Posts by Minophis

Facebook replaces non-Facebook mail addresses on Timeline

Re: Not just timeline - normal profiles too

Oooooh that's a good idea. After all we now have Mark Zuckerburg's email address. If he wants email we can give him lots and lots. Mwaaaa ha ha haaaa!!!

Trekkie wants to build USS Enterprise … in twenty years

Re: The next Reg SPB work?

Kinetic

Year

Long

Interstellar

Exploration

Grab your L-plates, flying cars of sci-fi dreams have landed

Finally the future is here.

While buzzing around in flying cars seems like an episode of the jetsons brought to life I can't see it solving congestion problems. To have an impact on congestion a significant proportion of the commuting poulation has to buy these and it does seem unlikely they will be able to afford it and be willing to try. Surley an easier way to reduce congestion would be to encourage buisinesses to use home working where possible and invest in a decent public transport infrastructure. I don't think either of these things will happen, I'm just saying it seems easier.

Facebook tests paid post promotion

Re: How much do I get ?

First question: Has our society really decended to the point where sad pathetic people are willing to pay to be have the pontless trivia of their lives noticed and picked over by strangers they will never meet.

Second question: Where do I send the $2 to?

Engineer Doe thought people's private info 'might be useful'

Re: Is it "Private Info" when some dingbat has broadcast it over an unencrypted wireless link, then?

I can understand and sympathize with your point of view. However you can learn everything you need to know about microwave ovens in the space of 2 minutes where as to learn everything you need to know about computers could take far longer (I've seen people spend 3 years studying computer science at university and come out with a level of understanding I would rate slightly above village idiot). Most people don't go to PC world with a fistful of cash in order to spend weeks getting to grips with network security, sensible data back practice, etc. They just want to send family photos to granny, write their opinions on Facebook and watch videos of funny animals.

I agree that people should take precautions and I would never setup an unsecured wireless network .My point is simply that the level of precautions taken by the users has no bearing on the level guilt of those who stole the data. Burglary is burglary whether the person forgot to lock their front door or not.

Re: Is it "Private Info" when some dingbat has broadcast it over an unencrypted wireless link, then?

Good idea, let's indeed take a minute to consider what happened: -

1. Google knew that intercepting and recording the data was a crime in many of the countries where they did it.

2. The did it anyway.

Many people with an wireless connection don't understand the technical details. The do not realize they need to take such precautions or even consider that their usage is readable and broadcast beyond their own four walls. They do not work in our industry and as far as they are concerned the computer is just another home appliance like the TV or dishwasher.

Not encrypting your network does not make it OK for someone to record your data any more than going to the toilet in a restaurant while leaving your phone on the table makes it OK for someone to walk off with it.

GCSE, A-level science exams ARE dumbed down - watchdog

Re: On a brighter note

"ICT = Wordprocessors, spreadsheets, general operation of computers and the internet etc."

It would save confusion if they just renamed it 'basic secretarial skills', in this case very basic..

So, what IS the worst film ever made?

Re: Charlie's Angels!

You're nominating Charlie's Angels for the worst film ever made!

Clearly you haven't seen Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle

Re: Worst! Film! Ever!

Good for you you but what you should have done was said 'Dad, you're right, but let's give Krull a try and we'll discuss it later. '.

Femme Fontaine - Keller Babe For The CIA

Teenage Cat Girls In Heat

Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town

Highlander: The Source

Watching this was one of the most painful experiences of my life.

The Register obtains covert snaps of Google's new London offices

Re: WOW!

<yorkshire_accent>

Of course we have it tough,

there's 150 of us working in a shoe box in tthe middle of road. I have to get up at 10 o'clock at night, half an hour before I go to bed, eat a handful of cold poison, work 29 hours a day and pay development director for permission to come to work.

</yorkshire_accent>

That steady diet of EastEnders is turning her into a shrew

Re: Makes my blood boil

My fiancée doesn't watch sops or medical documentaries, but she is always happy to play a bit of Skyrim or join me in a bit of Portal 2 co-op mode.

