Posts by Pascal Monett

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.

Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize

Well that does it for me

That's the end of any iota of consideration I had for the Nobel institution.

A peace prize for Gore ? Why not award Dubya for his stellar presidency ?

What has Gore done for peace ? Oh yeah, he hasn't started a war. That's true, and neither have I.

Ridiculous.

Suicide website creator arrested for murder

Screwing up the face ?

If you're worried that poison will screw it up, I seriously doubt that jumping off a tall building is going to have a better effect.

Windows update brings down TV newscast

Anyone else think some people are missing something ?

- You don't disturb a live system

- they should have pulled the plug hours if not days before

- Get some decent IT staff in who can manage updates properly

All very true. Now I'm just curious about one thing : has anyone taken into account the fact that we're talking about TV ? And that they have timing requirements like nobody else ? Does anyone really think that, apart from CNN or Fox News, any local TV station has the means to have a second, fully operational IT infrastructure that is just waiting to go ?

Sure, they should. I'll bet they probably can't. And when the manager says "go", it's go - whether you're ready or not.

The only thing I find really interesting is how they were able to broadcast although their IT was down. Looks like the good old analog systems are not going to disappear yet.

Exploit Wednesday follows Patch Tuesday Word update

I can't believe it

"the default configuration in Microsoft Office 2007 and Office 2003, Service Pack 3 will not allow you to open some older Office file formats, including Office for Macintosh documents"

So, Microsoft trashing its own compatibility is now a feature ? And a security one at that ?

And I note that this is not the first time it happens. Office 2000 was already a dog with Office 98 formats. Does anyone think that businesses may be avoiding Office 2007 on purpose ?

On the other hand, one must look at the achievement : Microsoft Office is now a cross-platform virus writing machine. Write it on a Mac and crash a Windows box !

Is that progress ? Or is it ?

Preterite peter-out: How the end beginned

I don't mind language change

What really irks me is that, as I advance in age, I find that language only changes because of all the morons and illiterate youfs who can't be arsed to learn to speak correctly. Thus, they use moronic spelling and don't know their irregulars, and we find ourselves with abominations like "breaked", or nonsense like "persons".

Actually, that is a brilliant argument why democracy can only be a failure as long as there are more idiots voting than people who know what the issue is. In language, it appears to be the same thing. The more idiots you have who speak wrongly, the more the wrong structures will take precedence.

Text messaging and the Internet will achieve what years of advocating Esperanto will not : we will soon all be talking the same abominable gunk language, probably comprised of no more than 12 verbs (can't remember more), two adjectives (good or baad), and names to make you cringe (all derived from online pseudos).

I will retire to an ivory tower somewhere with my cat, my collection of Shakespeare plays (original version) and a copy of the Internet circa 1998.

Beijing's Olympian censorship machine laid bare

@b shubin

"take a page from Russia, where the powers-that-be take the attitude that anyone can say whatever one likes, as long as the people presently in charge can continue to run the place"

Which explains perfectly well why so many Russian reporters have been assassinated in the past few years.

That proves your point beautifully. Wait . . no it doesn't actually, it disproves it.

Fairly realistic flying car offered for 2009 delivery

@Blain

2.2lbs per kilo, right.

So where do you get your 600Kg from ?

550lbs useful load, minus 120 for fuel, leaves 430. Divide that by 2.2 and you get barely 200Kg.

That's barely enough for one average American and his lunch.

Terminator will be back in 2009

No way

It is impossible that the T-fest be as sloppy and cuddly as SW 1-3 was. If this is supposed to told from the Terminator side, it could be refreshingly devoid of useless love subplots. Cold, calculating machine is what it should be. None of the "but OHDOIWQ6732fi3r was my CPU-mate ! And now she's deactivated ! I will BRK/WAIT(2000000000000000) in dispair !" nonsense.

We just might have a true action film, could even be as good as Die Hard 2 or 3. No mushy scenes in those films. And I could concievably win €100 million next week in the EuroLottery.

Yeah, it's possible. Just not something you want to bet your future on.

