Posts by Geoff Johnson

Intel talks up CPU+GPU system chippery

Low power?

Lets hope they can get their 2.5W processors teamed up with Sub 20W chipsets. The Atom was a big disappointment in this area.

Royal Navy plans world's first running-jump jet

The other use of forward motion

Moving forward while landing like this also avoids having the engine suck in it's own hot, oxygen depleted exhaust gas.

Still, I think the FATAL idea is better.

As for sea level differences - German and Swiss bridge builders have fun with that one.

Sony pumps up PSP screen

Better sceen.

Hopefully they'll do something about the viewing angle too. My Fat & Heavy PSP looks pretty poor if I tilt it up or down. Left and right are ok though.

BlackBerry clamshell pair leaked online

At least they're green.

Nokia made an 8210 years ago. 100% re-cycled name.

BT seals free Digital Vault

What's in his Vault

The film Deathwatch explains what that bloke keeps backed up.

Supercomputer to improve UK weather

Improve UK weather

That title looked promising, unfortunately it's only likely to improve the forecasting.

Next Debian's 'Lenny' frozen

Stability.

My only gripe with Debian is that sometimes updates change things in config files that I've set for a reason.

Stability wise, I've been running Lenny quite a while. I've had up times in excess of 100 days before a power cut ruined it - and that's not even the officially stable branch.

How government will save you from P2P deviance

Filters.

So presumably they'll also have the post office open every package sent to see it it contains a copy of a CD.

Good to know they're looking after us.

UK ISPs agree to menace their filesharing users

Entrapment

Last time it wasn't packet inspection that got people a nasty letter. The BPI seeded torrents of albums and logged the IPs of the people who connected to the swarm. Then they got the ISPs to send the letters to the IPs owner at the time.

Not sure of the legality of offering to give away a free copy of an album then sending nasty letters to anyone who takes you up on it.

Relay server attack tactic dupes auto-reporting

Re: Any decent security admin would

As I mentioned above, most of the attacks on my server come from things like Asterisk servers. Not every place that has an Asterisk server has a "decent security admin" in fact I'd say most don't even know what one is.

If Linux is going to go mainstream it needs to cater for this type of user or attacks like this will only increase.

Linux security.

I regularly get attempts to hack into my SSH server. Usually from things like Asterisk boxes with default passwords. I did notice a bit of an increase recently, couldn't say when though.

Anyway, should the world consider using randomized default passwords? I'm sure it would all but end this kind of attack.

TSA says 'checkpoint friendly' laptop bags on the way

security officers will be well informed about them

That's a first.

Gordo's DNA database claims branded 'ridiculous'

Half of a Half

Surely if half of the matches lead to a detection and half of those lead to a conviction, then 85.5 murderers would have got away. I'd be interested to see how the .5 did it though.

DARPA working on T-ray spyeye spectacle tech

Slow moving technology.

Something I did in my last job (~10 years ago) involved building waveguides for THz systems. It's about the only thing I did there that hasn't been made mainstream by the Chinese since.

Dell touts Windows XP to 2009 - and 'likely longer'

@Why not sell MS-DOS again?

Because when people saw how fast it boots, MS would have some explaining to do.

Firefox 3: now available bug-free, say devs

Can be really slow.

If a page re-sizes images a lot then it's actually slower than IE.

Firefox 2 was much faster.

Dotcom icon ISP Breathe inhales Fast4

"Fast4 users will not experience any changes"

While I was on Fast4 they went from a very fast reliable unlimited service to a slow unreliable limited service with severe traffic shaping.

Maybe they've hit rock bottom now and can't change any more.

Windows veteran jumps to second Silverlight

ITV Catchup.

When I sent an e-mail complaining that they use Silverlight for their catchup service, I got a stock minimum spec. reply back, no hint of an apology or a "we're working on a proper Flash or DivX version"

For a commercial organization like ITV to be using such a poorly adopted plugin they must either be getting paid by MS, or (and this is my theory) they are just showing willing with the catch up TV but have no intention of allowing it to succeed.

Acer punts £199 Linux laptop

Not out until "Summer"

So ASUS can keep their current prices for another couple of months.

