* Posts by Pen-y-gors

3782 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Oct 2010

Hash-tag CompSci: FBI grooms pre-weed teens

Pen-y-gors

Dodgy?

Doesn't this count as grooming? Is that still legal in the Land of the unFree?

Boeing builds British Airways 787 Dreamliner in 4 minutes

Pen-y-gors

But for a GENUINE fast build...

Anyone remember the 1943 film "Workers Weekend" which was a documentary recording the workers at Broughton really building a Wellington bomber from scratch in 24 hours flat (well, 23 hours and 50 mins and it took off less than an hour later)

Available at National archives to download

http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/focuson/film/film-archive/player.asp?catID=2&subCatID=7&filmID=8

Slander-as-a-service: Peeple app wants people to rate and review you – whether you like it or not

Pen-y-gors

"This could be the most odious idea the internet manages in 2015"

Nah, there's three whole months still to go. I'm sure some smartarse will manage to go further. Rate-my-scabs.com? review-my-mastectomy-scars.com? laugh-at-a-cripple.com?

Sky 'fesses up to broken fibre cables as cause of outage woes

Pen-y-gors

"Contact me by carrier pigeon"

Am I the only one who is curious that someone TWEETED the above?

Anthropology boffins solve 9,000-year-old headless body cold case

Pen-y-gors

"a bit late to catch the killers"

I dunno, I'm sure the Met are happy to investigate 9000 year old cases as part of operation Yewtree.

NIST's quantum boffins have TELEPORTED stuff over a HUNDRED KILOMETRES

Pen-y-gors

Is it really teleportation?

If I understand the article (which I probably don't) the 'teleportation' happens via a fibre optic cable. Now, the Enterprise didn't have to connect a fibre-optic cable to the Klingon bird of prey to teleport people backwards and forwards, did it? It sounds like this is teleportation in the same sense that Welsh Water teleport water from the reservoir to my home via a pipe.

AVG to flog your web browsing, search history from mid-October

Pen-y-gors

Pay?

I suspect most of us here are professionals, and AVG Free is solely for home/private use.

I started using the paid for version on my work machines some years ago. As AVG isn't perfect (no AV is) I also have the paid version of Malwarebytes, and I also use a paid-for Zonealarm. Touch wood, I've been safe so far. And having spent hours de-malwareing other peoples machines I appreciate having something that seems to work.

Spending a hundred quid or so a year on protection for my work computers doesn't seem that unreasonable.

Having said that...data grabbing at the level proposed by AVG is pretty shitty!

UK.gov mobile not-spot coverage project set to be completed in the year 2155AD

Pen-y-gors

Everyone reading this will be DEAD

I think the subheading may be a little pessimistic. Medical science is moving fast, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of our younger readers are in fact still alive in 2155 - however they WILL still be waiting for decent mobile coverage.

Scotsman cools PC with IRN-BRU, dubs it the 'Aye Mac'

Pen-y-gors

Re: Makes Me [Click] Baity

Out of interest, why couldn't he just use real Irn Bru as the coolant?

Microsoft's 'anti-malware Device Guard' in Windows 10: How it works, what you need

Pen-y-gors

Re: Run silent, run deep

No, no, no...the only things allowed to run have to be signed by MS or your IT dept, so of course the NSA won't be able to run anything, will they?

The ONE WEIRD TRICK which could END OBESITY

Pen-y-gors

Re: Shrinkflation - Peperami

Good point - I reckon even here in Blighty that Peperami sticks are now about half the length they used to be. Or am I imaging it?

Pen-y-gors
Pint

Yes but, no, but...

"Well, our own professional research shows that the average size of a pint has varied exactly 0 per cent since 1993"

Technically true, but have you tried buying a pint of beer in a bottle recently? What LOOKS like a pint bottle, and what fits nicely in what LOOKS like a pint glass is always actually 500ml, which most definitely isn't a pint.

