Posts by Yet Another Anonymous coward

Brass band to trumpet last shuttle external tank rollout

@How does one absorb thrust

One braces oneself and thinks of NASA?

Revealed: Government blows thousands on iPhone apps

@Stop Smoking sounds like bargain

Smoking is profitable.

Lung cancer treatment costs bugger-all since it mainly consists of telling you that you are going to be dead in 6months and there is no treatment that works.

Plus it kills people in their 50-60s after they have paid all that tax and NI but before they claim any pension.

Personally I consider smokers as national heroes, alongside people who use 12mpg SUVs on the school run.

Mind you - I'm the smug cyclist that they are still going to be paying for when I'm 90 ;-)

Another explanation

Some developers had nothing to do because their mega $ IT project was being renamed/redesigned/recontracted out. So they play around with an iPhone between reading el-reg.

At the end of the year some manager is looking to justify not having done anything on the mega project - so he looks at what they have done and pretends that was the plan.

Next year he will just have them read an el-reg piece on hackers and bill their salary to security ( national security - can't be questioned - terrorism you know )

Fusion reactor eats Euro science budgets

@Waste

> once again it will all be spent on a small region of France.

No experience of ITER but the waste on most of these projects that I have worked on is because it ISN'T all spent in one region.

Because all the spending gets pork barrelled back in proportion to each country's contributions you get different pieces of equipment doing identical jobs developed separately in different countries by different companies.

Innevitably one of them doesn't work as well, so the better supplier ends up being paid to build a replacement for the second out of the spares budget - this means each bit of kit costs 2x as much as if you just let the best supplier build it.

It's like being forced to build and support every app in Java and C# so that both Sun and MS will vote for it.

Windows 8 and life after KIN - Ballmer's hot summer

Microsoft's future

Why worry - they are the world leader in increasingly large and complex desktop word, spreadsheet and presentation writing software.

Just like DEC were the world leader in minicomputers, IBM were the world leader in mainframes and SUN were the world leader in workstations.

This internet, phone, tablet, personal computer stuff is probably just a fad anyway.

First true submarine captured from American drug smugglers

@Ahem

It's also funny how, for the last 60years, the US has managed to prevent any incursions by the worlds largest airforce, with some of the best combat experienced pilots flying some of the most advanced jets in the world, sneaking in at low level over millions of sq-km of uninhabited north pole.

Yet they can't seem to prevent a couple of old DC3s loaded with horticulture flying in a straight line between Columbia and Miami ?

£99 iPhone stunt backfires

@Stock control

>I didn't try to buy from this site but it's like a lottery ticket

Not quite - it's like a lottery ticket where there isn't actually a prize.

Of course it's legal because you can't actually buy a ticket either.

@How has this backfired

The company is now known throughout t'internet as a scam - Isn't this the ultimate doing a Ratner?

London takes lion's share of new IT jobs

@Must be a different London from where I work

Nope just 'government statistics'

1Million jobs lost, 3 new jobs created, 2of them in London = London creates 2/3 of new jobs!

BBC chief acknowledges DAB flop & internet radio

@Can anyone explain the point of DAB

It lets the government sell off big chunks of FM spectrum ?

Not sure who would want to buy FM spectrum, except other FM radio stations !

3D TV: Avatar or Ishtar?

@3d without glasses

The issue for 3d without glasses displays is that they only work for a single viewing angle - so you have to position the viewer and the screen with the same precision quad-stereo fans used for listening to Dark Side of the moon. More expensive ones have 3 or 5 or 7 positions but each extra set of views reduces the resolution even more.

They are good for cell phones/gameboys where you hold the screen directly in front of your eyes - less good for a TV in the corner of the room. They also have issues showing regular 2d content.

It will work - eventually

Your next TV is going to have passive 3D anyway - it's just too cheap not to fit it.

This doesn't require HDMI1.4 and shows 2D TV normally and only needs cheap glasses.

Games are likely to use active glasses, because the higher framerate matters and you more frequently upgrade game machine hardware. Phones and handheld games consoles will go auto-sterescopic - doesn't need glasses but only one viewer.

Interestingly there is a strong age related effect in user studies, if you are over 40 you don't like 3D as much as a 20something - the movie companies love this idea.

