Posts by silent_count

Found inside ISIS terror chap's laptop: CELINE DION tunes

Re: Proof of the gateway theory

I can't help but think: If only the poor chap had found his way to some respectable musicians, like Black Sabbath or maybe Guns n Roses, perhaps his life would have down a less destructive path.

Google extends app refund window to two hours

Good

This will solve the problem of apps (mostly games) which need to download a large amount of extra data before you get a chance to test if it works... by which stage the 15 refund window has already expired so you're SOL if it doesn't work.

Amazon axes hated Fire Phone price: 99 pennies but a niche? Ain't none

Re: They call $1920.99 a "fire sale"??

The idea is that you're so focused on the alluring "99¢ up-front" cloak that you fail to notice the sword the matador cashier is holding behind it.

Hey hipsters: Tabs are so last year, fat phones are where it's at

Re: I wonder how they decided the size range for "phablets"

"you forgot the latest fad ---

Being seen pretending to speak into your mammoth 10in phone that is clasped to your ear.

Oh look at me it shouts."

For the truly hipster, nothing beats "making calls" on a 30 inch CRT.

Nvidia blasts sueballs at Qualcomm, Samsung – wants Galaxy kit banned

Thumbs up for nVidia

For actually listing the patients which they claim have been infringed upon.

Love XKCD? Love science? You'll love a book about science from Randall Munroe

Re: The author of this book is an internet cartoonist,

Kindle version: $15.83

Hard cover: $14.40

http://www.amazon.com/What-If-Scientific-Hypothetical-Questions/dp/0544272994

What if... ebooks with almost zero storage and distribution costs were cheaper that the hard cover edition?

Racing Post escapes ICO fine after leaking info of 677K punters

“If that is the case, it should be the agency that gets hammered, not the headline company, or they'll just keep churning out the same old rubbish."

That would leave the headline company with absolutely no incentive to perform any kind of due diligence.

"Yeah look. We hired the CEO's four year old nephew to design and implement the website. We paid him in Fruit Loops and performed no testing of any kind. How could we know the website would leak customer data?"

If the Racing Post, or any other mob, chooses to have a website, the buck *should* (well played ICO) stop with them.

Samsung Gear S: Quick, LAUNCH IT – before Apple straps on iWatch

Re: "a battery life of up to two days"

I wonder if any of the manufacturers have given serious thought to using an e-ink display for their smart watches.

A display which uses little power would seem like a natural match for a device which has to have a tiny battery.

Six of the best gaming keyboard and mouse combos

Re: I would really like a decent gaming mouse and keyboard

+1 for the ducky keyboards.

Rock solid keyboards which are pleasant to type on. I could happily live without the back-lighting but whatever - it's easy enough to switch off.

Cutting cancer rates: Data, models and a happy ending?

"Statistics are one thing, but actually having a randomised controlled trial is still the gold standard in medicine."

And it can not be stated too emphatically - this is the difference between medicine and homeopathy (and similar bunkum).

My big reveal as macro-economics analyst: It's a load of COBBLERS

A wicked problem

I'm paraphrasing Steve McConnell (author of 'Code Complete') - a "wicked problem" is one whose nature can not be adequately understood prior to attempting to solve the problem.

This is what I think of whenever I look at macroeconomics. It's easy to be wise afterwards and note all of the subtle clues which could have predicted yesterday's results. Yet trying to choose which of the myriad available clues will foretell tomorrow's outcome, that's closer to voodoo than scientific methodology.

iPhone owners EARN MORE THAN YOU, says mobile report

Re: In other news ...

Next up, research shows that owners of the Diamond Crypto Phone (USD $1.25 mil a pop) have a higher average income than iPhone (around USD $600) owners.

Stand clear! Will HTC's One act as a defibrillator for Windows Phone?

Re: Stand clear! Will HTC's One act as a defibrillator for Windows Phone?

"Nothing constructive"? Really! You made me laugh and it usually takes a politician talking about honesty to achieve that.

Help Australia's PM and attorney-general to define metadata

Re: Papers Please!

"Time to migrate to a less oppressive regime. Iran maybe."

