Posts by Avalanche

Army raygun to boost power with starlight de-twinkling tech

Nothing new here, then

I remember Tom Clancy mentioning adaptive optics in the context of astronomy and laserweapon research in his novel The Cardinal of the Kremlin from 1988. In that novel both the US and the Soviets attempt to build an anti-ICBM laser and the US side uses adaptive optics to solve the problem of dispersion. The book even mentions that this is the same solution used in astronomy to prevent twinkling.

I can't believe it took 23 years for this to trickle down into actual weapons research (especially not because Tom Clancy sometimes uses scientists and military sources for inspiration).

Samsung pulls Galaxy Tab Android 3.2 update

As a tester, I guess they focussed to much on testing factory images (ie re-imaging the device everytime with the newest test version), and that they did not perform sufficient testing with various upgrade scenarios (or if they did: they did not test sufficiently after upgrading the device).

Post-pub nosh deathmatch: Kapsalon v quesadillas

Don't forgo the lettuce, it is crucial to the taste sensation of a kapsalon. BTW: if you want something it a bit more spicy: include sambal sauce as well.

Also some kebap shops also include (red) onion, tomato and a variety of other vegetables.

Can a user really do BI from the desktop?

Earlier this year I did some BI using Pentaho BI, worked perfectly for me and the fact that part of it can be done using point-and-click construction of the dataflow makes it relatively easy (although it still requires some knowledge of your datasources and basic programming concepts).

DNS hijack hits The Register: All well

Repair internet connection?

Just use ipconfig /flushdns ...

Hey dumbo, Facebook isn't sharing telephone numbers

Read the security info

If you sync with Facebook, of course your phonebook gets sent to Facebook as well, not just info pulled from facebook. It isn't called sync for nothing. On Android when you first enter your account details, it explicitly asks if you want to sync everyone, or just the people you already friended. You also have the option to say it shouldn't sync. This is not rocket science people.

Also anyone who installs an app that ask permission to look into your contact list should know it is bound to use that info in some way. Buyer (or downloader) beware I'd say.

BTW: I did remove the synced contacts from facebook, but just because I think having it in one place (as in Google) is sufficient.

Putting the Square Kilometre Array on a Cloud

Not the biggest

LOFAR has a larger area, see http://www.lofar.org/ and http://www.astron.nl/~heald/lofarStatusMap.html

Glasgow cammer not thrown in slammer

And I'll never understand

Why people even watch some of the drivel coming out today (and clearly, I am one of them)...

Chess crown stripped in plagiarism furore

@What the hell happened to presumption of innocence?

Presumption of innocence only applies to penal law, not to civil law or dealings between civil entities (as this is purely a case between a committee of some computer chess org and the programmer).

World IPv6 Day fails to kill the internet

Netgear *is* IPv6 ready

My Netgear WNDR3700 router has IPv6 support since a firmware upgrade a few months ago, for me it uses a 6 to 4 tunnel because my ISP doesn't support IPv6 yet, but other than that it works fine.

Netherlands first European nation to adopt net neutrality

Not about bandwidth hogging

The problem wasn't about bandwidth hogging. Last month a recording of an investor meeting leaked, were KPN announced that they would be charging their customers for use of applications like Whatsapp, and that they used DPI to find out what applications their customers were using. Their primary motivator was that they are losing SMS revenue as people start moving to text messaging using Ping, Whatsapp, Skype etc.

Most people feel that they pay for mobile internet, so they should be able to consume all available internet services without being charged for that use by their ISP(!) who is not actually involved with providing the service, but with moving the data packets from my phone towards the internet (and through the internet to the actual serviceprovider). To aggrevate the matter, the fact that KPN (and vodafone!) snooped on customer traffic to see 1) what they are doing and 2) if they can block or charge for the service wasn't well received. This led to a general outcry of the public and an offensive by Dutch IT professionals, nerds and privacy activists to get net neutrality into law.

Entire London 2012 Olympics' cultural events database held on Excel

@Niall 1

You are aware that you can enable concurrent use of Excelsheets? Its conflict resolution can be slight clunky, but it does work well enough if people sharing the excelsheet don't work on exactly the same cell.

