Posts by genghis_uk

Make cyberwar a no-no equal to nukes, bio, and chemical attacks, says RSA headman

Give PCs a chance man!

Ok, sorry, I'm going...

India's spooks prepare to peer through their own PRISM

Searching Forums?

Just go to one of the Call of Duty forums and hide in plain sight - way too many false positives on Bomb, Kill, Attack etc…

(Oh dammit - ***flagged***)

High-end Samsung slabs, cheapie Androids take healthy BITE out of Apple's market share

Re: Laughable

Meanwhile in the real world.... Yes Apple sales were stagnant - for the last quarter!

All figures for public companies are presented quarterly, sales and profit/loss are measured quarter on quarter and against the same quarter as last year. It is not micro-nitpicking it is business statistics!

Just because something new is coming next quarter does not mean that this quarter is meaningless. The figures are still the same. Saying "I'm sorry Mr Shareholder, this quarter's sales figures are crap but just wait until you see next quarter" is the Board's job and they have to adjust forecasts accordingly.

So the next figures will be fourth quarter and year end - maybe then you will be happy with the annual numbers. No-one is interested in day on day or even month on month (generally) but quarter figures are the backbone of company stats.

Amazon throws Kindle sale party after FAA aeroplane gadget fondle ruling

Re: Just a US rule?

In Europe they also make you turn them off if you are delayed while sat in the plane. A 1hr delayed takeoff last year finally made me go back to paper books for travelling.

I have used a Sony PRS-505 since they came out but no-one knew what it was until the Amazon marketing machine raised awareness of e-books. The kindle with WiFi get all e-books, even those without wireless banned.

Euro Parliament votes to end data sharing with US – the NSA swiped the bytes anyway

Re: So...

It's English dammit - from England! Calling it "British English" is just arrogant.

If the Yanks want to mess up the language at least they could have the decency to call it 'American'

/rant - need another beer!

Leaping SpaceX GRASSHOPPER ROCKET jumps 2,500ft, lands safely

Agreed - have an up-vote and I will say no more :)

Basically RUBBISH 'COMET of the Century' ISON snapped by HiRISE in Mars orbit

Re: Scrabble...

But you have to ask if it should be a word... Damn American verbization of everything!

100,000+ Earthlings star in 'reality TV contest' for ONE-WAY ticket to MARS

Humans left on their own...

So how long before one of the Alpha male types goes stir crazy, throws a couple of geek scientists out of an airlock and rapes Lucy?

First deaths and violent sex on live TV - Big Brother Gold! Ratings through the roof!

Radar gremlins GROUND FLIGHTS across southern Blighty

Re: Good

Not so sure about 3 degrees glideslope on my recent landing in Dallas Fort Worth!

I swear the BA pilot was an ex-harrier flyer and the spine shortening lading was one of the harshest I have ever had...

US public hate Snowden - but sexpot spy Anna Chapman LOVES him

The power of the press

Snowden was originally seen as a semi-hero for providing evidence that proved what a lot of people quietly suspected. However, a few weeks of smear campaign by a politically motivated press and he is now increasingly seen as a traitor.

US diplomat: If EU allows 'right to be forgotten' ... it might spark TRADE WAR

Re: SO what?

Yup US trade deficit $41.55bn last November - and that was considered to be an improvement.

Musos blast US copyright bods: 'ARTISTS MAKE LOUSY SLAVES!'

Re: The way to do it...

As someone who has tried it, the thought of becoming self sufficient through gigs is laughable let alone actually getting rich from them. The number of venues is getting smaller by the week and the amount they have to pay is being cut as they try to scrape a profit.

The live tour used to be essentially a loss maker to promote the album at one point. At best a break even with merchandising added in. Now this is seen as the main income...

Cray scales to over 100 petaflops with 'Cascade' XC30 behemoth

Someone changes the hot swap blower...

These things are not like data centres where you turn the lights out and have a skeleton support crew. Supers have an army of people looking after them - in fact the support contract is partly why they are so expensive.

Sacked British RIM staffers to get minimum legal payout

Re: Singapore?

Have to agree - Singapore is what you would get if the Swiss designed Kuala Lumpur. Very clean but mostly a large number of expensive shopping malls joined up by a really good transport system. A large number of ex-pats and everyone speaks English.

I prefer Bukit Bintang, KL though for all of it's oddities (or maybe because of them) :)

Protestors target Google over that video

Re: Eventually, un brainwashed folks ...

I think you forget the outrage that Monty Python's Life of Brian started. TV debates and the eventual ban of the film in a large number of cinemas. No sense of humour is allowed in organised religion

Google gets hands on 'glove-cam' patent

Re: On the toes??

Is that why it's called 'Patent Leather'?

<shuffle, shuffle, slam>

Court confirms $675,000 fine for sharing 30 songs

Re: "The day they hanged the lawyers"

Oh for crying out loud - when will people stop repeating the industry drivel?

