Posts by xperroni

Haunted Empire calls Apple 'a cult built around a dead man.' Tim Cook calls it 'nonsense'

Re: Someone is WRONG on the Internet (was: Great Automator Script Available)

You may want to reconsider the term "commentard" when describing El Reg readers.

I for one have no problem being called a commentard, I think it very reliably captures the essence of The Reg's forums demographic and what usually happens therein.

If anything, it's a rather unfair dig at the people to whom we are being compared – they are at no fault for being as they are, but we choose to come here and quarrel pointlessly every day.

WOW! Google invents the DIGITAL WATCH: What a time to be alive

Re: Dick Tracy??

Fifty years later. Two-way wrist TV. We thought it was pure fantasy when it was in the comics back then. Reality, what a concept.

I dunno. The wrist-gizmo concept looks cool in fiction, but years ago LG tried a watch-phone and it didn't go anywhere. Now of course LG isn't exactly stellar in implementing their designs, or marketing them, or following up a technology trail that looks promising but didn't take the world by storm on the first try, or in post-sale support, or...

Actually, I forget the point I was trying to make.

MtGox allows users to see a picture of their money, but not have it

Re: Hmmm...

So they will let you "see" the Bitcoins that are in your "Wallet"...which may, or may not, actually be IN your "wallet"...and may, or may not actually exist...because 750,000 of them are "missing".

Yeah, I was thinking much the same thing. So they let customers see a "balance" but they ostensibly refuse to stand by it in any way... What's the point?

Really, at least one of the sides involved has to be abysmally dumb for this to have looked like it would solve anything.

Daring danger-drone dives into VOLCANIC eruption – what happens next has to be seen

Kinda disappointed

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice video, but when I read "Daring danger drone dives into volcano" I was expecting something more along the lines of "last moments' footage of robotic plunge into fiery death". Then again, I guess "Daring danger drone hovers atop volcano" isn't nearly as catchy a headline.

IBM: We gave nothing to the NSA, stateside or elsewhere

It's what a witch would say

As brighter minds have pointed, trust is the biggest casualty in this whole surveillance debacle. Even if IBM et al swear they're clean, there's always the feeling that's just what they'd say either way. When lying is a standard business practice, how do honest (or at any rate, uninvolved) companies prove themselves in the eyes of customers?

Not sure if you're STILL running Windows XP? AmIRunningXP.com to the rescue!

Re: Your all up your own arse

They are called "normal people"

You say it as if it was worth of praise. I wonder why?

Don't call me Shirley

The funny thing is that Microsoft, like a delusional middle manager alienated by his peers, seems to think it's all just a misunderstanding. "Why, of course people would have upgraded by now, if only they understood the situation, and were aware of just how awesome Windows 8 is. Surely they somehow missed our latest campaigns / notices / nagging dialogs / desperate cries." The thought that people might be holding on to Windows XP because they don't want Windows 8 seemingly never crosses their minds.

Huawei: We'll sell a dual-boot Android, Windows 8 smartphone because, well, isn't it obvious?

I agree with you on Apple, but Samsung compete across all phone markets from crappy candy bar handsets that struggle to do much beyond make calls (...).

Given, but at the crap-phone level Samsung's leverage over other companies is very limited, and they're nowhere close to the virtual duopoly they enjoy at the top smartphone range along Apple. It's at this segment that they pose a more crucial challenge.

You mean they are planning on actually competing against their biggest competitors? Blow me down.

Don't be daft. Apple and (to a large extent) Samsung target the upper end of the market: intensive app users who are willing to pay more for a product they perceive as being of higher value. But there's also a large (if not as lucrative) market for cheap handsets the carriers buy in bulk and hand to customers who don't know any better, and/or are in fact wowed by getting a gizmo "for free".

For mobile companies in the bulk / "free" handset segment, selling directly to carriers instead of end-users, Apple and Samsung are not "competitors"; they exist in a different market altogether, even if their devices include nominally equivalent features. This is where Huawei stood until now, and so it makes perfect sense to say they haven't really gone up against neither yet.

