* Posts by Nathan Williams

9 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Jun 2007

Boeing, Boeing, gone! CEO Muilenburg quits 'effective immediately'

Nathan Williams

MCAS =/= anti-death

The 737 MAX is perfectly capable of flying safely without MCAS. All MCAS does is make the plane feel to the pilots like they are flying a 737 NG so that they do not need a new type rating. Major mistakes were made in how the system was implemented and how the system's features were communicated to the people flying and certifying the plane, but to imply that MCAS is somehow necessary to keep the MAX from killing people is just flat-out wrong and grossly oversimplifies the problem here.

The larger issue, aside from poor implementation and communication, is that Boeing felt the need to turn their new plane into a simulator of their old one just to save the airlines the hassle of retraining their pilots.

New hacker peril for older IE versions

Nathan Williams
Pint

@Al fazed

I'm not trying to advocate _constantly_ upgrading. I am trying to point out that there have been significant improvements in hardware and software in the past decade--both in areas of performance and security--which the user I was responding to would likely find to his advantage.

While I agree that attempting to stay on the bleeding edge of technology is a frustrating and ultimately fruitless exercise, it is my humble opinion that the benefits of updating outweigh the disadvantages for the person in question at this time, and that there are several negative aspects with such an outdated configuration that even further argue for an upgrade. Perhaps my original tone was off-putting, for which I apologize -- I was reacting to the IE5.5 subject line, which is one of the banes of my existence and some of that came through in my post.

Nathan Williams
Grenade

@AC using 5.5

If you are--as I suspect--a troll...then well played. If not, well then that's just...sad.

IE 5.5 came out in 2000, and the only OS that IE 5.5 runs on that cannot also run at least IE 6 is Windows 95. If in the past TEN YEARS you couldn't be arsed to purchase a machine capable of running anything beyond Windows 95, then you deserve every bit of the torture you're putting yourself through. Penny pincher or not, it's time for an upgrade. It doesn't need to be the shiniest box on the shelf, but it should be a machine capable of running an operating system--be it Microsoft or not--that was written this millennium. Forget security--do it for your own sanity!

Windows 7: Microsoft's three missed opportunities

Nathan Williams
Boffin

@Russ Tarbox

Actually, the run box is unnecessary. Have the user click the Start button, then...NOTHING! Just have them start typing! The start search box at the bottom on the start menu works as a run box as well as a search box, and Microsoft has thoughtfully placed your cursor there by default whenever the start menu is opened.

If you really gotta have a run box, [Windows] + [R] still brings it up, and I agree 110% with the other posters who have mentioned that it is a heck of a lot quicker than trying to have the user find something on the start menu, even on XP. I haven't told a user to go to Start -> Run in years.

Bonus: click the start button the type "run" in the search box and hit enter. Voila! A run box! How fascinating!

Windows XP crashes out of Olympics?

Nathan Williams
Stop

Probably Fake

Looking at my recording of the opening ceremonies from NBC's broadcast here in the States, that BSOD was not there originally. And as AC pointed out above, a hardware fault is not exactly news.

North Carolina targets WTF licence plates

Nathan Williams
Paris Hilton

You can't get a PIMPALA in Florida...

...but you can get A55 RGY, which--when combined with the large orange that decorates Florida license plates and looks like an O--implies another interesting hobby.

Paris, because she has interesting hobbies.

Microsoft! bids! $44.6bn! for! Yahoo!

Nathan Williams
Go

As a Yahoo! stockholder...

I, for one, welcome our new Microsoft overlords.

Maybe I can actually get a return on my investment of $0...

RIAA wiped off the net

Nathan Williams
Boffin

@ Mectron

.org is not specifically for non-profit organizations (though it is commonly associated with them). The .org gTLD was originally intended for any organization that didn't fit under one of the other categories.

As there is no ".criminals" TLD, .org is the best place for the RIAA at this time.

So what's in a URL? The Reg URL?

Nathan Williams

Another American that can type .co.uk

Personally, I'd miss the .co.uk. It's part of the site's identity.