Posts by Pascal Monett

Is MySQL's Google's Trojan Horse for world domination?

Can't see what the issue is

Frankly, disk space is so cheap it's ridiculous. Today, anyone with a PC at home can easily get over 300GB of disk space. Aside from rabid gamers and filesharers, that is largely enough for reading mail and the occasional surfing.

And for companies, with incomparably larger IT budgets, I really cannot imagine they'll be interested by an online storage space - what with the security issues, the payment arrangements (you'll probably be paying by the megabyte both written and read), and the lag (you don't get 100mbps lines yet, do you ?), I just cannot imagine the users will be happy.

Why is Vista not selling ? I think the essential issue is the perceived performance. Taking 15 minutes to delete a file is simply unacceptable. In the same way, a remote storage area accessible via Internet is not going to work better either, because of the same performance issues. I don't care how much money you're ready to throw at this, there is simply not enough bandwidth available to get gigabyte speeds to thousands of companies.

And I cannot imagine users being content when they have to wait 10 minutes, or even 5, for their very important rush-job report to just open, let alone get working on it. Autosave is going to be a nightmare. And what about unexpected connexion issues ? What about ISP issues ?

I'm sure there are companies with solid IT practices that never experience any downtime. I'm also quite sure that a backhoe can cause a lot of trouble in very little time. You don't often find a backhoe on company premises, now do you ?

For all these reasons and more, I just fail to see how online remote storage is actually going to do any better than remote HelpDesk call centers.

But hey, that doesn't mean that some Fortune 500 companies won't buy into it, as usual.

Manhunt 2 hacked open to reveal 'removed' gore

Those last to comments I agree with

I am a gamer myself. My game of choice at this time is Battlefield 2. Think Saving Private Ryan but with a lot more virtual people on screen.

I have a long history with FPS games (that's First Person Shooters for the uninitiated), which goes right back to the original Castle Wolfenstein. In other ords, I've been playing these games since they came out.

Each new generation was carefully crafted to run on the current hardware - and each one looked better than the previous one. When Quake 2 came out I was mesmerized - hey look ! I can actually see THROUGH a window !

In short, realism has been going up all the time. Today, in BF2, it is quite realistic enough - for a game. It is NOT a slaughter party though, there are sever limitations to what you can actually do. But that's all right - it's a game.

To answer Mr. AC, as far as I'm concerned we have now all the realism we need. I've been playing the Crysis demo and the artificial blurring is not really my piece of cake. They named in motion-blur, but really I just find it blurry - period. And I somewhat resent having forked over almost €300 for a graphics card that makes things blurry. I can do that if I squint my eyes, thank you. So really, I find we have enough realism. I do not need to play a game that looks like real life. I do not even want to play a game that looks real.

However, I am tired of games that persist to limit what I can do and how I can do it. If a tank rams the side of a house, it's not the tank that should get damage, right ? If a plane drops a few bombs on a building, the building should be rather heavily damaged, right ? Well none of all that happens in BF2, and DX10 does not seem to allow that either. The only thing DX10 does is add pretty pixels. Well I say we have enough pretty pixels already. We have absolutely gorgeous pixels. So let's start working on gameplay, okay ?

Now, in response to Mr. Ball, I really have only one thing to say : I've played a lot of gory games, and I've even played Grand Theft Auto uncensored. In games, I have done atrocious things. In real life, the only thing I am atrocious with is mosquitoes.

I've never even actually punched anyone. I avoid conflict if I can at all - and that just might include running for it if I'm up against more than one guy. The sickest fantasy I have is winning the Euro Lottery. Yet I believe I would have no trouble gutting a virtual character with a sword, if a game gave me the chance. I don't think I'm a wierdo, and I don't think you'll disagree with that. We both know what a wierdo is and I'd say just about anything is capable of pushing them over the edge.

In my opinion, blood, gore and twisted acts in games is no worse than watching any given snuff film (don't know any titles, I don't watch that), of even Hollywood titles like Blade, Basic Instinct, Natural Born Killers, or Reservoir Dogs.