Very disappointed when I worked that out. However, as I'm on holiday this week, staying about 30 yards from a lovely pub selling the wonderful Three Tuns on draught (in straight pint glasses of course) I'm happy for the time being!

Murder suspect alert? Nah: Scammers fling cop-style malware

Pen-y-gors

"Boys in Blue? More like the Lads from Lagos"

Morally, how can you tell the difference?

TELLY INNN SPAAACE: Nothing to watch on your 4K TV? NASA to the RESCUE

Pen-y-gors

luddites?

You say that as if it's a bad thing. We don't need no steenkin' web connection on our hand-looms! All hail Ned Ludd!

'Walter Mitty' IT manager admits to buying gun on dark web

Pen-y-gors

Entrapment?

Is entrapment legal in the UK? Anyway, he didn't 'buy a gun' he ATTEMPTED to buy a gun from a rip-off merchant. Does the dark web eBay provide any guarantees for recompense when ripped off by suspect dealers? Is it legal for the filth to offer guns for sale? Failing that can he sue the filth under the Consumer Protection Legislation as the goods were a) not as described and b) not fit for purpose.

Bit of a prat though...

Record-breaking cosmonaut comes back down to Earth

Pen-y-gors

Advantages?

Are there any tax advantages to being off-planet for long periods of time? When will Google, Apple and Amazon move their official HQs to low-earth orbit?

'Major' outage at Plusnet borks Brits' browsing, irate folk finger DNS

Pen-y-gors

Customer satisfaction?

Perhaps their customers can sit carving wooden spoons while they wait.

It's interesting that their TV ads say they gat higher customer satisfaction ratings than Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk. There's at least one large ISP (hint two-letter acronym) not in that list...and saying you give better customer satisfaction than TalkTalk really isn't much to write home about. Sweeney Todd was probably more popular with his customers than TalkTalk.

SPACE WHISKY: Astro malt pongs of 'rubber and smoked fish'

Pen-y-gors

Re: Spelling

Correct. There is no E in Whisky (which is the stuff from Scotland, like Ardbeg) but there IS an E in whiskey (which is the lovely smooth stuff from the Emerald Isle). Not sure if the stuff from Meriky and Japan should be allowed to use the word though, however it's spelled, and however many awards they win. Welsh chwisgi isn't too bad either, and le Whisky Breton is surprisingly drinkable.

Pen-y-gors

Barbarians!

You don't mature good whisky by stuffing it full of sawdust and keeping it at zero g for a few years. The traditional system works perfectly well. There are some experiments that should just not be done!

Ofcom issues stern warning over fake caller number ID scam

Pen-y-gors

Tracing?

"Ofcom...was stopping nuisance calls at source through an agreed call-tracing process"

Curious...for years BT have been saying they can't trace incoming overseas 'nuisance' calls. What's changed now?

No boxy Volvo: Chilling in the S60 D3 Manual R-Design Lux Nav

Pen-y-gors

Chinese?

If Volvo is a Chinese company, how come they aren't selling the cars for about five grand a pop?

Daredevil Brit lifts off in 54-prop quinquaquadcopter

Pen-y-gors

Absolutely f***ing brilliant!

Give the man an OBE.

Could this be inspiration for the next SPB project? Scale it up to 96 24-inch rotors, Some serious battery capacity, a few more controls and we'll have something suitable for popping down to the shops.

Greater Manchester plod site targeted by nuisance DDoS attack

Pen-y-gors

But seriously...

I'm glad to hear that their website isn't linked to their operational networks (or so they say...) but these days more and more use is made by the filth of electronic operational tools. and even if they're on separate networks they still need IP addresses. What happens when the script kiddies find out that IP address and start DDoSing that instead of the public website?

(I'm not suggesting it's a good idea, you understand)

Almost all dot-science malicious, dot-cricket rigged, researchers find

Pen-y-gors

Re: ICANN makes bucks and passes the buck

If ICANN weren't just concerned about the cash, they wouldn't have enabled all those new TLDs in the first place. Now they exist the least they can do is pull the plug on the ones which are ALL dodgy!