Ballmer: All open source dev should happen on Windows

Steve is off his rocker, and very worried at that

Yes, I agree with the general consensus. Ballmer has lost his balls, and is frantically trying to grasp at straws to get his company back into the favorable position it used to be in.

Unfortunately, these days, the words of CEO do not carry the weight they used to - especially when more and more users are noticing just how detached they are from the reality of their every day experience and expectations.

Bill Gates might not have had as much success without Ballmer, but he gave something positive to the world. In a time where computers could only be useful to engineers, he brought a bit of consistency in programming and an interface a moron could use.

Ballmer, on the other hand, has funded the infamous SCO litigation spree, given birth to the absolute worst version of Windows the world has ever seen (Windows Me was just incompetent decisions, Vista is deliberate sabotage), and will always be remembered as Monkey Boy.

Step down, Steve. You're simply doing worse as time goes by.

Please ignore the start-up stealing the OS from Microsoft

Re: and what happen to 'standby'

Nothing did. It sucks as much as usual. Standby for two or more days and you'll reboot simply to be able to move the mouse. You're talking about a Windows system, Mr. Coward. Everyone and their mother knows that those things are not only unstable, but do their best to break themselves.

Google cranks 'relevant' video-placing contraption

Fine by me

I've redirected AdSense to 127.0.0.1, so I don't think I'll be seeing a lot of videos I didn't ask for.

Currency launched to cover the cosmos

And I thought we were in October

Is it the 1st of April already ? My how time flies !

Manhunt 2 banned by UK censor - again

The usual boring attitudes

The market will decide. It's all about money, despite what some people would like to think about the importance of their moral opinion. This game will sell, just like Postal did, and for the same reasons. We are creatures of violence. We like to see violence, we want to see violence, but we want to stay safe from violence ourselves. We bask in TV violence all week. We seek the latest violent news in the papers, on the Internet, at the neighbors' house. We are all perverted like that, and those who advocate against violence are, ironically, quite well disposed to use it themselves (forbidding access to something is a form of violence).

There was only one Mahatma Ghandi.

The rest of us, especially males, are all potential rapists, murderers and molesters. Some of us control those emotions better than others. This game caters to those emotions, and those emotions have been catered to since before the gladiator arenas in ancient Rome (you know, before Christ ?).

And for those who think a violent film will only be seen once, I laugh. What keeps me from viewing my DVDs over and over again ? It's not because YOU only watch a film once that everyone else does. Do you think I pay €18 to see a film only once ?

Anything can make a person that is already borderline go over the edge. Once upon a time it was knee-length skirts that were anathema. Well we've got thongs in the streets now, and I don't think the rape statistics are any worse than they use to be. They're probably not much better either, and that's a shame.

In any case, a game is a game. There are Nazi games of torture out there, I'm sure one can find them on the Internet. I don't go and look for them, I'm not interested in the subject. There are also loads of porno games of all kinds, also available on the Internet for those who know how to look. I'm not interested in that either. P0rno and violence, the Two Pillars of Humanity. To deny them is to refuse power over them. I accept them, and I can choose what I wish to be subject to.

I will not pretend that I know better than my neighbor though. If he wants to watch violent films or play violent games, good for him. As long as he is polite with his fellow man, ready to lend a helping hand, who am I to judge his personal past times ?

Of course, viewing kiddie p0rn or snuff films is something else entirely. Making those hurt people, and are therefor reprehensible. But a game hurts no one, no more than a Hollywood film does (unless it's a really, really bad one).

Vulture goes awol from Scottish rescue centre

Okay, my turn

Could someone please tell me the Paris Hilton angle on this ?

Kiddie coders embrace Facebook as new-age dev platform

Just wait for Ballmer to buy it up

As soon as Microsoft buys up Facebook or whatever else, it'll be one social graph to rule them all sooner than you can blink.

Ballmer will have the kind of relation in a category, and you'll be using MS's site for every kind. LinkedIn will die because all .NET developers and all MCSEs will all want to be on it to better find a colleague or to be reassured by the number of others of their kind in existence.