Hollywood has exposed more people to gore, murder and twisted minds than any game can ever hope to touch. And a game does not get reruns on TV after five years.

In any case, you're absolutely right on one point : the debate is far from finished.

Brussels politicos: More cash for Galileo, pronto

"indispensible strategic tool" ?

Well if it is that indispensable to have an independent GPS system, maybe it would also be a good idea to mandate all government structures to use Linux, thereby removing the most widespread malware vector that is Windows ?

And concerning our imperial past, yes, we can actually be trusted because we've grown tired of it, whereas you guys are still getting high on it. As for being forbidden to travel or protect myself, I don't from where you're pulling that but, seeing as you don't live here, it's normal that you don't have a clue. Especially since you seem to think that Great Britain _is_ the EU. I'm sure there's more than one Englishman who'd have a lot to say about that.

As for the right to privacy, you're making the mistake of thinking that what your government does, everyone else's government does as well. You probably think that your Constitutional Rights apply anywhere in the world, too. I hope, for your sake, that you never discover just how wrong you are.

Whois database targeted for destruction

Personally,

I would like ICANN to start actually enforcing proper details on the registrant page. Not necessarily publishing them on Whois, but actually pulling the rug from entries that are inexact or incomplete.

But of course, that would mean the ICANN actually checks the stuff - and I seriously doubt that that gets done unless there's a complaint (and even if, it'll be the honest mistake that'll get sanctioned nine times out of ten, while the visibly bogus entry will sail by unscathed).

Nintendo to fire Wii Zapper into Europe for Xmas

Great fun in perspective

At the condition that they put out a game where you can hunt today's politicians from every country. Could be a very cultural game, you know. Chasing after the Queen in the stately halls of Buckingham Palace, gunning down Sarkozy under the Eiffel Tower, or blasting Dubya to bits in a pretzel parlor.

If they make a game like that, I'll buy a Wii with all the accessories, just for that game. Promise !

Data recovery firm sounds Mac hard drive damage alert

@is it me

Actually, it is you. First you talk about Apple "detractors" (hint : a detractor is generally against what your subject is), then you mention Mac zealots (hint : zealots are 110% FOR the subject).

But don't worry, Apple zealots are being just as knee-jerk reactive/abusive as ever, and Apple detractors are responding with the usual taunts and condescension.

All is normal, you may continue with your lives.

DARPA looking to verify imported military chips

Conspiracy theorist heaven

Just to side with the devil, I must say that it seems quite possible to have the main chip (the one passing the test) devoid of any "fault" that can be detected, and include another, less-important (and untested) chip that will somehow trigger a fault in the main one via a pattern of signals and/or frequencies.

If found inadvertently before use, said fault could be passed off as a "normal" bug, no feathers ruffled. But if it does manage to sneak under the radar, then when needed, the bug could be triggered and bang! there goes the satellite GPS system for all soldiers involved.

Sure it sounds far-fetched, but hey, it doesn't sound impossible, now does it ?

Rhys Jones 'killer' named on YouTube

I'm all for the grammar lessons

But you guys are lacking the long, heavy wooden ruler to make it stick.

Scottish decision threatens PFI contract secrecy

"When they've got nowhere to hide, we've got nothing to fear."

Now THAT's a slogan to live for !

Hear ! hear !

Becks shows Scientology some rispek

Respect ? Nonsense !

The only thing that is respectable about Scientology is its dangerosity. Scientology is a ridiculous premise (pseudo-religion resulting from a brash joke-turned-boast) from which its success is due to more than questionable mind tactics against people who do not have the mental stamina to resist.

Scientology preys and feeds on the weak without any moral restraint. Good ol' Tom has not really been subject to the full course, he's just a gilded representative having suffered through none of the moral tortures inflicted on those with less money, luck and fame.

So sure, for him, Scientology is great.

Now go ask someone who has tried to leave it. I'll wager they paint it in a very different light.

UK.gov lambasted for ignoring peers' cybercrime report

Ooh look ! It's pork time !

