Posts by Pascal Monett

'Thermal cloak' designed, could solve major chip, spacecraft issues

I agree, Hot or Cold ...

space travel takes a lot of balls.

AVG nukes stalking ads at press of BIG SHINY BUTTON

Um,

If I'm using AdBlock Plus and NoScript, why do I need anything else ?

Microsoft tarts up custom Mustang Muscle Microserfmobile

"Microsoft is hoping [it] will inspire designers to develop [..] systems running Redmond's code"

While the rest of us pray that it won't, because we can all imagine the mayhem that a fleet of such road rage-inducing BSODding bugheaps would create - and I'm not talking about the blue lights.

Verizon spectrum deal savaged in Senate hearing

"Wall Street prefers firms that immunize themselves from competitive attack"

What a wonderfully delicate way of saying "firms that crush the competition and monopolize the market"

Electronic patient records rollout cocks up hospital clinics

Who is surprised ?

Flintstones was (sort of) true: Mammals did well alongside dinosaurs

Re: "people do feel justified in questioning the science"

There is no problem in questioning the science, science itself is doing that every day.

The problem is when you question the science, refuse to even try to understand the answers and go back to whacking a log in search of your own version.

The argument that science presupposes that there is no God is getting stale. Whether there is a God or not (and I am convinced that there is), this Universe has rules that demand to be understood. Saying "God did it" is something the Romans did to explain volcanoes, lightning and the rest of the things they could not comprehend. It does not help in understanding those phenomena.

Therefor creationists are the Romans of our time, and they should be rightfully scorned for the pathetically limited view they have of the Universe.

The Universe is complex, deal with it.

Rising China costs get manufacturers moving

Re: the fucking Chinese steal it

They don't have to, because you're going to ask them to make it and because your IP means nothing to them.

Right now, I agree that they will make it cheaper, but also crappier. However, as the Chinese industry grows its own experience (and that is happening faster than anyone wants to acknowledge), they will end up not only copying, but improving on the design and quality and STILL sell theirs for less.

It's time to realize that we need to bring industry fabrication back to our own soil, otherwise our IP will mean nothing.

Boffins render fibre obsolete

Re: Boffin, Boffin, Boffin...

There will be no clamping.

We like "boffin" and we come here to read about boffins because this is the only place where we can read about boffins and what they boffinate. Of course, sometimes boffins can make themselves look like buffoons, but we like that too.

Marvel to animate comic action with AR app

"wow those who are easily impressed"

Once again we get a usage of a new tech that is no better than the train coming into the station that panicked people who first saw a film back when film was invented.

Could someone please do something USEFUL with this 3D malarkey that we are incessantly being subject to ? Like, I don't know, use it to forward the STORY or something, instead of just adding to the special effects department ?

I know, I'm asking too much. Sorry.

Peter Molyneux parts with Microsoft and Lionhead

And the chickens !

Don't forget the exploding chickens !

Ah, the terrified squawks, the puff of yellow feathers . . .

Good times.

SUNKEN LINER Titanic iceberg riddle answer FOUND ON MOON

The lack of lifeboats was no issue at the time - nobody had enough lifeboats because nobody bothered to include a place for every passenger on board.

Maybe, just maybe, the Titanic was what was needed to ensure that this approach changed - because it was the freezing death of those poor people that made the rest of the world react and demand more lifeboats.

Otherwise, today we'd still have cruise ships taking 4000 people on board with only 10 20-seat lifeboats for decoration (one reserved for the bridge crew, obviously). Hey, lifeboats take up space and they're not nice to look at right ? You really think shipping cartels would bother putting enough of them if it weren't mandatory in every country in the world ?

Foxconn pay hikes 'driving tech titans into Philippines'

Re: "how do we get the poor to become rich?"

Are you sure you're asking the right question ?

From where I sit, it looks more like how do we get the poor to stay happy being poor.

Sorry, I'm being cynical again. My only excuse is that it's an election year.

Mammoths, sabre-tooths MURDERED by second giant space boulder

Re: "a nice smash mark on the ocean floor"

Really ? For a rock that's only several hundred meters wide, you expect it to plunge full speed through at least 3000 meters of increasingly dense water and only be stopped by the ocean floor ?

You've never done a belly flop before, have you ? You should try it. It'll give you some new respect for the resistance of water.