We all owe our EXISTENCE to lovely VOLCANOES, say boffins

Re: Interesting map

But the Cardinal Points (...) [are] derived from the rotation of the Earth.

And the metre is derived from the speed of light, but that doesn't make it any less arbitrary than the yard.

Of course, if we are going to have a system for describing directions on the Earth's crust, we might as well base it on some physical phenomenon that we can use as reference, and the Earth's rotation is arguably the best option. But the choice is still "arbitrary" in the sense that nothing (short of common sense) would prevent us from adopting a different system, however awkward the alternative might be.

As in, say, Imperial units.

Re: Past ice ages?

You're right of course, but "the past Ice Age / the past glaciation" is often used to informally refer to the last time the world was cluttered with ice. And highly as we might regard it, El Reg is well into the "informal" range of the scientific media spectrum.

Re: Interesting map

Maybe somebody realized that, while "N <-> N" might be more correct in a pedantic way, it is also a pretty pointless notation. Whereas "W <-> E" provides a useful reference set, even if its correctness can be disputed.

But I guess not everyone realizes that reference systems such as cardinal points are largely arbitrary, and should be used and / or abused to the degree they are useful. After all, it's not like the Geography Police will peruse your maps to check if you are using the "right" marks...

OR IS IT?! (TUM DUM DU-U-U-UMMM...)

You thought it was dead – but Flappy Bird may return: Millions prepare to poke own eyes out

It's called GEARS. It's what's in the logo that appears before Flappy Bird's title screen, at any rate.

Once burned, twice willing?

Well, I guess the lure of the spotlight was stronger than the horrors its light revealed.

Mine is the one with the pocket edition of "poetry for dummies" in the, uh, pocket.

MtGox, that bastion of unregulated e-currency Bitcoin, turns to Texas judge for protection

Bitcoin logic

"Sod the government, sod the banks, freedom FTW!"

*MtGOx goes titsup*

"Government! Government! Make MtGOx repay us in bank money for our lost pretend money!"

Bletchley Park board member quits amid TNMOC split-off spat

If you're trying to "paint programming pink", you may be part of the problem, not part of the solution.

An unfortunate choice of words, but his point has merit. The fabled "womanly way" is often touted as an argument for getting more women to play male-dominated roles. But clearly if women are a better fit to some situations, they must be a poorer one for others (you certainly wouldn't think women are better always, that's sexism). Yet try saying "maybe this problem wouldn't be so bad if we had less women involved" and see how long it takes for the femi-SA to show up.

Of course, if the female is a true-blooded Honored Matre, this may backfire.

Kudos for the Dune reference.

Distro diaspora: Four flavours of Ubuntu unpacked

Re: Minty

I agree. I have used Mint with the Cinnamon desktop for the past few years and it works great. Lately I've playing with KDE and decide to switch desktop environments, but decided to go with Mint/KDE after test-driving openSUSE and Kubuntu and being rather underwhelmed.

Dell thuds down low-cost lap workstation for cheap frugal creatives or engineers

Re: As a lesser mortal...

...may I just ask what anyone does that requires more than 16GB of ram that doesnt involve running 8VMs on a laptop?

CAD tools. AutoCAD, Rhynoceros, etc. Damn things eat memory like bacon.

Bugger the jetpack, where's my 21st-century Psion?

Only in Japan

In fact there are plenty of handheld computers being made and marketed today. All you need do to get hold of one is visit a consumer electronics shop... in Japan.

Here they're called "denshi jisho", or electronic dictionaries. Like the case of "computer", the name hasn't accurately represented what the devices can do for a long time now. Some still sport monochrome screens, but there are many that have color displays and enough processing power to play videos. Extras include integrated digital TV receptor, touchscreen and Wi-Fi. Most double as personal organizers, and all have some sort of mechanical keyboard, the notebook-alike clamshell being the most popular form-factor.

Could these ever be successful outside of Japan? I dunno. Smartphones have already assimilated all their functions plus making phone calls, playing games and taking pictures; in fact I'd reckon it's only the conservatism of Japanese consumers that continues to make them viable here (accordingly, most models come from traditional Japanese companies, such as Sharp and Casio). I guess that much as we may lament it, unless someone comes up with a truly fresh take on the form-factor, the age of the handheld PC is pretty much over. All hail the handheld fondleslab (aka the smartphone).

