Posts by Pascal Monett

Facebook testing "announce important post" feature

Spot on !

Given that FaceBook is already full of twats who are full of themselves, this will immediately become the standard way of shouting their oh-so-important "news" so that they can feel even more important about themselves.

Lard-busting specs trick snack-happy Japanese

That's not a joke. I swear there has to be a lab somewhere working on just that.

After all, we have those crab sticks that are based on soya and don't have an ounce of crab in them.

Re: "they'd still be obese"

Oh dear, they won't become fashion models in 24 hours ! Let's just shoot them and put them out of their misery, hmm ?

The all-or-nothing mentality you display is not compatible with the world we live in. In this world, if you want to do anything you have to go step by step - and it's always the first step that costs the most. Stating that one step is not going to give you the 100% perfect result you expect and therefor is not worth taking is just ensuring that you will never attain that perfect result at all.

Rockefeller didn't win the lottery to get rich. He worked at it for years. Of course, some people do win the lottery - but to base your success on it is a sure road to perdition.

Back on subject, if fat people eat 10% less (and maintain that), they'll end up 10% thinner (let's just assume correlation here). Oh sure, they still won't win a marathon (unless it's a TV one), but I'll wager they just might feel 10% better or thereabouts. Which will encourage them to cut down another 10% on their diet, and the ball starts rolling.

The real problem with being fat is that it is not just an eating disorder, it is an eating disorder tacked on top of lack of self-confidence or some other problem. That is what kills the efforts of those who try to cut down on the eating - they're dealing with the symptom and not the cause.

Truth be told, I'm not sure I like this gadget. Oh sure, the IT side is interesting and, as a psychological experiment it has obvious merits, but nobody will always be wearing special food goggles every time they want a bite, so I think that the real-life effect of this will be severely impacted by all the fuss of day-to-day humdrum (so, what shall I order ? Rats ! Forgot my food goggles again. Oh well, I'll take the King Size Spare Ribs platter with the all-you-can-eat veggie buffet on the side, the one including fries).

Microsoft douses Flame

Yes you can continue signing

But the signature will not be recognized by the computers that have been patched, ie your targets (well, hopefully).

So yes, Microsoft is actually closing the loophole, because the only computers the malware writers will be able to infect will be those that have not been patched.

At least I hope so.

Britain's military techies honoured with new combat IT awards

Re: Secure version of Google Earth

Can you access their version ? Hopefully not.

Can they access yours ? Obviously yes.

So, in that sense, our version is insecure.

Should we worry ? Why ? Is anything in your life actually dependent on Google Earth ? I don't think so.

1930s photos show Greenland glaciers retreating faster than today

99% of the worlds scientist are not sure about global warming. Saying such a thing just paints you as an AGW zealot without a brain.

Thankfully, the scientific community in general is much more interested in getting all the data and building a picture as accurate as possible before drawing the conclusions that impose themselves from the analysis, rather than stupidly spouting a hastily-drawn one-sided conclusion taken from incomplete data.

This is why such information is important, given that our understanding of meteorology is still very much in its infancy - but I understand that the masses (and the zealots) kind of miss that point since you need to be intelligent to understand that the world is the most complex dynamic system we can possibly hope to comprehend.

Advertisers slam Microsoft over 'Do not track' decision

Some people are still confused

I am surprised at the number of people patting themselves on the back saying that Microsoft is finally catering to its "customers".

Sorry to rain on your parade, people, but if you and I might just benefit from this <ahem> bold move, for one thing it's not sure, because advertisers will most likely change their mode of operation, and for two, Microsoft does not consider you and me to be its customers.

Microsofts customers are RIAA/MPAA, the Fortune 1000s and any other big company that gives them millions every year.

If WE were considered its customers, we wouldn't have had to go through Vista's awful UAC shenanigans, we wouldn't have Windows-based DRM and Windows would ignore DVD regions while asking us if we wanted to allow User Restrictions on the DVDs that we watch on our PCs (you know, those annoying unskippable previews that were already boring when we bought the DVD ten years ago).

But because it's the big spenders in suits that Microsoft caters to, we are stuck with "functionality" that does not benefit us, but benefits the corporations. THEY are Microsoft's customers, we are just the sheep that Microsoft fleeces in between big contracts.

