Posts by Steve Knox

HP: Autonomy had us believing in a false IDOL

Re: I don't suppose...

AC #1:

I'd take anything Mike says which a massive pinch of salt, he couldn't even remember trying to dump his company on Oracle with similarly inflated value.

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/features/please-buy-autonomy-503330.html

AC#2:

I'd much rather listen to some anonymous hp astroturfer....

Dear AC #2,

1. At least AC #1 provided relevant reference material.

2. Criticizing an AC while posting anonymously yourself? Really? Have you ever head of the term hypocrisy? Pick a pseudonym and use it. As a bonus, you also get to use the wonderful comment icons (sample to the left).

Dear Register,

Love the expandable comment edit box! When did that come in? Now if you'd just let me do that with the article body so I don't have 1/4 of my screen wasted with a gray background ; P

Nokia HERE today with decent mapping on Apple devices

Re: Worthy but sluggish

Apple's Maps is not perfect but is very much faster and [more?] accurate in determining my location.

Odd. Shurely location services are provided by the device OS, and so should be consistent between apps...?

Why IT chiefs are irrelevant to Microsoft's Windows 8 strategy

So Much FAIL

The survey respondents gave Windows 8 equal billing to iOS, but Windows 7 pulled in 12 per cent support, placing it third.

No.

1. iOS beat out Windows 8 by a full 6%.

2. Windows 7 didn't pull in anything, as it was grouped in a category with "or another Windows OS".

3. Said category got 12%, bringing it in 4th, well below Google Android with 17%, and barely above "No Preference" and "I won't use a tablet at work."

From the Forrester report, in order listed on the chart:

Windows 8: 20%

Windows 7 or another Windows OS: 12%

iOS: 26%

Google Android: 17%

No Preference: 11%

I don't plan to use a tablet for work: 11%

others (3 @ 1%) omitted for brevity

Apple said to have let the name of the next OS X cat out of the bag

...what Apple plans to do after OS X 10.9...

I see two possibilities:

1. OSX 11 - Tufnel, or

2. OS X11 - back to the basics

What are quantum computers good for?

Re: Computational complexity eliminated, or just moved to I/O?

No, the point is that you have to run the classical computing function up to N/2+1 times (where N is the number of possible inputs), whereas you only have to run the quantum function 1 time. Here's an example for N=4:

Classical

Input Balanced Constant

1 0 0

2 0 0

3 1 0

4 1 0

Quantum

Input Balanced Constant

0.0 ~2.0 0.0

So you'd have to run the classical algorithm 3 times to see the difference between a balanced and a constant function, whereas you'd only have to run the quantum function once, with any non-zero answer indicating a balanced function.

Re: Navel-Gazing

If the most important thing we can do with these is use them to understand themselves, the whole exercise seems pretty much like climbing down a rabbit hole.

On the contrary, (and contrary to my joke post), I think you'll find that a significant amount of classical computing resources have been used to understand the finer points of classical computers -- and this has given us the insight to engineer improved classical systems at the dizzying pace of Moore's law. Applying the same effort and use to quantum computers will allow them to develop similarly. Not wasted effort at all.

Did someone say oversimplification?

Let’s look at two [examples where quantum computers have the potential to outperform classical ones].

The Fourier Transform ...

Another example is here: a quantum algorithm for solving linear equations (where you have a matrix and a known vector, and wish to compute an unknown vector).

So, essentially, MP3 encoding and 3D gaming. Since that's roughly 99% of what classical computers are actually used for*, this sounds like the right place to be investing research.

* Sure, you need that $1,000 GeForce card for rendering expense charts. Right...

No increase in droughts since 1950, say boffins

Re: IT?

Just below the masthead is this conspicuous grey bar with all of the categories of stories El Reg covers. This isn't just decorative; each of these terms is a "hyperlink" -- text you can click on to direct you to a new page -- in this cage an index page of articles belonging to the selected category.

Each article also has the category it's posted in right under the byline -- again, as a hyperlink to direct you to similar pieces.

If you just want IT articles, just read the ones in the IT-related section. If you'd like further instruction on using the web, try here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/topics/using-the-web/

Lawyer sues Microsoft rather than slot an SD card into his Surface

Re: SD Card Not Same As Internal Storage

Either it works or it doesn't :-(

You'd think so, but this is a Microsoft product here.

Here's a little story on how it works/doesn't work:

http://www.teamradicus.com/post/Surface-and-SD-Card.aspx

"Andrew Sokolowski"?

Really? Sure that's just not a really bad pseudonym for a certain Reg hack...?

Word wonks insist GIFs are really JIFs

Funny, I always pronounced it

to-MAY-to

35 US states petition for secession – on White House website

This is the demographic the Republican Party courts

Those who, when they don't get exactly what they want*, don't even try to compromise; they just want to take their ball** and go home.