Send us a postcard when you land at Imam Khomeini Airport. Be sure to try the faludeh. It's really nice.

BANGKOK-BLOCKED: Thailand's dictators 'ban dictator sim Tropico 5'

Re: Too good to be true?

I'm on holidays in Phuket. No troubles accessing

http://www.worldoftropico.com/us/

using the hotel's wifi.

I'm not however going to buy a copy. Not for fear of government censors kicking down the door but for the (hopefully!) more rational fear of wasting my money on a crap game.

Lawyer for alleged Silk Road kingpin wants all evidence thrown out

Re: I just don't care.

@AC

And how much latitude - to prosecute someone beyond the letter of the existing law - would you consider acceptable if you, or someone you give a shit about, was the defendant?

Chrome browser has been DRAINING PC batteries for YEARS

It's hardly Windows' fault if people choose to use a battery draining program. The user has presumably chosen to install a program which behaves in this manner.

I'm no MS appologist but, in this case, it really isn't their fault. If they don't allow programs to change the timer resolution, someone's 'cure for cancer' program will depend on being able to change the timer resolution, and then MS are autocratic pricks who won't let people use the hardware which they've paid good money for.

If they do allow it, someone (hi there, Google) will use it for something stupid and MS gets the blame for allowing them to.

I've got 99 problems, but a Facebook boycott ain't one

“The campaigners claimed that quitting Facebook for more than three months "saves the average user [...]"

I question their premise - that without facebook, these people will spend their time on more productive pursuits.

The kind of people prone to 'wasting' time on facebook would, sans facebook, simply find something else to waste their time on. There is no time 'saving' to be gained.

Google YouTube U-turn: Indie music doomsday 'postponed'

At least someone at google seems to recognise what a PR and legal (vis-a-vis the EU) own goal this would prove. The next trick would be to see if they can get over their collective ego long enough to back down.

Voteware source code requester labelled 'vexatious'

Notwithstanding the contemptible behaviour of the AEC in this matter, I think there's more important question. How did we end up with closed source vote counting software?

Who was the minister responsible for allowing this to happen? A quick search says the AEC answers to the special minister of state... but I don't know when this software was procured, thus who the minister was at the time.

Qualcomm fires DMCA shotgun at alleged code thieves on GitHub – including itself

When's the next round of elections in the US? 'Cause I think I've got a solution.

All that's needed is a asset-free shell company and someone with enough time to issue DCMA takedowns for advertising from both major political parties. Every single bit. Anything with the image of an American flag, the word 'and', or the number '1', contains IP belonging to the shell company.

Or did they remember to add some weasel clause in the DCMA to exempt political material?

Conformist Google: Android devices must LOOK, WORK ALIKE

Re: Google, your megalomania is showing

Hi Mr Roper, I see where you're coming from but I think you're not quite getting the right 'read' on google's thinking. They don't really care about stifling UI creativity. They care about user data and sales though the play store.

If you want to be a cynic, goggle wants to make sure none of the OEMs will screw with google's ability to slurp every bit (geddit?) of data from every user. They want their RoI for the OS.

If you'd like a more benign read, they don't a repeat of the fragmentation mistake that plagues their phone platform. Its the OEM's 'creative input' which means that users have to wait, often in vain, for the OEMs to send out OS updates rather than the users getting updates from google.

As with most things, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

Facebook 'manipulated' 700k users' feelings in secret experiment

So, people are happy when their friends are perceived to be happy and sad when their friends perceived to be sad. Well done. Now where's my 'research' money?

What is ex-NSA spyboss selling for $1m a month, asks US congressman

As a former lawyer, Mr Grayson should be aware that the correct thing to do with evidence of illegal activity is to present it to the police. As he doesn't have any such evidence, what he's doing is using his position as an elected official to organise a witch hunt. And that's just low.

Google spaffs $50 MILLION on 'get girls coding' campaign

Re: Progressive

I like your version better 'cause google's is just patronising.

"C'mon girls. Spend your time learning to write software while everyone major company in your newly-acquired field conspires to keep you from getting paid a fair wage. And that's only when they can't import people who'll do it cheaper than you can live on. And that's only when they can't outsource your job to someone who can't do it half as well, but will do it a little cheaper."