Look out, world - Mad Leo Apotheker's back!

Well goodbye Steria !

It was nice not knowing you.

LINX 'downed by ethernet loop' on external network

Re: "ethernets are a logical circular topology"

You'll find a good explanation of ethernet topology here.

The short version is : it's a STAR topology.

Microsoft hands out tools to sneak Skype onto new PCs

Re: "This is nothing but a tool for OEMs"

Sure, and when I have to reimage my disk after Windows breaks down and I use the recovery discs included with the PC purchase, that "silent install" will have absolutely no impact on my new install, right ? Riiiight.

I have the feeling that some of you haven't thought this thing through. That silent install is going to follow the life of that PC and the only way out of it is using an alternative OS.

So I do believe that I understood the article perfectly well, and I am justified in refusing the consequences.

No to silent installs !

I totally refuse and ban any product that has the cheek to try to slip into my system without my express approval.

And if you bundle it with something else I think I need and I can't take it out, I will do without that thing it was bundled with.

I hate piggybacks and underhanded deals, wherever and whatever they are. Do your business openly and honestly, or get out of my sight.

BSkyB blocks The Pirate Bay for millions of Brits

Re: "tell me the fantasy show that rivets me and lasts more then 13 episodes ?"

I will always upvote a fellow browncoat

Shhh !!

Keep it to yourselves ! Crow too loudly and someone official might have to do something about it.

And, knowing how the government manages IT projects, it can only end in tears.

Re: "Lets be honest almost all the traffic on them is copyright material being downloaded illegally"

References, please ?

Because I use P2P to download Linux distros.

In case you didn't know, a Linux distro is generally 2-3 GB a pop. Seems to me that a film is not that big, unless, of course, it's BluRay.

I also go to PB (and other Torrent sites) to find examples of applications in my field that are made available in that manner. Such applications can range from 10MB to a full GB on occasion. And I know that I am not alone in this case.

Finally, as an avid gamer I am prone to finding and downloading mods for my favorite games. Mods are, in case you didn't know, fully legal changes made to software that accept it. Some mods can exceed 2GB in cumulative patches. Heck, Battlefield 2 required official patches that were 500MB apiece.

In any case I dispute your assumption and demand that you back your figures up, lest I take you for a simpleton and a troll.

And don't go telling me that my behavior is exceptional. Modding Skyrim has become an international sport, to mention only that one.

1 in 6 Windows PCs naked as a jaybird online

Re: "What is McAfee actually doing"

Well McAfee might actually have been doing something.

Wrongly, with great prejudice and impact on performance, but something.

or punctuation marks

Re: "When you go to a resturaunt"

No I don't because if I eat the food and get sick from it, then there will be a tidal wave of sanitary officials picking the place apart and maybe even shutting it down.

Same for gas - I don't need to worry about the quality of the gas because if my engine dies within a mile from a station, there will be inspections and reports (after I file a complaint, of course) and the place will probably be shut down for the time it takes federal officials to discover what went wrong, how it happened and how to prevent it from happening again.

You see, the very basic mistake you made in your comparisons is that you forget that the things you compare with getting a virus are things that have already been extensively examined and legislated, and the long arm of the law is on your side, with the means to back it up. It has nothing to do with "risk vs achievement" because other people have risked it before you came into this world and the society you live in has decided that such risks were not tolerable, period. Yes, I know that that means you have to realize that the world has had an existence before yours. Check out the History aisle, you'll find that it's not just cardboard boxes with words on it.

Getting a virus, on the other hand, has no legal repercussions and there is absolutely no Bureau of Illegal Penetrations Office to file a complaint with - not that they'd have the police power to do anything about it either.

So please, the next time you decide to go all high and mighty spluttering out scathing comparisons, please take a moment to examine whether or not they are applicable to the subject matter and not just something tailor-made for you to feel smug about.

SpaceX joy as Space Station robo-arm grabs Dragon's tail

Bleu ? Brie ? Camembert ?

What about Cheez Whiz ?

<ducks and runs>

Microsoft corrects itself: 'We expect fewer people to use Windows 8'

Re: If Windows 8 won't succeed they will be in trouble

Microsoft is already in trouble, but there is no iceberg on the horizon.