Social networks breeding spatial junk

seems like their regular users are already doing that :)

Android Market morphs into 'Google Play'

"the cloud service cannot [..] deny access to those items without [..] a court order"

Amen to that !

I think it is high time somebody bring the attention of the courts to the fact that said deletions are a violation of normal commercial contracts. Nowhere is it lawful to come and take back a book I bought - why should a digital version be different ?

It's not because you have the ability to do something that you have the right to do it. I thought that was the whole point of law - to remove the advantage of power and level the field. On the Internet, and especially in the cloud, the field is far from level.

Bring back the court orders !

Handbags at dawn: Hermes loses Chinese trademark battle

"what China would do if big manufacturers started pulling out"

You know, in a country that happens to represent no less than one sixth of the entire world population, that is waking up industrially speaking and whose population is yet to become middle-class for its vast majority (ensuring a growth market of the kind that makes marketing execs foam at the mouth), I think a few gwai-lo companies pulling out is not really going to make all that much of a difference. They are the ones with the industrial know-how these days.

To us, on the other hand, China no longer making our goods is going to hurt immeasurably. The Chinese government knows that, and I dare say all "First-World" governments know it as well.

Get used to it, because it is not going away any time soon. Occidental countries have forfeited their production industry, obeying the siren calls of pure capitalism, and that situation is going to take more than just a generation to reverse. Whatever you may think of the Chinese, they have the upper hand now, and they know it. So Hermès can get stuffed, and others with it. They will do as they damn well please (which is what multinational companies of all kinds have been doing up to now), and nobody can do anything about it - including said multinationals.

That is just about the only funny thing in all this : that multinational companies who have always operated in total disregard of anything they could not benefit from, who have pressured and lobbied and paid and subverted anyone and anything that could possibly get in their way, suddenly find themselves in front of a cultural brick wall without any means of pressure or influence.

Watching them squirm will be a small measure of payback for all the jobs they have taken without a thought for the people who depended on them for a living.

That said, it won't solve our economic issues either, but at least they'll be suffering with us for a change, in a manner of speaking.

Apple files patent for 'polished meteorite' keyboard

Dead flesh keyboard ?

The ZX-81 had a zombieskin keyboard ? Damn ! Why didn't I know that before ? I would have bought one just for the unique ability to blast pixels with an already-undead interface.

Ah, yet another missed opportunity in my life.

Cloud altitude changing with climate: NZ study

"ten years is too short a time to draw hard conclusions"

I'd say that two centuries of incomplete data is not enough to draw hard conclusions either, given that the climate obeys the laws of thermodynamics and the fact that thermodynamics is the hardest domain of science that humanity is required to understand - bar none.

But we still have to progress, even if it is only in baby steps, one at a time. Maybe in a millennia or two, we'll have a proper understanding of what climatology really is and we'll be able to properly predict weather patterns on a global scale. Meanwhile, there's a market for doomsayers and naysayers alike. We'll just have to live with it.

Just a thought : what makes you sure that it is his "own" language ?

It might be, and paradoxically, I'd think that the very poor level of spelling just might be a demonstration that it is, but maybe he's a foreigner who recently started learning English.

Just a thought.

That said, I totally agree with your conclusion. If you don't know how to formulate your ideas correctly, it gives a poor mark to the validity of said ideas.

Who's adding DRM to HTML5? Microsoft, Google and Netflix

There is only one thing to understand

That Microsoft tries to infect something with DRM is par for the course. That Netflix does so is not really any concern of mine.

That Google puts its name to such a proposal is the proverbial final nail in the coffin of "do no evil".

The next time anyone comes in defense of Google I will from now on be forced to remember that it proposed DRM. The two are now irrevocably associated : Google = DRM.

Thanks Google, it was nice while it lasted.

Foxconn allegedly hid underage workers from inspectors

Apple officials

Just like every other industrial multinational corporation, Apple officials are there to ensure that production of shiny objects is not impeded by unforeseen obstacles and progresses at minimal cost.

Company officials are not visiting to ensure that sub-contractors are working in the most comfortable, plush environment possible, because every additional comfort affects the bottom line and thus reduces margins.

And reducing the margin is a capital offense, in every sense of the word.

RIP: Peak Oil - we won't be running out any time soon

Well, given the rate at which the Chinese are buying new cars . . .

We'll all soon be paying oil at prices where just about any production method will be economically viable.

