* Posts by Brutus

214 publicly visible posts • joined 11 May 2007

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Boffin snatches control of colleague's body with remote control brain hat

Brutus

Actually, the friend's brain will still be sending the signals, it's just that there is a cable break preventing the signal from reaching the muscle. This tech could prove very interesting for those with loss of muscle function, particularly if they can set up the feedback function, too.

Oh noes! New 'CRISIS DISASTER' at Fukushima! Oh wait, it's nothing. Again

Brutus

Re: Watching the NHK channel last year had...

"long term effects of the damaged rector" tend to be minimal, but the short term ones are of the order of dropped babies at christenings and garbled names at weddings. Or falling into open graves (I've seen it happen!).

May threatens ban on 'hate-inciting' radicals, even if they don't promote violence

Brutus
Go

@diacritic

And by the same brush, we can ban the Labour party for inciting hatred of the rich and successful. And bankers.

Spam and the Byzantine Empire: How Bitcoin tech REALLY works

Brutus
Happy

Sunshine -> Money

Well, you could always hook your mining rig up to a bunch of PV panels and turn sunshine into money instead!

Vandals break into congressman's office, install Linux on PCs

Brutus
Coffee/keyboard

Re: It's an attack against what we stand for, for free elections.

Misread your title as free ELECTRONS! I'm totally behind free electrons ;-)

'Young people don't want to become like us', say IT pros

Brutus

Re: Bad pay? You're looking in the wrong place

AC 12:45

"Getting laid yet?"

Really? Are we still working on that sad old theme or are you just allowing your jealousy to get the better of you?

Getting laid has little to do with your job, and a lot more to do with your approach.

Cameron's F-35 U-turn: BAE Systems still calls the shots at No 10

Brutus

Re: Flip-flop-flip

Not sure I understand your point.

If Lewis thought the f-35B was shit, and he thought the f-35C was shit, why would he not still think the f-35B is still shit when the govenment u-turned?

It's all about the merits of one plane over another; not, as you seem to be implying, the merits of one variant over another.

Brutus

Re: Eurofighter???

Hmm, so the tornado is 25% more expensive than a harrier? Seems like a bloody huge amount to me.

CIA's DARPA working on human-brain-mimicking tech

Brutus
Headmaster

It's not Thy...

it's Thou. :) Thy is possessive - I think. Thee and Thou being dative and nominative. Or somesuch, it's a long time since my grammar classes.

Amazon refudiates Apple 'app store' trademark suit

Brutus

Err, missed the point much ...

or just not read the article?

Brutus
Headmaster

Actually

It's not. It's a proper noun referring to the big river or the warrior women :-)

Multimillionaire's private space ship 'can land on Mars'

Brutus
FAIL

@Twelvebore

So, in your world, everyone should should invent everything from scratch (and presumably discover the physical principles behind the inventions as well) in order for you to recognise their achievement ?

US Navy laser cannon used to set boat aflame

Brutus
Grenade

Really?

Will this apply to all weapon systems, or just those invented recently? Personally, I'd like all distance killing systems banned - from the slingshot up to the ICBM.

Fukushima fearmongers are stealing our Jetsons future

Brutus
Grenade

Hmm,

you'd really like a full-scale nuclear disaster (i.e. not what's going on now) just so Lewis et al have to eat crow? you're a lovely person!

US robot ornithopter spy-hummingbird in flight test triumph

Brutus
Boffin

...ird's flight time

Is apparently in excess of eight minutes - that being the minimum performance requirement from DARPA according to the press release.

RIM boss: 'Our PlayBook shames the You Know What'

Brutus
Pint

Groan!

you will be pun-ished for that in the next life :)

Man stabbed to death by chicken

Brutus
FAIL

@ac 14:29

When deploying the Grammar Nazi alert, one should re-read the original article, any comments to which one is replying and one's own text before posting - just in case one inadvertently shows one's self up. Case in point: you have come to an entirely unlikely conclusion (albeit providing a good hook for a pun) because you did not pay attention to the period of time between wounding and death.