I think the most likely scenario is an HP-style descent into irrelevance. Once we start seeing annual rounds of layoffs and no new product coming out of Redmond, then we can say that Microsoft is doomed.

Until then, it's only wishful thinking.

Max Payne 3

Yet another game made for console and badly ported to a much better platform - the PC

Almost every single game made for console and ported to PC has kept all the lame parts of console UI and taken none of the good parts of PC performance.

The exceptions to that rule can be counted on the fingers of one hand, so don't go thinking that your favorite is one of them - it probably isn't.

Oh, the AI is better at flushing you out now ? Gosh, they've almost reached the performance of Half-Life circa 2004. Congratulations !

No, sorry. Doesn't wash with me. I don't care about the pretty effects or the bullet-time, if a game cannot code its AI as good as something made close to a decade ago, I feel like I'm wasting my time.

And the worst film NEVER made is...

Re: Poster?

I second that request.

As soon as my daughter saw it, she asked me to print it so she could put it up in her room at the boarding school.

She is gleefully expecting the explanation sessions about where the poster came from and how Twilight is so bad it only made the 3rd spot in the Worst Films Ever Made list.

Dear Lord, what have I done ? I have unleashed a monster on the face of this poor Earth !

Diablo III dev rolls 12d6, scores PC sales record

The difference between Diablo III and Modern Warfare whatever

is that people will still be playing Diable III in ten years' time.

Heck, people are still playing Diablo II now.

WTF is... Li-Fi?

"receive signals from digital billboards and domestic LED-backlit TVs"

Oh great, like we didn't have enough ad surface already.

How zombie LulzSec exposed privates' love lives with PHP hack

Re: Deathwish?

I agree : leave the soldiers alone !

They're already in the line of fire on a daily basis, no need to add to their misery.

Besides, antagonizing them is a really stupid idea. Not only does a soldier have access to way more firepower than any script kiddie will ever get in his wildest dreams, but said soldier also has training that would make a script kiddie drop dead from exhaustion just thinking about it, and a group of well-trained, dedicated and loyal buddies to guard _his_ back while he plans to hit the aforementioned skiddie when the lump of blubber is least expecting it - like 24/7 actually.

So yeah, you want to antagonize the military ? How about hacking into the confidential files of a general-rank guy, instead of targeting the rank and file. I guarantee that you'll get a much quicker reaction that way, and much greater exposure.

Of course, said exposure just might be to the 2500°C blast (number drawn out of thin air) from a smart bomb but hey, you never specified what kind of exposure you wanted, right ?

Sunshine nudges asteroid into odd orbit

Grapes ?

Only in space can three grapes push a 68-million ton rock

Zombies, Run!

Re: Brains....

If you're hearing zombies in your ears, it may be a bit late for the "flight" part.

Canary Islands host long-distance quantum teleportation

I've just one word for all this

Headache.

Call of Duty hacker behind bars after college burglary

So, when he gets out of prison

He's rich ?

Apache OpenOffice security fixes emerge

As said elsewhere

The OpenOffice developers have, in their majority, left the OpenOffice project and created LibreOffice.

So if you really want an open Office application, you want LibreOffice.

Diablo III

An EULA is NOT a "contract"

A contract is a legally binding agreement which none of the two parties can change without consent from the other party.

EULA's today can be (and are) changed on the whim of the company selling you the product. Indeed, every update and upgrade has you "agreeing" to a new EULA (here is this vital upgrade to your product sir, without it you will not be able to benefit from the basic services we actually promised you the first time, but before installing this you will have to agree to give us your daughter). That, in effect, is called extortion. They already have your money, if you don't agree to the new "contract", you can kiss your money goodbye.

All these shenanigans totally empty the EULA of any semblance of credibility in my view.

I found the cause (and solution)

It was a simple downloader mistake.

What I mean is that, when Blizzard shows you Diablo III EN (US) on its download page, it doesn't mean the English version, it means the English version tied to the US region.

I live in France, so the downloader couldn't find its data.

The solution was to change the language of the downloader and choose the EN (GB) version, English tied to the Europe region.

So okay, I get it, it was a region issue with my confusion over the downloader. My bad, apparently, but could someone tell me why Blizzard did not publish this error message on its support page ? And why Blizzard Support itself cannot tell me anything more than to go to its support pages ?