Linguists use sounds to bypass Skype crypto

How is this news?

Exactly how is this news? Statistical analysis and pattern matching to derive content or crack encryption has been in the standard toolkit of cryptanalysts and cryptologists forever. That is why a good encryption algorithm needs to have good diffussion. Unfortunately good diffussion is not possible for the almost-realtime and streaming nature of VOIP. In this case having streaming with a fixed bitrate would fix most of the problem.

Linux kernel runs inside web browser

Woohoo infinite recursion!

Just load Linux, start Firefox, load Linux-in-browser, start Firefox etc etc.

BTW: "the man [..] now servers as senior JavaScript architect", seriously? Servers?

US lawyer's email not creative enough for copyright protection

Copyright certificate?

I thought the US subscribed to the Berne Convention, meaning that the copyright exists as the work is created, without any registration or other forms of government intervention.

Why would that guy have requested a copyright certificate? Why does the US government even issue copyright certificate as they are - re the Berne convention - without value.

Dutch courts: Wi-Fi 'hacking' is not a crime

Oversight of the lawmakers

The point the judge makes is that both in the law (Wetboek van Strafrecht 80sexies) and in the 'Memorandum of Understanding' during the creation of the law, they only considered devices ('automated works') that store (in a non-transient form), (substantially) process *and* transmit data. According to the judge a router fails that test because it does not 1) store (non-transient) the data sent, and 2 does not process the data beyond what is necessary for transmission.

Secondary, the judge finds that the computer crime law (Wetboek van Strafrecht 138a) according to the legal history was intended for protection of those who 'through actual security measures have made clear that they want to shield their data/information from prying eyes'.

As the defendant did not break into a computer (80sexies), and the misuse / misappropriation of a connection is not covered in law (138a), the defendant was cleared of that charge.

Oh, IANAL

Oracle kills Sun.com after starvation diet

Queue ...

... screams from Java developers and server administrators when there XML parsers attempt to locate DTD and schema definitions that for some reason don't have system-local resolution.

In other words: I don't think that Oracle will close off the entire domain, just the usual user-visible parts.

Obama to overhaul heinous US patent system

That sandwich does have some originality

The way I read that sandwich patent, the invention is in keeping the filling from leaking out, by sealing the sandwich by sticking the edges together. Now, I'd still say that still reeks of prior art (pizza calzone), but it is hardly just a sandwich with the crust cut off.

'Most stupid criminal ever' blew cover on Facebook

Got another one

A few days ago a burglar got caught in Roosendaal (NL), as he had taken a hot chocolate milk from the coffeemachine and had left a drip-trail to his current position... According to the newssite he had stolen a bag of instant hot chocolate milk powder for use at home.

http://www.nu.nl/opmerkelijk/2453815/warme-choco-verraadt-inbreker.html

20-tonne space truck heads for ISS

Garbage-service

@Eddie: how else do you propose they get rid of their garbage? Just chucking it out of the airlock is not a good idea.

Steve Jobs unveils 30% subs model for ... everything

Why so negative?

Why are you being so harsh to apple about this model? I was highly negative of this myself initially, but only because I got the impression that publisher would be forced to do everything through apple. Now it seems that publishers have the choice to still sell through their own channels and take the full price. So newspapers are still able to give their (hardcopy) subscribers access to the digital version without paying Apple, and can still maintain a record of their subscribers (as long as they are not subscribed through Apple).

I think that takes most of the sting out of the subscription plan.

Skype goes titsup across globe

@salada2k

Actually, the chat is stored by all participants in the chat. You might have noticed that the chat *only* gets updated when one of the other partners in an old chat comes online.

Mozilla showers Firefox, Thunderbird with updates

Hmmm, curious fix ;)

I wonder if updating is such a good idea with fixes like this:

"Several fixes to improve corruption in local copy of IMAP mailboxes."

Yes, new Thunderbird, now with improved corruption of your mailbox.... When do people learn to either note the bug fix *or* the improvement; not a combination of both.

