Posts by Phil O'Sophical

Mint Linux gifts Unity haters with 'Nadia' ... plus her Mate

Re: Really nice.

And today is St. Clement's day. How appropriate.

Re: Mint is great

That's what you get for trying to be Windows-compatible.

Ofcom: White Space. We're bloody serious this time. ONE YEAR

Re: Used for anything?

> The suggestion that the devices check locally for transmissions seems sensible.

Except that it isn't sufficient. Just because a device can't hear a signal on a given frequency doesn't mean that it won't cause interference it it transmits on the frequency. Google "hidden transmitter syndrome" for one of the problems.

There are just so many ways this can go wrong

It's all based on all devices voluntarily and correctly checking with the database, owning up who they are, where they are and what power/frequency they will use, and doing that again, honestly and correctly, every day. The naivety is touching, I suppose. A bit like the early days of the internet, when no-one could ever see why IP would need security, QoS, authentication, policing, etc.

London Underground platform Wi-Fi set to cost £2 daily for many

quaint?

If I were in the Highlands, and there was a pub nearby, the presence or otherwise of WiFi would be the last thing I'd be worried about.

DEKATRON reborn: Full details on World's Oldest Digital Computer

Re: noisy

I'm not surprised, is that a block of Strowger two-motion selectors on the right of Photo #1? Such a *satisfying* noisee, though, the sound of work being done. tick-tick-tick-tick-zzzzziiippppp

HDMI hitch hounds Mac Mini holders

Re: Isn't choice grand

> better track record for production quality?

Doesn't sound like this is a production issue, more a design issue or software bug, and Apple is no more immune to them than anyone else. The trouble with a single source, as was pointed out, is that there's nowhere else to go when it screws up.

How can the BBC be saved from itself without destroying it?

NO!

If the BBC were just funded from general taxation, it would end up under goverment control. Any suggestion about not toeing the government-of-the-day's line would almost certainly result in a little suggestion that maybe the next budget might reduce the funding a little, unless... MPs traditionally vote on the budget as a whole, mostly on party-political lines as a form of confidence vote, no-one is going to stick their neck out to vote for/against the whole budget just because they don't like one item in it.

The TV license has to remain a separate issue, debated and voted on by Parliament as a whole, not just an "efficient" line item lost in the budget, buried under the bad news.

Re: The most frightening part of this arcticle

very true. What next, inviting Microsoft to run the monopolies commission? The Mafia to run the judiciary?

Police mirth after plastic plod puts out call for 'PC World'

> guilty people get set free.

Doesn't "set free" presuppose that plod managed to catch them in the first place?

Liberals propose law to regulate social media

Re: Pointless

> Have you heard yourself?

Yes, but maybe you didn't.

I completely agree that bullying must be stamped out, that's what I said. You won't stamp it out by hiding the tools from the bully, bullies are sneaky bastards who will just find another way that is less public. We all learn that at school. You stamp it out by exposing the bully and making him/her stop.

Yes, that requires a certain "manning-up" on the part of the victim, to at least ask for help. Certainly not to just put up with it as you seem to think I was suggesting.

And if you think that bullying and sexual harassment has been stampted out, look around you.

Re: Pointless

We need to teach kids that life isn't fair, people aren't always nice, and the best way to survive is to learn to overcome it. The earlier they learn that, the better. Hide them from bullying at school, and how will they cope when they're bullied in the office, and are too "grown up" to cry on Mummy's shoulder about it? Bullies are a nasty but unavoidable fact of life, and need to be outed and taught that it doesn't work, not suppressed and hidden.

This is so reminiscent of the past UK government's nannying of the educational system. Kids were taught that they never failed anything, there was no "pass" or "fail" line, and everything was always OK. Result: they never learned to pick themselves up again after being knocked down, and the first time they get a setback (failed job interview, rejected lover, etc.) is when they're an adult, and they have absolutely no way to cope except by looking for someone to blame, because it can't be their own fault. Not a recipe for a healthy society.

And besides, haven't governments learned yet that they *can't* control the internet?

Liberator: the untold story of the first British laptop part 3

If you liked these

I recommend looking for the IEEE magazine "Annals of the History of Computing" . Comes out bimonthly (or is it quarterly? Can't remember) and has many interesting articles and anecdotes like this in it. Some are really esoteric, behind-the-Iron-curtain stuff, and others focus on systems I remember using...

