Posts by Phil O'Sophical

This weekend: Watch HOT STARS shower! Moon won't interfere

Re: Did we miss the Cloud?

Saw a few good ones last night. Clear sky, Milky Way very visble. Long periods with nothing, then three meteors within 30 seconds!

Vulture 2 spaceplane flies to the 3D printing press

Re: Is there a Gerry Anderson fan around?

Or maybe there is just a natural way of doing these things.

Of course. You're not suggesting that Steve Zodiac faked his missions, I hope?

PayPal lets Brit 'burb-dwellers buy stuff using their ugly mug

Re: So I can pay by paypal

I suspect the situation and/or user they are targeting is the sort of person who carries a mobile, but not a wallet/purse/credit/debit card.

But don't those people usually have secret service security people all around them, to pay for stuff?

Second LulzSec Sony website hacker starts a year in the cooler

I suppose there's the risk of setting a precedent. Make the fine small, and next time round all the defense attorneys will be pleading that their client should only get a slap on the wrist. Of course he'll never pay the fine, but it goes down in legal history as "appropriate" to the offence.

There's something to be said for the system in some of the scandinavian companies (Finland?) where the fines for relatively small offenses can be based on income. Didn't one Finnish exec get hit with a $200K fine for speeding?

Acer to downplay Windows in favor of Android, Chrome OS

Re: Next step??

Could happen, you never know.

For the general market, I'm not so sure. For Unix developers, yes, but for most poeple the OS is of little importance, what matters is the range of programs/applications they can run. It used to be a straight Windows/Mac choice, but with Android fast catching up in terms of apps, and a substantial developer base willing to port things to it, I can certainly see Android being a popular OS for low-cost systems. Linux has a reasonable base of programs which are to some extent equivalent to Windows counterparts; MS Office/LibreOffice, Photoshop/Gimp etc. but it doesn't yet have that huge base of people churning out the apps-for-dummies that you find for Windows and MacOS. Android does, with a simple installation experience and none of the "dependency hell" that bedevils many Linux tools.

I run all of Linux, Windows, Android and Solaris, on different systems. Windows and Android are definitely ahead on the ease-of-administration front, and I can certainly see the appeal to non-techy types.

A lot could hang on things like processor choice and secure boot, of course.

E-reader barons file FCC plea to opt out of disabled-friendly regs

Re: Not just ebooks

Not if it's the pilot it's not.

Meh, they have autoland.

Re: Not just ebooks

> can't prefer one disability (animal hair allergy) over another (blindness).

Why not? In daily life the allergy is probably less serious, and manageable with medication. On an aeroplane blindness is a relatively minor inconvenience, but an unexpected allergic reaction could be fatal. It will all depend on the circumstances.

Re: Simple. If it can connect to the net, it is subject to the law.

There is absolutely *NO* legitimate reason to NOT include Accessability in anything you design, build, offer, or sell.

So Ford etc. should fit all their cars with TTS instruments, and braille labels for the knobs? Don't be daft.

Insisting that everything which might be used for communication must therefore comply with every accessibility rule relating to communications devices is a great way to get all that incidental communications functionality dropped. So all the non-disabled people have to suffer just so you might not? Nice.

Google sniffs at MySQL fork MariaDB: Yum. Have an engineer

Re: The biggest problem

And as for Edsel Ford...

Widenius's arrogance is amazing. He made a killing out of selling his baby to Sun, but still thinks he could have laid down his own terms, and he also thinks that Oracle bought Sun just to get MySQL?!!

What sort of excuses will he be making in a few years after getting reamed end to end by Google? Poor baby, he'll only have a few $bn left to retire on.

Cameron demands Brits BOYCOTT angry-troll-infested websites

Trolling is about getting a reaction from somebody,

Yes, all 50+ lines of a reaction...

Selfridges dreaming of a snot-themed Christmas

Airfix models?

What about some clever CAD software that can scan the object, and work out what 3D-printed bits you'd need to make it? Print it all in white & you have an instant Airfix-type kit of any object you like. Hours of fun.

HP plugs password-leaking printer flaw

Re: Make a hole in the air

Some printers can scan, and can be configured to send the scan results to multiple places...

Tough luck, bumpkins! Blighty broadband speed gap misery worsens

Re: Northern Ireland is the opposite

NI is a microcosm of the UK as a whole, it has the same proportion of people in the A/B/C marketing classes, is small, and is eligible for all sorts of EU subsidies. It makes a great test bed, so companies love to test new stuff there. It was one of the first places that BT rolled out fibre in the main phone network.

Belfast suffers like any city, it's a lot more expensive to dig up city streets than country roads.

Re: what are you planning on shoving down a pipe bigger than 10Mbps

in a shared house... multiple video-streams will quickly suck up 10Mbps

So buy more phone lines. Would you expect all the people in a shared house to use only one car, or phone, or bed, and still get the same performance as they would have if they had exclusive use?