And we'll be able to rant about how MS holds yet another monopoly on top of Outlook, IE and Windows.

Isn't this a wonderful world ?

Bloke buys supercar 'without proper consent from the wife'

How interesting

What a load of viewpoints on what is or is not a Supercar.

I wasn't aware that engine placement was a defining criteria. And, on that subject, could someone please clarify what "mid-engine" means ? An engine placed under the drivers' seat ?

For me, a Supercar is a car that has more horsepower than any sane man can possibly handle. The Bugatti Veyron, with 1000hp, is indeed the very definition of a supercar. Any high-end Ferrari, Lamborghini, or the Maserati MC12 are as well. In general, anything with over 500hp is a supercar because, with that kind of power, you have to have proper air penetration, braking power and weight distribution simply to prevent the rich kid from killing himself in the first mile.

Porsche does not make supercars, they make playboy millionaire toys. The Porsche 911 GT3 is a 400-something horsepower toy (a nice one), not a supercar - but its hp-to-weight ratio is probably in line the Bugatti anyway.

Start the flamewars !

Pilot sacked for footie star on flightdeck shocker

@Brutus - sorry, I can't agree

It is not the overpaid celebrity living in luxury that has any chance of going over the top and creating havoc and terror ending with multiple deaths.

No. The men living in luxury are much more likely to hire poor blokes living in abject misery, fill their heads with lies and nonsense about a magnificent Afterlife, and give them detonators and explosives so that they - the poor - go and snuff themselves voluntarily whilst creating havoc that end in Zero Tolerance rules that have an adverse effect on the rest of the world's sane people.

Bin Laden controls hundreds of millions of dollars, do you see him walking around with a belt of explosives ? Of course not.

Not that this is in any way a comment on the life and ways of that celebrity that is the involuntary cause of all the ruckus. It's just that it is highly unlikely that a man who can afford the luxuries of life is going to be the one to cause a terrorist scare. We are all creatures of comfort, after all. There are very few conflicts in our history that cannot be traced to the lack, or perceived lack, of some essential commodity. The conflicts simply grow bigger if the lack is more important.

Rise of the f*cking machines: Arse Elektronika bumps uglies with Web 2.0

Article incomplete

Did the volunteer actually enjoy the experience ? What was her impression afterwards (apart from the stretching, that is) ?

Right, got my coat, going out now !

Japanese in exoskeleton ancestor-respect scheme

Actually, this is an entirely new market for airlines

In effect, the airliners will become one big cargo bay with attach points for the robotic frames. Nor more seats needed !

Of course, a little rethink of onboard display panels will be needed - maybe make them WiFi and portable, and attach them to the frame in front of you ?

In any case, it will be the dawn of a new era, one where the words "human cattle" will finally be fully justified !

Huzzah for the future ! It's tomorrow's Baron Harkonnen coming to a seat near you !

Interpol launches worldwide hunt for abuse pics man

@JonB

Now that they have a face to look for, it's most certainly what they are doing.

Or did you expect them to go looking for a swirlie ?

Government websites invaded by smut and spyware

@Steven Hewitt

We're talking government servers here, and not on a Federal level either. You really think they use Linux ? Or Sun ?

And if Kevin is right, it has to be Windows servers because the malware wouldn't work on anything else.

Besides, anything to do with a bank is most likely made to be IE-compatible, and once again we're talking mainly Windows.

Ah, conspiracists. Anything is good to get a new theory running, eh ?

Canadian prof develops drunk-driving sim

@Ru

Actually, all accidents ARE caused by driver stupidity.

The only thing is, it's not always the stupid idiot that caused the accident that gets trashed by it.

Thus the spikes are still a bad idea.

Unless they are on my front and rear bumpers, and on my hubcaps.

Tax man praised for owning up to lost laptop

400 high value individual savings accounts

That's 400 people who will certainly wish to give the Inland Revenue a "refreshing level" of honest and to-the-point evaluation of their competence.

Church slams cathedral gun battle game's Bafta nomination

What, again ?