This is Copyright infringement not theft. Nothing was stolen.

Now repeat 100 times by sunrise or I'll cut your balls off...

New US rule aims to crack down on Congolese capacitors

So the Chinese move in, mine the minerals and declare they are of Chinese origin...

Prove otherwise!

Can't see this being useful.

Sony opens cover on latest e-Reader

e-books and airoplanes

I have been using my PRS-505 since it came out around 2007 and have never needed to change it. Everything works and I prefer to use a button rather than a touchscreen anyway.

However, now the Kindle has raised awareness of e-books I keep getting told to turn my book off on planes despite its lack of wifi... The thing is permanently in airplane mode and the processor is less likely to interfere with controls than the few hundred digital watches on board!

For years I have traveled with a small, light library that I could read during the eternal wait for takeoff and landing but now the trolley dollies recognise an e-book and tell me to turn it off - even, as a few weeks ago, when we are sitting on the taxiway, delayed for an hour or more... Exactly when a book is handy!

So I now have to carry a backup dead tree version thanks to Amazon's advertising and a lack of tech savvy in the airline world.

Not really related but I just needed to share :)

Samsung SMACKDOWN: US appeals court keeps ban on Galaxy Tab

Another one sided US patent story

So the US upholds a complaint against a non-US company...

Nothing to see here, move along.

Just another legal way to create a trade barrier.

El Reg official units of measurement: Linguine, Jubs, Hiltons and all

Another example

Can I also submit the Channel 4 mobile phone unit of measurement:

"The Sequoia is capable of performing roughly the same number of operations per second as 10 million mobile phones put together."

http://www.channel4.com/news/ibms-sequoia-sets-milestone-in-computer-development

No mention of what mobile phone or what particular NukeWatch app they are running...

'Apple will coast, and then decelerate' says Forrester CEO

Re: Huh?

Not quite true - Betamax was technically superior but VHS had more porn available...

Surprise: Neil Young still hates digital music

What happened there???

One minute R&B was Rhythm and Blues (ok, with a bit of Soul, Funk and Rock 'n' Roll thrown in at various times).

Then it suddenly became people unable to hold a note, wailing endless scales with little or no rhythm at all - looking at you Ms. Carey...

The 80'shave a lot to answer for musically!

Apple files avatar automation, emotion patents

Breaking the patent system

Now if that was really the underlying reason I would applaud Apple... Not very likely though - it is much more likely that they are just setting themselves up with more lawsuit ammo

Titan Unveiled

Nice but...

Will it play Crysis 2 in Hi Def 3D???

Supercomputer simulates neutron star-black hole SMACKDOWN

Easy...

Most of it probably went on expensive German cars...

Man charged in bizarre EXPLODING VIBRATOR plot

Getting a bit excited there Sarah?

Must be a slow Friday...

Intel unveils itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny SSDs

Not quite...

These 'end of the hard drive' coments are so PC centered...

The problem is that SSDs are fast but expensive and small compared with hard drives. This year (2011) will see the introduction of 4TB 3.5" disks - I do not see SSD densities getting near that any time soon.

Also, sheer speed is handy in some applications but others required bulk storage. In a data center people would generally prefer to have big storage capacity as they can access drives in parallel for speed. The greater density allows more storage for the power and cooling required.

So for a home PC maybe but in enterprise applications HDDs will be around for a long time yet.

End of HDD? Not quite

These 'end of the hard drive' coments are so PC centered...

The problem is that SSDs are fast but expensive and small compared with hard drives. This year (2011) will see the introduction of 4TB 3.5" disks - I do not see SSD densities getting near that any time soon.

Also, sheer speed is handy in some applications but others required bulk storage. In a data center people would generally prefer to have big storage capacity as they can access drives in parallel for speed. The greater density allows more storage for the power and cooling required.

So for a home PC maybe but in enterprise applications HDDs will be around for a long time yet.

Air Force blocks access to sites that covered WikiLeaks

Land of the Free

Didn't China do something similar with sites reporting the Tiananmen Square story?

Lincs authority lets schools decide on Pagan lessons

No title...

Go on admit it Sarah - you saw a really long post and only read the first line didn't you :o)

Gigabit WLAN tech to shoulder Wireless DisplayPort

PAL?

So what clever committee decided to use PAL (protocol adaption layer) in relation to an A / V transmission standard?

I realise this is a networking environment but when someone says video and PAL there may just be a bit of confusion...

NHS: Big tech might be OK for patient power

Doh!

Am I the only one who always thinks of the Homer Simpson Doh! whenever the DoH is concerned?

Media indoctrination or subconcious morphing to match reality???

<Hmmmm Beeer...>

Space butterflies invade ISS

Painted Ladies?

I bet the guys on the ISS were a bit upset when they heard a group of painted ladies were turning up and all they got was butterflies...