Posts by Pascal Monett

SimCity to teach SimMaths and SimScience at school

"what will a SimBoss make of a SimCV?"

Simple, he'll hire and pay in Simoleons.

2013 in storage: Flash, file systems and... Is CDMI actually HAPPENING?

Of course it is happening

There's wayyy too much marketing muscle and bedazzled managers about to not have it happen and, with mobile computing, there is a strong argument for it.

Of course, you also have the all those fingers looking for a new pie (mobile operators, handset vendors, tablet makers, etc).

It's the security aspect of the cloud that intelligent people are worried about, not its usefulness.

And given the amount of importance the security element has had in the evolution of Facebook, I wouldn't bet the farm on the cloud being any more secure than that.

But for the Facebook-sharing mobile tweeters, the cloud will be just peachy.

Boffins create quantum gas with temperature BELOW absolute zero

Re: "do they have other research going on"

Of course they do.

At the Black Mesa facility.

Crowbar mandatory.

Facebook continues to CONQUER THE WORLD

"a very convenient medium for keeping in touch"

Bollocks, my good sir.

The only "very convenient" medium I need is email, and I don't need any "social network" for that.

My real, actual friends have my email and my phone number. The rest I don't need to talk to anyway outside of polite social recognition in public areas.

Facebook is a social network only for those who don't have a network and can't be arsed to make one. Which obviously makes for a LOT of people.

Hey, Apple and Google: Stop trying to wolf the whole mobile pie

"Apple, for example, does hardware exceptionally well"

As brilliantly demonstrated by the iPhone holding fiasco.

And the melting iMac issues, not to mention fading colors once the bright and shiny had worn off and been exposed to sunlight for a while.

We could finally have some objective assessment of Apple as a whole, admitting that the company has had some bright ideas and deserves some recognition, but is far from the perfect idevice-maker that sooo many people insist it is, but I suppose we won't finally bury this stupid Apple reality distortion field any time soon.

Punters rate Apple, Samsung more highly than ever

What is the use of this "survey" ?

Could we stop being subject to useless, baseless factoids please ?

Where companies are concerned, there is only one important fact : market share. All the rest is hoopla and shenanigans.

People "like" HP less ? From what I've read over the past five years, nobody likes HP anymore, yet it is still in the top five and, more importantly, it still has market share.

People think that public image is important. It should be, but is it really ? How exactly ? Which "celebrity" got blackballed from magazines for drug use, or spouse abuse ? Which company got boycotted for slave wages, environmental disasters, or simply disrespecting the consumer ?

Sony is still around, and it has single-handedly found just about every possible way to antagonize and insult its user base (DRM fiascoes one after another, Java on set tops and Blu-Ray . . no, I won't even go there).

The only image that is important is our own, and almost only towards our employers. I've known a few people blackballed in my line of work because of attitude and behavioral mistakes. One or two were a-holes, okay, but none of them spilled millions of gallons of crude in pristine ecological environments, yet they had to move to find a job, whereas BP and all the rest are sitting pretty on billions in profits.

So I'm finding it difficult to grant any sort of importance to this "survey". Feels like paparazzi material to me.

(Disclaimer : I'm not a treehugger or greenie or environutjob in any way, I'd just like to see irresponsible companies actually foot the bill for once)

Big Blue etches silicon nanophotonics with regular chip tech

I went back to re-read the article to make sure, and nowhere is it stated that optical interconnects "do away" with latency and/or bottlenecks.

What the article states is that photons go faster in fibre than electrons do in a wire, therefor optical interconnects are going to minimize latency, not erase them.

And unless quantum entanglement gets even crazier than it is now, you'll always have one absolute physical latency : the distance between RAM and CPU. It cannot go faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, after all.

New research cuts Kepler's exoplanet count by one third

Doesn't matter

Even with one-third less planetary candidates, there's still a whole lot more star systems with planets than we previously thought possible.

So, how about getting those star drives ready ? We got places to go now !

Far Cry 3 game review

So you played Far Cry 3 and everything was just peachy ?

Isn't there just one niggling point that annoyed you ? Can it be that so complex a game did not have a single fault worth mentioning ?

Frankly, this review strikes me as way too smooth to be valid. Come on ! Where's the Bite ?

Sorry, but since when is Wikipedia a "definitive proof" of anything ? Wikipedia does not yet hold any academic laurels that I know of.

