Posts by Alex

Rambus pitches XDR2 for future memory

@James

Of course the SPUs work that way. Cell and the PS3 were designed to be used in a system that had XDR memory.

Battlestar Galactica eyes 'technology run amok'

A Nitpick

Cavil blew his brains out because his chance at getting his hands on Cylon resurrection technology went out the window when Tyrol snapped Tory's neck before the download could finish.

Nortel to cut 3,200 workers

Ugh

I have a family member who worked at Nortel (well, Bell-Northern before it was swallowed up). He was laid off, then rehired but before long his entire division was sold to Alcatel. There were complications with his corporate pension, but aside from that I don't think he could be happier to be done with Nortel for good.

Supplier sounds fake netbook warning

I think I know what's going on...

P-p-p-powerbook V2.0?

Sockpuppeting civil servant Wikifiddles himself

Surely some mistake

that Google served up some Adwords relating to "Sex Offender Registry" and "Offender Record Search" just above the link to the article?

http://i34.tinypic.com/11h3pc2.png

Hi-tech cops lose their website

How far does their mandate go?

Can they bring in Tech-Twockers, too?

British Columbia stray foot tally hits six

The foot not human, perhaps a vulture's?

"Remains found in a shoe near Campbell River, B.C., Wednesday are not human, the B.C. Coroners Service said Thursday.

"The BCCS, along with a forensic pathologist and an anthropologist, examined the remains and determined that an animal-paw skeleton had been inserted into the shoe with a sock and packed with dried seaweed, according to a press release."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080619.wfoot0619/BNStory/National/home

Motorised meat-smoker droid vigilante patrols Atlanta

It was on the Colbert Report last night

The 'water canon' is closer to a super soaker than anything else The guy is a hilarious crackpot, though.

Bell Canada chokes BitTorrent traffic on someone else's ISP

Oh great

I use AEI, a DSL wholesaler that gets its lines from Bell. This really does feel like a slap in the face.

This isn't the only case where Bell ignored the best interest of their customers, either. They haven't spent enough on their infrastructure and to try to fix things they've dragged their feet on speed upgrades. We're still stuck at 5Mbit/s* connections in metropolitan areas. I yearn for ADSL2.

*Up to, rather. Mine peaks at 3Mbit.

Sun will swallow Earth: Official

But then why....

...does the bulging from the tides between the Earth and the Moon end up with the Moon moving farther out?

Secret printer ID codes may breach EU privacy laws

Re: The Lives of Others

It's not only the US. It turns out that the RCMP here in Canada has a secret database devoted to 'national security' that is filled mostly with unsubstantiated rumours and unproven suspicions.

Woolworths stores to stop selling HD DVD

Re: Xbox 360 Smartness

Or it could have been a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the PS3's built-in blu-ray support really did help win the format war, then it's Microsoft's failure.

'Dangerously alluring' Ukrainian joins Bond 22

Cruelty

What kind of parents would name their kid "Barbara Broccoli"?

Something awful happens to somethingawful.com

SASS

Guarantied to post in the comments section of any site any time there's a mention of SA.

Quick, I think Fragmaster is uploading a new video on Youtube!!

Microsoft spits out final XP service pack, beta version

Re: @@AC

The red squiggles will show up in Firefox with XP, too.

Nintendo Wii said to 'attract cockroaches'

Ever watch Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel?

When Mike tagged along with an exterminator for a day at an infested trailer, the guy mentioned that the roaches are attracted to most electronic equipment. To prove his point, he picked up the cordless phone base and rapped it against the counter top a few times.

I couldn't believe the number creepy crawly bits that scrabbled out for safety. Seems the brown flecks by the speaker was a buildup of roach shit, too.

Canadian runs up $85,000 mobe bill

inconsistent behaviour on Bell's part

Other articles covering the story mention that the guy with the giant bill has received warnings from Bell when he was going to be billed an extra $100 over his regular rate. This time there was no warning that anything was out of the ordinary until the damage was done.

Megan's Law snafu fingered in rapist's murder

Re: we don't know

You don't have to steal anything to commit burglary. The legal meaning is basically the same as Breaking and Entering.

Campaign to name US street after Douglas Adams

Let's be honest:

The road will only be safe when the requisite warning signs at the zebra crossings are installed.

Sidcup massive threatens Reg hack

Spode would not be impressed

Well, maybe if they were wearing black shorts.

Atari may hit reset button again

I wonder what other games they still hold the rights for...

Fallout has been freed from what remains of Interplay, but is there anything left at Atari worth salvaging?

BitTorrent site Demonoid.com downed by Canadian record industry

Re: Canadian Record Industry?

While the Rest Of Canada might put out a band every now and then that's able to score a hit, a substantial chunk of music bought in Quebec is home-grown. They might not be known in the English-speaking portions of North America, but they're still there.

Transformers director favours Blu-ray Disc

Re: For God's Sake Get Your Facts Right!