Zaphod Beeblebrox style third arm cyborg prosthesis unveiled

It's known that the brain is more able to adapt when young so I wonder if you fitted extra limbs to a child, if the brain would automatically learn to use them, controlling 3 arms totally naturally?

It's likely, yes. In fact Prof. Miguel Nicolelis' research achieved just that in simian test subjects – you'd expect his results to hold for humans.

I NEVER DONE BITCOIN, says bloke fingered by new Newsweek

Re: Really?

Is there only one Satoshi Nakamoto on the planet (...)?

Not to mention that this Satoshi Nakamoto is conveniently an American citizen living in the US... Because, you know, Japanese citizens, what do they know about computers anyway?

Heads I win, tails you lose

Hack walks over to bloke and asks "are you <insert random claim here, e.g. 'the creator of bitcoin'>?"

If bloke says "yes", that's the story right there.

If he says "no", the story is "Mr. so-and-so denies he's <random claim>".

Journalism: because the truth is out there, but Hell if I can be bothered to go and take a look.

Delhi police forget passwords to corruption portal, ignore 600 crimes

Re: Is it just me..

(...) [I]s IT ignorance becoming the equivalent of 'the dog ate my homework'[?]

I don't know about IT ignorance, but IT in general has been a staple of poor performance scapegoating for quite a while. Where I come from, "sorry the system is down" has been the standard no-service excuse for well over a decade; according to an anecdote I heard, people have been even denied hospitalization on the grounds that the hospital's check-in system was off.

So yeah, this whole computer revolution of ours is turning quite convenient for slackers the world over...

Google! and! Facebook! IDs! face! Yahoo! login! BAN!

Re: And so Yahoo! continues

Come on, Marissa, you should know better than to become a pale copy of Google.

Should her?

I always thought she was brought in to "Googlify" Yahoo!

Why did they even give her the job then?

Windows XP market share GROWS AGAIN, outstrips Win 8.1 surge

Re: Developing nations

The big uns like that will continue to receive help/updates from MS

I doubt it. Enterprise has become MS's most important market, so it is in Redmond's best interests that the "big uns" let go of XP. And those are pretty much the clients that need to be prodded: ordinary consumers will upgrade automatically the next time they buy a PC, but big companies with IT departments can always get new machines wiped and refitted with Windows XP, for as long as the drivers remain compatible.

Flying fondleslab causes injury after plane hits turbulence

Re: Could have been worse

So now we would have a laptop from a privileged lineage, no understanding of what an average user needs and absolutely no experience for its job function?

Having neglected to clarify what Osborne I was talking about (it was this one, just so you be sure), I was afraid someone would conjure the image of a large-boned Heavy Metal singer falling on top of people, but this is even worse.

Oh Internet, you never cease to surprise and terrify me.

Could have been worse

A mere thirty years ago that laptop could have been an Osborne.

Who'd have guessed the day would come when our obsession for ever slimmer, lighter gear would actually save lives?

AVG killing LiveKive cloud storage service

Re: Welcome to the cloud

You make it sound like there's something wrong with taking up an offer of free storage. Why?

No particular reason, just the conventions of the form.

Then again I am a freeloader too, I use Google Drive and Dropbox and pay for neither.

Chill off dude, the week's just about started.

Welcome to the cloud

Where freeloaders are the product and applications can disappear from under the feet of paying customers.

IM demo for TOR coming soon

I start by installing hte HTTPS everywhere Firefox plugin everywhere I can. When I have the opportunity, I do more. It's all I know to do. What ideas do you have?

That would work in the context of a truly oppressive, technology-aware regime? None that I can think of right now.

And even if I did, security as we all know is a game of cat-and-mouse: someone would eventually develop a counter for them, and force "us" to think of something else.

Which I guess is the spirit of our time: no clear-cut solutions, and often the best we can do is stall for time, waiting for something to show up.

The more traffic is encrypted the less encrypted traffic stands out.

