Posts by sisk

Pink Floyd blasts Pandora for 'tricking' artists with petition

Re: Pink Floyd are just whining now

Clearly you have no understanding of radio of either variety. I, on the other hand, have experience in both types of radio.

It's rare for a terrestrial radio station to reach less than what you're siting as the maximum at any given time, except maybe in the middle of the night. And that's in a sparsely populated area. A station broadcasting in LA or New York, or one using repeaters, can easily have millions of listeners.

It's also exceedingly rare for an internet radio station to reach more than 10,000 or so. Most of them are doing really good to get 500 listeners at any given time, with a few exceptions like Pandora and Digitally Imported. Just look at their stream address in a web browser and if they're running Shoutcast or Icecast (90% of them are) you can get the current and peak listener counts. If they were subjected to the same rules as terrestrial stations they'd almost never hit that $1000 minimum placed on them based on their listener counts.

So yes, I do think it seems reasonable for the online stations to pay the same low royalties that terrestrial stations pay. At the absolute least that absurd minimum royalty needs to be removed so that small stations could thrive. Right now only the largest ones can operate at a profit at all.

Pink Floyd are just whining now

There is absolutely no reason that Internet radio should pay more in royalties than terrestrial radio does. The fact that they do is utterly ridiculous. They're tipping their hand to the greed behind their actions with that tidbit about removing the exemption for terrestrial radio broadcasts.

I'm not against artists getting their fair share, but why should their 'fair share' be more just because the broadcast is over the Internet as opposed to the airwaves? And why, when artists are already getting quite rich and terrestrial stations are feeling the crunch, should the higher royalties paid by Internet radio stations become the standard?

Telly psychics fail to foresee £12k fine for peddling nonsense

However, people become more healthy from taking it. It's the placebo effect - replicated in numerous double-blind, peer-reviewed trials.

Not to defend the nonsense, but wouldn't that more or less validate the claims of certain types of homeopathic providers that their methods are fueled by belief?

PlayStation 4 is FreeBSD inside

Re: *looks at Eadon and laughs*

It's Sony so in the eyes of many who post on here (no idea if this includes Eadon but probably) it's automatically the Devil's very work.

Given that Sony killed OtherOS I would have to say you're almost certainly right about Eadon. And to be fair though Sony has earned its lumps in that regard. They still build the best consoles on the market in my opinion, but some of us have gotten tired of them assuming that all their customers are thieves and being treated as such.

Snowden dodges US agents in Moscow, skips out on flight

Re: It's not illegal, but it is uncool

What the NSA does is not illegal. It is aainst the spirit of the constitution

Um....no. It's illegal and against both the spirit and the letter of the Constitution. I'm fairly certain that the existence of a secret court goes against the Constitution to, but I'm not completely confident on that one.

They're not finding loopholes, they're just ignoring it completely.

Right Kerry

Because as we all know the NSA collecting broad swaths of phone records is completely 'within the bounds of law' and doesn't violate that pesky need for a warrant at all.

Our week with Soylent: Don't chuck out your vintage food quite yet

Re: Organic?

There's no need for added salt or sugar

I make my own peanut butter at home, and let me assure you there is a need. Although I use honey rather than sugar, without some sort of sweetener and salt it's just plain not very good.

On a side note, look up Alton Brown's peanut butter recipe on foodnetwork.com and give it a shot. We tried it a couple years ago and haven't bought peanut butter since.

Using encryption? That means the US spooks have you on file

Re: Sorted

A friend of mine and I were joking around this last weekend that I should get a dog and name him "Jihad". The resulting back and forth phone and email traffic would be most amusing!

I pity the poor spook trying to puzzle out exactly what 'Jihad crapped on the carpet again' is supposed to mean.

I don't bother with encryption

I firmly believe that NSA will (if they haven't already) crack quantum computing long before the private sector. When they do, they won't tell anyone. They'll just have their quantum computer cranking away in a uber-secure room not on any blueprints. It will be 400 feet under ground, with the secret elevator behind a hidden door that looks like a book case. To get in you'll have to pull a book having something to do with the genealogy of Edward Cullin, on some other such tome that no sane person will touch. And with this 50 gazillion dollar machine and the 30 bajillion dollars worth of security around it, they're going to munch through the encryption I put on that email to my mom like it's nothing. (Never mind the fact that my poor mother would never be able to figure out how to decrypt it even with step by step instructions and the key).