I think he's referring to the hundreds of millions of dollars Microsoft paid out to get the studios HD-DVD exclusive. You know, bribing them.

AI egghead: Human-robot humping, marriage by 2050

My God!

He never took middle school hygiene! He never saw the propaganda film!

Cassini team ties icy jets to tiger stripes

Relatively hot?

How hot are these hot spots, exactly?

3Com - a company built on ether

Re:Don't mention the modems!

I never had a problem with my 28.8k Sportster. The thing kept plugging away until the day we got 1.7meg DSL.

Microsoft-loving (former) security czar calls for closed internet

@ LaeMi

If you (or the author) had bothered to look into the guy's history, you'd see he had the same job under Bush as he did with Clinton, and that he was the only member of the executive branch on 9/11 who has apologized to the families of the victims for the failures of the government.

Yes, he seems to have zany ideas here, but that doesn't mean he's a Republican shill. The right-wingers in the US treated him like a pariah after his testimony about the Bush administration's blind eye to the threat of Osama.

Note to despots: You can't kill the internet

Burma?

Are you guys still calling Zimbabwe 'Rhodesia', or Thailand 'Siam'?

Google-hating Aussie watchdog smacked by confused judge

re: "Sponsored link"...

"And now a word from our sponsors" was a common euphemism for advertising on radio and TV shows back in the day. I have no doubt my grandmother could make the connection.

Cassini closes in on Iapetus

Re: "100 times closer"

As in one hundredth the distance it was the last time it took pictures of the thing? What's so difficult?

Viacom slaps YouTuber for behaving like Viacom

Lucas

Isn't he usually pretty laid-back about fan-made work? Look at the whole Stephen Colbert green-screen challenge.

Hey, I didn't even think of the Viacom connection until after I typed it. :)

All of world's biggest firms hit by typosquatting

google knows what's what

http://www.googlr.com

Homer Simpson debuts in Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations

too many great ones

"Donuts, is there anything they can't do?"

"Relax? I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or-- *ugh*-- only two synonyms? Oh my God, I'm losing my perspicacity!"

"This enormous woman will devour us all!"

RIAA gets some class

Re: No Legal Aid ?

I think you'll find that the Recording Industry Association of America doesn't have much jurisdiction in the United Kingdom. ;)

Stem cell fraudster made 'virgin birth' breakthrough

David Brin strikes again

Seems like we're one step closer to Glory Season.

DVLA turns censor on grubby number plates

Don't forget Florida

http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/license.asp

Brainless civil servant amazes doctors

@ Robert

Homer's brain is buffered from the skull by a larger than normal layer of fluid, while the French guy's brain is plastered to the skull by liquid pushing from the inside.

I bet he further differentiates himself by scarfing down on croissants

Red ring of Xbox death costs Microsoft $1bn

The warranty extention

It only covers the 'ring of death' problems. All other omstances of your console turning into a brick are subject to the one-year coverage and fees.

Hyperion harbours building blocks of life, says NASA

The 1024x1024 version is available here:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07740

Toshiba HD DVD to offer 'true cinema' frame rate

Are you sure about this?

"UK HDTVs more commonly display 720p and 1080p images at 25fps, while US screens run to 30fps. In each case, the result is a movie that plays faster, with sound at a higher pitch, than it would in the cinema."

I find it hard to believe that North American HD-DVD and BD players are speeding up films by 25% because they can't do the hi-def equivalent to 3:2 pulldown.

Blackholes make simulated universe debut

Get your Star Trek right!

Seven of Nine was the one who viewed it as perfection!!

Google cancels anti-eBay bash

SomethingAwful

The money Lowtax was raising was going towards the Red Cross, but Paypal wouldn't allow it because it couldn't see what SA was 'selling' and froze the account. They gave him the opportunity to transfer the account holding to the United Way, but Lowtax didn't like the amount of money that charity skims from donations. He ended up refunding the donations in disgust and asking people to donate individually.

Toshiba, Canon delay SED TV debut - again

CRTs can do HD, too

"By targeting the individual red, green and blue colours of each pixel, however, the displays can be scaled to support HD resolutions."

They aren't exactly slim, but there have been CRTs (both computer monitors and TVs) capable of displaying HD content for years.

AMD launches Phenom brand

Sound's more like AMD's past brands than Intel's

Athlon, Duron, Opteron, Sempron, Phenom.

I think I see what they're up to.

The Economist de-rails Microsoft media love in

Re: Did he just say "piss off"?

To piss someone off means you get them angry. What does the expression mean for you crazy brits? :)

Wal-Mart denies cheap HD DVD deal

Codecs

From what I've read, Divx is comparable to the H.264 and VC1 codecs that are standard on the next-gen video discs. If you're willing to put up with a 4.5Mbps bitrate for your video then I guess DVDs aren't a bad choice for you.