Boffins build self-replicating replicating machine

Nano machines, here we come.

So if it can build a working copy of its self, set the scale down by a few percent and give it a few generations.

US imposes 72 hour pre-reg for Visa waiver travellers

Safe at last.

So that's the US safe from any European terrorists who just happen to be dumb enough to tick the I'm a terrorist box on a web form then.

Bonce-antenna education downloads foreseen in 30 years

The brain's adaptability may be the key.

So if you had two electrodes in the brain, one in the motor region so you could think about tapping a morse code type message (just thinking of movement lights up this region) and the electrode would read it. Then another, to feed signals into the brain this time, in the visual cortex so it looks like a flashing light in the corner of your eye. Link them to a small computer to interpret the "morse" commands and give appropriate morse style responses.

I reckon that in a few months you'd be using the computer (maybe just for for maths or something similar to begin with) without even realising you were doing it. Data storage and retrieval would just happen without conscious thought too. Add in a wireless information transfer system and you're there, instant knowledge download.

The technology exists today.

Revealed! The new face of the Eee PC

Epic title.

Here's the title of the web page the pic came from.

Smiling Woman Standing in a Kitchen Holding a Glass of Red Wine Dv2119015,2119015,Enjoyment,Preparation,Food And Drink,Healthy Eating,Domestic Life,Vitality,M87,Y50819,Series,Only Women,One Woman Only,Top,Tank Top,Indoors,Waist Up,Half Full,Protective Workwear,Apron,Looking,Looking Away,Adult,Adults Only,Caucasian,People,One Person,Hairstyle,Hair Back,Only Young Women,One Young Woman Only,Domestic Kitchen,Smiling,Toothy Smile,Clothing,Casual Clothing,20s,25-30 Years,Cheerful,Touching,Holding,Wine,Red Wine,Prepared Food State,Chopped,Standing,Blond Hair,Glass,Wineglass,Food,Salad,Furniture,Kitchen Counter,Side View,Leaning,Drinking,Close-up,Day Stock Photos / Pictures / Photography / Royalty Free Images at Inmagine

What kind of monitor width do they think we have.

The New Order: When reading is a crime

Web Cache

When the University installed a web cache and firewall that made everyone go via the cache, we all though it was just so the computer centre staff didn't have to find their own porn. Looks like we were wrong.

Phoenix prepares to flex its muscles

1/4 million names

That's nothing the British government gives away disks containing millions, along with their addresses and bank details too.

NASA's Phoenix braces for Sunday touch-down

Monday over here

NASA being an American organization only talk in their local time - all Americans know there is no "rest of the world". They don't even give translations into GMT for us or UTC for the French.

Anyway 23:53 GMT (which I remember being about the right time by my calculations) is 00:53 BST. That makes the landing early on Monday morning over here.

/Pedant.

Son of 419 victim contacts El Reg

Sorry cant advise.

"...we dont have any other way except to suicide. could you please suggest us what step we have to take now..."

People get into trouble in the UK for giving advice on how to commit suicide.

Home Secretary goes crazy on drugs... policy

How much did they pay for the advice they then went on to ignore?

And can I have that much of my tax back please.

AMD now has 'more than allegations' against Intel

Bring back the marker pen.

The old way of doing this with black marker pens usually left the text readable with an IR camera. You needed an original and not a photocopy though.

Just thought people might like to know.

Build a 14.5 watt data center in a shoebox

Norhtec

I've been running one of these...

http://www.norhtec.com/products/mcjr/details.html

... for a 151 days now, according to top.

200Mhz Pentium compatible with 128Mb ram 80Gb of laptop drive fitted and it's virtually silent. I'd expect Windows XP would run (or at least crawl) on it but I'm using Debian Linux.

Only problem is the painful buying process.

Mystery HDD maker orders kit to build monster-capacity drives

30 per hour!

That's a bit slow. Even the 1200 mentioned in a previous comment doesn't sound like much for a full production system.

Intempo Rebel DJ and ad-zapping FM radio

DJs

I recently spent a long car journey listening to a pre-captured internet radio stream. Oddly I found I missed having DJs to tell me what I was listening to and odd LITTLE bits about upcoming albums, tours etc.