Turkey cites crypto software find in terror charges against TV crew

Pen-y-gors

Windows?

And the Turkish president is using the exact same software on his computer as almost all the ISIL nutters - Windows! String him up!

Pen-y-gors

EU membership? In their dreams!

Time to stop faffing around. Tell the Turkish government that if they are serious about joining the EU they can re-apply in 30 years time. Until then, forget it.

Vodafone: Dammit Britain, your emergency services need 4G!

Pen-y-gors

Re: So just where in the country do criminals go to avoid the police :)

odd-numbered houses?

Wow, Barcelona really has a problem with tech disruptors. Watch out Airbnb

Pen-y-gors

What is a tourist?

Interesting question: is the tourist tax and the tourism register strictly for 'tourists' (holidaymakers?) or is it actually for 'anyone from out of town'. If the former then does offering a bed to someone in town on business make you liable to be on the tourism register? Or how about someone from the outskirts who wants a bed in the city centre after a hard night out?

Simple rules can be sooooo complicated!

Hardened Linux stalwarts Grsecurity pull the pin after legal fight

Pen-y-gors

Name names?

"a “multi-billion dollar” corporation"

Go on, who is it...?

The good burghers of Palo Alto are entirely insane

Pen-y-gors

Insurance value?

IANA Insurance Broker but...I think you'll find that your insurance company actually insures you for the 'rebuilding cost' of your house, not the market value of the house (less land value etc). In expensive areas this may be a lot less than the market value of the entire site, but in cheaper areas may be a lot more than the market value, as it includes the cost of demolition and clearing the site, plus the cost of doing a one-off build (rather than perhaps building an estate all at once)

Rock reboot and the Welsh windy wonder: Centre for Alternative Technology

Pen-y-gors

Shameless plug

Excellent article, and I agree that the place is well worth a visit, as is King Arthur's Labrynth.

And the shameless plug...when going from Machynlleth to Aberystwyth (or vice versa) do stop off at Caffi Cletwr in Tre'r Ddol (half way between Mach and Aber). It's an excellent community-owned and run cafe and local shop (with a surprising range of tasty stuff), staffed mainly by volunteers, and a venture well worth supporting. [Declaration of interest: I'm one of the volunteers!] Oh yes, and there's free WiFi (have to include the IT angle).

Pen-y-gors

Re: I Say Potato and You Say Pot-Ah-To

I suspect CAT themselves aren't entirely sure - I've seen signs with two very different welsh translations of the name.

US military says it will discipline Ashley Madison users

Pen-y-gors

Re: We should be told...

If there were, I'm sure they were purely for research purposes.

Curiosity rolls over onto Martian WET PATCH, takes satisfied selfie

Pen-y-gors

Distortion

I appreciate that they use a rather odd lense on the camera, but it would be nice if NASA would process the image to remove the distortion before releasing the photo.

Boffins dump the fluids to build solid state lithium battery

Pen-y-gors

Battery evolution

It's easy to be cynical about the number of 'revolutionary battery technologies' that disappear down a black hole, and yes, batteries for portable stuff like phones have improved over the years.

But what hasn't improved much is the technology for bulk storage of solar, hydro etc, the sort of thing that we need to store hundreds of kilowatt hours rather than a few thousand milliwatt hours,

Wake me up when I can get a power pack that stores 500kWh, lasts at least 20 years without serious degradation, costs less than £1000 and fits into the space occupied by my oil-fired boiler.

Ofcom coverage map: 7/10 – must try harder next time

Pen-y-gors

You cannot be serious...

Carter sees the map as helpful, but said: “To make it an accurate and useful tool, Ofcom needs to regularly test networks both indoors and outdoors around the UK, using only data collected in real life, and not a mash-up of testing and computer simulation."

So he wants Ofcom to send some poor sucker out to cover the entire land area of the UK, cities, villages, fields, mountains, swamps and all, stopping every 100 metres, to measure the actual reception on every network? The phrase 'job for life' springs to mind...