She is not even slightly aggressive (apart from hitting me in the head with a rolled up scrunchie thrown across the room with impressive accuracy when she thinks it will be funny).

Not making a point other than this thread has made me fell quite lucky.

iPlayer repeat fees threaten BBC earthquake

Re: " a constitutional obligation to give it all away"

Actually you need a licence for Sky or Virgin because it's live TV. The BBC would get their money whether Sky or Virgin carry BBC channels or not.

People have faced fines and even prison for not paying their licence fee. I don't know of any other company that can have a person fined or imprisoned for not paying when that person has not even used the company's product. It doesn't seem entirely fair.

Re: Because of the unique way the BBC is funded.....

'And to those idiots who don't realise it - if you watch BBC catchup (i.e. iPlayer) you DO need a TV licence.'

Before accusing others of being idiots it helps to check your facts as you end up coming across as a bit less of a fuckwit.

---

Taken from 'http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/how-to-tell-us-you-dont-watch-tv-top12/'

You don't need a licence if you don't use any of these devices to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV - for example, if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch ‘catch up’ services like BBC iPlayer or 4oD.

---

I cancelled my TV licence after realising there was nothing I had found that I wanted to watch on TV in the last 2 years. I don't even watch catch-up TV. If the BBC produces a world class ducumentary series that I want then I buy the bloody box set on blu-ray.

What some people seem to forget is that the BBC also funds itself with plenty of advertising on it's international channels and it's website when viewed from outside the UK as well as it's many cd, dvd, blu-ray sales via it's online store, amazon, etc. However anyone watching live TV in the UK must pay the licence fee or face court appearances and fines even if they never watch or listen to a single BBC channel. The unique way the BBC is funded is extortion.

The only reason people seem to feel this is OK is because it has been this way since the beginning of TV usage in Britain. Imagine if TV usage in the UK had just started with multiple companies competing for viewing figures. Every company attempts to produce programmes to win viewers and make money via advertising or pay per view services except one. That company istead forces you to pay whether you use it's services or not, it threatens people with fines and has detector vans driving around looking for houses with TV's that have not paid. I don't believe for one moment that such a company would be permitted to operate in that way.

If the BBC want to advertise or offer pay-per-view services for IPlayer that makes perfect sense but the licence fee is an outdated and deeply unfair system.

Lego space shuttle hits 114,000ft

Re: To bold Lego...

A league table for most downvotes would pretty good as well.

Foxconn allegedly hid underage workers from inspectors

@+++ath0

'If Apple just dropped Foxconn, another company would pick up from there'

If we didn't do it someone else would is a shit excuse for doing a bad thing. If it was acceptable you might see it used in courts e.g.

JUDGE: Why did you mug that little old lady

CRIMINAL: Well your honour, if I didn't do it some else would

See? It doesn't really work.

Chinese woman sparks net craze with virgin website

Re: Re: Re: EASY...

<quote>It is men like you that have...</quote>

The posts you're replying to were made as anonymous coward, why do assume they are men?

Bit-part actress slings sueball at IMDb over age gripe

The real tragedy is not that they deleted her scenes but that didn't delete all the other scenes as well.

The moment a computer crash nearly caused my car crash

Who is to blame?

This is clearly a system fault some of the commenters on this thread should try reading the article again. The problem developed on the journey so no-one was ignoring the "service me" warning for to long. Randomly jumping between 20kph and normal speed is not a "limp mode" and if it occurs unexpectedly on a motorway is a fantastic way to kill a lot of people. I'm also not sure how you tell if one of your wheels is parked on a patch of black ice when traction control and abs are working very hard to make sure you don't notice it at all. As for being "too feckin reliant on you cars technology" pretty much all modern cars today use embedded computers and you can't switch them off. You are forced to be reliant on the car's technology the moment you sit in the driver's seat. I do agree it would have been wiser to find a safe place to pull over as soon as the problems started however cars are used by a range of users, young and old, wise and foolish. A safety critical embedded system available to the general public should be designed with this in mind. It needs to be rugged, fault tolerant and forgiving