Two HOURS, not days.

Japan plans space debris fishing trip

Brutus
Pint

um

wouldn't that be TWO months early? Otherwise I'll be pissed off at missing my birthday beers!

50m-year-old mystery space object doesn't look a day over 30

Brutus
Boffin

Actually

It's empty of one singularity :)

DARPA orders miracle motor for its flying car

Brutus
Flame

I take it you've never seen "Airplane"

and thus do not know about "Otto". Or real-world autopilot systems with automated landing systems.

Why would we drink koolaid when there's a pint of Old Peculier to be had in front of a real fire?

Robot teddy bears attack Alzheimer's

Brutus
FAIL

@Bryce 2

Skitt's Law. Oh, the irony!

Looser ;-)

US Special Ops robot whispercopter crashes in Belize

Brutus

Or possibly at least six

since this would appear to be the latest in a line of prangs. It would be interesting to know how many of these prototypes/test craft they have flying if they've managed to crash six but are going to carry on with the program.

Death by iPod: beware the zombie trance

Brutus
Megaphone

it's the combo..

wandering about with the sense of hearing blanked off can be hazardous but, as you point out, not noticable fatal; the increase in lethality occurs when you combine the loss of hearing with the loss of vision and general awarenesss you get from texting or checking your twitter feed or whatever.

Diesels greener than electric cars, says Swiss gov report

Brutus

Fair enough points

You do need to compare like for like. That would either include the feed stock to the refinery (and distribution to fuel pumps) or exclude the feedstock to the power-plant.

I would hazard a guess that if you look at the entire production chain things probably even out somewhat once you take into account mining of coal, construction of hydro-dams and oil rigs and the whole fun and games of nuclear.

Boffins baffled by mysterious Martian crater

Brutus
Alien

Yep...

About as big as the asteroid they used for stealthing the beast.

True Utility Scarab and KeyTool micro multi-tools

Brutus
Headmaster

Sorry mate, but

it you're going to compare over-zealous airport security staff with one of the most feared and reviled security services of the cold-war era, you could at least get their name right: Stasi.

Spurs soothsayer predicts Young Boys thrashing on Twitter

Brutus

Pardon my ignorance

but I don't understand* the issue. What was wrong with the tweet? Was it the thrashing of young boys that cause offence?

* I follow neither Twitter nor football.

Electric mass-driver catapults to beat Royal Navy cuts?

Brutus

Good point, but...

aren't the planes mainly made of ceramics, non-ferrous metals and carbon-fibre these days?

Navy SEALs to deploy armoured dogs in A'stan

Brutus
Coat

Is there an equivalent

Assi9 storm for flying donkeys?

Boffins develop greenhouse invisible to night-vision goggles

Brutus
Boffin

because

It's actually an affectionate term of respect and an aknowledgement of scientific or engineering expertise.

The wikipedia discussion page actually has a nice piece by a US boffin.

Imitate Real Ale quaffers, save the economy, says biz prof

Brutus
Pint

To be fair

Wetherspoons pubs normally have a quite wide range of real ales on sale (often well kept, too). It's just a shame that the pubs are generally frequented by chavs enticed in by the incredibly cheap fizzy-pop lager.

James Bond's autogyro revived by Brit spec-ops pilots

Brutus
Pint

fair enough

and thanks for the clarification.

have a pint.

Brutus
Black Helicopters

Not wanting to be picky, but ...

How did the autogyro sit stationary in the sky? As noted in the article, without a strong headwind, the things can't hover.

Apple antenna guru 'warned Steve Jobs' over Judas Phone

Brutus
FAIL

Rogerborg, do you know Charles personally?

If not, why the ad hominem attack?

Whilst I don't agree with Charles' interpretation of the numbers nor with his car anology, I see no reason to launch an attack on him or his friends. What evidence do you have that he's even in the UK, let alone within the M25? And how on earth do you manage to divine his trustafarian status from his post?