They were already offended last month, weren't they ? And we already laughed them off the stage then.

They're coming back for more ? What, did they think we gave them an encore ?

We didn't. And I am sick of hearing about religious fanatics, be they on my side or any other. Stay away from me, you nutters. You're the reason there is all the killing in this world, and you complain about some fantasy slaughtering in a church ?

Hypocrisy at its best.

Genetics boffins on the verge of artificial bacteria

And, 28 days later in unrelated news,

We have suddenly lost contact with the UK. No news agencies are answering the phone, the Prime Minister is incommunicado and the Queen has not been answering any calls from diplomatic channels.

We are at a loss to explain what has happened. US spy satellites gather some sporadic activity, and some cities are burning, but it's as if there is no intelligence left.

NATO is discussing the possibility of sending in a low-altitude survey craft, but somehow the various parties have not reached an agreement yet.

RIAA hits paydirt: wins first music-sharing jury trial

This is NOT good

I am quite dismayed that the RIAA got a judgment its way. Actually, I don't even care if the lady IS guilty, I just don't want the RIAA getting more gung-ho than it is already, and I can just imagine the smugness oozing from the guy's face.

I'm sure that, now that he's feeling so superior, he's going to celebrate by beating up a grandma.

Coming to a Windows PC near you: 4 critical security updates

Funny how that myth is easily propagated

What makes Vista more secure than XP ? The UAC ? You can disable it, and I'll bet that any user spending a day on the thing will end up doing so if only to save his sanity. Besides, the UAC does not prevent users from blindly clicking OK like they usually do.

What else do we have, the integrated firewall ? It's only marginally better than XP SP2 if I'm not mistaken, but apparently it does block outgoing stuff, so it IS better.

Unfortunately, a software firewall is something you can get for free anyway, so it's not really a Vista advantage, now is it ?

What else is secure about Vista ? Ah yes, the fact that hardly anyone is using it. That's undeniably a point in its favor.

But it's also the only one.

Facebook 'friend request' lands UK man in jail

LinkedIn is not decent

It works by intimidation. After all, when your boss sends you a LinkedIn request, are you going to say no ?

And when all your colleagues have also signed up (because of your boss), and send you their own requests, are you going to turn them away ? Too late for that, you already accepted your bosses invitation.

And if an ex-colleague from a previous job sends you an invite, a guy that you got along with just fine, are you going to blow him away ? Of course not, you have no reason to brush him off, it might hurt his feelings and he doesn't deserve it.

LinkedIn is just one great big threat zone. These are people you know, you work with or have worked with. You DO NOT want to get them irked at you, because you know you just might NEED them at some point in the future.

LinkedIn is the Mafia cousin of social sites. You sign in, because if you don't, you'll be sorry.

Portrait of an (alleged) cyber bully as a young man

Why worry ?

"why worry if he's guilty or not he plainly is"

Well, what a great way to enforce the "innocent until proven guilty" clause that is desperately trying to hang on to its ledge in the judicial system nowadays.

I'm glad you are so good at determining guilt. I am even gladder, though, that a real judge is actually going to require proof before condemning someone, even if the guy in the pic has a face worthy of wearing a bag all day long.

I totally despise what the person guilty of these actions has done, but before I start despising a guy named King for those acts I prefer having read proof that he is indeed the one who did it.

Scientist punts anti-snoring pillow

Great idea !

I can just imagine what a pleasure it will be to have a Vista machine noisily putting away under the bed in order to control my Snorillow.

Not to mention the surprise beeping at 3 in the morning when the PC does a self-reboot because the control app - or Vista itself - knackered the OS enough for it to crash.

In any case, given that my wife has permanently forbidden all computer equipment from our bedroom, this is not likely to have a chance in my house.

Texas patent holder sues Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft

One question

Where has "Performance Pricing" implemented its code ? Where is it actually USING its "patent" ?

Because if it is not using it, then it should not complain about it being used. I've been hearing of Google, AOL and the rest for years now. Performance Pricing is a name I heard for the first time today.