At least as a cook, it's easier for the layman to appreciate the value of your work. And it's readily apparent if someone tries to substitute your quality work with cheap garbage.

The rise of the humans: How to outsmart the digital deluge

chief envisioning officer

Yes, that job title really should come with tights and a cape.

"My gawd! That dude's expression! It's like he's just been hit on the head with a cricket bat."

"Nah. Show some compassion. He looks like he's constipated."

"No, no guys. Stand back and let him do his thing...

That's the Chief Envisioning Officer."

(Possibly, chiefly envisioning where his life could have gone so dreadfully wrong to end up with such a crappy job title)

Bullshit aside, it does sound like a moderately interesting read.

Apple, Cisco line up to protect offshore data

"The issue here is that US law doesn't allow for the consideration of other countries"

And the folly of this position will rapidly become apparent the moment other countries decide to play quid pro quo. ie When Ms Merkel (to pick an example) summons the chief of Apple's (ditto) German subsidiary and demands large swathes of their American-held customer data... with the threat of crippling fines for non-compliance.

Car titans WON'T STEAL our tech, says Musk: DAMNIT, I'll GIVE IT to 'em

@James Hughes 1

I don't have a problem with Mr Musk making money. May it bring him joy and may he make lots more. And furthering the state-of-the-art for electric cars and bringing them closer to a mass market reality are both good things. I have no complaint about any of that.

What does get on my nerves though is that a substantial number of my fellow countrymen apparently can't spot the difference between enlightened self-interest and altruism. One of the reasons I read El Reg is that the people here thankfully aren't quite so credulous.

It's a sad indictment upon our world that when a CEO suggests that his company might refrain from using IP law to stifle competition, he's lauded as an altruist.

Tesla has a big slice of the electric car flavoured pie. Mr Musk is willing to exchange that for a slightly smaller piece of (what he'd like to be) a far larger pie. Potentially trading away some of his IP to get there is merely the means, not the end.

However, I suppose that "CEO wants to use his IP to make (even more) money" doesn't sound as impressive.

You know what today's movies need? More drones

PUBLIC interest

Coming soon, to a FAA office near you..

M Bay: But dude! Transformers 27 will make hundreds of millions.

FAA: Sorry sir. You don't seem to understand. Your drone flying activity has to be in the *public* interest.

M Bay: Hundreds of millions, if not billions.

FAA: Public interest, sir.

M Bay: OK. Fine. I'll kick in a few mil for the next FAA Christmas party.

FAA: Ahhh. Public interest.

ASUS launches 5-in-1 Android Windows Phone laptop tablet (breathe)

Introducing..

The new Asus Malware Magnet. This revolutionary new device is fully capable of running machine crippling malware from whichever dodgy site you choose to download it from.

Gone are the days of having to trawl through hundreds of warez and pron sites looking for malware compatible with your machine. This amazing LapTabFone can run them all !

* Apple, Linux desktop, and Winphone malware support are not included in the base model but will be featured in the, soon to be released, Asus Malware Magnet Plus.

The hoarder's dilemma: 'Why can't I throw anything away?'

Re: Get well soon

I have it on good authority that Mr Dabbs is not so much sick as missing, presumed lost in the attic. He may or may not have been last heard saying, "Look dude! I *know* there's a spare c64 tape drive just beyond that pile of ever useful NES, megadrive and 3DO controllers."

He was last spotted passing beyond the milk crates full of cable off-cuts (did you know if you plant 'em in the garden they grow into full-sized coax cables?), striding confidently towards the mountain of empty VHS tape cases (you never know when you'll need one, or four hundred). Sadly, like the crew of the Mary Celeste, our intrepid Mr Dabbs may never be heard from again.

Google TOO WHITE and MALE, says HR boss, looking in mirror

Re: There is a good solution for this

Nor can most managers but it never stops them from hitting the 'send' button.

Ditching renewables will punch Aussies in the wallet – Bloomberg

According to Wikipedia, Australia produces about 12% of the world's uranium. We also have a geologically stable country with a vast, largely uninhabited interior which would serve as an ideal place to store nuclear waste.