But if (as the AC says) the mere use of encryption can be enough to get you in trouble, then a lot of people won't dare to. So even if widespread adoption is a solution, how to get there from here?

How a Facebook post by blabbermouth daughter cost her parents $80,000

Re: Not sure what to think

Typical "computer geek who knows zero about the law" statement.

Indeed I am a computer geek who knows zero about the law. I do, however, know a thing or two about objective reality. For example, if a man breaks a non-disclosure agreement by telling it to his daughter, but she doesn't tell anyone, then it's not like lawyers can use their magical powers to find this out; without evidence they'd have no basis to go back on the settlement.

So "I wonder if her father made it clear that they couldn't tell others about the settlement?" is very well a relevant question. No bragging, no Facebook posts, no evidence, no problem.

Now a question for you: if a man breaks his non-disclosure agreement in the forest where no-one can hear him, do law geeks still get to enjoy the sound of their own keyboards as they brag about how knowledgeable they are?

Not sure what to think

I wonder if her father made it clear that they couldn't tell others about the settlement? An adult could be expected to know babbling about it would be a bad idea regardless, but teenagers are known to brag. Of course the smarter children figure early the virtue of keeping them traps shut, but not everyone can be "smarter", right? In fact I'd dare say most people have ran their mouths off at least once, and only then learned the value of thinking before spouting their hearts out. Usually though, that won't sting to the tune of 80 grand.

Also, that Facebook was the vehicle of their ruin also gets me thinking. Ten years ago the girl would have to be somewhat tech-savvy to reach beyond her real-world friends, but now, with smartphones and social networks, anyone can let the world know how immature they are at a moment's notice. It's a bit like what gun ban proponents say, if it's so easy you can do it without thinking, someone's bound to do something they'll come to regret.

Like WhatsApp? Meet 'desktop' version... and his BANK ACCOUNT RAIDING Trojan pal

Profits are for sissies

Money? Such a quaint concept!

My boy, WhatsApp is a post-profit enterprise. They have no intention of ever making any money – in fact their whole business plan was carefully crafted to avoid such a nefarious occurrence.

But receiving money, now that's a completely different proposition, which they approach by building a pretend business that looks like it could turn over a profit eventually, but (such clever chaps!) never does.

Microsoft's JavaScript challenger nears 1.0, wins Visual Studio love

Re: Insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results

C++ seems to have done pretty well for itself last time I looked.

You misunderstand. It's not that C++ isn't powerful, or successful. It is.

It's also a God-awful hodgepodge of redundant (and sometimes contradicting) features. This should not surprise anyone, it's what happens when you try to bolt several additional programming paradigms onto a language (C) that was never very clean to begin with.

That's what I think we should rather not have again. Interface with Javascript files all you want, but for the love of Backus, the language is pretty complicated enough already without these half-baked attempts to "fix" it.

Re: Insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results

Indeed, why use C++, when Java or C# are available for application level programming?

The perverse bit about C++ prominence is that it's self-reinforcing. There is a lot of useful C++ libraries around, so a lot of people end up learning C++, and most modern languages provide some way to interface with C++ code, so writing a library in C++ is the best way to ensure a large audience, so there is ever more C++ libraries around. I should know, I am guilty of this very same crime myself.

If I have to choose between C or C++ then I'd rather drown C++ it is. But yes, when I can really choose, then it's either Java or Python.

Insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results

Instead, TypeScript is a superscript of JavaScript, such that all valid JavaScript code is also valid TypeScript code.

Haven't we learned anything from the Goldberg machine that is C++?

Apparently not. Sigh.

Hungarian eggheads unleash not-at-all-scary DRONE SWARM

Boids

So they finally found a practical application to the Boids algorithm?

http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/

YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED MEATBAGS

Rise of the Machines: Robot challenges top German player at ping-pong

Re: Smart

Of course sports wouldn't be half as fun without human contenders to suffer horrible injuries, go into drugs in a disastrous attempt to stave off the effects of aging, protagonize acrimonious divorces, or generally make a huge mess out of their own lives. KUKA's objective is not to win the competition per se, but to demonstrate how skillful their robots are – a robot that can match the level of eye-hand coordination of a professional table tennis player can be employed in many scenarios where swift and precise motion is required.