Patent troll is their true name, and like SCO and Darl McBride, they should be strung up by the short and uglies and left to dry.

Pascal.

Braindead obituarists hoaxed by Wikipedia

Well he did admit it

"R J Campbell [...] admitted to selling counterfeit software and so-called "parallel importing."

So he admitted it in Court. Why then should there be a disclaimer ?

Right after that, there's a reference to the legal issue. Let me quote it also :

"Under EU law, parallel imports describe branded goods bought in one country and sold elsewhere within Europe at a cheaper price than the trademark holder intends."

May I also bring your attention to this paragraph : "Microsoft seems to think folks going around higher European software prices are destroying the market."

Notice the use of the word "seems", indicating that what Microsoft thinks may not be reality.

Finally, there is the Court decision in its entirety, which clearly declares that Campbell was condemned for trademark and copyright infringement, and passing off.

So what would you want, Mr Anonymous WikiTroll ? Would you prefer that El Reg, respectable news source, publish an article that showed Campbell under the light of innocent victim ? El Reg understands quite well, but the guy admitted and got condemned. Those are the facts.

But don't worry. I don't expect a Wikizealot to worry about piddling things like facts.

Pascal.

Terror police lock down Soho to smoke out 9lbs of chillis

That would be

"who hate us because we used to be free . . once upon a time . . in distant memory . . somewhere around the middle of last century as far as anyone can remember"

Freedom today is at the top of the Endangered Species List. None to be found here, move along now.

Kiwi boffins prove that booze makes you clever

Endless fountain of well-being

Alcohol under all its forms is continuously being proven to remedy many ailments. Cholesterol, heart conditions, and now, stupidity. Could it be that the Fountain of Youth is actually at the bottom of my bottle of Vodka ?

I'll let you know when I get there.

3Com - a company built on ether

Simple is good

The collision management system adopted by 3Com over Ethernet may be an insult to intelligence, but the fact is that other protocols with more complex schemes and much more thought and money poured into them do not do better and have just as many collisions to manage.

So what is the use of paying more for the same ? Ethernet is robust and scalable, which is more than many other protocols can boast.

eBay: Botnets are Linux-happy

Taking the proper approach to security

So EBay is starting to think that whoever contacts them is working from a compromised platform ? Good news then. The first step of security is to trust no one without proof. The second step of security is to trust no proof you haven't verified yourself.

I hope that, with such an approach properly implemented, EBay will be able to show to the rest of the world just how security is done over the Internet. And I would be interested in seeing EBay become a real bank - with a bank's obligation to manage people's money and give it back if the person wants it back.

US Special Ops buys hydrogen droid strato-comms tech

Not to rain on a parade or anything

I know that liquid hydrogen is not all that difficult to store and transport, and no more dangerous than fuel, but liquid hydrogen does have to be kept very cool, right ? Whereas fuel can be stored at room temperature without difficulty.

Doesn't that complicate the use of this bird a bit ? Especially given the fact that this spy plane is not really meant to be used in temperate climates at this time and in the current political situation ?

I'd think storing liquid hydrogen when the ambient temperature is 45°C will be something of an interesting challenge to the troops, in the same way that the flamethrowers of WWII were regarded as just as dangerous to their user than to the target.

But maybe I'm just exaggerating things.

Chinese internet security response team under attack

Shoot the messenger, eh ?

"most of those sites are *run* by Americans" - but since they hijacked Chinese servers, it's China's fault !!

And if China didn't offer the infrastructure, it would be somebody else taking the blame. Anyone, except the poor Americans responsible for the whole mess in the first place.

This is one thread where we won't hear about how it was the US that invented the Internet !

American space self-monitoring plan delayed

Sure they won't

"no intention to begin operations until we address your questions"

Gosh, if they say so then it's obvious they won't, right ? Or is this the same kind of "no we won't" than the wiretap fiasco ? Somehow I can't help but imagine some journo being cuffed, beaten by black-suited thugs with big fists, and pushed out of the CIA van with the words "talk about satellites and you'll see us again, but we won't be so nice next time".