* Regardless of how detrimental what they want is to them and to the country as a whole. Regardless of the fact that much of what they want is impossible, or at least self-contradictory.

** Actually not their ball, but everyone's ball. But don't try to tell them they only get one 300 millionth of the ball. As far as they are concerned, each and every one of them owns the whole damned ball.

Industry in 'denial' as demand for pricey PCs plunges

Re: "Crash in much less time"

Perhaps you meant "Crash much less often"?

I says what I means, and I means what I says.

Re: What's missing?

Games are designed and built for 5 year old hardware, to be displayed at 1080p resolutions.

Not so. Many modern games are still designed to take advantage of faster PC hardware.

Take Skyrim for example. It can render more triangles, higher resolution textures, and crash in much less time, on PCs than on consoles.

Facebook's IPO was a disaster? RUBBISH, you FOOLS

People don't really work that way.

You may know your stock market, but I don't think you really understand people. You slipped up with this line:

The third one is that you're paying your people partly in stock and you want to be able to motivate them. But a low stock price helps not hinders there. Everyone getting issued restricted stock or options is getting them at the current low low prices. Everyone can see that there's more potential upside from a low share price than a high one. Yes, of course, those who got the stock at last year's higher price are pretty pissed but they're already committed to the company.

There are two problems with that analysis. First, those who got their stock last year may have been very committed at that time, but as they've watched their stock bonuses collapse in value, they've likely become much less so. Even it it's still mathematically advantageous to them to stay with Facebook, their morale is certainly being hurt by Facebook's poor stock performance.

Second, while a low stock price may be attractive to prospective employees, they'll have to be thinking about where it'll go in the future. And if they do so, the first thing they'll look at is where it's been and where it has gone. And then they'll start to ask questions: What has changed with the company recently that indicates that it will get out of this slump? What will it have to do to make investors buy in? What will I have to do?

So while a low stock price may be seen by some as greater potential, it's also an indication of greater uncertainty. And that will cause some talented employees to leave, and others to sign up elsewhere.

Apple engineers 'pay no attention to anyone's patents', court told

Re: Love these lawyers

"Shareholder protection seminar"?

My, you all seem to have stock in some wonderful companies. Be a shame if something were to happen to them....

Apple rejects NAKED HIPPIE ebook, despite apple coverup

Re: Honestly!

Overzealous hatred? Check!

Unnecessary use of capitals? Check!

Excessive punctuation? Check!

Spelling and grammatical errors? Check!

I do believe we have a FotW candidate!

Windows Phone 8 has a secret feature which may activate at any time

The Devil is in the Details

Specifically:

Such hotspots typically require the user to fill in a form and provide some personal details, and it's these steps that Devicescape automates.

The question is, which personal details are in play here, and does the software allow you to opt out if personal details are requested?

EXTREMELY RARE never-seen-alive WHALES found (briefly) alive

Re: Amazing

@Phil Endecott,

How about your suggestion that humans ought to go and interfere with pristine environments? Is your "thirst for knowledge" more important than the survival of these ecosystems?

Bumpy Cat suggested no such thing -- only suggesting we need to explore, which can and has (albeit not as often as one would like) been done without significant interference to the environment.

The concept of interference was your inference, not Bumpy Cat's implication.

Mystery robot-bringing UFOs sighted by Indian troops on Tibet border

Re: It's a weather balloon.

@NomNomNom -- I believe you'll find they use the Douglas DC-8 design, rather than the Boeing 747

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu

Elephant which speaks: Rare. One which speaks Korean: Even Rarer

Yes and No

The relevant text is:

As the last remaining member of the order Proboscidea ... elephantidae can use their sizeable larynx ...

This illustrates an interesting grammatical dilemma: Elephantidae, when used to refer to the family, is a singular collective noun (as is family) -- hence it can agree with the singular term "member". However, if interpreted in the singular, it cannot agree with the plural pronoun "their".

On the other hand, elephantidae is a collective noun (and also a Latin plural) so it can be interpreted as a plural, agreeing with "their" but now disagreeing with "member".

So regardless of your choice of interpretation, elephantidae disagrees with something in number in this text. It is effectively disagreeing with itself.

The simplest solution would be to make "member" plural, agreeing with the second interpretation.

Apple updates iOS 6, Safari

You're updating it wrong.

The Safari update weighs in at a trim – for Apple, at least – 47MB, but the iOS update, downloading at this very moment onto your Reg reporter's three-plus-year-old iPhone 3GS, is a Brobdingnagian 780.5MB.

...

As per usual, the Safari update can be downloaded from Apple's Mac App Store by clicking – what else? – the Updates icon in the App Store app, now at version 1.2.1. The iOS update is accessible through the Summary pane of the iTunes after selecting your target in the Devices list in the left-hand pane.