Smart animals have no forecast committee to tell them where to go or when to limit their consumption, they're animals.

So even smart animals can die of hunger if they're out of luck.

Grumble-flick chat site exposes flirts' privates

One can never be too careful. I'm going to go and watch every one of their videos to make sure.

Planet-wide cloud dream burst by nations' laws - BSA

Indeed, the only thing BSA is really saying is that the law is getting in the way of its profits.

Oh ! What a pesky thing, law. Big companies really should be above it, eh BSA ?

Pakistan blocks 13,000 grumble flick sites

"ultimately wouldn't deal with the root cause"

Yep, because the "root cause" is simply that sex sells.

Always has, always will, and I don't care what your religion is 'cause it don't matter.

You wanna address the "root cause" ? Educate your people. Elevate them intellectually beyond the instinctual level and make them appreciate the more sophisticated pleasures of women in stockings instead of just bare flesh.

But whatever you do, don't ever believe that you can eradicate porn. It just won't happen.

Ever.

Megastar personalities are intellectual property in draft law

So, basically

Egotistical twats can now add another layer of varnish on their glistening turds in some totally unimportant piece of emerged landmass with laws that do not concern 99.9% of the world.

That's really news that only a media whore could be interested in.

Zuckerberg: Facebook rakes in cash... to make world a better place

Facebook on mobile ?

Let's be clear about one thing : as long as mobile internet costs an arm and a leg, nobody is going to view mobile ads as anything but the greatest annoyance.

Things are changing in that sector, but slowly (heh, operators are not going to just let data flow freely, now are they ?). I predict that, until mobile internet data usage is freed from counting and billing bytes, Facebook is not going to be able to make any meaningful ad money out of it.

Microsoft ad campaign savages Google over privacy

I prefer opting out with NoScript - that way I'm sure that there is no record in the first place.

Facebook, MySpace, Twitter expose Google's 'evil'

Two words

Who cares ?

No, frankly, is there any reason at all to pay attention to what Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have to say about anything ? One is a company creating ADD patients, the second is well on its way to irrelevance and the third has the brainpower of a canary.

Now I agree that Google has become the Microsoft of the Internet, but frankly the Three Stooges are the last people I would go to for a discussion on anything.

hypocracy ?

What is that, government by hype ?

That would be Fox news, then.

I believe the word you're looking for is hypocrisy.

As a Vorlon, moreover a confused one, you are forgiven.

Data centers to cut LAN cord?

Gigabit Ethernet ?

Isn't that over copper ?

Doesn't fibre give largely superior speeds, with additional immunity from electromagnetic interference ?

Why are we even talking about wireless ?

Darwin's lost fossils found down the back of a cupboard

"To find a treasure trove of lost Darwin specimens from the Beagle voyage is just extraordinary"

Yes, but to find them already stored and still waiting for analysis after over a century and a half is a darn shame.

Might be time to get a few interns to go through all storage areas and see what else needs to be "rediscovered".

10 years ago today: Bill Gates kicks arse over security

Did I read that right ?

Microsoft a security leader ? Since when ?

Okay, I'll admit that Windows 7 has a slightly different approach to kernel management than any other Microsoft OS ever made, but that does not change the fact that most driver installations still end up in a reboot of the PC.

Whatever Microsoft does with Windows won't change the fact that it's entire structure is a security hazard. UAC does not change the efficiency of rootkits, and anything that fools the user can turn the PC into a zombie.

Not to turn into a penguinista, but one has to admit that zombifying a Linux computer is a rather difficult proposition, next to the ease with which a Windows platform can be owned, as they say.

So no, sorry. It's not the noise you make that makes you a musician, and it's not the blaring PR coming out of Redmond that makes a leader in security. A leader in security is secure by design, and Windows is shot to pieces from the ground up on that subject.

But Windows is getting better, that I admit. Windows 7 is the best Windows I've had yet, and much more stable than XP was, even in its SP2 configuration.

Ron Paul’s web campaign mired in pokey pages

Oh great

Now website performance is part of the appreciation metrics of a presidential candidate.

We're not going to hell in a handbasket, we've arrived.

Ceglia fined for failing to show evidence of Facebook ownership

Isn't there something called "contempt of court" ?

And if you string the courts through hundreds of hours for nothing, aren't the two related in some way ?