Rival French mobe firms sue Orange and Vivendi's SFR for €1.4bn

> if the deals were loss leading

loss-leaders are illegal under French consumer law. Selling goods below cost price is only allowed in certain closely-regulated situations.

End of an era as Firefox bins 'blink' tag

Re: Firefox 32.0?

I don't care about the version numbers, it would just be nice if there weren't so many bloody versions. Seriously, who wants to update their browser every other week, and then waste a day trying to restore the features that changed/broke?

Can't agree on a coding style? Maybe the NEW YORK TIMES can help

Re: 4 SPACES?!

The main thing is consistency. Be consistent, and stay consistent.

Our toolset won't even accept code for putback into the SCS repository if it fails the style rules. Some of which I hate, but consistency is rightly enforced.

Every so often I have to go write a private bit of code, just for me, so I know I can still do it right

Super-SVELTE BLUSH-PINK planet goes too far with star

Re: Hah something Science can't explain

invisible pink unicorn

If it's invisible, how do you know it's pink?

Bloke in shed starts own DAB radio station - with Ofcom's blessing

Re: Community radio - who needs it?

we need something like Sirius XM in USA.

Sirius XM is crap. It's like having an MP3 player with someone else's short playlists on it, and it drops out every time you go under a bridge. A tree-lined road makes it unusable. I don't even bother to turn it on when I get a US rental car these days, I just take my own USB stick with me.

Apple will swap fanbois' killer phoney phone chargers for legit adapters

Re: Ground

I've seen a cheap printer where the brown wire in the mains cable was connected to the metal parts of the chassis... Just as well it was PAT-tested before anyone tried to use it.

Proper double-insulation is safe, as is proper grounding. Both can be lethally badly-designed.

Sergey Brin's 'test-tube burger' cooked, eaten, declared meat-like

Re: A burger that is almost...

Post and his team mixed the meat strips with egg, breadcrumbs, salt, caramel, and saffron.

To make it a proper scientific test, did they create a second burger with only the above ingredients, plus the red beet colouring, to see if anyone:

a) Noticed the difference

b) Preferred the meat one

?

Damn, I am now hungry, and it's only just gone breakfast time.

Limbaugh: If you hate Apple then you're a lefty blog-o-twat hipster

Re: Disproportionate

there always appears to be a disproportionate number of downvotes when anyone on here praises an Apple product.

That's because Apple products are the BMWs of the computer world. They may have some nice engineering in them, but far too much of the price is for the name, and far too many of the users are total plonkers who can't see past the badge.

Mobe networks hacked phones to fix SIM hijack flaw, says bug-finder

Re: So, another security scare that never was?

likely that this was a serious flaw, as he said, but that's it's been fixed

Exactly my point.

So, another security scare that never was?

Anyway, since theSIM remains the property of the carrier, it could be argued that they were only hacking their own systems, in order to fix the vulnerability. They haven't actually hacked anyone's phone.

Upgraded 3D printed rifle shoots 14 times before breaking

Re: I'm all for it, personally

anyone with half a brain left will have realised too late that there were simpler and more reliable ways to fire a bullet.

FTFY

You CAN'T be a Silicon Roundabout hipster... you don't have Bluetooth socks

Re: I'm somewhat reminded of TBBT

> Everything is better with Bluetooth.

Really?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23575249

Lumpy milk and exploding yoghurt? Your fridge could be riddled with MALWARE

Just better hope the fridge doesn't have Bluetooth as well

Luxury toilet users warned of hardware flaw:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23575249

Roses are #f00, violets are #00f. This witty code is a boffinry breakthrough

Highbrow jokes

From the Indy a few weeks ago:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-many-surrealists-does-it-take-to-screw-in-a-light-bulb-a-fish-the-most-highbrow-jokes-in-the-world-8691191.html

Google Glassholes to be BANNED from UK roads

Re: Some questions

I understood from the article that Glassholes are NOT banned from British roads yet. So what happens (in court or on the pages of DM) if tomorrow a US-based "Glass Explorer" comes to the UK, rents a car, and drives it WEARING A BETA?

They get done under existing law for driving without due care and attention, and their wrist will be severely smacked.

Re: Road and other hazard warnings -- good.

Folks who do a lot of highway driving might appreciate a warning that there's been a truck spill at milepost XYZ on route ABC

That's been possible, and is widely used in Europe, since RDS was introduced 20-odd years ago. Your radio/CD/MP3 listening gets interrupted with a voice warning that "an accident at Junction 5 has closed the M6 for 5 miles southbound" etc. No need for distracting text popups.

Hackers crack femtocells to pwn then clone phones

It's also the approach taken by SFR in France, you can register up to 5 numbers.

German guardsmen growing mono-boobs from drilling with Nazi-era rifles

Re: SA80

> spent many years humping both weapons around the world.

With a sleeve on your forestock, one hopes?

Google Glassholes can't take long walks off short piers thanks to Merc app

Re: Best use for voice control in cars

> "Siri call ambulance, car crash, badly injured, give GPS location"

Sire: Nearest cash dispenser has GPS location xxx,yyy

User: "No, not CASH, CRASH"

Siti: "Are you sure?"