Nope. I'll throw them for a loop by revealing the existence of their top secret machine in a jokingly sarcastic manner on some forum somewhere instead.

Apple: If you find us guilty in ebook price-fix trial, EVERYONE suffers

Re: So

I'd actually say once. They could try to get a second appeal, but SCOTUS would never take this case. They typically only take cases where there's an issue of civil right on constitutionality. Neither is the case here.

Microsoft caves on Xbox One DRM and used-game controls

There's a MS division that actually listens to consumers??

Hey Microsoft, I've found you a replacement for Balmer. His name is Mattrick. He still makes stupid decisions, but at least he pays attention when the consumers start picking up torches and pitchforks.

John McAfee releases NSFW video on how to uninstall security code

No doubt the IT department's hands are tied. When's the last time you met a geek who willingly used that pile of crap? No, it was no doubt foisted on them by the higher ups who've never heard of any antivirus except Symantec and McAfee.

Nuke plants to rely on PDP-11 code UNTIL 2050!

PDP-11 till 2050?

Of course it's a fantastic opportunity. Any opportunity for a PDP-11 programmer in this day and age is fantastic.

SCO vs. IBM battle resumes over ownership of Unix

What will it take??

SCO hasn't had any significant customers in years, has posted no profits for even longer, and is basically a rotting corpse. Where the hell are they getting the money to keep this nonsense up? Apple? Microsoft? Do either of you have an explanation?

I told you I'd be back: Arnie set for another career revival

Re: Hollywood producers clearly have way, way too much money.

Yes, Hercules in New York was his first movie, but with that turd on his resume it's surprising he got to make a second.

This is a joke, right? Have the studios not seen a picture of Arnold in a bathing suit lately? He's not exactly ripped enough to pull off Conan anymore.

Confidence in US Congress sinks to lowest level ever recorded

Re: You have two hand-picked partisan polticians: CHOOSE ONE

To be fair, I've never seen a ballot with less than three candidates. Unfortunately no matter how fed up with Republicans and Democrats the nation gets most of the sheeple refuse to vote for any other political party because "that would be throwing our votes away". That's the only reason the two major parties have such a strangle hold on the process. If we could get all the people who have had enough to just vote third party or independent the Republicans and Democrats wouldn't stand a chance.

Re: Different views

You give me that list and the only two who would get higher than 'some' from me are both people I don't get to vote on. That remains true if you include the people that my Congressmen have run against in the last couple election cycles. You go back further than that and add in a couple guys who are now enjoying their retirements and they might get higher, but they were in office before I became disillusioned with the entire process.

No good choices

Sadly the only people able to get elected to DC in the US are extremists. Actually that's becoming true at the state level to.

US Supremes: Human genes can't be patented

Monsanto?

Ok, I'm curious. Monsanto's GM work with crops all deal with taking genes from one organism and injecting them into another. Does this ruling break their patents, given that they're using naturally occurring genes in their GM crops? And if so, how long before food prices drop back down to what they should be without the Monsanto monopoly artificially inflating them?

Re: pure genius

I don't pay much attention to him, admittedly, but it seems to me that Pope Francis avoids wearing a funny hat whenever he can get away with it.

As for the bears in the woods, some joker seems to have put out some bear goodies laced with antidiarrheals, so they're all constipated now.

Yeah yeah, I'm going. Mine's the one with the empty Imodium AD boxes in the pocket.

So, who ought to be the next Doctor Who? It's up to YOU...

Ginger?

Yeah, I think it's time. He's waited 11 lifetimes (or is it 12 now?) to be a ginger.

Re: Wot, no Sheridan Smith?

the plot contortions needed are too much

Not at all. Rose not only holds a special place in the Doctor's heard (second, I think, only to River) but she once absorbed the time vortex. That could well be enough to impose her onto one of the Doctor's incarnations.

Actually Hugh Laurie would be an excellent Doctor. Dodgy leg and drug addiction or not.

Reg readers tumesce as they get their tongues round 'podule'

A podule of pinheads

Or, for a more positive angel, a podule of Paris fans.

Forget phones, PRISM plan shows internet firms give NSA everything

Re: I Am Sad

One of the politicians will have to take a stand

Rand Paul already has, but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one. I shot off emails to all my Congressmen yesterday demanding that they take a stand against this, but (unsurprisingly) I haven't heard a peep out of any of them on the subject.

Obama administration defends mass call-data slurping

In related news....