Some pork is being distributed so the powers-that-be can be said to be doing something about a problem. Yay ! everything is better now, right ?

Second Life mounts assault on reality

Way to go, SLers

Continue with the lawsuits and stuff and I think you'll be brutally dragged back into Real Life with a note from the tax man.

You know, the guy you can't evade however many flying penises you throw in his general direction ?

Keep whining about the money you're "losing" and I think his ears are going to perk up to the fact that there is a market operating without any taxation oversight. And we all know how the tax man hates to leave something without supervision.

So go on (and on and on as you are prone to do), I'm waiting to know what the IRS percentage will be.

When antivirus products (and Internet Explorer) fail you

The public

The public is supposed to resist the evil corporations and set things right ?

If "the public" was able to do that, "the public" would never elect a President with less culture and intelligence than a monkey, nor would they listen to politicians who change their stance on important subject every time the wind changes, nor would they forget that the moron they are voting for now is the same one that said or approved the exact contrary just months ago.

"the public" is the worst possible failsafe, and can be deemed directly responsible for not caring, not having a clue, and not being arsed enough to find out what the L is actually going on.

You have the democracy, the entertainment, the operating system and the spam that you are worthy of.

The only way things are going to get better is by MAKING people pay attention - at gunpoint if necessary. And that is not going to happen.

Prince's anti-YouTube crusade halted by American mommy

Attention-grab

The pathetic efforts of this has-been to be noticed are really disgusting. I never found any interest in the guy and now he is nothing, so he really could just disappear like he's supposed to.

Carmack's X-Prize rocket explodes on pad

"Armadillo set some records in terms of reusability"

If I understand that right, it means that all other rockets exploded on their _first_ attempt ?

Some record.

Aliens responsible for Italian machine uprising

I really can't stand this medieval mentality

So he's Catholic, but he thinks a sacrifice is necessary ? To what god ?

For Heaven's sake, man, if you say you're a Catholic then you should at least know that the being referred to as God in the Bible has stopped accepting sacrifices since the New Testament at least.

Oh well, if some people can claim their Catholicism and at the same time advocate war (even though one of God's Commandments is Thou Shalt Not Kill - no mitigating circumstances included), I guess this nutjob is relatively harmless (well, except to the animal he'll use to "appease the gods").

Astronauts ride robotic arms into space

Re:Ken

"Are you really that pathetically insecure?"

Do you really have to ask the question ?

I mean, just look at what they have for an excuse of a President.

Brown promises simultaneous liberty and security

What was that ?

"Mr Brown suggested he personally would favour an extension of police powers to hold suspects for long periods without trial"

Gosh, I'd love to see what he thinks of that when he gets his turn in the cell . . .

Online trading site was left wide open

I don't see this as a developer problem

Caveat : I am a developer.

And I have worked on rather big projects. And when you work on big projects, you have powerful people giving the green light on them. And these people generally do not like to hear that they "missed" something. Nor do they have any actual IT experience or even a clue. If you're lucky, they _do_ know what they want.

So what happens is they spend a few days in meetings - except they don't have the time so they let a subcommittee take care of drafting the details - then they waltz in and have every sycophant blabber about how complete the specs are.

So the project goes ahead. And it's urgent of course, and not enough days have been allotted to do it properly because nobody has the money to do things the right way.

So it's up to the coder to shoulder the difference, with his "experience". After all, they always hire "experts" for these jobs, right ? Except that, after 30 years of developing code, it's still up to a junior analyst to estimate how many days a given functionality will take to develop.

So the developer doesn't have the time to do the job, the time for testing is always ignored in favor of a rushed-out "beta" that goes into production almost before the "testers" have plonked their keyboards for a quarter of an hour and called in if they can't log on to the application.

And most of the time, if the developer calls into question any part of the specs, he'll get the "deal with it" look or worse, he'll be shouldered out of the project for "being a troublemaker".

Yeah, the developer really has a lot of power these days. I don't know what happened to the "diva" mentality, but I haven't seen much of that. I've seen a whole lot of nuthin' if it works, and even more whiplash if it doesn't. Yeah, that I see.