Well, you can also get the iOS update by going to Settings->General->Software Update on the phone itself -- where it weighs in at a svelte 69.7MB.

Felix Baumgartner sadly turns out to be blinkered FOOL

Re: What's bothering you Lewis?

...or the fact hes advocating using the cash to fight MMGW? [citation needed]

According to both the Reg article and the interview, Baumgartner advocates using the money for "saving the planet" -- a phrase so vague as to be practically meaningless.

In neither piece is there a direct reference to climate change or global warming. The closest is Lewis's jab at renewable energy, which is a proposed solution for issues other than global warming, and which raises concerns for reasons other than whether on not AGW is real or not.

Looks like you may want to take your blinkers off, Mr. Naughtyhorse.

AMD, Samsung must be ARMed to the teeth to oust Intel servers

Huh?

"I may be wrong, but I am not in doubt."

Privacy group damns Ubuntu's Amazon search marriage

Just Fork It

EFF should just fork Unity and distribute their own version. Call it EFF-U for short.

Another systematic SCADA vuln

Re: To Paraphrase The Ogre

@Christian Berger

Making sure nobody can inject or alter messages is a totally different problem than encryption.

No, it really isn't. Certainly it's a different use case, but it can be and usually is solved by the same methodologies, especially for communications that have to be made via a public medium. Hence the use of encryption technologies for certificate and message signing on the internet.

To Paraphrase The Ogre

Security is like an onion -- it's made up of layers.

Layer 1: ensure that the software itself only runs with necessary permissions.

Layer 2: ensure that any command-line interfaces are behind authentication methods.

Layer 3: ensure that all communications are encrypted

Layer 4: ensure that the system only allows connections from authorized devices and networks.

Layer 5: ensure that the system does not broadcast its capabilities or existence.

etc.

You'll never be 100% secure, just as you'll never have 100% uptime.

And Bad Networking Habits

...meaning that any system visible to the Internet is vulnerable to attack.

Which should be none. There is absolutely no reason in this day and age not to have SCADA systems behind a proper firewall with access limited solely to authorized remote sites or VPN clients.

Plextor M5 Pro 256GB SSD review

Re: Speeds no better than Sandforce

I want a single decent capacity drive to exceed 600 Mbytes/sec..

For what? That's almost two and a half fully uncompressed 1080p video streams. At that speed you could overwrite the entire drive in about 7 minutes.

I'd much rather SSD manufacturers concentrate on making them more affordable and reliable than faster at this point..

Light ties itself in knots - spontaneously

Re: But...

So why a welk particularly?

Yahoo! will! ignore! 'Do! Not! Track!' from! IE10!

In related news,

Internet users have affirmed that they will ignore Yahoo!, on grounds that it has not accurately reflected the internet since 1998.

Paintballs proposed as defense against ASTEROID ATTACK

But more importantly...

Can we control the distribution of paint in order to put an image, or logo, on the asteroid?

Then we can charge some company a modest* advertising fee for the project, which will make it entirely self-funded.

* Modest relative to most advertising projects, of course.

N00bs vs Windows 8: We lock six people in a room with new OS

Hmmmm.....

So to summarize,

08yr old female -- had trouble finding non-obvious features (context-switching hotspot, hidden scrollbar)

12yr old male -- no real trouble

22yr old female -- had trouble finding non-obvious features (context-switching hotspot, hidden scrollbar)

30yr old male -- no real trouble

40yr old female -- had trouble finding non-obvious features (context-switching hotspot)

70yr old male -- no real trouble

There's definitely a pattern here. It could just be a side-effect of the small sample size, but there appears to be a class of people who will have serious trouble with Windows 8's hidden pieces. Did Microsoft just not engage them in their user testing, or is there some institutional bias in play here?

In any case, I think Microsoft should revisit how their user interface is skewed to discriminate against these people, who through no fault of their own have even digits in the tens-place of their age...

Apple slips bomb into ITC filing: Samsung being PROBED by US gov

The US DoJ

doesn't just open these investigations on a whim. Someone has to complain. Now what US company is currently in a spat with Samsung over SEP...?

This is most likely a case of Apple opening as many complaints in as many arenas as possible, and now using one of their complaints (suitably obfuscated) in an attempt to bolster another.

Apple unveils iPad mini, upgrades its big brother

Re: Pricing fail ...

... it's more like an iPod Maxi...

Now there's a crossover product...

Save hefty Dr Who and Bond girl 'Flossie', pleads vintage computer man

Just a guess...

but perhaps the article should read "25 feet square"?

That would make it 625 square feet, within spitting distance of the 700 square feet figure from the current owner.

AMD uncloaks 4GHz-and-up FX Series 'enthusiast' chippery

Re: there is no bottleneck by DDR3 RAM above 1333 MHz

But surely that's proving that the bottleneck isn't the RAM. It's the wait states and other reasons.

