Nice to see an utterly
unbiased and objective report on «cyber espionage» from an impeccable and disinterested source....
Henri
Posts by mhenriday
1222 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Dec 2009
Federal advisors urge Congress to look into China's cyber attacks
Samsung turns screws on Apple, hikes A6 processor price 20%
Swedish boffins: An Ice Age is coming, only CO2 can save us
Monday 12th November 2012 19:30 GMT 
Please, Lewis, do learn how to read !
And while you're at it, please learn how to refrain from attributing your own opinions to others without presenting evidence that they indeed share them ! Wherever did you find the quote you attribute to Professor Franzen to the effect that «We are probably entering a new ice age right now. However, we're not noticing it due to the effects of carbon dioxide» (which in itself would indicate that the Professor agrees that anthropogenic contributions to the global carbon-dioxide cycle are, in fact, contributing to the global warming he recognises as taking place) - it certainly does not appear in the article to which you link. Nor is there any basis for your statement that :
«The researchers believe that the Little Ice Age of the 16th to 18th centuries may have been halted as a result of human activity. Increased felling of woodlands and growing areas of agricultural land, combined with the early stages of industrialisation, resulted in increased emissions of carbon dioxide which probably slowed down, or even reversed, the cooling trend.»
given that the article nowhere addresses this specific period or topic. Nor does the paper anywhere employ the term, «catastrophe». It does note, however, that «We assume no human presence or anthropic effects, so the calculation is speculative. It may have been relevant for previous interglacials.» One gets the impression that you are citing an article on the paper by Franzen et al which significantly distorts its import , but that for some reason you wish to disguise this fact and therefore refer instead to the paper itself, which, following your source, you have either deliberately misconstrued or entirely misunderstood....
Epic failure and no mistake....
Henri
China tries for 2012 WORLD cluster compo DOMINATION
Wednesday 7th November 2012 09:36 GMT
While we are nitpicking -
the Chinese New Year started, of course, on 2012-02-04 - it might be worthwhile to note that it might be difficult to reach the University of Science & Technology of China (中国科学技术大学) following the instructions in the article («[l]ocated in the city of Hefie [sic !]»), given that no such city exists. Better to try Hefei (合肥), where, indeed, the National High Performance Computing Centre (pardon the spelling) - 国家高性能计算中心 - one of the 33 laboratories and research centers under the USTC, is to be found....
Otherwise, interesting article ; we'll have to see how it goes for the Chinese and other teams at the cluster fest !...
Henri
Dark matter pioneer scoops Oz science prize
Felix Baumgartner sadly turns out to be blinkered FOOL
Friday 2nd November 2012 13:22 GMT
Now, at last, we have the lexicographically correct definition of «blinkered FOOL» -
anyone whose opinions or priorities happen to differ from those of that intellectual giant, Lewis Page. Can't the Reg promote this towering genius to the post of Assistant Executive Editor, so that he need only associate with his peer ?...
Henri
Google upgrades Gmail interface, now less 'drafty'
Mysterious galactic glow caused by Hitchhikers' Krikkit style stars
Friday 26th October 2012 15:05 GMT 
I can't but be bemused by the fact that Lewis
seems to have no difficulty accepting current science on matters like, e g, «near-infrared background anisotropies from diffuse intrahalo light of galaxies», while he knows, in his heart of hearts, that current climatological science is not merely wrong, but indeed, a vast conspiracy, designed to defraud the innocent and cast us all back to the Dark Ages. I shall here abstain from speculating on what can lie behind this amazing discrepancy....
Henri
Chinese boffins discover bizarro fish-oid creature with FOUR LIMBS
US-CERT warns DKIM email open to spoofing
Oh dear: Apple kicks out South Korea boss
No Chinese rescue for bankrupt battery-making golden child A123
Thursday 18th October 2012 08:51 GMT
Better, of course, to file for bankruptcy and let shareholders recover a fourth of the money
then sell to those «dastardly Chinese» ! It must say so, at least, in all those Economics 101 textbooks printed in the US - which explains why our Riksbank here in Sweden almost always awards its so-called «Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel» to professors from that particular country....
Henri
Boffins explain research with interpretive dance
IE10 coming to Windows 7 sometime, maybe
Schmidt: Google deathmatch with Apple is 'defining' for the tech biz
Friday 12th October 2012 09:33 GMT
These patent wars *are* sad - even if it's
Eric Emerson Schmidt who says so - for the simple reason that they replace the market place, where we users/consumers have a chance (albeit one constantly manipulated by marketeers and advertisers and their backroom deals) to make our views heard and our preferences count with courtrooms in which we have no legal standing at all. And while the Reg's «executive editor» will no doubt choose to differ, the evidence that not only patent wars, but patents themselves are harmful and stifle innovation is very strong ; readers interested in this matter can, for example, perform a search for «The case against patents - St. Louis Fed» and download the Boldrin and Levine paper which tops the list of results. But don't tell AO - one might get black-listed !...
