Posts by TRT

Satanic Renault takes hapless French bloke on 200km/h joyride

Re: Toyotas - @TRT

It works out about the same for me. I swapped my old Rover metro auto for a Prius when it died. The VED covers 75% of the loan repayments, the fuel cost is the same per mile as the Rover, it drives pretty much the same. The congestion charge discount, I've just lost thanks to bl**dy Boris. It's hardly worth investing the extra cost of the car for just two years. The servicing is more expensive, as it requires pretty specialised tools for many jobs and I used to do the servicing on the Rover myself... but the fact I've not had to dip into my spares and repairs fund yet is good - the Rover was always in need of a new exhaust or a new radiator pipe or whatever.

Anyway, I tried out the key trick, and it clamps my key on READY regardless of whether it's been moving, put in gear or anything.

Re: Human IT interface problem

He's right about the brakes, though. I hired a Peugeot a couple of years ago, and it was a total bitch to drive, the brake was that twitchy.

Re: Toyotas - @TRT

I shall try that tonight...

You know the best thing about owning a Prius? The drinks holder is just the right size for my wheatgrass and acanthus smoothie.

Re: Toyotas - @Khaptain

Prius-

The keyfob *IS* locked into the dash whilst the car is in ACC, II or READY mode. There are sprung teeth which hold the fob in.

The parking mechanical bit does not engage if the car is in motion, the computer takes care of that, and it's a weird arsed 11-toothed gear that engages a 10-toothed hole or something like that.

But this is by design to prevent the car tearing itself to pieces. The vehicle HAS been designed to offer various emergency stop at speed scenarios. It's a seriously over-engineered piece of kit, and the various "acceleration" issues are either faked or idiotic drivers.

Burger King's tweets fried after hijackers pimp Big Macs

Re: Backfired?

Ha! Have you seen the roll-over tip for that post-icon?!

Re: Backfired?

They wanted to start a flame-grilled war.

Higgs data shows alternate reality will SWALLOW UNIVERSE

Re: Give it a name

The Big Bopper.

Re: I've thought this for years.

Any self-respecting universe wouldn't be seen dead in Grimsby high street.

Re: @ Change an input and “you get a different end of the universe.

Step through that door and the anomaly will be corrected...

Re: You can't bake a universe without breaking Higgs

Unicorns? A source of cheap filler for burgers...

Re: When bubbles collide!

I've heard that weeping angles are very dangerous.

Re: When?

It might *start* the alternate universe. Irony, eh?! In an attempt to understand the soap bubble, we invent the pin.

iUniverse 2.0?

Own a drone: Fine. But fly a drone with a cam: Year in the clink

It seems to me...

that attaching micro-cams to your toys is the big new thing in the world of modelling. I was at a model railway show at the weekend, and they had a driver's eye view from one of the trams, with a mock-up of the driver's controls so that people could have a go. Half the layouts had train cams, whereas a couple of years ago there were only one or two. I can see the appeal even more for aviation modelling. You can even get controllers with built in LCD screens now. This seems a case where intention is the culprit rather than the technology. Why not insist that all of these hobbyist cameras transmit unencrypted/scrambled?

Crucial question after asteroid near-miss: How big was rock in Olympic pools?

And a few days later...

this happens. Coincidence? I think not.

Any storm in a port

Re: They ARE fiendish

Isn't that Apple's new connector?

'Bah, this Apple Shop is full of APPLES'

Re: I was there last summer with friends.

I bought some, but I couldn't get the top off. Turns out I was holding the bottle wrong.

Re: I know of this shop

Do they provide core services?

They didn't hang up.

The pips went.

The official iPhone actually runs Android - in Brazil

It's about time...

they had a strip or two torn off them.

Paris, because she knows about Brazilians.

Spanish boffins increase GPS accuracy by 90%

Re: Patent? prior art?

It's been a part of the Prius sat-nav since, ooh, about 2003. Inclinometers and gyroscopes which form part of the anti-skid system, augmented further by the high precision axle rotation sensors which the hybrid drive requires (you have to manually calibrate the nav system every now and again to allow for tyre wear which is best done on a long, straight motorway), and a position sensor on the steering shaft, which is part of the electrically-power-assisted steering.

Still that's all expensive stuff and even then brings the accuracy down to only a metre at best.

Intel's new TV box to point creepy spy camera at YOUR FACE

Re: Tape

Three-legged mosquitoes, yeah.

Re: Tape

EULA is the cry of the Martian invaders as they finally conquer humanity and drain their very lifeblood to feed themselves.

Re: Headcount?

Given how often the facial recognition technology in e.g. Picasa asks me to create a new person when it's spotted a particular configuration of tree branches or light switches or 3-pin socket or shadow on the wall...

Mind you, it wouldn't be too bad for Dr Who, as we all hide behind the sofa when that's on anyway.

Not a camera...

A finger swipe on the remote, because he (or she) who rules the remote, rules the world (of what you watch on TV).

Montana TV warns of ZOMBIE ATTACK in epic prank hack

Re: The government are VERY worried about zombies...

Unfortunately getting them to pay up has been a problem. There's some sort of issue with all the IRS auditors getting eaten. So maybe they're doing their part after all.

Obvious troll. If the IRS auditors paid a visit to a zombie, that zombie would go hungry. No spicy brains, no beating heart, no guts, no spine...