Speaking as software test manager with 16 years of experience I would say that the project manager and the test manager should both be answering some very hard questions. Embedded computers in cars that cover such areas as engine management, traction control and anti-lock brakes are perfect examples of safety critical systems. Such systems require a disproportionate amount of testing using very rigorous risk analysis techniques (I would definitely include FMEA amongst those techniques). These systems are supposed to operate correctly in a huge range of conditions. The idea that one wheel spinning much faster that the other because of a small patch of slippery road under one of the tyres was not catered for or that the system could be placed in the state where it was behaving so erratically is shocking.

Laptop bags: 13- and 14-inchers

Osprey Momentum

I'm moving early in the new year and will need to commute by bike and train with a 14" laptop. Laptop bags that are well suited for cyclists appear to be a bit rare. I finally settled on the Osprey Momentum. Costly but jammed with useful cycling features and containg a well padded laptop sleeve.

TV writer quells rumours of Doctor Who movie

Could it possibly be any worse than 'Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 ad'?

There answer is probably 'yes it could'

Still if Hollywood did do a big budget version they almost certainly wouldn't Michael Bay to direct.

Bugger

Acer releases second-gen Android tablet

I've seen a number of Android tablets that look good but I am hoding out till Google impliment the one critical feature missing from a tablet OS; Multiuser support.

Unlike a phone which is a very personal device a tablet in the home stands a good chance of being shared and each user should be able to have their own docs, app settings and stored cookies and passwords, etc.

I've also thought that one of the best places for a tablet is the kitchen so you can have music while you cook, recipe books or read the news with your breakfast. It would be good to find a tablet that can stand up to that environment (steam, and splash resistance)

Facebook now has 1,000 times the referrals of Google+

Unfortunately superiotrity is not the deciding factor.

@AC 13:45

Couldn't agree more. I have a G+ account and much prefer it to FB. It is more flexible in contact grouping, cleaner and less cluttered and the privacy settings don't mutate into something incomprehensible every 5 minutes.

Unfortunately that doesn't matter because the vast majority of my friends and family are on FB and they aren't eager to migrate to G+ because the vast majority of their friends and family are on, well you get the idea.

Migration from a social network (especially one with such a vast user base as FB) is tricky and will happen slowly if at all.

I even tried Diaspora which has a feel and contact groupings very similar to G+ but it looks like that is going nowhere.

Microsoft and Samsung uncloak slimmer Surface

@Chris 19

"If they made it smaller, say 32" screen or less, fairly thin so it could be laid flat (preferably with a slight slant) on a table"

Err it's not laid on a table, it IS a table (otherwise the 45kg would be awkward).

Also you probably want to avoid the "slight slant" bit. Table multi-touch systems are designed with multi user collaboration in mind. so you want people to be able to stand around it and use it easily from all sides. This requires that it is both level and also reasonably large .

'Hands free' pissing contest games installed in boozer

Once again women are marginalised in computer gaming.

They're taking the piss.

Compact Disc death foretold for 2012

@Mark 65

You can buy FLAC from Magnatune as well as VBR MP3, AAC and OGG.

They may not have mainstream artists but it is still mostly very good stuff.

They also allow unlimited free streaming and flexible prices.

Nude lady recreates Star Wars tauntaun scene in dead horse

And I thought they smelled bad on the outside.

Seattle superhero arrested for assault

Re: "You don't need to dress up in a costume to do that"

"Like the costumes the cops don't wear, then"

Actually the police wear 'uniforms' the difference is that: -

a. They have to wear them (It's part of the job rather than for fun or to feed a delusion).

b. The purpose is to identify them as police officers to members of the public.

Mr Jones wears a costume. The only way the same conditions could apply is if: -

a. He has to wear it because the voices in his head tell him to.

b. The purpose is to identify him to the public (as a nutter).