Frankly, as a judge in a civil case (there is no murder here, so no last-minute revelations are admissible if I'm not mistaken), if the accusation (Ceglia is accusing Zuckerberg of owing him money, right ?) does not give proof of its claims within the first two hours of court arguments, I'd call it off until proof is on the table.

IANAL, obviously, but I do seem to remember some vague notion about civil cases being based on putting everything on the table first, then letting both parties discuss over what thing has what importance. If the accusation comes to the table without proof, then there is nothing to discuss.

Huawei uncloaks sleek, slim, sexy smartphones

Surround sound ?

On a tiny thingy you hold to one ear ?

Oh come on.

Bit-part actress slings sueball at IMDb over age gripe

15 films in the last three years - isn't that supposed to set some sort of level of performance ? Shouldn't agents be more interested in that than in a simple number ?

She has obviously proven herself to be reliable, that should count for something.

A washed up failure ?

Given the amount of films she has appeared in since Y2K, I don't think the term "failure" applies.

Mid-life crises certainly, but not failure.

Complaining because her "real" age was revealed ?

How old was she passing herself for, 25 ?

To think that we're in the 3rd millennium and all that, and we still get women who can't stand their age being revealed.

I thought that kind of behavior was for my grandmother.

HD JuiceBox HDMI over Powerline kit

Cool, but I can't use it

Already tried Ethernet over power lines and it just doesn't work in my house.

My electrical panel has no less than eight separate circuits, four for the power outlets in the lower and upper areas, four for the lights in the same areas. The room used as office, for example, is not on the same circuit than the living room.

That is significant because the office is where Internet, phone and TV arrive, whereas the living room is, of course, where we watch said TV.

I tried Ethernet over power lines to avoid having to string a cable through the attic. Unfortunately, it never worked.

I doubt this version would work better in the same conditions.

NASA halts 'naut flogging Apollo 13 notebook

So NASA is going the Apple route ?

Anything that brings in any money must now bring it to NASA. No side benefits to third parties allowed, be they American Heroes or not.

The beancounter's stranglehold on everything financial is strengthening even more. Where is the "more and more will slip through your fingers" when you need it ?

Intel ignores Steve Jobs, adds touchscreen to Ultrabook

"we all want a computer like in Minority Report"

No we don't. Standing all day long moving my arms every single time I want to interact with a system is not how I prefer to use a computer.

Sitting in a comfortable chair, with a table set at the right inclination, a good, responsive keyboard and a wireless mouse is how I prefer working on a computer.

The 200" screen, however, I would like.

Facebook VERY SLOWLY rolls out Timeline

"It can't just be me who doesn't give a fuck what articles anybody else is reading today?"

I totally agree.

In fact, I agree so much that I don't even have a Facebook account.

Boffins hack evolution, create SUPERSOLDIER ANTS

In other news

A baby has been reported missing after witnesses saw what they describe as a "velociantor" running through a mall with a blue blanket in its maw.

Tune in for the special at 7, after your daily Homeland Security security bulletin.

Dammit Ramnit! Worm slurps 45,000 Facebook passwords

"More and more malware families have started using social networks to reach victims instead of spam"

Good, maybe that'll lighten the load on my spam filter.

I'm sure the criminals that haven't yet mastered that particular functionality would love to get some pointers on that as well.

Gamers grumble over Steam outage

I practically only ever buy games through Steam now

And I love how people hate Steam, yet go on and buy Battlefield 3. Great logic there, people !

For me, Steam is the way to go. It's practical, it's up-to-date, and it's often cheap (if you wait for the deals to appear).

I am sick of disc checks and other such DRM shenanigans. I have accepted the fact that I will be checked if I like it or not, so I might as well use a system where the checking is transparent to me. With Steam, it is.

Additionally, Steam gives me access to many titles I do not see in stores. Have you seen the size of the PC aisle of game stores these days ? Pitiful. I know consoles are very common, but looking at a game selection aisle would make you think that PCs are the Linux of the game community.

They are not.

In any case, I game on PC, and Steam is a good platform to work with. Large game selection, many recent titles, some exclusives. Plus, guess what ? If my PC fails for some reason, all I need to do is port my Steam hard disk to another PC and it starts up fine.

Try doing that with the EA downloader and cry your eyes out.

SEC: 'Man tried to sell $500bn investments on LinkedIn'

"buying through social networks"

Dear Lord Almighty, tell me please that those who do such a stupid thing are the same ones that buy Viagra from a spam ad ?