It's part three of a three-part article, the *other* parts of which have been on the front page at different times and have had plenty of comments. Maybe if you'd read them before commenting, you'd have noticed?

Curiosity latest: MARTIAN DUST DEVILS assail prowling robot rover

Surprised by mini-tornadoes in the *Gale* crater? Like, D'uh!

Curiosity clears Mars radiation levels for fleeting human visits

vomiting in spacesuits?

If they're going to be spending 6 months on Mars, one hopes that they won't be in the same space suit the whole time, or an occasional puke would be the least of their worries. Does Mars have caves? A few interconnected airtight insulated tents tucked into a nice deep cave should be almost home from home, and nicely radiation-protected as well.

How can UK TV product placement do better, asks report

> product placement has been present in UK TV for (at least) three decades,

They mean:

"product placement has been laughed at on UK TV for (at least) three decades"

An occasional flash of a Coke can or Nescafé jar is one thing, but when it becomes so blatant that viewers end up playing "spot the placements" during the shows, it surely has a negative effect? "Oh, Waitrose Sauvignon Blanc! Been watching that lezzie chick-soap again, have we, John?"

UK digital terrestrial TV turns 14 today

Re: Freeview radio - whats the point?

> use the bandwidth for an extra TV channel or 2

All the radio bandwidth grouped together would be nowhere near enough for even one TV channel.

Pollster predicts mega UK smart TV sales

> even when hooked up to the main FM aerial

Not entirely surprising since it is tuned for frequencies less than half those used by DAB.

Re: I find this...doubtful

That was my thought. As for "more than half of households owning a TV that has already been hooked up to the interweb" they probably asked if you own a "smart TV", and people who thought "mine has a remote control, and it's hooked up to Freeview, pretty smart" and said 'yes".

Automatic Facebook couple pages: Nauseating sign of desperation

Re: Divorce

> So what happens when things become "it's complicated"?

It creates couple pages for you & the wife, you & the mistress, you & the girlfriend.

Or maybe it gets complicated *after* it's created those pages...

Brits admit to using mobile phones during sex - and not in a good way

Re: I'll admit I'm not as experienced as I'd like to be

Siri, did the earth move?

"Has anyone seen my phone?"

"Here, let me call it, listen for the ring."

"OH! So that's where I left it."

Toyota motors ahead with radar crash avoidance tech

This is the Toyota that has just announed a recall of 2.77m cars for water pump and steering faults? Sure, I'll trust their crash avoidance radar...

4GEE data marketing campaign accidentally gets Irishmen salivating

gee

Gee in the US isn't just a way of expressing "mild surprise", it's a minced oath derived from Jesus, and still offends some people. God knows why.

Google, Amazon, Starbucks are 'immoral' and 'ridiculous' over UK tax

"Try opening a coffee shop without the Starbucks brand and see how much money you can make"

They'd get my money!

Liberator: the untold story of the first British laptop part 1

Re: Keyboard layout

Welsh has vowels too! Things like "W", "Y" ...

What a clockup! Apple's Swiss clock knock-off clocks up $21m fine

Re: I don't care where the red dot goes . . .

You're assuming they number from one...

Slideshow: A History of Intel x86 in 20 CPUs

Re: But why did it take until the 386

> Before they started doing the images in colour?

The world was in black and white back then, it only turned colour in the mid 1990's

(with apologies to Calvin & Hobbes)

Mid-80's

Elonex PCs with 6MHz chips, and the "Turbo" button that overclocked them to 8MHz. We had 12 in the office, and by the end of the first year all had been sent back to be repaired at least once. The 680x0-based single board systems were a delight in comparison. Solid, far easier to program with no segmented memory and a decent assembler. It's like VHS/Betamax, the better marketing won.

Still, give me a PDP 11/83 over any of them :)

Tech support blog removes Toshiba manuals after legal letter

Re: Thank you Toshiba!

> So yes, a laymen [sic] could hurt themselves.

More likely by dropping it on their toe than by any inept repair attempt, especially if they had the manual with all the "warning: don't touch this bit" stickers.

