are golden). Give me any server platform and any product platform to run it on. If I don't know it, give me 4 weeks and I will be up to speed. Give it 6 months and I'll be an expert.

And to all you out of work devs in the UK, come on over to Seattle, plenty of work here. (sys admins too!)

SAP user group foments revolt over massive price hike

Oh Noes!

Profits are down and the Eruo is strong. Lets raise our rates to compensate for crappy sales in an economic downturn. Way to go guys.

San Francisco sysadmin stays in jail for now

Just Wait

In the end, it will be shown that he was arrested wrongfully and he will end up suing the city for 5 mil...

Quantum of Solace trailer teases fans

Awesome Flick

Casino was awesome. The smartest Bond movie since, well, since Live and Let Die. Really. All the rest of them were camp. Fun, but camp. (except Moonraker, which was a total piece of crap riding on the coat tails of Star Wars).

HOWEVER, the new title sucks. Yes it is referenced in a Flemming book, but come on! The word "Quantum" does not belong in a Bond title. I don't care what the reference is, it just isn't tough enough. There I said it.

Mines the one with the list of alternate titles stuffed in the pocket.

Sweden ushers in bugging for all

@olof

Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

- Benjamin Franklin

Firefox 3 Download Day falls flat on face

Pay for a browser?

After about 5 hours there are over 2 million copies downloaded. This evening I will be downloading a copy for each of the computers I have direct control over.

Why the hell would anybody pay for a browser? I used Opera back in the day when it was free and wasn't impressed. It wasn't bad, per se, but it was no better than anything else out there. Now it's new and improved after all these years and they want people to pay for it? There are so many free browsers there I can't see any reason to pay for one.

Mine's the one with the "freetard" sticker on the back.

Stray left foot washes up on Vancouver beach

Info is sparse

They have been reporting on this news for a while here in the northwest. You would think they could give a little more detail, but they aren't. very interesting....

US dominates tech R&D

@Phillip Perry

Ya, I agree. Maybe it came off incorrectly, in the above post, but I wasn't using the term ignoramus disparagingly. I am an ignoramus when it comes to C#, Java, etc (actually, I would call myself an idiot!). Its not my thing. And actually I DO go to my delvelopers often to look for answers to issues that are not system related. It's called colaboration! Here at work we are a .Net shop. We use Avicode to dig deep into the happenings of our site when ther are problems (and to find issues before they become problems). It gives us TONS of info, that frankly, I can't make sense of half the time. Where do I go when I get stuck? The developers. And conversely, when there are questions about how the code performs on the server side, they don't bother guessing, the come to our team and ask, because it is not their thing. Happy all around.

Oh, and I wouldn't fire the developer for the memory leak - somebody has to fix it! :D

@Gene Cash

"God knows Americans are idiots. Most of my colleagues can only count "1... 2... uhhh MANY!" They can't google an error message, their "solution" to a server issue is to power it off and back on w/o warning, they don't understand what a heap overflow or memory leak is in Java, and when asked to type in a simple command in bash, the result is total panic.

And no, I'm not posting anonymously, they're too stupid to read El Reg. "

You really are an ass hole.

As for your server solution pang, its not just Americans, its DEVELOPERS. I've worked with my fair share of developers from a variety of nations, and they are pretty much all ignoramuses (sp) when it comes to troubleshooitng a server side issue outside of code. Why? Because they aren't sys admins, thats why! I don't expect them to handle server side issues and they don't expect me to debug their code. Simple as that. Disparaging somebody because they don't share your exact 733t Java skill set is pretty moronic. Try coming out of your own self centered world once in a while and you might find that there is more to life than just you...

- John - a US citizen (because not everybody who lives in "America" is part of the United States)

Apple chucks PA Semi at Jesus Phone

Mising the Point!

You are all missing the point. Don't forget that PA Semi supplies chips for military use. This is obviously part of Apples plan to take over the world by using hordes of iPhone zombies to execute remote launches of military grade weaponry on all who would doubt the mighty power of the Apple!

Yahoo! hits back at Icahn

Well, duh!

Of course they are going to attempt to discredit anything from Icahn. He is interested in firing the whole lot! Sorry, but those tools days are numbered...

Bletchley Park activates online donations

What is..

Bletchley Park?

- a Yank.

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!