I posted the solution in my support ticket, and added a suggestion that they change their support page to talk about this issue - we'll see how long it takes them to react.

Meanwhile, my download finishes in 3 minutes - gotta go ! :)

I tried the beta

and bought the full game on the 16th - which I have been trying to install since.

I get an error message "Data required to install this game could not be found" and there doesn't seem to be any solution.

Oh well, at least I'm not bothered by Error 37.

Google Knowledge Graph straddles semantic web and Star Trek

Oh, so you have a 24" tablet ? In 1900 x 1200 ? That's cool.

I'd like to know what model it is though, because the biggest current tablets appear to be 10" to 11" (high-end) affaires and the biggest upcoming tablets that are still unannounced (dixit CNet) reach 13".

That data is available here.

My daughter's laptop has a 15" screen in 1200 x 1024 format. We bought it for her two years ago.

There are laptops with 17" screens.

I see absolutely zero tablets with 15" screens, not to mention 17".

Seems to me your laptop must be pretty old.

Pirate Bay struggling to get on feet after DDoS to the knee

Re: Big Dumb Guys Wife

So, now it's extortion ?

What will be next ? "Upvote me or I'll post something else ?"

Nvidia shows off superjuiced Kepler GPU

3 times the power ?

Wow. I wonder how that will translate in terms of frames/second - or will it ?

I hope Nvidia will be able to produce a proper number of chips for end-users, what with TSMC's backlog and all the rest of the problems. Seems to me like we'll see another sale date come without any product in shop - and no, one card on sale somewhere does not count in my view, either you have properly stocked your retail chain, or you can get stuffed is what I say.

Yahoo! CEO! didn't! even! read! his! own! CV!

Just to clear things up, Mr. Thompson

We're not saying it's your fault. Not at all. We're just saying it's your RESPONSIBILITY.

Responsibility is what makes your pseudo-excuses even more lame than they already are. And the fact that someone apparently needs to explain this to you is what makes me believe that you are indeed not fit to run any company, even if it's naught but a bunch a Yahoos.

But don't worry, Mr. Thompson, you're not alone. There are plenty of CEOs like yourself who blame others and say "not my fault !" as soon as something goes wrong while pocketing plenty of dollars in "compensation" for the "heavy responsibilities" of their position.

Actually, it's the CEO who has the balls to step up to the plate and say "my bad, sorry for that, here's my resignation if you wish" who should be applauded for the proper interpretation of the word "responsibility". I'd even cut him some slack - once. And frankly, I find very surprising that there are so few CEOs who have taken this step, when - from what I've heard - they're all trying to position themselves as the unique swan in a sea of ducks.

But hey, what do I know ? I only have what I've actually done on my CV, so I'm clearly not CEO material.

'Fake Carla Bruni' Twitter account spreads Thatcher death rumour

The whole incident illustrates ...

just how poorly journalistic professionalism resists to the modern media, as well as proving in one fell swoop how modern-day "journalists" are a far cry from anything that could bring down a Nixon.

Once upon a time, a journalist was a feared figure who could track down political miscreants and expose their misdeed after careful detective work and with the weight of their paper behind them.

Nowadays, a "journalist" is a moron who copy/pasts from anything that can sell page views and doesn't know the meaning of the word "integrity" any more than a politician does. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but they are exceptions, not the norm.

Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K quad-core CPU

Re: "For gaming the bottleneck is almost always the graphics card"

That used to be true, but nowadays the CPU has loads or more and more complex AI stuff to handle while it sends things to the GPU, so it no longer always works that way.

Case in point : my Supreme Commander game got a lot more fluid when I got my 8-core i7 960, even before I upgraded from my X850 to my Radeon 5870.

I think that, with today's much more complex games, more CPU horsepower is just as important as GPU horsepower.

Unless the programming is done by clueless monkeys, in which case you can throw as many resources you want at it and it'll still run like a dog (ie any version of Microsoft Flight, and that's far from the only example).

US Judge says IP addresses don't identify pirates

"An IP address provides only the location [..] any number of computer devices may be deployed"

Dear Lord, it is true - 2012 is indeed the End Of The World !