My Droid EXPLODED mid phone call, says Texan

Damn those Cylons....

... they will do anything to off us humans.

Aircraft bombs may mean end to in-flight Wi-Fi, mobile

Why so hard

Just use any other radio frequency, or simply use an accelerometer, or a pressure switch, or make it trigger on specific airport beacon signals, or...

The possibilities are endless.

LG touts 'surprisingly productive' iPad killer

Still wouldn't know....

I still wouldn't know, what I would need an tablet device for...

The only thing I can think of, was shaving my head, sipping earl-grey tea and tugging my spandex-like uniform... while walking around looking important with my tablet.

And as I am not the trekkie I was 15 years ago, even that doesn't seem appealing.

Naomi Campbell admits handling 'blood diamonds'

Location, location

The Sierra Leone tribunal is not in The Hague, it is in Leidschendam (which admittedly is next to The Hague). Interestingly it is setup in the former headquarters of the Dutch secret service (AIVD).

What's the difference between an iPod and an iPood?

Blanket trademark?

I always thought that you register a trademark in a specific market (eg consumer electronics), which means that it can happily coexist with products with the same name in a different market (eg fecal waste management ;).

Based on that interpretation, I'd say that apple has no legal basis for demanding this name change, so most likely they shoveled a lot of money to this company to get them to change their name voluntary.

Amazon Kindle flunked by college students

In other news: the sky is blue

I really like my Sony eReader Pocket Edition for reading books when commuting, but for reference material, physical books are a lot easier and better:

* you can browse through them,

* open the book at a point you think the information is, and usually you are only 1 or 2 pages off!

* You can keep your fingers between your current pages and at the same time flip to another section and easily switch back and forth

Eebooks are great for just reading, for reference: no, give me a physical book everytime (a computer or device with a real keyboard is a great second if it comes to looking up info)

Lorentz-loaded Firefox 3.6.4 hits third beta stage

Tabs in Thunderbird...

are already there in 3.0

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 smartphone

Sensitivity

The sensitivity issue could be a result of the screenprotector the X10 seems to have off factory (or at least, it looks like it has an adhesive protector to the screen).

Glitch diverts net traffic through Chinese ISP

Incident or trial?

Is this really an incident, or are the Chinese simply trying out this technique to intercept communications?

Engineers sweat Oracle's Sun-Java integration promise

@Tom Welsh

The Hotspot JVM has both a client and a server version, where the client version does less optimization (or at least: different), than the server variant.

Discrimination warning over airport body scanners

Re: discrimination on racial or religious grounds is illega

Sure, but you can't see from the outside if someone is muslim or not, therefor profiling based on the perceived ethnicity or religion of someone is illegal. Even that white anglo-saxon managerial type over there could be a muslim. Or a terrorist from another denomination. Or someone whose childeren were kidnapped and now he has to commit a terrorist attack to keep them alive (there is probably some B or C movie with that plot). Or....

The 'best' terrorist are those you wouldn't have expected.

In other words: profiling is usually bullshit and does not help, it just singles out a limited group of people with no other gain than playing security theater for the masses.

HP probes 'racist' webcams

'Old news'

There is nothing new to this. Webcams have had this tech for more than 6 years, with the same problems. Recently a friend told about an HMI (Human-Machine Interaction) project he worked on in the 1990's. There software used facial recognition and eyeball tracking for controlling a computer. They suffered from the same problem: poor contrast with people with dark skintones made the recognition software fail.

Digital Dividend could cost cable TV dear

Unshielded connectors

Most interference problems on coaxial cable networks is caused by the use of unshielded or insufficiently shielded connectors between the televisionset and the wallsocket. The problem is only increased with digital systems (as opposed to analogue TV) as interference on digital TV has more direct problems (blocky images) as opposed to analogue (slightly less crispy view or ghosting effects).

The problem has not directly to do with the cable-network itself, but the end-user experience (because of bad home cabling) and blaming it on the cable network and not on the source of the problems (bad cabling).

'We must all stop washing to save the planet'

New excuse

Ah, a new, socially acceptable, excuse for smelly nerds around the world!