As a citizen of the US on the left coast, there isn't much war time historia to view outside of air museums (thanks for the Hurricane's and Spitfires!). Those of you in the UK/Europe should take advantage of these memorials to the great efforts of past fathers. We do have some large gun emplacements here in Washington, but the guns are gone and they didn't do anything NEAR as critical as what went on at Bletchley.

Yahoo! bitchslapped Ballmer's $40 a share offer

not up to Yang

Backbone or not, its not up to him. Yahoo is a publicly traded company, not owned by Yang. if it was still his, he could do what he pleases for himself and who cares. But once it is in the public domain, the board has an obligation to the actual people who own the company - the shareholders - to do whats in THE SHAREHOLDERS best interest, regardless of personal bias.

Mines the one made of gold with bags of money tied to it, floating me gently down from the skies above San Francisco.

Hidden messages buried in VoIP chatter

Criminal Use

I'm sure this and other sorts of low level encapsulation has been going on for a while now. Otherwise, how would the illuminati conduct their super secret covert world dominating operations?

Hackers hijack hacking tools website

Still funny...

Your comment here.

Over half of US HD TV owners blurry on Blu-ray

or maybe..

"If you can't tell the difference, either your hardware is lousy, the setup is lousy, or you've got lousy vision."

Or maybe you just don't care! Not everybody is a audio/videophile. I'm all for a good picture, but my upscaling DVD player coupled with my HDTV is just fine. Most of the movies I have look fine. Lots of them are older films that will never be re-mastered in HD, so having an HD player to watch them is pointless. Most of the new movies that are out in HD are crap anyway! And how many times can you watch them before you go back to your old library...

Sorry, but until the players are cheap, the movies are cheap, and the HUGE inventory of old movies are re-mastered to take advantage of the higher res capabilities of this format, its going to continue to stagnate. FFS, you can still go into any electronics store and buy a VHS player of some sort. That should show you how long the demand for an old format is going to stay around...

Mines the one with the built in OLED, HDDVD player and 7.2 surround - cause I GOTTA have the latest thing.

Christian Bale signs for Terminator trilogy

Must have

lots of fighting robot tanks and hunter killers in the mix. The teasers in T1 and T2 were awesome but left me wanting. I had hopes for Fox's Terminator, but it turned up lame and ploddy. GIVE ME BATTLING ROBOT ARMIES!!!!

Mines the one with the kevlar lining...

Revealed! The new face of the Eee PC

Who's to say

you have to get rid of beach babe just because there is a new kick in town? Use em both!

Paris because she thought she was going to be the next model for the eee.

Wikipedia goes to court to defend defamation immunity

Does no one remember

the case between Hard|OCP and the creators of the vaporware Phantom game console? They tried to sue these guys for calling bull Sh!t and defamation - and got their asses summarily handed to them....

Ballmer's board broaches beefier bid

Why

are they still after them? The merger doesnt' make any sense to me. Yahoo is stagnant at best. It was once a mighty icon of internet goodness, but those days are long past. I don't see any value that Microsoft could possibly get from spending 42 BILLION on these guys. Better to leave them alone and have them continue to chip away at Google, thereby strengthening MS's position.

HP pulls memory Missing Link from bottle of beer

You are all smarter...

than the fellow with the PHD and his think tank. You must be, otherwise how is it that you can so easily debunk this new process? And please, read the article before you spout of on this being an "element". It didn't say it was an element, it said it was a component, you know, like a capacitor, a component that holds a charge - but won't hold it when the current is removed....

I'm not electrical engineer, and I don't play one on TV, but I am sure all of the ideas you folks are throwing in attempts to trash this breakthrough have been considered or are being considered as they figure out how to bring this tech to market. I mean really, do you think HP would spend milions on something like this if they didn't think there would be a practical use for it? This is big business, not some university science project.

Paris, because even she isn't dumb enough to think that she is smarter than the folks who figured out how to do this.

HD media future may be Blu, but it's not rosy

Lot of good points

Forget about price, whether Sony and the BD camp beat HD DVD, all that crap.

The strongest argument against adoption is that unless the new movie you are wanting to watch was filmed with HD cameras or is a 100% CGI, its all pointless. You won't realize an increadible picture on 720p or 1080p if the source material is low grade. Like it was said above, older movies will look no better, and in some cases, may even look worse due to upconverting.

For BD or any other future HD configuration to make any sense economically, the content has to be filmed in HD and there has to be lots of it. Right now, neither is the case. Ther are some that are filmed in HD (I watch Planet Earth on DVD upconverted to 1080i and it is INCREDIBLE. Way to go BBC!) but most of the new movies that are coming out are still filmed the old way. So why bother spending hundreds of dollars on equipment just to watch a hand full of movies?