Really, from the government that gave us "torture is legal", asking me to trust their word is REALLY stretching credibility.

Given the current track record in domestic surveillance, I wouldn't be surprised if satellite surveillance has already been put in place since 2002. After all, there is no law against it now, is there ?

Mr WebTV skewers US patent bill

Something I'm missing here

I seem to remember that a Patent is a full description of a procedure by which one is supposed to be able to produce an exact replicate of the thing patented. A Patent should be an industry how-to for the fabrication of something, or that's how I understood it.

In which case, I fail to see how one can file 25 patents on ideas that have not yet the light of production, much less proper description.

If a Patent was only submittable when it indeed fully described a process, step by step, without any generalizations or missing parts, then we wouldn't have patent trolls because patent trolls have never invented anything - they only file a paper saying "I've thought of this thing !" and then go hunt for victims to sue.

And I'll bet that would also seriously cut down on the number of patents a given company has.

Dutch pull the plug on e-voting

The sirens of technology becon again

It is easy to think that all of our current activities should be transformed into some electronic form or another. Easy and wrong.

It reminds me of the argument about magnetic bearings vs ball bearings. Yes, magnetic bearings are highly efficient, and highly technological things, but pull the plug and they are useless. Besides, engineering specifications call for a back-up bearing in case the magnetic bearing fails. Ball bearings are EMP-resistant, work in all types of weather and atmospheric conditions, and need absolutely no power source to work. Additionally, ball bearings can be extremely well manufactured, to the point where their efficiency is just as good as magnetic bearings.

The voting issue is the same kind of subject. We have an existing technology that works very well, is reasonably foolproof, and needs next to no investment or technology to function as intended. Some absolutely want to replace that with an unproven, unsecure technology that not only has trouble doing what it should do, but also gives no guarantee that it will produce results that are strictly in accord with the actions of the voters.

Sorry, but e-voting does NOT get my vote, not by a long shot.

Would-be politician fails in Yahoo! and Ask.com lawsuit

Landmark decision here

I believe this decision will be heavily referred to in the future, either within a court context or even outside of one. Indeed, I cannot begin to count how many times I have read that, by censoring forums or somesuch, such-and-such a company or website is guilty of restricting free speech.

Well now it's official people : private companies have NO OBLIGATION to uphold free speech.

This is one bookmark I'll certainly be referring to in the future.

Boffins: Dark times for application development

Personally, I see a bigger issue

Tools may be in the Dark Ages, but programming practices are in the Stone Age. Everywhere I go I see programmers "doing their thing" in their own way. Is there an industry-wide accepted coding practice ? Nope. Is there a coding methodology taught as soon as someone first touches an IDE ? Nope.

Today, in an industry that works with arguably the most technologically advanced products that Humanity has ever made, the methods used for creating code range from "quick and dirty hack" to "convoluted, committee-managed, process-based humongous monolith".

Everyone has his own manner of programming, his own manner of commenting and his own manner of documenting his code (including NOT documenting it). And each and every one of us have been moulded by whatever mentor we had in our youths - be it a human being, or an Internet chat room. There is no consistency between programmers. The only similarities you find is when both have enough experience in their trade to know how to avoid the most common pitfalls in programming and user management. But that is only because they have both hit their heads against the same wall - not because someone taught them about it in a consistent manner.

Oh, and I do know about this and that methodology that is available on some web page somewhere. The issue I have is that it is not taught along with the basics at school, and knowledge of it is not mandatory when one undertakes the responsibility of coding a business project. Once upon a time, being a software developer was a job for engineers. They learned this new subject along the way, shared their experience with their pairs and ended up writing the first programming manuals.

That time is long finished. Today, a 14-year-old can buy himself a web site and start banging PHP code however he likes, gradually rooting himself in disastrous coding habits that he will bring with him in his professional life, and will take years to teach himself out of, if ever he manages to do so.

I don't see this changing any time soon either. So bring on the tools of the New Era. Bring on the Renaissance ! After all, it can hardly be worse than the standards & practices we have now.

Pascal.