But diva ? Nope, got none of that around here.

ICANN investigates domain name sharp practice

Don't agree with you, Mike

I don't see why I should pay more than I already do for my domain when the real answer is to not allow domain name parking for more than a year.

You buy a domain name ? Fine. You buy a hundred domain names ? Good for you. But if you're not doing anything useful with all that in 12 months, they're no longer yours, bucko.

THAT would solve the problem. Or at least, cut it down to size.

Boeing, Ford in hydrogen engine fanfare

I doubt that

I seriously doubt that Boeing is in any danger of "losing the commercial sector". Boeing like Airbus have their ups and downs, but the market has to know that having two competitors levels the playing field.

It's in everyone's interest that both companies stay afloat, just to be able to play one against the other.

Grass up romantic sadsacks for only $4.99 a month

So they post personal phone numbers on the web ?

Isn't that somewhat illegal ?

I hope they've thought this thing out and checked with a lawyer because I think there's going to be loads of lawsuits in every direction once the sewerage hits the fan.

And it will. Whenever you deal with people, you can count on it.

Blu-ray outsells HD DVD 2:1 in US

Storm in a teacup

To set things straight, you've apparently all missed the fact that plain ol' DVD is still outselling both these lame ducks by 10 to 1.

And as long as DRM has its ugly fingers all over any format, I'm not buying in. As has been said, your hardware can be revoked on a whim with these new formats, because they can.

Well I refuse to run the risk of that. Besides, DVD is good enough for watching whatever drivel they're showing these days.

Developer deploys graphics cards to accelerate password cracks

4 graphic cards ?

Imagine that ! On a system with dual-slot quad cores, that would make 8 CPUs and 4 GPUs, and they want to use that to brute-force PASSWORDS ?!?

Move over you idiots, I've got gaming to do !

Nasty PDF exploit runs wild

I just love this situation

Here we have an ISP who, by popular knowledge, provides "bullet-proof hosting" to criminal organizations. Everyone knows it, it's practically flagged on Mappy with a great big sign, yet nothing is done about it.

I should hope that a truly working Russian police force would be tracking its users right now, checking each one of them to weed out any possible innocents, and nailing the real criminals to the wall.

Oh, sorry, I must have watched too many American cop stories. I forgot that the Russian mafia already owns the head cop in every district.

Space shuttle Discovery launched

"the $100bn ISS which will house Europe's first permanent laboratory in orbit"

Just one question : given that the ISS has been "in construction" for what seems like forever, just when exactly is it going to be actually useful ?

In the 23rd century ?

Real Media attacks real people via RealPlayer

I quit RealPlayer eons ago

They have already disgusted me once with their Big Brother tactics and pushy adware tendancies.

I won't be installing that tripe again. I don't care how "good" it has become, or that this issue is independant of their will. RealMedia has proven itself to be run by crooks, and once a crook, always crooked in my book.

As far as I'm concerned, RealMedia can shrivel up and die.

SAS man makes phone-based publicity lunge

Of all the cornball ideas

A book on a mobile phone. Great, count me impressed.

No really, I am. Anyone using that is going to spend as much time pressing the "next word" key as he is reading.

In the list of other utterly useless things to add to mobile phones, I suggest we add a sunshine detector. That way, if ever you have doubts about what the weather is like, just check your phone and it will tell you that, yes, that blinding light up in the sky is the sun !

Come on, you know we need it.

Sheet music site forced offline

Sorry, I've just had a majeur aneurism there

So public domain music is now also forbidden to be made available on the Web ?

PUBLIC DOMAIN ?!? What is it with the conglomerates that they have to squelch any and everything that is not under their sole control ?

It's public domain, so where is the problem ? WHY IS THERE A PROBLEM ?!

Lord, have mercy on us. Send us Gabriel or something, so that the evil minions of Belzebuth be purged from this Earth and we be once again able to enjoy that which is FREE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Where is this Feldmahler vampire anyway ? I've got a stake I'd like him to see, close up.

