Posts by Tom Watson

Net does its part to bring down American Idol

Better way to bring it down

Just don't watch. Change the channel!

Wikipedia: battleground of the new millennium

Self reference?

While I'll stay away from the Army/Marines battle, I would like to know if the following:

"El Reg's considered, impartial advice is not to trust anything you read on the internet. ®"

is a self reference, or not?

Of course we all KNOW that El Reg is the best and most accurate there is!

Fifth space tourist docks with the ISS

The new "Hungarian Notation"

On the manifest for the people that have been to the International Space Station.

Look, someone had to say it.

Don't forget the ‘C’ in Objective-C

Some thought needs to be done

Maybe developers need a "reality check". Yes, the modern systems are VERY speedy, and have LOTS of memory (internal and disk), but some thought needs to be done. Why does Vista need (or demands) 1Gb of main memory? Probably because developers just don't think. The only thing that keeps this going is the fact that Intel/AMD/IBM make better processors and memory gets cheaper by the hour. The balancing comes from Microsoft/Apple who just add more bloat every big release.

Perhaps developers (both operating system, and application) need a humbling experience. I suggest doing a simple project using an ASR33 as your I/O device. It will give everyone involved a sense of value. Will said application be useful? I don't know, but the journey starts with a single step!

p.s. Lacking an ASR33, I suggest a machine about 15 years old with a 15 year old operating system.

Swedes battle to name daughter Metallica

Jonny Cash had it right all along

"And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!"

"Boy Named Sue"

CCTV nails sheep-shagging Turk

Simple two word comment

You Tube!

Adobe takes UK price hikes to new level with CS3

A new business opportunity.

Tom's mail forwarding service.

Software for you, mailed to you. Cost of postage, and a couple of bucks. PayPal.

Look, its an idea!

SCO tries to grok Pamela Jones (again)

Wrong sub title

It should be "Catch Me If You Can".

Go to IMdB and get the details. Great movie!!

Live free Groklaw!!

Official: Powerpoint bad for brains

What we need is a summary

We need a summary of the research. Instead of a pdf file why not a power point presentation. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Google thwarts al-Qaeda kamikaze strike on US embassy

Mapping service??

Maybe this is the same Google that the Iran used when in the Persian Gulf? You never know, the conspiracy could be wide spread. Maybe the Iranians saw the error of their ways since they are releasing the hostages!

Supreme Court rules on EPA's bad case of gas

They forgot something!

The EPA says:

"When Do You Send Greenhouse Gases into the Air?

Whenever you..."

...BREATHE!

Proper regulation of CO2 MUST include all sources!

Fifty foot Michael Jackson robot to stalk Vegas

Don't they have this already in Nevada?

I thought it was called "Burning Man". I understand it is quite the festival.

Show me the way to go home: GPS on test

Swimming instructions as well?

Given that some of these devices include maps for North America as well as Europe, do they have a swimming portal like Google does (http://www.theregister.com/2007/03/30/swim_the_atlantic/)??

What's the quickest route from California to Stockholm?

Atlantic route, no pacific route!

While it appears that Google can cross the Atlantic Ocean, it can't get across the Pacific Ocean. Attempts to go from the mainland to Hawaii are countered with a message: you can't get from here to there (or its equivalent). They should have a few more swimming portals around the world!

DMCA architect lambasts music moguls

Yes, movies are encrypted

Yes, the movies on DVD are "encrypted". It doesn't matter to what degree (it could be a really simple method), the DCMA says that breaking the encryption (no matter how insignificant) is a big No No (with penalties!).

US lifts lid on world's largest toilet

But is it legal?

You know... It might not be too legal. Toilets sold in this country (USA) are limited to 1.6 Gal per flush (6 liters for you metric fans). I would assume that this might not even wet the inside of the bowl. We would need to wait for a rainstorm to flush it, and that would make it quite odoriferous in the mean time.

French succumb to Franglais

Because they are French, that's why

While the French cling to their language, it was pointed out to me (in the Charles de Gaulle airport no less) that the Quebocis (or however you spell it) are WORSE than the French for being particular about their language. While I like Montreal a bunch (2nd most populous French city!) they are WAY to serious about the language. Yes, you can probably get laid faster by speaking French there, why? I guess everyone likes French speaking lovers (see _A Fish Called Wanda_ sometime). (*SIGH*) Here in Sillycon Valley we have a similar problem Spanish is taking over, but that is different topic for discussion.

Cruise missile streaks across Google Earth

The "detail" picture should be clearer

Somehow all this technology is beyond me. All the crime TV shows here in the USA show that when you zoom in on pictures, they really do become clearer. Some silly conspiracy must be bluring the picture. That is the reason we can't really determine what the object really is! All those CSI shows must be right you know.

Please engage humor before fully reading this post.

Floating point numbers - what else can be done?

Back to the Past (or Future)

The more things change, the more things stay the same. Back in the day (1965 is pretty close) the (bcd based) IBM 1620 had hardware floating point (up to 28 digits were supported in Fortran!) and if you had the hardware (yes, it had hardware floating point) you could get the Fortran to use that. So, we've come full circle. We get a BCD base 10 floating point endorsed by IEEE. Some things never change!

What conditions disqualify you from donating blood?

Once positive, always positive

I "tried" to donate bloos a few years ago. They did some tests, and one of the "qualifying" tests came back positive (I don't know why). When they re-tested, the result was negative. So I am "healthy". But, since I tested "positive" (which really wasn't), I can't donate blood (much as I'd like to). Oh, well.

Is it possible to swallow while standing on your head?

Old news

Yes, you can swallow upside down. This is VERY old news. The book I read it in showed two kids (youths in teens or earlier) resting heads on pillows and eating apples. The book was one of "Mr. Wizard's" (Don Herbert) experiment books. This was back in the late 50's/early 60's.