Costa Rican authorities detain drug-smuggling pigeon

Pen-y-gors

Unnecessary complications

Last week we had fights in a porison when a drone tried to drop some dope ina prison, now it's pigeon post. Why can't the inmates just buy their drugs from the guards like everyone else?

Skills crisis? Not for long: More and more UK kids gain STEM quals

Pen-y-gors

Yes but no but...

Good news, but how many of them will decide to waste their skills as accountants or bankers rather than going into IT or science research?

Apple's AirDrop abused by 'cyber-flashing' London train perv

Pen-y-gors

Ho hum,

Providing an option that lets just anyone nearby see your phone and send files to it.

What could possibly go wrong?

It's not just antivirus downloads that have export control screening

Pen-y-gors

How do names get on these lists?

Obviously no self-respecting trrrst would use his real name when buying online, but what would happen if some moronic jihadi started posting inflamatory messages on facebook under the name of 'David Cameron', or 'Theresa May' or "Barry O'Bama"? Would those names be added to the blacklist?

Just curious...

Death to DRM, we'll kill it in a decade, chants EFF

Pen-y-gors

Re: Not going to happen

@DavCrav

"Where exactly do children get this sort of money?"

Or to use the same argument...

60" smart TVs and new BMWs also cost thousands of pounds...so presumably it's okay to steal them if you don't have the cash?

DRM is bad, but so is freeloading. Content creators do have a right to be paid for their work.

Giant Facebook SOLAR LASER DRONE to FEED interwebs into YOUR FACE

Pen-y-gors

Interruptions?

I can see that it will fly above commercial aircraft, but presumably that laser that connects it to the ground station passes through airspace used by aircraft, pigeons etc. How does it cope with interruptions? Or a Google balloon getting in the way?

Comet 67/P CAKED in LIFE-GIVING RUBBLE, say astroboffins

Pen-y-gors
Thumb Up

Thumbs up

...for probably being the only article written in any news publication today that correctly uses the word 'literally';

"we've just about literally only scratched the service of the worldlet on which it rests

It's so nice to read material written by a literate journalist!

And on that bombshell: Top Gear's Clarkson to reappear on Amazon

Pen-y-gors

Sorry, chaps

Still not a reason to lash out all that dosh for Prime

Download Fest goers were human guinea pigs in spy tech experiment, admit police

Pen-y-gors

Plan of action

1. Get friend in St Johns Ambulance or theatrical type to give you some really guesome facial 'injuries'

2. Buy and wear 'Anonymous' mask

3. Go to Festival

4. Wait for them to ask you to remove your mask...

Let kids delete their online rants, demand campaigners

Pen-y-gors

How about...

Mandatory deletion of all Twatbook accounts one month after 18th birthday, and they have to create a new grown-up a/c. Simples?

MORE Windows 10 bugs! Too many Start menu apps BREAK it

Pen-y-gors

Re: idiotic attitudes all round

"if a company actually releases software, isn't it supposedly fit-for-purpose?"

Which planet do YOU live on? I'd like to move there...

Hurrah! Windfarms produce whopping one per cent of EU energy

Pen-y-gors

Energy for Agriculture and Forestry?

The article conveniently notes that renewables are a small proportion of total energy use, once we factor in transport etc. But what about all the solar that agriculture and forestry use to grow crops? If you're looking at total energy use, shouldn't that be included as well?

Pen-y-gors

Encourage renewables?

It's important for governments to encourage renewables, although sadly it seems that our present 'green' government is so keen on renewables they're killing off virtually all financial support for them, presumably because their chums in the City can't cream off enough of the cash.

And the article talks a lot about wind and solar, but why the heck are we still so slow with sorting out serious tidal power in the UK? Some of the best tidal ranges in the world, out of sight (on the whole) and very predictable.

Post-pub nosh neckfiller: Southern biscuits and gravy

Pen-y-gors

Gravy?

"Two countries separated by a common language"