Quarter of Brits don't believe that cell towers improve phone reception

I'm surprised the figure is so low.

Coffee next on climate chopping-block

Re: Will this see the end of 'Java'?

So the next programming fad will be Chai?

Swedish boffins: An Ice Age is coming, only CO2 can save us

Re: I lump together

But you have to admit they are by far the most entertaining of that group.

Prime Minister on Twitter: Me and Obama, we're like THAT

Re: What's the problem with the picture?

Not my Mum, he'd never get a chance to talk...

Habitable HEAVY GRAVITY WORLD found just 42 light-years away

Re: EE 'Doc' Smith? Larry Niven?

> Both Niven and Smith produced excelent work.

And some of "Doc" Smith's books can be downloaded as ebooks from the Gutenberg project.

Widow lost savings in Facebook stock, sues all concerned for $1.9m

"suck more suckers into the stock"

She got that right.

Snake-fondling blonde nude punts Polish coffins

Re: Nice legs,

Umm. I had to go back and check, hadn't looked at the face before.

Yeah, I know, I know.

Re: Spoilt by.....

> Since when have you become such prudish killjoys?

Since this:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/06/apple_censors_apple_censored_naked_hippies/

At least one part of the Catholic Church makes a lot of fuss every Easter about a death that supposedly wasn't preceeded by sex.

insisted that "human death should be treated with solemnity and not mixed up with sex".

The Catholic church is, again, getting nudity confused with sex. Will it ever learn?

Geneva devastated by monster tsunami, millions at risk

Re: warning system

A clear hour? Have you tried driving in Geneva in the rush hour?!

"That amount of rock hitting the ocean would generate a kilometer-tall tsunami that would still be 50 meters high when it hit the US coastline, with the wave fanning out to disrupt Western Europe as well."

And people get upset over a piddly bit of climate change from CO2?

Freesat downs own website after Downton quickie

Re: Spot on analysis

> I really don't know where you got the £26 from

Basic Sky "Entertainment extra", no movies/sport, is £26.50. It's what I pay, since I have no interest in sport and prefer to watch films in the cinemas they were made for.

Re: Spot on analysis

> And as I wait for the invite from SKY that allows me to tick each channel I want to pay for I watch quality free TV instead via Freeview or Freesat. I'm still waiting.

Certainly sir, pick any channels you like at £5/month each, or we'll do you a discounted bundle of the lot for only £26.

Bond's Walther PPK goes digital: A civilized gun updated

Re: Meanwhile back in the real world

I think your post actually highlights very well why carrying a gun is a very bad idea for an average person, especially where you say "I don't know who was more scared, him or me".

I would think that shooting at another human being, even some lowlife mugger, must be a life-changing experience for any decent, non-psychopathic, person. You'll be frightened, nervous, and you'll almost certainly hesitate. If the lowlife facing you also has a gun, and knows that he's already in deep shit, it's very likely that he'll recover (or panic) first. You're dead.

There's a reason why they train soldiers to aim for "the target", to "take out" "the enemy", it's to stop them thinking of their assailant as a living person, just react and shoot. They can throw up all they like afterwards. I doubt if an average person would want to be trained to that mechanical a level, I certainly wouldn't. If my family were threatened I like to think I'd react well, even bare-handed, but faced with an armed mugger who just wanted my money I seriously doubt if I would be able to take the conscious decision to kill him before he shot me, and I think I'm a better person for that. YMMV.

EC tells Euro rebels: Hike up your ebook tax to 15%, or else

Re: Force of history.

>So what is there to stop Amazon, etc. selling & delivering ebooks from outside the EU, and telling brussels to go hang?

EU law. If a business has a trading presence in an EU country, it has to charge the VAT rate prevailing in that country. Even if you bought your ebook from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk would be required to collect the VAT.

zero-rating would be nice, but AFAIK the UK is one of the few places in the EU which zero-rates physical books for VAT, so it's an uphill battle.

Paintballs proposed as defense against ASTEROID ATTACK

Re: Re. "But more importantly..."

> afforded the same privacy as we expect.

So they'd have to opt out before we got there to spray them? That'll work, I'm sure.

Dr No, Thunderball, Casino Royale? Vote now for the best Bond film

Re: OHMSS

> Diana Rigg was memorable.

IS memorable :)