Bendy bike inventor scores design prize win

Brutus
Thumb Up

Possibly a good idea, if ...

the design prevents the bike from falling to the ground, causing a trip hazard and normally resulting in bent wheels.

El Reg marks Steve Jobs for termination

Brutus
Headmaster

Hmm, actually

I think you, Pierre, will find that you're after 'canon', unless you were thinking about the 30mm loading mantra :)

SCO rises from the dead (again)

Brutus
Pint

can't type for laughing!

Angus, I just love the imagery, it's going to keep me chuckling for hours.

Have virtual pint on me, mate :)

Microsoft set to make small job cuts, says report

Brutus
Headmaster

Americanism?

I don't think this is an Americanism, per se. I remember this construction being used when I was a child in Lancashire some thirty-odd years ago - long before our TV broadcasts were saturated with US-sourced tat.

New 3D displays use falling water drops as 'voxels'

Brutus

perhaps

It's the fact that you're viewing the video on a 2d display that is preventing you getting the full 3d experience? :)

London hospital hosted grumble flick shoot

Brutus
Troll

ODFO

It's considered 'news' because it a 'new' piece of information (for most people, at least) and I give a shit because it was amusing and cheered up my workday a little.

PARIS in hot glue gun action

Brutus
Joke

Errm, why?

Are you offering to use your extensive understanding of numerology to predict the outcome of the mission? :)

BBC wins go-ahead for Freeview HD content controls

Brutus

Eh?

Just what are you complaining about here? From my reading of this article, there now are essentially no barriers to recording HD content from the Beeb.

Wikileaks' US army 'leaker' arrested

Brutus
Stop

Hang on a mo'

I think you're going off the deep end here, Andus!

Lamo's defense is that he was worried about operational security in Iraq. Without going to wikileaks (not advisable from the office) I can't comment on whether this worried was justified or not, but I know I'd be rather pissed off if one of my friends was killed as result of the leaked intel.

Had Manning confined himself to leaking the videos, I bet Lamo wouldn't have done anything, but the 260,000 diplomatic cables could easily contain info useful to 'terrorists' and other 'bad people'. There's no way Manning read all that info before releasing it - there's just too much to read.

Site news: Track this forum

Brutus

Added Functionality

Could you add some kind of flag to the link that indicates when there are new comments? That would be very handy.

Greatest Living Briton loses £30m

Brutus

@AC

With 'Tom 38', we can at least maintain a semblance of continuity through an argument.

And, whilst you are correct in pointing out the cyclic nature of the global economy, there is still a significant amount that individual governments can do to affect their local economies. Compare and contrast Germany and Greece, for example.

Young Boozer seeks Alabama offie office

Brutus
Pint

Good Effort, Lester

Only 8:02am and it's time for that friday beer. I'm so jealous!

'World's largest' airship inflated in colossal Alabama cowshed

Brutus
Boffin

Payload

Apparently, the 1000 lb payload is for maximum height (20,000ft). The ships are designed to haul payloads as heavy as 15,000 pounds up to 2,500 feet (from their press release). Still only manages 80mph, though.

Boffins aim to warm watersports enthusiasts

Brutus

well

I thought the reference to 'boffins-for-hire' indicated that it aws privately funded. Dunno.

2012 Olympic mascots cop a shoeing

Brutus
Linux

Not that bad

Could have been much worse. And can we please stop channeling the daily mail frothers, too.

By far the more interesting thing to note is that the london2012.com website store accepts Visa ONLY ! (And cheques, whatever they are)

Ubuntu Unity interface flashed for speed freaks

Brutus
Grenade

How terribly patronising

Why do so many people insist on believing that older people (I assume that's the mom and pop that are being referred to) are useless at technology? At what age do you qualify for mom & pop status? 40? 50? 70? My father (72) is quite capable of understanding dual boot after less than five minutes of explanation.

People are, on average, averagely intelligent(!). I generally find that most of the issues surounding (mis)use of computers is down to inadaquate explanation of what is going on, not stupidity on the part of the user.

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