Re: Some tricks up his sleeve?!

You might be on to something there nevertheless. Back when Kasparov chickened out lost to Deep Blue, it was said that much of Kasparov's success as a chessmaster was due to his ability to employ tactics that threw his opponents off. Not only was the remorseless machine immune to such mind tricks, it would sometimes pull off its own baffling yet effective exploits.

So yeah, this match could definitely prove interesting.

None of that is likely to be easy but again, it's really a software/sensor achievement right?

That's a big part of it, yes. But even when you know where each part of the robot is in space (itself no mean feat), getting those parts to move towards precisely the desired destination in exactly the desired moment would be hopeless if the machinery itself isn't very accurate. So beyond the software trickery, there is certainly a fair amount of engineering might involved.

Brains beat brawls

Strangely enough, every time a robot one-ups a human I don't feel particularly humiliated myself. If anything I feel vindicated: the bleep-bloop machines of my childhood matured and are now taking over the world, just like we knew they would. Take that PE teacher pets of the world!

Now can we get that upload stuff working?

http://www.tgsa-comic.com/view.php?page=2008-04-02

You'll NEVER guess who's building the first Ubuntu phones in 2014

High end devices? so they expect people to buy a premium phone that has absolutely none of the usual apps that are available on all other platforms (yes, even WinPho!)

My guess is that they don't really expect to sell phones to "people" at this point, but to developers – who will hopefully be enticed by the concept of a "real" Linux-phone. These will start writing apps, mostly for their own use, but more importantly they'll grow familiar with the platform. As the number of skilled developers increase, Ubuntu will become a more accessible option for larger handset companies, who already have all but forgotten how to write a mobile OS (if they ever knew at all) and might be weary of GMS licensing costs. Initially I'd expect it to be used in budget models, and slowly but surely climb up the model line ladder.

So if my crystal ball is not failing me, Canonical's plan is to sell the platform to developers first, then to companies, and only finally to "people", as in the common-or-garden punter in the street. Whether it'll work is anyone's guess, especially given Mozilla seems to be going along much the same route, but it's not without logic.

Re: I'm excited!

as in, dock the phone, full desktop experience

I've always liked the idea of a mobile device you could plug into a desktop cradle / laptop body.

I wonder why it's been tried so rarely, never successfully? Even Motorola's try (which produced many approving noises among critics IIRC) apparently flopped. The concept looks good, what does it take for people to buy in on it?

Chihuahua TERROR: Packs of TINY hounds menace Arizona

Re: In the words of Ron Swanson:

However, a dog with less than 50lbs still thinks like a dog.

Whereas cats think they can do as they damn well please – regardless of weight, but clearly can get harder to oppose as we go from, say, house cat to tiger.

Vertical take-off and laughing: Space Harrier

Master System 3D port

I remember playing the Master System port, goggles and all, and I loved it. In fact, after all these years I've never been so thrilled as when I first played a Master System 3D game, though I accept this is not a widely accepted account.

Facebook adds 50+ gender options: Stalking your 'Friends' just got more LGBT-friendly

Re: WTF!

My first thought was much the same, but then I pondered, hell what do I know – maybe there are 50-plus unique ways people relate to their reproductive organs, and it's just me that haven't been keeping up. Guess I'm just an old fart that can't let go of the outdated ways of yore...

Tizen teasing continues as new members join but none pledge devices

A dog with 15 owners

Back in Brazil there's a saying: "a dog with two owners starves to death".

Now Tizen has an additional 15 "owners", each one expecting that some of the others will throw the squalid platform a hardware bone.

For my money, this will go nowhere but down.

Plan 9 moves out from Lucent licence space

Synchronicity

Funny that just yesterday I was reading about Plan 9 from Outer Space.

It's just a coincidence, of course. The day before I was reading about the Charlemagne Division and there were no news about nazi French that I've been aware of.

Paris because I have about as much of a clue of what's going on in the world.