Comcast busted for bagging BitTorrents (again)

@James

Sorry, but you are mistaken on one point : fascism is not a form of government controlled by corporations.

That's an oligarchy.

Fascism has been given a striking example in recent History by Hitler. Total power embodied in one man suffering no dissent and no refusal, enforcing blind obedience to all economic actors and to the population, whilst pursuing an overtly aggressive agenda against one or more foreign entities, often interlaced with some form of racism.

That is fascism.

The actions of Comcast may feel like fascism in their effects, but that has nothing to do with corporations controlling the government.

Ships pollute more than planes

There is one difference though

I can't help but feel that the fact that planes deposit their CO2 high up in the sky makes for a major difference in effect.

Ships may be numerous and stinky, but their CO2 has to climb up. That difference must be important somehow.

PC World feels the Vista pinch (again)

Troll alert !

Come on, you gave yourself away.

An Apple user unhappy ? OS X virus polluted ?

Went too far there mate, gave it up before the end of the second paragraph.

Oh well, I suppose you're still in training.

Video-sharing pact leaves Google out in the cold

On top of that

Looks like Disney stole it from Murphy's Laws.

Indeed, Murphys Golden Rule states that : "He who has the gold makes the rules".

I have that on a poster bought in 1989.

So, who's your daddy now ?

Big media gangs up on pirates, file sharers

@bws

Making money is great !

Now, if you think that making money by any means is acceptable, then round yourself up a dozen bitches, put them on the street near the train station, and wait for the dough to roll in.

Or the cops.

But you can always accuse the cops of keeping you from making money and being communists. Don't know if the judge will take to that kindly though.

Oz censor bans Soldier Of Fortune: Payback

Money is king

Rest easy, my fellow gore-lovers, the holy righteousness of the intellectually-challenged will not keep this wonderful piece of digital joy from being sold or bought.

It doesn't matter what the joyless minority thinks, what matters is that there is taxes to be made, and made they will be ! So go on having fun, fellow gamers, heed not the feeble rantings of those who live in a lesser world.

Games rule !

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take my wife out to lunch.

Scottish? You're drinking too much

Interesting conundrum

Scotland is part of a democracy, right ? And we all know that the Scottish love their pubs. So why is the government tearing into them like that ?

It's the government of the people, right ? And if THE PEOPLE want to drink themselves silly, well that is the popular choice.

Because if the government deems that it is irresponsible for it to leave the people to their time-honored pastime, then it should also wake up to the fact that it is irresponsible to waste so much of the same people's money in fruitless, overly complicated and unjustifiable IT projects such as, but not limited to, NHS, DNA database, biometric ID thingies, and so on and so forth.

I mean, if you're going to pretend to be responsible on one subject, well you pretty much have to go the whole way, don't you think ?

Early Visual Studio 2008 to bolster Vista?

Wrong wording

If it's not ready, there is no reason to use the word "delay". A delay is when something that is ready does not arrive on time. A train, a plane, a boat, a taxi, all can be delayed.

Software is NOT delayed. It has to be finished first.

Ex-Linspire chief defects to Ubuntu

Yet the guy still crows about Ubunto like he discovered the Second Coming

I really will trust a guy telling me about how great a new product is when I've just learned that he has been given a contract with a salary probably worth ten times mine. Yeah, sure.

Just like I won't in any way imagine that what he's actually saying is how happy he is to have landed a nice cushy job that will keep him in Ferrari and Armani for another few years.

I'm really not impressed.

Home Office minister invites DNA database debate

Looking at this from the outside - barely

I live in France, so I'm not actually impacted by all this yet. I'm just wondering how long it is going to take my own Benevolent Government Officials to catch on to this trendy thing that is DNA profiling.

Oh wait - they've just approved a law to have a beta trial on DNA profiling of immigrant mother and children - on a "voluntary" basis of course ! So, it looks like my wonderful, Pays de la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l'Homme, has just hopped on to the bandwagon and is starting on its merry way.

Having just watched V for Vendetta not long ago, who exactly is it I have to strangle/blow up/cut to pieces to stop this madness ?