The crap content and nausea at the moment is a combination of the current camera technology and cinematographers not knowing how to use it - look at how bad colour movies were when they first came out!

We make 3D systems for ROVs, robotic surgery, remote drones etc where people sit in front of them for 8 hours without feeling as sick as you get after 30mins of Avatar (although that's not all due to the 3D-ness)

A better horse

Somebody said that if Henry Ford had done market research - he would have built a better horse.

All the above arguements were made against colour TV and HD.

el'reg readers that have thier DVD collections ripped to a server somewhere and want a TV that can be a domain controller are something of a minority.

3D TVs cost next to nothing more to produce than a regular TV, passive (cinema style) goggles cost a couple of $ - your next TV is going to have them.

Amazon Kindle DX drops price, improves display

@Great at a decent price point

Once enough publishers have signed up it will be $99

If you they are saving > $10/book over a paper copy and you buy more books it's a no brainer.

US $250m superbomber 'almost as good' as $8m robot

@surgical?

Surgical has exactly the same meaning in warfare that it always has.

= Give-or-take a leg, cover the result with tar, ignore the screaming

Computer grads can't even get jobs offering personal services

@Sights set too high

So half the employers are complaining that CS grads don't immediately know how to install printers or fix some bit of MS software - like hiring a Mech-Eng and expecting that they know how to change a cambelt on a 1972 Escort.

And the rest of the world complains that CS grads are only trained in the latest fad (Java/C#/asp.net) and know nothing about the fundementals of CS.

Low-priced home digital media connections promised

@100W

Great news, we finally have gig-E to link to the cameras rather than $500 camera link cables and grabber cards, npw we can get away from multiple DVI-D to do 120Hz 1080p to the screen.

ps. The $500 ethernet cable is already here http://www.usa.denon.com/productdetails/3429.asp

Government lunatic magnet goes live

@chuckling

Presumably all the labour advisers have been replaced with tory ones - from M&S

These aren't just any UK government policies - they're organic hand-crafted government policies

US authorities shutdown websites accused of movie piracy

@Here we go again...

but every Hollywood movie loses millions of $ (even Forrest Gump, Spiderman and LotR all made a loss)

So stopping this industry would save the US economy billions of $ - close Hollywood now

Google: Flash stays on YouTube, and here's why

@confused.

>creating a patent pool on something that doesn't belong to it...

That's the difference between patents and copyright.

I can have a patent simply on the idea of using a computer to view a video of a kitten, and you are violating it even if I did no work to code your system and you didn't benefit from my 'invention'

Romford coppers try to stopper young snapper

@ Anyone know of a good 'photographers' rights cheatsheet'?

http://www.sirimo.co.uk/2009/05/14/uk-photographers-rights-v2/

ps. They ask that you not link directly to the pdf

Chrome squeaks past Safari in US

Opera Users

Just to put this in context for Opera users -

Imagine Maserati owners reading about who is now the 3rd best selling minivan ;-)

Microsoft PR boss sweats in face of Apollo Creed Apple, Google... world

@Cloud services

> I think that MS is well poised for the future of cloud computing

Except for their licensing model.

Want to set up a cloud? No problem you just need a windows server license for each blade, and an IIS and SQLServer license and probably an Exchange license x 1000 servers.

Then you need CAL for each user, or each user on each blade, or each new client, or each new client and each job ?

So for each piece of kit installed you probably only need half-a-dozen accounts guys to track all the license info.

Governments mull net censorship grab

Dilbert?

Sounds like a plot from Dilbert - you can't start a project unless North Korea, Isreal, Iraq and human resources all agree on it - great work avoidance policy

Crucial releases really skewed cheap flash drive

@This story sounds interesting

Flash memory is much faster than disk.

Particularly seek time is near zero so any operation that involves reading lots of little files in random order is much much faster. This includes booting windows and running compilers.

But flash is much more expensive than disk.

Then somebody noticed that if you only want reads to be fast it's cheaper to make than if both read/writes need to be fast and for booting windows you only need reads to be fast.

So for what most people want flash disks for - this is as fast as expensive SSds but much cheaper.

England beat Germany - what are the odds?

Statistics

Doesn't this analysis require that there be a correlation in performance between the current squad and the squads in the past before they were even born - simply on the basis of their passport?