Justice has finally woken up to a basic fact concerning the Internet. Next, we'll have newspapers and reporters actually telling the truth, and in November we'll have politicians denouncing their own lies.

Then December rolls in, and when political parties admit that they're only in it for the money, we'll be doomed.

Greenland glaciers not set to cause disastrous sea level rises - study

Mr. Parker,

You wish for an explanation on why I think our computer models are wrong ? Fine, here is what I base my opinion on :

This study seems to indicate that glaciers are melting for reasons not directly linked to climate change, due to an as-of-yet unknown glacier melting phenomenon. Since it is not known of yet, it cannot have been implemented in the models.

This study claims that polar ice loss is "incredible", and suitably goes on about how the situation paints a dire picture for future sea levels.

Unfortunately, this paper claims that the sea level rise is nothing new, nor is it adequately explained and the data does not support the coastal apocalypse scenario some people like to bandy about.

Some confusion evidently abounds.

Then you have the field of proxy measurement. As stated in this article, "Instrumental measurements are the gold standard, but there aren't enough of them for truly satisfactory science." That clearly means that we know we cannot adequately measure everything (which I understand), so we choose something we can measure and decide on its validity in pointing to what we want to measure (which I can understand as well).

The unfortunate side-effect of this method is that we base our models on these proxies, and derive multi-billion-dollar policies based on the results of said models, until one fine day we find out, as pointed out in the first article I cited, that our proxy is governed by something we had no knowledge of.

Now let me put one thing straight : I am not disputing the methods, nor am I putting in question the existence of the models. We need the models, we need to simulate and evaluate with what we have, and I am sure that said models are updated as new events arise.

What I do dispute is pissing away billions without knowing what the effect will be, and there is nothing in meteorology today that tells me we know where we are going. So let's cut the hype, lock the zealots in their padded chambers and think rationally in a quiet atmosphere, hmm ?

Then we will be more able to make the right decision, instead of deciding things based on what the most heavily-funded lobby wants to push for.

That is all.

"this comparatively reassuring picture"

As much as I hate the AGW fear-mongerers, the zealotism concerning AGW and the endless debates about the validity of someone's references on this matter, I see nothing that makes me believe that this "picture" is all that "reassuring".

Climate, and meteorology in general, is the most complex and the least well-understood branch of science. We have precious little experience (barely a century's worth), and the variables that influence the subject are innumerable, out of our control and, most often, out of our technical ability to measure.

We base our computer models on what we think is representative, then derive conclusions from those models without double-checking the source data. Then our governments go spending billions we don't have (due to our already bloated, loan-based budgets) to enforce measures that may or not have an impact on something we don't really understand.

Let's keep on measuring, evaluating and improving our understanding, hmm ? It's the only way to learn, and zealots be damned.

Especially since there seems to be some dispute about how glaciers form, which would totally throw into disarray the ice-dating techniques we've been using to derive data about historical climate conditions.

Yahoo! board! probes! CEO's! CompSci! CV! blunder!

Hey, Third Point !

I have an accounting diploma AND a computer science diploma !

So, when do I start ?

Microsoft's dumpster-diver partner strategy is rubbish

Re: "The first time that the Microsoft offering causes a little hassle, people try the alternatives"

If only that were true.

Yahoo! investor! accuses! CEO! of! embellishing! resume!

Oh come on !

He's a CEO - lying is what he's PAID to do.

Space-cadet Schwartz blows chunks out of Oracle's Java suit

Re: "the first poster was being sarcastic in response to previous comments"

Um, if he was the first poster then there were no previous comments, right ?

Unless you're referring to comments from a previous article that discussed the same trial, but logically you should have worded that differently.

Lenovo forced to expand 'flaming' PC recall

Re: Christ on an AT-AT

I'm willing to pray to see that !

Crytek: Schemes to strike second-hand games biz 'awesome'

Re: Yes, I can list them.

Oh, it's totally off-topic of course, I'm not denying that at all. But mentioning Steam doesn't seem so on-topic to me either. Not that I'm complaining.

If I ask, it is because I am genuinely interested. My Steam library includes over 50 titles, and I've never had any serious issue with any of them at all.

So I am looking forward to your list of defective games, to see if I somehow avoided the bad apples.