The government are VERY worried about zombies...

because they haven't, as yet, determined their tax status.

Rogue Squadron: Unit of X-wings Kickstarts in response to Death Star

Down the road from Silicon Roundabout...

there's a café that puts out its waste sacks on the pavement every evening. The bags are labelled "Imperial Waste Disposal". Every time I see them I think "They're destined for the trash compactor."

Multi-billion Euro broadband fund obliterated by EU budget cut

Re: HS2?

Ah. You have a point. But isn't that the same problem that HS2 faces? You can shave 30 minutes of your trip down from the north, but lose it again in the cab on the Euston Road.

Re: HS2?

Of course, they *could* install a lot of very fat fibres alongside the rail-line if they ever get round to building it.

Illicit phone rings in Sri Lankan inmate's back crack

Re: No

He'd barred his cell mate anyway.

I like the positioning of this story...

right next to an item about Bring Your Own Device being a Pain In The Arse.

Pope resigns months after launching social networking effort

Re: So much for infallibility

Papal infallibility is restricted to a rather specific set of circumstances. Outside of those, he's free to FAIL as excellently as the rest of us.

El Reg contemplates the ultimate cuppa

However you make it...

it's not a technician's tea until it's been stirred with a screwdriver.

My tea

Every day tea

(1) Mug with either some obscure IT reference on it, or stolen from Garfunkel's. Unwashed to allow the patina to build.

(2) Tetley Extra Strong, 1 bag.

(3) Try and grab some boiling water from the work's kettle before it's stolen.

(4) Try and grab some 1% (orange top) milk which is mine before it all gets stolen even though it is f***ing close to water which should put anybody off stealing it in the first place.

(5) Squeeze the bag and drink strong and hot.

Pot tea

(1) Warmed pot.

(2) One heaped teaspoon per cup with one for the pot of a ceylon/assam leaf blend.

(3) Pour boiling water from a great height into the pot to froth the tea.

(4) Show the pot the pictures.

(5) Cold milk into fine china cups, about 5% by volume.

(6) Pour tea through strainer.

Best tea in the world

(1) Throw a scoop of tea leaves into the stoker's pot with water drawn off from the cylinder cock drain valve. Stir with a spanner.

(2) Leave on the hotplate next to the firebox for about six miles.

(3) Tie a rope onto the handle and spin furiously around out of the cab between stations to centrifuge down the leaves.

(4) Pour the supernatant into two enamel mugs, each with a generous splash of unpasteurized milk. Use a coal hammer to knock a lump off the sugarloaf kept wrapped in brown parcel paper and drop in mug.

(5) Hand one mug to the driver and enjoy, ignoring the oil slick on the top, as that's what gives it the flavour.

Now UK must look out for crappy SPACE weather - engineers

Does this mean we need to build more...

Space Hardened Information Technology to put into orbit?

Tracy brothers are back: Thunderbirds Are Go! again in 5... 4... 3...

Re: I wonder...

Hell, who's for a CGI remake of Crown Court? Yeah. That'll rock the Law & Order boat.

Re: F-A-B

It was made up.

Team America...

Suitably adult enough for you?

Re: UFO

There is already a film in production. And has been for several years.

Re: I'm worried...

I don't know if it's attention span... I think the new Doctor Who format suffers from lack of story development because of the time constraints. The old 4x30 minute story is, IMHO, better than the 1x55 minutes story. Do you remember Jon Pertwee sitting around in a lab trying a dozen revisions of gadgets and potions? Much more real-world than "oh, let's wave the sonic and resurrect 1/3 of the population" we've seen of late.

Yes, well...

Look at what happened when they moved Thomas from model to CGI.

I'm worried...

Only 30 minute episodes? The original episodes were a shade under 60 minutes long which allowed for much greater story development and the extended launch sequences that we all love. When they re-edited the shows down to 30 minute jobs with cliff-hangers and "Last time..." they became almost unwatchable.

The truth on the Navy carrier debacle? Industry got away with murder

Re: Chocolate Teapot

"PEACE ... through mutually inadequate firepower!!"

Mutually Inadequate and Low Firepower.

Yeah.

Re: Chocolate Teapot

Re. Dauntless. It could only fire if fired upon. And by then it may well be too late. Remember the Sheffield? They thought they'd be able to spot the launch of the aircraft that fired the weapon that hit that ship.

Re: Chocolate Teapot

Well... except Argentina, of course.

Kids as young as FIVE need lessons in online safety - NSPCC

Re: IPv6

Is that how IPv6 works? Named packets? Is DNS a thing of the past? I should go and read up on this...

IPv6

I've not actually got my hands on any IPv6 gear in anger yet... what's it like setting up filtering compared to IPv4? I mean, I can and have set up at the firewall access to BBC (News, Weather and BiteSize) and Wikipedia only for all traffic from all devices save my 'grown ups' laptop. Easy peasy. No social media, no email, no photosharing, no YouTube, no iPlayer etc. Will I have to relearn a skillset?

Schoolgirl's Hello Kitty catonaut soars to 93,000ft

Re: Hydrogen FTW

I'll ask my mate up at Hogwarts, Nearly Laughed My Arse Off Nick.

Apple blocks Java on the Mac over security concerns

And it mediate our VPN solution... lots of calls from lecturers unable to access journals anymore...