Quickening satellite quickens pulses at ESA

FP calc?

Or maybe they used floating point calculations ;)

Naked Win 7 still vulnerable to most viruses

"constant pop-ups"?

I have UAC turned on on my Windows Vista PC and I do not experience the 'constant pop-ups' that The Register and other people attribute to Windows Vista.

I have only once experienced a program that caused some UAC popups during normal use and that was a program that didn't follow the guidelines for file placement etc and was designed and written long before Windows Vista was introduced.

All other software I use only cause a UAC popup on installation, update or deinstall, just like they should.

MP urges Royal Mail rethink on postcode site takedown

@Royal Post FAIL

The UK isn't the only country that treats postcodes as IP; the Netherlands does the same. The Dutch postcode system was created by the then PTT, now TNT and as such owns the database and all rights to it. It does not matter that PTT was then owned by the state; and neither does it in the case of Royal Mail.

This has been asserted in various lawsuits.

Wisconsin Tourism Federation wisely rebrands

@DJ 2

One reason to go to Wisconsin is the 'spotted cow' beer; you can't get it outside of Wisconsin (and certainly not here in the Netherlands).

Apple admits iPhone apps not suitable for business

@Bill Ray

As far as I know providing the buyer with a VAT statement is a requirement of European law, and any company dealing within Europe (and Apple is, even it were only based in Ireland) has to comply.

The exact interpretation of VAT law can differ between European countries, but providing the VAT statement is especially a requirement for cross-border dealings to determine if VAT needs to be applied at the target, or if it already was applied at the source (if the VAT was already applied, it will not be applied again etc).

European troubles?

I thought the VAT laws in Europe were pretty much unified, so I think most things applies in the whole of Europe. I do seem to remember that in the Netherlands on sale the seller always needs to provide a VAT statement if so requested by the customer. Most stores (both on- and offline) include a VAT statement by default on the bill or saleslip. The 'personal use only' is not a valid excuse here for not providing a VAT statement.

Met trades truncheons for Twitter

Twitter usage?

I don't use twitter and I hardly know people that use Twitter. Who on Earth actually thinks this will be effective (as in reaching enough of the intended target)?

Microsoft at a loss in Word patent case?

Normal application of XML

Not knowing the exact details, this 'custom XML' sounds like a normal application of XML Schema with processing in the application. I don't see how this is patentable, or such.

Comcast trials Domain Helper service DNS hijacker

Not 404 jacking

This is not responding to 404s, but to failed DNS resolution. Big difference

404 is an error returned by the HTTP server after requesting a non-existent object. In this case a non-existent server was queried and instead of returning an empty DNS response (protocol specifics elude me at the moment), the IP-address of the ComCast landing page is returned.

Swine flu will [enter scare words here]...

Sure there is vaccine

To all those paranoid crackpots going on about how there is not going to be a vaccine: there is, a friend of mine (here in The Netherlands) is working on it.

A lot of different companies around the world are working on it. And why wouldn't they be, the potential for profit is huge (given the hysteria). And they do it every year as it is (it is not like it is really harder to produce a vaccine for this flu, then it is for the normal yearly influenza strains).

OpenOffice bug/feature stirs 'horde of angry chimps'

Developer and end-user disagree

This is a typical situation of 'developer and end-user disagree'...

The developer doesn't see this as a bug, but as a feature request and has rejected the feature request.

The developer says this is specced, because it is probably in their specs.

And yes, it may be annoying, but an annoying feature does not mean it is a bug.

Lamson - email app coding without the palm sweat

Java bashing

Typical Java bashing from both The Register and the insecurities of the Python community. Instead of getting there by their own merits, they seem to feel the need to bash Java.

Looks to me like the author and developer clearly have never worked in depth with Java or with JavaMail.

Gamer embezzles virtual cash to settle real debts

@Run on the bank?

EBank is not run by CCP (the creators of EVE Online), but by other players. So no, they cannot create ISK out of thin air.

Eve is great (although I stopped some time ago due to time constraints), and yes the cutthroat environment can be hard at times, but still it is a great games and the lack of rules is exactly why it is so great.