User: "Yes, FFS"

Siri: Very well. Please fasten your seatbelt.

Microsoft Surface sales numbers revealed as SHOCKINGLY HIDEOUS

Re: Except that it does....

Interesting. Shows how effective all that $1bn Microsoft PR was then, since it didn't even work to educate someone computer-literate like me :) It's hard to see past the pictures with that hideous boxy UI, though. Thanks for the correction.

> It's a far better small, light laptop than any of the small, light laptops out there.

Except that, as Linux netbook pushers discovered, it lacks the main feature that a small, light laptop must have for it to be generally useful: the ability to run ordinary x86 Windows programs.

Egad! Could Samsung be cheating in Galaxy benchmark tests?

Nothing really new here

Years ago I remember hearing how one now-gone computer manufacturer had a tweak in their compiler which was able to recognise the code for a common benchmark (SPECmark?) and, when it found it was compiling that code, it inserted an optimised block of machine code that could just all fit in the processor cache. It flew on that benchmark! Cheating or clever optimisation? You decide.

Exposed: RSPCA drills into cops' databases, harvests private info

That is totally disproportionate to the situation. Most bodies would require a court order to get that info, but the RSPCA can just ask?

It used to be the case that an employer wanting to check someone could call the police and ask if "Mr XXX" had a record, and the only allowable answers were "Yes" or "No", I don't know if that is still the case. It would seem reasonable that the RSPCA could ask "Does Mr XXX have a record of violence or maltreating animals" and get a similar binary answer but I don't see any reason that they should ever be given the details. No doubt the police are happy to offload some of their casework so that they can get on with patrolling their desks.

The RSPCA does seem to have been taken over by fox-hugging anti-hunt types, maybe now we see how hunt saboteurs and the animal liberation loonies have been getting their info?

Planned SMUT TSUNAMI fails to wreak havoc on UK.gov email

Re: to AC at 18:17

Are you arguing that politicians should be paid more to attract a higher level of smart people? - I'd be with you on that one.

Paying more for an easy job doesn't attract smart people, it attracts greedy ones.

Fed up with poor Brit telly and radio output? Ofcom wants a word with YOU

Re: The licence fee funds the BBC

> Explain Channel 4. They definitely get some of the licence fee.

Not according to their website:

http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/faq/name/does-channel-4-get-any-of-the-licence-fee/id/400286880

"Improving" signal quality?

Has Ofcom considered the conditions under which such "improvements" will be used? The last few weeks of hot weather/high pressure have had the usual effect of bringing in signals from many places (N. France, Belgium, etc) which don't usually reach the UK. Although this happened in the analogue days as well it was a managed situation which rarely caused problems post-VHF. The obvious channel-clashes had long ago been resolved. With modern DTT receivers reacting to the appearance of new channels and offering to retune, a whole new set of problems is appearing, especially when the unexpected signal is briefly stronger than the usual one. Maybe Ofcom should let the dust settle on DTT for a few years before re-re-designing the system?

The channels which get at least some of their income from licence fee money (the so-called Public Service Broadcasters) are the ones available everywhere. The other advertising-funded channels are the ones which can choose whether to cover certain areas, and they clearly choose only to pay for transmitter resources in areas where they'll get enough viewers.

If you want those channels, try Freesat.

BOFH: Don't be afraid - we won't hurt your delicate, flimsy inkjet printer

Re: Serial becoming extinct?

> Except that USB to serial converters don't give you real RS232 voltage levels. You're lucky to get 5V.

So it's RS-423?

Re: That's why they put WEEE recycling symbols on them

We used ours to print Colossal Cave maps. Yes, it was a while ago

Re: Do people still own printers?

I hestitate to ask how one orks a cow, although it does sound like an act worthy of insult.

Re: Dot Matrix Printers

Noise? A mere trifle, compared to a floor-standing drum printer running at 2000 lines/minute. Elf'n'Safety would probably mandate ear defenders if they were used today, more like a machine gun than a screaming toddler.

Ah, happy days.

Chromecast: We get our SWEATY PAWS on Google's tiny telly pipe

From the sound of it, this is basically Google marketing fluff instantiated in hardware, whose main aim is to get people to buy more tablets, and run the Chrome browser. Aided by some Anonymous Google shills to talk it up on forums like this.

The Cloud has evaporated. I wish I still had my local media.

Wow! British Gas bungs a million remote-controlled sales-droids in UK homes

The smart meters offer a running commentary on how much power a home is consuming.

I have visions of this disembodied voice from the cupboard under the stairs:

"For the millionth time, shut that ^%*ing door"

"Why did you turn the thermostat up? Just put another pullover on"

"How many times have I told you, showers are more economical than baths."

"Do you have any idea how much that is going to cost us?"

Signing out of a broken Britain: The final Quatermass serial

Re: Powerful stuff

> who is writing SF with a British background now?

Peter F. Hamilton. See the Greg Mandel series, and the recent Great North Road, all very readable.