* Posts by Richard 125

13 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jul 2009

Copper prices push cable thefts to new high

Richard 125
Headmaster

Point Failure

The railways aren't like trainsets - the running lines themselves aren't electrified. Power is supplied either through overhead lines in the case of the West Coast Mainline (WCML) and East Coast Mainline (ECML) or through a third rail in the case of many suburban lines, especially around South London. In any case you can't electrify the main running rails due to the fact they have vehicles with metal wheels and axles running on them, causing short circuits. Why not remove the shorts by insulating the axles? Well, modern signalling uses defined sections of track for containing trains and in order to indicate whether a section is occupied a small current is passed through the rails (not enough to harm or power equipment) and when the train passes over that section a circuit is created and a light turns on in the signaller's console.

Signals and motorised points (or "switches" if you're American) require quite a bit of power to operate.

The railways are very old, cover 12k miles and the infrastructure lasts a long time and costs a lot of money. Replacing all that legacy cable with fibre is going to take a long time and a lot of money.

EU Parliament calls for pan-EU copyright law

Richard 125
Thumb Down

That whoosing sound is the point going past you

It's not about how good/bad the UK laws are, it's about the fact that different countries which trade closely with one another have different laws. The point of regulation harmonisation is to make it simpler for firms to trade with, and consumers to purchase from, other countries.

Voting reform finally on the agenda

Richard 125

Missing link?

You can still have a link between constituents and members of parliament in a PR system.

Under STV several constituencies are merged into one constituency with several MPs, say one for each City or Borough. MP seats are allocated based on candidates' share - so the link is maintained.

So instead of having 1 MP per constituency, maybe someone who you may not even like or whom may not be sympathetic to your concerns, you have a choice of representatives to approach.

See also http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/downloads/PRMyths.pdf

Xmas kicks off on 2 August

Richard 125
Pirate

What have the Romans ever done for us?

They gave us Easter.

If you're going to complain about the use of "Xmas" then allow me to complain about the Christian appropriation of a pre-existing mid-winter celebration. Yarr!

Drinking coffee offers no real benefit, say eggheads

Richard 125

Coffee? Ha! For that alert morning feeling nothing beats...

...a 50/50 mix of Red Bull* and Lucozade.

It doesn't just "give you wings". The combination of caffeine and sugars really picks you up... and throws you across the room.

* Or other stimulation drinks like Relentless or Red Rooster, etc.

'Health and safety killjoys' kill cheese-rolling race

Richard 125
WTF?

Stupidity? Where?

The only stupidity here is 15k people going to a venue with vastly insufficient capacity. Concern for people possibly getting hurt isn't "pathetic" but is actually "considerate" and "responsible".

Discrimination warning over airport body scanners

Richard 125
Headmaster

I guess you didn't watch the Bill's debate then

"Positive Action" is where someone who is, for example, physically disabled and is as academically qualified or as skill as any other candidate for a job receives enough support (from advisors, etc.) to ensure that their condition does not act as a hindrance. It is NOT to give ANYONE any undue advantage. It is for ensuring candidates are only judged on their relevant skills or qualifications.

Richard 125
Stop

"Let me tell you internets it's not easy being white"

It's a short list of examples of those groups usually targetted by idiots - hence it says "especially" and not "this only applies to", etc. It is not an exhaustive list.

HP loses massive DWP contract

Richard 125
Headmaster

I can name more than one...

...all of which were shortlisted for Project Excellence awards last year.

National Grid - Planning for Success

Defra / IBM – Energy efficiency research project

West Sussex Accessible Services Partnership - Street cleaning tracking at Crawley Borough Council

The Rivers Agency, Northern Ireland - Strategic flood map

Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals - BloodTrack

Kent Connects - Kent Public Services Network

Leicestershire Constabulary / Point to Point - Mobile data

NHS / Concentra - Cancer Commissioning Toolkit

Norfolk Constabulary / enCircle Solutions - Intelligence briefing & tasking

Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel - Shared service centre

Ministry of Defence / Capgemini - Defence Travel Online

HM Revenue & Customs – Self Assessment Online

You were saying?

France floats Google music-and-movie tax

Richard 125
Paris Hilton

Well...

Yes, France has culture. French culture in fact. That's how you can tell they're French and not Italian.

Paris, named after a place with plenty of something she could do with more of.

Blind gamer sues Sony

Richard 125
FAIL

@Gordon Pryra

Anyone can learn to read brail. People with visual impairments can't learn to see.

Microsoft's Windows 7 price gamble - and why it's flawed

Richard 125
Linux

Why upgrade anyway?

Windows 7? Windows 8? I'm just finishing up installing (my free MSDN copy of ) Vista on my new, shipped-OS-less pc. For the last 6 years I've been running XP Pro. The only reason I've changed OS is because of the new machine and the free OS. Otherwise it would have been XP again. I upgrade OS only when necessary, not just for the fun of it, so I won't be upgrading to 7 or 8 or any other until it is again necessary. See you in 6 years Microsoft!

Feminist org declines nude calendar cash

Richard 125
Paris Hilton

"I'm a feminist!" "No I'm a feminist!" "I'm a feminist and so's my wife!"

Apparently being free to do what you want with your own body, even raising cash for a very worthy cause, isn't the right kind of feminism. This stinks of a "I'm more feminist than thou" attitude from SWA. I'm sure there is a less pious charity somewhere who really needs the help at the moment.

Paris, because she doesn't need a charity for an excuse.