There has been a great mess made in Washington DC as the barriers put in place to contain the slime oozing from the pores of politicians have proven inadequate to hold back the current high tide.

Boffins develop 'practically free' sulphur-powered batteries

Re: excellent

I wonder the same thing every time I see one of these stories. It's always "X material is going to change batteries forever" and then said tech never makes it to the market. Perhaps there's an artificial black hole deep in the bowls of LHC eating all the battery research?

Or maybe marketing is a popular minor for student battery boffins.

Or perhaps there is a conspiracy keeping things quiet.

So many possibilities, so little battery life left. *sigh*

Intel unzips new Atom phone chip: Low power, fast - is that right, ARM?

Does anyone else see Intel marketing hype and get the urge to plaster "Kilroy was here" across something?

Germans purge selves of indigestible 63-letter word

Re: There is even an IT angle

...because you can almost always add an affix

Prepsuedoantidisestablishmentarianismist?

How Microsoft shattered Gnome's unity with Windows 95

I'm quite certain that Linux (and every other OS on the planet for that matter) does indeed violate some of Microsoft's patents. I'm also quite certain that those patents wouldn't stand up in court. Just as an example, Microsoft holds a patent on deleting files. What judge isn't going to laugh that out of court if they tried to enforce it? I also strongly suspect that's the reason they never revealed which 235 patents were being violated.

You say fragmentation, I say choice

I suppose the end result is the same either way. Desktop Linux remains the domain of those willing to take the time to learn how to use it and always will, so it will never have a chance to conquer the desktop. Everyone else remains at the mercy of Microsoft and Apple.

Obama: Just call me Billygoat Gruff the Third, patent trolls

Re: It occurs to me...

Surely some troll somewhere holds a patent for a business process based on buzzwords.

Re: Just outlaw "Software" and "Method" patents

Except for that pesky bit about laws being created by the Legislative branch (the House and the Senate), not by the Executive branch (the President), but hey, we shouldn't have to let a little thing like the Constitution stop us, right?

Actually the President is allowed to enact laws on his own by the Constitution. They're called 'executive orders' and they rarely, if ever, outlast the President who enacted them.

Blaming the President for bad laws is like blaming your dog because it's raining. Blame the CongressCritters, and better still, if you are an American, write them and vote against them if they don't do what you want.

The President is part of the problem by exercising or not exercising his veto power, but yes. My Congressmen are probably tired of hearing from me and I've only voted for 1 of the three in the last 2 election cycles.

And no, voting third party is NOT "throwing your vote away" - look at how much more attention the Democrats paid to the Green party after Gore lost - when the Greens made it VERY plain that by Gore not playing ball with their desires, he lost the votes that could have made all the difference. And that is also why the Occupy movement failed: the Democrats said "We can screw you up the ass, make you blow us, and you will still vote for us, so why should we care?", the Republicans said "We could let you screw US up the ass, blow you, and you still won't vote for us, so why do we care?" and the third parties said "Hey, we are willing to talk - guys? Hello? Over here!" and were ignored.

I've been saying this for over a decade now. I've voted 3rd party in the last two Presidential elections and probably will in the next one to (unless the unthinkable happens and one of the two major parties actually nominates someone worth voting FOR....right now I get the feeling that a lot of Americans go to the polls to vote against someone, which is, I believe, a big part of our problem.)

Hitchhikers' Guide was WRONG, Earth is not in a galactic backwater

Re: ...and in a further commentary

You forgot to mention Marvin's assertion that it's surely a sign that we're all doomed.

Graphene QUILT: A good trampoline for elephants in stiletto heels

Re: Adhesives

Cast iron was a godsend until people figured out how to make steel.

Cast iron is still a godsend for cooking. It's a pain to maintain, but I'd not trade my cast iron cookware for steel for all the tea in China. The right material for the right job.

Kinky? You're mentally healthier than 'vanilla' bonkers

Re: Found an explanation

Personally I find the connection between mental health and education to be more likely caused be the relative stability it takes to get through those extra years of school, especially given the stress levels involved with earning some of those higher degrees and PhDs.

Re: Yawn.

There's a big difference between willingly submitting and being kidnapped.

Doctor Who? 12th incarnation sought after Matt Smith quits

Does anyone else worry about the rate that the revival has blown through incarnations of the Doctor? I mean the classic went through 6 in 25 years (7 in thirty-some-odd years if you count the movie) and the new show has now gone through 3 in 7 years.