Olympus PEN E-P2 Micro Four-Thirds camera

Not quite that bad

In the speed range 1/100 to 1/200 and worse at 1/160 the shutter makes the lens vibrate slightly. The conclusion of the above article is that this is visible in prints larger than 19in.

A firmware update to the IS fixes some of this.

Final conclusion: "We went through a period of disappointment with the Olympus E-P1 when we first discovered this issue, but we're glad we took the time to pinpoint why and when the blur occurs. We can now resume liking and using the E-P1 as much as before."

Ofcom opens Neutrality debate with 'hands off' warning

UK broadband users are throttled, shaped and capped up the wazoo

And having no regulation is going to help this?

Most of the ISPs are either owned by Murdoch or are also cell phone companies.

So no regulation means that the BBC news site will be throttled to say 300baud for Sky customers and emails to people on other networks will cost me extra for Virgin customers!

UK arms industry 'same as striking coal miners' - Army head

@title

> lol'd at that. What are all those UK and US special forces doing riding round on... err... horses in Afghanistan then?

Jeeps, armoured personnel carriers etc - although horses would probably be better.

But not 70-80ton main battle tanks that are too large to airfreight into a landlocked mountainous countries with no autobahns to drive your tank transporters on

>You really want to go up against them - even in a cold war - with a bunch of foot soldiers, >unmanned aircraft and no heavy armour?

You want to fight a land war in asia with only a division strength army?

Perhaps BAe should develop a powerful aphrodisiac to allow us to get the UK's population upto to the sort of size we would need to conscript an army to fight India/China on the ground?

Buyer's Guide: 3D TVs

@more problems

The glasses are circular polarized and so work for a reasonably large range of tilt (30deg or so)

At the moment, most displays are Real3D compatible so the same way around as the free glasses you got for Avatar, there are a couple of makers (can't name them - I'm in the business) who decided to do the opposite to sell their own specs - but you can often switch the video signal electronically to flip left/right.

The glasses work well on top of regular specs.

One interesting effect is that younger people are happy to wear the glasses. 3D specs = designer sunglasses. Older people don't like them = wearing specs means I'm getting old.

A lot of the nausea effect is due to bad cinematography, especially when you move in / zoom you have to readjust a lot of the 3D data to compensate or your brain gets bad depth cues. This is what cost so much on Avatar, there are a few technologies to help fix this for things like live sports - ours is the best one of course!

Chancellor cans planned game biz tax break

@Sir Humphrey

EA laid off 1000s of people here in Canada AFTER they got their tax break and a fast track worker visa scheme - seems they could make more money selling their building now that they didn't have to pay tax than they could making video games.

The movie business here is now making the same claims - take all the money everyone in Canada spends on cable/DVDs/movie tickets and claim that this is all due to tax breaks for Hollywood shooting in Vancouver.

Tom Stoppard: Tech is destroying the written word

@only in England

You don't need a specific degree, there are equivalencies. So your chemistry teacher needs a 'science subject' degree - which includes business and sports science - not necessarily a chemistry degree.

The Institute of Physics got a little bit upset about this, the government was claiming a huge number of new expert science teachers - most of whom were silly science grads.

The Reg guide to Linux, part 1: Picking a distro

RIP

Also worth having around on a spare USB key is Recovery Is Possible (RIP) - handy for when somebody forgets their Windows admin passwd.

BCS trustee threatens rebels with libel action

@The BCS's reputation

Unfortunately they are in charge of IT teaching in schools and universities (supposedly) and they do run the vital e-citizen and e-typing accreditation.

Apart from that they are a largely irrelevant old boys club/closed shop "Chartered IT Professional should have 10years senior experience although this can be reduced to 5years with an IT degree .... degree in a non-IT subject must have 9 years experience"

Further validation of why you never hire anyone with an IT degree.

Rainbow plane warps in from gay dimension

@So ultimately...

Satelites and a lot of aircraft based cameras are pushbroom.

They have a 1-d line camera with a row of red then a row of green then blue pixels + often an infrared line as well.

The output from the 3 or four lines is combined (taking into account how far the cameras has moved along the track) - if something moves much faster than the carrying aircraft or satelite track in the same direction then it could move between the lines of pixels.

Speed cameras slide out of LibCon budget

Revenue?