Henri
Harvey Weinstein wants US to adopt French piracy laws
Archaeologists resume Antikythera Mechanism hunt
Apple: Blue-shirts can fix iOS Maps in their spare time
Friday 5th October 2012 09:41 GMT
Blue shirts ?!!
Are you certain, Ms Leach, that the use of that term, with its unpleasant connotations, is not actionable ? Are not these employees - like the brilliant chap who heard two customers conversing in Farsi in an Apple temple in the United States and refused to sell them a fondleslab with a half-eaten apple on it - supposed to be referred to as «Geniuses» ?...
Henri
Samsung claims Apple jury foreman LIED to get REVENGE
Friday 5th October 2012 09:16 GMT
«I just hope this is getting enough limelight in the US
for their citizens to realise how absurd software patents really are.» Yes, indeed ! And if they want more empirically-based information on what patents are doing to research and innovation, they might do well to read the aptly titled Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis working paper, The Case against Patents, by Michele Boldrin and David Levine, professors at Washington University in St. Louis. As noted there :
«In the long run, though, even the positive partial equilibrium effect [of increasing to the monopolistic level the profits of the successful innovator] may be more apparent than real: the existence of a large number of monopolies due to past patent grants reduces the incentives for innovation as current innovators are subject to constant legal action and licensing demands from earlier patent holders.»
But of course, the Reg's «executive editor», who knows so much more about this sort of thing than anyone else, living or dead, would, on the basis of his vast experience, dismiss this analysis as the product of know-nothing «freetards»....
Henri
Liquefied-air silos touted as enormo green 'leccy batteries
Wednesday 3rd October 2012 07:23 GMT
«Nuclear plants are by their nature "baseload" plants
because they output continuous steady power. Unlike gas or renewable generators they're actually difficult to shut down.» Well, «Charles 9», you obviously don't live here in Sweden, where nuclear power plants often seem to break down and/or be forced to run with reduced output just during the winter months, when need for power is at its peak. This variablity in output is particularly profitable for our power companies, as electricity from other sources, e g, their hydropower plants can be sold at drastically raised prices....
Henri
Sharp punches out über-retina phone screen
Firefox's birthday present to us: Teaching tech titans about DIY upstarts
Tim Cook: 'So sorry for Apple's crap maps app - try Bing or Nokia'
Monday 1st October 2012 07:22 GMT
«Unless the maps for California are great
and they never looked anywhere else (would not be that big a surprise).» They probably checked to see if they could find their way from headquarters at 1 Infinity Loop in Cupertino to the US District Court for the Northern District of California at 280 S 1st Street in San Jose. And lo and behold - it worked and they said «Apple Maps is awesome ; now we shan't get lost on that 16 km journey to Lucy Koh's court !»...
Henri
Russia blocks Monsanto corn in GM study fallout
Thursday 27th September 2012 19:47 GMT
Nice to hear, solidsoup,
that you are so much more knowledgeable with regard to the relationship between the use of such genetically modified crops as Monsanto's BT cotton and the remarkable increase in suicides among Indian farmers planting that crop than such unreliable sources as the country's Ministry of Agriculture. We Reg readers are indeed fortunate that you have chosen to avail us of your broad erudtion and insight !...
Henri
Freetard-idol rock star Trent Reznor gives up, signs to major label
Vandals break into congressman's office, install Linux on PCs
High-energy physics opens up
Google, Microsoft butt heads in browser benchmark battle
NYPD: iPhone thefts rising ten times rate of other crimes
Eric Schmidt: Ha ha, NO Google maps app for iPhone 5
Wednesday 26th September 2012 07:59 GMT
Re: Apple still have the lead on apps
I read the Reuters interview with Eric Schmidt to which Anna kindly provided a link above and didn't find anything there to indicate that Mr Schmidt was in any way «rile[d]». Perhaps, «Matt 89» you are privy to some other evidence and could be prevailed upon to post a link here ? Otherwise, there's a risk that some unkind souls may perhaps be led to think that it was not Mr Schmidt, but you yourself who was perturbed at the attention paid to this failure on Apple's part....