The "wait states and other reasons [read: other timing values]" are attributes of the RAM modules -- they exist because the CPU has to wait (get it?) for the RAM to recover from the previous access.

DDR3 RAM at even 2600MHz is still clocked at only 65% of the speed of a 4 GHz CPU, meaning that the CPU will have to wait for the RAM at some point -- thus it is still a bottleneck.

Saying it's still a bottleneck because you need L1 and L2 and sometimes even L3 just seems silly.

By that logic, saying that a hard drive is still a bottleneck because you need RAM is equally silly.

Windows 8: An awful lot of change for a single release

Re: Security @RICHTO

The system should no longer crash due to a faulty application or faulty hardware.

Yeah, and Windows NT 3.x+ NEVER crashed due to faulty software or hardware. Back in the real world, for performance reasons, many drivers, including the graphics, ran in kernel space with full privileges -- this is why you could bring a Windows NT box to its knees just by enabling the 3D screensaver.

Security and stability may have been two of the goals, but they were regularly compromised to meet performance and usability goals as well.

Android apps get SSL wrong, expose personal data

Re: Why in this day and age...

The programmers of the app have configured their app to accept any certificate.

Which proves my point -- there's a setting in the Android stack that cedes control of a significant security setting to the app without informing the user and allowing them to prevent it. This effectively negates OS (and hence user) ownership of the stack.

Why in this day and age...

are the apps even using their own SSL implementations? Surely the OS should own that entire stack?

If the cert is expired, or there's a hostname mismatch, or the cert is not from a trusted authority, the OS could report that to the user directly, and send an error and no connection back to the app if the user doesn't accept accept the risk.

Then instead of thousands of potentially flawed implementations, there would be dozens -- the owners of which would have a much higher motivation to fix any flaws that are found.

I just LOVE Server 2012, but count me out on Windows 8 for now

"since Netscape, when has Microsoft actively tried to prevent applications from working?"

From what I've seen, I'd say they've been pretty active trying to prevent Microsoft Office from working...

Education Secretary Gove: Tim Berners-Lee 'created the INTERNET'

Re: Hard drive is NOT memory.

Besides, if a disk isn't memory remind me what CDROM stands for.....?

As far back as I can recall, CD-ROM stood for Compact Disc - Read Only Medium.

While wikipedia may disagree, the standards (ISO 9660/ECMA-119 and ISO 10149/ECMA-130) do not expand the acronym (they're also rather inconsistent on the use of the dash...) -- so absent an official definition, I would choose the logical one: CD-ROM certainly is a medium; whether or not it is memory depends on the very term under debate. It does not make sense to use the debated term to define a term being used to justify one position on the term under debate -- therein lies circular logic, so I will continue to define the acronym as I have above, until an authoritative source can be found.

Google adds 25 million grey building 'footprints' to Maps

Technical Doublespeak

Feeding aerial photos into an algorithm, its engineers used computer vision techniques to render shapes of the building.

So they wrote a batch edge-detect Script-Fu in GIMP? Or did they do it the hard way?

Either way, not really that much of a technological breakthrough...

Young Frenchwoman desperate for fat pipe tumbles out of window

Re: Splendidly misleading title

Is it wrong that my brain went with the innocuous way to take the double entendre before the risqué one?

Yes.

Re: We have all been there...

No, we have not all been there.

Some of us have the sense and self-control to go without wi-fi when it is not safely available. If you do not, I suggest you seek treatment for your addiction.

Apple loses UK 'Samsung copied us' appeal: Must publicly GROVEL

Re: Arial? How gauche!

He should have required comic sans. That would be a real punishment -- the font geeks who didn't die of apoplexy would be burning their iPads in the streets!

Apple iPod Nano 7G review

"It’s like a having a little musical credit card in your pocket."

So it's plasticky and continuously costs you money?

Virgin Media's blighted SuperHub NOW comes with extra squeal (oink)

Re: Typical Americanism

Be glad they said "impacting", if an American had tried to be standard they'd probably have said "effecting" which is far, far worse than (ab)using "impacting".

No, I think you'll find that stating that the flaws in these devices are not effecting performance would be surprisingly accurate...

Astroboffins map GIANT MASS of dark matter

Re: Why doesn't dark matter clump ?

EXTREMELY low humidity.

McKinnon will not be extradited to the US, says Home Secretary

Re: Hoorah!

Clearly you don't understand autism. This isn't just "Ooh I might be a bit unhappy". He has aspergers. His entire view of the world is skewed and different from everyone elses.

Clearly you don't understand humanity. EVERYONE'S view of the world is different from everyone else's. We're all somewhere on the autism spectrum.

Your experience with your son has exposed you to one autism spectrum condition, and I sincerely hope you have and continue to handle it well. But don't deceive yourself into thinking that in-depth exposure to an individual case grants you expertise on the entire range.