Bletchley Park lands £4.6m restoration bonanza

Good news

Bletchley Park was as critical to deciding the outcome of WWII as anywhere and as if that wasn't enough was also the birthplace of modern computing. This place deserves to be protected and to become the great visitors attraction it could be so future generations can learn of the brilliant ground-breaking work that was done at Bletchley and why we all owe so much to those who served there.

I have been a couple of times and intend to visit again. i would recommend it to anyone especially if they have an interest in history, computing or cryptography.

I hope they pass a some of the money on to the NMC.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs is dead at 56

I am no fan of Apple products or their buisiness practices but their is no denying Steve Job's vision, passion or impact on the industry. 56 is no age to die.

RIP.

Amazon's cloudy vid-tablet breaks cover: Not an iClone

Oh dear.

I have a number of friends with Kindles and they look perfectly suited to the job they were designed for, reading books. e-ink gives you easy eye-strain free reading even in bright sunlight and weeks of usage between charges. Back lit LCD gives you neither of those things.

The only improvements I would make would be the ability to read docs and maybe pictures from an SD card and colour e-ink which would be handy for things like graphic novels and parents reading books to young children that have pictures (the books not the children).

There are other e--readers but the kindle seems to be by far the most popular. Every time I commute to or from work I see several people on the train reading kindles and occasionaly one persion reading a different e-reader. Why are Amazon moving from the e-reader market where they dominate into the already busy tablet market where their offering is mediocre at best? I can't help feeling it is linked to their decision to host an Android app store.

The upside is that my girlfriend is getting me a kindle for my birthday and I am happy that I won't be disspointed that I missed out on the next version.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Worth the wait

I finished this over the weekend on the PS3 (trying the patience of my girlfriend in the process).

I have to say that I am very impressed. The game feels very much like the original with all the same themes (corporate power, conspiracy theories, the ethics of human augmentation, manipulation of the ordinary people by unseen powers), the same strong narrative and the same flexibility in game style. It is true that the boss fights are unavoidable but they are built into the narrative as well as can be expected. They have also avoided the many mistakes made by invible war.

Gameplay definitley favours stealth. I died several times on the easiest level by trying to get into straight fire fights with multiple opponents. However the stealth is a lot of fun to play and requires a lot of thoughtful planning, observation and care. Hiding behind a pillar a few feet away from guards who could kill you with ease waiting for them to split up so you can pick them off one by one is very tense and when you get it right very satisfying.

The praxis kits are expensive and aquiring them by experience is slow so working out the best way to spend them is quite a challenge. Invisibility sounds great but being able to hack computers and door locks is just as useful.

My main complaint is the lack of foodstuffs in the game. The special ability augmentations use a lot of juice and recharging them takes food. Why can I wander the market backstreets of a chinese city loaded with cash and be able to find ammo, grenades, silencers but I can't simply walk into a shop and buy some food. The shopkeeper simply comments that I am not a local and he doesn't want any trouble.

Their attempt at ragdoll physics could be improved as well.

I was very happy when I first learned the was going to be a new Deus Ex game. I have not been dissapointed and hope this breathes new life into a fantastic franchise.

Ridley Scott confirmed for Blade Runner pre/sequel

What's a tortoise?

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.

I've watched sea beams glitter in the darkness at Tanhauser Gate

But I won't be watching that.

Facebook flashplodder to appeal against 4-yr cooler stint

Re: So let me get this straight...

I think in these two situations there is clear distinction: -

Intent

If a person attempts to incite\organise a riot their intentions are clear and the fact that no-one turns up does not change what they attempted to do.

Likewise if a person organises a protest and cleary intends for be peaceful and law abiding then no blame should be assigned to them for organising it if it becomes violent. Guilt should however be assigned to anyone who is involved in the actual violence.

Wikipedia: It's not for girls

Re: But...

It's amazing what we can get away with now that we have lost the Moderatrix.

sigh.......

I miss her.

Not all bias is a bad thing.

'As Wikipedia continues to be a critical information resource, it is important that all voices be heard.'