Henri
Google promises autonomous cars for all within five years
Cisco scores AU$38m NBN win
Huawei wants to be telepresence king
Wednesday 26th September 2012 07:06 GMT
To me, the most interesting thing about this fascinating company
is that it is said to be «owned by its employees». Does anybody know the details ? Does, for example, everyone working there, no matter in what capacity, get a share ? How are these shares apportioned ? What happens to a person's share when he or she leaves Huawei's employ ? Perhaps Phil could be encouraged to do a spot of investigative journalism and research the above questions and others that turn up along the way ?...
Henri
Sony to fling $642m at scandal-hit Olympus
Wednesday 26th September 2012 06:54 GMT
Re: Newsflash: Company caught cooking the books!
What interests me here is the remark attributed to former chairman Kikukawa Tsuyoshi - «I take full responsibility for what happened». What is meant by this ? Is Mr Kikukawa going to dig in his pockets and pull out that 1.7 thousand million USD ? Otherwise, just how is this «responsibility-taking» to be accomplished ?...
I certainly can't figure it out, just as I can't figure out why people allow the bank executives and Wall-Street high flyers to walk away scot free. Time to break out the pitchforks ?...
Henri
Half of Milky Way's mass found in million-Kelvin gas cloud
Tuesday 25th September 2012 11:08 GMT
Re: '1 million and 2.5 million °K'
Sad that Rik hasn't bothered to correct this egregious error ! One of the aspects I most appreciate about Richard Chirgwin's Reg postings on scientific matters - he actually seems to read the comments and to be willing to correct errors that are pointed out. Kudos !...
Henri
Christian footie match ends in almighty brawl
Tuesday 25th September 2012 09:57 GMT 
«League bosses are reportedly "shocked" by the unprecedented scrap,
and claim that "an influx of non-Christians into teams may be to blame". » Ah, now I understand what must have lain behind the most recent Foxconn brouhaha. Presumably that unfortunate «influx» numbered in the thousands....
Henri
Motorola, Samsung smash Apple's touchscreen patent claim
Asian hackers p0wned by Eastern European rivals
Friday 21st September 2012 14:27 GMT
Presumably, Mr Kellerman has read Sun Zi (in translation)
as by limiting the comparison to teams operating in Eastern Europe and China, respectively, he manages to ignore - and likely, get the rest of us to ignore - the six-tonne elephant in the room, viz, the US government. Way to go !...
Henri
Swiss railways ticked off at iOS clock knock-off
Swiss boffins jump in Lake Lugano for Cray super
Google to snatch US web advertising crown from Facebook
Friday 21st September 2012 13:56 GMT
I do love these «analysts»
who are able to tell more than two years in advance not merely to the nearest percent, but to the nearest tenth of a percent just how much market share a given company is going to enjoy ! I am filled with immense confidence in the ability of our beancounters to predict the future in great detail - a confidence which their track records hitherto no doubt entirely justifies....
Henri
Senate hears Microsoft and HP avoided billions in US taxes
Friday 21st September 2012 13:48 GMT
What I wonder is -
is if Willard regards these firms - and all their tax-dodging counterparts - as being among the 47 % of the US people who are always looking for a handout from the government (e g, «one-off» tax holidays which become «two-off» tax holidays, special prices for land, energy, water, etc, etc) about whom he feels he needn't worry. (Please don't bother lecturing me on the distinction between real people and juridical people (Willard is very much concerned with the latter - in particular those he could plunder and then stick the government with the bill) ; I am familiar with both Citizens United and the (in)famous obiter dictum in Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad....)
Henri
IBM scientists take image of atomic bonds
New monkey species with massive blue arse found in Africa
Congress report warns: drones will track faces from the sky
Dreaded redback spider's NEMESIS: Forgotten Captain Cook wasps
China pushes green PCs to punters
Microsoft to comply with Brussels over browser choice gaffe
Wednesday 12th September 2012 10:24 GMT
Had occasion yesterday, Al, to help a a computer-naive retireee set up a brand new laptop
with Win/ SP1 pre-installed. The browser ballet screen was not among the 57 «important» (hardly «required» - although they will keep appearing, like a bad penny everytime one checks the updater) updates which Windows Update recommended be installed. Thus Kelly's statement to the effect that «Microsoft recently began offering the browser choice screen to users of Windows in the EU's 27 member-states [of which Sweden is one] once again» is not universally true. Given this fact, it seems obvious that Joaquin Almunia will be force to confirm a breach on the part of Microsoft ; it will be fascinating to see just what the promised/threatened «severe consequences» for the company turn out to be....
Henri
Biting the hand that feeds IT