The only thing you're proving is that there is a user-based truth-by-consensus website out there that agrees with your point of view.

Sacre Bleu! US fingered for Flame attack on Élysée Palace

Personally I think it's a bloody good thing that a country leader not waste his time on a PC - he's got underlings for that sort of thing and he's not got time to waste on Minesweeper.

I expect my President to be spending his time in talks and negotiations with any and everyone that can influence my country, not mucking about with Facebook and a crackable web connection.

Just think of the humongous amount of egg-on-face if a country leader had his PC hacked and data stolen !

I don't think any President could survive that, especially if top-secret strategic data were to be found stolen.

4chan founder Moot threatens site for using his handle

"He should have picked something more unique"

I respectfully disagree.

I think he chose his handle perfectly, and this whole issue is brilliantly summed up by it.

Microsoft building poo-powered carbon-neutral data center

"cannot go offline any more than a community can stop flushing"

So that means that there will be Linux servers managing the methane production ?

Fossil reveals spider in mid-strike

Bush Jr. already proved that.

You can stop proving that point now, we get it.

Home-grown drone finds ‘missing’ hiker

ROTM note

Looks like they have the Hunter part down pat now.

Just add the Killer element from military sources, and all we need is the murderous AI to finish it all - and us with it.

Purpose of RFID finally discovered: It's for pairing up socks!

Hunks of steel tumbling around my wash/dryer and making a racket such as one has not heard since the good ol' days of next-door metallurgy, your neighbors must just love you.

Not to mention the joy of finding metal shavings all over my clothes and clogging the filter - brilliant.

No thank you, I prefer sorting my socks in peace and quiet.

Curiosity photographs evidence of ancient streams on Mars

Re: "Which survived until the late 1960's IIRC"

Wrong. I saw a documentary not long ago and the alien, named Paul, was alive and well just a few months ago when it got recovered by its fellows after a long and tense pursuit.

DARPA builds faster-than-Usain-Bolt Cheetah robot

Re: the clumsy meatbag method

It may be clumsy next to a nice set of wheels, but it comes in handy when said wheels are flat, or the terrain is totally impractical.

This speed test is certainly useful, although I personally agree that it's a lot easier to reach that speed with all the power and hydraulics removed from the beast itself.

Nevertheless, it's all about the little steps. One small success at a time, and one day we will see robot cheetahs walking all around, breaking into a run, chasing down suspects and then tearing them to shreds with their unyielding steel maws of bloody death.

The only question is, when that day arrives, who will be controlling them ?

War-Droid: Smartphone app 'that could CALL IN drone strikes'

Smartphone upgrade list is now done

I am expecting the next generation (Iphone 6 and Galaxy IV ?) to include night/thermal imaging, proper long-range optics, and laser range finders.

3,000 Guild Wars 2 gamers banned for flogging stolen loot

I like that solution.

I like it a lot.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet review

"noticeably different from the iPad – you couldn’t mistake the two"

Oh I'm sure that, for $80k+, we could arrange some sort of confusion.

1 MILLION accounts leaked in megahack on banks, websites

Indeed.

"It's only the beginning" of the FBI hunt for your sorry collars.

And they will be felt, little ones, they will be. Nobody attacks the banks, boys. Not even the government.

Seems to me that the "statistic" itself is proper reporting. What would be meaningless would be any conclusion derived from that figure.

Open source author pulls code after GPL abuse

Re: "I forgot the limitations of the English language"

I agree that there might have been a better choice of terms to start with, and that the current situation is indeed confusing linguistically-speaking.

So let's just chalk that up to American Imperialism and have a beer, okay ?

This is the Internet - you're specifically not supposed to learn anything before spouting off.

Re: "all free software is open source"

No it is not. Anyone can code a program, compile it and release the compiled executable for free, without having to reveal the code.

For example, [url=http://www.getpaint.net/]Paint.net[/url] is a free photo/image editor that isn't bad at all - and that's an understatement - but you will not find the source code anywhere.

Disable Java NOW, users told, as 0-day exploit hits web

Then again

Having re-read my initial post, I have to admit that it does sound a bit smug.

So be it, guilty as charged.

But still virus-free.

I'm not "sitting smug"

I am aware of threats and I know perfectly well that no platform, anywhere, anytime, is immune against problems.