Because I don't think a regular, civil chit-chat session is going to stop it from happening.

Is there anyone left, anywhere, that remembers the definition of Freedom ? Is it still in the dictionary ? Or is it in the science-fiction library now ?

Fire service may charge for shifting fat people

The gist of this thread

So it's basically blame the weal for their weaknesses. Yeah, let's do that. Go the Spartan way : if you can't take of yourself, then jump off a cliff. And if you can't do that, we'll at least help you by throwing you off.

Surely, a society full of beautiful, fit people is worth some sacrifices, right ?

Well, right up to the point where it's you that's being sacrificed.

Anyway, the Spartans had it good, didn't they ?

I wonder why they're no longer around ?

Nokia wants to reach out and Touch

Haptic feedback ?

Why does the image of thousands of people twitching inexplainably in the street come to my mind ?

Seagate says storage demand better than expected

Piracy is easy to blame

"Without Piracy there would be no MASS demand"

Wrong. Have you seen the size of the last patch for Battlefield 2 ? It's a game, and the patch is no less than 536MB in size. Half a gigabyte for a patch. You think I'm going to download that every time I need to reinstall the game ? Wrong. You think I pirated the game ? Wrong again, although obviously I cannot prove that to you, nor do I need to.

The last patch for BF2 is one of a series of 7 patches for a total of over 2.2GB. And that is just one game.

Not interested in games ? How about Windows patches and updates ? XP SP2 is over 270MB. I don't know about you, but I prefer having that locally if I have to reinstall my PC. Add to that all the patches for all the other applications I use and you can get to over a GB of disk space again.

Not to mention that I have a folder on one of my HDDs with all the application installers I regularly use - for my convenience and because, historically, Windows has always been unstable in the long run.

It's easy to blame piracy. The truth is, software today is heavily download-dependant, whether you're talking about an OS, an application or a game. There is no need to be a pirate to require lots of bandwidth and storage space. If you use Windows, the need for disk space is practically designed into the OS.

So let's cut the bull, shall we ?

Pennsylvania woman in legal doo-doo for lav profanities

@Aubrey

So you don't appreciate other people's expletives, but you'd find normal to tell them to "shut the FUCK up" ?

That's what this cop did. I don't know about you, but where I was brought up the F-word has always been a serious no-no. Seems that now, cops have the right to use it, but not the general populace.

Personally, I think this whole thing is a waste of time. As has been pointed out, he didn't offer to help his neighbor, but he did go out of his way to call his buddies and get her taken in.

Somehow that doesn't strike me as the Christian thing to do.

Oh, and concerning Mr. StillNoCouch, your ignorance of the reasons behind Yank-bashing demonstrate perfectly well why it continues. Besides, it seems to me that, on your side of the pond, you don't really refrain from making fun of other cultures as well, hmm ? I mean, it's not like if you didn't repeat at least once a week that the French have surrendered, right ?

So welcome to the Web. It's not yours, and you are now seriously in minority. If you don't like it here, click away.

Microsoft throws unified communications party

I hate mobile phones

I hate being "contactable" all day long, wherever I am. But my job requires it, so I live with it. However, it is absolutely out of the question that I accept such "connectivity" on a personal basis. I have friends, thank you very much. Not to mention relatives. I do not need an uber-tool to ensure that any nutjob can bother me via remote buzzer.

And if all this does come to pass, just think of the DDos and spam possibilities. Receive a wrong phone call and answer it, and you get your "communicator" spammed out of existence.

Is this supposed to be for a bright future ? Or is Gates actually an emissary of the Devil, hell-bent on driving us mad with techno tools of torture ?

Yahoo! accused! of! lying! to! Congress!

Responses

El Reg has its habits, and you can't educate a vulture. No sense in trying.

As for the cost of doing business with China, I have long been of the opinion that society should reinstate public whipping as a form of corporate punishment. Of course, it's the CEO that gets the whipping.

Then we'll see just who thinks making money unethically is a profitable business.

Cisco Brazil hit by massive police raid

Brazil ? Despot ?