>If authorities want to put up new fixed cameras, they are free to do so using their own resources.

So no new cameras where they would actually be a safety improvement - only the ones that will make a profit?

LibCons bin £2bn of late Labour projects

@We need to get the deficit to zero pronto

We could get the deficit to zero very quickly.

Fire all public service workers and close down the armed forces.

Deficit zero + unemployment 10million -> recession

Think of it like a company's overdraft, firing people to reduce costs rather than borrowing to buy raw materials isn't necessarily always the best plan.

@Oto- what

It's British Steel's stainless steel plant in sheffield renamed.

They merged with Avesta and then merged with Outokumpu (another finnish steel co)

So it's about as foreign as Ford, or HSBC

Sunny Spain suspends solar subsidy scam

@Sending our lads die in the desert once a decade is so much more efficient

And don't forget that each 15K/year squaddie creates 3x30K/year jobs at BAe - of course it also costs a million quid/job in defence subsidies but at least we get some amazing products out of it.

If a destroyer with no weapons and a jump jet that melts the carrier's deck isn't amazing I don't know what is !

Radiation warning labels for deadly mobes!

@Other Devices

Worse than that, Ca requires you to put a notice on your door saying "this premises contains material known to the state of Ca to produce death/birth defects/voting democrat etc"

But here is no exposure limit, so a nuclear waste dump and an office where somebody might have an older non-ROHS mp3 player with lead solder = same warning sign

Bananas

I had to put radiation warning stickers on sources that have less activity than a bunch of bananas, why don't bananas have radiation warnings?

Then the same scientifically literate parents could safely calculate the specific and effective absorbed dose of 3nCu/kg banana for their child

Wannabe Jedi drool over potent laser 'lightsabre'

@Wankers will buy these

Yes - a 1W visible laser will cause permanent eye damage before you can blink.

ps. The difference between this and a kitchen knife is you can't sit on a motorway bridge with a kitchen knife and crash every car that goes underneath it.

Mystery startup uncloaks 512-core server

@Still not cost effective..

Depends, that's list price, at list the Xeon boxes would cost the same.

Remember that whatever you pay for power-in you pay 3-5x as much for cooling to get power-out, more in Texas or New York in summer.

Space IS limited if your server room is full, this is a lot quicker/cheaper than planning permission to build another server room next door.

Aussies face 10 year browsing lock-up

@What the HELL has happened to Australia...?

They used to have a very sensible system of simply imprisoning all their politicians as soon as they were elected. Now they are free to walk about making crazy laws.

Personally I think it's the heat - ever noticed how right wing white people get when they live somewhere with too much sun?

Blunkett threatens to sue for £30 ID card refund

I'm David Blunket - and so's my wife

Now that we know the details on Blunket's card and his security question couldn't we all just apply for a David Blunket card?

The point of the card is to prove that we aren't foreign or a terrorist - which David Blunket isn't.

So if everyone has a David Blunket card we will all be safe!

Blunket Driving Licence

Not entirely sure that Blunkett having a driving licence is a great boost to public safety.

Wasn't the whole point of the ID card scheme that he was sulking because he couldn't have a DL?

Contractors dodge ID cards axe

@ID Cards for furriners

Simple - you ask to see their id card, if they don't have one they are either foreigners here illegally or not foreigners.

If they say 'wot the ell you talking bart copper' you arrest them for looking at a policeman in a funny way.

It's similar to the terrorist ID card and works on very similar principals to the magic powder the government uses on the roads to keep the elephants off.

£15 a month for legal P2P?

@Jimc

There are decades worth of musician's complaints about how the PRS calculates royalties.

But it's basically done on most record/album sales -> most likely to have been on air -> that artist gets most money.

When they calculate over the long term all the money goes to Pink Floyd (because DSOM has been in the charts for 100years) , if they use that weeks top10 listings it all goes to latest X factor winner.

Either way it's a bit annoying for the local band that is playing in the surviving independent record shop.

Ye olde London comes to the iPhone

VR goggles?

If we could port this to something that supported VR goggles then we could enable readers of the Daily Fail to walk around seeing everything as 1950.

Japanese police cuff Hentai smut scam suspects

@It sounds like

On the other hand, think how valuable the personal details of somebody that stupid would be to a marketing company!