I also have a brain and use it every time I click on a link.

That said, since I have started using Firefox with AdBlock and NoScript all those years ago, I have not once been infected by anything. That is fact, not smug, and if you don't like it I don't care.

I will continue to use Firefox/NoScript whilst keeping up-to-date about its issues and keeping it up-to-date as well because I trust it and it has never failed my trust yet.

But that does not mean I will click blindly on any link that I see or get sent to my mail.

The day IE has NoScript, I might take it for a whirl outside the very small list of URLs I let it see at this time, but until then, my general surfing will be done on Firefox, because it works.

If using a tool because it works is being smug, then so be it, I'm smug.

My PC is virus-free too.

Once again, thank you NoScript

Frankly, I'm beginning to think that Firefox and noScript should become mandatory by law.

If that ever did happen though, then this almost-perfect shield would become the hard target for all the miscreants and issues would be found.

So let the rabble continue with IE and zero protection. I'll just glide by, blissfully oblivious to the carnage until an article like this wakes me up to the fact that there are still people who don't know how to surf securely.

<disclaimer>this post concerns private use of Internet only - I am very well aware that professionals have a different set of problems, mainly that of not being able to choose their work platform</disclaimer>

Samsung fights to stay on US shelves as Apple calls for ban

Question: how many people do you know with a smartphone who have no idea how to use it, so just use it for making calls?

There, corrected that for you.

Re: "[an] attack on America's patent and court system that [..] unfairly hinder free trade"

Could somebody please make that happen ?

Pretty please ?

Cloud 'destroys time' and fracking is great innovation

the Cloud destroys time

Yup, right before destroying your data.

Seriously, I love how out-of-touch these high-level management types can appear to be. Listen to their spiel and you think the cloud is all fluffy and comfy, without delays or implementation issues of any kind. They are akin to Greek gods in Olympus, gliding miles above the issues and only seeing what they want to see.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the grunts deal with the nitty-gritty of reality, such as service response times, availability levels, bandwidth and backup, and that is before sorting out which applications and data can be put "in the cloud" and which can't, for whatever corporate reason.

And then we get to the nightmare of daily usage, when the inevitable failure occurs and the only thing the IT department can do is repeatedly dial a phone number that doesn't answer, despite all the service-level agreements and contractual obligations, until it does answer - only to hear that their data and apps have crashed and been restored to a status that was useful 3 months ago. Oh, and maybe they'll manage to get back to the current state, but God only knows if and when.

But yeah, viewed from space, Earth seems to be a pristine planet too - you don't see the oil spills, the rampant deforestation, or the clouds of pollution. From space, Earth is beautiful.

Earth to cloud, Earth to cloud, get down from your fluffy place and come meet the daily grind for a change.

Chancers try to flog lame Mac malware for $60 a pop

So it's obvious, reveals its presence, cannot survive a restart, cannot run on basic Mountain Lion settings and probably doesn't know how to phone home either.

Well all that should be reassuring, except that this is obviously just a first stage attempt from the miscreants. They're going to correct the bugs and make a more efficient version, one that will serve their purposes better.

In any case, however ridiculous this piece of failed malware may be, it is nonetheless a warning sign : the crooks are targeting Apple machines. Time to batten down the hatches in iLand.

Microsoft denies Windows 8 app spying via SmartScreen

"using the SSLv2 protocol which is known to be breakable"

Um, not to defend Microsoft in any way, but could someone please point me to a protocol that is NOT known to be breakable ?

Just for the learning experience.

Re: Of course, they are gonna deny it

If they get caught doing something, they're still going to deny it.

Whatever they do, they will deny until they have their face shoved into the proof that they did it, then they will try and make everyone believe that it was "a mistake" or "a feature in beta" or whatever else passes for an excuse in la-la-land.

Only 3% of UK's TV oglers want more sex

Re:whats the point?

The point is to not impress children's minds with the fact that such language is the preferable way to speak, even if it is unfortunately heading that way.

As for children swearing in school, of course they do and so did we all. But children do it to appear cool to their friends, not because they think it is normal. They know it is not, that it is forbidden, and that is why they do it.

And that is also precisely why watershed is necessary. PVR is under someone's personal initiative, they had to program the thing, they know what they're getting. Just blindly stumbling into profanity, sexual intercourse and suggestive nudity - not to mention bloody violence - is not something that should happen when children are supposed to be awake.