Err no. If Wikipedia is a critical information resource it is important that the most intelligent and knowledgable men and women on that subject are heard. Reading the comments thread of almost any video on YouTube shows what happens in the internet when all voices can be heard.

Samsung plops out waterproof smartphone

Was it really necessary...

...to use the term 'plops out' and a picture of a phone smeared with brown stuff on an article published just before lunch? Ewwwww.

That said it's not a bad idea, the only concern I have with my HTC Desire is that it might not be rugged enough to stand up to the knocks and splashes of great outdoors. Everything else about it is great.

London rioters should 'loose all benefits'

Re Outsourcing

We could send them to the city Pripyat in the Ukraine.

No ones using it any more and they could have endless fun pretending they were in that really cool flashback level from Modern Warfare 1.

Nuclear explosion icon because of the radiation (which is perfectly safe (probably))

Re sigh

I am very grateful for our right to protest and sometimes genuine political protests do turn violent when there are clashes with the authorities. There are many such examples in recent history, the miner's strike, poll tax riots and anti-globalisation protests to name a few.

This is different, you don't protest to cause political or social change by burning down a small business person's shop or stealing flat-screen TVs and XBoxes. That is simply brutal violence and greed. However before we resort to the police and army shooting people on the streets perhaps we could try some of the non-lethal methods that have not yet been used; baton rounds, tear gas, water cannon (with dye in the water for later identification).

My uncle served in the army in Northern Ireland and told me of the day he stopped a rioter. The guy was apparently well over a six feet, built big, had some nasty weapon and was a threat to some nearby people. My uncle shot him in the arse with a rubber bullet and says the guy spent the next two hours sitting on the ground crying. I think rioting thugs will be a lot less destructive or smug if they are on the receiving end of some serious non-lethal anti-riot weapons.

The police could get a lot more forceful than they have been so far and be far better equipped to defend property and people (including themselves). However live rounds seems to be a lot more than is needed, a dangerous precedent to set on our streets and will create the risk of innocent people ending up as collateral damage.

I can't see this working.

Leaving the spelling mistake aside I think there are some serious problems with simply cutting their benefits.

I can understand why people are saying it. The idea of my taxes going to support lazy gits who will happily steal, and destroy innocent people's homes and businesses does not make me happy. However the reality is that even if these people wanted a job who in their right mind would want to employ them. Without benefits they have nothing at all. Now I know the idea of that gives a lot of people the satisfied warm inner glow of some well-deserved justice being done (me included) but there is an obvious drawback. Hundred or possibly thousands of people who have recent experience of breaking into shops and stealing whatever they want suddenly having no income but crime is a bad idea.

Those convicted should keep their benefits but be forced to work for them. picking up litter, cleaning graffiti and doing every crap job that local councils don't have time or manpower for (no jobs lost). Let them help undo the damage they have done. If they were also radio tagged with ankle bracelets they would be unable to subsidise their benefits with more crime. They could be monitored with home curfew and daily reporting to the local police station.

Getting their hands dirty doing some hard graft might have some other benefits.

Acquiring a little of self-esteem by doing some actual good.

Learning some basic work ethicsby having to earn the money (both of these are long shots I know)

Earning the forgiveness of the communities they have harmed

Maybe doing something that could lead to a real job (tricky given the type of work they would be doing but you never know)

Just an idea but it seems better than cutting all money from people happy to commit crime, putting in prison which is probably more expensive than benefits or giving them a consequence free slap on the wrist if we don't have room in the prisons.

Google points finger at human after robo car accident

Re: Re: Re: Re: Humans

"What (some) humans possess far in excess of any machine though is cognitive thought. The ability to analyse a growing situation before it becomes dangerous"

This is true. However it is very often not the case as the driver in question is a lack-witted cretin in a world of their own and will happily pull out of a T-junction into a motorbike, or plough into the back of someone else as they come to a stop at some traffic lights.

The computer controlled car is unlikely to ever be 100.000% safe but I don't believe that there is any difficulty making it safer than a human.