Big companies should have really done their homework on this one before spending the millions...

Astroboffins moot massive Moon-mirror heliograph

Americans suck at engineering???

When was the last time a CPU came out of the UK?

Memory?

Video Card?

High tech aircraft? - harrier is the last one I can remember - what, 30 years ago?

Automobiles? - I said the UK

Naval ships? - ya, the UK ones did so well in the Falklands....

But our stuff is all junk....

And damn, some of these comments are funnier than hell!

HD DVD sales still solid despite format's failure

Honestly..

..who but the few AV fanatics out there even care? DVD provides a pretty darn good picture, especially when upscaled for hi def TVs. You won't see large market growth until BD players are under $100 and movies are $20. Until then, why would anybody who doesn't own a PS3 shell out for a player? It's really sad that Sony won this one, reg readers know their history and tactics. Now the rest of the world will get to know it too.

eBay sues Craigslist as family squabble goes public

Somehow...

..this thread has turned from an ebay vs cragislist discussion to a UK vs US discussion. Strange coincidence...? I THINK NOT!

Microsoft's 'Vista Capable' appeal thrown out

False Claims?

OK, so if Microsoft is getting sued for saying that a PC was Vista capable, ergo, false advertising. Shouldn't Apple be sued for the same? For years they have said that their PCs were the fastest around. But it has been proven time and again that they aren't. So where is the lawsuit? Nowhere. Because Apple can do no wrong. But the eval Microsoft, they have to walk the straight and narrow or else. Give me a break.

French Colonial Marines to get Aliens medic-datalink

Never Surrender!

"As for the glory of the Camerone battle, it is not because they lost - it's because they stuck together and resisted in spite of impossible odds. It's because they stood their ground and never gave up, never surrendered."

Well, ya, too bad they couldn't have used that same gusto in WWII....

Seagate lawsuit targets solid-state drive maker

Don't be niave

"Watkins told the NYT yesterday that one of his goals is to promote cross-licensing deals and partnerships, but a 'sue first, negotiate later' strategy doesn't strike us as the best way of making friends and influencing people."

Even better would be if the company using the patented technology went to the patent holder - before releasing to market - and licensed the technology ahead of time, thereby avoiding said law suit entirely.

US student planned to ice Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris Facts

I'm suprised no one posted this....

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com

Enjoy...

Ban using mobiles while crossing street, says US legislator

You Have To Be Kidding

I'm a Yank on the West Coast. This has got to be the most rediculous law I have heard in a long time. Ban cell use while crossing the street? WTF? Better ban reading a map while driving, talking to anybody while doing anything, and breathing too. I doubt very much that a bill this asanine will ever get passed.

paris, because SHE would need this law with a gum chewing addition.

Avaya banks on recession to push cheap comms kit

"This week only, Special Price"

Its like a car dealership with baloons and a giant ape in the front of their lot. Instead of really ripping you off, they are only going to rip you off a little.

Having dealt with Avaya technology in the past, and seen the prices they ask for antiquated technology ( no exposure to the new stuff ) it's no suprise they are feeling the pinch. My own personal example was a CF card to backup a phone system. 16MB card, that at the time you could buy for a C note. They were asking thousands for it. Not because it was any different, but because it was theirs...

Yahoo! tries to whip investors into line

Mystery Money

So just because they say they are going to double their revenu, we are supposed just believe it? What a lookd bullocks (as you brits say). If I was a shareholder with any kind of voice I would be screaming for the board members heads at this point.

Apple's Time Capsule: is its HDD really 'server grade'?

And in other news..

Apple computer announced today the invention of the server grade iLED. The latest must have gadget will allow users around the world to see server status without having to log in to their systems. "There have been other attempts to use visual aids for server grade reporting," Jobs was quoted, "however, our superior 'iLED' not only comes in a sleek minimalist white package, but it outpaces all other attempts at providing instant, server grade status of systems." Apple has not released pricing to date.

Asus Eee PC gives Sony the willies

OOPS!

Just dropped my eee taking it out of my drawer here at work. Strangely enough, I didn't have to toss it in the bin! Why, it still works! And nothing broke!

Really, calling ASUS stuff crap is silly. They make good kit and have for years. I can't see my eee NOT lasting a good 5-10 years.