Of course, nowadays that parents no longer know when the proper hours are for children of a given age, watershed is probably still moot, but one has to at least make the effort.

Education is not just for dogs.

Shove off Prince Harry, now Norway's teen royal in fresh photo uproar

When they grow up ?

Surely you mean "if" they grow up.

Don't download that app: US presidential candidates will STALK you with it

Re: Why would you want this app anyway?

Um, we're talking about US citizens here.

Anything goes.

HTC takes another punch to the wallet, loses $40m OnLive investment

One example comes to mind

I bought Hellgate: London, a Microsoft Games For Windows thingy from EA.

Since then, EA has pulled the plug on the multiplayer servers, forcing me to play only the single-player part.

Microsoft and EA were behind this game, yet I have lost 50% of what I paid for back in the day.

Last I checked, neither Microsoft nor EA Games have declared bankruptcy, yet I can no longer play multiplayer on that game.

How's that for cloud reliability ?

Re: Its not suitable for hardcore gamers

Have you taken a look at [url=http://www.quakelive.com/#!home]Quake Live[/url] ?

Of course, not all games can be done like that, but Quake pretty much defined hardcore gaming, and its fluidity is nothing less than astonishing. I used to play Quake III on my PC - and I had to upgrade its essential components to get proper framerate and nice visuals.

With Quake Live, okay, the tech is old, but heck, I'm playing that monster in a browser ! Without installing anything !!

Beats me how they do it, but they did it.

'Sex and the female brain are connected' - shock discovery

Must. Resist. Mentioning. Black. Snake. Moan.

Dang, blew it again.

Brocade global sales boss exits, leaves soon-to-depart CEO to flog kit

"a strategic cul-de-sac"

Well it seems to me that that is a board-level issue, and if high-level staff are setting sail to greener pastures, it is a sign that the board is aggressively divided either over which direction to take (hopeful version), or who to blame (sign-of-doom version).

IEEE admits its MS-DOS history revisionist is in Microsoft's pay

So MS paid him ?

Let's see what the consequences are :

- for MS, which has soooo much dirt accumulated in its history, this is but another shell on the pile of waste in the back room

- for Ziedman, well I can only say I hope the money was good, because paid or not, his credibility is no longer worth the bag you use to clean up after the dog

Assange calls for help from … Quakers?

"citizens must whisper in the dark"

I'm pretty sure there aren't many citizens in the Western World that feel that they MUST whisper anywhere, anytime, even in the dark.

Unless you count the kinky stuff going on all over the world and, in that case, woe be he who tries to stop it.

Curiosity's laser turns Mars rocks to 'glowing plasma'

If they're that hugely advanced, they might be bright enough to not use an investigative method that is (highly) susceptible to inducing changes into what they want to investigate ?

At least not until they get the results back and discover Justin Bieber, in which case a zap with a CEO-salary-sized laser is a perfectly understandable next step.

Better onion anonymity possible: researcher

Onion routing, Garlic routing

What is this, a cookbook ?

eBay invites mystic wrath over ban on spells, potions and lotions

Wait a minute

If you can prove that in court, isn't it attempted murder ?

The Court does not need to believe, it just needs to record that she used something she believed would have that effect, so attempted murder.

At which point, of course, she goes all hysterical and says, on camera, "but it's all just nonsense !", or something to that effect.

Capture, post on YouTube and educate the masses.

She gets fined for contempt of court.

Everyone wins.

Oracle: Google impurifying media's precious bodily fluids

"they don't keep track of what their staffers post"

Yeah sure, as long as said staffers post what they're told to.

NASA picks the target for Curiosity's first road trip

Re: "not like the rocks are going to suddenly get up and walk away"

Well that's just the point . . . maybe this time they will !

Breaking news, literally: Reuters hacked third time this MONTH

What to expect ?

I know next to nothing of the news industry, but it seems to me that, once upon a time, they had people called "reporters" that went out into the wide world to get stories, then went to the nearest phone to report their finds.

Some of these people actually proved bravery far in excess of what any boss could expect, bringing back incredible tales. Some actually died for their efforts.

I suspect that things are somewhat different today if reporters are just paid interns watching blog feeds, or categorizing press releases.