However I came to a conclusion long ago that DJs talking is cheaper than music. So we're stuck with Moyles & co waffling on and on until you can't resist the temptation of the CD button any more.

Another thing that comes to mind is, how powerful is that DSP compared to a pentium 4? Would a software version be possible that ripped FM (from a TV card or fed into the sound card) to MP3s?

Global-warming scientist: It's worse than I thought

We're all saved

If global temperature is related to piracy, then don't worry. Piracy is on the increase.

Can't remember where I read that but I did read an article on it once.

How BA handles lost luggage complaints: Shock picture

Don't mess with that dog.

That dog is HUGE.

Carphone Warehouse stares down BPI and UK.gov on three strikes

Bandwidth.

If they crowbar a "music subscription fee" or whatever they want to call it into ISP costs, people will then start downloading more music / movies. I know I would if I'd paid for it. Couple this assumption with the "ISP bloodbath" stories going around and...

Well let's just say I don't want to be stood any where near the fan.

MOAB and the pain ray - Iraq's war-missing wonder weapons

Well, we know how the main event turned out?

Surely that should read

Well, we know how the main event is turning out

El Reg reconstructs Heathrow T5 chaos

Unsuitable web site

I suppose that's one way an "unsuitable web site" can get pictures of the inside of the terminal.

Microsoft tries to talk its way into VoIP

@regadpellagru

X Box?

BBC Micro creators meet to TRACE machine's legacy

Chuckie Egg!

The best version of Chuckie egg was (and still is from all the versions I've played) the BBC Micro version.

On a slightly more serious note, I bet there are one or two BBCs still in use controlling things with the User Port.

Net think tank: Phorm is illegal

Be Afraid.

BT provide most of the UK's broadband, usually re-badged and sold on through a third party. Prety much anything that isn't LLU is going via BTs DSLAMs. LLU providers are likely to use BT backhaul links anyway.

How much of YOUR data has already been sold to experimental adware companies?

Skype blames eBay for killing 'our innovation buzz'

What went wrong with Skype.

Skype was a nice, small, efficient VoIP phone that worked through firewalls. Then it became a HUGE "do everything" app. that's a burden on system resources.

This is what tends to happen to software towards the end of it's life cycle. Paint Shop Pro was a classic example, I bet there are more Version 7 users than all the later versions combined.

Northrop: battlefield rayguns to demo this year

I'll wait a while before buying one.

This is the first generation of these weapons. Give it time and they'll have these in a hand held format.

Then they just need to figure out how to make the beam end about 3 feet out and behave as if it's solid. Oh and the noises need to be right too.

Why I downgraded from Vista to XP

Dabs.com

I've noticed on the spam from Dabs that laptops either boast that they have XP, or don't say anything.

VIsta must be hitting the sales then.

Pitcairn Island relays most spam per person

SETI

They used to be top of the SETI@Home work units per person league too.

Not looked recently though.

Elonex £99 Eee PC rival to arrive in June

Eee PC still has te edge.

I think the Eee PC has the edge on cleavage^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h performance.

Go!Messenger VoIP for 'fat' PSPs coming on Friday

Where's the sat nav?

they promised a sat nav for the psp years ago and still havent delivered.

Sarko verbal spat proves YouTube hit

Smokescreen

Prescott punching that bloke was purely to take the media attention away from the Labour manifesto that was released that day.

Or maybe I'm just cynical.

BBC mulls dropping Flash as iPlayer meets iPhone

Linux.

I'm all for higher quality but will it work on my Ubuntu laptop?

Critics chuck MS 'friendly worm' plan on the compost heap

BitTorrent.

Distribute patches with BitTorrent.

Though MS would probably write their own BitTorrent that used much more resources and takes 8 years before anything resembling a stable version is released.

ISPs demand record biz pays up if cut-off P2P users sue

Just trying to look good.

I'm sure the ISPs are just trying to look like they're vaguely on their customer's side.

After all, we know how much they hate people actually using the bandwidth they've paid for.