Sorry, but Brazil happens to be the 4th largest democracy on the planet.

So it is not a question of "a pretty stupid move by some despot", but more likely "a pretty stupid move by some moronic administrative entity".

Top USAF buyer found dead

What a loser

Out of billions of dollars he didn't manage to make even one lousy million in commission ? It's the shame that killed him, all right. The shame of being a lousy businessman.

Now I'm waiting to hear about how it was a suicide even though his hands were tightly tied behind his back, his neck was strangled with a nylon cord attached to the rear headset, and after doing all that, he still managed to start the car AND shoot himself in the head. Twice.

Pentagon in orbital solar power plan for world peace

I actually have a reason to doubt this scheme

It takes a 767-ton Ariane V to place 80 tons into orbit. The Ariane V is a two-stage rocket, with additional solid boosters for extra oomph.

A two-rocketplane deal with comparable performance would mean a transport vehicle capable of getting an 80-ton mass into orbit, with a piggyback vehicle tasked with getting the whole thing off the ground and up to where the transport can get going.

Fine. The only reusable space vehicle in existence at this time is the Shuttle. The Shuttle can get 22 tons into orbit (on the back of a rocket, of course). It has a mass of about 100 tons. The rocket needed to put the Shuttle into orbit has a total mass (fuel included) of about 2000 tons.

So forget the 80 tons, on a rocketplane deal I seriously doubt we'd be able to get 2000 tons flying in the first place. The Shuttle has already been mounted (empty) on the back of a 747, so transporting 100 tons is possible.

Therefor, it would seem that we could make a launcher vehicle to get a Shuttle-type craft up to where it can "take off" for space.

The launcher vehicle would need to carry a payload of 120 tons to very high altitude (at least 20km probably). Then, the new transporter would have to be able to boost itself up to orbital altitude - another 270km.

As of now, the rocket that carries the Shuttle into space drops it off once the momentum is sufficient to throw it up to its orbital altitude - a maximum of 400km - just enough to reach the ISS. In other words, the Shuttle itself is entirely incapable of ascending 270km on its own. Which means the transport vehicle will have to be seriously more powerful than the Shuttle is - and that will certainly have a negative impact on payload capacities - or the launcher vehicle will have to be able to carry the whole shebang way higher than 20km - preferably to an altitude of 100 or even 150km.

In this scenario, we need a transport vehicle powerful enough to climb at least 250km while carrying 20 tons of payload. We also need a launcher vehicle capable of climbing to 150km whilst carrying the transport vehicle, its payload and the fuel for all that. On top of that, the launcher vehicle will need jet engines to get up to 20km, statoreactors for up to 100, and pure rocketery for anything above that. Three types of engines, then.

I fail to see how anything can get off the ground with all those requirements. The largest, most massive plane ever built is reportedly the Antonov-255, and it weighs in at 600 tons. I doubt it can go higher than 20km though.

The balkanization of Storm Worm botnets

Re:Switch the US off too?

Won't need to. In the name of Homeland Security, they'll be switching themselves off by the end of next year.

Calling the PHP cowboys in from the range

@David

Actually, I think we SHOULD treat every code as a new Shuttle launch. It's because there are all these "little things" that are developed on the side that we have a maintenance problem.

The little projects, supposedly unimportant, are likely going to become indispensable to those who use them. Maintaining them becomes mandatory, and that can entail major changes a few years down the road, changes that become costly because the initial framework was not implemented in a way that allows the new requirements to be implemented correctly.

So I am actually a partisan of going back to a monolothic IT service, one that controls every bit of code that runs on the servers.

I would also very much like to see all developers work the same way. The Internet allows anyone to read up on a programming language, and helps him to start coding, but there is nothing to teach a newbie how to think about the code. Thus, thousands of people go for the DIY approach, and develop catastrophic coding habits that take years to grow out of (if they ever do).

And I'm not sure that school makes things better. I don't remember much emphasis on programming methods back when I was in class.

This situation is going to have to improve if we want code that can be more easily maintained.