I don't see the human in the car acting as a backup for a number of reasons.

1. The computer will almost certainly react to the situation before the driver.

2. As you say the driver who has spent many journeys allowing the car to drive itself won't be paying much attention.

3. If there is a computer failure the car may very well be totally unresponsive.

The main reason for allowing the human to take control at all is pleasure. Many people enjoy driving and cruising down long country roads is probably less fun if you can't do the driving. I don't think many people would want to give that up.

Hmmm this whole topic does raise an interesting question about legal responsibility in a crash where the car at fault was computer controlled.

Re Humans

"Humans have vision, senses and reactions far in excess of any machine."

Are you kidding?

Machine reactions are many times better than any human could ever hope to achieve. The best reliable reaction time a human is typically capable of is about a fifth of a second. A current Antilock brake system will react 40 times a second. Human senses can't see black ice, they cant see in infra-red or millimetre wave radar (which is useful for spotting things like bricks and potholes even in pitch black). A machine will be just as alert at 3 in the morning after 5 hours of motorway driving as it is doing a 5 minute run to the shops.

"Humans drive perfectly well when they're in a fit state to drive."

over a milion deaths and about 40 million injuries a year worldwide suggest otherwise.

The Google car has managed 160,000 accident free miles, I am pretty sure that it encountered a reasonable number of bricks, pieces of glass, potholes and other assorted unexpected hazards in that time.

The fact of the matter is that while there is a lot of work need to program and test a computer controlled car to make it very safe in all likely situations. Getting one to be safer than the average human driver with current technology is a pretty easy challenge.

Boxing boomers bounced building in Seoul

Skyscraper shaking?

This has already been done.

8th August 1992 the Metropolitan Police contacted the British Geological Survey suspecting there was an eathquake in London as a number of blocks of flats in the Frinsbury area were shaking and needed to be evacuated.

The BGS concluded the the the Audience at the Madness gig in Frinsbury Park were jumping up and down at the resonant frequency of the blocks of flats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madness_%28band%29

Gamer claims complete console collection

Tomytronic 3D handheld games

Couldn't see any or do single game devices not count.

Still it is a very impressive collection.

17 flock to see Gordon Ramsay turkey

Good reviews on IMDB

The good reviews on IMDB seem to mostly be from America wher they lap up British romantic comedies like they were fecking Shakespeare. All it needs is a charmingly befuddled Hugh Grant walking past in the background and would win an Oscar.

£121!!! Those 1970's ads before the trailers for a flock wallpapered indian restaurant not 5 minutes from this movie theatre saw a better return.

Winklevoss twins drop Facebook settlement appeal

re quit moaning its how IT works..

What eaxactly did Zuckerburg steal?

1. There were plenty of social networking sites and the only thing that made the Winklevoss' idea different is the exclusivity that doesn't exist on Facebook. Hardly stealing.

2. The Winklevoss twins' site would have been deliberately limited to one university (Havard). If Facebook had stolen and stuck with this idea it would be worth approximately fuck all. and the Winklevoss' share of that would be a very small percentage of fuck all.

3. The Winklevoss twins didn't write a single line of code. Zuckerburg did. They just came up with an idea and expected someone else to do the work to impliment it. They made millions out of it so they should just shut the hell up and be grateful.

I don't like Mark Zuckerburg, he has no respect for personal privacy and the frequent stealth changes to Facebook account settings show this. He rreally needs someone to explain the meaning of 'None of your damn buisiness!!!'. However that said he is far more deserving of and responsible for the success of Facebook than the Winklevoss twins who clearly have no cause for appeal.

Dam Busters dog dubbed 'Digger'

Reminds of the South Park episode 'Free Hat'

Coming this summer the re-re-re-release of Saving Private Ryan*

*All the guns have been digitally replaced with walkie talkies and the term 'Nazi' has been changed to 'Persons of political differences'.

I'd also like to complain

My name is Colin and I feel offended and marginalised that my name won't be used in the film and has not even appeared in this this thread (until now).