So can anyone tell me why we're taxing people to subsidise 'renewables' which don't work rather than running the country off nuclear power which does?

Poll: Climate change now more divisive than abortion, gun control

@the AC who calls someone else a fool

Which will convince more people about the validity of your position; posting insults as an anonymous coward, or posting an insightful argument and links to evidence which supports your argument?

Tech that we want (but they never seem to give us)

Re: Non-reflective laptop screens.

Add to the list, 'higher vertical aspect ratio displays' - 16x9 may be fine for watching movies but it's bullocks for getting work done. I'd kill for a laptop with a 4x3 display with a decent resolution.

New XSS vuln hits eBay as rubbish passw0rds persist

Is it just me...

... who finds it curious that ebay is being all cagey about their "proprietary" hashing algorithm? I suspect they're trying to hide behind "proprietary" so that hopefully (from their perspective) nobody discovers that their hashing routine is just as crap as their ability to securely handle their other customer info.

JJ Abrams and Star Wars: I've got a bad feeling about this

Re: Yes, let's not

"I wonder just who could do it justice?"

Guillermo del Toro. Take a look at Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and tell me del Toro couldn't blow the doors light sabers off a Star Wars flick.

Silverlight finally becomes popular ... with crims

EoL means EoL

"It most likely will be unpatched. End of life tends to mean that."

What it means depends on how important you are.

'EoL means EoL', is what MS will say when some malware exploits an unmatched vulnerability to cause pain and hardship to XP users.

Should someone manage to break the portion(s) of Silverlight which are used to implement, for example, Netflix's DRM (which subsequently allows Netflixers-on-XP to save unencrypted movies) I'll bet'cha a beer that MS won't be telling the film studios execs that 'EoL means EoL'.

Surprise! Google chairman blasts EU's privacy ruling

What I wanna see

"Hi there, Mr Schmidt. My name is Jordan Belfort. Fair's fair. I did the crimes and served my time. I would like to get on with my life without the details of my past indiscretions being available to every prospective employer via google search."

Then the world implodes.

Indian climate boffins: Himalayan glaciers are OK, thanks

Well, to be fair to the IPCC people, this whole business of fact checking is tedious, time consuming and diverts resources away from the important task of manufacturing alarming-sounding nonsense.

McAfee accused of McSlurping Open Source Vulnerability Database

Re: Aaron Swartz

"He also changed his MAC address to circumvent blocks put in by campus staff intended to put a halt to his attack."

I suspect you've hit on the crux of both cases - accessing publicly accessible data in a way not intended by the person/people who published it.

I occasionally try to be a nice person but in these cases the only answer is to tell the publisher to suck it up. If you want something to have limited access, make it secure. 'Nearly secure' doesn't count.

You'll hate Google's experimental Chrome UI, but so will phishers

Re: Never click links [snip] in emails

Security-by-mouseover

[a href="dodgy-site. com" onmouseover= "status.text='YourBank. com';"] visit YourBank. com [/a]

Australian government apps access smartmobe cams but 'don't film you'

Re: I suppose this will be another place to tell them "I don't have a mobile"?

Too easy, mate. Just install the DHS app, available for Android or iPhone, and select "I don't have a mobile" button in the settings menu.

Licensed to BILL: How much should you cough for software licences?

@Steve

Now that you've handed over the reins to Mr Nadella, it must be nice having the free time to focus on your monkey-dancing lessons, and posting anonymous drivel in this forum.

Friends don't let friends use Internet Explorer – advice from US, UK, EU

Luckily for me

"Internet Explorer 6 through 11 are all vulnerable"

See! And people look at me strangely when I tell them that I use IE 1 because it's more secure.

Lost treasure of Atari REVEALED

2044

No doubt Microsoft kicked in some cash to fund the search - after the ET cartridges have been excavated, Microsoft then has somewhere to bury their unsold Surface 1's.. which will acquire urban legend status and will in turn be excavated around in around thirty years.

Polymer droplets turn smartmobes into microscopes

Tee Minus

Does anyone want to take bets on how long it'll be before Apple patients their latest innovation and then sues the ANU?