Look out, fanbois! EVIL charger will inject FILTH into your iPHONE

Re: Trusting ANYTHING plugging into a USB port....

That wouldn't work with Android. It doesn't mount as a mass storage device till it's told to and USB debugging is disabled by default. J. Random User doesn't even know the USB debugging setting exists, let alone how to turn it on, leaving 90% of Android phones immune to this sort of attack.

Sadly, mine is one of the 10% that's not immune, but I've never plugged into a random charging port so I'm probably OK.

CRUNCH: 'Drunk' chap cuffed in high-speed car nookie prang rumpus

She did nothing illegal. Nothing he did would have been illegal either (except for refusing to obey an officer) had he not been driving at the time.

Though I've long been of the opinion that both parties contributing to 'road head' related accident should be charged with reckless endangerment the authorities seem to disagree with me. Seriously, if you can't keep it in your pant from point A to point B at least pull into a parking lot where you're not going to cause a wreck, especially if the reason you can't keep it in your pants has to do with alcohol.

Warming: 6°C unlikely, 2°C nearly certain

Tell you what....

I've got a solution to the question. To get the answer I will need a Deloreon. Failing that I think I might be able to muddle my way through with a 1950s era police box that's bigger on the inside.

Qualcomm app 'extends battery life' by analysing fandroids' privates

Re: Don't think it will help me

I actually leave data service and GPS on all the time because my security system depends on them. Basically if my phone is stolen I can pinpoint my phone's location as long as GPS and data are on , thus enabling the nice men in blue uniforms to go pick it up for me.

Stop the Microsoft, Skype wedding, screams enraged Cisco in court

Re: Microsoft Lock-In.

I get the feeling that Microsoft is trying to ignore Skype on Linux until it starves to death. It certainly feels like a neglected red-headed step child compared to the Windows version, what with the far clunkier interface. It's not missing any features yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't get any new ones that are added to the Windows version.

Going under the knife? Avoid Fridays. Trust us, we asked a doctor

Duh

Maybe it's because so much of my family is in the medical profession, but I've known this since I was a kid. If you're scheduling a surgery that can wait, you schedule it for Tuesday at 10am or 1pm. Stay the hell away from Monday (doctors are just as susceptible to bad attitudes on Monday as anyone else). 10am is late enough that they've had their coffee but early enough that they're not yet thinking about lunch and 1pm is just after lunch so they're not hungry and not yet rushing through things at the end of the day. Never, ever schedule anything after noon on Thursday or anytime on Friday if you can help it. If you do then they won't be around if/when you have complications so you'll be stuck with whatever the nurses can do (which is a hell of a lot, but they can't make certain key, potentially life-saving decisions legally).

Tim Cook: Wearable tech's nice, but Google Glass will NEVER BE COOL

Cycles in the market

Steve leaves, stock prices steadily fall until the board beg Steve to come back, Steve brings in the reality distortion field, stock prices recover.

Repeat until Apple triggers the Zombie Apocalypse by bringing Steve back one too many times.

Tea, Earl Grey, hot! NASA blows $125k on Star Trek 3D FOOD PRINTER

Re: Cat

Don't be ridiculous. The cat would clearly be saying "I can has cheezburger?"

Are you sure this was NASA and not DARPA?

Bill Gates: Corporate tax is not a moral issue

Re: Bill is right this time.

And this is the problem, no one knows what SHAME is anymore, or they don't care!

Everyone/corp have a DUTY to pay the tax due of them and not weasel their way out of it!

I don't think I'd call paying the taxes required by law and not one penny more 'weaseling' their way out of taxes, and that's what Bill is talking about. If nations are so concerned about big multinationals using legal loopholes to pay lower tax rates then those nations need to close those loopholes, end of story. You can't craft your tax law so that it allows corporations to pay less taxes and then complain when they use it.

The US is a perfect example of this. We have all sorts of tax loopholes intentionally put it place so that the business owners in Congress and their cronies can pay less taxes, but whenever some company without Congressional connections use those same loopholes they get hauled before the Senate to explain why they're using those perfectly legal loopholes, as Google was recently. Schmidt did the right thing telling them off. If you don't like company's using the loopholes you set up to pay less taxes then you need to close those loopholes.

Boffins' brilliant plan: CONCRETE COMPUTERS

Whee! Now we have a way to build electronics into the building itself!

(Now who's going to pay to replace the wall in 5 years when the computer built into the cement that forms it inevitably quits working?)